I must apologize for another blog lapse. Last Monday I lost someone that I loved dearly, my grandfather. He was not just a loveable friend, but a witty writer, an artist, minor league baseball player, soldier, and so much more.

After the flag folding, ear piercing rifle shots, and unending tears there seems to be little left. My mom said it best (relatively). We are so broken.

For some moments in life there are no words. So I'll leave this short and sweet. I miss you Grandpa, and I'll always love you.

I know. I know. Two posts in one day. This is unreal. LOL. But I can't tell you about the wedding without giving a peak at the minimoon. It just wouldn't seem fair.

Inspired by Jim & Pam's wedding on the Office, Joe & I decided we needed to make our Sunday/Monday after the wedding something memorable and different. Seeing as our creativity was lacking, we stole Niagara Falls from Jim & Pam. We were so enticed by the prospect of staying in a different country (the Canadian side of the falls) that we forgot entirely about some of the details. Like currency exchange, the fact that my GPS doesn't have maps for Canada, that the falls might soak all our clothing, and that we might need more than $80 in cash.

Despite all of our rookie mistakes, our road trip was a blast. We got lost in Pennsylvania, but as a result, we drove through a gorgeous state park. If I had a digital SLR in my possession, I would have been in my glory! We saw a different country. We had the most gorgeous view of the falls. We dined in an authentic Brazilian restaurant, Braza (<3) and drank a bottle of nice Canadian wine. We journeyed behind the falls and got soaked, went through a tourist trap movie (how could a "Niagara's fury experience" go wrong? lol!)and got soaked, took the Maid of the Mist underneath the falls and got soaked, and gave ourselves a cold. It was wonderful.

I've never felt so in love. so at peace. and so happy. I think couples need multiple honeymoons. At least once a year! Here are some of the pics from our amazing road trip!

We're married now, so I figured I could post kissy picks and not be embarrassed. Apparently I haven't changed that much. I'm still blushing, but it's cute, and it makes me smile.

Sorry I've been MIA for the past couple weeks. I've had a good reason. I GOT MARRIED! (WOOT!) On the rainiest day in October, I became Mrs. Malanowski (which is not any easier to write from the former Miss Drapalski!) Even the pouring rain couldn't damper our spirits. This ephemeral event, felt so much shorter. The day flew by. I was so happy I felt like I was I felt like I was walking on clouds all day. ::sigh:: I'm married. I'M MARRIED. I'm married to the love of my life. my best friend. the supplier of all my smiles. Joe.

Enjoy the pics. I can't wait to see what the photographer got. Poor thing had to battle the wind, rain, and our crazyness!

So when facebook suggested this site on the sidebar which is usually cluttered with crap, I was skeptical to say the least. But the ad had the cutest outfit on it. I am very into vintage silhouettes. So I caved and clicked. And, oh boy, they made a ModCloth junkie out of me.

So my personal favorite today is this "Glad to sea you" dress. I think it would be a lovely birthday dress with my navy trenchcoat. What do you think?


It's out of stock right now, but I'm thinking of saving up some money to buy it!

So, I must confess my greatest shortcoming - I cannot cook. I even sometimes mess-up those things that go straight from the freezer to the oven. I don't know how I do it. I only know that I cannot cook.

In an effort to actively change this situation, I decided that I would cook soup...... from scratch. Now to anyone else, this would be a simple activity, with little risk involved, but for the anti-chef, this was a big deal. So Joe cut up the veggies and chicken, and I sauteed and cooked rice, and loaded it all into a large slow cooker. The result.....

A DELICIOUS & EDIBLE MEAL! I even made biscuits to go with it!!! (I'm eating another helping for lunch today) And for desert? Divine strawberry smoothies made by yours truly!! They tasted as good as the Strawberry Extreme from Cool Beans in Salisbury.

So maybe I'm not hopeless.....

I mean, this girl just sat down and was like, I'm going to stitch an awesome shirt/sweater. Really? How talented is she? AmAzInG!!!! I want a colorful patterned shirt, some jeans, and this top. ::sigh::

Ok, so in my infinite wannabe crafty life, I decided that I would make a pillow that I saw in a blog post. It looked amazing on the blog post. Let me just tell you! I cut out all the pieces. 60 circles that turn into rosettes. I'll let you know how it turns out. Here are the pieces so far!

In the library I work in, there are 3 floors: the basement, the first and the second floor. Well, once you get to the second floor, there is an additional five more steps leading to a mystery door. The door to the roof. A door that until Friday has remained closed. I must have passed by the door 20 times and gazed outside. You would have thought it was the wardrobe from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter.
The view from the top. What I love about the roof is the all-encompassing quiet. There's something so peaceful about being away from the hustle and bustle (and away from the bright computer monitors)

Hope you can all find a little excitement & peace in your days! : )

Today was one of those great days. Ok, so any day that Joe & I don't have to work is fantastic, but I digress. We had a great picnic at my parents' house: pork roast, veggies, and more cookies than even I could eat. Delish!

Other than pinball scores, I actually found some pretty awesome stuff online today. One crafty thing I want to make, and one green thing that I want to buy.

I am notorious for losing clips and hair ties everywhere I go. I was looking on this Cool Mom Picks blog and came across this awesome idea for a "clippie holder." Love it.

Lastly, I really like the idea for these go green bags that fold up into a ball. Check them out here & you can try to win them at Cool Mom's Picks blog. Good luck!

Boredom brings out lazyness in some people. For others it brings out obssessive compulsive behaviors. For me, boredom gives me pinball super powers.


What's your highest score?

Inspirations seem so necessary on a Wednesday. Wednesday are haunted with feelings of boredom, exhaustion, and relative discontent that it is not yet Friday.

Today is no ordinary Wednesday though. Today is the first Wednesday of fall weather! I love it. I stumbled upon this photo from Alana Davis Photography. It just summed up my childish excitement about fall. Pumpkins, changing leaves and leave piles to jump in, and fresh apples. I can't wait to venture out with my camera when the colors start changing!


I've also been listening to the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack all afternoon, and it is so relaxing. I found out that you can listen to the tracks on lala for free. So, check them out or if you don't have time for the whole album, youtube has the preview. My favorite (for some unknown reason) is "Quelqunn ma dit" by Carla Bruni. I won't lie to you, I have no idea what that translates to, but theres just something about the song that I love. What's your favorite?

Yesterday was my bridal shower. To give you some perspective on this, I insisted I did not want a bridal shower. I kicked, I screamed like a little toddler. It didn't work. lol.

So yesterday was the day. I was pacing around the house, I probably walked a couple of miles around that townhouse, and I was talking way too fast and high pitched to be understood.

Kelly, her mother, and Aimee arrived at my house to get me looking prettiful. I'd never really had my makeup done before, but Aimee did a great job. Kelly curled my hair to perfection, and I was left looking like a supermodel. Well, I felt like a supermodel. lol.

I picked my mama up (she looked adorable). And headed to Teavolve to the party. Despite my fear and anxiety, I had a really fun time. I got such sweet presents. I was amazed to realize how many people care about me and wish me well in my marriage to Joe. It was touching! (I got all teary eyed).

So all in all it was actually pretty awesome & I stayed up late last night to work on the thank yous!

(Photos to come)

So, I was blogstalking and a came across this blog entry from a photographer on etsy that I love. It features photos taken off the supersampler lomography camera. Ok, so I've been wanting a lomography camera for a while. A holga. A diana. Really, I'm not that picky. Now I've added a another to my wish list, the SuperSampler. Oh baby.

So I found a yellow version on ebay. Now I just gotta hope I win it!!! Then I can take some fun photos! Next stop, my holga starter set.

::sigh::

This weekend is Joe's Bachelor Party. He's in Atlantic City partying with some of his friends, so I decided that instead of sitting in the house feeling sorry for myself, that I would go out with Kelly last night into today.

Last night I finally saw Harry Potter. It was really good. (Okay, so I'm biased)

This morning, we wanted to play with our cameras, and go take some photography so we headed over to Dupont Circle. Unfortunately, with the combination of the rain and me not feeling well for the first half of the day, we didn't get many pictures. We still had a blast anyways. I also picked up this really cute teapot/matching napkins on clearance at TableTop. Ok so I really didn't need another teapot, but I couldn't resist it.

I finally arrived home at about 10:30 PM to an empty house. It's so weird. Ok, so I'm kinda freaked out. I'm a scaredy cat, I admit it. So scared, that I can't seem to fall asleep, and instead I'm blogging (in a blog that only 2 people visit) at 1:37 in the morning. Getting up for church tomorrow will be fun!!!

So as for the photos, I'll leave you with my two favorites, I think! Comments?

Today I am a barrel of emotions. I am sad, I am mopey, I am weak/sick, and I am grateful.

I am upset because the state of my grandfather whose been in and out of the hospital. It's hard to think of such a strong and funny man unable to take care of himself. I'm praying for him.

As for mopey, I just realized that all of my close college friends are/have moved away. I'm going to be all alone soon!! Japan, Italy, Texas, Mississippi, Marines, Philly : I am so jealous of you!!! I better make some friends soon, otherwise I will be very lonely!

I am feeling sick. My stomach has hurt for days, and before that, I had headaches.l It's putting a another damper on my mood. I think it's stress-related

Lastly I am grateful. I went to my parents yesterday, saying how stressed I was about the rehearsal dinner/wedding after party. I feel like I have to do it all myself and that I have to fix everyone's problems. My dad called me and told me to just let him take it off my shoulders. That he would plan both parties, and not to worry. That everything would be ok. I was really touched that they really thought of how they could help me and the just did it. It's kind of daunting to plan this all alone. That's why I'm glad they are helping. Maybe I can breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe.

I finally got home from work. Traffic was horrible. Now Joe is making dinner while I sit grumpily watching the thunder outside.

This Sunday, I got to go to an O's game (vs. the Angels). Budweiser gave my dad tickets and passes to the pregame party in the Budweiser warehouse bar. We had a blast. We drank some beer, ate crabcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, and hotdogs, and then managed to steal some peanuts and soda for the game. Working in a liquor store definitely has it's perks.

So today, I got our engagement photos back, and there's a couple that I absolutely love. The first was taken by our wedding photographer, and the latter two were were taken by a good friend & talented photographer Kelly Shuggars from Obscure Details.

This weekend Joe & I went on an engagement retreat. If you want to be married in the Catholic Church, you have to complete a bunch of these type of things. We meet with the priest about every other week, attend Natural Family Planning classes, and lastly, we had to attend this retreat. At first I was annoyed. Why do I have to spend an entire weekend there. I'm planning a wedding. I need that time! I HAVE A LIFE! I fumed all week and this obvious insensitivity for me time.

I must say the weekend made me eat my words. One we were at this monastary/spiritual center, I decided to embrace the spirit of the weekend. to harness this openness and this uninterrupted time to grow as a couple. Joe was put on the second floor, with the boys, and I was placed on the 3rd, with all of the girls. We were barraged with questions, some we had talked about, some that we had. Some were emotional, and some were not. We had to write each other love letters.....

We got up extra early to enjoy peaceful walks during the sunrise. It was a great weekend. I might post some of the entries that I wrote when we headed our seperate ways at night, if I can get motivated.