Secret of Staying Young

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, 
eat slowly and lie about your age.    -Lucille Ball

I love this quote and may, or may not, be turning 29 today. 

30th Beerthday

On Monday Brian turned the big 30. We both took the day off because Monday + turning 30 = could be painful when spent at work. It also gave us the opportunity to celebrate the over a few days, which in my opinion is how all birthdays should be!

Sunday after Bay to Breakers we cleaned up and headed to Alamo for a backyard BBQ at the home of our California mom (aka our good friend's mom who is awesome). It was a low-key, but fun, BBQ. We ate yummy food, drank beers, guys played croquet and the ladies chatted. I didn't bring any sort of dessert (oops!) but I did make B a bireerthday banner - made from beer coasters - and a birthday crown!

beerthday banner

if you ask me, 30 looks pretty good!

After the BBQ Sunday, B conked out, but not before he said "you're the bomb" (aww!), and I got to work finishing up his birthday surprises. The biggest project was his 30 birthday collage (pictured below). 

Inspired by this Martha picture perfect birthday, I thought it would be fun to make a big 30 for B to wake up to. Since we don't have a lot of friends and family close by, this felt like a way to have them join the celebration even from afar. Weeks before his birthday I sent out secret emails and Facebook message to friends and family. I asked for pictures with party hats, signs, pets or a fun birthday message, and per B's sense of humor the funnier the better. 

I loved receiving the photo emails back! I had to try hard not to open them when B was around because I would always laugh. Once I had received most of the photos, I made 4x6 prints. Using poster board I cut a large 3 and a 0. I then arranged the photos and taped them down. I used baby and childhood photos, courtesy of mama Lackore, to fill in the gaps.

Monday morning I got up early and taped the 30 on our closet doors. I was trying to be extremely quiet but B was already up. As he looked at the collage there was lots of laughing and me telling him the story behind the photos.

After presents (I got him a home brew kit + pale ale ingredients), bagels and coffee we headed to the Oakland Foot and Tea Spa for one hour foot reflexology and massages. I treated myself to a session too, didn't want B to get lonely, and was SO happy I did. It was amazing, especially after our B2B run. 

We left the spa, completely relaxed, and headed to San Francisco for a tour of Giants Stadium! It was raining that day so the tour was mainly indoors, but cool to see the locker rooms, dugout and stand on the field. We ran into these Giant characters along the way.

Giants are the only MLB team licensed to use the Peanuts characters,
because Charles Shulz is a Giants fan!

Due to the rain, possible detoxing from the reflexology and B's old age, we headed home to relax. Although I felt lame sitting on the couch on his birthday it was really nice! We ended up spending the rest of the day at home watching movies. In honor of his beerthday, B drank his 30th Anniversary Sierra Nevada he received as a gift.

Although it wasn't an intentional theme, I realized a lot of the birthday stuff revolved around beer, hence the 30th Beerthday post title.

You've come a long way, baby!

 Happy Birthday to this fine fella who is turning 30 today!

We are both off work, spending the day relaxing and celebrating.

 

Here's to many more wonderful years, baby!  

B2B

This morning we ran the Bay to Breakers race.

This year marks the 100th year of the the race!

Our costumes were 100% made up from items we had at our house and incredibly tame compared to others. Yes, I'm wearing a neon leotard  and side ponytail (B said that really made the outfit). B cut those jorts last night. I think his fanny pack really made his outfit (and was quite handy!).

This year we ran 100% of the race completely sober. In years past we've only celebrated and never made it to the finish line. While both are fun, I'd have to say running is my favorite; you can enjoy the craziness and feel accomplished, all by 9:30am.

After the race we stopped for a few celebratory drinks in honor of a successful B2B and to kick of B's birthday weekend!

In my opinion...

Best group costume: A group of salmon, walking the opposite direction of the race.Hilarious!

Worst group costume: Where's Waldo. Hello, that's so last year.

Chowen Photography

**my apologies if you are reading this a second time. there was an issue with blogger last week and the post was deleted, so i'm reposting. take that blogger!** 

Long before I needed to be thinking about wedding photographers, I was dreaming about Chowen Photography. Heidi and Daniel, of Chowen Photography, are long time family friends of Chelsea. I had the privilege of meeting them in 2009 at Chelsea's wedding. I knew they were photographers, but other than these photos from Chelsea's wedding shower, I wasn't familiar with their work. 

Fast forward to this past fall, Chelsea did a photo shoot with the Chowen's as a surprise for her husband. I was blown away with how gorgeous ALL the photos turned out. The subject, the lighting, the artistic view - amazing. Here are two of my favorites:

Not long after these photos were taken, Chelsea mentioned the Chowen's were moving to Denver to expand their photography business. They would now be Denver/Boulder photographers....and that my friends is when the dreaming began! I asked Chelsea more about them and from then on secretly hoped they could be our photographers someday.

A few short days after we were engaged I reached out to Heidi to discuss availability, pricing, etc. I felt a tiny bit crazy contacting photographers so soon, fully knowing our wedding was over a year away and budget still up in the air, but I went with it. I knew I loved their style and having beautiful images to remember our day was a high priority.

After a few weeks of email exchanged, working on a wedding budget and shopping around (to make sure I was making the very best decision) we BOOKED CHOWEN PHOTOGRAPHY!!! It makes me extremely happy that we'll have a husband + wife team, who we actually know, capturing us becoming husband and wife. Not to mention we can look forward to having amazing photos, like these, for the rest of our lives.

Want to learn more about this sweet duo? 
Check out their interview last week on Couture Colorado.  
Ohh and ahh even more by visiting Chowen Photography website & blog

The Reading Mother

I recently helped plan a bring a book baby shower for a co-worker. I was talking to my mom about the shower and she reminded me about The Reading Mother poem. I was so happy for the reminder, because it was a perfect addition to the shower!
 

When my mom (who, for the record, read to me) gifts baby books to new mothers, she'll put the last stanza of the poem in the front cover of the book:

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be --
I had a Mother who read to me.

In this case I opted to use the whole poem and frame it. At the shower we read the poem prior to gifting the books.
 

by Strickland Gillilan

I HAD A MOTHER who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,
"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath

I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Celert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each mother of boys were such.

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be --
I had a Mother who read to me.

Whether you use the whole poem or just the last paragraph, it is a sweet addition to a baby gift!

You're the Best!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Wishing you a beautiful day.

This is the Mother's day cards mailed to my Mom, Grandmas and soon to be mother-in-law, because they truly are the best!

Pink floral paper and you're the best stamp from Paper Source.

Priceless

While there are many gorgeous images from the Royal Wedding, this one has to be my favorite...  

{npr}

 Priceless! While millions watched and cheered for the Royal kiss, this little bridesmaid looks less than amused. Makes me laugh every time!

 I opted for sleep over watching the festivities but turned on the TV as soon as I woke up. I can't imagine watching it live, because the highlights alone got me teary eyed. What can I say, I'm my mother's daughter and a hopeless romantic. Considering how many people were watching them, the bride and groom looked so calm, happy and in love.

The only special moment I caught live was the couple leaving Buckingham Palace in the Ashton Martin decked out with streamers, balloons and the perfectly personalized JU5T WED license plate. I'd like to borrow that sweet ride for our big day. And while I'm borrowing ideas, I think we'll ask our guests to wear fun hats too!