belated independence.

mark and i always find a way to have fun and make our time together special.  this year we had the pleasure of both being off work for the 4th of july but had nothing planned at all.  

we photographed our first official wedding together on the 2nd in dayton and both worked on the 3rd so we decided to take it easy for the 4th.  i spent most of the day editing photos and relaxing but towards the evening we both felt stir crazy, ready for a cookout and something to set on fire :)  

so we went krogering...

(sometimes he is just absolutely the cutest! and yes that is a grrr face.)

it was a really lovely day spent at home with our babies.  we tried to make it as festive as possible and made a great memory!  i hope everyone had a wonderful independence day!

peace & love~

renewal.

its amazing what new bedding can do.

its officially the dog days of summer.

i had to share how much we love our bright and airy new sheets and comforter and how much it can change your mood :)

peace & love~

kindness is for the birds.

random i know...

i'm not one to eat the heels of a loaf bread... i don't know why, but i never have.  even though it is in fact edible bread i just don't fancy it. (its probably because it seems like a giant piece of crust which i usually pick off anyways).  earth day is coming up soon and mark and i have been discussing our wastefulness and carbon foot prints and would love to make a permeant change in our lifestyle.  for some reason, the other day, we started with the bread.  we are lucky enough to have a fairly large body of water near our place and its usually full of fish, ducks and geese.  so we thought it would be good to share our soon to be wasted bread heels with our local animal friends.

they wanted nothing to do with us...

and literally fled the scene :(

too bad, so sad!

whats everyones plan for earth day 2011?

our current oasis.

the past week,  thank goodness is exactly that... the past!  i was so terribly sick all week.  i spent the majority of my time laying in bed - under a blanket, sitting in front of the computer - under a blanket, or on the couch - under a blanket!!

as i sulked in these various locations i really got the chance to look around at our sweet lil home.  just some iphone images that i took while i was stir crazy and sick.

its pretty wonderful when two worlds collide and decorate an apartment together <3

peace & love~

puzzled.

mark and i are absolute hobbyist at heart.  i imagine we always will be.

for christmas this past year i got him a panoramic puzzle of the new york city skyline (which we both very much admire that city) to go under the glass of our coffee table. 

we started out strong and determined to finish it in a timely manner and now it still currently sits under construction. i was re-motivated today when i saw these images we took after the first couple of nights we worked on it.

its 3 feet long and full of beautiful colors (yeah the swirling color pieces have been tough!) which go well with our colorful, city inspired living room and perfect for our table. 

my hope is we will jump back in and get it done by the end of april!! i promise to share images.

peace & love~

momma mia meets opa!

from the very beginning mark and i have enjoyed cooking together.  we always try to make it elaborate and go all out when creating a new meal. usually its a theme related to the culture of the foods we are working with...           and last night was one of our best greek pizza nights ever!

this is the second time we have made our own greek pizza (which are inspired by last years greek festival here in columbus, they are amazing!) and i think we have mastered it.

this time around we added hot banana peppers and it was absolutely perfect!  in case you want to try it here is our (not so formal) recipe.

-preheat oven to 450

-we cheat and buy the crust at the store :) and it should be 12 inches

-1/2 cup light mayo

-4 minced cloves of garlic

-1 cup feta cheese ( to be divided in half )

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-vine tomatos

-red onion

-baby spinach

-kalamata olives

-banana peppers :)

1.) mix mayo, garlic, 1/2 cup feta cheese in a small dish.  spread mix over crust and top with oregano and sliced olives. Bake about 10 minutes. 

2.) toss spinach, onion, and tomatos in oil. top pizza with the veggie mixture and the other 1/2 cup of feta.  return to oven for about 2-3 minutes.  

it was wonderful and i hope you give it a try and add your own spin.  i promise your home will smell incredible too!

were planning on trying lots of new recipes that we have never done before  and also changing the way we eat ... i'm sure i'll be sharing on a regular basis.

happy baking!

peace & love~

all we needed was a truck to make progress.

this weekend my love and i took a mini road trip to ikea.  my momma had given me gift cards for christmas and they were burning a hole in my pocket!!

the journey started friday evening when we met some friends in the arena district for drinks, food, conversation and truck keys.

the evening was quite eventful and didn't end till after 3am but we got the truck!!

the next morning we got up as early as we possibly could and made our way to west chester for the third time together.  

this time we knew exactly what we wanted and were going to control impulse buys.

we needed a desk for my new workspace and a bookcase for our living room so that we could finally combine our books and trinkets in the same place. 

lots of beautiful things catch your eye as you walk through the showrooms and its so inspiring, luckily we were strong enough to make it through without picking up a yellow bag along the way for extra goodies....

that is until we got to the "free for all" area as i call it.  they allow you to grab a shopping cart and walk through what feels like miles of amazing deals.  i always get tripped up in the prints, frames and accessories area of the store.  i swear if i had the money there wouldn't be a blank wall in our home.

this amazing clock became a dilemma :) (this decision took a lot of math and discussion)

but don't fret it made the cut.

and luckily we acquired the desk and bookcase!

i always love the pictogram ikea instructions:) so cute and understandable in any language. 

it was a wonderful saturday filled with love and progress.... (more to come.)

peace & love~