family – Page 7 – emerald city diaries

my weekend in pictures.

{my grandmother insists on dessert after dinner!}

{deep into our family favorite card game spite & malice.}

{love that we can turn on our heat on our way home. #nest}

{yep, when the bridges go up, traffic stops. even if you are in a hurry.}

{we did a little shopping on sunday afternoon. even though he won’t ever see this blog a huge shoutout to the nice man at ann taylor who was gushing over today’s ensemble – it so made my month. #bestfeelingever #ootd}

{ballots for the oscars!}

{we watched the pre-show – my fav! – the awards & the start of the after-show. #toomuchoscars #gladtheawardseasonisover #worstoscarsever}

my mom is visiting this weekend so there wasn’t much in the way of house projects done, but we did have a lot of fun! even without a visitor in town the weekends seem so jam-packed. by the time i get to everything i have been waiting to do on the weekends, it is sunday night, late, & i am so exhausted. i guess that is the fun part, right? 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.

{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?

my long weekend in pictures: idaho edition.

{driving thru snoqualmie pass to start our roadtrip from seattle to boise. luckily we had dry roads!}

{crossed over the 45th parallel. even though we were driving farther away from the north pole, it seemed fitting that this sign said north pole. very festive!}

{my two teams went head-to-head in the las vegas maaco bowl game on saturday. #gobroncohuskies the broncos pulled out a win but it was an awfully close & nerve-racking game.}

{i caught up on magazines during half-time. thanks for saving all your mags for me mom!}

{my mom & i made caramel this weekend. twice. it keeps coming out too hard. any suggestions on how to make soft, chewy caramel?}

{watched the seahawks destroy the 49ers. happy for the victory & happy we weren’t in seattle for all of that rain!}

{merry christmas eve from my parents’ house!}

we have had such a wonderful weekend in boise. my being so relaxed has directly resulted in the very few pictures for this weekend post – my apologies! i hope you have had a wonderful pre-christmas weekend too! how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{on my friday evening commute it was pouring rain. yes, my kate spade loafers were full of water. boo.}

{sadie patiently waiting for us to go on a saturday morning walk.}

{there were lots of hanging leaves on our walk.}

{it is definitely fall in the emerald city.}

{saturday brunch at café campagne at the market with ben, sarah, aaron’s aunt susan & her new husband duane}

{we visited the ballard locks.}

{the lake washington canal, since 1915.}

{me, aunt susan, & sarah watching the locks move the boats.}

{we took our out-of-town guests on the theo’s chocolate factory tour in fremont. highly recommended!}

{highlight of the chocolate tour: you get to wear hairnets. yes, i am donning two hair nets as one was not sufficient to cover my top knot.}

{a blurry but beautiful shot of the emerald city from the famous kerry park. no, the space needle is not in the middle of downtown, it just looks like it from this viewpoint.}

{dinner during a movie at iPic in redmond with my grandmother. we saw flight which was pretty darn good. sad but good.}

{my grandmother in her adorable stripey jacket & christmas lights at redmond town center!}

we had an action-packed weekend with lots of family & friends. fall is definitely in the air as the leaves are turning beautiful colors & falling all over. luckily it appears our leaf raking will be minimal this fall! we are enjoying the new season thus far (especially the extra hour of sleep this morning!) but would be happy to see the rain go away. how was your weekend?

a sad day.

today we lost aaron’s grandmother phyllis. it has been a very sad & tough day.

{phyllis with marsha – aaron’s mother}

{neal – aaron’s grandfather, phyllis – aaron’s grandmother, & aaron. september, 2012}

fortunately (though it is tough to think fortunate under these circumstances), we were able to see & visit with phyllis while we were in indiana at the end of september.

phyllis was an amazing mother, grandmother, & friend. she was compassionate & warm to everyone she met yet maintained a sharp wit & sense of humor. it was such a great honor to know such a wonderful woman.

rip phyllis.

happy belated birthday bro.

{how is that for an alliteration?}

i want to give a big birthday shout-out to the best guy i know, my big brother jason! his birthday was on october 11 {yep, he shares a birthday with the blog!} but we were out of town this year for the big day.

jason – we hope you had an awesome, awesome birthday celebrating how awesome you are!

happy birthday bro!

M&A

a shower for baby garner-ballard.

one of the reasons we picked the weekend before last to take a trip to the midwest was so that i could attend meg’s baby shower. {sidenote: meg is a cousin of one of aaron’s cousins, but that is just semantics & i consider meg family!}

one of the really fun parts about the shower is that kendra & i kept our trip on the DL, & showed up as surprise guests for meg. so fun!

aaron’s aunt & cousins – sharon, abbi, & maggi – threw the shower & they did such a wonderful job. the décor was so adorable & i was loving the color scheme. meg knows that she is having a boy, but i love that the shower didn’t scream “BOY!”

{those cake pops were delish // a fun sign for baby GB}

{stripey straws for the drinks // fun colored candy}

{maggi, meg, kendra, & kenley // mama & daughter}

{meg was spoiled with lots of love in the form of presents!}

{meg opening presents with her sister kait by her side // kenley wanted in on the present-opening action}

{meg enjoying a handmade card // i made some art of meg’s nursery}

{love you meg & happy shower!}

where is the farthest you have flown for a baby shower?

p.s. maggi, abbi, meg, & kendra all have blogs, so if you aren’t already a reader, you should definitely check them out!

happy birthday!

today is sadie’s eighth birthday!

{all pictures taken via instagram}

if you haven’t had the privilege of meeting her, sadie is the best. dog. ever. not that i am biased or anything. i hope we get to spend many, many more birthdays celebrating what a wonderful pup she is!

happy birthday sadie!

my long weekend in pictures: indiana edition.

we left last thursday for a long weekend in the midwest to spend time with aaron’s family.

{waiting for the bus to take us downtown to catch the lightrail to the airport. #myhusbandlovespublictransit}

{hers & his lattes.}

{look at all of that leg room! glad we upgraded our flight.}

{we got to meet beau, my in-laws’ new dog.}

{we stayed with aaron’s friend colt, his girlfriend erin, & gertie the bulldog. i spent friday night cuddling with gertie.}

{i finally got to meet kenley! she is the daughter of kendra – aaron’s cousin – & such a doll!}

{teddy – aaron’s nephew – is already a slugger. let’s go 6-7!}

{aaron’s grandfather neal with aaron’s nephews teddy & frankie.}

{we crashed a wedding reception on saturday night. a cousin of a cousin is family, right? congratulations logan & vanessa!}

{me, kenley & kendra hanging out. finally!}

{um, 43 degrees indiana? definitely not ready for the cold yet.}

{we spent sunday morning tailgating at the colts game with colt & his family.}

{#letsgocolts}

{it was a bit sunny with the roof open at lucas oil field, but aaron made do.}

{the tomatoes at colt & erin’s makes me want my own veggie garden. someday.}

{waiting for our plane to take us back to seattle.}

{the beautiful sunset somewhere between indy & seattle.}

we had so much fun catching up with family & friends – thanks for having us indiana! aaron has quite a large family, most of whom still live in indiana, so we get spoiled whenever we go because we get to see so many people. we also got spoiled this time & got a chance to see family that flew in from out of town – thanks for making the last minute trip kendra & kenley! thanks to everyone for such a fun weekend!

how was your weekend?