a Charleston getaway

we're just back from our quarterly nights of sleep at the old village post house in old mount pleasant. thanks to a schedule that's a little more free these days, we took monday - wednesday and ventured down to the coast, just the two of us. we chatted in the car, uninterrupted, for hours. we slept and rested. we spent a little time on the beach, soaking in the salty air, while mikey read the return of the native. we treated ourselves to Beauty & the Beast (the late showing) and had appetizers at Mex 1 & small plates at Harold's Cabin. mikey went for a 26 mile run & then we had 90 minute massages (thanks mom for the Christmas gift!). i'd say we squeezed every drop from these few days that we possibly could. 

mike and i truly believe in getting away without our kiddos to just be us for a few nights whenever we can. it's refreshing and restoring on a soul level. it brings fresh perspective and happy hearts. it makes us better friends, a better husband & wife, better parents. 

cheers to the weekend, friends! i hope it's full of all the things you love the most. 

a birthday tradition

One of my very favorite birthday traditions for the boys! Ez handled his pink sprinkled donut like a champ. 

I love looking back at Solly Mack & Moose's first birthday breakys - seeing how much has changed in such a sweet, short time for our family! (And noticing how bald Ez is! Eeeeek!) 

[donuts for amos]

[donuts for solomon mack]

Celebrate | Ezra turns one!!

we celebrated our sweet ezra's first birthday on sunday (3.19) with a party at our white house! haley (cakes to dye for) made a super cute naked smash cake + funfetti cupcakes with lemon buttercream (my new favorite combo) & we had homemade (thanks to honey) s'mores krispy treats, donut holes & a cheese, crackers & all things pickled plate. ez was spoiled by all of our friends & family who came to celebrate!

ez! this last year has absolutely flown by. you are a treasure, my littlest boy. i love your face eating smile, your contagious laugh and that you're rough and tough. you make us laugh daily and fit perfectly into our family. you're the sweetest baby and i sure do love being your mama!

[amos' first birthday]
[solomon's first birthday]

weekend

saturday night we had a handful of sweet friends over for a picchioni italian feast. sheila literally started preparing for this meal on tuesday and worked all week to feed us a genuine italian style meal. we wined and dined until the late hours of the night, feasting on yummy bruschetta, the freshest caprese salad, soft italian loaves + lucini oil & vinegar, noodles + sheila's braciola (seriously, so delicious) + crisp green beans, and then we capped the evening with homemade italian cheesecake, fresh berries & gelato. i think we're still in a food coma over here, people! 

mike and i love opening our home to friends for any occasion, but this feast was truly something special. sheila, my kitchen is always open for your cooking. this was a night for the books for sure! 

Old San Juan | part 2

we spent our last days in Puerto Rico back in Old San Juan where we started. this time we stayed on calle fortaleza, at the opposite end of the tiny island. mike and i loved how lively this street was! cars strolled the cobblestone street basically all day and people took over when the sun went down. we felt this little spot was much more in the center of things and much more our pace. 

we found a little cafe, caficultura, and loved it so much that we brunched here both of our last days. the boys loved the mickey mouse pancakes and mike and i loved the fresh fruit + yogurt & granola bowl. and the coffee...always the coffee. again, we spent our time wandering the streets, popping in and out of shops, stopping to see the big ships in the port, and souvenir shopping. we walked and walked and walked some more. how sweet it was to just be the 5 of us, wandering a different country, adventuring with our people. 

i hope that these tiny humans of ours love to travel and adventure as much as we do. i hope that they're aware from early on that there is so much to see, outside of our city, our state and our country. martin band of brothers, it's my joy to share my love of travel with you! you are brave little guys, always so fun and full of life....i'll take you anywhere (& daddy too)! 

Celebrate | Mikey's 30th!

my sweet mikey turned the big 3-0 this past weekend!! and celebrate, we did! we started birthday weekend off with lunch at home + gifts from me and the boys + sweet potato cake from brick street, mikey's favorite. we continued the celebration with dinner at mimi & papa's with melbug & the grandmothers, more cake and lots of goodies for mikey. saturday morning our best buds joined us for a waffle & mimosa breaky that turned into an afternoon of conversation and plans and exciting things to come. finally, mikey & i snuck away to columbia for dinner at Cola's (thanks for the recommendation, Sue!) and a surprise Amos Lee concert, thanks to Mere & DP (& May)! 

mikey, you're my very best friend in the whole wide world. i love any excuse to celebrate you! you're brave and safe to me, you're such a hard worker, you interest me and make me feel special daily. you've pursued me now for 13 years and continue to tell me that i'm beautiful. you're my biggest fan and have helped me grow my photography gig from a hobby to a business. you're a freakin' amazing daddy & have three of the cutest shadows watching your every move. i'm excited about what this new year and new decade hold for us. all my love, always, my mikey! and, cheers to the next 30 years!