Can I Just Say...

T.G.I.F.

 

That is all.

Have a great weekend!

 

{Photo of the cookies I baked this week for the hubs.  Trying not to eat them all in one sitting... trying.}

Sausalito Houseboat {Honeymoon!}

{Honeymoon!} blog series continues...

The first two nights of our honeymoon were spent on a tiny houseboat in Sausalito on the San Francisco bay.  I still dream about this houseboat.  For our honeymoon, we spent 11 glorious days road tripping around California.  And these first two days in Sausalito were some of my favorites from the whole trip.   

The gentle swaying with every little move we made, the amazing views of the bay and city skyline, the beautiful and blooming "floating garden", the comfy cozy bed with views of the water, the tiny little kitchen to brew our coffee, the kayaks to cruise effortlessly around the water, and the completely secluded, romantic feeling we got like we were on our own little island.  What better way to spend our first couple moments as husband and wife.

Life is Short...

... eat dessert first!

Saturday mornings are made for sleeping in, then making a run to the local bakery in your pajamas, then coming home and indulging in a good cup of coffee and your bakery sweets.  There are no breakfast rules on the weekends.  And I quite like it that way.  

St. Patrick's Day at Raccoon State Park

This year, we took a different approach to St. Patrick's Day.  Instead of drinking for endless hours, we decided to get outside and enjoy the insanely gorgeous weather by going mountain biking instead!  We headed up to Raccoon State Park in the early afternoon.  It was pretty muddy and all of the trees still had their "Winter death" look to them since it IS still March, but nevertheless, the weather was warm and it still felt awesome to get some fresh air!

I know what you're thinking and it's okay to be jealous of our awesome helmet fashion.  Safety first!  I didn't take many pictures because obviously it's kind of impossible to mountain bike and hold a camera at the same time... but every time we rested I got a few shots!

It was really nice to get outside and have a productive St. Patrick's Day, instead of the usual 'start drinking at 10am, pass out by 8pm, feel like death the next morning' kind of day.  We did indulge in a few beers later that evening (and homemade reubens!), but I must say it was nice to wake up on Sunday morning feeling great.  Brett and Anna = 1, Sunday Hungover People = 0.  Oh yeah!

Spring!

Happy first day of Spring!!

I feel like Winter kind of just snuck by... it was one of the mildest Winters we've had in a long time (not complaining!).  Regardless, I'm so happy that Spring is officially here!  That means that Summer is not far off! 

Some things I'm looking forward to this Spring:

...warm, beautiful weather...

...getting back into mountain biking season...

...iced coffee...

...running outside...

...driving with the windows down & the music up...

...late nights relaxing on the back porch...

...lots of concerts on the way...

...our mini getaway road trip at the end of April...

...weekends spent entirely outside...

...opening the windows & feeling the warm breeze throughout the house...

...getting to start work on our yard & plant a garden...

...lots & lots of camping...

...my birthday...

and

...my much needed hair appointment tonight...

Oh, I'm excited just thinking about all these fun things!

What are YOU looking forward to this Spring?!*

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!*

I hope you drink plenty of green beer

and eat tons of reubens! :)

{All the women in my family have four leaf clover tattoos

in honor of my grandfather who was a true Irishman

and ironically passed away on St. Patrick's Day in 2005.}

Can you guess which one is mine? ;)

Refresh...

Sunday was the most beautifully gorgeous day we've had in a while.

And our bikes were practically begging us to take them out for a ride...

There is nothing quite as refreshing as being outside on the first real warm and sunny day of the year.

Spring/Summer, I can't wait for you.  Seriously.

Happy Birthday Brita!

Happy Birthday Brita!!

I hope you have an amazing day.

 You are the best sister a girl could ask for!

I cannot believe that you are now 18.

I feel old...

So glad we got to celebrate yesterday!!

Love you!

{Photo from yesterday - Thinking really hard about her birthday wish...}

Yosemite National Park - Part 3 {Honeymoon!}

Continuing my trip down honeymoon memory lane...

The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the INYO National Forest.  Wow, this place was unreal.  This was the last place we went on our way out of Yosemite.  The Ancient Bristlecones are some of the oldest living things on earth.  Like over 4,750 years old.  Seriously!  We knew we had to see these.  Not to mention, the insane views on our way up to the forest.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  We felt like we were on top of the world.  California is an amazing place.   

More honeymoon photos to come in the near future!

{All photos by Brett & myself on our honeymoon in August 2010}

Yosemite National Park - Part 2 {Honeymoon!}

Yosemite, I miss you...

(Especially during these cold winter months in Pittsburgh when all I want to do is be outside.)

Yosemite National Park.  Oh what I would give to be exploring the great outdoors in shorts and a tank right now!  If you have never been to Yosemite, GO.  Seriously, go.  I'm dying to go back some day.  I cannot even begin to describe the amazingness of this place.  To be surrounded by such a massive amount of beauty and nature really puts life into perspective and brings you back to appreciate the simple things.  It is really something that everyone needs to experience.    

{All photos by Brett & myself on our honeymoon in August 2010}