Not Merely Living

Photo a Day

 

I have loved keeping up with #febphotoaday on instagram. It's helped me to start looking around my every day life and taking more pictures as the moments are unfolding.

I want to start taking even more pictures every day. 

In cased you missed it, I posted about the first five days of the project here.

Here's a recap of my #febphotoaday from the 6th-28th (some of which are much better than others :)):

6. Dinner with my honey. veggie casserole

 

7. button 

8. Sunshine.  Peeking through

9. Front door warm and inviting

10. Self Portrait

11. makes you happy. well deserved happiness

12. inside your closet

13. blue. sparkles!

14. heart. made with love

15. Phone. Viet is old school

16. Something new. a new glass

17. Time

18. Drink. greyhound

19. Something you hate to do. dishes

20. Handwriting. writing the first letter to my new pen pal!

21. Fave photo of you. Lil me! Loving the hair and the jumper. Oh and the smirk. Oh me

22. Where you work. The Food Bank!

23. Shoes. Gianni Bini. So comfy and sparkly!

25. Green. my fav color

26. Night. with a minute to spare

27. Something you ate

28. Monies. fiver

It's really been fun capturing these moments.  I'm really looking forward to a photo a day in March:

 

 

Join me! It's so fun. I bet you'll like it. I'm hoping this photo a day project will help me to build up to try Project Life (because of course I want to do everything Elise does!).

In case you were counting, I only missed one day during February (24. the inside of your medicine cabinet picture=boring anyways).

Are you on instagram? follow me @meredithrene, so I can follow you back!

Here's to catching the moments.

 

Leaping for Love

I am dedicating my leap day to Viet:

                             Source: Uploaded via Chelsea on Pinterest

Sorry that this is a bit hard to read, but it's a quotation from the move "Leap Year." I'm sure that movie isn't the real origin of this quote, but I couldn't find the real origin (comment if you know!).

May you never steal, lie, or cheat, 

but if you must steal, 

then steal away my sorrows,

and if you must lie,

lie with me all the nights of my life,

and if you must cheat,

then please cheat death because 

I couldn't live a day without you.

Happy Leap Year everyone! I love that we're getting married during leap year. I definitely do not take the extra day for wedding planning for granted!!

I'll be calling the DJ this afternoon :) to make sure I take full advantage.

Last night I was writing, and I looked up and B was just staring at me with that sweet look on his face. When I asked him what it was, he said just that I looked so pretty.

It was one of those simple moments that made my heart leap. It feels so funny to type this out. He does sweet things like that all the time, but maybe just because today is an extra day, I'm extra grateful for B and that sweet moment.

I am so happy that we are taking the leap to commit our lives together. 

Are you doing anything special to celebrate this extra day? 

 

 

Tuesday with Tiffany

 

Do ya'll know my good friend and Birthday Twin Tiffany?

We got to spend most of the weekend together, and as usual, had a blast.  

On saturday I headed over to Teahouse to hang out for a while before we headed to a really cool event at West Elm (my favorite!!!) curated by sfgirlbythebay:

West Elm Emeryville + Etsy: We heart handmade art

I loved all the beautiful items by Good Measure. Perfect for gifts:

 

 

I loved Elizabeth Rosas Jewelry. I wanted Everything:

When I took this picture, I didn't even realize this was one of  Etsy seller STUDIOPATRO's awesome prints:

and check out these beautiful cross stitched necklaces from Gamma Folk:

And then of course, I had my eye on some of the West Elm gems:

 

 

and, I had to get a few Maggie shots. She was being the cutest:

 

 

 

That evening we went to a collaborative art exhibition called the "Round Table [Collaboration] Postal-Collage Project No.1" that Tiffany contributed to:

 

 

There were several teams that participated in the art project, and each team had five or so members.

Each team member started their own piece and then it traveled by mail to each team member who each added their own touch to each piece until it came back to the original artist to be completed.

Here are the pieces in Tiffany's group:

 

 

 

The piece that Tiffany started and finished

 

Fanny and I loved this piece from another group:

 

 

We finished the evening with a beautiful dinner from my new favorite place (I mean-it was Tiffany's new favorite, so of course it would be mine too!), Bowl'd:

 

 

Great Food. Great Fun. Great Art. What could make a Saturday better?

Hope you're still smiling from the weekend-

Mere

Leaning towards March

 

 

I can not believe March is almost here. I'm already leaning towards it and getting excited for all of the bright and shiny things that March will bring, including:

-my mom's visit (!)

-all three of my brothers birthdays 

-My new nephew! Jori!  is scheduled to arrive on March 15th.

-Viet's Bachelor Party

-Saturday for Engaged Couples at the church where we're getting married

-the design, printing and addressing of our wedding invitations (more soon)

wooo! So many exciting things to come. 

But before I jump too quickly into March, I am wrapping up several exciting February projects that I'm looking forward to sharing with you this week.

One exciting new project that I joined this month is called the Handwritten Project, coordinated by the amazing Tabitha over at Glitter and Ganache. 

How it works:  You sign up to recieve one/or two/or more pen pals and commit to write one handwritten substantial letter each month for at least three months. 

So fun, right?! It brought me back to my pre-teen pen pal days. February's prompt was:

Introduce your city. Introduce yourself.

I thought that this would be such an easy and fun project, but it was a lot harder to write the first letter than I would have imagined. It's pretty tricky to try to sum up your life in a few pages when you're writing to someone you don't know. I kept restarting. and I have to tell you a secret. I finally just had to type out my thoughts first (!), and then rewrite them by hand. Typing them helped me to rearrange my thoughts. so funny how that works when you're so used to writing on a screen.

Once I finally got going, it felt so lovely to write a nice long letter. 

I'm really looking foward to recieving my first letter from my pen pal.

Head over to the Handwritten page to check out the details if you're interested in signing up for the next round of pen pals!

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

The Five Non-negotiables

As usual, my friday Groundhog Thoughts are a random round up of the things that have been swirling around my mind this week. 

Speaking of, you know what's interesting about groundhog thoughts? Ok. follow me for a sec while I take this metaphor a bit too far.

Many of us contemplate our shadows as we think about the next step in our lives (no matter how big or small). Our shadows follow us around-- a distorted reflection of our image, identity, of our self.  

I guess I'm trying to be a bit bolder than your average groundhog. I won't just run when I see my shadow.  I will face it and embrace it.

My Groundhog Thoughts for this week (They're much lighter than that build up-I promise):

Honeymoon.

I can't wait to be somehere like this:

 Source: x27.xanga.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

I mean I am excited about the wedding and all, but I can't wait to have Viet all to myself (without access to his laptop) somewhere with just sun, sparkling waves, and without demands. I can't wait to have time to just be in the middle of blue skies and sandy beaches.

TV.  We got rid of cable about six months ago, and we haven't really missed it because we watch almost everything on netflix or streaming online. Recently, I am feeling so inspired by Katharine McPhee's voice on the new nbc show Smash. I'm usually pretty loyal to ABC (love: greys, private practice, and revenge), but I've gotten swept up in the feel of making a musical and the magic of marilyn. loving it.

I've never really been a fan of The Bachelor, but my friend got me started watching it with her this season. and ya'll: it's CRAZY.  but on Monday, a group of us were watching it together (OMG Courtney! and Ben's twitter feed-insane), and my friend brought up the Millionare Matchmaker Patti Stanger.

I know, I'm leaping a lot today-stay with me. I have mixed feelings about Patti, but my friend mentioned that she had read Patti's book and loved it. She told me that in her book, Patti talks about the "five non-negotiables." Patti asserts that it's important to identify the the five things in a partner that are non-negotiable. 

and my friend was saying that she uses this in all other areas in her life, like the five non-negotiables for saturday or the five non-negotiables for the meeting she's walking into.

In terms of a partner, I was wondering whether my non-negotiables would be different if I was single or given my current relationship (and what that would mean if they were?  unclear).

So, I'm wondering. What are your five non-negotiables?

Here are mine (I think):

1. Someone that I believe in. to my core. someone that is so good and honest and real through and through that I could/would/will always be willing to stand up/jump up to protect/defend/fight for his dreams.

2. Someone who really believes in me. and my dreams.  Even the really scary Ican'ttellthistoanyoneelse dreams that seem so much bigger than me. Recently, Viet and I were on a plane, and I just started spilling this new big dream idea that I've been carrying around. I talked and talked and talked (and cried a bit while I talked--totally normal), and he simply replied, "I believe in you." the best.

 3. Family.  my person has to want a big family--to believe in a life filled with family, to want kids, and be willing to embrace the sacrifices that come with family.

4. Smart.  my person has to have a big dreaming scary smart mind. In the case of Viet, he is smart in such drastically different ways from me, but it works. We stretch towards each other. I love that. 

5. Adventure.  newness. the need/craving to experience the world. to travel. to eat/drink/live new things. I need someone who shares that. who always wanted a house with secret passage ways and loved the choose your own adventure novels.

Inspiration: the must reads from my favorite blogs this week

-My dear friend and birthday twin's amazing essay on being happy. read it. srsly.

-Yesterday's post by Victoria of Vmacandcheese on the wedding planning process and moving towards "owning it" for yourself. 

-This moving post  from a Cup of Jo on depression and weaning. I had no idea that this happened!

-Elise's new birthday project of 27 materials. I love Elise's blog so much. It's so inspiring and lovely to me. I can't wait to read about her 27 projects this year. 

Happy friday friends. It's been a crazy, stressful week for me, and I'm looking forward to the weekend. 

I hope you get some time this weekend to let your mind wander.

and to face your shadow.

Be brave.

 -Mere

 

Keeping it Real

I miss my mom you guys.

I miss my mom when she's happy (because I can't be there to hug her)

and I miss my mom when she's sad (because I can't be there to hug her)

and I miss my mom when I'm sad or happy (because I need a hug from her too).

Do you ever have days where you just really need a mom hug?!

I love this beautiful city and this crazy awesome life that Viet and I have built, but sometimes I just really fricking miss my mom (along with the rest of my friends and family back home-of course). but you know, mom and I, we speak the same language. We finish each other's sentences. We are even barred from being on the same taboo team!

Lucky for me my mom will be here in exactly one month, and she'll be staying for a whole week to help with wedding planning!!! I Can Not Wait.

I love you mom.

Keeping it real-
Mere 

Engagiversary

Today is our fourth anniversary. We've known each other for more like six years, but four years ago today we fell in love in Vegas.

One year ago today, Viet got down on his knee and asked me to be his person for life. 

the card B gave me right before he proposed

We framed the card and now it lives on our bookshelf along with some photobooth pictures we took at my FOH's wedding two months after we got engaged.

This is us the night we got engaged:

And this is us now:

                                                At an afternoon dinner party last weekend

I love him dearly.

This year has flown by. It feels like we just got engaged, and I can't wait to walk down the aisle and marry the most amazing man I know.

And listen to this coincidence. In addition to being our engagiversary, today is also exactly 100 days until our wedding!!

 

 

Even though we have a lot more to do, I'm still so excited we are getting so close! I can't wait!! I'm ready to dig into all the DIY projects that have been waiting on our list.

whew. 100 days. three months. 14 weekends. and  2417 minutes, but who's counting?

 

A Garden Dinner Party

I have some beautiful pictures to share with you today (all photos taken by me, Viet, or Shap with my camera).

Last weekend, we had the chance to attend the most beautiful event put on by piecemeal and Adelphi productions:

 

                                                                            Anna prepping the meal

My friend Anna is in town visiting from Vermont with several of her friends. They work at a farm for the rest of the year, and they put on these beautiful dinners in Vermont all the time with locally sourced foods. Since they were here for a few months on winter vacation, they decided to throw a dinner here.

The dinner was held in the Potrero Hill Community Garden. I didn't even know this breathtaking spot existed until we arrived:

As a bonus, I was having an epic hair day:

We had some delicious starters:

Braised Endive, early onion, radish & lettuce grapefruit mustarda salad. So tasty:

Next up, grilled trumpet mushroom, cardona, nettles & ricotta: 

and then, salt baked new potatoes with bay laurel. that's right--Salt baked potatoes:

and Viet's favorite, Lamb bacon & turnips:

     

I am not exaggerating when I tell you it was a FEAST.

Shappy and her boyfriend Shane were also there:

cuteness

Viet and I were pretty cute too:

 

 

Dinner started with shortbread and rosemary cookies. I don't even like shortbread, but these were delish:

   

the pistachio brittle rocked my world:

and when we thought we had no room left, they brought out the olive oil cake. Insane:

It was such a lovely afternoon. Thanks for including us Anna!

My Weekend: Colorful

Well Hello Lovelies,

Happy Monday!  I hope your day is extra bright.

My weekend was Colorful.

On Saturday we went to our favorite market:

Then, Viet took some pictures of me for the blog (check out my new picture up to the right). These are his two favorite shots (aside from the one on the blog). These are both taken in our front yard:

 

this one we're calling The Secret Garden

and we are sooooo excited for our friends L & K  because they just bought a new place! They picked the most perfect of perfect homes to make their own, and we couldn't be happier for them. We had a christening supper club at their new place:

 

                                                                    kyle yucking it up for the camera :)

The rest of my weekend was made up of lovely

Euker/ tictactoe

toast and tea/ blooming gladiolus

candle tree/ Viet's egg salad

I love Viet's egg salad. Hope your weekend was divine.

xo,

Mere

 

Reflection

Blogs are funny things. 

They are sometimes very personal and sometimes very professional. In many ways, a blog feels like an extension of its owner, and sometimes it can feel as though you stepped inside someone's journal or walked into their living room.

My favorite blogs are those that make me feel connected and inspired.

These are the posts that were my favorite this past year. I hope you enjoy them!

February: Awesome knitting pattern. I felt like my knitting made a big leap with this project.

March: Love this. It's like 5 posts in one (I was still learning :0) 

April: Introducing the amazingggggg FOH!

May: Anya is a rockstar. SRSLY. Cuteness overload.

June: Keeping it Real: the marriage edition

July: Our Epic Engagement Party

August: Not because this entry is particularly awesome, but because the fried pickles REALLY are delicious.

September: I took a break in September to try to finish my new blog design, so check out what the blog used to look out before I took Elise's awesome blog design class:

 

My old design here was simple and lovely, but I'm excited about how it's looking now and looking forward to making a few changes I have planned.

 

October: Keeping it Real: before I even knew to call it that.

November: Gobblers!

December: I Love my nephew.

January: Wow! January was jam packed with awesomeness, but I have to say-it all comes back to this.

There you have it, just a few of the posts that meant a lot to me over the past year. Thanks for joining me in this stroll down memory lane. 

Hope your weekend is grand~