friendship – Page 7 – emerald city diaries

my weekend in pictures.

{we have been cooking from pinterest a lot recently.}

{attempting to catch up on my back-log of vogues.}

{yep, it is officially hot water bottle season in seattle.}

{we saved the seeds from two pumpkins to roast this weekend!}

{sadie waiting patiently for aaron to get a latte.}

{ordering my sandwich at which wich in the u district.}

{really joann’s? christmas stuff? it isn’t even halloween yet!}

{spray painting with my go-to chalkboard paint.}

{we debuted our halloween costume at ben & sarah’s annual ghouls near greenlake party.}

{me & mary alice at the party – aviators were borrowed.}

{we met up with ben & sarah for sunday morning breakfast at wholefoods. apparently my husband erik ordered my latte this morning.}

{sadie was a cuddlebug on sunday morning.}

{thanks amanda for hosting crafternoon – it was so great to see you, george, & madeleine!}

we had a fun fall weekend, but as always, it went way too fast! how was your weekend?

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!

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?

bff.

last week we had our first house guest: my bff carlie! we hadn’t seen carlie since she was the maid of honor in our wedding two years ago, so we had a lot to catch up on.

unfortunately, carlie was only able to stay two nights with us as she was heading to portland for the weekend to visit her dad who is working down in salem, oregon. also, i had to work a half-day while she was her which was a bummer. darn those real world obligations!

even so we had a great time dining out & exploring the u village & downtown. thanks for visiting us carlie!

{we took carlie to our very favorite local ice cream shop molly moon’s!}

how often do you see your out of town friends? also, i am curious how you stay in touch with loved ones that are out of town – email, phone, skype?

friends of a certain age.

{images: roman muradov}

i recently came across a NYT article on one of my favorite blogs – a cup of jo – that really hit home: why is it so hard to make friends (over 30)?

while i am not yet 30 (yep, i may be in my late 20s now, but i still have a few more years in my 20s!) making friends post-college has been a challenge. this is not to say that i don’t have friends. however, i often feel friend-less day-to-day. the vast majority of my close friends (& family) live in different states & thus different time zones, & the close friends i have in seattle feel distant as most are in completely different parts of their life (i.e., babies, jobs, single). i realize all of these folks are just a phone call away, but i am old-school & prefer in-person conversations to over the phone (or even skype really). plus, shouldn’t everyone have that one (or two, or three) person that is close enough to have over & discuss the ins & outs of everyday life (spouses not included)?

as i read this NYT article, i noticed a few things that applied to me: (1) i transferred from one college to another as a junior; (2) i don’t work (yet); and (3) i got married at age 25. now i have to wonder: have i completely set myself up for a future without (close, in-town) friends?

aaron & i have talked about joining some kind of group where were would meet people (or couples) that are interested in similar things, like a trivia group, co-ed flag football, or a bowling league, but, for whatever reason, we just haven’t pulled the trigger. perhaps this blog post will be the catalyst.

the other issue i find difficult is whether i can maintain a relationship with a friend who isn’t part of a couple. it is so much easier to find time to hang out when each spouse is friends with the male or female counterpart of the friend – true? since i have been married (or even since i was dating aaron), i have found myself searching for a couple to be friends with, as opposed to just one person. perhaps this is too limiting.

i would love your two-cents on this subject: have you struggled to make new friends as an adult?