Another wonderful year has come and gone. I fall more and more in love with you every day, my sweet adventure partner. ❤
Tag Archives: Chet
We’re engaged!
Chet and I are so excited to share some amazing news — We are getting MARRIED! We got engaged a little over a month ago but I thought now was as good a time as any to let you all in on how it went down. Chet was a total sneak and had been hiding the ring for most of the summer in the apartment we shared in Lexington. He had nestled it amongst some computer parts in one of our closets. (“I KNEW you wouldn’t look through those.” Touche.) On his birthday, we headed up to Newport, KY for a day of celebrating…little did I know by mid-afternoon we would have even MORE to celebrate. After a lunch over-looking the river, Chet asked if I’d like to spend a little time walking around before we ventured to the aquarium (his special birthday excursion). I said “absolutely” and we walked along the river and then on to the purple pedestrian bridge that stretches across the Ohio River. He asked me to marry him as we stopped in a particularly sunny spot to look out over the railing. After I said YES (actually, I believe I said “Of course I will!!!”), and the ring was on my finger (I excitedly asked, “Can I put it on?!” LOL), we walked across the rest of the bridge into Ohio. I felt like I floated the whole way. The mixture of the adrenaline and the warm sunshine makes those minutes on the bridge, in retrospect, feel so surreal. I texted a picture of the ring to my family and spoke to my mom for a few minutes on the phone as we walked back across the bridge. After we made it back onto Kentucky soil, we headed to the Newport Aquarium for a giddy few hours where I spent equal parts looking at marine life and looking at my new ring! We then went for celebratory drinks and snacks at the Hofbrauhaus Beer Garden. I still can’t get over how perfect the proposal was. A year earlier, as we stood on that very same bridge, I fantasized about how it would be the perfect engagement location. And weirder still, YEARS earlier, in a convo with girlfriends, I confessed my feeling that being proposed to on a proposer’s birthday would be the most romantic gesture! Funny how these things work out!
I’m so excited about this chapter in our lives and wanted to share it all with you. Here are a few more pictures from our magical day, if you’d like to see…
A new feature at the Newport Aquarium is this suspended rope bridge which runs the entire length of the shark tanks! Talk about an adrenaline rush! Add to it the fact that my brand new ring needed to be sized down a few sizes and I had myself a pretty heart-pounding experience. One I will certainly NEVER forget!
Chet assured me that HAD I dropped the ring in the tank one of the aquarium staff would have GLADLY scuba’d in to find it. Still, happy I avoided such measures! Haha! I have to admit, I ogled this sparkly beauty the whole car ride home. Once we arrived, we posted our news on social media (that’s like a REAL step in the process these days, right?) and everyone was so wonderful and nice and kind. We’re so lucky to have such amazing folks consistently and happily in our corner.
I can’t wait to marry my best friend! ❤
What I got for Valentine’s Day.
This Valentine’s Day, Chet surprised me by having a package sent to my doorstep. We waited until the night of the 14th to open our gifts to each other, as my Louisiana-love had a Mardi Gras parade to attend (of which he sent me lots of videos and pictures so I could feel like I was there, too). I sent him a little care package complete with loose tea, Sharpie pens and other bits and bobs. While I was the recipient of this adorable bento box!
The dividers inside each box can be moved around to create a number of different configurations or completely removed, so it’s quite customizable, and the whole kit and caboodle packs up in to this matching drawstring bag. Wouldn’t it make even a simple packed lunch feel fancy?
If you’d like to learn more about bento, watch the BEGIN Japanology episode on the subject here. Then, search “bento box lunches” in Pinterest and say goodbye to the next 30 minutes or so!
I hope you all had a lovely Valentine’s Day! How did you celebrate the day? Did you exchange gifts with your sweetheart?
My Holiday Season: a look back in photos.
Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season full of family, food, friends and fun. I hope you all made many beautiful memories. I know I did! This past weekend Chet returned to Louisiana to start his spring semester so now it feels like the holiday season has officially come to a close. I was super lucky to have him here for an entire month (!!!) and we spent the days eating wonderful home-cooked meals, Christmas shopping, braving the cold to scamper around the city, and spending quiet nights at home with blankets, TV and Wink in tow. We had our own little Christmas on Christmas Eve and opened our presents to each other under own tree and Christmas Day we went to my Mom’s house for more presents and food with my fantastic family (my brother got super sick right after we opened our presents which was a bummer and we all felt terrible for him). New Years Eve we cooked a fancy dinner and watched the ball drop in our comfies. I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas/NYE/winter break! Here are a few photos I wanted to share, if you’d like to take a peek…
Our tree topper for our adorable little tree was made by Chet circa the first grade. We decorated our tree with old ornaments from our childhoods and it was so fun to merge them into one place. I was sort of obsessed with all the Disney movie McDonalds ornaments he still had in his collection. Sebastian from The Little Mermaid may have taken the cake for me as top ornament this year. Although I still have a soft spot for my “Feliz Navidad 1992” ornament featuring a mouse wearing a sombrero. OLE!
I love this dude so much! We had so much fun decorating for Christmas as soon as he got into town. As you can see above, his grandparents sent us adorable stocking ornaments with our names on them and his parents sent two presents to be opened specifically when we were decorating. One was a beautiful 2014 frame ornament for us to pop a picture of ourselves in and hang in a place of prominence on the tree. The other was…
A Godiva hot chocolate set for some fancy, festive sipping. Mini marshmallows FTW!
And speaking of trees… one night, for work, I went to a lighting at a local fire station. The carols, sung by a local high school choir, definitely put me in the Christmas spirit that night.
Chet and I also did a lot of camera experimenting since my camera is still fairly new (he got it for me for my birthday in October). One evening we walked up to Ashland Estate to get some shots, even braving the crazy cold. I had fun with some texture shots of the old buildings (and selfies, always selfies) because THEIR Christmas tree was nothing to write home about and by that I mean not all that fun to photograph.
Due to the temperatures we made a LOT of soups from scratch. I love this picture because the reflection in the pot totally gives it away that we’re both wearing flannel pj pants to cook dinner. YOLO.
Another evening of braving the cold, we ventured to The Kentucky Horse Park for their annual Southern Lights. The drive-thru Christmas light display was pretty as always but this alpaca family totally upstaged everything ever.
We brought a lot of class to the Southern Lights establishment, IMHO. Even thought we’re definitely freezing our butts off in this picture. ; )
Hot beverages (chai for him, hot chocolate for me) and a wander through a winter wonderland makes for a magical night in my book.
Have I mentioned that this boy CAN. COOK.? Check out those knife skills! I’d say his specialties are Asian dishes (think: Japanese curry and spicy bowls of piping hot noodles) and of course Cajun (think: huge servings of Gumbo and buttery crawfish etoufee).
Have you ever been down the terrifying yet strangely intriguing rabbit hole that is The Lexington Peddler’s Mall? We have! Sometimes you really do find that needle in a gigantic haystack. Note: the sunglasses Chet’s sporting are not one of those needles.
Remember those crawfish potatoes I was seeing in my dreams for weeks after Festivals Acadiens? We successfully created our own version and I’d say it was down right, to the T, SPOT ON. Food hack success!
I did a spot of holiday baking after gaining inspiration from Lily Pebble’s Vlogmas videos on YouTube. These are her Internet-famous “Brookies” –a cross between a cookie and a brownie.
As I mentioned above, Chet and I opened our presents to each other on Christmas eve at the apartment. I was absolutely stunned and elated to receive this GORGEOUS computer!!! Talk about spoiled. Chet built it himself AND painted it that lovely Tiffany Box blue/retro shade. I don’t think anyone has ever made me such a customized gift. It works so well and is cute to boot, not an eyesore like a typical desktop tower. I’m already obsessed with using it!
Later that evening, we enjoyed some drinks and appetizers at my Mom’s house. My sister Katie was in from St. Pete and my brother and his fiancee, Dawn, were in from Savannah. A happy little clan. Christmas morning was spent opening presents, bein’ a bum (pj’s for as long as humanly possible!!!) and seeing Into the Woods. I don’t really have any photo documentation of these endeavors on Christmas day because I was too busy being me, BUT…
…here’s one of Wink opening his presents! I received some lovely presents from my family that I am so thankful for. Hiking poles, a lamp, a lovely bowl for noodles, lots of books about crime and (too) much more. They know me so well. One thing I’ve gotten better about in the last few years is putting my Christmas presents to use pretty much immediately. In the past, I would want to “save” them but where is the fun in that? That’s a quick way to end up with too much STUFF ie) leaving that nice lotion in your bathroom cupboard for months. Why not crack it open right away!?
One thing I treated myself to in the post-Christmas sales was this organic blanket from Target. I can’t get enough of it and neither can my cat. I also scored a wicked cheap set of knives and a pair of jeans in my Boxing Day mad dash.
Bummed the holiday season is over…
yet so glad I got to spend so much time with these two!!!
Hope everyone had an equally rad time this past month. My goal is to start cranking out some more regular content on Finding Delight in the coming weeks so stay tuned and check back often! I’m so happy to have you along for the ride.
Let’s catch up! Tell me about your holiday season. What was your favorite Christmas present? Who did you kiss on New Years? Did you brave the cold for any fun outdoor excursions? Don’t be shy, share in the comments!
Cajun vacay: Lafayette and Breaux Bridge
As I mentioned before, I recently journeyed down South for a Cajun vacation with my boyfriend, Chet. Since he is back in school, he is currently living and working in Lafayette, LA. But his Fall break (and MY BIRTHDAY!!!) gave me a perfect excuse to fly down for some much needed adventuring with my favorite adventure-partner. I had the most amazing week and the best birthday a girl could ask for! Here are some photos, if you’d like to see…
As soon as I got into town it was time for my birthday present (even though my birthday fell at the END of the trip lol). This gorgeous camera is now MINE and I can hardly believe it!!! And getting it at the beginning meant I was able to document all our Cajun adventures. : ) Bonus, how adorable is that wrapping job? Admittedly, I am horrendous at wrapping presents so I was super impressed.
On our first afternoon we ventured over to a local farmer’s market to pick up supplies for dinner–one of my favorite ways to dine! How gorgeous is that local lettuce?! We had salads, plums (Chet’s first) and sandwiches stuffed with secret recipe sausage from Chet’s family store.
We, of course, strapped on our hiking shoes and hit a trail. The landscape was magical down in this forested wetland but…I probably was being bitten by 32 mosquitoes at the time this picture was taken. Not to mention 3-5 spiders were most likely taking up residence in my hair. Not for the faint of heart!
A true highlight was Vermilionville, a living history museum and folklife park that preserves and represents the cultural resources of the Acadian, Native American, and Creole cultures–from 1765 to 1890. The park sits on a 23-acre site on the banks of the Bayou Vermilion and features seven restored original homes as well as a quaint schoolhouse and a beautiful church. I fell head-over-heels for the Acadian-style homes and sun-soaked Spanish moss.
True urban explorers that we are, we also spent some time at a local cemetery. I know it sounds morbid but I love cemeteries (and the grounds of local churches in general) as a great, free way to spend some time. Especially if you have a brand new camera to play with!!! We opted for St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery and poked inside the church, too, as Chet’s parent’s were married there!
Between a show at local bar Blue Moon Saloon and Festivals Acadiens, we watched performances by some pretty rad Cajun bands. Including Feu Follet and Lost Bayou Ramblers.
Festivals Acadiens was celebrating it’s 40th anniversary and along with lots of music, featured a jam tent, craft fair, fantastic people watching and a crawfish etoufee stuffed baked potato that I’m still dreaming about.
On my actual birthday, we wandered around downtown Breaux Bridge and brunched at Cafe des Amis, where they will bring you a plate of hot out of the fryer beignets as an appetizer (AN APPETIZER!).
An amazing vacation and phenomenal birthday full of food, music, and this one right here? Perfection!
Have y’all ever been to Lafayette? Do you live there? We certainly found some gems! Lafayette, (and Chet ; ) I miss you already! xoxo
Pet Peeves: Mondegreens!
The other day, while watching “Keeping up with the Kardashians” and chatting with Chet online, sister Khloe K. confidently described a situation punctuated with one of my biggest pet-peeves. Khloe, waxing poetic about her jet-setting life of promoting Sears clothes and general alliterative expression, remarked that the past few weeks had been a WORLD-WIND. “Ugh,” I typed to Chet, “I hate it when people say world-wind instead of whirl-wind!” (Really I hate any number of examples like this…basically, close but no cigar utterances of words and phrases where the speaker has THE AUDACITY to misspeak with such confidence! LOL) He excitedly remarked, “That’s a mondegreen!” Mondegreens, he explained, are the wrong words that come about from mishearing or misinterpreting a statement, song lyric or line.
“People confuse world-wind and whirl-wind because the two utterances world and whirl are in near homophony. Homophonous pairs sound exactly the same but mean different things, like bear and bare. Near homophonous is when they are very close.” How cute is he? I love stuff like that. And because I’m a word-nerd, I decided to research a few fun examples.
So, these happen a lot in song lyrics because we’re just LISTENING to the song and don’t often see the lyrics written down. Like,
“The girl with colitis goes by” instead of “the girl with kaleidoscope eyes” in the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
or
“There’s a bathroom on the right” instead of “There’s a bad moon on the rise” in CCR’s Bad Moon Rising.
But there are also some fun historical examples where the earlier versions of English words were different than what we know today. Over time, after years of mishearing and repeating, the accepted standard English is now the mondegreen. Spit and image is now spitting image, Welsh rabbit is now Welsh rarebit, an ekename is now a nickname. And my absolute favorite: what we now call an orange was once A NARANJ. Which makes a whole lot more sense if you look at the etymology of that word.
I also love this quotation:
“No language, how simple soever, I think, can escape a child’s perversion. One said for years, in repeating the ‘Hail, Mary!’ ‘Blessed art thou, a monk swimming.’ Another, supposing that life was labour, I presume, ended his prayers with ‘forever endeavour, Amen.'”
-John B. Tabb, “Misconceptions.” The Academy, Oct. 28, 1899
Who knew the Kardashians could spark such a grammar lesson! (Though I have to admit, I’d really prefer it if someone (perfect world: Kanye or Brody Jenner) would tweet something at Khloe that included the word whirl-wind so she could have a moment of clarity and realize the mistake she’s been making her whole life. Cuz those moments are awesome. Legit, one of my (in her 60’s) co-workers realized the other day that she’d been saying cold-slaw instead of cole-slaw her whole life and it was awesome.)
—
Have you been guilty of any mondegreens in your past? SPILL! I promise not to judge. And what are YOUR biggest pet peeves?
Top photo via here.
Celebrating Chet’s Birthday
As you know, last week was Chet’s birthday!!! I thought I’d share a few photos to show you how we celebrated…
Lunch on the Ohio River…
Newport Aquarium…
The Purple People Bridge…
Stein Time at Hofbrauhaus Bier Garten…
And fro-yo, always fro-yo…
Bonus–The next day, birthday celebrations continued when we took an impromptu trip to the Bluegrass Fair where we saw alpacas, spun on some rides, watched a lady climb a pole 12 stories tall and…
…because Kentucky. I love our adventures and had a blast celebrating the birth of such an awesome guy. xo
Happy birthday, Chet!
Happy birthday, Chet! I’m so glad I get to go on adventures with you and look forward to going on a million more. You are the sweetest, funniest and smartest dude I know. I’m super lucky to have you in my life. Hope today is the best and the whole next year, too! Happy 28, my bree! ❤
Finding delight. 