friends – Page 7 – emerald city diaries

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!

my weekend in pictures.

{birthday dinner outfit. the best outfits include a cape & 5 inch heels!}

{commuting home with flowers aaron sent to the office on thursday.}

{sadie giving aaron a “welcome home” hug on friday evening.}

{valentine’s day celebrations thru-out the weekend included heart shaped pancakes from scratch!}

{saturday afternoon was spent antiquing with amanda in pioneer square!}

{my shopping finds: liquor “name tags” on chains – wodka, whisky, cognac & gin, & vintage indiana & idaho maps – like to become a pinterest craft.}

{it is still a thrill to see the space needle.}

{weekly trip to lowe’s. so excited for what is in that box! any guesses?}

{cupcakes!}

{these poor little bulbs didn’t get the memo that it is still mid-february. guess it is taking the groundhog too seriously this year.}

{a little yard clean-up as our flower beds were looking a bit unkempt.}

{assembled my awesome wooden moose head courtesy of amanda all the way from new zealand! thanks, i love him!}

{our house is stocked with fresh blooms in celebration of my birthday & valentine’s day. aaron was so sweet to send me flowers to the office & to the house on thursday!}

{sadie got a bath this weekend & has decided that the hair dryer is pretty neat when it is so cold outside!}

we had a wonderful weekend filled with continued birthday celebrations! thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes via various social media this week – i am feeling very loved. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{came home to this on friday night. sadie apparently didn’t like that pillow on the couch & murdered it. anyone free in the afternoons to play with sadie?}

{a package from jewelmint in the mail is always a good idea.}

{sushi date at blue c.}

{i think we found an antique hutch for an upcoming house project!}

{saturday night dinner & a movie with my grandmother. we saw silverlinings playbook which i thought was good but, honestly, i am surprised by all of the awards buzz. anyone else seen it?}

{sadie & greta – my grandmother’s doberman – awaiting treats.}

{sunday morning yoga. much needed.}

{flowers & pie for a dinner party.}

{thanks miriam for the beautiful birthday flowers! only 3 days until the big celebration, but who’s counting?}

we had a good weekend, but boy it went so fast! we got a few things done around the house, got to hang out with some old friends over dinner, & enjoyed some much needed sunshine {not much but a bit!} – i call that a weekend well spent. how was your weekend?

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?

young house love book signing.

this afternoon amanda & i ventured down to the tacoma home & garden show to see john & sherry of young house love!

{we got there just a few minutes before john & sherry went on stage & got sweet front row seats.}

{i got to hang out with miss m all afternoon – so fun!}

{photo op!}

{we waited in a really long time & ended up at the end of the line after giving up, leaving the line & wandering around the home & garden show, but we ended up with signed books. success!}

john & sherry are exactly as i thought they would be – given their personalities really shine thru on their blog – & were super sweet when we met them, even though they were exhausted after hours of book signing! thanks for hanging in there for us john & sherry!

{sidenote: i was in the works to get them here for a house crash, but, alas, they were jet-setting all over the pacific northwest & we couldn’t make it work. maybe next time.}

have you ever waited to see someone famous or for a book signing?

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

my weekend in pictures.

{feeling a bit under the weather on friday. stayed home, slept in {!}, watched movies & cuddled with sadie.}

{we took a family walk on saturday thru the ravenna ravine near our house. lots of beautiful moss-covered trees. i froze but sadie had an awesome time playing in all the mud!}

{i have resolved to do more yoga in the new year & started by purchasing a dvf + target yoga mat.}

{we attended a twelfth night celebration at our friends the robinsons. aaron & ben were in festive twelfth night attire with their bow ties.}

{bye-bye christmas tree.}

{we finally dined at rain city burgers after months of hearing rave reviews. it helped that it is only a few blocks from our abode.}

{his & hers tea in teacups from our honeymoon.}

sorry this post is a bit picture-light. whatever bug i have is zapping the photographer out of me. what is your best get-better-fast remedy? 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.

a pinterest christmas: etched mason jar monograms & ornament cluster.

welcome to the fifth & final week of a pinterest christmas! {see the first, second, third, & fourth week posts}

i would like to share two final pinspiration projects with you before the end of the year {eeks, that is close!}.

first up, etched mason jar monograms. i adore monograms {as you can see here} & have been wanting to try glass etching for a while now. it seemed perfect to make our neighbors monogrammed mason jars for fun christmas presents.

{original pinterest link – diy etched glass}

supplies:

mason jars {i used the smooth sided ones}
armour etch
painter’s tape
sticker letters/sticker paper
paintbrush
plastic gloves
optional: hot cocoa mix, marshmallows, crushed candy canes

this was a pretty straight-forward project & the linked tutorial above is pretty good. the armour etch didn’t have a lot of instruction with it, so i followed the tutorials recommendation & left the armour etch on for 10 minutes which seemed to do the trick. my guess {though an untested one} is that the longer you leave the armour etch on, the darker the white etching will be.

the etching was difficult to photograph, but you can see it, right? i liked the two initial monogram, but also think a big letter would be cute {like in the original tutorial}.

my last pinterest christmas project is an ornament cluster. an ornament cluster you ask? well, if you don’t know what this is, i don’t blame you. i made it up because i needed a name to call this craft!

{original pinspiration – pottery barn catalog cover}

when i saw this pottery barn catalog, i knew i wanted to make a similar cluster of ornaments. i happened to have five pink ornaments {old from cost plus world market} lying around – perfect!

supplies:

ornaments
ribbon or string
optional: 3m hook for hanging

1. i cut five lengths of ribbon that were around 1 foot in length – some were a few inches longer, some a few inches shorter, some were 1 foot. then i threaded each ornament onto a length of ribbon.

2. after all of the ornaments were strung, i gathered up all of the ends of the ribbon. then i pulled the ornaments up or down depending on where i wanted them to hang {in relation to the other ornaments}.

3. then i took a length of ribbon & tied the ends of ribbon group together. then i tied the ribbon in a bow. i bent back the ends of the group of ribbons {my ribbon was wired} to hide these ends {you could also just trim them}.

4. i hung my ornament cluster using a 3m hook!

& so marks the end of another pinterest christmas. it was fun to see all of the projects these crafty gals completed during an already busy holiday season. until next year!

{thinking about taking on this project? feel free to leave questions in the comments, and i’d love for you to comment with a link to projects you make inspired by mine.}

ready for some more {p}inspiration? check out these ladies this week and throughout the month of december:

{mondays} amanda @ without a doubt – bunting tutorial

{tuesdays} sally@ chacha and mogo & kendra @ The Gilbertson Family – santa hat brownies & christmas cards

{wednesdays} – michelle @ this grey house – giant smores stuffed chocolate chip cookies

{thursdays} –maggi @ Greg, Maggi, & Rodney – yarn trees & abbi @ The Pena Family – pinterest christmas wrapup

have you been {p}inspired by any christmas projects?

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?