a farewell to 2014

Once again, it's a week into the new year & I'm only just now getting a review post up about 2014... But guys, it was a good one. (& beyond annual reflections, having a purpose for the sunset images from my This Month posts was kind of cathartic so 30 pts. to Gryffindor.)

Click the "Read More" to see our year in photos!

// little Norfolk got more snow than usual, giving us ample snow days & QT with Netflix

// we also cooked a lot in January, or so the photos on my phone tell me.

// a new nephew arrives, giving my side of the family three days in a row of birthdays to celebrate

// got to watch our friend Ian's amazing album release show

// Jared turns 26 & we make it a month of petite dates to make up for his cancelled birthday plans, due to a big snow storm

// spent lots of cold days hanging out with my red-headed niece

// polar vortex, begone! I took this photo the day Jared received a phone call with a new job offer

// from the anniversary photoshoot I did with my parents

// a short trip to the Outer Banks together before Jared left for NYC/DC for four months

// a beautiful wedding I got to coordinate for family friends in central Virginia 

// from one of Jared's 24 hr visits home, when we told the world that we're moving to DC

// my youngest sister & I got to model for this shoot with some of my favorite Hampton Roads wedding vendors

// celebrated Amelia's birthday while the husbands were both out of town/the country

// Emily's visit to DC perfectly coincided with an apartment hunting weekend for Jared & I

// said a fond farewell to the beach

// packed up our apartment into one storage unit & one truck bound for The Capital

// lots of exploring our new city via the walk to job interviews

// lots of fun evenings with out of town visitors

// birthday weekend with mom, dad & Olivia Macaron

// a low-key four year anniversary, the fruit/flowers year! (He's a funny guyyyy...)

// Embarked on our trip across the pond with the Coulombs! First stop, London & Bath

// Onto Paris, before coming home & stumbling into Thanksgiving & the holiday season

// Jared, his older brother & their best friend are reunited for one whole evening after 5 years apart

// Christmas morning in Virginia! Golden doodle love ensues.

So, in 2014... We started the year with a first annual family meeting, after which I teased some future plans here on the blog. (More on that later, finally, I promise.) Two weeks into the year, I resurrected outfit posts, which started off rough now that I'm looking back, ha. God opened up a perfect job opportunity at the exact right time, & I started before the end of January. We enjoyed our first snow of the year... & then some more snow showed up & no one knew what to do with themselves. In a moment of overachievement, I decided to do LOTS of monthly posts on this little blog, which resulted in sharing a whopping ONE recipe. Lesson learned. We got really into the Winter Olympics, & also got a new baby nephew.

I was lucky enough to form a partnership of sorts with Kelsie, the brilliant girl boss behind With Lavender & Lace, & we started doing outfit post photos for each other for most of the year.  Jared turned 26  & I took the opporunity to gush a little. I took some pictures of my hair & the post blew up on Pinterest, resulting in nearly 150k views on this little blog since March. Seriously. I was also fortunate to start the Hampton Roads Bloggers chapter of Virginia Bloggers, & met some seriously cool ladies. We took a quick trip to the Outer Banks. My youngest sister graduated high school, so we celebrated her & my mom. Many tears of pride & love were shed.

We stayed on our toes in June, as I Whole30'd for the first time & we officially announced we were moving to DC... Followed by an intense summer of apartment hunting. I had the honor of hosting Amelia's birthday weekend while both our husbyies were out of town. I said a bittersweet goodbye to my amazing job in Norfolk & to the beach. Then, our Norfolk apartment got packed up & we officially made the move to our new city... Which quickly became decidedly not fun as we lived without internet for 2 weeks too long. We had our first Shake Shack experience & spent most of September getting to know our new neighborhood & job hunting. Danielle visited from China. I finally got a new part time job & quietly turned 26... With no photos or even a reflecting-on-25 post to commemorate. We then celebrated our four year (!!!) wedding anniversary, which was another quiet, spent-at-work day.

Our biggest adventure this year was easily our trip to Europe... & sorry that there are no posts to link to that statement. #imtheworst I'll finally be blogging about our trip THIS month! We came home & enjoyed a beautiful Thanksgiving in the mountains of Virginia. We bought ourselves a little christmas tree, then visited a big christmas tree, then had ourselves a merry little christmas by surprising our families at home in VA. 2014 ended on a sad note as we said a heartbreaking goodbye to my family's golden retriever, Emma.

It's always funny doing these review posts because I realize how many things I could have included. I basically end up re-reading every post I wrote throughout the year, & it's only then that I realize just how many other little things I could have written about. Something that was a fleeting sentence was actually kinda a big deal. For whatever reason, the pictures weren't taken, or it didn't seem like it was a big deal at the time. I just always think that's interesting. Retrospect, man.

But the biggest post that is missing - Aye, even bigger than London & Paris in all of their yet-to-be-shared glory - is the post about THE project I've been hinting at for (literally) years. In fact, a lot of the missing posts from this year can be attributed to this project, as it pretty much took over (& rightfully so) my life. On December 15th, 2014, Amelia & I let the world know that our brand spankin' new event company, Tart Event Co., would be open for business in January 2015. After two years of waiting to make that announcement, it was like exhaling the deepest breath I've ever taken. With the most incredible business partner I could ever ask for (& the love + support of the best husbands & families on the planet), our dream became reality... & truly, every day since has been a whirlwind of stress, magic & fulfillment. A post about Tart is still to come, but I just couldn't review 2014 without mentioning that enormous step, especially since HUNDREDS of hours of last year were spent working on our launching our company.

So! 2014, you were CRAZY. Somehow, I sort of knew you would be. You were the year that Jared started a career that he is passionate about.The year that landed us living apart for 1/3 of the year. The year that finally took us to a new state (ermmm... District? THE District?). The year that I said goodbye to a very comfortable apartment in a very comfortable city, with a part time job that I could have had for years & years & been happy with. The year that regardless of those things, we stepped out in faith. You'll forever be the year that I worked in retail during the holidays *gag* & the year that Amelia & I started a business. We are owners of a company. The year that regardless of aaaaall that ^^ being completely chaotic... The four of us still went to Europe, anyway. You will always be the year that we all stopped waiting. The year we started just doing. You'll be the year that God was getting us ready for, & the year He shifted all the pieces. 2014, you were incredibly crazy, & crazy incredible.

With all of that being said - Bring it on, 2015. I can't wait to see you this time next year.