summa time catch up

what a summer! 

the o's have been the busiest we've ever been the last couple of months. 
right after my previous post we had an offer accepted on a house!! 
a real, grown up, house. 

since that offer was accepted it's been back and forth with the owners, inspections, lawyers, banks, exchanging moolah (lots of it), stress, love, excitement and everything in between.

crazytimes. 

we finally made the big move on june 18th and with the help of my amaaaaaazing parents (and some pretty impressive movers) we got in without a hitch and are now residents of Reading, MA! 

(our new digs)

a week after this photo was taken, we had our bestest besties up for a visit and a wedding of one of our fellow besties.  sarah and i met on semester at sea and have been lovers of sunsets and south africa ever since.  she met an amazing man, jay, and while they've had to deal with more than most couples have to deal with...ever...we all were finally able to share a very special day with them as they celebrate their love and the uniting of their family. they are definitely the strongest couple i know.

(sarah, jay, with a sneak peak of owen, their son)

    this photo makes me teary.  she's one of the most honest, genuine people who is never afraid to share her feelings and i so appreciate that. she truly feels all the feels and i love her so so much. 

unfortunately, our other friend, gretchen, who was responsible for the traditional wedding present blanket (long'ish story short: we've given photo collage blankets for every wedding so far accompanied by the song "i believe" which is our trip song) for this wedding, forgot it. poor thing has probably never felt so bad in her life (as she should! kidddinnngggg) so we put together a hack job blanket, but made sure to give her the same celebration we've given to everyone and she'll receive her real blanket later. 

 (finally some real 'cheap smiles')

then the following thursday, mr. o and i flew out to san fran/sonoma to celebrate the wedding (yes. we are living the wedding circuit this year - 9 total!) of my college sorority sister, kate! 

we started the weekend in san fran and had such a blast playing tourists.

walking the steep streets, admiring the ferry building, eating amazing food, trying lots of local beers

annddddddd

i got to try inout burger for the first time! 

double double animal style, baby!

(mr. o and i playing tourist in san fran on lombard st.)

friday afternoon we drove up to sonoma, enjoyed some vineyard tours and the company of my sorority sisters i hadn't seen in awhile. kate and taylor got married the next day, which also happened to be july 4th, and probably had the most beautiful wedding i've ever attended.

the never ending vineyards, the old historic home, trees creating of canopy above the dance floor with twinkle lights intertwined in them, beautiful music, farm to table food...

it was as if the whole thing was crafted from a story book.

it also helped that bride and groom are also some of the most beautiful people. 

and that i have the most fun college friends ever. 

congrats to kate and taylor! 

from sonoma we flew an extra 5 hours and made a stop in maui for a couple days of rest, relaxtion, snorkling, eating, hiking, and just enjoying life. 

(i mean, does it get any more beautiful than this?)

life is good. 

annual winter weekend

for the last 3 years, mr. o and i have been traveling up 

to the good state of NH for a wintery weekend. 

we've snowmobiled, gone tubing, skiing, boarding...the forest is our...oyster? 

we stay at the most amazing little place called the woodstock inn

which happens to be attached to a brewery.... 

not a coincidence. 

it also happens to be the cutest, friendliest, comfiest place on earth

with amazing food and brews and as part of your stay you get two free beers and 

be a mere 100 steps from the brewery itself! 

live free or die, am i right?! 

i was an avid skier as a kiddo/teen, but dropped off when college came around

and beer drinking and being part of my sorority was more important.

mr. o has been a snowboarder his whole life and, of course,

is amazing at it and totally fearless. 

i need some of that! 

regardless, this year, i finally caved and purchased the whole set of ski gear. 

we were determined to get me back on the slopes for real. 

and we did! 

(top of waterville valley)

we spent two full days shredding some pow

(did i sound like a real skier there?)

and it was a blast! so happy to be getting back into this sport. 

we enjoyed fantastic weather, amazing views of the white mountains, 

and added a super fun activity to our arsenal of things to do together.

including...working on our nerd face.

happy almost end of winter! 

jury duty for the new american

mr. o became a citizen of our great nation in 2010. 

since that date the only thing he's been praying and wishing for is...

jury duty.

what?! 

as a born and raised american, 

we're mostly bred to try and avoid this civic duty of ours. 

i'm sick? i'll be too influential in the jury room? i'm biased?

the last time i was called, 

i used the fact that my father was a lawyer to try and get out of it. 

"is anyone in your family in the law?"

"well yes, my father is a lawyer..for the state of CT..and he's important...?"

didn't fly. 

cut to me up in the jury box having been chosen, staring at a supposed criminal, awaiting the next steps. 

thankfully, they couldn't pick the final juror so we were all sent home. 

but why should i be thankful that i didn't have to exercise my right as an american? 

really, we should be thankful for people like mr. o 

who can't wait to get to the jury room. 

lucky for him, his moment has arrived. 

yesterday, that little envelope was in our mailbox and mr. o will be participating in one of america's oldest traditions this april...

(a face of pure joy)

we'll be sure to watch 12 angry men to get him really psyched up...

then find him a good book to bring ;)

surprise!

am i just the luckiest girl in the world or what? 

the dreaded, no good, last birthday of my 20s rolled around this past weekend

and what happened? 

our two bestest buddies jumped up from behind the couch when i got home from work. 

 (heather and chuck)

these two recently moved away from us to the warm, far away land of NC and 

we have missed them, oh so much! 

amazingly, with some serious scheming, they flew up to see us for my bday weekend. 

there is a video of the surprise moment and me screaming 

"what aaaare yooooou dooooing heeerreeeeee" 

but i can't figure out how to get it off slowmo status so you'll just have to imagine the wonderfulness of it all. 

the weekend was filled with lots of catching up, ice skating, 

a distillery tour (and tasting), a wonderful dinner some other amazing friends, 

and lots of love and laughs. 

thank you to the d's for making the long trip up to surprise me. so thoughtful.

and thank you to mr. o for making it all happen.

i am the luckiest.

back to the birthday

it's a sure sign that i had a crazy 28th year...i think i posted twice...

in a WHOLE year! 

i've enjoyed the blog thing so i'm bummed that a year went by that i didn't document. 

regardless, let's start my 29th year together, okay?

since i last posted, i've been chuggin' away at the new (ish) gig, my amazing, career driven mum retired, and mr. o and i have dealt with the worst winter in Boston's history. 

(outside our apt)

this picture isn't even the half of it! 

moutains of snow all over. impossible parking. cooped up in the apt. 

Bostonian's will be the happiest people in the world for spring to get here. 

the upside to the snow is that i finally got my stationary business up and running. 

since we got married, i've been designing and printing stationary for a couple of my friends.

i've loved every step of the process and knew i needed to do something more with it.

with that, i'd like to introduce harbor & tea! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/harborandtea

i'm still working out a good story about how i got the name, but i wanted something that had a good boston feel and it doesn't get any more bostony then the harbor and that whole tea business. i also happen to adore tea (especially yogi tea with their sayings on each tea bag). 

anyway, i'm pretty excited about it and have had some sales from friends and some random ones to ohio and even the aussie land! lots of exciting stuff to come (including my birthday weekend!) so i hope to get more of it documented here.

big thanks to mr. o for being my business manager 

aka CFO, CTO, CMO...and BHO (best husband of...all time).

starting over

remember in my last post how i said my world was hectic and crazy? 

well, that never slowed down the last 6 months. 

paint nite turned out to be more than i could handle. i have no problem admitting defeat. 

the stress, the immaturity, the issues, the growing pains

i just couldn't hack it, but i gave it by best shot. 

so i'm starting over with a new job, some classes in a brand new subject, and hopefully a bit more room in my sanity to post on here more! 

big thanks and hugs to everyone who has supported me this year. 

i'm happy (and hopeful!) to finally be landing on my feet.

march?

where oh where did march go?

probably stuck somewhere in the chaos that has been my life the past 4 weeks

i started as hr manager for paint nite on march 3rd and i have been non-stop since then. the paint nite world is crazy, and fast, and hectic, and rewarding all at the same time.  everything is a new challenge, but thankfully i learned so much from my experiences at my previous company, that i think i'm doing okay.  i'm still trying to figure it all out, but the people are fantastic, the environment is super fun and casual, and it's really easy to drink the kool-aid and be passionate about the brand.  we had a company party just the other week so ryan got to meet all my co-workers and both of us got introduced to the crazy fun party atmosphere that is working at paint nite. 

(at the opening of our the new paint nite event space)

outside of the chaos mr. o and i have had a fantastic month.  he's been the most supportive, loving, stress free husband and really helped keep me sane while transitioning into my new job. for my birthday, he took me to a delish italian dinner and then to the cirque michael jackson immortal show! 

if you have any interest in MJ you have to get tickets for it immediately. it really is the concert you'll never get to see. 

(aaaaaaaamazing.)

ryan also planned a weekend away in woodstock, nh.  we snowmobiled, tubed at loon, ate too much, drank too much, snuggled by the fire in our hotel room and relaxed.  

on top of all of that wonderfulness, my parents made a trip to celebrate my birthday and they did a paint nite with me, took me to a fabulous dinner, a show that we all decided was only okay, and left me with some really fabulous gifts. 

am i the luckiest girl in the world or what? 

happy (almost) spring!