lots of photos on this dreamy, drizzly monday.

It's a dreary autumn Monday, the perfect day for a sweater and some soup for lunch.  It's also a pretty dreamy day for me, as I ease back into real life after a perfect birthday weekend.  On Friday I turned 30, and Nate went all out to make my day special.  He took the day off and spoiled me from the minute I woke up, fixing special meals, transporting the kids to and from school, and planning a surprise dinner/bonfire/sleepover with friends.  On top of all that, we attended a beautiful wedding on Saturday with many of our Chicago friends.  The boys came too, since it was a casual affair at a local farm.  They had a blast.  We had another lovely day on Sunday consisting of breakfast with friends and plenty of fresh air with the boys.  I'm still floating.  It's a little hard to get back to reality and responsibilities after a weekend like that.

Anyway, today's post will be a smattering of pictures, old and new.

Over Labor Day weekend Nate and I got to travel to Washington DC for our friends' wedding.  It was my first time in the nation's capital and we had a great time wandering around all the monuments and art museums (well, one in particular).  We had about 24 hours to ourselves, which was like the longest, best date ever.  Then our friends arrived in town and we spent more time site seeing with them.  Such a great trip.  A couple days of pure relaxation and fun followed by a beautiful wedding.  I'm so glad we were able to go.

Nate, at the base of the Lincoln Monument.

Here I am, admiring Lincoln.

The greater Peoria area no longer has my favorite ice cream.  But Washington DC does!

This is the gift I made for Kevin and Jennie.  Embroidered pillow cases!
You can find this free pattern here, or buy the transfer here.  Thank you, Lazy May!

I also added their initials and wedding date in the back corners.

On our way to the wedding.  Fake lashes for the win.

A couple pictures of me.  I had a notion to chop my hair before my birthday, as a sort of 30th birthday transformation.  But in the end I couldn't give up on the length I've been working on.  I'm going to give this long hair thing an honest attempt this time.  Maybe a dramatic chop on my 40th birthday?

I've been itching to chop my hair lately but then I stop myself because I can finally do things like this with my hair.  I'm going to let it keep growing and see what happens.  (I suspect it will get even longer.)

I'm 30!  Here I am ready to go to my party.  Got my hair did, wearing my locket from Nate, treated myself to the new shirt and boots.  I feel good.

I took a handful of pictures at the wedding but wish I had taken more.  Same for my party, where I took approximately 3 blurry shots.  Oh well, the memories will have to hold me.  This was such a sweet little occasion.  The sun shone down right as there ceremony took place, and then the sunset over the golden fields was magnificent.  We usually try to avoid taking the boys to weddings, but this one was so fun for them.  Many happy wishes to the newlyweds.

Here are my men, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Congratulations, Libby and Josef!  What a gorgeous event.

I made pillow cases for Josef and Libby (Elisabeth) too.  Ran out of time to take a picture of the fronts, but they are the same as Kevin and Jennie's gift.

Look closely; you can see the boys sprinting around the pond after the wedding.

Serious faces for a seriously awesome wedding.

Aren't these boys looking grown up?  I sure do like them.

Thanks for looking at all my pictures. Be back next week.  xoxoxo