weddings

Cheers to SIX Years ! // and a COFFEE Prize Pack Giveaway

April 20, 2018 by Rachel 25 Comments

Six years. Six years ago, tomorrow, Chad and I eloped on an empty beach in Portland, Maine.

It truly feels like a lifetime ago. We were about 13 weeks pregnant with Ari at the time. We had been dating for what seemed like forever, so we decided why the heck not go get married and make it official!

When I say we ‘eloped’ I mean that we were the only people present, besides the justice of the peace, our photographer, and her assistant (whom also acted as our two witnesses for the event).

Our parents knew we were getting married; but no one else did.

It was perfect. And I love looking back on the photos from the day…

And here we are — six years and three pregnancies (and almost three babies) later — still in love, even though our lives look much different than before.

To my husband — you are still the love of my life — even if our lives look tremendously different than we imagined, and even if we get lost in the hustle and bustle of parenting and work. I love you.

I’m certain our anniversary will look even more ‘boring’ this year — as I’m working a fundraiser and Chad will be working — but it will be special, nonetheless. ♥

And to help us celebrate our anniversary, I’m hosting a giveaway for a Dunkin Donuts Summer Prize Pack. It includes everything you need to celebrate this Summer!

2 Dunkin’ beach towels
2 Dunkin’ drink containers
1 donut pool float
1 donut drink float

Use the rafflecopter widget below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Photographer: Justine Johnson
Resort: Inn By the Sea
Jar Cakes: Etsy
Location: Portland Head Light, Crescent Beach, Lobster Shack at Two Lights

Get Your Smile Camera-Ready with Crest Whitestrips

January 20, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

I have a wedding to attend here in the next two weeks and there are so few things that I can control, looks-wise. Of course, I’ll be rocking the mega postpartum look. But the one thing that I have on point is my hair, makeup, and smile game! Sure, it’s nice to attend a wedding as just a guest (without the pressure of being in the bridal party!), but there will still be pictures. And I want to look flawless in them!

Since I’m a mom on a budget, I’ve been using Crest 3D White Supreme Flexfit Whitestrips, and opting out of those $500+ laser whitening treatments! The ideal time to whiten for a wedding is two weeks in advance of the big day. Crest 3D White Supreme Flexfit Whitestrips whitens in just one hour a day for 2 weeks!

To document my whitening journey, here’s a little before picture:

One thing I can say about motherhood is that we don’t always take care of ourselves and put ourselves first. In fact, I know I’ve pretty much put myself on the backburner. But these last two weeks I’ve been following the whitening routine! And it has worked!!

Here’s my after picture [ignore the silly face… it’s hard to take a serious selfie. I’m just not good at it.]:

A little whitening is a magical thing! And so is a little pre-wedding dress up/makeup time!

Whitestrips use the same enamel-safe, teeth-whitening ingredients dentists use and provide a comfortable at home teeth whitening experience. Bonus? They can be found everywhere! Drug stores, big box retailers, and online for just $64.99 per kit! Way more cost effective than visiting the dentist for treatments!

And now I’m ready for my big postpartum, wedding debut! Watch out, world! And by all means, go out and grab some of these for yourself! ♥ ♥

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

our 3rd anniversary //

April 21, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

I’m keeping it short and sweet today. It’s our THIRD wedding anniversary! That’s right… on this day three years ago we were getting couples massages at the Inn By The Sea in Cape Elizabeth, Maine — just outside of Portland. I had my hair and makeup done, and we met our photographer (who would act as our witness) for the first time.

It’s amazing that three years later we have a 2.5 year old Moosh; a photographer that we keep in regular contact with (and who will do our family pictures AGAIN this Summer); and 1,095 days of memories!

And yet again, I’m sharing our wedding video…. Enjoy. Or don’t! 🙂 But I will!

[youtube=https://youtu.be/udamT5uRudw]

Shauna + Jimmy // Ceremony + Reception

November 6, 2014 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Hey guess what? It’s been a WHOLE MONTH since my baby sister got married. And it means it’s been like a full month since I blogged. Buuut I’m getting back to it!

Well, Moosh failed to fall asleep before the ceremony. Which means a 3-hour nap a day toddler was running on little sleep and no nap that day or the day before. We were lucky to have gotten him in a tux, let alone to walk down the aisle. But his mood completely changed when he saw we were riding in the trolley to the ceremony (I’m fairly certain he thought it was a choo-choo. Whatevs, kid. It worked.)

Moosh was supposed to walk down the aisle with Jimmy’s nephew, who is a couple of years older. Moosh and Colton were supposed to walk right in front of me. They both started down the aisle, and Moosh turned right around and came running back to me! At which point Colton turned around and said “Come on!” in a semi-hushed but totally audible tone (adorable). He started to follow Colton again before turning around and running back to me. I ended up carrying him down the aisle before meeting the Best Man and handing Moosh off to Chad! Ha! I haven’t seen any pictures of this ‘exchange’ yet, but I can’t wait to finally see them! They are probably SO funny!

Post-ceremony we all piled back onto the trolley to head out for pictures! Thank goodness my aunts volunteered to hang with Ari in the hotel so he could try and get some sleep. He ended up getting a 45-minute or so nap while Chad & I went with the crew for pictures! Champagne toasts the whole way to pictures on the trolley! Which really helped because it was freeeeeezing out!

Chad was able to snap some candids of us while the actual photographer worked some magic. The couple of pictures that I’ve seen from the photographer are so incredible. I can’t wait to see more! (In the meantime, just deal with my crappy phone pictures).

After we snapped some pictures, we hopped back on to the trolley and headed to the reception at Dock 580. Dock 580 is this incredible warehouse space turned-venue located in downtown Columbus. Keeping with the Columbus-centric theme, they served beer from Columbus Brewing Company (Bodhi Double IPA) straight out of growlers from their local growler joint – The Daily Growler!

Ari kinda crashed the first dance (surprise, surprise). And my sister and my dad had the CUTEST first dance ever. Seriously. Makes me (almost) wish I had a big wedding. Ha.

My dad is so crafty — he made the S + J marquee lights. Seriously. So awesome!

Ya know what wasn’t awesome? My MOH speech. For serious. I didn’t even write a single word down. Ha. Mistake. Cause the best man is also a standup comedian. Like legit. A standup comedian. Yayyy for MOH fail. 🙂

The dessert table was the BOMB. Italian cookies, candies, and pies! Extra awesome bonus? Jeni’s Ice Cream! Oh my YUM.

The end of the night send off was lit with giant sparklers! For real GIANT sparklers! It was a fantastic night. So much fun. If Chad & I had a ‘real’ wedding, I would imagine it to be like this night.

Sidenote: No-nap toddlers look like this. Ugh. It took about a week to get us all back to a normal schedule. Looking back it’s hard to believe this was already a month ago. I’m so happy these two lovebirds are married! <3

Shauna + Jimmy // Pre-Festivities!

October 21, 2014 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Truthfully, I’m a little behind with life right now. We’re a full week out after my sisters wedding, and life is just starting to return to normal. Our house still isn’t organized yet, but I’m working at it little by little. Moosh has been sleeping for 13-hours a night AND napping for 3 hours each day. It’s safe to say that last weekend totally wore us all out.

Truly, however, the wedding festivities started about a month ago — at my sister, Shauna’s, Bachelorette Party. We planned a fairly low-key Bach party in Columbus. We started out the day at The Candle Lab on the Short North, for some candle-making.

After our candle-making, we made our way over to a restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. There were a LOT of us all packed at the world’s longest table. Ha! It was fun, though. And, as normal, the two sisters ordered the exact same meal (grilled cheese — we are so predictable!)

I love that the restaurant brought her out a giant piece of chocolate cake (like that’s what a soon-to-be bride wants! Ha!!). But we all stepped up and helped her out with it. 😉

After dinner we snapped a couple of pre-drinks pictures of the whole group (not everyone was going to head out for the bar crawl). Looking at the picture in the upper lefthand corner it’s now incredibly clear — there were a LOT of us! 🙂 Thanks for showing up, ladies!! The rest of the night was full of fairly lame, and equally awesome, mid-to-late twenties nonsense! That’s right — we’re OLD and we’re OK with that! 🙂 That means we were eating Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream and street pizza by 11 PM and in bed by 11:30! Don’t worry – we still had fun. Just old lady fun. Which is the best kind of fun — and the only kind of fun I know these days! LOL!

Fast forward a couple of weeks later… And it’s already time for the wedding! The rehearsal? Easy-peasy! The rehearsal dinner? Not-so-easy-peasy. Because Mister-toddler-in-tow is difficult when he doesn’t nap. However, the rehearsal dinner was nothing short of amazing! Dinner was at Barley’s Brewing Company in Columbus. Hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, and the worlds largest cheese plate!? [It should be noted that our family LOVES soul food/ PLUS house-made IPAs!]

Ya know what’s fun about weddings?? Crazy things happen. Like making your dad drive you to the only 24-hour Kroger in Downtown Columbus for a giant bottle of champagne and orange juice (because you were a horrible matron of honor and forgot to get mimosa fixins’ for your sisters big day!).

Chad, Moosh & I ended up getting a little bit of sleep the night before the big day, but hotel sleeping with a toddler is the worst thing on the planet. In fact, Moosh slept for about 3 hours in his pack-n-play before crawling into bed with us. Which means we didn’t sleep much at all.

Coffee was a MUST the day of a wedding. Wedding days (whomevers it is) are L-O-N-G! So I marched right into my sissy’s hotel room armed with coffee and a giant (like seriously giant) bottle of champagne and OJ!

The part of the bride getting ready? Easy. The part of getting myself ready AND making sure Moosh and the mister were ready?? StressFUL. Worst. But let’s not focus on that. Let’s focus on the pretty robes and pretty hair, shall we??

I’m still recovering from this part of the wedding weekend. So much running around and so much fun; I haven’t even had the energy to begin writing about the ceremony! That will be next!

Hello, Thirty! //

October 5, 2014 by Rachel 1 Comment

The last few days have been a whirlwind with celebrating the wedding of my sister.

Today I welcomed the big THREE-OH! I’m far too exhausted for words. Chad and I spent our weekend eating, drinking, talking, and chasing a sleepless toddler for days on end. A pretty incredible mix of awesome and exhaustion.

Just going to leave you with this gem of a picture from our weekend…

Catch you after about 12 hours of sleep, friends. Good thing I’m off work tomorrow!