{Champery, Switzerland}

Champery is a small village that was located a 10-minute tram ride from the town we were staying in. It’s the quintessential Swiss ski resort town I had always imagined in my head. All the stores and restaurants with views of the Alps, everything made of wood with Swiss flags swaying every way you turned. On Christmas Eve we were feeling antsy to get out of the house so we decided to make the short trip over to walk around, ride the gondola up the mountain, have some hot chocolate, and ultimately have dinner at a cozy restaurant back in the town center. It was incredible to climb up the mountain in the gondola and come face-to-face with the peaks we had been staring up at for days from the window of our chalet. It was windy when we were up there, but it was so breathtaking we didn’t even care! We missed our families so much that day, but experiencing this awe-inspiring sunset together on top of the world definitely made us feel a little better!

 {Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}

{This Weekend...}

It was so much fun to head to London for the weekend to celebrate Lauren and her twin girls!

We had a bumpy start on Friday night.. But all was well by Saturday morning.

It was a pretty low key weekend filled with girly chats and brunch dates. My idea of perfect!

I even got to take some photos for Lauren and her hubby to mark this special time in their lives. I can't wait to share! 

Sadly, I'm still sick, so I'm back to bed today. Learned my lesson last week that I won't get better unless I rest, so I'm making that a priority!

What did you do this weekend? Anything fun? Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

{Our Swiss Chalet}

Staying in a Swiss chalet was very much like my dream of staying in a Tuscan villa. So cliché, yet so necessary. When Corey and I realized we wouldn’t be making it home for Christmas we knew we had to go somewhere super awesome to help temper the sting. And we couldn’t have picked a better place to spend a week relaxing. We were in the most beautiful, tiny Swiss Alp town of Val d’illiez. There’s not much to do there except stare at the gorgeous mountains and cuddle up by the fire. Exactly what we had in mind! I started every day with a bubble bath (pure heaven!) and ended each one with a glass of wine, a cozy fire and a Christmas movie. The only thing missing was our little Henry. There will be many more posts about our trip to Switzerland to come... For now, here are a few photos from our dream Swiss chalet. 

 {Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}

{Sister Time in Manhattan Beach}

After our two-year anniversary, I flew out to Portland the next day. I couldn’t go back to the U.S. without a visit to LA to see my sisters, so that’s exactly what I did for one weekend! I finally got to see Manhattan Beach, the adorable beach town my sister Anna lives in, and even got some pool and beach time, which is pure luxury for an Amsterdammer. One night in Manhattan Beach we saw the most beautiful sunset – it absolutely rivaled the ones I saw in Greece! It really did look like the sky was painted with watercolors. My sisters literally had to pull me away from taking photos because we were about to lose our dinner reservation! It was just so stunning. Lucky for me I just booked a trip back to see them again in May, so I’m hoping I see another amazing sunset or two!

  {Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}

{Our Two Year Wedding Anniversary}

Happy Monday everyone! How are you all doing? It’s been snowing buckets in Amsterdam and it’s been causing all sorts of chaos – with trains and planes – and worst of all.. with me! I guess biking in 23-degree weather was a bit ambitious for me, because this weekend I came down with a nasty bug that has me bed-ridden today. Husband is taking great care of me and it’s not so bad having a beautiful snowy view out the window. I just wish I could go outside and enjoy the wintery white weather!

Speaking of the huz… Corey and I are creeping up on two and a half years of marriage! Now, I know that’s not a super long time, but what I will say is boy does time fly!! I feel like we just celebrated our two-year anniversary, which I realized I never blogged about!

While I wish we could’ve done something extravagant and luxurious to celebrate our wedding anniversary, I was flying out to Portland the next day and work was crazy busy at the time, so we settled on a romantic dinner at a gorgeous restaurant. We got dressed up and headed to De Kas. This place is so awesome. It sits on the edge of a lush city park in Amsterdam and is probably the coolest looking restaurant we’ve ever eaten in. It also happens to be one of those super fancy restaurants that doesn’t really have a menu. Each day the chef has a three-course dinner planned that consists of three small starters, a main course and dessert. The best part is everything is made with local, fresh ingredients grown in the restaurant’s very own nursery.  We decided to fancy things up even more and get the wine pairings with dinner. The whole things was a fun and special experience and the perfect way to celebrate two years of wedded bliss. Here are a few photos from the occasion.

And P.S. Yes, our wedding anniversary was in August and yes I am wearing tights and a blazer... Why? Because there is no summer in Amsterdam. Yeah, I guess you could say I’m bitter about it :)

 {Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}

{Fancy Up Date Night!}

Corey and I love dinner and a movie as much as the next couple, but we're always looking for fun ways to change up date nights. A couple weekends ago we decided to buy tickets for a beautiful cello show that was playing at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam - it's a stunning venue known for it's great acoustics. We thought it'd be a fun excuse to get dressed up and do something different. We had a delicious dinner and shared a bottle of red at this cute italian place just blocks from the concert hall. Once arriving for the show, we realized a free glass of wine came with our tickets - score! The fun continued! We finally sat down to enjoy the beautiful music of Amber Doctors on the cello. It was a night to remember! Here are a couple tips for classin' up your next date night - enjoy!

 {Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}

{Our Wedding Video}

Yes, you read that right. And yes, our wedding was over two years ago... 

As much as I wanted a professional videographer at our wedding it just wasn't in the budget.

I knew I had to have at least some footage of our day, so we had two FlipShare cameras floating around all day, capturing who knew what. 

At the end of the wedding I was just happy to get both cameras back in one piece!

It was so fun to see what video had been taken. Some of it touching, some of it downright hilarious.

So, what do you do with 50+ little videos taken throughout your wedding day? 

Well, probably nothing, despite your best intentions.

Until a great friend (and bridesmaid) decides she wants to help you make them something special. 

I knew it was going to be a huge undertaking, and when the finished product hit my inbox yesterday I squealed with excitement and joy!

Jena - a talented graphic designer - took a jumbled mess of home videos and made them into a video that makes me laugh and cry every time I've watched it (yes, I've already watched it more than a few times!).

We will never be able to express our gratitude for such a personal and special gift. I know how much work this took and it is something we will cherish forever and ever!

So without further ado... Our wedding video!

The Denfeld Wedding from Jenafer Brown on Vimeo.