Our First Wedding Purchase

January 3, 2012 by

Leave it to Groupon to sell us something we didn’t realize we needed until it landed in our email inbox.  Just 5 days after we got engaged, there was a Groupon offer for $70 worth of printing services from Vistaprint for just $17…so we got two of them! Though we plan on creating a lot of our own home/handmade items for both the ceremony and reception, we figured this great bargain might come in handy for return address labels (with our new last name, of course), personalized thank you notes (for the plethora of them that we will eventually be sending out), and maybe some simple save-the-dates (for the sake of convenience).

We then began a somewhat lengthy conversation about how possible it would be to plan the entire wedding using Groupon offers. While the idea obviously sounds fun, and incredibly cheap, we soon realized that this planning model probably won’t work with the type of event we’re sure to have. Since the primary purpose of Groupon is to offer deals on local services, we would basically plan to have the wedding in a Groupon city…which we’re not. We may not be able to plan using 100% Groupon, but you can bet your budget-conscious behinds we will still be scouring those daily deals for anything that might make our special day be a little lighter on our wallets.

Getting started on this whole planning thing,
Brett and Kate

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Canadian Adventure! (Aventure Canadienne!)

January 3, 2012 by

As an early Christmas present, Brett surprised Kate with a trip up to Niagara Falls, since she had never been and we’re staying less than 2 hours away. From the moment we woke up on Wednesday we were skeptical about how successful the trip would be since it was cold and oh so rainy! Regardless, we knew we were going no matter what since Brett had already booked a hotel to stay overnight in Ontario…so, with a quick and necessary stop at Tim Horton’s we were on our way. That is, until Brett realized he forgot his passport – oops! So then, with another quick trip back to the house we were really on our way.

By the time we had reached the U.S. side of the Falls, the rain had mostly stopped so we were able to park and walk around a bit, snapping a few foggy photos of the Falls and wandering through a holiday market that had been set up by local artists. We started to get hungry, and realizing it was already 1:30 and we were planning to go to the Butterfly Conservatory on the Canadian side before it closed at 3:30, we decided to grab a quick bite and cross the border. After driving around for about 10 minutes and not seeing anywhere we wanted to eat, we headed back to the bridge and resigned to eating at the Butterfly Cafe.

We arrived at the Conservatory, worried that it was actually closed (despite the website saying it was open) since we were only the second car in the entire parking lot. And, as luck would have it, the cafe turned out to be outdoors and therefore definitely closed, forcing us to split a Twix Bar from the gift shop for our lunch. We then hung up our coats, due to the tropical climate in the dome, and headed in to see all of those little things in flight! One loop around the path ended up not taking very long so we began around a second time and stopped at a bench to sit down, waiting patiently for butterflies to land around us so we could get some good pictures. And that’s when and where we became engaged!
(now go here!)

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End of Year Update

December 23, 2011 by

Longwood Gardens

In case you were worried, we ARE still alive…just busy, busy, busy! Kate’s schedule this past quarter took some getting used to, with lots of very long days and late nights full of work…but it seems the hard work has paid off with another term of straight A’s. Over the next, and last, two quarters of the program, though coursework is relatively minimal, our internships take up the time of a full-time job and progress on our thesis becomes critical for graduating on time (in June). So, while the draining schedule isn’t looking to change very much, I’m hoping that the adjustment period is over and I won’t be spending as much time just being plain tired! Speaking of my thesis, one final piece of news is that I just found out that I will be speaking at the 2012 Annual Art Therapy Conference next July in Savannah, Georgia…talk about being excited and nervous at the same time!

Santa's newest reindeer

Brett has been equally swamped, putting in full days of work for his regular job, then just as many (if not more) hours in the evenings and weekends working on freelance projects. Between building a few mobile sites and working on some exciting startups, he’s been having fun learning new tools of his trade and always working on something different (though it’s usually not so fun at 2am).

Peace & Joy

Our holiday season has been in full swing for about a week now, as we left Philly on Friday the 16th to spend a weekend skiing in Killington, Vermont before coming here to Brett’s parents house, where we will stay until December 29th. We both have a bit of work to get done at some point during this break, but we’re definitely looking forward to the next few days of  simply spending time with family and enjoying one another’s company. For now, it’s time to spend the rest of the day baking cookies and playing games :)

Wishing everyone a very warm and blissful holiday season,
Brett and Kate (& Captain & Basil)

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Our Hard-earned Vacation

July 14, 2011 by

After finishing my comprehensive exam on Friday June 24th, Brett and I set off on Sunday the 26th for a nine-day stay with Brett’s parents in Lakeville, New York. The weather was fantastic, the food (& drinks) were plentiful, & the company was the best we could ask for! We did a lot, while also doing a lot of nothing, in 9 days, so rather than give you the play-by-play, here are the highlights:

We have much more travel coming up this summer, as well of lots of time we’ll be spending outdoors, so be sure to check back for more fun pictures!

Re-finding our adventurous roots,
Brett and Kate

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Balancing Act

July 7, 2011 by

Basil, our sous chef

While Kate was in the midst of finishing up her first year of grad school (yay!), Brett has been REALLY busy with work, and somewhere in between there’s a pup being raised! So far, the transition to dog-owners has been pretty smooth, largely thanks to watching hours of The Dog Whisperer before bringing Basil home, but we are definitely looking forward to the rest of the summer when we’ll have more free time to hang out with and train the little guy.

Celebrating the end of year 1

Kate’s last official day was June 24th, which marked the completion of her first year comprehensive exam (40 hours of writing + 2 hours of oral questioning), with the Spring quarter ending back on June 9th. This 3rd quarter was quite challenging, and even more exhausting than the first 2 (the HOBY seminar right around week 7 didn’t help either). In the end, the hard work and sleepless nights paid off and the year was rounded out with another set of A’s :)

Working nights sure haven’t been lonely, since Brett has a lot going on as well. In addition to his regular work during the day, he’s gotten involved in a few side projects on the evenings and weekends, keeping him just about as busy as Kate. Brett’s volleyball leagues have been bumped from once to twice a week (the 2nd night Kate plays too), and hopefully many more hours will be spent playing outdoors soon!

Double Duty: reading & cuddling

As for Basil, he sure is growing fast! He’s nearly doubled in size since we got him and is now tall enough to get on the couch (& climb on Captain). Speaking of which, he and Captain are beginning to be friends…well, brothers is more like it, as they’ve started having numerous wrestling matches a day! More pics are sure to come.

Already working on the next post,
Brett and Kate

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Papers, Projects, & Puppy!

May 19, 2011 by

Basil at 5 weeks old

Whew! The past few months have been extremely busy/overwhelming/exhausting, hence the lack of blogging, and for the first time in way too long I have a few spare minutes – yay!
Papers-
School has been even more intense than the first 2 quarters, thanks in part to 6 class hours of research a week in preparation for starting my thesis in June. Thankfully, the term is coming to a close, with only 2 weeks of class left, & 1 week of finals. Then, the only thing standing between me & a (mostly) free summer of thesis writing will be 2 weeks spent on a Comp Exam (covering the entire 1st year of study).
Projects-
Brett and I are currently back in Chicago for a few days, mostly for work, with a little bit of fun on the side. From Thursday night until Sunday afternoon I will be helping to run a leadership conference for 110ish local high school students, as part of the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Organization. Meanwhile, Brett is going into the actual office (what?!) for a few days, then gets to spend some quality time with some of our favoritest people in the world :) The weekend will conclude with a little BBQ gathering before we head back to Philly and cross this huge project off our to-do list!
Puppy-
The time has come! For anyone who hasn’t talked to us very recently, a few months ago we began the process of getting a puppy and he is finally old enough for us to bring him home & into our life. He is a 9 week old Shiba Inu, who we’ve named Basil, & is sure to make the next few weeks quite interesting! We’ve prepared our house (and ourselves!) as much as possible, but we know there will still be a few sleepless nights…we’re just hoping for a smooth transition for Captain – he’s going to be such a great big brother!

More to come soon – we will certainly be documenting our experience with Basil!
For now, reuniting with the city we love,
Brett and Kate

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Don’t worry, we’re still here!

January 27, 2011 by
image

I couldn't convince Brett to make a fort with me

Hopefully no one has been as distressed as I have been about not blogging in almost a month – I sure have missed it! Being busy is no excuse, but barely having time to sleep means having extra time to blog hasn’t really been an option. The first week of this month marked the beginning of my second quarter in the program, and boy is it a doozy! 9 classes + 2 days at my clinical practicum = 17 hrs of work, 17 hours of class, 25 hours of homework, and maybe 30 hours of sleep a week. Needless to say, we haven’t been up to very much in the “fun” department, but in general we are still enjoying our time here, getting to know the city and slowly making a few friends along the way.

The biggest news of the week is the snowstorm I’m sure everyone has heard about by now. It was kind of neat to watch it all coming down last night, & it reminds me a bit of the lake-effect snow from back home, which is nice…but in about an hour I get to truck my way through it while I walk to my class at 2:00 (since the buses aren’t operating and we can’t move our car!) Oh well, at least morning classes were all canceled, giving me time to finally write this! :)

That’s all for now, but we promise to keep this more up-to-date in the coming weeks/months.

Wishing this snow day could have been a ski day,
Brett and Kate

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Happy Anniversary Indeed!

November 23, 2010 by

Cousins, Spouses, & Kids!

Big brother and I

A few weekends ago, Brett and I were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel back to Indiana for a family gathering to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary! We had the best time catching up with everyone and feel so lucky to share such a special time for my grandparents. It’s been a bit of an adjustment since moving to Philly, now that a visit with family requires so much planning (and money), so I’m trying to enjoy any time that I DO get to see anyone in my family and not take advantage of our time together.

Cutest kids ever

On a positive note, while we are a bit further from my family in Indiana, we are now closer to Brett’s family in New York and are getting to see them much more frequently than the previous 2 years…I guess it’s all a give and take, and Brett and I will definitely take any time with any family we can!

Sending our love to wherever you may be,
Brett and Kate

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Review: National Mechanics

November 10, 2010 by

Our sweet 'n savory brunch!

Admittedly this was our second choice venue for brunch on Saturday, but it was surely meant to be. We had previously walked past National Mechanics on a walking tour we took & although we were very intrigued, I wasn’t sure if we would ever make it there for a meal. Instantly we were pleasantly surprised with the availability of tables, the interesting decor, and the expansive bloody mary bar (Brett even tried their bacon vodka in his!). To help wash down our bloody’s, we decided to order both a savory & a sweet dish, to split them. Our Eggs Maryland (Eggs Benedict with crab cake instead of ham, side of potatoes) were awesome, & rich enough that half was enough (well, alright, if I had to eat the whole thing myself, I guess I could manage). For the sweet side of things, we had the French Baguette Toast, topped with bananas & berries…our thoughts? Baguettes were made for french toast – so simple but so delicious! Nothing else on the menu stood out too much, but we may return for trivia night :)

Rating:3 1/2 Forks
Location: 22 S 3rd St
Price: (brunch/lunch) $7-$12

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The Pinnacle and the Pulpit

November 7, 2010 by

Otherwise known as the two lookout spots on top of Blue Mountain, our latest hiking effort, located about 90 minutes from Philly. Not only was this the longest hike we’ve been able to do so far, it was also one of the most scenic and exciting. On our way from the base up to the Pinnacle (peak), the terrain was steep, rocky, and full of turns. Halfway to the Pinnacle was the Pulpit overlook, a small opening on the top of a huge rock formation – a great place to take a quick rest and get an amazing view. We finally reached the Pinnacle after about 2.5 hours, stopped for a snack and some more pictures, then headed back down the other side of the mountain. Luckily for us, this part of the trail was completely different…no rocks, just a calm, steady walk down a wide trail running alongside a creek.

Quick stats: 9.9 miles, 4 hours, 2000 ft elevation change, and awesome.

Getting ready to replace hiking with skiing,
Brett and Kate

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