So Very Lucky

Today I woke up with this overwhelming sensation of how undeniably, unequivocally and sometimes unworthily, lucky I am. 

I have the most amazing family, fiance, friends, job, life and I am even more lucky to be able to witness their successes as we all grow together. 

For someone who likes to talk a lot, I don't say enough and I tend to hold things in. I'm working on allowing myself to be vocal and happy and tell you all how much I appreciate you because 

you deserve it and so do I. 

I would be lost without you all.

xoxox,

Jes

5.9.15

Let the wedding planning begin! I can't believe we already have a wedding date! Originally we wanted a Fall 2014 wedding, but much to our surprise, all the venues we were interested were booked out through next fall. A comfortable outdoor venue was important to us though, and one of my number one rules is "I don't want to sweat on my wedding" so we decided on Spring 2015 - cross your fingers for sunshine.

As we searched for a rustic but elegant venue, we narrowed our choice down to Benhams Grove and The Willow Tree Inn. Benhams is a beautiful venue and we were very impressed but with a wedding party of our size, our only option for the reception was a tent. While tents are fine, we wanted some rustic elements and the thought of decorating a blank canvas like a white tent made the dollar signs in my head spin.

The Willow Tree Inn offers a beautiful backdrop, a rustic barn, and comfortable amenities. Bingo.

I fell in love with the Willow Tree when I sang there for a wedding in the 7th grade. I told myself ever since then that I wanted to get married there. *It captivated me* After meeting the new owners, I was pleased to learn that they married at the Willow Tree in 2000 and also fell in love, so much so that they bought the place about 2 years ago and have been renovating it ever since.

A beautiful old Victorian Home

Beautiful scenery

The Barn - Love love love

Now that we have the date and the venue, the rest of the fun begins! Adam just wants to know when we can go taste testing :)

xoxox - the future Mrs. Blimbaum

Date Night

Adam and I like to meet in the middle for Date Night on those long days when you just can't wait until the weekend for a nice dinner together and a warm hug :)

We stumbled upon one of our favorite places in Monroe, Ohio. About a 40 minute drive for the both of us.

The Red Onion Cafe is one of those breath of fresh air, diamond in the rough, sigh of relaxation type places in the middle of small town Ohio (I guess a lot of our towns are "small"). The website and exterior does not do it justice.

I ordered the Jumbo Shrimp and Crab Four Cheese Alfredo and let me tell ya! Incredible! I think I stopped between every bite to tell Adam how incredible it was.. in case he forgot.

Adam ordered the Hand-cut 12oz Choice Sirloin Strip Steak and he was a big fan as well.

Cheers to spontaneous date nights :)

xoxox,

Jes

Love Ever After

How beautiful is this series of photographs from Lauren Fleishman's Love Ever After collection. 

These are the things that dreams are made of.. Love Ever After.

"Everyday my wife expresses her love for me. She says, did I tell you how much I love you today? Everyday. Everyday she says that."

~Moe Rubenstein, August 24, 2008

Happy Early Valentines Day

Love, Jes

My Love

Today is my 2 year anniversary with my amazing boyfriend Adam. I'm not sure why/how he has put up with me for the last 2 years but I am grateful.

Thank you for being so wonderful.

I first started crushing on our trip to China - July 2009 - We had our first kiss in Shanghai :)

Head over heels - February 2010

2 years later - I love you

I love you! xoxox,

Jes

Cabin Getaway

The holidays are over and life has resumed as it was. My friends are in different cities and my boyfriend and I are back to splitting our time between Dayton and Cincinnati (this is way better than Cincinnati and DC for the record. I just really miss him during the week). I know everyone had a case of the "bahumbugs" today with the first day back at work. My older sister also had to go back to work today after maternity leave and take my 9 week old niece Gwenyth to daycare for the first time. So, she had a tougher day than the rest of us. Luckily she is the strongest person I know, and I know she will be able to pick things back up at work while continuing to be the best mom in the world. She'll find her balance. She always does.

Today, I daydreamed about the perfect vacation - a cabin getaway in West Virginia. We stayed at Mill Creek Cabins and I definitely recommend them! The cabin was clean and was stocked with fire wood, a full kitchen, and plenty of towels for the hot tub outside. We didn't even have to check in. The keys were waiting on Cabin #5's table and we left them where we found them as we quietly left the next morning. The drive through WV was just as gorgeous as the cabin with plenty of lookouts and roadside waterfalls.

It was truly paradise...

As we were leaving the cabin, we encountered our little friend who was the sweetest dog in the world but happened to be covered in poo. Someone had a little too much fun in the wilderness. Well the sneaky snake kept creeping into our pictures and I love poo dog for it.

This makes me crack up every time. Poo Dog!

Thank you Adam for the perfect getaway that I will never forget.

xoxox,

Jes

Looking Back and Moving Forward

1. I moved back to Ohio from DC and I am finally digging in my heels and settling down. After 4 years in college and a year in DC, it dawned on me that I haven't really "been around" for my family in 5 years. I love the fact that my best friends are only 1 hour away, my boyfriend is 40 minutes away, and my family is right down the road. I can honestly say, that I am truly HAPPY right now.

2. My beautiful baby niece arrived in 2011, making it the best year ever! Baby Gwenyth is incredible. Seriously. I can't take my eyes off of her.

3. Coming to terms with the things I cannot change - friends, family, money... whatever it may be... there are just some things that are completely out of my control and I am finally learning how to be okay with that. I no longer feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders.

4. I love my new job and it challenges me in all the right ways. It forces me to be creative, analytic, decisive, and self motivated. It keeps me on my toes and I can't wait to see what's next.

5. Becoming more physically fit. In the last years of  binge drinking in college and indulging in comfort food in DC, it was easy to "lose myself." I have been frequenting the gym and I never thought I would say it, but I even look forward to the gym! It feels great to take charge and I am finally starting to see results (Holiday eating aside.)

1. Kicking all my bad habits - I bite my nails and I "pull" out my eyelashes. How disgusting! I look like a child and it's time to grow up! I will kick these habits in 2012.

2. Put a dent in school loans - I went through the angry/ pouty phase of post grad school loans. "Why me? Will I ever get out of this? I'm poor. Wah. Wah. Wah." But as I stated in #3 of 2011, I cannot focus on things that cannot change, and I was starting to annoy myself with all the whining about money. Just save your money and suck it up. In 2012, I will put a serious dent in paying off my school loans!

3.  Stay connected - I think I could do a better job of checking in with my friends and family that live farther away. I don't "like talking on the phone" but that is no excuse. In 2012, I want to stay connected with the people who matter most.

4. Cook more - baking, cooking, exotic cocktails.. I want to do it all. I would like to try a new recipe at least once a week (as long as it doesn't become too costly and interfere with #3). In 2012, I want to advance my skills in the kitchen, and I don't think my boyfriend will mind being my personal taste tester :)

5. Get 50 new blog followers - I want to become more involved with blogging and provide value to my readers. I need to attract readers and get them interested enough to come back! In 2012, I want to attract 50 new blog followers. Right now I have 26, so cheers to 76!

If you want to make your own Looking Back.. and Moving Forward list on your blog, LINK UP with Life According to Jes and submit your link below!

xoxox, 

Jes.

Merry Christmakuh

This year we have added 2 new additions to our Christmas celebration. My boyfriend Adam and my beautiful baby niece Gwenyth.

Gwenyth is 2 months old now and she is starting to coo and smile. I can't wait to see her little personality evolve over the next couple of months :)

Adam is Jewish, so he brought a new touch to our Christmas this year and we were so glad to have him. It's always fun to bring new people to the circle. I think my brother-in-law appreciated having another man around to hang with since there is a shortage of men in my family.

Truly thankful for everything this year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

xoxox,

Jes

The Perfect Nursery

The baby could come any day now and I cannot wait to meet my little Niece or Nephew. Without a doubt, the holidays this year will be the warmest with the new baby to brighten things up.

I wanted to share the beautiful nursery that my sister and brother-in-law put together. My sister said, "There is so much love in the room with handmade art and furniture created special for Baby McFall." 

The color scheme is yellows, grey and white, and this isn't just because the sex of the baby is unknown, but also because my sister said that she has never been the girl-pink, boy-blue type. There is also a steady owl theme through out the room.

The Beautiful Nursery

Patrick's old baby mobile, and of course this crib can convert into a little bed set for when the baby outgrows it. Pat is always thinking ahead.

Hand painted and decorated furniture, and homemade curtains by Patrick's mom and a handmade owl picture by the little sister Kelsey.

My favorite part of the room is the yellow stripped ceiling!!!

Homemade baby keep sake box made by my mom, and an amazing owl nightlight.

Owl shelves made by my mom and Patrick's old toys :)

Keep sake shelves with old toys and an owl piece I made

I used colored felt and embroidery floss to stitch together a cute owl on a fabric background.  To twist things up a bit, I used a wood embroidery hoop and a coat of white paint to frame it!

Isn't everything gorgeous??! I am slightly jealous of the baby's room because it's so awesome.

Hurry up Baby McFall!! We're ready for you :)

Angel Update

Angel finally got her surgery this past Friday! I didn't want to write a post until we knew the true status, but I am happy to report that she is doing well! For all of you that know Angel, you know that she can be a little... handicap, socially awkward, spacey... and she was digging at her stitches, so now she has to wear this lovely gem for two weeks. HA&^%#@ cracks me up.

I think it suits her quite well :)

The day before her surgery, we prepared the house by laying scrap carpet pieces and rugs over the hardwood floors so she won't slip around and re-injure herself during recovery. Angel is not a big fan of hardwood floors anyways so she was so happy to lay her belly on some cozy carpet.

Poor thing had no idea what was coming the next day :(

The surgery was "routine" for the vet, but the recovery is long and she will need a lot of attention and TLC for the next 8 weeks. Hopefully, in three months or so, Angel will be able to climb the stairs to my apartment (she already hates stairs as it is) and hang out with her big sis.

My family and I want to thank all of you for generosity and help in this time of need. And Angel sure does appreciate it too :) I would also like to thank the Gauders (recently married! Congrats!) for helping make the helpforangel.org donation website and paving the road for Angel's surgery. They were also kind enough to donate the money that their dog won in a contest (for being adorable) to our Angel in need. They "gave Angel her wings" and we could not be more grateful. 

You are all the best!

See, she's posing for you.

For the back story of angel's surgery, visit helpforangel.org and my last Angel blog post. 

I Have A Confession To Make...

I like Cleveland.

Yep, I said it. I didn't want to admit it at first but I really do. 

People who are from Cleveland even have a love/hate relationship with it. It is the butt of many jokes, in the winter time they report a miserably large amount of snow, and they love to hate this man.

Last weekend I went to Cleveland to visit Adam's family and had one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. His family welcomed me with open arms, even though I'm sure his mother would have preferred a Jewish girl ;) JK, they are truly wonderful people.

We started off the day on Saturday with breakfast at the yacht club and an afternoon sail on his parent's sail boat. Without a view of land in the horizon, Lake Erie felt more like an ocean than a lake. It was gorgeous. Sailing takes a lot more work than I ever thought.. it's all manual.. it would take a lot of work and tricks to be able to go sailing by yourself. It was incredible though to see Adam and his dad working together and I would love to say that I grew up on the water.

The Family :)

My Favorite Picture!

Hahaha

After a day of fun on the water (and a nauseously hungover sail) we headed off to Great Lakes Brewery. We tried to get a table for dinner but the wait was too long so we headed down to the bar/cellar for some yummy tastings. We each got a pint of their specialty beers on tap for the week, Traffic Light and Market Street Wheat. I loved the Traffic Light and he loved the Market Street so it worked out perfectly. I definitely need to go back next time I'm in town.

Next, we met up with Adam's old college roommates and our friends from OU for the Indians game. We scalped tickets for $8 a piece and went in around the 5th inning, so we would be able to sneak down with our friends right behind home plate. The seats were amazing. I took this picture with my cell phone from our seats:

Even though we had an incredibly annoying stuck up family in front of us... heaven forbid we say the H-E-double hockey sticks word.. it was an amazing night... and the Indians pulled out a WIN! I am a Reds fan but I love all Ohio teams (except the Bengals). It was really odd because after the game, no one left their seat. It was weird.. usually people are rushing out at the 6th inning to beat traffic.. then we saw signs that said Rock and Blast tonight after the game. We assumed fireworks so we stuck around. Good thing we did.

Rock and Blast was an extravagant fireworks show synchronized to 30 seconds clips of all the rock classics... Adam was in heaven and I thought I was going to have a seizure I was in awe.

So yes, I loved Cleveland and I'm looking forward to our next trip, whenever that may be. The best part is, I was telling my best friend Ally about Cleveland and her boyfriend is from Cleveland too.. she leaned forward and whispered "isn't Cleveland fun?!" like it was a secret :)

I had to:

The District Sleeps Alone Tonight

While you read this post about my departure from DC and all the things I will miss, please listen to this somberly/awesome song (yes, somberly is a word. I Googled it to make sure). It helps set the mood.. and I promise that I am listening to it right now on repeat as I write this, so it's only fair... Plus! I haven't made my July playlist yet. Oops. Do you guys even listen to those things anyways?!

THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT WASHINGTON DC! 

*In no particular order* 

but I guess it's only natural to think of your most favorite things first

1. Meridian Hill Park

Meridian was one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen and I stumbled across it one day while exploring the city. The best part was that it was only one block from our apartment. It went a few weeks unnoticed because of the high walls surrounding it, but just beyond lurks amazing landscape surrounding this enchanting fountain:

I wish I took this photo

Meridian is comprised of a labyrinth of staircases that create a Secret Garden atmosphere and also served as my fitness center because I refused to pay $125 a month for a gym membership. At the top of the fountain, overlooking the ledge, you can see the Capital Building, the Washington Monument, the Air Force Memorial, and the skyscrapers of Arlington, VA. Not to mention the amazing drum circles that would gather every Sunday afternoon.

2. The People

I will miss my roommates Mo, Justin, Mugsly and Bowser. My DC relationship with Mo and Justin began way back when with this blog post. I would have been lost in DC without them. I love you guys.

Mugsly

Bowser

I also met a surprisingly large amount of OU alumni. And I will never forget my old roommates, and my many  kickball buds.

3. Diversity

DC is full of culture and I enjoyed being surrounded by so much culture. It was a great learning experience.

Click here to see DC up close and see how your city matches up: 2010 Census

4. The Food

-Ethiopian
-Lebanese
-Indian
-Southern Soul
-Thai
-you name it, DC has it

My favorite DC meals are...

Eatonville - Mac & Cheeese

located at 14th & V (NW)

Tacklebox - Fish Tacos

located on M Street in Georgetown

*unfortunately Tacklebox suffered some damage in a kitchen fire so they are closed indefinitely

Sticky Rice - Sticky Balls

located on H Street NE

5. Sculpture Garden

I will miss dipping my toes in the water at the Sculpture Garden. 

6. Public Transportation

Of course it would have been nice to have a car for those days when you want to go on a big grocery run, or when you want to "accidentally" spend too much at Target, or even for those lonely days when I just wanted to hop in my car and drive back to Ohio to see my boyfriend, friends, and family. Don't get me wrong, a car would have been nice, but I'm proud to say that I haven't had a car in 5 years now. I walked/bused/metro/biked every where and I loved it.

I am car shopping this week though so call me a hypocrite. Hey, it was fun while it lasted.

7. The View

I'm just going to let these aerial pictures speak for me (even though I have yet to see a single picture that does it any justice):

I will end this post with a simple love letter:

Dear DC,

You rock.

Xoxox, Jes