ICELAND: The Wedding Day

I've been sort of putting off posting all of the photos from our wedding day. It's not that I haven't wanted to share them with you-- I haven't had a moment to really pore over all of them myself. I just wanted some time to soak it all in and enjoy them before putting them up here. Some time to reflect, some time to cry, some time to repeat over and over "I JUST WANT TO GO BACK!"

*All images by Violet Short

First Look, Jökulsárlón

I like to reserve the term "magical" for only truly spectacular people, places, or things. Outside of my beloved Walt Disney World, I've probably only used the term a handful of times. Having said that, my wedding was pretty magical and our first look was no exception. Originally we were planning on getting married Thursday so I could carry my dress around and take photos in front of all the places we planned to visit. Mother Nature can be cruel sometimes though and we ended up having to push the wedding back, which meant I'd be heading to Jökulsárlón without a dress. After talking it over a bit with B, we decided to pack it along anyway-- you know-- just in case. I think we made the right decision. Photos by Violet Short.

Brussels

Brenden and I loved Belgium. We started out by spending a couple of days in Brussels, which is an incredibly lively city full of beautiful old architecture and GREAT food. We felt so welcome there, it didn't feel like a foreign country at all. If you want to experience European hospitality at its finest, take a jet over to Belgium. For real.

Oh, My Love

The One Whom My Soul Loves

Best Friends Wear Matching Shirts

Summer weekends are the best. Danielle, Brenden, and I have formed this "Three Musketeers-esque" bond and spend our days doing the yuppiest of the young urban professional activities. This weekend, we went to at least three different coffee shops and an Ikea.  As "vanilla" as those things may be on their own, I'm gonna go ahead and chalk up "going to brunch in coordinating tops" as one of the whitest things I've ever done. (Can't speak for the others.) Come to think of it now, this "J. Crew model" pose isn't helping.

Marriage Musings: No More Heartbreak

It takes a very special sort of person to fully captivate my heart. Like most 23-year-olds, I've experienced love-at-first-sight, fleeting crushes, failed long-term-relationships, and awkward first dates. I've been through the throes of unrequited love and tend to fall victim to overt romanticization. I once told a guy how I felt about him only to have him respond with, "you know what you should do? You should go to law school." It's only natural for one to approach certain non-platonic relationships with a sense of caution after being let down so many times. The truly tragic thing is that I have more stories like that up my sleeve. My love life hasn't been quite as pitiful as say, Bridget Jones's, but it's had some pretty pathetic moments.

Not Another Love Story

My, my, my, this weekend was an eventful one. You may have seen the news but in case you haven't, we're getting married! It's been a whirlwind but I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life with my best friend.

Lazy Weekend

He & She

We're happy. Very happy.

A Walk with my Love

"It isn’t possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal."

 - E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

I've had a little extra "pep" in my step lately. While I've maintained my daily recommended amount of realism, everything has been slightly rose-tinted. Being in love does that, I suppose. Falling in love is bliss but falling on love again after being reunited years later is ethereal. 

We went for a walk the other day. It was just an ordinary walk but I found so much joy in it. If you've never been in love, that's what everything starts to feel like. The mundane becomes extraordinary and every day is another chance to learn something new about this human you've chosen to do life alongside of. Words cease to simply exist; they become poetry. His voice becomes this song you can't live without. You find more comfort in his eyes or his smile than you could have ever found elsewhere. Every day greets you with something beautiful. The sun seems to reach down and gently touch your face in the morning. On your way to work, dead leaves picked up by the wind seem to dance on the street in a congratulatory way, like a choreographed testament to the splendor of being captivated by somebody. Night seems more intriguing than frightening and its chilly breezes invite adventure. Everything is different. Everything is brilliantly illuminated. And with this one, I can tell that nothing will ever be the same again.

xo,

e.m.