Good golly Miss Molly!

I've lived in Boston for almost 8 years now, and I've been longing to have a dog as a pet... for almost 8 years.  When I first moved, I lived in apartments with roommates, so that wouldn't work, and then Brian and I lived with his sister in her condo, which wouldn't work, and then we moved into our own little one bedroom apartment, and while that COULD have worked, it wouldn't have been fair to have a dog cooped up in a tiny apartment all day while we both worked.  

After we got engaged and started actively looking for a house to buy, in my mind a house equaled adopting a dog, so once we actually bought our house, the countdown was ON.  I knew we had to wait a bit, considering we were getting married, going on a honeymoon, moving into a new place and then traveling home to Texas for the holidays, and we knew we wanted to rescue a dog, so I wanted to be able to know that we would be home for a good period of time so we could all get used to being a family. 

Well, one day last week, I woke up and decided that it was time... and I spent the next four days convincing Brian that it was time.  We went through every possible pro and con, and at the end of the day, it came down to A) having a good, safe, happy home with plenty of space and snuggles to give a rescue dog, and B) I had waited patiently for a VERY long time.  When I first really started looking in late November, I found the sweetest adult female on the Boston MSPCA website-- they had her dressed with a scarf around her neck and reindeer antlers on for the holidays, and she just looked so sweet.  I could not get her out of my mind-- through the holidays and our trip home to Texas, I couldn't stop thinking about her.  I went back and looked early last week and sure enough, our girl was still there.  Brian gave the final OK on Friday morning, and by lunchtime I was out buying the necessities to bring our sweet pup home the next day-- a nap mat for the kitchen, a bed for the living room, squeaker toys, chew toys, a collar and a leash, treats, shampoo, a special towel just for her... we were going to bring our girl home!

Saturday was seriously like Christmas morning.  I was wide awake at 5am and stayed in bed for a bit to finish a book ("Left Neglected" by Lisa Genova, also the author of "Still Alice"-- equally fantastic and intriguing!) then got up and got dressed for the gym.  A decent amount of snow had fallen overnight, so I crawled through the streets in the car to get my workout on, made my way to Trader Joe's for essentials, then headed home to shower, get Brian, and get into Boston!  Now, call me crazy, but I knew that I would struggle with seeing dogs at the shelter-- even though we were going to adopt one of them, I knew that so many others would still be left behind.  Let's just say that I know myself well, because the minute we walked into the room, I started crying.  Some dogs were hyper and happy, and others just looked so sad.  Brian had to keep telling me that they were all safe and well cared for, and it helped that several volunteers were there making the rounds to pay attention to each and every animal, but it still tugged at my heartstrings, and I swear I was singing Sarah MacLachlan songs in my head.  

We made our way around to the other side of the room and there, curled up on a blanket, was our girl... and I cried again.  We were able to talk to her through the cage and fed her a few pieces of kibble and I looked at Brian, tears streaming down my face, and told him to find someone so we could get her out of there immediately.  We filled out preliminary paperwork and as they brought her out of the back on her leash, it was like we were seeing a different dog-- she was so happy and jumping everywhere and wanted to just say hi to everyone.  We were able to take her outside for a walk to get a feel for her personality and she seemed pretty timid at first, until we came to a fenced-in area where the dogs are taken to play safely off of their leash.  Remember, it had snowed the night before, so there were probably 4-ish inches of snow on the ground.  The minute we let her off of her leash, she took off bounding through the snow, sticking her entire snout into little piles of snow and snorting, throwing her ball in the air and shaking it around, weaving in and out of the trees-- to say she loved it is an understatement.  We were dying laughing at her and in that moment we knew that she was ours.  

We went back inside and I pulled out everything that they had told me would be needed to OK an adoption (proof of identity, home ownership, etc.) and they approved us on the spot!  They gave us her medical and past owner history to look over, and she was basically brought in because her owner had passed away, so we think that she was very well taken care of and loved, which is wonderful to hear.  A worker went over all of the information we'd need, we wrote the adoption fee check, and she was ours!  We laid out sheets in the back of the car and I sat with her, and once we got on the highway, she had inched into my lap and had her head tucked under my chin and went to sleep.  I cried again, and could not have possibly been any happier in that moment, both for our growing little family, and by knowing how happy, safe, and loved we made her feel by taking her to her forever home.

So, without further ado, meet Molly King!

Age: 4.2 years 

Weight: 82 pounds; girlfriend needs to lose a bit of weight, per the veterinarian's orders

Likes: Squeaky toys, tennis balls, snuggles, her red Kong tug-toy, the snow

Dislikes: Loud noises, strangers, other dogs (working on those last two)

Daily Behaviors: lots of naps, neighborhood walks, protecting her humans, pulling the sheet off of her spot on the couch so she can directly lay on the couch fabric (also working on that)

Personality: Molly likes to be as close as physically possible to us at all times.  Thinking she's a lap dog, all 82 pounds has found itself laying on top of us, climbing on us, or stretching out to be with us.  If she's next to you, she'll stretch a paw out to touch your leg.  If you're sitting on the floor, she's going to hug you (see the pic above).  She has an incredibly sweet demeanor and we are just thrilled with having her as a part of our family!

Today is the first day that Molly has been home by herself for a full day, so I'm out of here at 1:30pm to work from home for the rest of the afternoon.  I swear I had separation anxiety when I left her this morning!  I just don't want her to think that we aren't coming back-- maybe that just takes time?  I can't wait to get home to her, and with this insane snowstorm heading towards Boston, it looks like Brian and I will both have the next few days to spend at home together.

Wedding Recap: Getting Ready

When planning out the logistics of the day, it made the most sense for me to book a hotel room at our main guest hotel, where I would stay Friday night after the rehearsal dinner (Brian stayed at his parents' house) and where we would both stay Saturday after the wedding/reception.  Everyone went back to the hotel bar after the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, and Brian and I made the rounds to quickly see everyone and then headed upstairs-- we wanted to practice our first dance one last time (one of my favorite little memories of that weekend).  I got my one last single girl kiss, and told Brian I'd see him at the church the next day (squee!).  Sleep actually came fairly easily-- I have a bad habit of leaving the TV on when I'm sleeping alone, so once I found a late night Everybody Loves Raymond marathon, I was out like a light.

I beat my alarm to the punch the next morning and was wide-awake by 5am, jumping out of bed and running to the window, only to throw back the curtains and see the most gorgeous blue sky.  When we chose our November wedding date, I knew that it was still New England, and there was a chance it could be warm and muggy, freezing and snowy, or perfection-- we somehow managed to luck out with perfection!  Now, full disclosure, the morning of our wedding, I woke up a big jumble of nerves.  The emotions of it all were completely overwhelming, and I very much experienced a few stop-me-in-my-tracks moments of "This is my last morning as Katie Fox" which sent me towards tears.  Don't get me wrong-- I was so beyond happy and excited to be marrying Brian, but the sentimental part of me felt the full realization that I was officially taking that next step in my life towards being a wife, and the realness of that was something else.  I spent an hour or so writing a note to each of my parents to accompany their gifts, and a note to Brian, while smiling over the "Happy Wedding Day!" texts that had started to filter in from my girls, then I knew it was time to get the show on the road.  

After I had showered, dried my hair, and donned my monogrammed white button down like a good Southern girl, I met my mom and bridesmaids downstairs to head to get our hair and makeup done.  For what it's worth, I did trials for both and am SO glad that I did-- I ended up changing the majority of what we did at the trials for the actual wedding day, so if you're ever debating whether or not to do a trial, DO IT.  As I mentioned, I was feeling a little nervous, but the girls made sure I had a bagel (glorious, sweet carbs) and a mimosa, and by the time we were wrapped up with hair and makeup and back at our hotel to get dressed, I was PUMPED (I may have also taken a Xanax-- judge away!).  I probably turned really annoying at that point, but I remember that I just kept saying "Holy moly, I'm getting married today!" and my girls would dutifully squeal (bless them all).  Our photographer arrived at my hotel room around 11am, and we got started on getting me dressed!   

The boys all met Brian at his parents house where he had had this big plan for "Beers and Waffles."  So that was their breakfast the morning of our wedding-- beers and waffles.  Our sweet little ring bearer and flower girl also got ready there, so they make an appearance in the pictures too!

A few noteworthy moments?  I had a monogrammed label sewn into the back inside of my dress with the top left open so that it functioned as a small pocket.  An aunt whom is very dear to me wasn't able to be there, so I had asked her ahead of time to write in a letter whatever she would have said to me if she could be there, and I would carry it in that pocket.  Well, I had given the letter to my mom for safekeeping, and she got ready with another aunt in that aunt's room.  Right as I stripped down to my Spanx and button-down, my mom popped back into my room to say that they'd locked themselves out of their hotel room, and the letter was inside, and then she ran out of the room.  Someone stuck another mimosa in my hand, and we waited for her to reappear so we could tuck the letter in the pocket, and she could help me get dressed.  It was a teensy bit stressful watching the time tick away, but they did end up getting back in the room, and before I knew it, I was in my dress!  

Meanwhile, the limo driver had arrived, so we rounded up all of our bags, heels and comfy dancing shoes, and headed downstairs to the car.  Now, I'm not really a girl that loves being center of attention, but I waved my bride flag and paraded through the hotel lobby like it was my J-O-B (worth it).  Once we were outside and everyone but me was in the limo, the driver pulled me aside and informed me that he had no idea how to get to our church-- oh, well now that's just fabulous.  So my two local girls sat at the window in the limo right behind the driver and basically directed him how to get to the church.  We were a bit late, but I mean... the wedding wouldn't go on without me!

So, now that I've rambled on, here a few of my favorite "getting ready" pictures!

with my MOH Amanda, and one of my dearest friends and bridesmaid, Keegan

reading Brian's card with his gift 

Mama and the MOH zipping me up

Brian's sweet cousin, Jenna, putting on my something borrowed-- her pearl bracelet with an infinity clasp

my mom and dad with their gifts from me-- handkerchiefs with personal notes

me and my girls!  making our way down to the limo

it's wedding day!

 Brian with Colin, our ring bearer/nephew

colin and his little sister Meredith, our flower girl

i love this picture-- Colin watching the big boys take their group pictures outside

Brian's cousin and best man helping with his tie

please note the pancakes and beers

toasts on the way to the church!

let's get married!

long weekend recap!

We did so very little this long weekend and it was absolutely GLORIOUS.  Now that all of the busy holidays are over, we're settling into our own little weekend routine and it's perfection. 

I've always been an up-and-at-'em type of person-- weekends, holidays, vacation days, you name it, I'm up and ready for the day with the sun.  I've somehow convinced Brian to wake up with the good ol' sun and me on Saturdays (if you knew him, you'd know this is BIG STUFF, y'all) and get to the gym by 7am.  We workout for an hour, stop by Trader Joe's, grab coffees on the way home, then I get to relax/shower while he makes us breakfast.  I may be the Supper Commander, but I've married a Man of Breakfast, and for that I will be forever grateful.  The patience to slooowly scramble eggs and flip pancakes when they're just perfect is something I do not possess, but I could stir stir stir a risotto all the livelong day, so I graciously step out of our kitchen on weekend mornings so he can do his thing.  Call me corny, but I've always dreamed of mornings like that-- going with my husband to run all of our little weekend errands, then coming home to breakfast and coffee and a morning of relaxing.  I certainly consider myself a lucky gal!  

my fav: spinach, 1 scoop protein powder, almond milk, frozen strawberries, pineapple and banana!

Since we had absolutely nothing to do for the afternoon, we watched a few episodes of Dexter-- we're just about to start Season 3 and are completely hooked!  Who knew you'd ever root for a serial killer to not get caught?  That Michael C. Hall is gooood stuff!  Afterwards, Brian ran back out to the grocery store for me, I cleaned (again, because is there anything better than sitting on the couch at the end of the day with wine, a good smelling candle burning, and a clean house surrounding you?  I think not!), and we rallied later to cook date night dinner at home.  I promise, our weekends are not always this boring but sometimes you need to just shower, put your pajamas back on, and relax for the day!

Sunday morning I was WIDE AWAKE by 7:30am, so I played around on Pinterest for a bit, jumped in the shower, and headed out to get a much-needed mani/pedi.  I usually enjoy going on a Saturday afternoon because I love going home afterwards to get prettied up for date night (and take the perfectly posed pics of my fresh mani holding my wine glass-- do not give me that look, you know you do it too), but it was so nice to be at the nail salon when they first opened!  And I mean... I was the first person through the door.  After choosing my colors (navy for the toes, a deep purple for the mani), I got settled into my chair with my coffee, started reading "What Alice Forgot" and read the next half hour away.  It was blissful!  I came back home to breakfast AGAIN and a few more episodes of Dexter before the football games got started.  

Not really caring about the Seahawks/Packers game, I fiddled around the house, made a list of DIY projects for us to take on through the winter/early spring so we're READY for spring, and arranged my pretty flowers from Trader Joe's.  I spend between $10-12 each week on fresh flowers for various vases around our living room/kitchen and I will justify that cost until the day I die.  There's just something about these pretties, especially when it's cold, damp and blah outside! 

these pretties are going on two weeks!!

The mood struck me to pick up one of my books, so I snuggled into the couch and finished "Still Alice."  It was beautifully, painfully, intelligently, fantastically written and I would encourage everyone and anyone to pick it up immediately.  Now that I've read the book, I can't wait to see the movie.  I love Julianne Moore and from what I've gathered, she portrayed the character of Alice perfectly, so I can only imagine seeing this book come to life.

I had to work yesterday but Brian had the day off for the holiday, so we reconvened after work and hit the gym, then headed home for a quick dinner and... The Bachelor.  He is a man obsessed.  I suggested maybe watching something else and fast-forwarding through The Bachelor later-- nope.  He wanted to watch it live.  This is the first time I've ever seen him so into a show that is SO unlike what he typically watches, and I'm loving it while also hating it because... why can't it be Girls?  Or Downton?  It has to be The Bachelor that he gets onboard with watching?  Oh well.

Tonight we have a drinks/dinner date and are then off to see American Sniper.  I know what to expect but also have no idea what I'm in for, but I already have tissues packed in my purse, so there's that.

Happy Tuesday, lovelies!

Five on Friday

Happy Happy Friday, y'all!  This week has felt so tremendously looooong for some reason and I personally could not be happier that the weekend is finally here!  Let's get started!

1. Office Space
Now that we're all settled into our house, I'm antsy to start decorating and filling our rooms to make it feel more like a home.  One of the rooms at the top of my list?  Our home office!  Of course I've been Pinning ideas forever for an office nook-- a gray-ish paint, white furniture, a fun rug, pops of color, great storage.  Luckily we have a good amount of space to work with and are starting with a clean enough space that we won't have to do much prep work before it starts to get pieced together.  I've been swooning over these lovelies lately:

2. The Bachelor 

Now, I might possibly be the only girl out there who had, until this season, never watched a single episode of The Bachelor.  But while Brian and I were home visiting my family earlier this month, it somehow ended up on the TV and it was like watching a train wreck-- none of us could turn away!  So now not only are we hooked, but my parents and brother can't stop watching either!  We aren't THAT into seeing who makes it to the next round each week, so our plan is to record it on Mondays and watch it on Tuesdays, so we can fast forward right on through the commercials and get to the good stuff.  I can't lie, Chris has that good corn-fed Midwestern boy appeal going for him, but these girls are CRAY and a hot mess and just too good to miss.

3. Bookworm

One of my goals for 2015 is to disconnect from social media in the evenings and focus on something more important-- watching a show or movie with Brian, reading, working on little projects that I have going on. just taking quiet time for myself.  Far too often than I'd like to admit, I find myself on Instagram throughout the night, checking Facebook constantly, reading email as soon as I hear the alert tone that I have a new message.  I love reading and since I don't commute on the train to work anymore, I find myself with a wish list of books to read but not making it a priority to actually, you know... READ.  So, as a combined effort to refocus on myself and get back into reading, I made a long list of books that I'd like to read this year.  My goal is two books a month, which is beyond feasible.  This month my two picks are "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova and "What Alice Forgot" by Lianne Moriarty.  I'll let you know how it goes!

4. Date Night 

After way too many weeks of date nights at home due to plans with friends and family, traveling, etc. we FINALLY have a date night lined up for Saturday night, and I can't wait!  There's a cute little tapas place down the street from our house which got rave reviews, so we have big plans to wine (sangria?) and dine ourselves silly.  I love love love tapas, and any place that encourages drinking wine is good in my book.

5. Wedding Pictures

I am going out of my mind waiting for our wedding pictures!  Today is supposedly the day we get them back, so let me just say that once I see that pretty little email pop into my inbox, my day will be made!

Cheers, friends!  Have a fantastic weekend!!

I want to PUMP-- you UP!

As part of our shared goal to not gain newlywed poundage (and, full disclosure, for me to lose pre-newlywed extra cushion), we joined a new gym last Wednesday night.  We were in Texas for the first week of the year with my family, and we absolutely indulged-- wine and big dinners every night, splurges on my favorites that I only have the chance to enjoy the few times a year when I'm home (Chick-fil-a, Sonic and queso, I'm blaming these snug pants on you), holiday/football game snacks... I mean, it was a food fest.  

By the time we reached our last night home and I was relaxing in my (elastic waist, duh) leggings, we had already agreed to join a gym immediately upon getting back to Boston, and we did just that-- the YMCA a couple of towns over from us.  Now, our house is in a perfect little suburb, but I quickly came to realize that the quality of the surrounding gyms was seriously lacking.  I suppose they do their job, but several of our options were in little strip malls with all of the cardio and weights in one room together, no classes, no shower/locker room facilities-- blech.  We broadened our search to another town, which we drive through every night on our way home from work and is only 10 minutes from our house, and came across the YMCA.  There are tons of classes (my favorite) in three different studios, a huge cardio/weights area, a family pool and lap pool, indoor tennis courts, and outdoor pools/tennis courts for the summer-- perfect, right?  We accepted the fact that saying "My gym is the YMCA-- there are children, meatheads, kids our age and grandmas" made us feel old and married, and signed ourselves up.  

When it comes to working out, keeping things fresh and new is what tends to keep me interested.  I cannot run on the treadmill every single day for 40 minutes, and then do the same weights workout over and over again.  Instead, I try to do my own mix-up of cardio + weights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, and take classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.  I was so excited to see that the gym offers Body Pump classes on MWF and weekend mornings, but I'm always a little intimidated to start a class for the first time-- it's so stressful!  You don't know what equipment to pull, how heavy the weights will be, not to mention trying to follow along with everyone else who has been taking the class for who knows how long.  Well, I bit the bullet and took the class last night, and it was fantastic!  I did my own little cardio warm-up since I was at the gym pretty early, then went to wait outside of the door for the class in our studio to wrap up so that we could go inside.  A super nice lady asked if it was my first time and offered to help me get set-up (seriously, thank the Lord for nice people like that.  I'll be paying that one forward!), and the instructor also asked if anyone was new, so she was helpful at giving me cues and giving subtle corrections without calling me out in front of the entire class-- points for her as well!  

Like I said, I loved the class but I'm still not positive how the format of Body Pump works-- is the music the same every single class?  Does the workout ever change or only when a new release is... released?  Everyone was all pumped up about a new release coming out this past Monday, so apparently that was what we did last night and it was intense!  I loved it regardless because it took the guess work out of the workout-- you basically do multiple combinations of the same movements, so you know you're going to have to do 3 sets of the same combo.  I personally really enjoy lifting-- it's so rewarding to see your body start to tone, and to feel yourself growing stronger, but I tend to get burnt out when I write up my own weight routines, so this format, as well as the entire class being set in beat to a music playlist, really felt like a great fit for me.  I'm super sore this morning, but I'm feeling sore in all of the places that are needing to feel sore, so this is good!

Here's hoping that starting off on the right foot in January will get me into a good routine as we go into spring/summer!  What's that saying-- summer bodies are built in the winter?  I think that will be my mantra on these cold, icky days that I don't want to work out-- already working for the beach!

And, just because this consistently makes me want to get up and dance: 



You're welcome.

Cheers, friends!

New Year, New Everything!

Well, I think it's safe to say that this might be the one blog break that I've taken where I could come back and have legitimate reasons for staying away for so long-- a lot has gone down these last couple of months, my friends!:

1. DIDN'T CARE!!  Let me be frank-- I wasn't feeling blogging at all.  Like, could not have touched the thing with a ten foot pole if I wanted to.  I had SO MUCH TO SAY but the act of sitting down and writing it down was just not sounding enjoyable to me, and why force myself to blog if I don't feel it?  I think we've all been to those blog posts (and I myself am guilty of this) where the blogger gives us a rundown of how they clean their makeup brushes, or how to make their favorite grilled cheese sandwich, and we all think "Oooh, girlfriend is running LOW on blog material!"  So, I spared y'all and stayed quiet... for two months.

2. I GOT MARRIED!!!  Yes, after all of the ups and downs and tears and cheers throughout the planning process, I married my handsome husband (cue the smile-- it's like just thinking the word "husband" makes me all giddy) on November 8th and life has been just peachy!  Full disclosure, we are about a million times happier now that the planning process is over and we get to just be married and happy and us.  The stress that came along with planning that one day was almost enough to put me in the ground, but it was so, so worth it.  And no, I won't leave you hanging forever-- our pictures are due back to us by Friday, so once I have them in my impatient little hands, I'll most certainly share the wedding details and pictures from the big day AND the honeymoon, but until then, here are a few that have been sent along from friends and family to hold me over: 

Mr. and Mrs. King!!

Me and my Daddy

our first dance

against our wishes but for the moms, we cut our cake in front of everyone.  most awkward thing ever, BUT it made for good pictures.  please also note our aggressive coordinator in the background ready to move us on to the next thing.

me, my uncle frank, and my little brother

we're married!  waiting outside of our church for the receiving line.

love.  love, love love.

3. We bought a house!  Oh yes, on top of finishing planning the wedding, getting married and going on our honeymoon, we had an offer accepted in late September on our dream first home.  The process dragged on FOREVER, mainly because the sellers were also closing on another house and waiting for THAT seller to close on THEIR next home (are you following?) so at one point they told us that all was good and we would potentially be closing on the house on Friday, October 31st... eight days before the wedding.  I couldn't decide if that was good or not so great timing (good because my parents would be here to help us pack/unpack/settle-in and not so great because, ya know-- the wedding).  They finally confirmed everything and we closed on Friday, November 21st.  So we got married on the 8th, were on our honeymoon the 10th-16th, had that week to pack our apartment up, closed on Friday the 21st, moved in that weekend/early the following week, and Thanksgiving was that Thursday.  It was a whirlwind, y'all.  But we did it!  And slowly but surely, we're making our sweet little house our home.  

I'm not completely positive where I'm heading yet with this little blog of mine, but I know that I would like to get better at documenting the daily happenings of our life, and the blog is certainly a good place to start.  Here's to hoping that a sassy makeover and a heck of a lot to write about will keep me accountable!

Cheers, friends!