Cell Phone Movie

I'm pretty sure you all know about the extreme love I have for my iPhone (perhaps my lack of posting anything but iPhone photos since I got it tipped you off??), so it's no surprise that I love this video, filmed entirely on a cell phone. It's sweet. And beautifully filmed. And really - a cell phone? - that's just amazing.

Paris + Germany

Yes, I'm a day late (and a few dollars short), but here they are: Our BIG vacation plans!

Paris, France + Herrenberg, Germany

The idea for the trip began when we got a Save the Date card from our very good friends Dominik and Soni who are getting married in Germany (where they live - which is a true shame because we don't get to see them nearly enough - boooooo).

As soon as Mason laid eyes on that little piece of mail, he started using his very best persuasion techniques to convince me to go. I'm pretty sure he figured this was his best chance to ever get me to Europe. (I've never been. Because I'm super scared of long plane rides. But I do so love Dom and Soni. And he knows it.)

So I put my fears aside and said YES! to Germany, and then I did some convincing of my own and worked it out so that we can make a little detour to Paris right when our marriage turns one year old. (Seriously, how romantic is a one-year wedding anniversary in Paris? I'm dying at the thought of it.)

And so there you have it - France + Germany - for 12 days. I have absolutely no idea what to expect, but I'm hoping it blows all of my non-expectations out of the water!

Weekend Photo Love: 6/25

Where, oh where did the weekend go? And where did this Monday go? Time is flying by, people - flying by - and I need it to slooooow itself down a bit.

This weekend was a good one filled with good food (just look at me thoroughly enjoying that bacon-wrapped date), good friends and good times (complete with glow bracelets), and now Mason and I only have two and a half weeks to do a TON of stuff before our BIG vacation is here. Can someone please come light a fire under our butts? We would so appreciate it.

(More details on our vacation plans coming up tomorrow, so check back!)

Summer Loves

A few new things making me very happy this summer:

1. Turquoise water bottle (The color of the bottle makes the water inside look extra blue, like a swimming pool!)
2. Chunky watch (White + sparkles = the perfect summer accessory. I barely ever take it off.)
3. Beaded sandals (Casual, but fun - and super affordable.)
4. Hot pink polish (Because summer nails are meant to be bright, bright, bright!)

This weekend, we have plans to check out a new breakfast spot, eat a few lunches outside and celebrate the 8th anniversary of our favorite country dancehall with friends. I'm so ready to switch to weekend mode. Wishing you a fun one!

Summer Solstice

Yesterday Mason and I celebrated the Summer Solstice (and the fact that I forgot to put dinner in the crockpot before I left for work) with fish and chips and the most amazing macarons. It was my first time eating macarons, and I honestly can't say what I enjoyed more - eating them or taking pictures of them. You've got to admit, they are some good looking little treats...

Happy second day of summer to ya!

Weekend Photo Love: 6/18

You know you're old when you start measuring the greatness of a weekend by how many hours of sleep you got. I packed in a whopping 33 hours this weekend, so I'd say it was pretty darn great.

In between all the sleeping, we window shopped, rode bikes, ate pretzels, sipped chardonnay, and watched movies. I even managed to read a few magazines and make my very first friendship bracelet. Relaxing and productive - my favorite combination!

In other news, as most of you know, I'm quickly approaching my 30th birthday (August 13th, baby!), so the big 3-0 has been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe that's why I cried while reading this lady's 30th birthday post. Or maybe it's just that good. Either way, I love the sentiment: "Be happy. Be yourself. Be older. Be grateful that this is your life, thirty years of taking in views..."

Weekend Ready

Yesterday's birthday festivities were a complete and total blast, but after all the cobbler eating, present opening and two stepping, I'm pretty much beat and looking forward to a weekend of magazine reading, sleeping in and working on a couple fun projects.

Before I go, a few things I'm loving right now from around the web:

Moving photographs (Seriously, how do they do that??)
Chubby baby legs
This photo of Lake Coeur d'Alene
Friendship bracelets

I hope your weekend is a relaxing one!

Birthday Boy

Today I'd like to say a BIG, GIANT HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing husband. He is the tall to my short, the calm to my crazy, the salty to my sweet, the energy to my lazy - and for all of that and so much more, I lub, lub, luuuub him!

Happy Birthday, Mason! I have a feeling 29 is going to be a year for the record books!

Weekend Photo Love: 6/11

Only two photos from the weekend - can you believe it? But really, they were two MAJOR photos:

Photo #1 - Mason's brand-spanking-new tattoo! Isn't it lovely? I'm so unbelievably jealous of it and think it looks absolutely perfect. (In case you're not familiar, it's his home state of Washington - because he loves it - like, looooves it.)

Photo #2 - Me and lemon drop martini number two - the one that gave me the absolute worst hangover I've ever had in my entire life - the one that single-handedly kept me on the couch - fearing for my life - for all of Sunday. I hate that lemon drop martini. (But I like the photo.)

I hope your weekend was a good one!

(It's going to be a busy week for me with Mason's birthday on Thursday. I've got presents to buy - I'm such a slacker - cobblers to bake and parties to plan. Wish me luck!)

Summa Time

You may have noticed a few changes in the blog over the last couple of days. (I hope you like it!) I thought it needed a little sprucing - a little "summering-ing" up - because quite frankly, I'm IN LOVE with summer this year (or as I like to say it: summa time). (In case you don't believe me - I've already purchased three - THREE - bikinis, and it's barely June. Anyone want to guess how many I'll have by August??)

Above are a few photos of some of the summa time fun we've been having, including outdoor dinners, kayaking, and beer drinking - three major summa staples.

Blue Valentine

After Joanna posted about Blue Valentine last Friday, I had to see it for myself. Facebook friends told me it was uuuuber depressing so I was prepared, and I have to say, it wasn't as sad as I thought it'd be. One of my very favorite things in life is analyzing relationships, so this type of movie is right up my alley. I loved the flashbacks when they were falling in love so very much - that Ryan Gosling sure knows how to play up the romance and make my belly flop like its me he's singing to - and while the real life parts were sad, I just kept thinking about the words of marriage advice Sydney posted last week:

"Choose your love. Love your choice."

It really is that simple (and that hard), and I wonder if the story would've been different for Cindy and Dean (and so many other couples around the world) if after the fun part of choosing their love, they'd dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to the part of loving their choice.

Weekend Photo Love: 6/4

Our weekend in San Bernardino was faaaan-tastic. We woke up early on Saturday, grabbed some coffees and headed out to the land of sun and heat and hills, and when we got to the hotel, we went straight to the pool for some baking. It was just the relaxing day I needed. After a few hours in the sun, we walked to a nearby Mexican restaurant for enchiladas and coronas and the. best. salsa. ever. outside on the patio. Then it was back to the pool until late afternoon, when we had to get ready for the concert.

Before the show, we stopped at the casino for a steak dinner (because you can't go to a casino and NOT have a steak dinner), and when we were stuffed to the brim, we headed to the amphitheater for Tim McGraw - who was amazing.

All in all, it was a really great couple of days. I love checking out different parts of California that I've never been to - especially when they have pools - and salsa - and country music!

Watermelon & Mudbugs

A few more photos from the holiday weekend above. (Look at those crawfish. Yummmm. Sure wish I had some of them right about now.)

Tomorrow morning, Mason and I are heading east to the San Manuel Casino for some pool time and a Tim McGraw concert (with special guests Luke Bryan and The Band Perry!), and I'm really excited about the little get-away. It's supposed to be an early birthday celebration for Mason, but it's also turned into a "help Charisse not be sad about the last trip being over by having another trip" get-away - because that always works, right?

I'll be back on Monday with a weekend photo recap. Until then, have fun!

Crik Floating & Pool Cleaning

Remember when I pinky swore I'd be around here more this week? Yeah, I totally lied about that. Forgive me? Preettyy pleeeeaaaase?

Ever since we got back from Texas on Monday night, I've had jury duty (not fun), but I got released today so I'm free! And what better way to celebrate my freedom than to share some super fun photos from our Memorial Day weekend down south, right? That's what I thought.

So, just to sum it all up: There was sun and watermelon and giant marshmallows and Saint Arnold's beer and golf cart rides and crawfish and lots of "crik" floating (until there were lots of snakes - then there was lots of blow-up pool floating), and I really, really didn't want to leave. I'm already missing the heat and the fam and even the "crik" (but not the snakes!).

Check back tomorrow for a few more photos. (At least I'm keeping one of my promises!)