fall – Page 2 – emerald city diaries

my weekend in pictures.

{on friday there was a car show at work. i absolutely adore old porsches. someday!}

{a co-worker of aaron’s gave sadie a treat on friday afternoon. sadie didn’t put it down until she conquered it!}

{no real weekend plans meant back-to-back nights of redbox. now you see me we watched with ben; it was okay & definitely a rental. world war z was good, surprisingly good, though it would have been way too scary for me to see on a big screen. it was my first zombie movie & probably my last. yep, i am a baby when it comes to scary movies. it was more intense than scary, but there were still zombies.}

{we finally harvested our eggplant & plan to enjoy the fruits of our labor in a homemade eggplant parmesan later in the week.}

{for as much technology as we have access to we still mow the lawn old-school.}

{chinese take-out for dinner. not something we do very often, but so delish!}

{the sunset was phenomenal on saturday evening. it is crazy getting used to the dark so much earlier this time of year, but the sunsets are worth it!}

{quick run to get molly moon’s ice cream & beer before movie night.}

{sunday morning i was up bright & early to get my lift, tone, burn on at pure barre. i was sad to hear the alarm go off & not get to sleep in, but it was worth it. well, ask me tomorrow.}

{sunday morning brunch with aaron at the local sunlight café. the huevos rancheros were awesome!}

{traffic was so, so bad this weekend & a local bridge closure forced us onto i-5 for a bit which we normally avoid at all costs. no fun.}

{sunday night movie. we saw don jon. it was terrible. don’t go see it.}

we ended up with an absolutely gorgeous fall weekend. as much as i appreciate the sunny weather, our local meterologists should really find alternative work as they kept threatening rain storms that never transpired. we didn’t have any real plans this weekend which meant we got a few things done this weekend – like some much-needed yard work – plus just some down time to enjoy the house & doing nothing. it was wonderful. how was your weekend?

fashion friday {a fall cape}.

after being completely inspired by new york fashion week {along with my favorite fashion blogs – atlantic-pacific & 9to5 chic} & a little demand from blog readers, i am going to give fashion fridays another shot. aaron & i are still in the learning process {both behind & in front of the camera) so hang in there with us! i am not sure how i feel about this more formal fashion blogger shoot so you may see some more casual #ootd posts to come.

{cape: ann taylor // shirt: target boy’s (old) // jeans: paige denim skyline skinny (nordstrom) // shoes: ann taylor (old) // purse: j.crew (similar) // watch: dkny (nordstrom – old) // bracelets: stella & dot eden & renegade // earrings: stella & dot fiona}

thoughts on capes? how about fashion fridays?

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?

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.

{addressing christmas cards.}

{blog views from all around the world. isn’t technology amazing!}

{shopped the target + neiman marcus collaboration late friday night (it was already december 1st on the east coast!) & got some goodies without worrying about the herds of people at the store. #ilovetheinternet #thewestcoastisthebestcoast}

{enjoyed colored sugar sprinkles on my morning grapefruit.}

{the late fall seattle downpours have been slowly seeping into our basement. though it is not more than 1/2 inch of water in some places, we decided to get a sump pump and drainage ditches put in this week. #myhouseisamoneypit #pleasestopraining}

{my grandmother thoroughly enjoying the candy bar at peaks. she pointed to a topping & asked me what it was, i said “its rock candy. so basically sugar,” & she started scooping it into her bowl by the spoonful. love her!}

{if you can’t tell that is a purple christmas tree on top of the crane that is renovating the uw football stadium. #merrychristmas #godawgs}

{we watched groundhog’s day on saturday night. how have i never seen this movie before?}

{the cutest husky waiting outside for his owner in queen anne.}

{brunched at the 5 spot with our neighbors on sunday morning.}

we tried to keep the weekend relaxing without a lot of to-dos. it was nice to just hang out & enjoy the time off, but the rain is pretty miserable. i guess that is what we get for living in seattle. how was your weekend?

our trip to peru: part iv.

{this is the last of the peru posts, whew! part i, part ii, & part iii.}

{sacsayhuaman – cusco, peru}

{cusco, peru}

thanks for hanging in with us thru our many, many memories of peru. as you can tell, we had an absolute blast and would recommend peru & machu picchu to anyone looking for a great place to travel!

where have you been lately? is peru on your travel to-do list?

our trip to peru: part iii.

{part i & part ii.}

{the ruins continued – machu picchu, peru}

{the inkaterra hotet – machu picchu, peru}

{ollantaytambo – sacred valley, peru}

{sacred valley, peru}

more photos to come!

our trip to peru: part ii.

{sorry for anyone that got two emails about the first peru blog post last wednesday & friday. i was having trouble with the formatting & the post uploaded, but then was taken back down.}

{part i.}

{ollantaytambo, peru}

{inka rail – machu picchu, peru}

{the ruins – machu picchu, peru}

more photos to come!

my weekend in pictures.

{turns out sadie likes to cruise the kitchen counters while we are gone & chew on the plastic lid to our pyrex dish. #mydogisaninja}

{the perfect saturday night.}

{spent saturday afternoon at lowe’s getting paint for our projects this week. we also got christmas lights. so stoked for this week!}

{sadie is still enjoying the huge bone she got for her birthday.}

{watching the stanford cardinal beat the oregon ducks was glorious! #gostanford}

{enjoying the christmas décor at starbucks as i waited for my gingerbread latte. #isitchristmasyet}

{we had a photoshoot at the house on sunday to film an interview for our realtor about the house. those cameras were pretty legit.}

{aaron started prepping for the big paint job on our bedroom this week by taking off our closet doors. it proved to be a bit of a challenge, but success! #whydidtheypaintthedoorhinges}

our weekend was busy, busy with lots of errands to run. we prepped for our big painting weekend this coming week & are looking forward to some time together to work on the house. how was your weekend?