Nature on Tap + Maternity photo tips?

Have you heard of How About We? I found out about it from Natalie's fun posts about going on 10 curated dates with her husband.

Her blog inspired me to check out their dates for Chicago, but I never scheduled any because Frank wasn't really into the idea ("We don't need someone else to plan our dates") until one day Giedre mentioned that she also wanted to try How About We, and her fiance Vincas was equally uninterested. Ah-ha! An ally!

So the two of us began conspiring to get the menfolk on a curated date. It took forever to find a day that worked with all of our schedules, and even longer to find a date that all of us wanted to go on, but finally the stars aligned and Tuesday night we found ourselves at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum for their fun adults-only event Nature on Tap.

We didn't quite know what to expect, but the evening was a lot of fun. Even Frank, the skeptic, said it was more fun than he expected. We toured the museum exhibits, enjoyed craft beers and hot sandwiches, and competed in an intense game of nature trivia. You know how we love a good trivia night. Frank and Vincas took their trivia very seriously, pausing occasionally to give Giedre and me the stink-eye as we talked through the whole thing. Whoops. Well, we had a lot to catch up on. :)

And we got to visit the butterfly haven!

It was so nice to see a bit of greenery after this long, cold winter. 

This post is definitely not sponsored (I wish!) but if you're looking for some fun date ideas near you, I recommend giving How About We a try. We really liked it, and we hope to use their service again soon!

Also, a quick question for any moms out there. Giedre and I are planning a maternity photo shoot for once the weather gets a bit warmer. I'm extremely excited about it, but also a little nervous! I guess my worry is that I don't want to come across too cheesy, but I still want to capture all the emotions and excitement of this time. If you've done something like that, do you have any tips or recommendations? (I pinned some of my favorite ideas here.)

Of course, working with Giedre, I know there is no need to worry. Frank and I were looking at her portfolio the other day, and he kept saying, "Did she take all these?? Man! She's good!" It cracked me up. I was like, "Yes, you know she's been doing this for years!" :)

"It felt easy": What it's like when you meet "The One"

I'm a huge sucker for love stories, and lately I've been thinking about a common trend I've noticed when hearing the love stories of different married couples I know.

I first noticed it when I was reading Drea's love story and she said, "I felt comfortable with Alex the moment I met him." I thought, Funny, I felt the same way about Frank. Typically shy and awkward with cute guys, I somehow felt instantly confident and at ease with this tall, dark-haired stranger. That never happened.

Then I was excited to see that lovely Nicole was writing her romance with Tom. Sure enough, in the first installment, she described their first meeting: "[It was] so unlike me to share something that personal with someone of two hours’ acquaintance. But he was incredibly comfortable to talk with, and I didn’t think twice." Again I thought, Yes—comfortable. That's just how it was.

Three love stories (mine and those two) might not be a very large sample size, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. What was it like the first time you met your husband (or wife)? Did you immediately have that sense of comfort and ease in their presence, like this person was always meant to be your good friend—even if "friend" was all you had in mind at the time? Tell me I'm not the only one. :)

Newlywed life

Frank and I are having a few friends over Friday night to celebrate his bar results, so last night I found myself cleaning the apartment while he went to a church meeting (which I very happily skipped in favor of cleaning. I like volunteering at church, but I hate long meetings).

First I did the dishes, then reorganized the mantelpiece, and finally turned my attention to the living room rug.

The living room rug, a holdover from Frank's bachelor days, is black, and it shows dirt like you wouldn't believe. The only thing worse is the white rug in our bathroom that looks dingy just seconds after coming out of the laundry. We've made a pact to never again buy rugs in white or black.

I pulled out the vacuum and gave the rug a thorough once-over. The vacuum is also a leftover from Frank's former life, and it's pretty decrepit. In fact, it leaves streaks on the rug in its wake. So after vacuuming, I pulled out the lint roller and got to work lint-rolling the remaining streaks out of the rug.

An old friend from high school called while I was working, so we talked on the phone while I carried on. Lint-rolling is not the most strenuous of tasks—definitely not too strenuous for a phone conversation. :)

The talk turned to fun times we had in high school, and my friend asked if I ever missed those days.

"I can't say that I do," I said. "High school was fine, and college was fine. But these days, right now, are the best of all."

I had to laugh as I said those words while sitting on the floor, lint roller in hand. But it was so very true.

Someday I will look back and miss the days when we had to lint-roll the carpet after vacuuming it. I'll miss the days when we lived in the tiniest of apartments, when we didn't have a dishwasher and had to do all the dishes by hand, when it was just the two of us getting to know each other better and figuring out this marriage thing day by day.

I have to say, life right now is so very, very good.

Serena's wedding: Part 2

The morning of the wedding, I arrived at Serena's parents house bright and early. I did the usual things—painted my nails, helped curl people's hair, brought my handy travel steamer for use on the wedding dress and veil. Serena's adorable 12-year-old cousin told me it was her first time getting her hair curled, and asked me the cutest questions throughout—"Are you a hairdresser? Am I related to you?" It was darling. Everything was a busy flurry of activity and just as I was beginning to think we would never be ready, everything finally came together and we were off to the church!

And Serena! There has never been a sweeter bride. With her beautiful dark hair, blue eyes and pink cheeks, she could have been the model for Snow White. And she was absolutely radiant.

Frank sat right behind me with our good friend Molly, who did a reading during the ceremony. Frank and I couldn't help looking at each other and grinning from time to time. It's so much fun to be at a wedding together and remember our own!

And this couple—they couldn't be more wonderful if they tried. They were simply beaming love and happiness all through the wedding Mass.

When they finally kissed, after saying their vows and exchanging rings, the whole church erupted into spontaneous cheers. That's how excited we all were to see those two get married!

Serena and Anthony have possibly the most romantic love story I've ever heard. I don't want to go into too many details, since it's not my story to tell, but let's just say that Anthony knew she was the one the first moment he laid eyes on her before their freshman year of college at the University of Dallas. Serena, on the other hand, was somehow totally unaware, thinking they just happened to be best friends who had a lot of fun together and got along really well. Anthony patiently bided his time, until after three years he finally asked her out. She hesitantly agreed to one date, but of course she ended up falling in love with him right back, and the rest is history. Their patiently built love story is so beautifully evident in the way they know each other so well and cherish each other so deeply.

Can't you just see the joy on their faces? And that dress—it's just perfect for her! Everyone exclaimed over how beautiful she looked.

We took a bunch of pictures at the church... Here's what the bridesmaids wore if you'd like to see. Serena chose the prettiest, most elegant dresses you can imagine. We all loved them!

Finally it was time to head over to the reception. Here is the lovely couple just before they were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. for the first time!

The reception was elegant and beautiful, filled with all kinds of thoughtful little details that are so Serena. At the head table, there was a little vase of water for each bridesmaid's bouquet:

For favors, Serena made rose-scented candles ... out of tea cups! (Remember when she was collecting all those tea cups a while ago?) I couldn't believe she actually made all of them herself. They even came with coordinating books of matches.

And the wedding cakes fit beautifully with the theme. One was gluten-free, since Serena and some of her family are allergic to gluten. The tea cup on the gluten-free cake was from Serena's first tea set as a little girl.

The toasts were all fantastic. Serena's dad started by asking everyone to clink their glasses so Serena and Anthony had to kiss. Then he said, "I never thought I'd be asking people to help me get someone to kiss my daughter..." That got a lot of laughs! But then he said that Anthony is the one man he would want to kiss his daughter, because he's such a good man who loves Serena so much. It was incredibly sweet.

Serena's dance with her father was spectacular. It started with a sweet, slow song, and then after a minute it picked up into something fast, jazzy and fun (I wish I could remember what the songs were—Molly or Rachel, maybe you can help me?). Serena and her dad can dance! As Frank said, "I saw a whole new side to Serena!" It was a delight to watch and got us all smiling.

The best man was Anthony's brother and he had some darling stories about Anthony as a kid. We found out Anthony took a briefcase to kindergarten—isn't that the cutest mental image? There was also a story about Anthony's love for pens as a little kid. He was always sensible and mature beyond his years, and very sure of what he wanted. How fitting for his sweet love story with Serena.

Then Rachel gave her maid-of-honor speech. I told her she was born to give that speech—it was one of the best wedding toasts I've ever heard. That girl has the sharpest wit and so clearly loves Anthony and Serena so much. She started with, "Now I know that opposites attract ... because Anthony is actually able to get places on time." That brought down the house, and it only got better from there. The speech focused on the virtues Serena and Anthony share that will help strengthen their marriage, and she demonstrated with hilarious and touching anecdotes about each. By the end of the speech, I was crying with laughter—and then it was time for the mother-son dance.

Anthony and his mom danced to a song I'd never heard before—"A song for my son" by Mikki Viereck. Have you ever heard it? It's really beautiful ... and it might make you cry. As I listened to the words of the song—"Be kind, be sweet, be a gentleman"—I thought about how Anthony's mom had taught him those values every day of his life. It's so evident in the man he has become. I thought about the little boy he used to be, who carried a briefcase to kindergarten, and how he loved Serena for so long. I began to tear up a little bit. Then it was time for his and Serena's first dance.

Rachel and Maura, another bridesmaid, sang and played guitar for Serena's and Anthony's first dance. They chose the beautiful song Tailor Made by Colbie Caillat (listen to it on Youtube if you can—it's gorgeous). I'd never heard it before, but the lyrics described their love story so perfectly. And as I watched them dance, lost in the moment and staring into each other's eyes, I just lost it.

I started bawling into my napkin. One of the other bridesmaids, Blanche, grabbed my hand and we cried into our napkins together. Then we smiled through the tears and started laughing, because we were so darn happy. Serena and Anthony were made for each other.

Dang it, guys. I'm getting emotional just writing this post. If I keep going I'm going to start crying again, and we can't have that.

All I can say is, it was a privilege to be in this wedding. I feel like a better person for having witnessed it. Anthony and Serena give such a beautiful example of what marriage can be, just by being who they are. I sure love those two.

Serena's wedding: Part 1

Normally I don't cry at weddings. I didn't cry at my sister Lillian's, or my best friend Maggie's, or even at my own. But I cried at Serena's—the first wedding that ever moved me to tears. Let me walk you through this unforgettable weekend and tomorrow's post about the day that made just about everyone present tear up with joy.

Serena grew up in the remote North Country town of Malone, NY—best known as the setting for Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy—and that's where she decided to have her wedding. After weighing all our travel options, Frank and I decided to drive to the wedding. Alllll the way to Malone, NY. It was the only way we could both go, really, and luckily we love road trips.

Our car, ready to go with blankets, pillows and a picnic basket of snacks

We took Friday and Monday off from work and divided the 13-hour drive into two days, with overnight stops both there and back to make it manageable. At the reception, a few people asked, "Are you that couple that drove from Chicago?!" We felt proud to have acquired such a reputation. :)

We decided to make a full vacation out of it and visit the Wilder Farm on Sunday before we left. I read Farmer Boy aloud to Frank on our way there in preparation. By the way, that book is a great read-aloud. We've tried reading books out loud in the past and it didn't go well, mostly because we're both visual learners who struggle to retain auditory information. But the Little House books are so visually descriptive—everything is described in detail, from Father's barnyard to Almanzo's red mittens—that our visual brains easily stayed engaged. We also had a great time discussing the story, but I'll tell you more about that in my post about the Wilder farm.

Anyway, the rehearsal was supposed to start at 5:00 pm. We hoped to arrive in town before 4:00, but traffic on the two-lane highway to Malone slowed us down. It was 4:45 pm when we finally rolled into the hotel parking lot.

We had the pleasure of witnessing this fine vehicle on the way there. I'm just impressed they actually wrote "Ford" on there.

To make matters worse, I was dressed in the oh-so-fashionable attire of yoga pants and Frank's over-sized hoodie (it was comfortable but darn ugly ... Frank said, "I think your style theme for this trip is homeless"). I quickly laid out a plan—"Ok, you check in, I'll run upstairs, we'll change really fast, I'll do my make-up in the car"—and I couldn't help but add, "Everything will be fine as long as we don't run into Serena's or Anthony's parents before I get a chance to change!" Of course, as soon as we stepped into the hotel, Anthony's entire family stepped off the elevator right in front of us. I sank into the wall and hoped they didn't recognize me, but Anthony's dad (sweetest man on the planet) saw me and happily greeted me, "Hi Tess!" I turned ten shades of red, but of course smiled and said hi back. Luckily his mom didn't see me, and I was able to redeem myself by being very presentable at the rehearsal dinner.

We showed up at the church at 5:15, with me panicking because we were late, but to my immense relief Serena and the other bridesmaids hadn't arrived yet. I shouldn't have worried. Serena and I met when we were serendipitously placed as roommates at the ISI Honors Conference, and we bonded over the fact that we were the last to arrive at breakfast every single morning—generally skating in with just enough time to grab coffee before class. Running late is kind of our thing (for better or worse).

The rehearsal went off perfectly and the rehearsal dinner was a delight, with a heartfelt and loving toast from Anthony's dad. Frank and I made new friends and discovered that we knew a lot of people in common with the rest of the bridal party. Serena gave us bridesmaids beautiful rose earrings and necklaces (in keeping with the wedding's pink rose theme), and fussed over whether Frank and I were well-rested because she is the most thoughtful bride in the world. I really enjoyed spending time with her lovely friends who made up the rest of the bridal party and her older sister Mary Jo, who is now teaching my little sister's high school English class. I gushingly told Mary Jo how much my sister loves her class, but Frank the ever-helpful cocked an eye at her and said, "So, you're Caroline's new English teacher. I heard you gave a really hard quiz last week." I pretty much died of shame, but afterward when we told Caroline about it she was immensely pleased with Frank. I can't understand it!

Ok, I won't say any more for now—this post is already long enough. But tomorrow I'll be posting all about the wedding, with tons of pictures, so check back then. :)

p.s. Today is my birthday! I once heard that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who hide their birthdays, and those who proclaim them. I'm definitely a birthday proclaimer! The morning got off to a great start with delicious breakfast in bed from Frank—more like breakfast feast—and lots of presents, including a potted rose plant for our kitchen and our family's traditional birthday cupcake. I'm the happiest girl today!

Conor and Elizabeth are engaged!

Frank and I took a little trip to South Bend over the weekend after Lillian's bridal shower.

We were there for just one reason: celebrating the engagement of our dear friends Conor and Elizabeth!

We love these two. The story of how we became friends is a good one. Conor and Elizabeth were at Notre Dame when I was (although they're a year younger), but I never met either of them until the very last day of my senior year, when I went to Milkshake Mass at Dillon for the last time (if that means nothing to you, let me just say that the milkshakes come after Mass, not during. And Dillon is the guys' dorm that was across the quad from mine).

After Mass, I went to get a milkshake (of course) and ran into my friend Michael. He introduced me to Conor, who quickly revealed his impressive ability to impersonate a Spanish priest we both know and love. I was duly impressed and decided we had to be friends. When he moved to DC a year later, I introduced him to Frank, and a bromance was born. The two of them discovered they have almost everything in common, except for baseball and hockey allegiances (but that's a story for another time).

It wasn't long before Elizabeth joined the party in DC and we developed a love for going on double dates together ... although Elizabeth and I joke that getting Frank and Conor together is more like taking our kids out on a play date, because they have way too much fun together. :) For how important Conor and Elizabeth have become in our lives, it kind of blows my mind when I think about how close a call it was that Frank and I even met them at all. How lucky that I went to Milkshake Mass that day!

We were so honored that they invited us to celebrate their engagement, and we loved spending time with them and Conor's great family. The weekend was quite the adventure, including a rather dramatic hunt for a hotel room on Saturday night, because we foolishly didn't reserve in advance. Who would have thought that five different hotels in South Bend would be booked full up on a Saturday in July? But we finally found a room and got a funny story out of it too.

After dinner with Conor's family, we all headed over to a great Irish pub called Fiddler's Hearth...

... where Frank and Conor drank a looooooot of celebratory Scotch, and Elizabeth and I each had exactly one Irish Coffee.

The next day, we went to Mass at the Basilica, said hi to a few lovely friends who were at the 10 am Mass, and then walked down to where the proposal took place...

In front of the St. Joseph statue, in between St. Mary's and St. Joseph's lakes. I love this clever twist on the traditional campus proposal at the Grotto (which is just steps from this statue). Conor and Elizabeth have a special devotion to St. Joseph, so it was really perfect. And aren't they the most beautiful couple?

We're so happy and excited for these two, and our prayers will be with them as they prepare for marriage. I believe Conor occasionally reads my blog (right Conor?) so if you'd like to leave any advice or good wishes in the comments, I'll make sure they get back to him and Elizabeth. :)

Lillian's burlap and lace bridal shower!

I've been dying to show you guys the pictures and preparations for the shower, but I didn't want to leak anything to Lillian, since she reads my blog. Now I can finally show you what we've been working on for the past few weeks!

Lillian's shower was Saturday July 6 at my parents' house. We decided to get all Pinterest-y and go with a burlap and lace theme, and we served French-inspired food, notably a small army of quiches made by Frank and my mom. We made almost everything ourselves in a true "community effort," and it all turned out perfectly!

Besides making three quiches, Frank contributed a case of champagne, which we used to make more mimosas than I've ever seen before in my life.

So, the how-to of it all. Let's start with the centerpieces.

These babies are my pride and joy. I bought 15 Mason jars from Hobby Lobby for $1 each (they were on sale; you could probably find them even cheaper if you bought them in bulk online, or raided a garage sale or your grandma's cabinets). I also bought 2 spools of wide lace and a spool of twine. Angela and I spent an afternoon attaching the lace with a hot-glue gun and tying the twine around it. Then we filled them with roses from Costco.

Angela was without doubt my right-hand woman. At nine, she's the perfect age where she's old enough to do things well but young enough to LOVE helping. She's the sweetest little helper and I never, ever want her to grow up.

Anyway, here's how the tables looked all set up:

Our next-door neighbors lent us their tent and even kindly set it up for us. Our other neighbors, my mom's good friends, lent us the tables.

I bought all the burlap and half the lace from Hobby Lobby (the rest was from JoAnn Fabrics). The lady at Hobby Lobby very sweetly cut the burlap into 3- and 4-yard lengths to fit our tables.

In the check-out line at Hobby Lobby, two nice ladies behind us told us they'd been trying to figure out what our project could be, with so much lace and burlap. "We're throwing a bridal shower," I explained. "Our sister's getting married." And then Angela and I grinned at each other, because how cool is that?

^^We used our mom's porch furniture to create a little "kid's table" for the girls Angela's age. Angela was pretty thrilled to use it with her friends!

As soon as the guests started arriving, Angela asked if she could pass out hors d'oeuvres. She took her job very seriously, carrying tray after tray of the French canapes my mom had made. It was absolutely darling.

Sadly my one picture of the drinks table is all blurry... but hopefully you can see the punch bowl in the middle and the mimosas on either side. Of course, that's just a tiny fraction of the 200 or so we went through—it was a hot day, and the guests loved them!

Here's a glimpse of the dining room with trays of canapes on it. Later on, we set it up with Mum and Frank's six quiches, plus fruit salad from Lillian's mother-in-law-to-be, and a few other salads that my sisters put together (the shrimp and orzo one was a huge hit).

I wish I had a picture of the full lunch buffet, but that's the penalty of handing off your camera to someone else (Caroline... who is now losing all photographer privileges).

I used 16-ish giant pink and white pom-poms (Angela and I call them "puffballs") to decorate the chandeliers throughout the house and around the tent outside. There's a nice tutorial on how to make them here (and a million other places; just google "tissue paper pom poms") but we got ours pre-cut from Hobby Lobby. All we had to do was fluff (and fluff, and fluff... lots of fluffing. It took us a while).

Here's the dessert table, which we set up outside:

Maria made the chocolate-covered strawberries, and our awesome neighbor made the macaroons (this is the same lady who lent us the tables—she's a clutch find of a neighbor!). Mom bought the cake from the most wonderful French pastry shop in our town. It said, "Best wishes Lillian and Matt."

Here's the party in action:

Our Grandma Elsa came in from Miami for the shower. It's always such a treat to see her. We made sure to take a picture of her with the beautiful bride:

And finally, here's all six of the sisters, right before Lillian started opening presents:

Each of them did their part to pull together as a team, and the seven of us (with our mom) pulled off a wonderful shower.

And can I just say that there is no way this shower would have gone so well without Frank? Not only did he make three of the best quiches I've ever had in my life, but he set up tables and chairs, mixed mimosas and iced tea, ran errands and helped me stay calm. That man is my mainstay.

So there you have it: a mostly-homemade shower, with lots of help from neighbors, family and friends. I'm happy it turned out so beautifully, and most of all, I'm glad Lillian had a good time. Now I can hardly believe it's just over a month until her wedding. I can't wait!

Best of Last Week and question for readers

Hi everyone! In addition to collecting my favorite articles, I have a question for you (read on).

I recently discovered Lizzy's darling blog and one post especially resonated with me—this lovely one on the importance of parents showing affection for each other and building good habits together. Very inspiring! And speaking of parents staying in love, I just adored this post on "Date Night" from the always delightful Verily magazine.

I have a lot of interest in natural and home births (although I know natural/home births are not for everyone—each mother has to choose what's right for her and her child). I was very inspired by Courtney's at-home birth story and I love Stephanie's beautiful account as well.

So imagine my excitement when I found out that a pope in the early 1900s wrote a letter especially to midwives. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but I'm glad to know it's out there. I found the link in this great post by Andrea explaining why she and her fiance have chosen not to learn or use NFP. Thanks, Andrea (and hurray for Awesome Family Planning)!

Have you heard any of the commotion over the pope's actions on Holy Thursday? In response to the uproar, this post from The Anchoress is just everything good in this world.

Ok, now for my question! Were you ever homeschooled? What was that like? Frank was homeschooled until high school and he really liked it, and he says it's a great way to save money. I was never homeschooled and I have a lot of reservations about it—not about socialization (my homeschooled friends are all super popular and outgoing) but because it seems like so much work for the homeschooling parent (which in our family would be me). So I keep saying "I will never homeschool" ... and then I come across an article like this. And I second-guess everything. What are your thoughts and experiences on homeschool vs. traditional school? I would love to hear your stories!

Finally, an article on one of my favorite topics—getting married young. Lots here to ponder and enjoy.

And happy Thursday! Hurray for being almost through the week!