Jake's 23rd Retro Surf Birthday

Jake just turned 23 and after all the craziness and busyness that's been going on lately, we felt the need to celebrate! The theme was "Retro Surf" and we totally hung loose! Between the tasty Mexican food, the fun photo props and the pool, we had a blast.

Here are some pictures from our fun evening...

Our friends pretty much rocked the photo booth...

The boys couldn't stay out of the pool of course...

And there were cupcakes of course! Sand and sharks...

Happy 23rd Birthday Babe!

Our Wedding Video

I know its been a long time since I've posted and you are probably mad at me, but I'm hoping this will make up for it. Our wedding video, by Matt of CineMatt is finally out and we couldn't love it more! We really feel like it captured the feeling of our big day. Enjoy!

Tobi and Jake - a delicious backyard wedding from Matthieu Meynier on Vimeo.

p.s. Sorority Recruitment is over now so you can expect updates from me soon!

Its been a while...

Its been a while since I've posted on our blog. Sorry about that! Sometimes life gets busy and you have to step away from the key board and wrestle it head on. Plus, it never hurts to get away for some fresh air and inspiration. Heres a little update about where we've been since the last time we posted...

Work:

It seems like we work a lot these days. Remember when summer was about watching "Friends" re-runs and sleeping as much as possible... what happened to that!? Jake is working full time at the firm and I have an easy 10-2pm schedule working for the school. I've also been doing some work for Jake's dad on the side. I like to brag about how I work two jobs, but I don't think it really counts. I have plenty of time for playing around in the afternoons and I try my best to be a good wife. I'm really grateful that Jake works so hard to support our little family. He also looks really handsome in his work clothes!

Dinner Parties:

It seems like all our friends are so grown up these days. We used go out to pizza to catch up, now we make each other delicious home cooked meals and talk about our boyfriends, fiances, husbands, jobs, houses or career plans. We had a couple of these dinner parties in the last week and we really enjoyed seeing our good friends.

Church:

Jake and I have been skipping around trying to find a church in San Jose for a while now. We've finally begun getting involved at WestGate on Saratoga Ave. We're taking a class about the church and trying out all the programs. Jumping into a new community is hard, but we are being persistent and praying about it a lot.

Sorority Events & Meetings:

On Saturday I went to an alumnae brunch for Alpha Xi Delta in Sacramento. Besides the fact that being in Sacramento feels like standing in a giant oven, I had a blast meeting and mingling with my alumnae sisters. It really helped me remember that being in a sorority is not just for the four or five years you are in school; its for life! I've also been having a lot of meetings, conference calls and planning sessions getting our chapter geared up for the next semester. This will be my last semester as president, so it is important to me that I leave the chapter stronger than ever. This Fall, we will be participating in our first formal recruitment (a.k.a. a big deal in sororityland). There is a lot of preparation and effort that goes into recruitment. Because it is such a process, there is a good chance that there will be some blogging gaps over the next month. Please forgive me in advance!

Engagement Dinners:

Jake's sister Taylor just got engaged to her long-time boyfriend, Joe. The families are very excited! On Saturday, we went to their engagement dinner with both sides. We had a blast wining and dining at the White Crane Winery in Livermore. They even had a port sorbet! Trouble! I'm so excited because Taylor asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. This will be my first time in a wedding (besides my own, of course).

Me, my hubby & some champaign. Life is good.

Me, Taylor & Aimee (Joe's sister). Aimee and I are so excited to be bridesmaids!

Today we are dreaming of...

Today we are dreaming of Italy & Greece. We are planning a two week trip for next summer, but every now and again we just stop what we are doing here in San Jose and wish we were there right now.

Where would you go if you could go anywhere?

Opinion: Looks Great or Feels Great?

So lets say there is this chair...

Its a gorgeous chair. In fact its the Ankara Chair from Crate & Barrel. So there is this chair and every single time I go to Crate & Barrel, I just stare at it for a minute. It makes me so happy and I want it... and then I sit down... and truthfully, its just not very comfy. Anyways, I pretend that it doesn't matter because its beautiful and sometimes beauty trumps comfort, right? Its that beautiful... right?

But then I'll sit down in a different chair, like a big leather recliner (this one is the Carlton Recliner, also from Crate & Barrel). It doesn't do anything for me in the design department, but I suddenly want to set up camp and spend the night in it.

What about you? Do you have crushes on chairs you wouldn't sit in? What do you think is more important when it comes to furniture? Beauty or Comfort?

Our Nest Housewarming Party

We had so much fun at our Nest Housewarming Party on Saturday and we want to thank all of our friends who came out to visit. Here are some pictures of what we put together.

We served a tray of meats, cheeses and crackers, bruschetta with bell peppers and gorgonzola, and palmiers filled with pesto, goat cheese, pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes (both from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients).

I also put together some low-key bird decorations to go with our theme. I reused the vases from Brenda's cupcake party and mixed them with river rocks, candles, small twig wreaths and a couple of birds. We picked up a couple inexpensive bird accessories from HomeGoods and found a pretty canvas that we are going to hang in our kitchen.

Before & After: A Bathroom Miracle

A miracle occurred this last week in the Curtis house. Our apartment is changed forever. On Thursday night, we had an idea that was a little bit crazy. It was less than two days before our housewarming party, but we just couldn't resist updating the bathroom a "little bit". Just a little bit of paint, a few of screws and a couple of late nights later, we are crazy about our transformed bathroom.

Our old bathroom was dreary. The paint was bland it it seemed that everything on the walls had been repurposed from a dorm bathroom somewhere. The main mirror actually had a seam right through the middle and the shelf was stainless steal. While replacing a turquoise towel bar that we thought was plastic, we discovered that it was made of porcelain! Don't even ask Jake about the "toilet paper holder".

Before:

We found a cotton shower curtain at Bed, Bath & Beyond that matched the teal and tan towels we were given and brought in some of the chocolate brown from the rest of the house. We picked a cheery teal color for to brighten up the trim and accent the doors (Jake wants me to assure you that we used Valspar paint from Lowes because he doesn't like Home Depot and won't let me shop there). We refinished a mirror and a shelf from HomeGoods with silver spray paint and lacquer. We moved some silver frames from the main room to put a little bit of texture on the wall and replaced most of the the hardware. We replaced the towel bars with hooks. We like the way they look and they require a lot less folding. We painted the cabinet with a dark brown color that we already had and accessorized it with some fun Crate & Barrel doo-dads (alarm clock, zarha vase, and axis candleholder). We also found a laundry sorter from Target that fit perfectly into our nook. Lastly, we spray painted some crates from the wedding and used them to store our towels. We absolutely love the final product, it feels like a little piece of spa to us. What do you think?

After: