Dogger got a leash!

... and he attached it to me! 

We have officially been engaged for 9 days. I am so grateful for how lucky we are to have each other and that this feels like perfect timing -- maybe because when you know, any time feels perfect. Okay, okay, enough cheese. 

Last Sunday I had given up on him asking that weekend, since it was around 10pm at night. I was buying our bus tickets to NYC for a long weekend vacay and he pretty much just asked in the middle of our office. It sounds very boring, but in reality was not boring at all. I was a lot more emotional than I expected to be so was glad it happened in private. 

Stella was our only witness and she is happy to no longer be a bastard kitty.

After I dried my eyes and changed out of pajamas, we headed to a bar down the street for drinks to celebrate and kept the secret to ourselves until the next day. It was so fun being the only two who knew for a bit, but telling people (especially our parents) was very fun the following day. 

I kept this secret through the entire week from Ashley, Sarah B and Brit! Whhaaaat? It was hard, but soooo worth it. We also waited to tell Andy's sister in NYC. It was so fun telling people in person and having a craZZZZy weekend with friends. That is another blog post in itself. 

In the words of Uncle Otis when he found out we were engaged:

As for getting married, make it for the long run. As to the type of wedding, well, that's up to you. 

Cheers to enjoying this time and not stressing about planning a wedding, because really it's about getting married! I am so happy to be engaged to the best guy for me!

Oh, did you want to see the ring? I will take some credit for the design of it, but it was a collaboration with us and obviously the jeweler, who I would recommend.

Nostalgia, working hard and playing hard

I've been feeling nostalgic for S. Korea. Please watch Sam Stein's video if you need a glimpse into how freaking amazing Seoul is. I am planning my trip back, alongside a list of many future vacations. But back to my real life instead of my dream life . . .


That same nostalgic feeling is reminding me to live in the moment and be content where I am, which I am. I am more than content; I'm happy and moving forward and working hard and playing hard. I might be slacking on the blog, but life still goes on whether it's documented on blogger or not. 

Recently I completed a competition entry with a co-worker for Perkins+Will's annual DLF (internal) competition. The program was a K-12 school in Detroit designed through the lens of health. The brief pushed several components, such as community engagement and access to healthy food.  Quite a loaded site and quite a loaded program in the midst of childhood obesity and food deserts. Here are some images from our board. 

I've certainly pulled my share of all-nighters but turning in our entry as every one else was coming to work Monday morning stuck with me all week. It's a little harder to recover from most recent all-nighter when you still have to work a regular week, no time for sleeping in the next day. Instead of a restful weekend, a weekend of crazy with the PW girls seemed like a better remedy. 


It looked a little like this.

"When people go to work, they shouldn't have to leave their hearts at home.”  

Betty Bender

NE weekends with KY friends

Summer in New England is not a place you want to take a vacation from, but rather a place you want to take a vacation to, at least in my opinion. I'm saving vacation time for winter when I'm tired of snow shoveling. Instead, I am enjoying others coming here or visiting others who live in the area.

As mentioned in my blog possibly several times, Sarah and Jay moved to NYC. Andy and I visited them as well as Andy's sister, Catherine, a couple weeks ago. We got in late on a Friday and sat in Kitty's living room that provided this view:

Since I have spent so little time in New York, I enjoyed our quick but thorough tour of the city. After some delicious bagels we headed for the high line, as every good architect should.

 

Sarah's co-worker invited us to jazz and delicious food at Matisse, which was amazing. Of course I had to order the mussels -- some of the best I've had! 

 

Not only am I lucky enough to live to close to Sarah and Jay, I also was able to visit with Sarah and Rosendo and Baby Merci this past weekend in Buzzards Bay. 


I'm not sure if it felt better waking up to the water or to Mercedes ...

Actually, I am certain this sweet face was the best part of the weekend. Is this what happens when you have kids? She isn't even mine and I have 500 photos of her from just one day! 

My Dad is coming for Labor Day and I couldn't be more excited. Summer is flying by, but at least it's been filled with amazing friends and beautiful places!


Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.  
Sam Keen

Here and There ... and is it August already?

I am lost in blogging world and have so many things to catch up on. Here are a few things to bring the blog up to the present.

1. Happy [very late] Birthday, Kitty!

Several weeks (months?) ago Kitty was in town for a birthday dinner. Pete and Jeanne took us all to Les Zygomates, which is amazing by the way. Pete and Jeanne somehow always find amazing places to eat - whether they are cheap, unsuspecting or expensive and unusual, almost all of the best places I have eaten in the last few years have been with the Zimmermanns.

2. Happy BIRTH-day Mercedes Usandizaga! 

Sarah and Rosendo had Mercedes on June 15th and I got to see her (and hold her! Eeee!) when I visited Louisville for Sarah and Jay's wedding. She is such a beautiful baby and I love watching her grow via photographs from far away. I am so anxious to see her again ... and of course miss her Mom so much, as always.

3. We have been cooking and grilling like crazzzzzzy.

Here was zucchini and tomatoes from the garden on top of rice served with delicious fish (originally frozen and from Trader Joe's - everything can't be so fresh)


4. I love this New England summer (and mostly the beach)!

Andy and I have already been to Block Island, Narragansett, the North Shore beaches, and the Cape. And we spent the 4th of July on the Charles River.  That just happened to be our 4th Fourth of July together ... and the best one so far. 
 

5. Architectural Discussion!

Most recently Andy and I visited the Cape with several grad school friends. Tammy came into town all the way from St. Louis and several others came from all around the NE. 

Frombo and Ellie hosted us in Eastham and were fabulous hosts.  I can't pick my favorite part. There were five of us Helsinki - folks and in true Finnish style, we took advantage of the sauna in their basement.

 

There was some Apples to Apples,

A full day at the beach - how is everyone's sunburn?

A bonfire - along with a classic game of celebrity.

Lindsay made a vegetable terrene. Mmm. Stop blushing when I say you're an amazing cook - you just are and you need to accept it.

 

Grilled clams .... yum.

And of course, lobster!

To sum up my life recently, it has been revolving around food - fresh, delicious, often sea- food.

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. 

J. R. R. Tolkien

Dr + Mrs Jay Burton

One of my dearest friends, Sarah, married one of the best men on earth, Jay, on July 8th, 2011.

There we are at the rehearsal dinner.

Todd Pellowe photographed their wedding - and did a much better job than me, of course. You can read his post and see the slideshow here.

The weekend was nostalgic for many reasons. Sarah's brother, Ben, was recently killed in a car accident. I am amazed at her families strength and the presence of Ben's memory at her wedding.

Shook summed things up pretty well on her blog.  Time does fly, right? I can't believe there were years where we spent every weekend together. Ok, let's be honest ... we spent EVERY DAY together in college. There was Sunday Funday, $1 beer Mondays, Margarita Tuesdays ... but that isn't what kept our friendships tight. It was the first half-marathon ran together, the post-break up nights not spent alone, the lessons learned and ability to forgive... and we have many many more things to add to that list as time continues to go by.

Congratulations, Sarah + Jay.
You two are amazing and I am so excited for your marriage. Thank you for having me as a part of the big day. It was, most of all, full of love.

Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that. Michael Leunig

Bricks

Remember this? I know, it's been a while since I blogged. Let's have a recap, - one last time - of this backyard reno.

This is what the yard looked like in February, after the snow melted. Check out the bathtub half.

This would be a really nice area for a patio. So, we got on that.

Bricks are expensive when you need 400 of them. We collaborated as neighbors and convinced our landlord to pay for $350 of the patio materials. We went a little over budget, but managed to find used bricks for 15 cents (Thanks, Devin). I love the way they look and think we can feel good about the fact we saved them from a landfill.

Andy, his father, Pete, and our friend, Adam, were hard at work while I was away for a wedding. I came back and the patio was almost finished.

Can you believe how amazing it looks now?

I am excited we don't have to go to Home Depot anymore to compare prices and see how many bags of sand fit in the back of our car. But I'm more excited that we have a beautiful, useable space to share with our amazing neighbors.

"Friends are flowers in life's garden."

Who wants to come over tonight?

Taste of Summer

I am savoring every bit of my first New England summer.

This weekend we finally put Andy's new grill to work and enjoyed the fruits of our labor in the yard.

This was the second evening we have spent with our neighbors in the last few days and it was so nice. (Hopefully everyone has less of a hangover tomorrow than they had on Friday. Oops.)

Yep, we grew grass! Devin is mostly responsible for its success, but all of us contributed in watering and wishful thinking.

The meat on the grill speaks for itself, but you can't have a successful cook-out without some delicious sides.

I joke about the back and forth of the weather (Is summer really here yet?), but this summer really has started nicely. This was the first of many, many summer Sunday evenings by the grill.

Grilling is not just about lighting a fire.
Bobby Flay