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| After J and I got home from the wedding, we spent the next few days relaxing and eating the other layer of our wedding cake (don't worry, we froze the top tier!). |
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| We got to keep all the signs from the wedding. They were made by hand and are just gorgeous, so I wanted to frame them! |
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| Finally home (sorry for the mess, we'd been gone for two weeks) with my ~*husband*~! Isn't he a hottie?! |
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| A few says after we were back, we headed to IKEA! We'd been sleeping on our mattress on the floor since we moved to Colorado in May, which sounds awful, but was actually more comfortable than our full bed had been back in New Hampshire. We went to IKEA with a list, and ended up finding the perfect bed frame for us! Fun fact: I'm the one in our relationship who puts together IKEA products, because J loses patience with the instructions after a few minutes, while I look at it more like a puzzle, so I love it. While I was putting the bed together, I pushed the mattress up against the wall and the cats were all about that life. |
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| The downside to wedding presents? Twenty trips down to the recycling! 😂 |
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| Finally got those signs framed! I put the timeline of the wedding directly across from our bed so we get to look at it every day. 💗 Also, that's not a real tattoo, unfortunately. I had a Harry Potter-themed bachelorette party, and while I could have scrubbed myself of my sweet temporary tattoos, I actually really loved these on my legs - so I kept them on for as long as I could! |
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| One of the firms I was doing contracting work for invited me to go to a fancy dinner for the ACLU, and I was definitely not going to pass that up! |
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| My girlfriends made me these decorations (the flying keys and floating candles) for my bachelorette party, and since I got to keep them afterwards, I put them up in my living room! Keeping the spirit alive! 😍 |
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| The Weathervane is one of my favorite coffee shops in Denver and it's totally what I want my future house to look like! I get total heart eyes every time I go! |
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| I love love love being married to this guy. 😍 |
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| This is way more painful to write now, but J and I watched the third debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Drumpf. I created a complex drinking/bingo game, because I needed to make it funny. I couldn't believe that we were all taking him seriously, so I just... didn't. Basically, the game worked like bingo, except each time the candidates did those thing, you also had to drink a certain amount each time they did them. We each had two "Mercy" cards, where we could skip drinking anymore on an action if the candidate did something too many times. I won, but America lost. |
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| This was my personal favorite square. She did this. It gave me life. |
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| I had another interview with a law firm I was hoping and praying would hire me, and they asked me to come into their office on a Friday morning... and I got the job!!! 😍 |
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| J and I went out to dinner to celebrate. We never go out, because Denver's expensive and we're still trying to get on our feet, but it was totally worth it! |
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| It's still weird/awesome to call this guy my husband. It sounds douchey, like I'm trying to brag about something... but I love it and he loves it, which is what matters. 😊 |
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| My first day of work!!! |
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| I came home that night to candy bars hanging on our door. I thought they were from a nice neighbor, but my apartment complex actually left them for everyone! How nice is that?! |
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| I'd been wanting to be more active, so when I had time one weekend, I walked to the park near my house. It's about three-fourths of a mile there, but usually I walk down this busy road. This time, I tried a new path, hoping it went the same way. It did, but it was more beautiful than I could have hoped - the whole walk was on this gravel path, the weather was perfect, and the leaves were stunning. |
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| Fall is my favorite season! |
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| The next week, I got sworn into the Colorado Bar! When I got sworn into the New Hampshire Bar, it was just me and my DWS group, so this was slightly bigger... |
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| I didn't have anywhere to go afterwards since J couldn't get work off, so I was planning on going home. Thankfully, I ran into my friend Kaitlyn, who also got sworn in, and she was kind enough to take me with her to an "after party" her law school was throwing at a champagne bar downtown! Honestly, the most fun part was learning about her friends' dynamics with other law students... but it also made me homesick for my people back in New Hampshire. |
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| Gingerbread lattes are back! 😍 |
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| This is one of my favorite dresses, because it makes me feel like a dark, witchy woman! BEWARE! 😜 |
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| J and I took home the rest of the succulents from the wedding, and I finally moved them into a bigger container! It's kind of a mess, but it works so much better than having each plant in its own tiny pot. There are still three plants in the kitchen that are growing on their own - couldn't quite fit them all! |
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| Every time I get pissed off about people or life (which is a lot), this kid brings me right back. I walked out of the bedroom one morning to this. I couldn't stop laughing. He's the cutest in the whole world! 😂 |
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| Voting in Colorado for the first time with J! And yes, I wore a pantsuit, along with my Ruth Bader Ginsberg shirt. Obviously. |
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| I wore the same shirt I wore to my UNH Law graduation, because I needed RBG to look down upon us (from the bench) and bless us. My whole office was on edge! |
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| I just re-posted this on my Facebook yesterday, because it's my favorite thing I think I've ever posted. I had originally posted this on November 8th. I was so ready. It hurts, now, but I'm not letting anyone take it from me. |
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| The night of November 8th was really, really rough. And it was for a lot of people. I cried, a couple times. I cried into J's shirt while he stroked my hair. I've had a lot of family try and excuse it afterwards by saying, "Well, it was just politics." But it wasn't. I wasn't crying about politics. I was crying because I truly thought, in my heart, that we were better than this as a county. That maybe we liked the "show" of Donald Drumpf, but when it came down to it, we would vote for someone who knew what they were doing. I thought when it came down to it, people wouldn't support someone who had said and done such awful things to Hispanic people, to African-American people, to women, to LGBTQ+ people, to disabled people, to Muslim people... I truly, deep down, thought the American people would hold their noses and vote in someone they wouldn't have a beer with, but who was objectively qualified for and understood the position (even though I loved her). I thought my grandma would have the chance to see our first woman president - and that it would be Hillary. I'm tearing up now just writing about it. That night, I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was just sad. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare, where my family had voted in someone who thought I was, at my best, a sex object. It felt like my fellow citizens stood up, pointed at me, and told me I didn't matter because I had a vagina. And even if they voted for him for different reasons, his treatment of minority people wasn't enough to stop them. That fucking hurt. It still hurts. That night, one of my friends posted that today was for mourning, and tomorrow was for continuing to fight. That night, I couldn't fathom fighting. I was tired. I'd been fighting. My job is fighting for the rights of minorities and those who are vulnerable, and my country had just told me that they didn't care. That night, I went to bed, exhausted. The next morning, I woke up, and instead of that lonely, sad, empty pit in my stomach, I was angry. I was pissed off. And like hell I was going to sit back and stop fighting for something that was, objectively, the right thing to do. I wasn't going to stop supporting people of color in their fight for life and equality and respect. I wasn't going to stop demanding equality for my fellow women. I wasn't going to roll over and accept the status quo. Yesterday was for crying. Today is for fighting. I thought the fight was going to be a lot quicker, but it wasn't. I have to fight a little longer, and I'm ready. Fired up, ready to go. |
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| My law school friend, Erin, got us tickets to the opera, and we drowned our election woes with mini champagnes and culture! |
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| I made homemade chicken stock, and used it to make chicken noodle soup from scratch! |
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| I convinced J to go on a walk with me so I could show him the path I found. The leaves were massive. |
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| I ordered this book on Amazon before Thanksgiving with the hope that our apartment would look perfect by the time my parents got here. Spoiler: It did not happen, but I am about halfway through this book! |
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| Even a day or so after the election (read: still, now, today) I was feeling depressed and beaten down. I responded by daring anyone to cross me by wearing my "Feminist" necklace. I only got compliments on it all day. |
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| Inspired by my book on tidying up, I started going through our apartment and figuring out what stuff I wanted to keep. I didn't touch anything of J's without his permission (I'm not a jerk), but even so, I ended up filling three big boxes with stuff to donate, let alone how much I threw out! |
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| In the midst of the chaos (as you can see), I managed to fill up two big tubs of homemade chicken broth! Yummm! |
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| When you pull back the couch to clean and realize where all the cat toys went... |
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| My mom flew into town Sunday night for an early Thanksgiving week. We checked out a local wine bar that I had visited before and loved. It was my first time eating there, and it was sooo yummy! |
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| We stopped by Bed Bath & Beyond to get cooking supplies for Thanksgiving, but while we were there, we also stocked up on coffee. 😂 |
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| The next night, my dad came into town and we all went to dinner. It was a fancy Mexican restaurant I'd never been to before, but we're definitely going back! Their margaritas were incredible (I had a blackberry, sage, and agave margarita) and all the food was sooo good! |
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| J works at a local record store, and my parents wanted to see it. While we were there, I bought this record of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and I'm so pumped to listen to it! |
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| How cute are these guys?! 😍 |
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| Sooo Thanksgiving sucked. I can't say that enough. It was going well - J and I finished up the laundry, my parents and brother came over, and we had all started to cook lunch. There was a lot going on. More people than usual, more sounds than usual, more stuff happening than usual... And out of the blue, James attacked my mom and scratched her face. She was screaming, he was yowling and in a blind panic, and it was basically just chaos. J and I managed to get James into the bedroom, I got medical supplies, and my dad and I tried to figure out how bad Mom's cuts were. I was so thankful James hadn't scratched her eyes, but he got close. Mom had to go to the emergency room for two hours, but thankfully, she was fine. James hid under the bed all afternoon, but eventually came out and started acting normal again. Everyone keeps asking what tripped him up, and honestly, I think he was just really overstimulated, overwhelmed, and my mom was in the wrong place at the wrong time - so when she moved on the couch, he must have thought she was grabbing for him or something. Even after I knew Mom was going to be alright, I was a wreck. I sobbed. I was so angry with James, but also worried about him and how soon he'd be calmed down. I was so scared for my mom - whether she was going to need stitches, whether her face was going to scar, whether she'd blame me, whether she'd ever come to my apartment again (she did)... I felt terrible guilt, and I couldn't shake that feeling all day. Thankfully, the food turned out great. And we were extremely grateful that nothing worse happened, so we at least had that going for us. |
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| We're not huge Black Friday shoppers in my family, but we did head out to do some Christmas shopping. Anthropologie had some adorable decorations, including this mop buffalo that I sooo wished I could have in our apartment. |
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| Chase and I were exhausted by mid-day! Our parents went into a furniture store, so we took advantage of this and plopped down on a giant couch. Had to catch a break somewhere! |
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| Mom & I during a Starbucks break! 💗 |
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| After shopping, we stopped by Home Depot to check out fake Christmas trees for me and J! I finally found one I really liked, and while I headed home for some alone time, my family went back to their hotel to relax. The cats really enjoyed the tree and the tree box. |
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| Christmas lights are my favorite, and I love the tree all lit up! 😍 |
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| Before breakfast the next day (at Snooze in Union Station), Mom and I got a picture with Santa!! |
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| Union Station was stunning - not that it's not normally pretty, but I was so glad my parents and Chase had a chance to see it all decorated! |
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| J had to work late morning, so that afternoon, my family headed to Tattered Cover and Twist and Shout. I managed to sneak over to see J during his break. |
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| While I was in Twist and Shout, I also managed to get this She & Him album I've really been wanting! It's one of my favorite Christmas albums, and I love that I have it on vinyl now! 😍 |
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| The next morning, since I didn't have to work until Monday, I slept in, then listened to my new album while I drank warm, cinnamon sugar cookie coffee. Basically, my perfect morning. |
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| J had to work again, so I went out with my family for lunch. I suggested Steubens, which is one of my favorite spots in Denver. I love good diner food, and they have some amazing gravy cheese fries! They all had to fly out of Denver that afternoon, but we had a lot of fun while we could. 💗 |
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| Monday, I got to go back to work! But at least I had a beautiful early morning and warm coffee. 😊 |
As chaotic as it was, I miss my family so bad already. We're not going home for Christmas this year because J has to work over the holidays, so I'm really gateful we got to spend so much time with them over Thanksgiving. I'm also really excited to go Christmas-crazy over here, haha. As you can see, I've been buying albums like crazy and I can't wait for the weekend so I can listen to them. We already had some lights up by our windows, and as you saw, we already put up the tree! J and I just decorated it a few days ago. I love our ornaments - they're a fun mix of vintage, vintage-inspired, and ones from our childhood, although we have a few new ones in there. What I relly love about them is that they come from all over - some from my family, some from J's family, some we got together, and some we got as gifts. Our friends Jay and Tyler sent us a care package from New Hampshire this summer, which included a really beautiful wooden ornament in the shape of New Hampshire. I love seeing it on the tree - although I love Denver and Colorado, I do really miss my friends in New Hampshire. It feels like we have a little piece of them here. 😊
I hope everyone else had a much calmer Thanksgiving and is enjoying your holiday, whatever it may be! This time for hope and love couldn't come at a better time.
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