Happy Easter!

I know, a day late. We spent most of the actually day of Easter recovering from weekend festivities. I had off on Friday, and Brian had to work. So I went to his family's house and hung out with his sisters. Mallory has been dying to see the new Hannah Montana movie. This was my first experience with her true obsession :) It was a lot of fun to see how excited to she got over it all. That night we got together with our Chicago friends Sean and Ashlea. Such a fun night! We checked out the new Raiford's and it was actually fun and bearable, so that was an upgrade.

Saturday night we went to the Death Cab for Cutie concert at the Orpheum. Cold War Kids and Ra Ra Riot opened for them. I loved Ra Ra Riot! They had a really unique sound, and it was the first time I had seen an electric cello in a long time. Death Cab was of course incredible. They are one of my favorite bands. The last time they came to Memphis we had front row seats, and it was quite an experience. We were a little further back this time, but the music was still just as good. I was proud of Brian for going with me and actually enjoying it! :)

Sunday we went to church at St. Louis and had lunch at my parents house afterwards. Some nice pics of my brothers and us below! Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Newlywed Nesting

The last few days have been interesting to say the least. Friday our water heater burst, causing me to stay home from work and deal with the consequences. I was okay with this, considering we were lucky that is was rigged to drain outside. This would have been ideal, if the drain wasn't located directly above the hot tub (yes, we have a hot tub that we never use) which caused an extreme amount of flooding in the backyard. On top of the flooding, it rained all night, so we had a problem on our hands. The flooding caused a few more issues to arise, but more so gave me the bug to start on yardwork and clean up. We have had beautiful weather the last few weeks and I cannot wait for Spring.

In anticipation of Spring, Brian and I raked the front and backyard and are getting ready for some serious planting. I love digging in the dirt and watching things grow. I think gardening has taught me several lessons - most importantly, patience. Brian got me a subscription to Southern Living for my birthday, so I am getting lots of tricks, which help.

Speaking of Southern Living, this has been around the blog world some, but I have enjoyed finding out my personal style through Sproost. It was dead on! You can also design your own rooms - pretty fun stuff!

Cottage Chic

Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you!
You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background?

This is probably why I love estate sales so much. Along with Cottage Chic, I was French Eclectic and Nantucket Style. Too bad we are spending money on new water heaters and hot tubs instead of beautiful furniture! Oh well, a girl can dream.

One Great Site

Wanted to let you know about this great site I have stumbled across. Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade. Everything imaginable is on this site, and sellers are from all over the world. The mission of Etsy is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. It's so smart! There are items in every price range and already it has given me some great gift ideas. Check it out when you have some time to browse through.

Some Good News

We've got some fun things going on that I just wanted to update you on.

The first is that my IRB proposal went through from University of Memphis and now I just need to wait and see if the one for Methodist went through. This IRB (Institutional Review Board) proposal confirms that it is okay to begin my research at the hospital for my graduate thesis. I have a meeting soon with my advisor, because there is a possibility of receiving an NIH (National Institute of Health) grant for this project. We'll keep our fingers crossed! (This isn't really one of the fun things I mentioned above, just progress on getting closer to being done with grad school)

Also, the Memphis Tigers squeaked the first game out in the tournament. We're season ticket holders and huge fans. Go Tigers Go! So far my bracket is holding up okay, and Brian is beating me. :) He actually picked the Western KY upset - I'm impressed!

Third, we got great tickets to see Coldplay in Nashville in June. The concert is a couple days before we leave for Europe. I cannot wait. This has been the one band I have always wanted to see. We paid a pretty penny, but I am so thankful we are getting the chance to go. Plus, school will be out and I'll have some free time!

That's about it! Have a wonderful weekend!

Wedding Season Has Begun!

Last night our friend Jennifer married Jonathan Berger. It was such a beautiful wedding, with so many people in attendance that Brian and I have known for so many years. The wedding was at our church St. Louis, and Fr. McArthur presided. I loved his homily that he gave. My favorite part was when he talked about how God calls us to marriage. It is so much more than liking someone and deciding "let's just get married." It is a true calling from God to become one with your spouse. The reception was at the Pink Palace and the food and band were great! Jennifer and Jonathan are in med school, so they danced to Good Love, which was really perfect. We had such a great time and enjoyed seeing so many great friends. Congrats!

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Quarter of a Century

Yes, it's official. On Sunday, March 8, I turned 25.

It was such a fun birthday, even though we didn't have much planned. Maybe that was why it was so fun, ha! Saturday night, we spent time with Robyn and John Michael at their house and then headed down to South Main to have dinner at Pearl's. Robyn, Katie and I LOVE raw oysters and theirs were delicious. From there, we went to Automatic Slim's for the opening of their new Tonga Club. The martinis were tasty (especially Robyn's chocolate martini), but pricey, so we didn't stay long. It was also very trendy, which I am sure some people enjoy, but it was a little much for me. I love their food and their eclectic atmosphere, but late night was a little too "club-ish" I think. Then we made our way to Bardog, a fairly new bar in Memphis. We ran into Raina and some others and had such a fun time. This bar was great! It reminded me of a college bar in Knoxville or Athens. After a 3 a.m. Krystal's run, we went back to our house. The time change was a little crazy after a night like that, so Sunday we relaxed. Brian baked cupcakes for me, and he did a really great job! He even made them from scratch. Then we ended the night with dinner at my parents house. Lots of fun!

Robyn and I at Pearl's

Brian and I at Automatic Slim's

Katie and Robyn

John Michael and Robyn

Me, Raina and Robyn

Snow Bro

It's been a while since I've posted! Life has been busy, and I am finally getting a chance to get caught up. Thank goodness for Spring Break from school!

Memphis had a GREAT snow last week. It snowed on a Saturday, so we didn't miss any work or school, but we had a great time playing in it. We got about 6 inches, and it stayed on the ground a few days. The best thing about this snow were the icicles... I don't think I had ever seen them so big! They looked like daggers, so I didn't stand under them :) As you can see from the pictures, Bro loved the snow!

Our house looked so pretty in the snow...

Once we dried off, we went over to the Fields for some quality time with their lab, Marshall. Bro is still trying to get used to him, and hopefully one day they'll really like playing with each other.