full bellies. full hearts.

mmmmm.

vacation.

food.

my husband.

food.

window shopping.

no kids.

sleep.

food.

jeff & i just got back from a little getaway to san diego

for our eleven year anniversary 

(just 2 months late :)

we'd had the date on the calendar for awhile,

but we couldn't find a place to stay.

then, a week before our scheduled date,

we finally found a living social deal for san diego.

woot!

we spent thursday-saturday of this last week

exploring and eating our way through san diego.

it was so fantastic.

i also just discovered instagram

(i know.  i'm a bit late to the party)

and decided to use that to chronicle our weekend 

instead of my big fancy camera.

it was fun.

sorry to everyone following me for posting WAY too many times!

we got to stay in little italy.

i was pretty pumped about eating some legit italian food!

we stayed at the porto vista hotel.

it was not too bad,

minus this wallpaper in our hotel room.

dear hotel decorator....

i know you want to be cool and european, 

but giant, scantily-clad women in my hotel room

does not make me happy.

i should be the skinniest girl in my hotel room, right?

anyhoo.

we started out on thursday afternoon 

with some walking & sightseeing.

we went to a super-lame mall in the gaslamp district.

but luckily, right across the street was a great little restaurant,

the lincoln room.

the ambiance was awesome.

the food was delicious.

(fried green tomato stack!  deconstructed pizza!)

we had a great time.

we headed back to our hotel, parked our car,

and walked to extraordinary desserts.

 apparently the chef is from the food network (i think?)

and the desserts were CRAZY amazing.

along with the line.

we ended up taking our dulce de leche cake to-go,

stopped at 7-11 for some coffee to drink with it,

and ate amazing cake on our hotel room bed 

while watching the modern family finale on hulu.

good times. 

i slept until 8:34am.

okay.  i actually woke up at 7:00 

and FORCED myself to lay there and go back to sleep.

remember when you could sleep until noon?

my children have ruined me.

we got ready and headed to the breakfast place

recommended by pretty much everyone,

hash house a go-go.

most of san diego was already there waiting in line,

but after sitting down,

i totally understood why.

holy breakfast, batman!

the plates were GIGANTIC.

and the food was incredible.

oh man.

we got a bacon waffle

(like actual strips of bacon in the waffle.  right?)

and a crazy-good eggs benedict.

i'm hungry just thinking about it.

 

after breakfast

(more like lunch since it was noon by the time we ate)

we walked around and did some window shopping.

then we headed to la jolla.

my amazing, beautiful cousin graduated high school on friday.

we were able to go to her open house afterwards.

we couldn't be prouder of her.

congrats annabelle!

we have no doubt god has big plans for your life!

(totally stole this pic off her facebook.

she's headed to cal poly this fall!)

after the open house we headed back to get ready for dinner.

bring on the italian!

there had been a lot of opinions about where we should eat.

but between tara's (former san-diego-an) insistence & the crazy-long line outside,

we knew there was really only one option.

filippi's won.

the line goes all the way through their deli and to the street.

of course, my sweet & friendly husband made friends while we waited,

super-nice pediatric dentists from kansas, in san diego for a convention.

i love how nice he is.

side note: accordion player serenading the line.

bonus.

after a long wait,

we finally made it to our table.

it was EXACTLY what i was hoping for.

i felt like i was in italy.

or at least what i picture.

if nothing else, new york's little italy.

checkered tablecloths.

simple menu of lasagna, spaghetti, ravioli & pizza.

yes.

 

my favorite was the bottles of chianti hanging from the ceiling.

diners could decorate them to hang as a memento from their visit.

i have never ordered a bottle of wine at dinner before.

but you bet your bottom dollar it was happening!

we decorated our bottle and watched them hang it.

(and shared the wine with our new-found kansas friends :)

happiness.

the next morning we headed to the famers market

literally on our street.

i love me a farmers market.

this one had live sea urchins (what?), gorgeous flowers,

lots of yummy produce and tons of other fun things.

you know, like dogs riding in remote-control cars.

i walked away with some salted caramels & a new necklace.

we ate pizza slices and loaded up the car.

 

for our last stop,

we went out to coronado island.

i have always wanted to go there.

someday, i'd love to stay at the hotel del coronado.

it is straight-up beautiful.

we walked the hotel, 

headed out to the beach and the tide pools

(we spotted some big crabs & saw a few dolphins)

and just soaked in the sun.

and the quiet.

and each other.

after two days away,

it was great to come home to these little people.

(HUGE shout out to rose for taking fabulous care of them while we were gone!)

i'm always amazed that for how much i want a break,

the minute i'm away from them, i miss these kids like crazy.

but mostly,

it was wonderful to know that after eleven years of marriage,

i am still crazy for this guy.

he is my best friend.

he makes me laugh.

i have the most fun with him.

i love, love, love him.

so i returned with a very full belly.

but an even fuller heart.

i was reminded just how blessed i am

to be a mommy,

and to be married to this wonderful man.

eleven years

eleven years ago today,

this was what i looked like.

eleven years ago today,

i stood before God and made a covenant.

an unbreakable promise.

eleven years ago today,

i married my very best friend.

eleven years ago,

God gave me the greatest gift.

i am forever grateful to call this man my husband.

a good week.

we have had a good week.

last weekend, our isabella turned 4.

(although she now insists she is 5. oh, that child.)

our weekend was spent celebrating her.

we started off on friday at disneyland!

while jackson was at school, i took her in by myself for awhile.

i loved the one-on-one time with my big girl.

the forecast for friday was rain.

ugh.

i am not a fan of amusement parks in the rain.

but we had promised, so we put on our raincoats and purchased some ponchos.

it was lovely in the morning... i thought 'rain' must have meant 'sprinkles.'

boy, was i wrong.

right about the time daddy came with the other 2 kiddos,

the skies opened up.

we got SOAKED.

we even pulled out the super-cool ponchos.

wet underwear makes me grumpy.

it finally let up around 2:00, just in time for our friends, the coltmans to arrive.

(she is amazing- she braved the rain with 2 little girls and a prego belly.

and looked super cute doing it. her hubby joined us a little later.)

the kids had a great time, despite the weather.

and they loved playing with their new friend, lainey.

bella insisted on riding the little mermaid ride 3 times, 

and would have kept going if we let her.

luckily, the other kids were big fans, too.

that night, we stayed for bella's favorite, the parade.

all the characters waved and wished her happy birthday.

she was in little-girl-heaven.

especially since she also got hot chocolate and cotton candy!

(charlotte ate her first cotton candy and was literally trying to shovel it into her mouth.  hi-lar-ious.)

the next morning i had a photo shoot with a fun family.

i seriously love taking pictures.  and so fun taking them of new people!

that afternoon, we decided to do a last minute non-party at the park with some new friends.

(my sweet hubby knows how i can get a little, well, obsessed with parties.  

so no banners, no decorations, no games.  just cupcakes and playtime at the park).

i wanted to make the perfect cupcake.

so i made this cupcake and this frosting.

neither turned out how i wanted.  and together... a cupcake horror.

(okay.. that may be a slight exaggeration.)  

but i had a gigantic minor meltdown regarding sad-looking cupcakes 

and my daughter turning 4 years old.

my oh-so-patient husband sent me to ralphs to buy some store bought cupcakes.

problem solved. crisis averted.

bella had rapunzel cupcakes and couldn't have been happier.

bella was so excited about all her new friends coming.

and i had this sweet moment where i looked around the table at all these families 

and was just so thankful that God has already provided these friends for us.

bella and her friend, nyomi.

nyomi's big brother is in jackson's class at school.

some of our favorite new families

(the coltmans + corrine, the halls, the brummels, the brauns, the rottschafers, and the mccartys.)

(side note... the week before, my sweet friend corrine came over while jeff was at work one night.

she helped me make these super yummy giada pinwheels with my kids.

so fun. so delicious!)

sunday morning was bella's actual birthday.

it was also daylight savings time.

seriously... i would like to take whoever invented daylight savings into a dark alley.

i may have a thing or two to 'say' to them.

we may or may not have bribed our kids to stay in their room with breakfast cupcakes.

i'm not even sorry.

and yes, those are the cupcakes from the previous day's cupcake-meltdown-extraordinaire.

after some early-morning sugar, we headed to church.

i even had friends to sit with this week!

happy me.

sweet brooke is jackson's special buddy for his class at church, 

and my kiddos favorite babysitter here.

she was super sweet and brought bella a birthday gift.

precious.

that afternoon we had a ministry event

(so fun.  i love balboa island. and kids ministry. and new friends.)

and then headed over to sprinkles cupcakes.

because bella just hadn't had enough cupcakes, right?

we dropped daddy off at work and then went home to eat this famous cupcake.

it really was yummy!

monday morning, our friends, the dodds came through town on their way to arizona.

they brought their doggies, lucy & murphy.

bella was in LOVE.

those poor dogs.

that night, i had my first girls-night-out since moving here.

it was SO.MUCH.FUN.

i loved every single girl there.

and the food was amazing!

i'm already looking forward to next month :)
(sorry- no photos.  i didn't want my new friends to think i was crazy. it is too early for them to know the truth)

tuesday jeff was back at work, but he surprised me with a date night!

whoo hoo!

(2 nights out in a row.... i didn't know what to do with myself!)

we had a gift card to this unbelievable restaurant.

seriously... i would have to sell a kid to eat there normally.

and it would be worth it.

we ate grilled artichokes, roasted beets (my first ever), crab cakes, mashed potatoes, and the best rib-eye ever.

my mouth is watering just thinking about it. mmmmmm.

after that, we took the ferry to balboa island to walk around, 

and then got vanilla chai at gypsy den in costa mesa.

maybe one of our best date nights ever.

and it had been a long time since we had some good time to talk.

i love my husband.

a lot.

wednesdays are my favorite mornings.

i have nurture at church, a group of about 100 moms meeting together.

we eat a delicious breakfast, pray and connect, and then listen to a great speaker.

i adore wednesdays.

here is my table- joyful.

(we are missing juliana)

emily is our table leader, and one of my favorite new people.

seriously.  she is adorable, thoughtful, and so fun.

here are the girls leaving nurture, both wearing their 'kitty' shirts.

i love them.

we had lunch at a park in costa mesa where they feed lunch to the homeless on wednesdays.

we want our kids to be part of experiences like that.

i don't think they totally got it, but it was neat to be there and see what was going on.

(but also sad to see how many people there were hurting and in need)

it definitely makes you appreciate how much we are really blessed with.

it was a great week.

maybe the best week i've had since moving.

it was less about what we did, and more about who we did it with.

time with my little family is always precious.

and i love all our new friends.

it doesn't make me love or miss my old ones any less,

but it does make life here much, much better.

yep.... 

it was a good week.

grand finale

i bet you're tired of hearing about my anniversary, right?

i've told you why i'm the luckiest girl alive, and where we went to celebrate.

 i'm not done yet.  

but i promise this is the last post you'll hear about my anniversary...til next year ;)

my wedding pictures have always made me kinda sad.

for someone who loves photography, i got a lot of posed, sterile pictures.

not really what i was going for.

i see all these gorgeous wedding pictures and i get kinda jealous.

and when you have kids... you just don't get pretty pictures together anymore.

sooooo.....

why not take anniversary pictures?

once i came up with the idea, i was so excited.

my brain started going.

when we do pictures, i'm not the kind of girl that just likes to pick out some clothes and smile.

have you seen my parties?

i'm a girl that loves a theme :)

i decided to create a very romantic, dreamy setting....

almost like a living room if you lived outdoors.

wedding-y, without being too overt.

i wanted evening light, nature, and warmth.

i added personal touches to make it special for us.

none of it would have been possible without an amazing photographer.

the incredible cori derksen of derksen photography totally caught my vision.

and big props to the magic-makeup skills of michelle kreiter who transformed my face.

(notice the heart garland i made in the trees, the paper lanterns, the wedding photo, B, etc?)  

now i can stare at beautiful pictures of my husband and i

reminding me of how in love we are 

10 years into this crazy thing called marriage

i couldn't be happier with the results.

take that, newlyweds.