a day in d.c.

This is perhaps the saddest gathering of photos to ever attempt to represent a day-cation. EVER. It's true - I left our camera in the suitcase while we wandered around our nation's beautiful capitol, & the only thing making me feel better about that? The cherry blossoms hadn't bloomed yet. In fact, they bloomed the day after we left. Sooo...

Lack of cherry blossoms aside, it was a really perfect 24 hours of D.C. & my man, all to myself. I had given him tickets to see Noah Gundersen (one of his very favorites) at Jammin' Java in Vienna, so we made a little trip of it. We drove up on Easter Sunday & spent the night in the city... But not before listening to a seriously impressive amount of Broadway musicals while sitting in traffic on the way there.

Monday morning left us plenty of time for exploring the city, which I hadn't really spent much time in since I left George Mason & moved back home five years ago. But OH, how we love that place! It was so wonderful to be back. Except I never want to leave.

 ^ There's also like, zero pictures of Jared. But it's because I was too busy staring into his eyes. Seriously.  ^

 

 

 ^ We spent the morning wandering a meager 40 something blocks to Georgetown 

& had brunch at Baked & Wired ^

 ^ & of course, had to stop in at Anthropologie, 

right after tracking down the restaurant we ate at the night we got engaged. ^

 

 ^ Obligatory stop at Sprinkles. Le duh. ^

 ^ & then we took these pictures from the car, as we realized on the way to take pictures of the cherry blossoms at the Washington Monument that there was 1. not a cherry blossom in sight & 2. a LOT of spring break traffic. ONWARD, HO! ^

 ^ We got to stop by Manassas & caught up with Amelia, Andrew & Logan. But it's sort of not a trip to Northern VA without a stop to Tony's Pizza, a college favorite. (Favorite is an understatement.) ^

^ I mean, seriously. So. Freaking. Good. IT HAD BEEN TOO LONG, MY PINEAPPLED FRIEND. ^

 ^ & then we all spent the evening listening to the sweet music of Denison Whitmer & Noah Gundersen. ^

It was a seriously exhausting, seriously wonderful day. You can't beat uninterrupted time with the man you love in the city where you fell in love. Add in some sweet friends, bangin' pizza & perfect tunes? Let's go back. Seriously, let's go back. We kinda want to stay there forever. Maaaaybe a little more than kinda.

We love ya, DC.

DIY - marble-ous easter eggs

I have what some would probably call a childlike obsession with dyeing eggs at Easter. I remain unashamed, because there aren't very many "crafts" that are this easy, colorful, & delicious. We took a marbled approach this year, & it was basically as easy as all the Pinterest links said it would be... Shocking, right? (You can see our dip-dyed eggs from last year here.)

  

>> We started with a base color, using this blending guide. >> With five bowls of color (orange, pink, yellow, grass green, lime green), we split the eggs up into five groups. >> Placing one egg in each color, we left our first batch in for nearly 12 minutes to get a deep color. Keep checking that first batch to make sure your shells aren't eroding! >> From there, we reduced the length of time that the eggs spent in the dye by 2 minutes...ish (12, 8, 6, 4, & 1 minute). Doing this created a nice, even gradient of colors. >> Once all the colors are done (& you've taken pictures, obvi), add about a 1/2 cup of oil to the bowls of dye. We used olive oil, because to me, it seemed to be the densest oil. But that's just my opinion & I have zero scientific fact to back that up. >> Drop one egg at a time into the dye bowl. We learned that if you just drop it in, you obviously are going to get more dye coverage. If you use a fork to whisk up the oil a bit, it will spread the oil out, creating a more intricate pattern. >> We waited until this step to create a blue & a purple dye, which I would highly recommend. It's just a game of creativity from there. Marble one egg in multiple colors! Add more dye for more vibrant colors! Get cahhh-razzzy! >> But, also be willing to think in reverse - To keep a pastel egg light, whisk your dye A LOT before dropping it in. >> When you pull the eggs out, there will be oil. Lots of oil. Let them dry before you wipe them off! >> & voila! You have beautiful marbled eggs! Now take more pictures, then crack 'em open & get them deviled up! Yummm. 

easter sunday!

Well, hey there, ya'll! Last week somehow became an avoid-eye-contact-with-the-blogger-bookmark kind of week. It's funny how those sneak up. & speaking of sneaking up, Easter popped up really quickly! It was a jam packed weekend, & I have lots (LOTS) of pictures to make up for the blog silence. 

My family takes our Easter Sunday photos pretty seriously. For the last few years, it's been the family photo-op, & the color scheme planning has gotten ser-i-ous. It was downpouring aaaaall morning this Easter, so my parents' back patio replaced the typical outdoor scenery. Even with the added humidity from the rain, it was actually a perfect backdrop. So, without further ado... The Essmann Family Photo Sesh, 2013. (With some Sunday Best hiding out in the middle.)

^ Yeah, my parents are adorable. But let's talk about mom's SHOES. Blim-blam. ^

 

 ^ Voted best picture, 2013 - The Golden Doodle Photo Bomb ^

 

^ I ask her to be my light test & she does this. OH, OKAY. ^

 

 ^ Added a baby to this year's picture of The Girls ^

 ^ This dog loves having her picture taken. Like, she's smiling. ^

HIS

jacket - moss // shirt - j. crew // chambray bowtie - tie bar // pocket sqare - h&m // pants - uo // loafers - thrifted

HERS

shirt - h&m // skirt - t.j. maxx // heels - old navy // barrette - h&m + hot glue + ribbon

^ This part is so sad after all the work that goes into egg dye-ing ^

 ^ But then you make Sour Cream + Bacon Deviled Eggs & it's not so sad anymore ^

^ Then you get cocky & make Roasted Garlic + Chive Deviled Eggs & you're like, "What is sad?"

 ^ Mama's pretty table. ^

& we'll talk some more about those dyed eggs tomorrow. I'd also like to disclaimer that my hair is not actually THAT red, although it turns copper every single freaking time I try to go even the slightest bit darker. But gray skies & reflected light & blahhh blah blahhhh.

Gosh, this post is a little all over the place. It's a lot all over the place. But I'm watching a Cardinals game (HEYYYY BASEBALL SEASON!!!) over the top of my laptop, & then focusing the rest of my attention on not stealing cheese off of Jared's snack plate. #willpower #yearofthebridesmaid #butaaaallIwaaaaantischeeeeeeeeese

the diet word

It's taken me about a week to work up the courage to share about this. It's pretty easy to want to hide behind the internet curtain with real-life struggles wrapped around me like a blanket. But I was really encouraged by another blog post when I was initially trying to lose weight a couple years ago, & it's totally worth it if there is even one person that feels the teensiest bit empowered in reading this.

As the 2011 event season ended, I realized that I had settled quite nicely into newlywed/office life... & had also settled into a body that I didn't recognize. It was not my finest hour, folks. So, I made a change. I followed a SUPER strict 30 day plan that guided me through every meal. (Which, while incredibly effective, SUCKED.) Between October 2011 - March 2012, I successfully lost 23 lbs. Yay! Right?

I'm here to tell you that at the beginning of this year, I had gained back about 8 of those initial 23 lbs.  I'm telling you that because IT HAPPENS. Diet & exercise are a lifestyle that I, as a stubborn person that loves me some Dr. Pepper & brie, am not always willing to commit to. Healthy eating is not first nature for me. When I get home from work, exercise is always prioritized after husband, blog & cleaning time.

I think we all feel pretty strongly about the "d" word. It's either something we're doing too often, as diet trends ebb & flow, OR it's something that we avoid like the plague. I've always fallen into the"plague" category, until I got serious about my initial weight loss. As previously mentioned, that first diet was a great jumpstart, but it was also terribly difficult to get through, leaving little guidance for Day 31.

With two bridesmaid dresses staring at me every day, I have two very good reasons motivating me to commit to a diet overhaul - & I mean diet (n), not diet (v). I want to change the way I eat for life, not change what I eat for 30 days.

So, I took the best parts of that first diet & made it mine. For me, this is more realistic. I started following this plan three weeks ago & am already seeing results. This DOES NOT include my exercise regiment, which is half the army in this battle! (& this is the part where I disclaimer that I'm NOT a health professional & that these arejust the rules that I'm following based on information from my healthy friends, my doctor & online research.)

This certainly isn't the end-all, be-all to diet change. There's vitamins & cooking methods & all sorts of stuff that I haven't started yet. But it's a start. There's a confidence boost that comes with taking care of my body. It's good. It's tough... But it's good.

This isn't about deprivation, or looking like someone else, or starving myself into a swimsuit. It's about respecting myself! Being a good steward of the body God gave me. Enjoying the food that God gave us to eat. Which may be fried or covered in barbeque sauce, on occasion, & I BELIEVE that's okay. Because, for the record, I firmly believe there will be cheese in heaven.