Saturday, September 29, 2012

happy adoptionday polly!

one year ago, patrick and i got in a huge fight on the way to PAWS. according to me "there was so much traffic" on western that we absolutely, positively were never going to make it before they closed. yes, we had been looking at pups for quite some time, and yes we thought we found a winner in this small black shihtzu named polly, but ughhhh THERE WAS TRAFFIC!

polly's first picture, 9/30/11
we finally made it and miraculously found parking. we filled out the form for prospective puppy parents, still furious at each other and giving one word answers. after we were done, we started to walk around, and politely look at the dogs that we knew we were not interested in, until we heard someone else ask "can we look for polly now?" well to say we made a beeline for polly's room would be a lie. we sprinted. and when the door swung open, and about half a dozen small dogs came running out of the very large room that was their home, polly came politely trotting out, with a cone around her neck, walked directly to pat's lap and plopped down for a nap. i'll never forget the look we exchanged, and i knew it was up to me. "we'll take polly," i said. "as soon as possible."


she was ours within an hour. it was a rainy warm September afternoon, and  at the time she didn't seem to like riding in the car (we now know that isn't true.) she cautiously stared at us as we tried to bribe her with toys and snacks, and she freaked the heck out when we tried to put her in a kennel.

it took us a few weeks to feel like a family, but now that is just what we are. polly has given us unconditional love, she has remained loyal to us as our surroundings have drastically changed. she's a little traveler as we took her on a plane to virignia, and on a 22 hour car ride from chicago to winter park. she's the world's best company when you've had a terrible day at work, and all she wants to do is lay down in your lap and make sure you know how much she needs you. she is, very simply, the best. and both pat and polly are my daily reminder that your family can take years to build, or just hours. and there is nothing sweeter than having a house full of love. i am so lucky to call both of them mine.


happy girl, anna maria island - 8/11/12

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

c'mon REFS!

the ref (left) whose neck i wanted to break
last night's football game may have been the most frustrating few hours of my life. for someone who excuses herself from the room whenever a game gets down to the last few seconds (big thanks to shaun suishman for that) i thought i was going to explode with anxiety/rage/mostly rage. 

here are a few gems that were said out loud.

"seriously seahawks, just kill yourself."
"i wanna take that white ref and break his effing neck."
"browner you are nothing but a thug"
"these motherf***s"
"what kind of world do we live in?"
"get these scab refs OUTTA HERE!"
"i hope clay matthews rips someone's head off"
"is this the superbowl? why is pete carroll running around like this is the super bowl? does he have a lazy eye?"
"i don't know whether to laugh or cry. or punch that ref in the face"
"mcnabb should return to the nfl now that interceptions count for touchdowns"
"PETE CARROLL GET YOUR LAZY EYE OFF MY TV!"



....praiza lord i can't get fined.

Monday, September 24, 2012

snapshots take two

in the past 10 days we have:

spent a weekend in chicago
picked bridesmaid dresses (!!!!!!)
attended our first pre-cana class
driven to virginia (with polly per my momma's request)
driven back to florida
& only taken one day off from work

it has been so wonderful to see both sides of our family in such a short amount of time and so soon after the engagement. 

to our parents and brothers (and sister in laws!): we appreciate all the love and support. you're the best! 


teeny tiny beers at piece


aml&b

my love in our windy city


polly catching z's somewhere on I-95 south


ps - go pack, go!
 ps again - happy belated birthdays to 40% of k&co. love you ricey & manny.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

you've got email

i have sent what feels like one million emails in the last month. i have gone back and forth with the church in fredericksburg, the church in winter park, photographers, videographers, caterers, the venue. i have sent more emails that have asked the question, "does that bridesmaid dress have pockets?" than i am going to admit to. it's been a lot.

but somehow i had enough foresight to realize that if i gave out my personal email address, i would be obsessively checking to see who got back to me with what. and i don't know if this bride stands alone but after this wedding, i'm not going to want to continue corresponding with the knot (no offense). so i created a gmail address for the lewis heckel wedding, that i can check when i get home at night and everything is in one place. i don't have to comb through k&co email chains, or dinner requests from patrick, or order confirmations from anthropologie. it might be the second most brilliant thing i've done thus far in the wedding process.


the first was saying "of course" to this guy

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

my work husband

patrick and i met through city year. when we started dating, we worked separately, and then about two years into our relationship, we once again became coworkers. and while we barely survived the lions, and tigers, and bears, and hyenas; we survived. patrick has continued his career with an organization that means a great deal to us while i have found a new passion for my (still relatively) new role at united way.

but we miss each other. we miss grabbing lunch together, or chatting throughout the day. we miss being able to commute to/from work together. so when our work does overlap, which it does because this world is so small, i really enjoy it. especially when i get work emails that are addressed to me like this: 




ps - shout out to my REAL work husband, rayshaun! love you boo. 
please attend our wedding as mike tyson.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

to do or don't: engagement photos

patricio and i have taken approximately two dozen couple pictures over the last three and a half years. i don't think we purposefully avoid taking them but they have a tendency to remind me of high school, when you framed pictures of you and your love because you were like clearly the best couple ever! and because my decorating aesthetic will never be framing one thousand pictures of us, i kind of thought engagement photos were pointless because if you don't have them on display, why have them at all? do i ever, in a million years want a picture of patricio holding a chinese umbrella as we awkwardly look into each others eyes? no. to be totally honest, i'd much rather have a picture of polly holding a chinese umbrella.

but after discussing my hesitations with our photographer, katelyn made a valid point that we need to be comfortable in front of the camera with each other, and with her, on our big day. now the question is, where to take these photos and WHAT TO WEAR?!?!?!

here are a few favorites that currently live on facebook or instagram - i'll have to add "buy frames" to my extremely long to do list.....

o'brien/fitzpatrick wedding - october 2010

mangano/bishop wedding - june 2012
chicago - september 2012

Friday, September 14, 2012

my week in snapshots

i'm borrowing an idea, i hope my blog crush taza doesn't mind. 

my week, according to what's in my iphone.

my darlin polly girl, and new spade purse

bffs.

things polly loves: walks, open car windows, the packers, and us.

any excuse to send snail mail
my future hubby on NFL sunday.


have a WONDERFUL weekend everyone! i know we will.
ps - happy birthday to my bff. i love you so, so much! 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

thursday feels like sunday


the packers play tonight and i am oh so excited to take my best guy, and my best pup to b-dizzle-niz-nubbs (buffalo wild wings) to watch the packers beat the bears. while i will never, ever, ever pledge my allegiance to any team other than the washington redskins, those cheeseheads sure have grown on me over the last few years.




especially one clay matthews. i mean, come on! 

in a game of cat and mouse. i'd be the cat. he'd be the mouse. meow.  

see you tomorrow, chicago! xo.






Wednesday, September 12, 2012

if you don't know by now, i'm talking bout chi-town

patricio and i are packing two little bags and heading to chicago this weekend. and i can barely contain my excitement, i feel like a kid on christmas!

we will get to spend some time with his family, celebrate the engagement, and meet OUR new niece, sadie. and we are staying with john and b, which in my book means a whole lot of jabbering, a whole lot of kitchen table sitting, a whole lot of 312, chardonnay and budweiser and not a ton of sleep. i can't wait!

we will also be visiting a few of our favorite spots:

for pizza: piece
for thai food: sticky rice
for cocktails: tiny lounge
& just for me and b: bhldn

my windy city.
ps john/becky/patricio - do you guys remember when we threw a mini spring break party, in january? hahahahahhaah

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

project 2,996

3 years ago I participated in project 2,996 and every year since i think of mrs. dianna snyder on this most terrible day.

Monday, September 10, 2012

i'm so happy illinois

spied in this little shop. & promptly purchased 2 seconds later.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

sundays are our day.

"next season" is officially this season. httr.

patricio and i are an extremely independent couple. we haven't spent every holiday together. we have yet to celebrate christmas together on the 25th of december. we go on trips without each other. we spend time with our respective families solo. i almost pride myself on our tendency to operate as two individuals who just happen to be head over heels in love with each other. but there are some things that are sacred to "us." and one of those things, are sundays during nfl season.

for the past three NFL seasons, we have spent every sunday together. they are our day. we loved hosting pregames/games/postgames in chicago even though neither of us claimed our city's team as our own.  pat would man the grill (sometimes in 0 degree weather and snow on the ground) and i would be busy mixing drinks and preparing appetizers upon appetizers upon appetizers (yes k&co, the bread bowl and 'the dip' were frequently made.) and when the packers made their beeeea-utiful run for the playoffs, we would try to make those sundays a special occasion, even if it was just for us. because my love is crazy superstitious, we would watch those games alone; huddled on the couch together, running around our apartment, screaming at the top of our lungs, and worshiping at the altar of clay matthews and aaron rodgers...together. those weeks leading up to superbowl XLV are memories i will hold onto for the rest of my days as i gleefully cheered for the pack and experienced patrick's joy as his team brought the lombardi trophy home to lambeau.

so today, on the very first sunday in three years where the skins played fan-freaking-tastic, and the packers not so much, i am so thankful that while i won't be marrying a die hard skins fan, i will be marrying a die hard fan. someone who loves this little game as much as i do. who yells, and jumps up and down, and screams "THAT IS BULLSHIT" as loud as me. someone who enjoys the wonder and the heartbreaking moments that come with being a fan of a sport you have never, nor will ever, play.

god help us if i'm pregnant during football season.

please future babies, don't be born on a sunday when your mom is screaming about dan snyder.

Friday, September 7, 2012

smoke and mirrors

welp, almost exactly on year later, i stand corrected.

Chris: ”You’re not on your period, are you?”
Leslie: ”No. Does that matter?”
Chris: ”Not for this.

but this will forever be one of my favorite episodes of parks and rec. 

Thursday, September 6, 2012

sit. stay. love.

disclaimer: this isn't a wedding blog. it's the teeniest tiniest corner of the world wide web where i have captured (more or less) my life over the last four years. and yes, over the next year, i will be capturing my transition from girlfriend, to fiance, to wife. but i also fully plan to share things that bring me joy, make me think, delight me, inspire me.....all that stuff. and what honestly brings me (and my other half) the MOST joy, is our polly girl.

polly lewis heckel
my two loves













we are coming up on our year anniversary of becoming a family of three which is so hard to believe. we adopted her from PAWS in chicago, and i could not be a stronger advocate for animal rescue. yes, i see the appeal of puppies and purebreds and as long as you are a good parent i pass no judgment on how you come about your pet. but this is what i know; i know that polly loves us a great deal because she was treated so poorly the first few years of her life. i know that her 10 pound self is so full of gratefulness she could burst. there are times when she lays her head on one of our laps, and just exhales, as if to say "i am finally loved." and she is. we cannot imagine our life without her; every single night we tell her how much we love her, and how we are so sorry it took us so long to find her. but that she's ours for the rest of her life.

so IF you are considering adopting a pet,  or IF you already own one and you have a desire to donate some food/toys/pet supplies to a animal shelter, or IF you love anthropologie as much as i do (which quite frankly, i doubt), make a difference this september.


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

what a lovely egift



thank you starbucks, for giving this bride-to-be who is on one serious budget, a reason to enjoy a pumpkin spiced latte.

.....even if fall feels a long ways away. 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

"today is not the best day of your life"

i have been a fan of wedding blogs for quite a few years, however i am not quite sure why. i've always seen myself more as a carolyn bessette-kennedy and less of a kate middleton when it comes to my own wedding. give me candlelight, my groom, and our parents and brothers and i will be one happy bride. but now, i am checking these blogs with a heightened sense of attention; it's my turn to make those itty bitty decisions, to try and have a conversation with my fiance as to the pros and cons of different signature cocktails, to text my girlfriends pictures of a dress that i have yet to try on but know that it is "the one," and all the while to be true to my vision of utter and complete cohesiveness 

and so that's why, one of these many blogs i follow gave me a brief reprieve from this self imposed stress that i am beginning to feel as my "to do list" continues to grow, and grow, and grow. this particular post highlighted a best man's speech, that opened up with the line: "this is not the best day of your life." and you know what, he's totally and completely right. this is just where our story is going to re-begin, we will no longer be a couple, or together, or dating; we will be married. and that's all october 12, 2013 will be, an opportunity to celebrate this fact with all of our closest and dearest family members and friends. the best day of our life, will more than likely be in 20 or 25 years, when our first child leaves our nest and enters the world; and he/she is a thoughtful, kind, and giving person who does what he/she can, to make this world a better place. and we will silently look at each other and say "good job, love. we did a good job. this is the best day."


i can't wait.