Date night

Bob and I treated ourselves to a date night this past weekend. The weather was beautiful so we decided on dinner al fresco at one of our favorite restaurants, Radio Maria. Fitting for a cheese head like me, we started and ended our meal with cheese. We started with Queso de Cabra Frito...

...and ended with a delicious chevre and berry compote, and Maytag blue with honeycomb and candied walnuts. Oh my, was it good!

Bob, a lefty, pointed out during dessert that cheese knives are made for right-handed people. Poor lefties.

After dinner we popped into our favorite neighborhood record store.

I found this awesome oldie. It reminded me of the time I went to a Peter Noone concert with my parents when I was about 8 years old. My mom loved him.

It was a beautiful night in our little town.

Indy weekend

This weekend my honey whisked me away for a birthday (and anniversary) weekend in Indianapolis. We stayed at a charming little B&B (recommended by some friends) in the Mass Ave. arts district just north of downtown. We ate, we drank, we walked and shopped and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Check out the fun weekend we had...

Birthday treats

I seriously work with a great group of people. This morning they brought in an assortment of tasty birthday treats for me. I had strawberry pie for breakfast and I'm having a turtle cookie for dessert. How great is that?

And, unlike my 32-mile running husband, I'll probably take a nap.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Two years married to my love

Two years ago today Bob and I got married on what had to be one of the hottest days of the year. Sweating through his tux, he waited patiently for me to walk down the garden aisle. We met under an arbor of flowers and promised to love and care for each other forever. I'm so happy to have wonderful memories of that gorgeous day, and even happier to be sharing my life with the best man I know.

I love you, Bob. I've cherished these last two years and look forward to many many more on this adventure together. Happy Anniversary!

Read more for some fun memories of our wedding day. We had such a great time.

First day of summer

Happy first day of summer! Summer is my all time favorite season. Something about the excitement, the freedom, the easy-going nature of it all. It doesn't hurt that it's my birthday and anniversary season, either. These are just a handful of my favorite summer things:

1.pretty summer dresses 2. peach blush 3. flip-flops ( I live in these) 4. homemade sun tea, steeped for hours on my back porch 5. hot buttery sweet corn with every meal

St. Simon's Island

 

 Over the Memorial Day weekend holiday Bob and I traveled to St. Simon's Island, GA, for a family vacation. We had an amazing time. We rented a condo and basically ate, drank, swam and relaxed the entire time. It was the perfect retreat. There's something so refreshing about gathering with your family and just having really great quality time. No schedules. No appointments. Just fun. I really love my family down south and wish we got to see them more often. 

See a little photo recap of our trip after the jump.

Be proud and brag

I love this little piece of advice on married life:

5. Be proud and brag.
Let your spouse hear you talking about them in glowing terms to other people. Be foolish. Be obvious. It will mean everything. You will stay married forever.

I'm so proud of Bob. He is one of the most intelligent, hard-working, loving, and dependable people that I know. Just thinking about that makes my heart swell.

That's all.

Read the rest of Lydia's advice here.

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Welcome home, Kia

Today our family is growing. The adorable, sweet, and lovable Kia is joining the Kacich family. This afternoon Bob and I will be headed to the Champaign County Humane Society to pick her up and bring her to her new home - and to meet her brother Winston (who is very excited for her arrival).

Since we lost our sweet Taz, we knew that we would eventually want to adopt another puppy to join our family. After our Sunday afternoon dog park excursion, Bob, Winston, and I decided to stop by the CCHS to take a peek at the dogs. From the moment we saw Kia she just melted our hearts. She gladly accepted treats with sweet little kisses and the loviest little face. We took her outside to get to know her and we were smitten. She impressed us with her ability to fetch, sit, and come; her sweet nature charmed us; and, just look at those ears!

As fate would have it, the behavior specialist was on duty and Winston was patiently waiting in the car. So, we were able to introduce Kia to Winston right then and there. They hit it off wonderfully. Although a little tired from his dog park high jinks, Winston managed to keep pace with Kia and they ran circles around the yard and just played and played. It was decided. Kia was coming home.

Inside, we filled out the adoption papers and the staff at the CCHS were so great. They all remembered Taz and were so supportive of us bringing Kia home. We're really grateful to them.

I'm so excited for Kia to come home today. What a great day!

p.s. We're participating in the Mutt Strut to raise money for the Champaign County Humane Society. Please considering donating to our team!

Thinking spring

Oh my, I'm so happy spring is nearly here! Time to shed the layers, eat more fruit, smell the flowers, and jump in puddles.

 Happy weekend!

Welcome wow

Today I started my new job with the University of Illinois.  I am so happy to be back on campus and the group that I'm working with is really the bees knees.  Can you believe this welcome reception on my first morning?  My office was decorated AND filled with delicious cupcakes with yellow "Welcome Libby" decoration.  They sure know how to make a gal feel special!

Recipe for a good night

Husband and I were scoping out the selection at our local record shop the other day and I found this. I grew up listening to Billy Joel and still love his music to this day. So excited to score this find.

And, sipping on homemade apple cider brandy made by my friend Heather completely adds to the listening experience.

Happy New Year!

After a long holiday hibernation... I'm back.  I took a little time off of work, blogging, checking email (mostly) and pretty much everything else to disconnect and spend some quality time with my family and friends.  Boy was it worth it.

Bob and I adopted a new dog. Taz is the most recent addition to the Kacich family.

We went for lots of walks.

We had a wonderful Christmas with our families.

My mother-in-law and I took my nieces Lily and Julia ice skating. That was a really fun day!

My dear friend, Heather, sent us a bottle of homemade apple brandy.  Looking forward to trying this!

I wore these fun nails on New Year's.  We had a great night filled with fancy drinks, fancy dinner, fun games and fabulous friends!

It was a great break.  Now, I'm looking forward to focusing some energy on getting our house decorated and in order.  I'm REALLY looking forward to growing my photography business.  I've got a few engagement sessions and family sessions lined up for the beginning of this year already.  I'm looking forward to seeing the Kacich family grow again in about a year - Matt, my-brother-in-law, will be getting hitched to Jackie.  Oh yeah, and Bob and I will be taking a trip to Ireland this spring.  It's going to be a great year!

Seeing books

I love the built in bookcases in our new house. They frame one of the fireplaces and are charming, sweet and just plain cool. The other night I was unpacking my books thinking to myself, "man, it's been so many years since I've actually been able to see all of my books." I came across books that I hadn't seen in ages and some I'd completely forgotten I even owned. Just then I came across this book that was a gift from my mom a long time ago... 

...and I flipped through the pages and landed on this one. My eyes fell on the 4th line of text: "knowing where all your books are." 

It was one of those moments when you get the warm and fuzzies and a giant smile spreads across your face. That is certainly something to be happy about.