mom – emerald city diaries

my weekend in pictures.

{starting to sort baby clothes – eep!}

{panera for lunch is always a good idea. also, I can’t get enough lemonade these days!}

{stripes & salt waters. dress: asos maternity dress in breton stripe}

{bumpin’ in dvf to see once at the paramount with mom.}

{two of the gorgeous chandeliers at the paramount theater.}

{manis & pedis at julep. so many colors to choose from.}

{sadie was really sad when she couldn’t join us at rain city burgers for lunch.}

{sadie & the bump.}

{crafting for the nursery. very excited to share this project once it’s done!}

my mom was in town visiting this weekend & it was sunny, so all-in-all a great weekend! we enjoyed the weather, ran some errands, & got some things checked off the to-do list.

how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{on our way east out of the city on friday morning sadie & I got stuck at the bridge opening at the ship canal bridge. sadie didn’t mind at all that we had to sit in the sunshine for a few minutes.}

{started some spring cleaning by tackling our office closet. at least I made some progress on it.}

{celebrated baby blakely & her mama-to-be this weekend!}

{dinner date at purple café with our friends rhett & lindsay saturday evening.}

{it was an official date night at the paramount theater to see the lion king. this was my very favorite movie as a kid & the musical is phenomenal. just the opening scene – breathtaking!}

{it was rain, rain, rain this weekend after a gorgeous & sunny week.}

{coffee date with my mama!}

{enjoyed some rum cake straight from little cayman. thanks mom & dad!}

gosh, how is the weekend over already? it poured rain for most of the weekend which stunk because it was so beautiful at the end of last week. bummer. while I am excited about the spring-look to seattle – flowers, bushes, & trees starting to bloom – I am SO ready for spring weather! my mama was in town which is always a treat, but seems to make time fly even faster. how was your weekend?

highlights of 2013.

{via}

happy 2014!

i’ve said it before, & i’ll say it again!, yearly recaps are always my favorite kinds of blog posts. its a small way to sum up your year & to see how much the last 365 days have brought. as i look forward to the New Year, i am humbled & grateful by all of the wondrous events of 2013. here’s the rundown of ours:

january: I started out the new year with a bout of the flu. we hosted our first blog giveaway! we installed the west elm hanging capiz chandelier over our dining room table. I framed my diy polaroids for our bedroom walls. amanda & I met john & sherry from young house love during their book signing tour! I diy-ed campaign dressers for our bedroom.

february: I did lots of diy-ing for valentine’s day {here, here, & here} I celebrated my birthday! we bought a kitchen island. I tried to be better about getting in front of the camera!

march: I tried my hand at painting an antler {& was so impressed with the results!}. we took my 91-year-old grandmother to target for the first time! amanda & I diy-ed framed house keys on maps. we sold jez the jetta & bought a new car.

april: we updated our bathroom vanity with a converted antique sideboard. we updated the closet doors by stripping off the old paint in a crock pot. we celebrated our one year anniversary in our house & I reviewed all of the house diys!

may: we finally got some good weather in seattle! I painted the ceiling & hallway walls. we celebrated aaron’s thirtieth birthday with a beer tasting party! we had a fun-filled memorial day weekend. we were featured in west elm’s blog front & main.

june: aaron replaced our toilet. sadie was featured in the seattle dog spot blog. my parents visited for a long weekend en route to the olympic peninsula. my diy his & hers maps were featured. we finally got some summer weather!

july: we celebrated the long Fourth of July weekend with a holiday parade, fireworks, & time with friends. I made a nine layer ombre cake! we replaced our kitchen track lights with globe pendants from west elm. we road-tripped to idaho for my ten-year high school reunion. we started growing our first eggplant.

august: we celebrated our three year wedding anniversary. the blog got a Liebster Award Nomination. I diy-ed the tiniest baby hats for our friends’ new baby. we road-tripped to hood river, oregon to celebrate my cousin’s wedding.

september: we went to the husky vs. bronco game to kick-off labor day weekend complete with husky-style tailgating {via boat}. we took advantage of the warm weather & cleaned up the front yard with a fun game called love it or lose it. we celebrated sadie’s ninth birthday! I attended the Alt Summit for Everyone blog conference.

october: I attempted to start doing fashion posts again. we celebrated our two year blog anniversary at emerald city diaries! I finished up with the #embracethecamera challenge. we went to the pumpkin patch & carved pumpkins with friends.

november: aaron joined a team for movember 2013. we snuck off to hawaii for thanksgiving.

december: I reviewed some of my favorite weekend in pictures pics. I participated in A Pinterest Christmas for the third year {see this year’s projects here, here, here, here, & here}! we celebrated Christmas in indiana with aaron’s family.

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 2013 – was it a year to remember, or are you itching to start 2014 already?

see past yearly highlights for 2011 & 2012.

my weekend in pictures.

{sadie made a christmas ornament at the groomer on friday. yep, that is a lock of her fur. #wearecrazydogpeople}

{a fortune after lunching at p.f. chang’s on saturday – a break from last-minute holiday shopping.}

{we got lots checked off the christmas wish list this year at nordstrom.}

{sadie is enjoying her fleece blanket in the backseat this time of year. & she is sporting her christmas bow from the groomer.}

{we visited the new anthro at bell square & I couldn’t resist trying on these fun party skirts. you wanna guess which one was an early christmas present?}

{my grandmother picked the christmas sugar cookie to go along with her dinner this evening at panera. it was the one with the most sugar, I am sure!}

it was a fun, but oh-so-quick weekend! my mom made a somewhat last minute trip into town and it was so good to see her & spend an early christmas this afternoon. we avoided the grey winter weather with lots of shopping cardio & catching up. just this one last work week to get thru before the christmas holiday & I am so excited (& so ready!). how was your weekend?

my {long} weekend in pictures.

{aaron teaching sadie a few new tricks.}

{my mom & i took some out-of-town friends to the chihuly exhibit at seattle center on friday afternoon.}

{a picturesque space needle with chihuly glass.}

{mom & me with a chihuly chandelier.}

{our ride to the uw v. bsu game, courtesy of the steiners! what a gorgeous day to be on lake washington.}

{tailgating husky style. otherwise known as boatgating. & no, i did not captain the boat, i just borrowed his hat!}

{a view of lake washington from the newly-renovated husky stadium.}

{no visit from my mom is complete without a trip – okay trips – to panera.}

{sadie meets friends everywhere we go!}

{me & my uncle bill who was visiting this weekend.}

{sometimes a latte is just the pick-me-up you need to get you through a long weekend.}

{family dinner tonight – mom, jerry, aaron & me.}

we had family & friends in town visiting mostly for the season opener game at the renovated husky stadium. while i was sad that the broncos had a tough loss, i am pleased that the huskies did so well. if boise state has to lose, at least it is to my other favorite team! #gohuskies

it was a lovely weekend in seattle with picture-perfect weather! we did get some down-time in – which is unusual since it is called labor day, right? – which was much needed & thoroughly enjoyed. it is hard to believe that it is already september & that it is back to the grind… #wheredidsummergo

how was your weekend?

wedding weekend in hood river {the wedding}

this last weekend we were in hood river, oregon to celebrate my cousin jesse’s wedding to his bride elise. the venue was at Bella Vista Orchards, a few miles inland of the columbia river. the ceremony took place amongst the pear trees {with views of mount hood} & the reception in a tent on the property. it was a fun venue & a perfect setting for the bride & groom to celebrate their new union!

there were two suggestions made by the bride & groom via their invitation: one – no stilettos and two – head adornments were greatly encouraged. well, i decided to take my chances with heels {they were thick heels that are easy for me to walk in, plus with the length of my dress heels were a must!} & did pretty well, though the i understand the warning against heels given the uneven dirt paths & roads all around the venue. when it came to head adornments, aaron & i were totally in. aaron decided on his fez {that his brother brought back from egypt a few years back}. i originally thought i would make or buy a fascinator {a la duchess kate} but then came across this diy floral crown on my pinterest board & decided that would be perfect. i even talked my mom & sister into wearing them as well. my dad was a little more conventional in a classic polo baseball hat.

needless to say, we had a wonderful time celebrating!

congratulations jesse & elise!

my weekend in pictures.

{my parents rolled into town on friday with their new camper. they were here for the weekend & heading out to camp for the week.}

{aaron & sadie.}

{we were sunning on my grandmother’s back patio on friday catching up with my mom & dad.}

{happy father’s day!}

{we have been ignoring our yard for most of the spring but finally started some much-needed cleanup in the back. we filled up that entire yard waste bin & still have so much more to go!}

{it is always double-whammy this time of year with my dad’s birthday & father’s day always falling within days of each other.}

{do you think my parents are boise state fans? #bronconation}

{we had dinner at McCormick for my dad’s birthday – happy birthday dad!}

we had a fun & very sunny weekend, though it went entirely too quickly. obviously my parents were in town & we enjoyed spending some quality time with them & my grandmother. it is finally starting to feel like summer around here & we are loving every minute of it. the house is even getting a bit warm {no A/C here} & we aren’t even complaining yet. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{on thursday evening i attended the anthro petite launch at the downtown store & got to meet joy from oh joy! she is as lovely in person as she is on her blog. #bloggercrush}

{i needed a few jelly bellys to get me thru my friday at work.}

{it is finally peony season – at least at whole foods. i am waiting it out until tj’s gets them so i don’t have to spend $12 a dozen. #mightbeworthit #peonyseasonbegins}

{saturday was a beautiful sunny day which called for a floral dress & my fun new oxfords..}

{i finally got a new wreath for the front door.}

{i ordered some moo cards & am so excited!}

{sadie was great at supervising yard work on sunday afternoon.}

{happy mother’s day to my mom! #circa1992}

{we finally hit 1000 miles on our new car. pretty exciting!}

we had a fun weekend with some sun & some storms. it was nice to get a few projects out of the way & gear up for aaron’s big birthday bash next weekend {spolier alert: he will be thirty!} we got a chance to catch up with both of our moms today, but since neither of them are in town, we took my grandmother out for a mother’s day dinner. how was your weekend?

happy mother’s day!

i wanted to wish every mom & mom-to-be out there a happy, happy mother’s day, especially to my mom, mother-in-law, & late mother-in-law! thank you for everything you do & have done to make us into the people aaron & i are today – we couldn’t have done it without you.

i saw this fun mad lib online this week & thought i would share. my answers are below. visit rue la la to create your own!

to my mom:

to my mother-in-law:

what are your plans for mother’s day? we are taking my almost 91-year-old grandmother out to dinner to celebrate {even though her motto is every day is mother’s day}.

*this is not a sponsored post.

my weekend in pictures.

{on the second day of spring we got snow after not getting snow the entire winter. #crazyseattlespringweather}

{aaron, my dad, & our friend rhett were working on a house project. it may or may not have been something in the bathroom.}

{my mom helped with some tending to the yard including planting these beauts around our front tree!}

{happy birthday mom!}

{there is nothing like fresh eggs. even for $7 a dozen. chicken ownership, here we come!}

{my mom & i went to the best of the northwest art show at pier 91. she bought the cutest mouse sculpture that i failed to get a picture of. #badblogger}

{i finally pulled the trigger on some fabric for an upcoming diy project.}

{obviously} my mom & dad were in town this weekend. they were gracious enough to help us out with some work & projects around the house. we started with snow on friday, but saturday, sunday, & even today are beautiful sunny days {though not to be confused with warm!}. how was your weekend?