top five

it is amazing the amount of advice that you receive once you're engaged. it's almost backwards, where was all this help when patrick and i were standing in an apartment we couldn't afford, in a city that we loved, with jobs we hated, screaming at the top of our lungs "i can't do this anymore!!" ok, i'll admit. i was the only one screaming, because my beloved is apparently incapable of raising his voice to me. 

thankfully, we were able to navigate those hurdles on our own, but this wedding stuff? it terrifies me. there seems to be an overwhelming amount to do - especially when between the two of us, there are four very beautiful states that could host our wedding. so for all of the advice that i have received from my closest friends to women who i haven't spoken to in years, thank you. your help has been so incredible and full of love and support. i hope you hear my gratitude. 

one of the best pieces of advice came from a sorority sister. she suggested sitting down as a couple, and agreeing on the five most important things we want at our wedding. we are taking that a step further, and making top 5 lists for everything that we are unsure of: the honeymoon, our first dance, wedding party gifts, etc. if there is one thing that heckels and i are good at, it's making lists.

i plan to share the original lists as this process unfolds; mostly because i will love to look back and see where we started, and treasure this sublime feeling of excitement and anticipation as we plan the day that we (finally) become husband and wife.

& that's why we invited you!

five days into the wedding process and i still don't know if i will be married in 6 months, or a year. i don't know if said wedding will happen in my new home of winter park, fl or my beloved fredericksburg, va. and i haven't even begun to think about bridesmaids, or flowers, or what i will be wearing to this most wonderful occasion. but what i do know ladies and gentleman, is that i have a george banks on my hands.

i love ya dad, but i THINK your reasoning for having a florida wedding, so that "i don't have to redo the bathrooms" falls under the no vote column.

of course i will!

anna maria island, 8/11/12

i have been dying to go to anna maria island since i had found out about it a few years ago. as a matter of fact, i had told two little birds that go by sara and christine, that i would LOVE to get engaged there. and so when my family was visiting last weekend, and pat suggested we take a day trip there, i knew something was up. but alas, my two brothers decided they wanted to go to cocoa beach, i was out voted 2-1 for probably the one billionth time in my 27 year life, and was put in a terrible mood. when we got to cocoa beach, i jokingly told pat "do not propose to me here, i am in the worst mood right now."

fast forward to a week later, pat (on his own) booked a hotel for the three of us and made a dinner reservation at the best restaurant on the island for just us two, and off we went to anna maria island. we were there for about 15 minutes, before i said i wanted to go down to the beach to see the gulf of mexico. we sat down and started talking about chicago, and how different our surroundings are. patrick kept saying "you know i love you, right?" so often that i finally stopped saying "i love you too" and started saying "i know you do." he finally turned to me, on one knee, and with shaky hands asked me to marry him. i wanted to tell him to calm down, that he had nothing to be nervous about. but all that went out the window the second i saw the ring. i grabbed it out of his hands, put it on my finger, then asked "does my dad know?" and when he nodded his head, i threw my arms around his neck, nuzzled into his shoulder and said "of course, of course i will marry you!"

i wanted to wait until my mom was home from china to tell everyone, and so that's what we did. we spent the rest of the day just us; talking about where we want to get married, who we want to stand by our sides, we referred to each other as "fiance" so often that we now say it with a very exaggerated french accent, and i just stared at my hand as the most beautiful piece of jewelry sparkled back at me...

"of course!"

i love this man, and i cannot wait for him to be my husband.

give me the most.

“Some people bring out the worst in you, others bring out the best, and then there are those remarkably rare, addictive ones who just bring out the most. Of everything. They make you feel so alive that you’d follow them straight into hell, just to keep getting your fix.”

- spied here

the importance of being nice

eileen gallegos-lewis and polly lewis-heckel; august 2012

my parents and little brother traveled to the sunshine state to visit ross, patricio, polly, and me for the long weekend. we had so much fun eating out, and going to the beach, and relaxing and  i was reminded just how lucky i am to be best friends with my mom. 

if you have had the pleasure of meeting eileen, then you know what i mean. she is a gem. ever so stylish, so so beautiful, extremely well traveled, and hilarious as all get out. she also happens to be the nicest person on the face of this planet. she told me a little secret this weekend, one that i will share. every few months, she buys a handful of $5 gift cards: starbucks, i-tunes, whatever. and she hands them out to strangers who do something nice for her.  

it's things like that, that make me stop and think about my life and the things that i do, and say, and how i react to others. and i realize that however much energy i spend on the negative, is way too much. that's not how you make this world a better place. but you can do that by recognizing and celebrating random acts of kindness. these two feet have been all over the world, and i can honestly say, there isn't one town, city, country, or continent, that couldn't use more of that.