Much Change

Hello all! Wow, there have been a lot of changes since I have dropped the blogging ball…ugh! I have a whole bunch of posts ready, but let me first catch ya’ll up a bit!

In January, Devin and I had a huge decision to make…where we wanted to spend the next three years of our lives. We painfully made lists of pros and cons and tried to come up with the perfect choice. Narrowing down the entire country to three locations we headed to our beloved Caribbean to get away and just relax, talk, and decide. During our 10-day retreat we spend countless hours and miles meandering down the remote beach at sunset and chatting while we collected sea glass. I am not sure I can think of a time that I have felt more content and happy! On our last day we agreed that while New York has permanently brazen itself into our hearts it was time to move closer to home. In the end it boiled down to the fact that you can always fill the voids of adventure, identity, and even friends, but you can never replace family. Ergo, we decided to head back to Seattle and settle close to both families! Here is my favorite pictures of my entire relationship with Devin and our "decision making" trip...

Landing at JFK life it us like a ton of bricks: moving trucks were reserved, house searching commenced, and the job search was on! Since then Devin was accepted at a Family Medicine residency in the Seattle area, we made all of our moving plans, I accepted a my dream position at the children’s hospital of my dreams (eek!), we shipped our car and motorcycle, took a final Eastern Seaboard vacation, bought a house (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), Devin graduated and is officially Dr. Devin, we packed all of our belongings into a huge moving truck, drove cross-country, and moved into our new home. It has been a whirlwind, but I looking back on these past five years I cannot help but tear up with gratitude for blessings and beauty of my life! We are making lots of changes to our first home and we are excited to share those with you as we go. The picture on the left is the first time I went to see the house (after we had put in an offer!) and the picture to the right is us arriving to OUR home for the first time after an emotionally charged, exhausting, chaotic, four-day drive across the country!

I had placed JJTulum and this blog on hold as I was buckling under the stress of everything else going on. JJTulum will remain on hold for the time being; I need time to settle, start my new job, make a new business plan and make my home my haven first. For those of you who have been waiting to purchase bags…fear not, they will be back, no guarantees when, but they will!!! Blogging…well we are excited to share our endless projects and updates on our home with you here in the meantime. I will keep JJTulum updates on here as well when we are up and running again.

Thank you for all the love and support, the help, emails, prayers, and cheering! I miss New York so much and always will, my heart found a home there, but it is so wonderful to be back in Seattle with friends and family…you are precious and the reason we are back!!!

 

Tidbits

It seems that with each day I age, the days get one hour shorter!!! Time is flying! We have continued to have a full and busy agenda in Seattle. Time with family and friends has been our highlight and we feel blessed to have wonderful people in our lives! Here is what we have been up to...

My mother-in-law is the queen of hosting the most incredible parties. I am constantly in awe and so inspired by her yummy food, decor vision, and selfless work! Last week she threw a party with Devin's high school friends. It was so beautiful and it was a perfect evening of munching, chatting, and drinking. How fun to catch up with so many old friends at once. Thank you MamaP, you are really the best, I want to be just like you when I grow up! ;0) Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take any pictures during the party, but here is sample of the decor and a few of the treats...

After an evening of partying the night before, my mother and sister-in-law and I headed out for morning mani/pedis. I decided to be daring and do my ring finger a different shade...so scandalous! I like it though.

Saturday night, thanks to some family friends, Devin and I bore the cold and went to our first University of Washington Husky football game of the season. It was brutally cold, but we were well bundled and had a wonderful time. We were very confused when the first bus pulled out as it was barely full....that is when we realized we are New Yorkers at heart now. The SEATS on the bus were full and in Seattle that means a full bus! Haha...we missed our crammed in, standing shoved against someone else, public transportation in NY! I have to say I could get used to an entire seat to myself though!!!

Sunday...well everyone knows what to do on Sunday!!! It was church, brunch and football...Perfect day! This picture is one of my very favorite. My in laws have always been so special to me and I feel beyond blessed to have such a wonderful family. I went from having one brother to a total of four brothers and four sisters, all whom I love dearly! The family room is where we all hang-out eating, laughing, chatting, crying, wrestling, napping, playing, and reminiscing. This photo captures all of the chaos and fun. Just lazy time with the most precious people! And yes, this is exactly what we all looked like all day long!!!

Today is Devin's first residency interview!!! Last night we had the dinner that proceeds each interview and then today he headed off looking as dapper as ever. He has such a way with people and his humble, confidence is charming; I am sure he is rockin' it! The interviews are making the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel for med school seem brighter and brighter. He has interviews this entire month so keep us in your thoughts and prayers, the results determine the next three years of our lives!

Thanks for tuning in! I am off to sew again as I spent yesterday baking, I will share the recipe tomorrow!

Azaya Blue Scarves

So today we headed down to the City to see the Azaya Blue trunk show at Henri Bendel that I posted about yesterday. Even though we have made the drive many times now, I still get so excited to drive through Times Square...like in my own car....like THE TIMES SQUARE! Haha...I am like a giddy little girl on her first trip to Disney World. And every time, without fail I have to take a picture out the windshield to make sure it is real.

We were able to see my sister-in-law and the designer of Azaya Blue's new scarf life, Nicole, and do some shopping! I was so happy with my new scarf, here is the link to the one I purchased, it is the second one from the left, but I have it in a light sand color. Not for sale on the website yet, but I do believe it will be soon.

I am working a bit of overtime tonight so we decided to pick up our pizza and sat at home in our Seahawks (that is Seattle's football team for those of your who may not know) jerseys and ate pizza and cheered. It was a wonderful day!

Azaya Blue in NYC

Hello all!
I am so excited, my sister-in-law and designer of Azaya Blue's scarf line, will be in town this week for a trunk show, at Henri Bendel on 5th Avenue (between 55th&56th) October 18-19! Her scarf line is gorgeous and is the perfect autumn accessory to spice up your wardrobe. She is a brilliant designer, savvy business woman, amazing mom, loving sister, and beautiful inside and out.

Devin and I will be there Thursday, October 18th in the evening to shop and then get our John's Pizza fix! Hope to see you there!

Lone Star

It is hard to believe we have been back home from Texas for over three weeks now! Time just keeps catapulting forward at a faster and faster pace it seems. We really had a wonderful time experiencing Lone Star culture and visiting with family, here are some more pictures of our trip.

The first day Devin had his exam (the purpose of the trip), and then we spend a few days resting and playing at my aunt and uncles house. Good food, hot weather, pool time, face masks, and s'mores were on the agenda. And just a tip: S'mores in 108 degree weather is a really bad idea!

I wanted to find a special project my cousin and I could do together and I found just the thing, thanks to Pinterest. Custom mugs for my aunt as an "I love you" gift were so much fun to create using colored sharpies.

Devin's college friend Andrew and his girlfriend live very close to my family and we were so happy they agreed to take us out to downtown Houston to see the city. We had the best BBQ of our lives, SO YUMMY! I went to my first real western store and got a cute pair of cowgirl boots, which I figured were a must in Texas. We ended our evening at the most adorable restaurant, Tiny Boxwood's. Luckily Andrew and Melissa had been there before and wisely cautioned us to save room for dessert. Their high-end, homemade doughnuts, fudge/peanut butter mouse cake, and cookies were worth the entire trip to Texas alone! Wow...if you are ever in the Houston area check this place out!

By the end of the week we decided it was time for one of Texas' most famous pastimes...the shooting range. My uncle has the coolest collection of assault riffles, shot guns, hand guns, etc. We did some damage to those targets and despite a gnarly burn and temps over 100degrees we had a blast! We stopped by Old Town Spring for some more BBQ and shopping. What a cute little town!

The last few days of our trip we had the added bonus of my mama and brother being in town. We finished our Texan adventure with some wonderful family time in the pool, going out, and of course lots of eating!

Marrying a doctor sounds glamours but marrying a medical student is far from. We realized during this trip how burnt out we both were and how desperately we needed time together. Our busy lives leave precious little time to just be together, chat, and relax. This trip was a well needed status check and was rejuvenating. Devin is back into the thick of his last year of courses, but we are trying to carry some of our vacation with us and take time to connect on a daily bases. Sometimes you have to get away to get a better perspective and refocus! Yay for vacation!

The Leading Man

I figure it grossly past time to officially introduce you to the leading man of this blog, JJTulum, and well my life of course! He a part of my daily life, every aspect of our business and consequently many blog posts. I could write a entire book on who he is and what makes him so wonderful, but according to the Chinese proverb, "a picture is worth ten thousand words," so here are 380,000 words in pictures (yes, this is the abbreviated version ;0) ha), a bit about our journey together thus far! With no further ado, I present to you Devin! Enjoy...

Devin and I met as I was finishing up my nursing degree and he was working at a nursing assistant, while applying for medical school. I thought him much to gorgeous, athletic, and intelligent to not be a jerk, and consequently I quickly wrote him off very quickly. His tenderness with patients, selflessness, hard work ethic, sweet spirit, and contagious smile finally won me over and I realized he was not only handsome, he was truly the most amazing man I had ever met. We started dating a few months later and oh the adventures we had! Devin does not like to sit still and loves getting out and doing things, it was so much fun to date him!

He popped the question ten months later, on Easter, with both family there (my one request). He knew me well and knew he had to distract me so that I would not suspect something was up. The distraction...competition! I am one of the most competitive people and so when I found the "golden egg" on the traditional Easter egg hunt I did not think anything more than...I WON!!! In the egg was the first clue to a treasure hunt. The last clue read..."Now it is time for your big surprise, hold out your hand and close your eyes..." Still oblivious, I followed the directions expecting someone to hand me a big fat chocolate bunny. The second he touched my hand I knew, though, and in that moment every dream came true, he made me the happiest woman in the world!

We had a short engagement, but made the most of it. I graduated from my nursing program and took my Boards, he was accepted to medical school, we traveled, planned a wedding, and soaked up a beautiful Northwest summer in five short months!

We married on 08.16.08 as the 16th was always our special day and well let us face it, it is no secret how OCD I can be. The day was perfect. We were both relaxed and just had the time of our lives. I feel unspeakably blessed to have found my soul mate so young and our wedding day was a testimony to that love!

After getting married we enjoyed a remote honeymoon and then some months at home with our loved ones before moving out to our new home in New York. It has been an adventure with beautiful scenes and not so glamorous moments, but it has brought us so close together and has taken our relationship to a place where I can truly say, I married the perfect man for me! Devin is not only my best friend, but my confidant, my encouragement, support, and accountability.

Life is very different now with opposite schedules and a full-time medical student, but who Devin is and his love for life still shines through. He loves his family deeply, has strong convictions, and loves to live life, even when it is in between months of non-stop studying! I said it within the first few months of our relationship and it is no less true today, I feel more myself when I am with Devin than when we are apart. He just has that effect...he makes people feel valued, loved, important, and free to be themselves. Thanks for letting me introduce Devin to you, for those of you who do not know him! Have a wonderful day!

"Home Again, Home Again..."

What sums up Seattle better than Pike Place Market and Starbuck's coffee? It really is a rhetorical question as the answer is...nothing! We are back to our east coast home after a lovely holiday with our families out west! We ended the trip with a jaunt into Seattle proper with my beloved in-laws for some shopping, coffee, chatting, a carriage ride, and spin around the carousel in Westlake Square Plaza. It was an adventure without a set plan and it was the perfect day! Here are a few snaps from our escapade.

It's a Wrap!

Last night was my family's traditional wrapping night! Although we wrap gifts all throughout the season, there is always one night before Christmas that we do a wrapping marathon. With traveling across the country and not being able to travel with wrapped gifts, we really had a lot of work. Nothing completes a wrapping marathon like a "cup-o'-starbucks-joe"! It is so nice to be home and soaking up some sweet family time! Off to play ping-pong, drink more coffee, shake the gifts for clues! Happy Friday from the west coast!

It's Christmas Time, It's Christmas Time...

If you have not figured it out yet, Christmas is my favorite time of year! Every December I remember a little boy at my church growing up who would get up to sing the Christmas song his class had prepared – his voice was always the loudest and most exuberant. As the song progressed, ”…it’s Christmas time, it’s Christmas time, there’s joy in all the land…” he would get so excited it sounded as though he were hyperventilating. Something inside of me has always resonated with that little guy as my excitement over the Christmas season is almost too much to hold inside!

Here are some details and stories to go along with my Christmas decorating this year! With my husband’s post-graduate studies I had to have everything laid out to make our traditional decorating time efficient. I spent the day unwrapping ornaments and setting out decorations. When Devin arrived home the cocoa was ready and we started in.

I remember each year setting out the nativity with my mother. She had a way of making everything exciting and fun! It was like opening gifts as we unwrapped each piece for the scene and I was always so happy when I was the one to find the baby Jesus. This year I finally realized that it was no accident that EVERY year I “happened” to be the one who found him first! Thanks Mama! Two years ago, our first year in New York, my precious mother-in-law sent me a Willow Tree nativity set for our home. The muted colors and captured moments of each figurine are so special. It is wonderful to have a nativity set of our own.

Starting your own home and a marriage is an exciting time of new memories and the melding of old traditions. Devin and I have so enjoyed the last three years of creating our home and traditions together. Our subtly-bird-themed tree has new pieces added to it each year, such as the bird ornament in the photo, who is our latest addition and something I picked from my favorite boutique (Common Folk), on a recent trip home. My great-grandmother was one of the coolest people I have ever known, she used to make beaded ornaments as gifts for each home in our family. Sadly, we lost her to cancer before I had my own home, but my mom gave me a piece from her set when I was married. So many memories of card games, pots of coffee, embroidered hankies, and pink lipstick flood me at the mere site of this ornament.

Angel Chimes are a family tradition from as long as I can remember.  Chatting with my mom tonight I learned that the tradition started on my second Christmas when my mother’s best friend brought her a set and shared with us her family’s tradition. I thought she had brought them from Morocco where she was born; however, my mother recollects that she had finally found them in the States after looking for years. Although the details are blurry now the tradition is clear. In the evening we light the candles that create heat and spin the fan on top. The fan is connected to little angels that spin around and hit the bells on the side. The sound they make is a rhythmic chime and the pattern of the fan on the ceiling is mesmerizing. It is a family time where we all sit around or lay on the floor, drink something warm and chat about our days. So special!

At the end of a busy day of cleaning and decorating I go through the house turning off lights, feeding the cat, etc, the tree is always the last thing I turn off before retiring for the night. Tonight I stopped and just enjoyed the peaceful moment for a time. The quiet stillness was piercing. Perhaps this is why I love Christmas so much, it is one of the few times of the year that everything seems to be as it should. I leave you with a little piece of the moment I had tonight! Sleep sweet.