WHY I LOVE

This post is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers but all opinions are my own! Thanks for loving the brands we love!

It's easy to make Valentine's Day all about the kids, the festivities and the treats, but ultimately, I want Collin to know how much he means to me on Valentine's Day.

 

14 Things I Love about Collin ... one for each day of Valentine's :)

1. He loves to dance and brings music into our house in the best way possible. 

2. He works harder than anyone I know. 

3. He's mildly OCD about most things, just enough to be endearing. 

4. His vacuum lines are a force to be reckoned with (see above). 

5. He's Justin Timberlake's biggest fan. 

6. He passed along those baby blues to 2/3 of our kids - PTL.

7. He listens. And adapts accordingly, whether it's parenting, marriage or just where the dishes go ;)

8. He wants to be better every day, and works towards that. He wants to do the same for others.

9. He requests the same three things for dinner every week: pizza, spaghetti, and grilled cheese. 

10. He no longer complains about how gross my car is or how messy my side of the closet is. 

11. He loves me for me (see above) and has never once tried to change me. 

12. He supports my ice cream habit and will gladly drive to the store for me at 9:00 pm if I'm out. 

13. He will sit on the couch sometimes and just browse through our family chatbooks... he oohs & awwws and really adores each photo. It's pretty sweet. 

14. He has dreams & goals for himself, but also for his children, which are well thought out and incredibly abundant. Dreams about them being good people and goals for them to make an impact in whatever way they choose. He really pours his heart into his family and we are better for it. 

Our friends at 1-800-Flowers are encouraging us to share #WHYILOVE this February ... and sharing the love with you! Use the link above & you will get 20% off a bouquet to send to someone you love ... all the way through February! Such an easy way to show someone you love them. 

The kids love to go online & pick out flowers for grandparents, best friends and anyone else who might need a little love - it's a fun surprise and such an easy way to make someone's day!

XO - Go show the love! 

Dates on the real

Date nights are one of those things - absolutely lovely when you're in the moment, but a hell of an ordeal before hand. It's almost as if my kids are a polar vortex and to separate from them requires mercury to be in retrograde. (is that even a thing? do you catch my drift?) 

SO...Collin and I are in a constant battle with work schedules, kids schedules, convenience and the like trying to plan date nights. It takes a lot of effort, but really, once you're out together, sans toddlers, you feel good. No, you feel great. Sweet relief, a little quality time (my love language), and some adult conversation. 

Here's the reality: date nights don't have to be fancy! They don't have to be elaborate or even expensive. Here's a few ideas to get your mind working...

1. WHEN IN DOUBT, PICNIC! Cut up some cheese & crackers, maybe make a charcuterie board-to-go and go have a little picnic at the lake or the park. Fresh air is good for the bones. And, maybe it's just me, but it seems like there's something romantic about sitting on a picnic blanket together! 

2. STAY IN! Okay, yes, I'm telling you to go on a date and now I'm telling you to stay in. BUT... this one is actually kind of fun! (and is do-able if you can't find childcare, because.... the struggle is real). Feed the kids, do the tubby and put them down (early!). AND THEN... turn on some tunes, pour a couple glasses of wine (or beer - whatever you fancy), and start cooking! The kitchen can be a sweet place to bond and cooking is way less stressful when you don't have two ankle biters hanging out on the floor. Find a recipe you haven't tried and make a night of it. Once dinner is finished, rent a movie and end the night curled up on the sofa. (ps... don't forget the ice cream - this is the key to every successful date night)

3. TAKE A WALK! Ok, I'll be the first to say it out loud... I loathe hiking. Nothing about it gets me excited. I know, it seems like blasphemy when you live in the PNW and there are hiking trails galore, but we are each entitled to our own opinion. Here's the thing though: I love going on walks. I love walking golf courses (chambers bay is up here and holy goodness it's a beauty) or walking around the lake. Even a walk in the hood works for me. (especially if Starbucks is our mid-point). SO... pick a decent walk (not too short, because it's a date, after all!) and get your cutest work out duds on. (if you like to hike - do that instead! do you, boo boo!) After your walk, maybe grab a quick bite to eat or even a smoothie. Bask in the sun for a few and call it a day! In the words of Ina Garten: "how easy is that!"

Dating is SO important to a happy marriage, and if you have kids, it's important to see that you take time out of your busy lives to spend with eachother! I love when Baylor asks if we're going on a date, cause it lets me know that he's paying attention! Happy Dating! 

ps... if you're single, I have no advice to offer you. My apologies in advance. #tinder? #yourtimewillcome #sleepwhileyoucan #eatinbedwhileyoucan #stayweird 

HEN & CO. on Style Me Pretty

We're THRILLED to be featured on Style Me Pretty today for Kristen & Marcos' gorgeous beachy bohemian wedding designed by the amazing ladies at Going Lovely! This was such a fun, cohesive project and it's amazing to see how beautifully it all turned out! Definitely worth a look!

Photos by Kelly Stonelake Photography

 

we're going to the chapel

Since we're still getting to know eachother, It seems as though we have a lot of catch up to play. 

Collin and I got married in 2010 and it was pretty dang perfect! 90 something degreees outside, blue skies and white puffy clouds shaped like hearts. wait...what? We got married on Friday the 13th...some of you may say that's a bad omen. RELAX! It was perfect. And if you're not into karma like myself, then I highly suggest it. We got engaged in December and usually, planning an August wedding, we'd run in to a lot of booking issues. Strangely enough (not strangely), everything was open on Friday the 13th, making my life as our wedding planner quite easy! 

Our wedding was at an awesome old warehouse turned wedding venue and we had the most AMAZING experience. SODO PARK by Herban Feast. They did EVERYTHING for us and it was the most relaxing, beautiful day. I couldn't recommend them more highly. 

Collin is quite a little social butterfly so as much as we might have loved a small wedding, this may as well have been the Justin Bieber concert. It felt like everyone and their mother was there. But believe you me — the dance party was AH-Mazing.

All in all, weddings are such a special day and truly personal to each couple. We put a lot of ourselves into our wedding and couldn't have been more thrilled with how it turned out. Now, if you don't mind...let's take a walk down memory lane. 

My dress was a mish mash of sorts. I bought if from David's Bridal and it came with a little beaded belt on it. Beads are SO not my thing, but I loved the fit of this dress and the price couldn't have been more right, so I bought it with full intention to change it. Funny thing is, I didn't even touch it until 2 days before the wedding. ENTER sweating, freaking out and shaky hands while trying to cut apart my wedding dress. NOT smart, but whatevs. I bought a clip on flower from Anthro & a Flower sash belt from JCREW, merged the two together with my terrible sewing skills, sewed them on a champagne silk ribbon and that was that. It turned out better than I could have expected...and really gave my dress a personal touch. 

We decided to go big on our venue, so we had to cut down on a few other aspects. We were a flowerless wedding (not nearly as sad as it sounds) but we made up for it in other ways! I made each of our bouquets with drawer pulls from Anthropologie & the like. I threw some tulle & ribbon in for good measure and voila, a fun little bouquet. We got TONS of compliments on these and each bridesmaid was able to keep her bouquet. It was really fun. 

I would have to say that one of the greatest parts about our venue was that it spoke so much for itself that we really didn't have to decorate. The old exposed beams, chandelier lighting and raw textures were perfect additions to our photos and we were able to keep costs at a minimum because of it. 

 

We are huge WSU fans so Cougar Gold cheese was a must for appetizers. SO freaking delicious.

One of my biggest fears at a wedding is open seating. It brings me back to recess in Elementary school where you're wondering who's going to pick YOU. I'm all about eliminating the risk, people. We decided to seat all 315 of our guests (oi vey) at assigned tables. I had a bunch of old windows and used paint markers to write out the tables & guests.  It worked out really well.
 

Thanks to Stacy Jacobsen for the amazing images - she's a GENIUS.