the florida keys

robert & I celebrated our 6th anniversary by escaping to the florida keys. it was a much-needed vacation, full of sun, good food & lots of rest & relaxation. have I mentioned how much I adore spending time with my sweet husband? here are a few photos from our getaway if you'd like to see. 

{we had an amazing brunch at this restaurant one morning}

 {a bucket of fish to feed the tarpon}

{check out these hungry piranas tarpon. they jump up & snatch the fish right out of your hand}

{one of three dinners at sunset. the sky was beautiful; the photos don't do it justice}

{I saved you the last bite of key lime pie}

traditional anniversary gift: candy

each year robert & I like to give each other the "traditional" anniversary gift (here is year four and here is year five). year six is candy. robert got me six of my favorite types of chocolates (chocolate covered orange peels, pretzels, popcorn, pringles, oreos & toffee). my thighs kind of hate him for this, because I have almost consumed all of it already. in return I made him some sea salt fudge (which was delicious, by the way- I will post the recipe soon). we also celebrated our anniversary with another couple, our "anniversary twin". the guys signed all of us up for a candy making class this summer. such a clever gift idea.

{our wedding flower- peonies}

six years

six years ago today was one of the happiest days of my life. I married the most amazing man- someone so full of kindness, integrity, creativity, intelligence, wit & unconditional love for me. sometimes I feel it's too good to be true. he makes my life complete.

burp cloths

I am still a newbie at sewing. I often get frustrated when the needle breaks or when the thread gets all tangled up. and quite frankly, sometimes I just walk away & abandon the project altogether. but I'd been wanting to attempt some burp cloths for a baby shower, so robert was sweet enough to "fix" my machine so that I could start fresh. the first one took awhile, but once I got going, they were really fun & easy to make. it's a great starter project for any of you in the same beginner boat as me. plus there are tons of great tutorials out there (I used this one) to help. now I can't wait to make more of these for gifts. 

vintage finds: letterpress drawer

robert & I stopped by an estate sale a few weekends ago right before it was over. the bad thing about going towards the end of a sale is that generally, there isn't a lot left. but the good news is that you can pretty much name your price on whatever is still there.

I noticed this shelf mounted on a wall that I thought looked really cool. upon further inspection, it turned out to be a tray from an old letterpress cabinet that was used to hold the components & plates for printing. it was in great condition - minus the $60 price tag. so I threw on some charm (or, used my "girl-powers" as my daddy would say) & talked the guy down to $20! I love it, but am not quite sure what I'm going to do with it. I've seen people use them to hold jewelry or trinkets. but right now, I kind of like looking at it as-is. I love all the different sized boxes & the natural color of the ink-stained wood. 

tuesday

robert & I decided to take the day off today. and it was awesome. I have no doubt that if I were financially independent, I could entertain myself for years on end without a bit of boredom. ah, a girl can dream. here are a few snapshots from the day. 

{breakfast at metro diner}

{flowers from robert}

{craft time}

{one of robert's new faves- a belgium stout}

{dinner prep}

{roasted sweet garlic bread & almond soup- homemade by robert. amazing.}

easy + healthy dinner

this is a really easy & healthy meal to make when you don't have much motivation to cook. we actually happened to have all of these random ingredients on hand & decided to throw them all together, & it was actually pretty tasty (that never happens with me). this is what we used:

cooked chicken (we grilled ours with seasonings)

cooked rice (I had a packet on hand)

some fresh ginger (just shave a teaspoon or two into the water for the rice. it adds great flavor)

steamed edamame beans (be sure to salt them)

pineapple (we also grilled it)

cilantro for garnish

soy sauce (if you feel the need for a little drizzle to add more flavor)

interactive birthday card

just a little card I made for my sister for her birthday last week. has quite a jolly postman feel, don't you think?