paris, je t'aime

this morning on my walk to work i suddenly was hit with a wave of melancholy nostalgia--i had a flashback of being in paris. it was the color of the sidewalk in this first fall rain, the way the leaves were blowing low to the ground...it was something in the air. at that moment i thought of this perfect quote from the movie "paris, je t'aime." i love this quote because i feel like it describes my experience with paris exactly.

"i can only tell you that at the same time i felt joy and sadness. but not great sadness. because i felt alive. yes. alive. that was the moment when i fell in love with paris. and that is the moment i felt that paris had fallen in love with me."

on a sidenote, happy halloween everyone!

happy anniversary [to us]

how quickly a year goes! one year ago today this was taking place

and

*wedding photos courtesy of edyta szyszlo photography*

honestly, thank you to everyone who has been involved in our lives and supported us through our relationship and helped out with the wedding. it truly has been an amazing (and fast) year for us--we have grown so much individually and as a couple and we have had a wonderful time in the process.

because we are going to new york, we decided to do a more low-key anniversary celebration. instead of a fancy dinner out, we opted for a drink at the top of the mark, which is a place where we have celebrated multiple occasions, including our engagement. the sunset was beautiful with the fog rolling in...

brandon sipped a glass of red wine while i enjoyed a french 75

i gave brandon a card and an unfinished surprise at home (i'll get to that in a moment) and brandon re-wrote/renewed his vows to me, this time going for a little bit of playful/fun/silly-but-sweet verse (yes, i cried for those who are wondering). here is an excerpt of his gift

my gift-in-progress is a collage of sorts. i tend to collect tickets from events/concerts/shows/sports events/movies, etc. and stash them in an album. i decided to actually do something with them by collaging them on a canvas and then white-washing over to make it a little more abstract/neutral. next i plan to transfer some quotes from songs that have special meaning to us (we love exchanging song lyrics). here are some pictures of the collage in it's current state

on the collage? i'm actually sort of proud--it really is packed with sentimental value...including a ticket to the concert we went to the night before we got engaged, a phone card used to call him when i was in france, and the ticket stub from the movie we went to in paris. i'll keep you posted on its progress...for now, i'm off the computer to spend time with the husband!

claire, claire, everywhere!

today i found two exciting things in the claire department. first, i had entered her in the kid's colors contest on ohdeedoh (well, her nursery) and the entry is up today so feel free to stop by and vote for us! secondly, she is on the speesees website sporting her dandelion jumper...

no, i'm not a proud OR enthusiastic aunt...

pre-anniversary celebration

first i would like to thank those of you who have sent anniversary cards/messages...it has really touched brandon and i to receive them--to be remembered is a wonderful feeling. THANK YOU. we are so very blessed to have family and friends like we do.

now onto other things. this weekend while at my parents' house, my parents gave us a bottle of champagne that they had saved from our wedding to enjoy for our first anniversary (which is tomorrow, the 28th). we were going to drink it tomorrow, but we are going to the top of the mark for a drink post work and in the interest of being able to function at work wednesday, we decided to crack open the bottle in a pre-anniversary celebration. of course, the cats insisted upon involving themselves. today it was the ice in the ice bucket that was their main interest...

reservoir run and breakfast

this morning was the annual lafayette reservoir run. two years ago brandon, josh, jen and i ran the 5k and the plan this year was for the boys to run it and the girls (claire included) to walk it. due to bart not running until arond 8:15am on sundays, we had to alter our plan--josh ran the 5k and then the five of us walked the two mile fun run (they don't let dogs in the 5k anyway, and we had lola with us). it was a nice, relaxing time for us to chat and get a little exercise and i got to hold claire in the moby

after our walk, we went to benicia to have breakfast with the family. claire got to meet her great-aunt, great-uncle and second cousin, as well as spend time with her great-grandmothers. and yes jessi, i let other people hold the baby (just not for too long)




it's been so fun to spend the time with josh and jen and claire. i'm sure that she's just mistaking me for jen, but it's been cute to see claire respond to my voice (my sister and i sound very much the same, but i like to pretend she knows it's her auntie b). she has been turning her head to me if i am nearby and talking, and she also seems very relaxed with me (although i have yet to see her get worked up with anyone in particular...she's a pretty relaxed baby). i can't wait until my next visit!

baby shower

on saturday, my friend jenn (not my sister, jen) had a baby shower! she lives in the portland area, so she came down for the weekend to celebrate the future arrival of baby p. it was a lovely afternoon, especially because it gave me the chance to hang out with friends from high school. jenn looks amaaaazing and adorable (no surprises there). i can't wait to meet the baby! baby p. is due january 18, but i'm hoping for a 3 day late baby, so he or she can be born on my birthday instead.

joanne made fun of me for taking this picture, but i like the way it turned out

joanne, cristina and brenna

mom-to-be jenn and mel

mid week

brandon is away on a business trip tonight (thankfully it's only one night!) so tonight i'm hanging out and decided that i would update the photos from last night and add some more i took tonight.

i'll start with winter wonderland revisited on a smaller scale...

and some more pics from the visit with claire, jen and josh (a few of the photographs are compliments of josh since i was busy holding the baby)

visit

tonight brandon and i went over to hang out with claire and jen while josh was in class--turns out his class was cancelled, so we got to hang out the five of us! it was a nice, relaxing evening. while i didn't take a ton of photos, i did take a few (which will be posted in the next few days). for now, i just wanted to show one picture, of claire in her "pirate in training" onesie that i made (well, ironed on) for her...well, mostly for my mom for her (my mom is obsessed with pirates)...

and then a photo i took on the cable car ride home, just some experimentation with the camera and light...

modern cat

i'm on modern cat! yay! yesterday i had sent over some photos of the cat-friendly cord charging station for fun, and this morning i got an email letting me know that there was a post created about it!

you can see the post here.

one hundred

well, this is officially my one hundredth post! this blog began almost ten months ago, and looking back i'm happy to say that it has accomplished what i had hoped--this blog has motivated me to do things i enjoy (crafty things), pursue my interest in photography, and get into/keep in contact with friends and family. thank you to all of you readers--those who follow this blog, and also those who just happen upon it and take a moment to peruse! your readership and comments motivate me to keep on truckin'.

this year has been an exciting one in my family, with the two biggest events being my marriage with brandon and the arrival of claire. being married has been such a blessing and a source of happiness for me--every day i am consciously appreciative of brandon. i guess i should save some of this mushiness for our anniversary. for now it's sufficient to say that i am thrilled that we are married. also a major blessing was the pregnancy and birth of claire--jen was so healthy through the entire pregnancy, and gave birth to a perfect baby girl. she has already brought our family so much joy, at only a week old. i have loved every minute of sister-sister time that the wedding and pregnancy has facilitated, and i look forward to the time to come.

some goals for the next few months...to finally start my etsy account with my sister, to begin taking my architecture exams, and to practice my hobbies in order to get better at them. i also am looking forward to lots and lots of quality time with my niece!

anyway, this is the point where i'd love some feedback if anyone has some to give--what do you enjoy? what do you wish there was more of? is there anything you wish i blogged about on here that i currently don't? do you wish i wrote more? less? more photos? too many photos? if you have suggestions, would like to tell me what you enjoy, whatever, feel free to comment here or drop me an email at minimarsh6[at]gmail[dot]com.

thanks again for taking the time to stop by!

cozy sunday

today started out with some delicious brunch at zazie with some friends from high school. it was great--laid back, relaxing, and right next to a heat lamp.


we really enjoyed catching up for a lazy sunday morning. after brunch i went into work for a bit and then went home to do some crafting. i had seen an idea for a cord organizer in readymade magazine using an ikea organizer and decided it was a must for our household--the cats chew on cords like they're full of catnip, so this would be a perfect way to help keep them out of sight. i think it's going to work out very well for us...

stu, testing it out while i put the felt in the drawers



basically the premise is that you have a drawer and feed the cords through the back (you don't put the back on the drawer unit). you then put your phone, ipod, whatever in the drawer while it's charging--this way you always know where the cord is and i don't have to worry about my cats gnawing through my phone cord while it's charging. we decided to move the bottom drawer and use that as a docking station for the laptop, and create a new use for the drawer. also accomplished this weekend? one of two baby booties for a special someone...i need to test them out on claire this week to see if they work...

and a few pictures of what was happening while i was trying to work...

unexpected kindness

on thursday i got home and noticed there was a large envelope in our apartment entry area. although i am never expecting a package to be for me, i always check because i absolutely love getting things in the mail. i was pleasantly surprised when i noticed the package was addressed to brandon and i from a relative in seattle. hooray! what could it be? i tore it open when i got upstairs and found the travel section from the new york times entitled "frugal new york." also enclosed was a very kind card with a note about our coming trip to new york. brandon and i were very touched by the gesture--it's always so nice to get a note, knowing that someone was thinking of you.

thank you for the unexpected kindness...

pumpkin patch

today brandon and i got to go to the pumpkin patch with jen, josh, claire, and josh's parents. i was really excited to be invited--the thought of the punkin at the pumpkin patch was almost too much for me to handle. although claire didn't seem overly impressed with her trip to the patch (she slept through most of it), we did at least take some pictures.

i also got to see her in the nursery, which was exciting for me. i'm pleased with the overall ambiance--it's relaxing and refreshing in there. on the way back into the city, brandon and i stopped at pearl, a craft store on market, and i discovered a new floor with all sorts of goodies, like embroidery thread and knitting needles! this could definitely be dangerous...

anyway, some pictures from today...

and remember bunny?

can you tell i like baby yawns?

jen and lola