loving[lately]

I am having a deep appreciation for the little things lately. We are smack dab in the middle of a waiting process and if I think too much about it I start to go slightly crazy.

 

Talenti Double Dark Chocolate Gelato. Just looking at the container makes me want to go pull it back out of the freezer. Never mind that I just put it back about 3 minutes ago. I have had two great ice cream loves in my life, Baskin Robbins Truffle in Paradise and Dove Unconditional Chocolate. Both are long since gone in my area leaving me with limited options when I am having a major chocolate craving. I’d seen Talenti on the shelves for a while but finally picked up a pint last week to give it a shot. Pint 2 is now in the freezer.

Essie Ballet Slippers. This is my new go-to color. It is only in the last year(ish) that I’ve started wearing nail polish consistently. Before that it was a french manicure or nada. For some reason I always felt like colored polish made me look younger. I have that feeling about a lot of things, but then again so would you if you were mistaken for a teenager on a regular basis.

Seche Vite. I wouldn’t dare mention Ballet Slippers without talking about Seche Vite. I would have long since given up on having painted nails if it weren’t for it. I have an Essie obsession so I splurged one day on top coats, bottom coats, etc. I would painstakingly take the time to go through each coat only to go to sleep and wake up with nails that looked rippled. I did some research and found out that it has something to do with the ingredients in your nail polish vs. top coat. If they aren’t similar the top coat will dry before the colored coat making it ridiculously easy to smear the color around. Something like that. Anyways. Seche Vite. Dries fast, solidifies your nail and makes them super shiny. You will never look back.

Clear Shampoo & Conditioner. I don’t color my hair. I’ve gotten highlights twice from a friend who is an expert [literally] colorist. They looked great, but not drastically different. And as a girl who barely gets her hair cut twice a year, keeping up with color is just not something for me. And our budget is thankful. Because of that, I tend to float towards the “salon” side of Ulta when I pick out a new shampoo. I used Moroccanoil Shampoo and Conditioner for a while, then felt too guilty to buy it again at ~$25/bottle. I tried the drugstore version [Organix] which was great at first, but after a while made my hair feel limp and look like it was still dirty right after I dried it. I went out last week with the expectation of spending way to much on something new, but couldn’t get over the budget guilt I was feeling looking at prices. I asked Siri for some shampoo reviews and repeatedly Clear popped up. Could be because they have been marketing like crazy lately, or because it is just that good. I went with it. Again, it’s only been a week but I am loving it. It smells amazing and leaves my hair feeling incredibly soft.

#SheReadsTruth. When I was growing up I think one of the biggest misconceptions that I had was that one day it would be easy to consistently wake up early and dedicate time to devotions. They were many times that the guilt of letting a day, two days, a week pass by without cracking open my Bible would prevent me from starting fresh. Counterintuitive, but it happened. And it happens to the best of us. No, I haven’t achieved a 365/day perfect morning attendance, I don’t know if I ever will. But perfect isn’t my goal. Prioritizing is. Keeping the [desire] to spend that precious time with my Savior is. She Reads Truth is a fantastic community of women who are striving for the same. I love the studies that they provide, they take a fresh look at many things and give you a refresher on things that you may have read a thousand times. If you are looking for a daily study, I highly recommend joining in!

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If you have any little things that make you extra thankful, I’d love to hear them!

The Best is Yet to Come

On my own I’m only half of what I could be,
I can’t do without you.
We are stitched together, and what love has tethered
I pray we never undo.

In some ways I can’t believe it has only been a year, and in others I can’t remember what life was like before. I am the luckiest and most blessed woman in the world to be your wife.

Never could I doubt that we are meant for each other, why else was I so embarrassed when I walked into my first college class, frazzled and 10 minutes late, carrying every single book for every single class because I was a freshman who didn’t know any better, and heard your voice say “Hi Chelsie!”

You are the man of my dreams, the one my parents prayed for before I was born and the one I prayed for my whole life. I am so thankful that we chose to risk our friendship, a friendship that I will forever be thankful for because it is such a backbone to our relationship.

Thank you for your dedication, for how hard you work for us and for our future family. You are going to accomplish amazing things. I am so proud to call you my husband.

Thank you for being my partner in crime. You still make me laugh, I know sometimes you think you don’t, but I’m usually just hiding my smile. I should stop doing that. I am so thankful for a husband who will stop in the middle of a fight and crack jokes to make me smile because there is just nothing worth fighting about.

Thank you for loving God, then loving me. Thank you for leading me.

When I was growing up I always insisted that my wedding song would be something by Frank Sinatra or Michael Buble. When we were engaged I started going through their songs debating between the best one. Then randomly I heard a song, it wasn’t Frank or Michael, but it was the one, it was ours. Still every time I hear it I can’t help but tear up because the words still directly touch my heart. This is not just a relationship between you and I, this is a cord of three strands.

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you.

Happy 1st Anniversary my love, here is to so many more. 

Experiencing Detroit { Target Fireworks + DMT }

Playing catch up…

For the past 3 years we have been able to go down to the Renaissance Center for the Detroit Fireworks. Each year has been incredibly unique, year 1 we watched a mob break down all the fences around the river walk, year 2 they removed the fence but we saw 2 people be shot, finally, this year, they got it right. Almost every street downtown was blocked off, the river front area was closed and no one was allowed to enter unless they had a pass for one of the private parties. We were incredibly close to not making it to our party since we got on the freeway behind the trucks that were closing the freeway. Thankfully we ended up behind a congressman who was showing the same pass we had to one of the Detroit police officers, and after a little wait they also let us go through. We were all cheering, it was a miracle.

My favorite little man checking out the boats holding the fireworks.

Since we arrived downtown shortly after 6 and the fireworks didn’t launch until 10 we had a bit of a wait after dinner. Fortunately a great view and good friends make the time go by quickly.

Boom! The Target fireworks are always amazing. While you can head to Hart Plaza for a free evening, I recommend making this a nice evening out and splurging on tickets for one of the private viewing parties on the various rooftops, there are a lot of dangerous things that happen where the large crowds are and it can really destroy a great evening.

*****

The week of the fireworks also held the annual Detroit Missions Trip for the youth group that both B and I volunteer for. This was an exhausting but amazing week where close to 200 high school students happily spent the hottest week of the summer doing service projects, mostly outside.

Each day two of the teams helped run a VBS, it was so great to see how well our students handled the mass chaos of more than a hundred elementary aged students in a building with zero air conditioning.

The best part of VBS was the field trip to a roller rink on our last day, I was having major Jr. High flash backs.

I wish I always fell with a smile on my face.

I had to take a picture of the clean gym because at no point during the week was I able to fully see the floor, this was where the guys slept and layered the floor with their clothing. The right side of the gym is where we ate, you can imagine how lovely the room smelled with the clothing of 100+ sweaty boy. Memories.

Happy to be exhausted.

This is only about a fourth of the total group, we are so blessed to serve every person in this room. We take Friday night and debrief from the week, DMT is one of my favorite weeks of the year, and that Friday night is my favorite night of the trip. It is incredible to hear how much the team has learned and how much they have grown during the week. In a world where many don’t think much of teenagers, these students live out 1 Timothy 4:12.

Matthew 25:35-40

*****

This was a little different than the adventures I usually write about, but it is a week that brings such a bond with the people of the city, and to me that is a very important part of truly experiencing Detroit.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Experiencing Detroit { Small Plates + Hoedown }

Back in June I finally  got to experience the Downtown Hoedown. I am not kidding when I say I have been begging various people to go with me throughout the years to no avail [Granted, prior to this year the hoedown was a lot shadier]. Enter Katie. I could go on and on, but we were meant to be friends it just took us a few years to finally cross paths. Thus, to the hoedown we went.

Thank the Lord for Urbanspoon. It’s really helpful when two incredibly indecisive girls are standing in the middle of Detroit starving. We finally settled on Small Plates, having heard great things about it, but mostly because it was super close.

[note: a lot of these pictures are blurry-apologies!]

The next door neighbor, Detroit Beer Co., looked pretty awesome as well. Has anyone ever been there? It’s now on my list.

The interior is nice, nothing fancy, but stylish and upgraded. Our waiter was good, he flipped a coin for us to decide our entrees (I mentioned how indecisive we are right?), but then became just a bit too talkative after that.

Signature fries, delish. I selected the original ones, Katie got sweet potato. No shame in that we pretty much finished off the pails.

Margarita pizza never fails me. I have yet to find one I dislike, and this one was amazing. You can tell how good something is (or how hungry I am) when the pictures show it half gone before I remember to snap the photo with my phone.

Pretzel sliders. Pretzel bread is big right now, and I love it. Add angus beef, grilled onions, white cheddar, and applewood smoked bacon and you have a treat.

Small Plates was a winner, they had actually just re-launched their menu, and I’m guessing changed some staff because amongst the good things I had heard I also saw a lot of negative reviews. There was nothing bad about this meal though, unless you don’t like sharing. As with most tapas places you will walk away with the best experience if you order a bunch of items and share. It is also reasonably priced which is always a perk!

This year was the 30th anniversary of the hoedown, a summer staple in Detroit. For the first 29 years it ran, the Hoedown was the largest free country concert series and was held at Hart Plaza. However this year they chose to move the event to the grounds surrounding Comerica Park and sell tickets. In my opinion this was a fantastic decision. As I mentioned before I could never convince anyone to go with me in previous years, and this was because of how crazy it was known for getting.

The tickets weren’t an absurd price, they sold 3-day passes for $30 (they sold out in hours) and then single day tickets for $20. We went back and forth between Saturday and Sunday (Dierks Bentley vs. Miranda Lambert) and finally settled on Saturday to also see Montgomery Gentry. The ticket price was completely worth it, it was busy, but not to the point where we every felt overwhelmed by people.

We stood in the same spot for probably about 5 hours, choosing to wear my high-heeled boots was not a wise decision. It was such a great time though and completely worth any pain we felt. On that note, pain led to what was probably a very unwise decision:

Strolling through downtown Detroit sans shoes. Okay not so much strolling as me begging my feet to make it just a few more yards. The best part about this was the women leaning out their windows yelling “You go girls!”. We could not stop laughing, and those socks are somewhere in a trash heap. We did have to pry our feet back in our boots when we walked over some broken glass, like I said, not the best decision.

Fun fact: As thousands of people exited the concert area Jimmy Johns had staff set up everywhere handing out sandwiches. Genius I tell you. It was fantastic.

Love her!

*****

On a concert note, earlier this summer I also went to another fantastic one. I have been wanting to see Jon McLaughlin for years. Back when I was in college I had tickets to a nearby show only to have it cancelled a week before, so disappointing. Fortunately I am not alone in loving him, and some of my favorite ladies (Kristen + Katie W.) are also big fans. When we heard he was coming to Ann Arbor we knew we had to go.

The concert was at The Ark, which is actually a non-profit venue. I love that. It is also a super intimate setting which makes for a really enjoyable evening.

This man is one of the most incredible piano players I have ever seen. I couldn’t even believe my eyes at some moments. It was such an amazing time.

*****

Our hectic summer of traveling is starting to wind down. We are in Northern Michigan right now, enjoying the lake and Traverse City. Sunday we head to Mackinac Island with my parents and in-laws for a couple of days. For an island that doesn’t allow cars I am praying they have some solid wi-fi because Monday morning might be the craziest part of my year in terms of work. I am being optimistic that everything will go smoothly so I can quickly hop on a bike and enjoy my vacation!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Down the Coast

Okay I’ll admit it. I’m starting to grow fonder of Detroit/Michigan. It helps that I have been in Northern Michigan on the Lake at least once a month this summer (that never happens). B and I have this problem that every time we visit a new place we want to live there. We’re not quite sure what that means, but have taken to just enjoying our busy summer and also appreciating the moments at home.

Can you blame us for wanting to live there?

We decided to make the most of our last day in California and take the beautiful drive down the coast and visit as many beaches as possible. We started in Malibu and decided to venture down the pier.

There were a ton of fishing hooks on the pier itself, a bummer if you decide to go barefoot.

This shop at the end of the pier was my favorite. My goal of the day was to find a good sweatshirt, and right when I saw their logo I was just praying they would have one sporting it. Sadly, I wound up with a mug.

Next on the drive was Santa Monica. It was so interesting to see the differences between the beaches throughout the day. Santa Monica was definitely the touristy one, Malibu felt like a beach town and then walking through Santa Monica and down the pier felt very similar to Navy Pier in Chicago. Too many people in too small of a space.

Fun fact, Santa Monica is also the end of Route 66!

Even the beach there was insane! That does not look relaxing to me at all, it looks like my worst nightmare in terms of a fun day. There was no way we were venturing into more chaos, so we just strolled to the end of the pier, bought a few souvenirs, and hurried back to the car.

The next “stop” was Venice Beach, except we wound up in a super shady area. I almost had a panic attack thinking about exiting the car, thus, we kept driving. There was a quick stop at In-N-Out after that. I know it’s bad, but I have no regrets about all the ridiculous food I consumed on this trip.

Now this is more like it.

My body relaxed just staring at Newport Beach, this was my pick of the day. I had read and heard so much about it and it didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to spend there, and pretty much all of it was spent running from store to store trying to find a sweatshirt (success!). I have never been so thankful for a patient husband willing to go into the same store multiple times for his indecisive wife.

The reason we sped through Newport was to get to B’s reason for loving California. The beach of all beaches, Laguna.

My first impression-parrots in the window. Such an unexpected thing to see, but they were beautiful.

It was gloomy at this point of the day, and the sun was already setting so we didn’t get the full effect. However, it was still beautiful. I was fully expecting the beach to be insanely crowded a la Santa Monica, but was pleasantly surprised. We did spy a wedding reception, and the bride and groom strolling down the beach for pictures. Slightly jealous of that, you could just tell how stunning they were going to be.

 

That’s my Newport sweatshirt! I also caved and bought one in Laguna.

After we finished strolling the beach, we hit up the local coffee spot (Starbucks) and explored the main strip of Laguna. Hence my second sweatshirt, and a t-shirt for B. I think he was sad that he didn’t spy any Laguna Beach stars, I did remind him that the show has been off the air for a while now.

We were planning on heading back to the hotel early, but stopped to grab some frozen yogurt on our way out (it’s our new obsession). We found the best plaza and just spent some time relaxing and taking in the beach air. The smell of the pizza next door also pulled us in and we enjoyed a post dessert dinner. B and I agreed that our time in Laguna was one of the best parts of the trip for us, the ideal relaxation moment.

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This is a crazy work week for me, and we are heading back to Traverse City this weekend, however I will be back Friday with another Experiencing Detroit post!

 

 

 

Hollywood Hills

I didn’t mention it in my last post, but B and I were not alone in California. There were 16 of us in total, all in the same hotel, trying to get to the same places at the same time in Los Angeles traffic. You can imagine how well that went! Our usual plan was to make it to at least one place together and then if we separated from there, so be it.

Saturday morning held our most anticipated part of the trip, aside from the wedding. I am blessed with some fantastic grandparents-in-law who took us all to The Magic Castle. There is really no way to fully describe how incredible it was. The Magic Castle is a super exclusive magician’s club and school, that also serves a killer brunch. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside, apart from the entrance room, so I will leave you with the key to “open sesame.”

The Magic Castle is located about 2 blocks off the main Hollywood strip, so after we finished up brunch (I ate my weight in bacon, no shame) and the magic shows we headed down to the Walk of Fame.

My man Frank!

I didn’t even take a picture of the outside of Grauman’s theater, or any of the other theater’s in that area where most Hollywood premiers happen. Why? Because Hollywood is creepy. It is one of those places that is great to visit because you see it on TV all of the time, however once was enough for me. There was a point where Yoda was following me down the street trying to touch me and I wanted to cry.

Of course before we ventured elsewhere we made our way to the sign! The above picture was actually day 2 of trying to get a good picture, day 1 we went to the Griffith Observatory, which had incredible views of the Valley, but an awkward angle of the sign.

*****

Saturday evening was wedding time! I was so excited for this wedding, even more so after my favorite photographer posted some pics the weekend before we went of an engagement session she was doing at the venue, The Carondelet House.

If we lived in California, I would have most definitely made this our venue.

My main squeeze Kara, the flower girl. Rockin’ her gold glitter Toms. She was my dance partner.

Quick change!

I just kept walking around all night raving about how gorgeous everything was.

Our table!

I don’t know if you can sneak a peek at that menu, but I almost cried when we had to leave before the late night bites came out. Grilled cheese and fried macaroni? Yes please.

I’ll end this on a sweet note, with the red velvet cupcake I managed to snag! It was delicious and disappeared before my dinner did.

Tomorrow brings our beach day!

In the City of L.A.

You are probably catching on to the fact that this has been a crazy summer. We have been gone almost every weekend, mostly in Northern Michigan with a few out of state adventures (we feel so blessed that we have been able to travel this year!). We had been looking forward to our biggest trip since before our own wedding, because this was for the wedding of Brandon’s Uncle Mike. Now I’d say that is a fantastic reason to head to the West Coast!

We found our hotel on one of the discount hotel sites, and let me tell you-we will most definitely be doing that again! After walking out to the pool area we about died and went to heaven.

Our trip out there was crazy, after our flight being delayed an hour we were happily on the runway when the power on the plane shut down. Now that is a freaky experience, I will not lie and say I held it together. I most definitely thought I was going to die and made sure B was aware of that. He pointed out that the flight attendants would not be calmly walking around if we were in a life or death situation. Of course he was right, and we made it safely!

It was 3:30 AM California time when we finally made it to our room (6:30 AM Detroit time, yikes). And of course Thursday was our planned Disney day so we had to be up at ready to go at 8 AM. I thought this would be a huge issue, but our internal time clock had a different idea and we were up 3 hours later at 6:30 AM. Thank goodness we were headed to Disney otherwise we would have been cranky, cranky people.

There are 2 Disney parks in California, the classic Disneyland and the newer Disney California Adventure. Before we left I polled various people who had visited both and was told that California Adventure was the way to go.

Cars Land opened about a month prior to our visit, and oh my goodness, it was the best. It literally felt like stepping into Radiator Springs. Disney really does a fantastic job at setting the scene and putting together everything perfectly.

“Jessie” up there on that float was incredible. It was like a mini-preview of the Olympics!

I had watched Unwrapped a few days before we left, and the episode was centered around Disneyland (perfect timing!). One of the food items they featured was the Mickey ice cream bars, from that point on I was craving one so it was a necessary purchase on a hot afternoon!

If the sky had been slightly bluer there is a good chance I would have walked right in to that backdrop, it definitely put into perspective how realistic the backdrops are for movies and television shows.

You can’t tell, but I have a vice-grip on my MIL and B’s leg (back row, right side).

Goofy breaking it down!

I couldn’t end this first California post without the above. The first thing I wanted when we got off the plane was In-N-Out Burger, there is something about hearing how awesome something is for years that makes me think I cannot live without it. Probably not the best way of thinking, but it sure was amazing. It was definitely not a one-time only visit.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting about our venture into Hollywood and wedding details!

Happy Monday!