date night – Page 2 – emerald city diaries

my weekend in pictures.

{friday night was sushi date night before we headed out to capitol hill to meet up with some friends.}

{saturday morning i had breakfast with a friend at geraldine’s in columbia city. best pumpkin pancakes ever! my friend & her husband are expecting a baby in just four weeks, so the next time i see her, i hope to meet the new babe!}

{two of my friends from law school got married this weekend & we are so privileged to celebrate with them on saturday. congrats to the happy couple!}

{aaron & i got all dressed up for the wedding celebration. not too shabby i say.}

{i took a new friend down to explore pike place market this morning. i rode the great ferris wheel for the first time. the views are not too shabby, though i think it would be better at night or perhaps at sunset?}

{pike place market never gets old. aaron & i took some of our engagement photos here & it will always remind me of that fun photoshoot!}

{no trip down to the market is complete without a bouquet of fresh flowers. dahlias & sunflowers are ringing in the end of the summer season.}

{we had dinner with my grandmother this evening & enjoyed some sorbet with lots of toppings for dessert!}

we had a very enjoyable weekend & enjoyed the return of the sunny, summer weather! we were able to catch up with lots of friends this weekend which always makes for a good time. while i could use some down time to recover during the weekend days, it is so great that this summer has been full of reconnecting with old faces. this weekend also marked the last wedding of the season for us, so it is really starting to feel like the end of summer. i think this may have been the fastest summer on record – where did the last three months go? how was your weekend?

happy friday!

from our date night at the warby parker event on wednesday. doesn’t my husband look handsome in glasses?

my {long} weekend in pictures.

{happy birthday aaron!}

{we had a birthday date night at pasta freska on friday. if you live in seattle & haven’t been here you should go. chef michael is awesome!}

{pleats & toe-cap for the birthday dinner.}

{we met ben & sarah at seattle center to see ironman 3. even though we didn’t go to the space needle, we saw it a few times & i feel compelled to take a picture of it every time i see it. anyone else do that?}

{we met our friend jerry at serious pie in south lake union for brunch on sunday.}

{aww, love. AL + MS = forever.}

{we followed up brunch with a screening of the new fast & furious at cinerama. who knew this was the sixth movie? #theyareallthesamemovieright}

{donned my fun bagley mischka shoes with my new kate young for target dress for our friends’ wedding.}

{it is hard to complain about the rain when it gives you a beautiful rainbow over lake union. gorgeous!}

{my wedding date.}

{i am half-way thru my rack it up challenge – 15 body pump workouts in 30 days. #bikiniseasonhereicome}

{needed a peony refresh this week. it is an expensive habit, but i am compelled to keep fresh peonies in the house for the entire (short) season!}

we had a fun long weekend filled with friends, family, & a bit of rest. no real projects on the house right now so we were able to spend our free time not enjoying the weather but enjoying the company of friends. we attended our neighbors’ wedding reception on sunday which kicks of the wedding season for us {even though we have already missed two family weddings so far due to distance. boo.}. i can’t believe it is the end of may already {where did the time go?} but i am looking forward to what the summer has in store! how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{loving my new weekend planner from the new kate spade saturday line via fab.}

{friday afternoon i got a much-needed manicure. it was lovely!}

{friday night dinner date at rain city burgers followed by a movie at home. perfect night.}

{saturday morning family walk in the sunshine! we also rescued some amazing vintage glass door knobs from a remodel down the street – very exciting!}

{nothing beats chinese takeout!}

{there was some ceiling patching being done this weekend. pretty soon you will never know there were three dining room pendants.}

{i attended a bridesmaids’ afternoon tea at the queen mary tea room in honor of the bride-to-be mary alice.}

{fish tacos at the matador with my grandmother.}

{we switched up the usual movie after sunday night dinner to go to target. it was my grandmother’s first trip. ever. she kept saying “they sell everything here!” it was awesome.}

we had a fun weekend & had some good down time as well as being able to catch up with some old friends. though we are still missing the lost hour from springing forward, we are definitely looking forward to the spring! how was your weekend?

snapshots of us lately.

i spend a lot of time taking & sharing pictures of our two kids, the house & sadie. but, we have been really bad about talking (& sharing) pictures of us, even though this is aaronandmisha.com.

i have {informally} resolved to get behind the camera less & in front of it more, & share more pictures of us on this blog of ours. so, in an effort to make good on this resolution, here are a few recent shots of aaron & me.

{tibi dress rented from RTR // j.crew clutch}

{taken at our friends dave & maryalice’s engagement party in january. we are very excited to both be in the wedding party!}

{aaron with the tiniest bottle of tabasco sauce ever at my birthday dinner.}

{happy i am so thankful she didn’t bring out 28 candles birthday!}

{old cape // zara dress // shoemint shoes // j.crew clutch}

expected more? i know, it wasn’t much of a photo dump. like i said, we don’t take very many photos of us & are really good {too good} at being behind the camera! i hope this is the first of many snapshots of us lately posts.

are you a good self picture taker? if you are, spill your secrets!

valentine’s day diy: sparks card & date night jar.

to wrap up my valentine’s day diy {just two days away, eek!}, i have two small projects to share.

first up is a card which is loosely based off of a card i have seen before in stores.

supplies:

short matchstick
cardstock or blank card
thin wire
marker or pen – i love the thin sharpies
construction paper/paper/envelope
washi tape – optional

i cut out a folding card from plain white cardstock. i put the fold on the top edge, but you could put it on the side edge too. then i laid down the matchstick where i wanted it on the card – a bit off-centered – & punched two tiny holes on both sides of the matchstick. then i thread a short piece of wire thru the holes, looping around the matchstick, & putting the ends thru the back of the card. i twisted the wire to secure the matchstick.

then i wrote out “sparks fly” on the outside of the card, & “when we’re together” in the inside. simple as that.

the last project i have to share is a fun valentine’s gift for aaron – a date night jar. we have been talking about the fact that two-and-a-half years into marriage that we don’t go on dates really anymore. at least not like we used to. so, i thought it would be fun to compile some ideas so that when we find ourselves looking for something fun to do, we could skip past the brainstorming & move right to the date!

there are lots of “date night jars” on pinterest so definitely search there if you want some more versions of this idea.

supplies:

short glass jar – i used a mason jar
fat popsicle sticks
acrylic paint – i used festive red & pink
sharpie or marker
felt
twine or string

i started out by brainstorming & writing out all of my date ideas. i tried to make half of them free dates & half of them pay dates. i was with some girlfriends during this process which helped the idea-flowing tremendously, but i tried to think of all of those things that we always say we want to do or only do when out-of-town guests are visiting. then i painted the ends of the sticks {both sides} – red signifying the pay dates & pink the free ones.

then i put all of the sticks in the jar, painted side up. i traced a heart out of felt & tied it onto the jar with some string.

it’s not too late to whip up a fun something for your valentine! do you craft or buy for valentine’s day?

my weekend in pictures.

{i waited for a meeting on friday at platform 9 3/4.}

{met john & sherry of young house love. see the full post here.}

{window shopping at j.crew & found my next handbag.}

{someone told sadie there were treats behind the counter at ace hardware.}

{date night at agua verde.}

{sunday night birthday celebration for our friend andy. dinner was italian family style & it was delish!}

{aaron & the birthday boy. with matching beards.}

{coat on sale at anthro in my size? yes, please!}

we had a relaxing weekend getting a few projects done around the house, but not getting out much due to the return of the rain. boo. we are definitely wishing for spring, though it will be weeks before we will get “spring” weather. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{after the electrician was here we had lots of fun unwrapping every. individual. piece of our new dining room light.}

{better late than never: 2013 let’s do this! i think this might be this year’s motto, at least to begin with.}

{sadie could be found here pretty much the entire weekend as we finally had some sun! #sunbather}

{nope, that’s not snow, it’s frost. it was so chilly that frost has been covering everything the last couple of days.}

{shopping for pipe wrenches. there were a lot of trips to the hardware store this weekend to fix our bathroom sink.}

{we had a quick date night at chipotle {in our finest cocktail attire} on saturday night.}

{happy engagement party dave & mary alice! we celebrated the engagement of good friends. we will both be in the wedding party for their fall wedding.}

{after a few setbacks aaron fixed our sink – hooray!}

i am just over a week into the flu & finally feeling better. week one had me down, but i am determined not to let week 2 keep me from being a person again. how was your weekend?

instagram @mishacslower // twitter @mishacslower // pinterest @mishacslower

highlights of 2012.

{via}

happy 2013!

i love reading yearly highlights on other blogs & even though i try to keep up on the updates via this blog, there are hopefully a few fun things to share that you haven’t heard before. here’s the rundown of 2012:

january: i donated blood for the first {& last} time. we dined at emmer & rye in queen anne with my friend beth ann who was in town visiting. we survived snopocolypse 2012. the repairs on the jetta were finally completed from my rear-ending in november. sadie had surgery to get a small lump removed & have her teeth cleaned.

february: we took a trip to new england & managed to visit all six new england states. we spent a long weekend in boston. i celebrated my 27 {yikes!} birthday & valentine’s day with my love in manchester, new hampshire. we celebrated thanksgiving in february with my law school friends {this is a reoccurring event in which my friend miriam cooks up a big thanksgiving dinner at various times of the year}. we celebrated leap year!

march: my mom visited for a long weekend. i oversaw work to the townhouse {new venting for the dryer}. we house-hunted on the weekends with our realtor padraic. i started & completed all three books in the hunger games series. we saw the hunger games at the IMAX. we saw {& were disappointed by} king tut at the pacific science center {no tut, just his stuff}. aaron took a work trip to vegas. we made our first {& only} offer on a house. our offer was accepted!

april: we took a post-offer tour of our new house. we celebrated easter dinner with my grandmother. we showed the townhouse to potential new tenants. i co-hosted a baby shower for amanda. we packed up all of our belongings for the big move. we closed on our house after signing lots of paperwork & handing over a very large check. we moved.

may: we were rear-ended {this better not become an annual event}. my mom & dad visited for a long weekend & helped with some house projects. we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday! we celebrated aaron’s 29th birthday! i took on my first pro bono case with VAIJ. we hosted a small dinner party with old idaho friends kami, travis, & their adorable daughter olive. we spent a night on the town in bellevue at aaron’s organization’s ship party with lots of aaron’s co-workers.

june: we saw dia frampton in concert at chop suey. we hosted a small dinner party with my law school friend marcus, his then-fiancée katy, & their beagle maggie. padraic & his partner justin threw us an awesome housewarming party! we ventured down to alabama for andy & hailey’s wedding. i had lots of phone interviews.

july: we attended herschel’s first birthday party {the son of one of my law school friends}. we celebrated the fourth of july! i started going to fitness classes with my neighbor leanne at community fitness. we hosted a small dinner party with andy & hailey, just back from their honeymoon! we attended thanksgiving in july at miriam’s. sadie & i drove down to idaho. i got my haircut & had drinks with my CBC {high school} girlfriends. we loaded up the car & took a roadtrip {sadie included} to stevenson, wa for marcus & katy’s wedding. we saw the dark knight rises at the IMAX.

august: we celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a picnic dinner at greenlake! we attended our first neighborhood potluck & met lots of our neighbors. we joined a summer bocce ball league with ben & sarah. i did yoga in the park with our neighbors – the friends – & tens of other people. i shopped & noshed with my friend ashley who was in town on a work trip. we attended the pratt’s housewarming party {a couple i met & befriend while i was in americorps}. we attended padraic’s wig birthday party. i met my pro bono client. i was offered a position doing media license management & started working. my bff carlie came into town – our first house guest! we attended a moroccan dinner feast at ben & sarah’s house. aaron’s parents visited seattle for a week.

september: we attended a final farewell summer bbq. we visited indiana to see family & surprise meg at her baby shower. we attended a colts game with our friends colt & erin. we celebrated sadie’s eighth birthday!

october: we visited peru & got to hike around one of the new seven wonders of the world machu picchu. my mom & sister anya visited for a long weekend. my friend meg was in town to visit! aaron made an unexpected trip back to indiana to attend his late grandmother’s service. we attended ghouls near greenlake, ben & sarah’s annual halloween bash, as a somecard. we celebrated halloween with our very first trick-or-treaters!

november: aaron attended a week-long conference for work & stayed downtown. i watched the election results while painting the bathroom trim & texting aaron updates. we hosted our first {vegetarian} thanksgiving. we spent the long holiday weekend working on the house.

december: we attended a housewarming party for amanda, george, & madeleine. we brunched with our neighbors – the friends – at the 5 spot in queen anne. my mom visited for a long weekend. i brought back a pinterest christmas & recruited some friends to join in on the fun. we celebrated the holiday season with six holiday parties with friends & co-workers. i won rookie of the year at work. we enjoyed a double-date night in bellevue with some newly engaged friends. we loaded up the car with presents & made the trek to idaho for the week of christmas. we celebrated christmas! we made it safely back to seattle only one day delayed. we plan to ring in the new year with friends & watch the space needle firework show.

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 2012 – was it a year to remember or are you itching to start 2013 already?

see highlights of 2011 here.

my weekend in pictures.

{couldn’t resist this rodarte + sbux mug on the clearance rack!}

{enjoyed delish indian nosh with our friends, the friends!}

{played our new game say anything. thanks david & jodi!}

{grabbed lunch at jimmy john’s. delish but a very limited menu for vegetarians.}

{spent some of saturday afternoon catching up on mags & cuddling with the sade-ster.}

{saturday night dinner & a movie with my husband & grandmother. the best! p.s. this is 40 is a good rental movie…}

{i managed to put a few things from ikea together this weekend despite the often terrible directions. stay tuned for upcoming projects!}

{we sampled some soda with our whole foods dinner on sunday night.}

{lots of tomatoes for a crockpot marinara sauce. fingers crossed it is yummy!}

we had a very busy weekend that went way too quickly! {where did the year go?} i am still trying to get the house back in order after our week away. lots of laundry & new things {i.e., christmas presents} to find homes for. how was your last weekend of 2012?