Nate and I just passed our 8th(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) dating anniversary. Since it falls on Leap Day and we can only celebrate it every four years, it’s gotta be special. That being said, I knew I had to find the perfect gift. :)
I’m a strong believer in The 5 Love Languages! You can read more about them here, and take a test if you’re curious what yours is; either quality time, gifts, acts of service, physical touch, or words of affirmation. My love language by a landslide is gifts. I love finding the perfect gifts for the people I love, and it’s not uncommon that as Nate is blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, I’m already deciding what I’m giving the next year. :) Yes, I have a problem.
That being said, it was while we were photographing Tara and Matt’s wedding last August that I was struck with my favorite gift idea… EVER. Tara had painted this darling picture of the Up house to put on their cake table. I immediately decided whenever we did get a house, Nate’s gettin’ an Up-inspired painting of it- even if I had to do it myself!
Lucky for me, we have the most talented friends on the planet, and Patrick (of Carriatrick fame), graciously volunteered to take on the challenge. Even though we didn’t get the house soon enough to make it a Christmas gift, it made a perfect 8 year “dateaversary” gift on Leap Day. We’ve only been able to celebrate our dateaversary twice now, so it made it even more special! :)
I’m eternally grateful for Patrick and his amazing work… He even put in some hidden Mickey balloons and MY HUCKLEBERRY! It’s perfect and my favorite piece I’ve ever owned. Nate flipped when I gave it to him; My favorite moment was that after 30 seconds of grinning and gazing at the print, he realized, “Wait… That’s OUR HOUSE!”
So Patrick, WE LOVE YOU! I’ll never, ever be able to thank you enough. Can’t wait for you to come see it hanging up in person!!!
You should also check out :
- Patrick’s amazing puppet company, Swazzle!
- His gorgeous wife’s Disney Wedding Podcast!
- Carrie’s other Disney site, Disney Travel Babble
- The bagillion of past Carrie and Patrick blog posts <3
This is AHHHMAAAZING!!!! I love love love love it!! Happy Birthday Nate!!!
Sooooo cool! Patrick is amazing! But then we already knew that…he’d have to be to be worthy of Carrie! ;-)
This is so great! I want one! Patrick should open an Etsy shop.
Gorgeous! Great gift, and great talent from Patrick. Happy 8th dateaversary :)
OMG LOVE IT!!! Happy Dateaversary!
YAY! We are so glad you guys love the art! (And I am so proud of Patrick!)
That is AMAZING! Great one-of-a-kind piece for a great one-of-a-kind couple (from ANOTHER one-of-a-kind couple…I’m sensing a theme…).
This is ABSOLUTE Perfection!!!!! I love every bit of it!
It looks great! I’m glad I could help inspire it!
It turned out even better than I had imagined! Great idea, Jensey! And great job, Patrick! :)
Too cute! Huck looks adorable! And nice hidden Mickey! This is indeed the best present!
What an awesome gift!!! I’d say the bar has been set quite high for 2016! :)
What a great piece of art! You all have quite a nice collection of personalized artwork coming along ;)
Oh. My. Goodness!!!!!!!!!!!! That is just the most awesome gift EVER. Love, love, love it!!!!!!!!
I am sure it will be cherished FOREVER and EVER!
Such a great idea! I love it! (And, yes, you are quite fortunate to have such amazingly talented friends! Do you have any close friends who AREN’T amazingly talented?!) ;-)
Awesome! And what a great reason to be able to give it.
What do you all do on the “regular” years? If it were me, I would celebrate Feb 28 AND March 1. But I like any excuse to celebrate :)