In the time that we have come to know Brandy throughout her friendship with Kevin and their developing love, there is no denying that we also see what anyone who comes to know her would agree.  She is beautiful both inside and out, and is a wonderful match in character, value, and spirit for Kevin.

It was a true honor for Matt and I to be witnesses to their marriage and share in the celebration with their family and friends at the start of their new life together. Congratulations, Kevin and Brandy!  Wishing you many years of happiness together!

No nerves evident – just very excited to be married!

This adorable little boy came equipped with all sorts of entertainment:)

The proud Mr. and Mrs. B!

What a radiant bride!

Everyone’s excited for this moment!

He little guy, where are you going?

Mr and Mrs!

On to the PARTY!  And quite the party it was as you’ll see:)

Pat and Charlie, celebrating with old friends!

HOLLA!  G’night folks!

OK – one outtake, because I can’t resist sharing :)  What a crew!  Happy wedding, Kevin & Brandy.  Love, The Keils

Now that’s an entrance!

Hey, who’s this guy?  ;)

Hooray!  It’s official!!  {Love this kiss}

And these smiles:)

Vote Savage for President ;)

On to the PARTY!

They were beaming and glowing cuteness all day.

A special moment for father and daughter

Love how Darlene’s dress catches the light here.

And a proud mom and son!

Just a few of Penn State’s finest wives (thanks to my assistant, Zach – hah!)

!

Sweet ending to a wedding and beginning of a lifetime together.

If you live in the local Philly area and enjoy garage sales, thrift shopping, or vintage items of every style, OR if you have unwanted, unused items to get rid of, Phantastic Phinds is the place for you.  I purchase and consign there and they make it easy as pie to unload your house hold items for second-hand sale.  It’s always a treat to browse their shop and you literally can go in one day to the next and see so many new things!  I love their business model, and the owner, Angela is always on hand and really knows her stuff.

It was on one such trip to the fabulous (or phabulous?) Phantastic Phinds that I got…an idea!  I was wracking my brain trying to think of something creative for my hubby for our third anniversary.  I consulted the traditional anniversary gift lists which suggested something leather.  A new wallet seemed boring, so did a belt.  I considered a few other things, none of which really worked.  Then, there in Phantastic Phinds, I saw a leather saddle in the window.  Now that’s something different, I thought!  Let it be known that neither hubby nor I are equestrians; I’ve only been on a horse a few times.  But this saddle was cool and I figured there’s got to be some way to use it.  So I commissioned my dad’s handy work to help me make this saddle into a stool.  And what resulted was a leather, 3-legged stool for my hubby on our 3rd anniversary, complete with little horseshoe feet.  It’s perfectly corny, uniquely ours, and I love it!  It doubles as a seat and a conversation piece!

And in other things phantastic, I had been searching for a long time for a vintage gold-leaf frame to house a painting my grandmother had done.  It needed a more worthy and protective home, as an heirloom piece it’s becoming.  Guess where I found the perfect frame?  Phantastic Phinds!  I removed an old, dingy, unloved canvas that came in it, cleaned up the frame, and took it next door to Woulfe Framing where they treated the painting with white glove service and sent me home with a super easy DIY kit to finish the frame job.

Notice the wall color complimented perfectly thanks to interior designer Mimi Leitzel of MCL Studio.  Mimi also very patiently helped me pick the paint colors for the adjacent rooms.

I hope this inspired you to do something creative and green in your home and to check out some of these awesome local businesses.

I’ll have more happenings to share around our house soon – currently working on accessorizing our deck.  Did someone say BBQ?  Why, come on over!

Congrats, Sarah and Ricardo!  Looking forward to seeing you again on the big day!

Who knew a gust of COLD wind could be so romantic ;)

My personal favorite:

Tee he :)

Uh oh.  This isn’t going to end well ;)  lol

I think he said he wanted a snow cone, haha!

It was so much fun playing with you both.  Thanks for being such great sports in the weather!



Hello, Pacific!  I’ve been dreaming of you over the cold winter months.

I decided the best cure for my cabin fever was to revisit beautiful, sunny, warm California.  But in leu of an airline ticket, I dug into my archives to pull up the images from our October tour of Northern California, which I realized I never posted.  So for everyone else out there dreaming, wishing, hoping, praying for a little sunshine and a temperature warm up, here’s a little something to whet your palate :)

The Beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains from Castle Rock.

Visited the Baileys in San Jose!  Miss you guys:(

Then it was off to Carmel.  The sea breeze, the galleries, the restaurants – all wonderful!  Thanks to my friend Alexa for the recommendation – LOVED it!  It was right up my alley.

Driving along Route 1.  Scenic doesn’t even begin to describe it.

The in-laws, stopping to enjoy the views.

Can I go back, please?

Happy as an elephant seal playing in the waves:)

On to Yosemite

El Capitan.

Dinner at the historic Ahwahnee Hotel.

Tunnel view.

Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia.  They were massive and breathtaking.

Clothespin tree.  Still going strong.

Mmmm…breakfast.   There’s no better accompaniment to a meal than fresh mountain air!



Hit the trail.

The cables came down the day that we arrived, so there was no chance of climbing Half Dome.  But we got some great views  it from across the valley.

Watching the pink sun set light up the face of Half Dome and the High Sierras was a unmissable experience!

So long, Half Dome.  See you again someday…FROM THE TOP! :)



On to San Fran.  The city had me at hello and I didn’t want to leave.

The vibe of the city is amazing and I feel like it spoke to my spirit.  If it wasn’t so far I would move there in a heartbeat.

Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate and love the architecture in Olde City Philadelphia.  But San Francisco still wins!  We didn’t get to see the Painted Ladies of Alamo Square Park, but all you really had to do was look up, and down, and around and there was amazing architecture everywhere!

Cute, cuddly, California Sealions.

I walked up this giant, Pittsburgh-style hill on my way to Lombard Street, and all the while I had no idea this beautiful horizon view was rising up behind me.  Thankfully, I turned around!

You guessed it.  Lombard St.

Headed across the bay for a night tour of Alcatraz.

Creep, cool, eerie, intriguing, all in one.  HIGHLY recommend the Alcatraz night tour for visitors.

Uniform issue.

An escape plan in the making…

The controls for the cell block doors.  Very cool demonstration to see.  The haunting slam of those doors should be enough to scare any of us out of a life of crime.

Cooking up trouble in the dinning room.

Last stop, Napa Valley!

Yummy lunch aboard the 1913 Pullman rail cars of the Napa Valley Wine Train.

When in Napa..

Vineyards, vineyards, everywhere.

Cheers!

Top that off with a behind the scenes tour at Beringer Winery.

And a great vacation it was.  I’ll drink to that! :)

Thanks for looking!  Don’t forget to leave your comments!

Some wiskers.

And a tail.

Picked up by the police on the streets of Philadelphia, she was all alone but seemingly not the slightest bit scared.  We brought her home from the shelter a few weeks ago as a foster kitten, and she quickly won over our hearts.  We hit a bit of a rough patch when she got very sick and almost didn’t make it.  But after a few days in the hospital she was back to her spunky self.  She gets her kicks from eating big brother Peanut’s tail, chasing everything that moves, and pigging out on any food she can get her paws on.  Peanut wasn’t crazy about her at first, but now he enjoys giving her baths and of course putting her in her place.

Last night she made her last visit back to the shelter to finalize the adoption papers and now she’s home with us for good!

The pounce face :)

And here’s one of big brother Nut, looking like a turkey.  That can’t be comfortable.

You just may find the 4 of us cuddled up on the couch for the rest of the weekend:)

This is not just any special couple.  Shawn is a good friend from our shared Alma Mater.  And his beautiful wife Brenna fits right in with our crazy PSU crowd.  I’m glad to have known Shawn for 10 years, as a friend, classmate, and a short-lived roommate.  He’s always been good for a hug, a laugh, a snack from the cupboard, or a missing H2O {Shawn-I’ll cherish that moment forever because you’ve outsmarted me every day since;) }

As you’d expect, this wedding was a mini PSU reunion of sorts.  And spending time with Shawn and all our friends from college makes me reflect on how it all began.  If it weren’t for Pinchot Hall and all the wonderful connections that stem from there my life wouldn’t be complete.  I truly believe that every person that touched my life at Penn State has contributed to molding me into the person that I am today.  I guess that Alma Mater is right?!

So back to the man of the hour and his perfect match, Brenna, whom I’ve enjoyed getting to know.  Wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness together!  Congratulations!

Now, enough of my talking.  On to the pictures!

Shawn getting a pep talk from his best (wo)man.

Here comes the stunning bride!  Loving the movement of Brenna’s dress!  And she’s rock’n the birdcage:)

I’m a fan of mix and match bridesmaid dresses.

This next one is possibly my favorite wedding photography I’ve taken to date :)

The officiate had lovely words to say about the couple.

Vows…

Rings!

They planted a tree together as part of the ceremony.  Where’s that white table cloth to protect your dress when you need it?!

Admiring what’s happened.

I think she’s saying “Yup, we’re finally married!”

Mr. and Mrs!

Then it was off to the reception inside.  These two can really cut a rug!  And they’re Beatles fans.  BONUS!

The pictures stop here because I spent the rest of the night on the dance floor tearing it up to some of the best wedding music I’ve heard.  Good times had by all!

Wishing many congratulations to the newly weds!

Look at that fruit parfait!

A beautiful cake from Bredenbecks Bakery in Chestnut Hill.

Debbie and her hubby steal a moment while waiting for the bride and groom.

We all gathered in the foyer for their entrance down the grand staircase followed by their their first dance – what an intimate space to share these tender moments with their guests.

I loved this next series so much that I couldn’t help but include them all.  Jen’s sister and Matt’s best man speeches really won over the crowd!

One last toast to Jen and Matt – Wishing you much love and laughter in your happily ever after:)

~ Anne and Matt

All the ivy is GONE!  For now, until it creeps back in from the neighboring yards.  We’ve gained some usable space in the back of the yard.  Now, what to do with it?

If anyone in the Philly area is looking for a reasonable landscaper, we’d recommend Fred at Modern Landscapes.  Competitive prices.  Timely work.  Quality service.

All prepped for the deck.

The foot print – substructure going in…

From here on out it was a bit of a difficult process with several changes to original plan and  some very slow construction.  So I’ll skip over the details in between and jump right to the finished product.  It’s still a little naked –   next it’ll be stained and painted.  And by the spring it’ll be all decked out (sorry, I couldn’t resist:)

You can see our shed back there, too.

The built in seating area.

And the view up:)

Now bring your selves on over….we’re ready to grill out!

This session goes back to a day in June when it wasn’t so hot, but it was mighty windy.  Thankfully, there are lots of little nooks and crannies round Norristown Farm Park that we could duck into to escape the gusts.  All in all it turned out to be a nice evening.  And I got the chance to spend time with a sweet young girl and her energetic little sister.  It was a pleasure to finally meet Miss A.  I’d heard a lot about her from her proud dad, and she was just as lovely as he’s described.  Her little sis, Miss L., was all over the place checking everything out.  She certainly kept me on my toes, but it was fun chasing around those bouncing curls:)

Loving this doorway:

These guys are all major Phillies Phans!

This was more of an outtake, but I had to laugh when I saw it!

Rolling down hills and laying in the grass…now that’s summer time!

Thanks for looking!