alt summit – emerald city diaries

highlights of 2013.

happy 2014!

i’ve said it before, & i’ll say it again!, yearly recaps are always my favorite kinds of blog posts. its a small way to sum up your year & to see how much the last 365 days have brought. as i look forward to the New Year, i am humbled & grateful by all of the wondrous events of 2013. here’s the rundown of ours:

january: I started out the new year with a bout of the flu. we hosted our first blog giveaway! we installed the west elm hanging capiz chandelier over our dining room table. I framed my diy polaroids for our bedroom walls. amanda & I met john & sherry from young house love during their book signing tour! I diy-ed campaign dressers for our bedroom.

february: I did lots of diy-ing for valentine’s day {here, here, & here} I celebrated my birthday! we bought a kitchen island. I tried to be better about getting in front of the camera!

march: I tried my hand at painting an antler {& was so impressed with the results!}. we took my 91-year-old grandmother to target for the first time! amanda & I diy-ed framed house keys on maps. we sold jez the jetta & bought a new car.

april: we updated our bathroom vanity with a converted antique sideboard. we updated the closet doors by stripping off the old paint in a crock pot. we celebrated our one year anniversary in our house & I reviewed all of the house diys!

may: we finally got some good weather in seattle! I painted the ceiling & hallway walls. we celebrated aaron’s thirtieth birthday with a beer tasting party! we had a fun-filled memorial day weekend. we were featured in west elm’s blog front & main.

june: aaron replaced our toilet. sadie was featured in the seattle dog spot blog. my parents visited for a long weekend en route to the olympic peninsula. my diy his & hers maps were featured. we finally got some summer weather!

july: we celebrated the long Fourth of July weekend with a holiday parade, fireworks, & time with friends. I made a nine layer ombre cake! we replaced our kitchen track lights with globe pendants from west elm. we road-tripped to idaho for my ten-year high school reunion. we started growing our first eggplant.

august: we celebrated our three year wedding anniversary. the blog got a Liebster Award Nomination. I diy-ed the tiniest baby hats for our friends’ new baby. we road-tripped to hood river, oregon to celebrate my cousin’s wedding.

september: we went to the husky vs. bronco game to kick-off labor day weekend complete with husky-style tailgating {via boat}. we took advantage of the warm weather & cleaned up the front yard with a fun game called love it or lose it. we celebrated sadie’s ninth birthday! I attended the Alt Summit for Everyone blog conference.

october: I attempted to start doing fashion posts again. we celebrated our two year blog anniversary at emerald city diaries! I finished up with the #embracethecamera challenge. we went to the pumpkin patch & carved pumpkins with friends.

november: aaron joined a team for movember 2013. we snuck off to hawaii for thanksgiving.

december: I reviewed some of my favorite weekend in pictures pics. I participated in A Pinterest Christmas for the third year {see this year’s projects here, here, here, here, & here}! we celebrated Christmas in indiana with aaron’s family.

reflecting back on this year, i am reminded how blessed we are & also how different this year has been than the year previous. it has been such a wonderful year & ringing in a new one is a bit bittersweet.

how was your 2013 – was it a year to remember, or are you itching to start 2014 already?

see past yearly highlights for 2011 & 2012.

my weekend in pictures.

{debuted my new favorite sweater – carpe diem!}

{trying to fit in pure barre classes during the week, though i am loving it on saturday mornings.}

{i attended my first alt summit blog conference at the end of this week. it makes me want to attend the live conference – so fun! for now, the alt for everyone classes are perfect.}

{it rained literally the entire weekend. & by literally i mean there was an 80 to 100% chance of rain all weekend long. we are used to fall rain, but even for seattle this is ridiculous!}

{yep, it’s the end of september, the house is freezing, & the electric mattress pad cover has emerged from its summer hibernation.}

{sadie doesn’t mind the rain at all, especially if it means we take a family walk on weekend mornings.}

{we caught the end of the seahawks vs. texans game this afternoon. go hawks!}

{i am attempting to learn more advanced techniques in illustrator. wish me luck!}

we had a chilly & wet weekend given the non-stop rainstorms. boy does it feel like fall in the emerald city! since there was no going outside, we took the chance to get some inside chores done & catching up on a few of our favorite TV shows that are beginning to start up. it is hard to believe these are the last days of september already, but we are looking forward to a fun (& hopefully dry) october! how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{sadie & me catching up on the pile of fall fashion magazines.}

{received my alt summit goodie bag in the mail this week. so excited for the alt for everyone blog conference this week!}

{loving jewel tones & chambray for the fall.}

{friday night family cuddle time after dinner out with old friends.}

{attended my first pure barre class on saturday morning. i am trying it out for a month to see if i like it as much as i hope i will!}

{the bad part about having an old house is having storm windows. aaron & my dad took them off this spring so some work could be done on them. guess who got to help aaron hang them back up this weekend?}

{thank you amy & brian for canning the amazing deliciousness of coconut juice! #obsessed}

{this may or may not be sadie’s favorite part of home depot.}

{aaron’s grandpa was in town this weekend & we took him out on the town saturday night with ben & sarah.}

{on saturday night she crashed with me on the couch & her front paws were straight out. #frankendog #hilarious}

{sunday lunch with aaron’s grandpa at one of our favorite bakeries in eastlake, grand central.}

{i spent sunday evening out dinner & shopping with my grandmother. meanwhile ben & grandpa were crabbing at the crab pot! their faces crack me up!}

we had a really great weekend with a mix of house work & family time. we started to get some stormy weather & some of the leaves are already starting to change. i don’t mind that it is officially fall but do hope we get a few more days of sunshine-y weather before we get the seattle grey until next spring! how was your weekend?