4x4: keds will be keds.

For those one or two of you that can remember way back to when I first started this little blog, you may recall that I would occasionally do these little 4x4 posts. Four collections of four items each, with a common theme. (These were the pre-Pinterest days, for any youngsters out there.) Well, I think I'm gonna bring 'em back. Or at least, I'm doing one today! The last 4x4 was actually posted in February of 2011, so... consider this my first post-30 4x4. Basically the same, but with a little more expendable income.

Recently (yesterday), I purchased a fresh pair of Keds. I wanted white, but this dirty city (and my sister) convinced me that coral was the way to go. My sister and I wore white leather Keds almost exclusively growing up. (Remember when they only cost $11?) I realized this morning that my footwear now consists of my "mom" sandals, my "dad" sperrys, and now my "stef-and-stace-growing-up" keds. I am nothing if not nostalgic. So, in honor of my relapse into childhood footwear, and our upcoming sunny vacation, I bring you the return of the 4x4. Just add shorts + t-shirt.

Forever Young

 Shoes: Champion Ikat by Keds - $50 Shades: Wrapped Aviators 58 by Ray Ban - $185
Jewels: Stone and Crystal Arrow by J. Crew Factory - $44.50
Bag: Knapsack by Baggu - $64

Prepster

 Shoes: Boyfriend Chambray Stripe by Keds - $60 Shades: Wayfarer 50 by Ray-Ban - $160
Jewels: Stone Square by J. Crew Factory - $34.50
Bag: Boat Tote by Baggu - $68

Summer Brights

Shoes: Crash-Back Chevron by Keds - $45 Shades: Boyfriend 60 by Ray-Ban - $150
Jewels: Neon Floral Burst by J. Crew Factory - $44.50
Bag: Backpack by Baggu - $98

For Realsies

Shoes: Champion Canvas by Keds - $45 Shades: Erika by Ray-Ban - $115
Jewels: Layered Crystal Pendant by J. Crew Factory - $34.50
Bag: Duck Bag by Baggu - $48

I am in no way affiliated with Keds, Ray-Ban, J.Crew or Baggu. They are just some of my fave brands, and things that I actually buy.

the luckiest.

One year ago, I was in full pre-wedding-stress-mode. The dress had to be picked up from the seamstress, the menus and programs had to be picked up from the printer (the first batch was ALL WRONG, I tell you!), I had to check into the hotel, I didn't have a bra for my rehearsal dinner dress (that I just picked out THAT WEEK! Because NOTHING WAS RIGHT!), my original make-up artist cancelled at the last minute, it was unseasonably cold (and WE ARE GETTING MARRIED IN THE GARDEN DAMMIT)... FULL ON PANIC MODE!

Thankfully, I have the best friends/family/husband in the whole world. Everything was perfect, even the parts that weren't. We partied forever. And I would do it all over again every year. I will say it forever: May 11, 2013 was the happiest day of my life. It was an incredible day, filled with the most special people from every special moment of my life so far. I know that as time goes on, you lose touch with people. It's the natural way of things. But I feel so fortunate to have had so many people from so many places come to celebrate and send us off on this new adventure. It was especially important to me because of the absence of one most important guest. Who was there every time the clouds parted and the sun shined into the courtyard. Which it did at the most wonderful times.

this ring is part of my mom's wedding set. she had three bands, too.

some may remember this as the second best moment of the night.

Full Disclosure: Marriage isn't easy. The first year of marriage has been tough, but that could be said about any year of any relationship ever. You work hard for love and happiness. And when you are in love and happy, even the hard work feels easy in the end. We are still so happy. So in love. So hilarious. So lucky. But I'm the luckiest. (Don't tell Todd!)

and then a year goes by.

Well, not an entire year. But practically a year. Since my last post of any substance, that is, and not just cute images and no real text. We really did go camping, though. That wasn't just a fun name for our new home. But it is what we call our apartment, so maybe it was just a cute image. But now it has some context.

It's hard to jump back into blogging after such a long hiatus. What do you talk about? How do you break the ice? Do you start back where you left off, or pick up at present day? THE PRESSURE IS OVERWHELMING! But seriously, it kind of was. A lot of things have happened, and I wish I had captured some of those moments via blog. But to be honest, I'm kind of glad I didn't because that means I was really living in those moments and enjoying my time with family and friends. (Not that bloggers don't enjoy things. I just tend to get distracted.)

So I guess this is me. Saying hi. I'm back. (Hopefully.) And I'll probably do some recapping in the near future. I mean, this was our first year of marriage. I turned 30. We went to Florida. And Iceland. Big things at Camp Garcia. Stay tuned if you want! If not, I totally understand. Chances are I won't post again until October. But I have good intentions.

If you need me, I'll just be over here.

four year special.

Happy Birthday comeback special!
Year four of this little blog has come to an end. Big plans this fall. (Though not quite as big as a wedding, thank goodness.) Busy days and fun surprises! Guys. I'm turning 30 in less than two months. YIPES!

image above via here

sleep away.

the square is a circle.

I moved to the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago seven years ago, somewhat relunctantly actually. I was coerced by my sister and an apartment on the circle with a garbage disposal that was half a block from the train station. You see, Logan Square is actually a circle. A wonderfully confusing mess of staight/curved/diagonal streets that allow you to weed out intruders to your neighborhood simply by observing who does or does not know how to properly navigate said circle.

I wasn't so sure about the West Side or the Blue Line at the time. It was "FAR!" from my friends (South Loop/Lincoln Park) and my school (South Loop) and I would have to take TWO TRAINS to get anywhere! (UGGGHHH! So hard!) Stefanie said, "Just wait. In five years, this area is going to start growing like crazy." To which I said, "FIVE YEARS?! But we live here NOW!" (P.S. I love reminiscing about how whiney I was to my sister all the time.) Well, obviously, she did not lead me astray. Seven years and three apartments later, I've gotten to experience the changes to the neighborhood first hand.

The Logan Theatre was renovated back to its original glory and then some in 2012.
(Instagram stolen from A.)
The downside of living in the new "hot" neighborhood is that rent just keeps going up. And the property managers don't seem to care about making any improvements to their apartments because there are one hundred new tenants just waiting for you to get sick of your shitty place so they can move in. Immediately after the honeymoon, Todd and I had the super-fun task of looking for a new apartment, effective immediately. Not the most relaxing way to start your life together as 'newlyweds', but it was necessary.

At this point, I'd like to note that getting married can really skew your priorities and outlook on life. Like, "We're married now! We need to have two bathrooms, a garage, a fancy kitchen, a yard, and LOTS of closets!" We were ready to shell out hundreds more dollars a month to try to meet this expectation. We were open to any neighborhood; anywhere that we could check off as many of those boxes as possible. The more places Todd emailed to me to take a look at, the more discouraging the search became. How far do we go - geographically AND monitarily - to try to get the "dream" apartment? How many more places can we see before we just settle for something we don't love? Even in the perfect apartment, would we really love it as much as we love living in Logan Square? Have we gone about this search all wrong?

Our last day at our first place. That was our window right above our heads.
If the smiles above didn't already give it away... Surprise! We officially moved into my fourth apartment in Logan Square (Todd's second) on June 22nd; exactly six weeks after our wedding day. We found a great place in our favorite neighborhood for way less than the places we were looking at elsewhere. How did we do that, you ask? I'll have to get editor's notes from Todd because, honestly, he did it all. Including forcing me to make up my mind about what was most important. Our new place doesn't check all the crazy boxes we had dreamed up, but it checks enough of them. And we realized that the most important box was actually a Square. (Which is actually a circle.)

We appropriately chose to shoot some of our engagement photos last year
by the 'Home' mural outside of the Logan Square Blue Line station.

Welcome (back) Home!

insta gratification.

It really happened. I'm a married lady. Holy moly. And we've made it five and a half whole weeks already! So far, it's... pretty much the same. Don't take that the wrong way; it feels incredible to be married! But when you have been together for five years, lived together for almost two, and known each other for about eight, the marriage part is really a formality. He's been my husband for a while now.

The wedding, though... Best. Day. Of. My. Life.

Honestly. And not because it was "my day" or because every last detail was perfect and sparkly and white and every little girl's dream. It wasn't. It was our day. And every detail was not perfect, there were very few sparkles, and the whitest part was the dancing. But it was perfectly us. It was our dream. (There you go. There's the cliche.) It was the best, most amazing celebration of family and friends. I just wanted to drink in all of the love and joy and laughter that started the moment the first guests started arriving (read: Justin. On Wednesday.) and continued until the moment the last guests departed (read: Us. Because Justin was asleep in our apartment when we left for our honeymoon. Yes, Todd knew what he was getting into before he proposed).

Another thing I loved was getting to relive it all immediately, and peruse the hastags on instagram the next day. Here are a few favorites from #garciaganza2013 and #lovetoddandstacey.

heart breaker at hooters the day before. sorry fellas. this prize has been WON.

post-rehearsal-dinner drinks. post-post-rehearsal-dinner-drinks hair fix.

hs bffs. there's a baby in there!

clones. my hubba and my nuzzle. she knew before we knew.

oh yeah, and then it got real.

and then i got to dance with my dad.

best buds.

todd and his mama got the party started.

photo. booth. mania. (+ unicorn.)

best day of my life.

These instas are courtesy of my wonderful friends and family, whose social media links I will keep private. But many thanks to all of them for capturing such perfect moments and letting me steal them because I'M THE BRIDE. xo

soon-to-be mrs.

In four days, I will be getting married to this little guy:

Chicago, Summer 2008 That is the first know photo of the two of us together after we started dating. Todd was 21 (finally) and I was 24. Ah, the good ol' days. We started dating on May 15, 2008 - we were engaged on May 13, 2012 - and we will be married on May 11, 2013. Almost five years exactly. It's amazing how much people change in five years. Who are those tiny people sitting on that couch?

Seattle, Spring 2009 We have had a lot of adventures together, and I can't wait to see what else is in store for us. The first trip we ever took together was by train, from Chicago to Seattle. No internet access or phone service for two days. It was incredible, and stil one of my favorite trips we have ever taken.

Puerto Rico, Summer 2010 Todd will try anything. He is so brave. He works hard and dedicates himself to everything he does, even if he has no idea what he is doing. He figures it out, and then excels at it. He helps me realize that I can do more than I give myself credit for. If he can face his fear of sea monsters and get his scuba certification (on our honeymoon!), then I can probably find the courage to do the things that scare me, too.

Glacier National Park, Summer 2011 One of the greatest things about Todd is how well he gets along with everyone. That, and his cute behind. But more so, because of how effortlessly he takes to people. He makes everyone feel at ease. And he lets me be silly and ridiculous and sad and mad and out-of-control-excited and whatever else I feel like being whenever I feel like being it. You might not be able to tell by how calm-cool-and-collected I look in all of these pictures, but I may have been voted "Biggest Mood Swings" my senior year of high school. (Thanks, Justin.)

Chicago, Fall 2012  In short, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I have found my match. Or is it "met my match"? Either way, it's true. We have so much more life to experience together. It won't always be easy. "But at least it will be always."

Always,
Soon-to-Be Mrs. Garcia

bauble troubles.

HELP! I can't decide what jewels to wear for The Big Day! (Which is coming up SO FAST, btw.) I've compiled some of my top contenders, and I need help choosing. I wish I could share some of the deets of the dress, but T-O-double-D looks at this here blog occasionally. Wouldn't want to spill the beans. I'm going for no necklace, clear-ish stones, gold. Pearls might be okay. Accent colors are coral and gray. Maybe a stack of bracelets? I can't decide!

So let me know which combo you like best! Or by all means, send me a link to something awesome!

1. kate spade teardrop. $58. | 2. kate spade drop. $48 | 3. kate spade fragment. $78
4. j.crew crystal bauble. $68. | 5. j.crew venue flytrap. $50.

1. givenchy line. clear. $65. | 2. faux tennis. mom. | 3. givenchy line. coral. $65.
4. j.crew pave link. $125. | 5. kate spade knot. $78. | 6. j.crew crystal crush. $118.

getting past the past.

I had the most conflicting, but heart-warming, dream last night. I dreamt that I was at some event - almost like summer camp - with all of my friends. Past and present. A couple of my exes were there. We talked. It was easy to remember the good things when their faces are staring back at you. And I started to think about how my life would have been different if I had ended up with any of them. I was swept away by memories of a certain time of my life. What might have been.

Every now and then I would see Todd - in the bleachers, the field, the woods - lauging with friends, and he would smile at me when we saw each other. He was letting me figure something out for myself, but still observing. He wasn't jealous or mad. He was friendly with everyone. He's good like that.

There was a very real moment towards the end of the dream when I was standing at a table, looking at these familiar faces that I have loved and will always care for, and I realized that those lives I may have had were not the one I wanted for myself. They weren't the life for who I am now. And a rush of clarity came over me - the only person I could think of was Todd. I love our life - our life is good. It's us.

In my dream, it wasn't as if I was breaking up with anyone, or saying good-bye. I didn't run to Todd in the rain, crying, telling him I loved him and only him. Dream Todd already knew that. Real Todd does too. I was just giving myself permission to let go of the invisible ties that I allowed to remain in my subconsious. I will always hold the good memories in my heart, and care for those whose lives have crossed with mine, but I woke up feeling like a weight had been lifted. Like a responsibility had been relieved. And like my heart was so full of love and excitement to be married that I could burst.