ravenna – emerald city diaries

my {long holiday} weekend in pictures.

{me & the bump celebrating the 4th of july.}

{the land of nod store is under construction & has a pretty fun entryway right now.}

{sadie’s new dog door at the house. pics to come later in the week of the rest of the house!}

{we attended a very patriotic party to celebrate america’s birthday.}

{the annual 4th of july parade in our neighborhood. such a treat!}

{we stopped by to see andy & hailey, & sadie loved sleeping in the grass lake-side.}

{sadie insisted on sitting right in between us during a small fireworks show. she didn’t last long before she wanted to be inside away from the noise. poor kid.}

{we went to ikea to pick up a few things for the house. #nesting}

{& amazingly it all fit in our car! sadie & I shared a seat in the back, but it worked. thank goodness we have a hatchback!}

{I finally found some time to finish up a sewing project for baby lower that I started some time ago. hope to share pics soon.}

{due to the many residual fireworks over the weekend, sadie got to sleep in bed with us. she hated it, obviously.}

what an awesome weekend. can every weekend be a three-day weekend, seriously? we got to sleep in, see lots of friends & family, & check some things off the ole’ to-do list – doesn’t get much better than that. we were a bit disappointed in the weather this weekend {rain when it wasn’t actually forecasted} but it is definitely feeling like summer here in the emerald city. I am still in shock that we are already so far into july – slow down summer!

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.

{good things come in west elm packages. so excited to share what is in these boxes – post should be up wednesday!}

{a much-needed mani & pedi to end the work week.}

{its funny how everything you order online all arrives on the same day.}

{in a bit of a role reversal, i taped up the windows & aaron varnished the back doors.}

{mmm… which wich!}

{sadie & i were meditating in the sun. #ohm}

{we took my grandmother to chipotle for the first time – she loved it!}

{we went to see this is the end since it was getting really good reviews. #worstmovieever}

{some of our neighbors have the most beautiful flowers. #iwishihadagreenthumb}

{we found a new part of ravenna park this morning. sadie enjoyed the new sights & smells!}

{don’t aaron & sadie look stoked to be at anthro with me?}

we had a fun weekend & finally got a few in progress projects completed, but boy did these last two days fly by! why do the weekends always go so much faster than the week days? how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{heatwave rolling thru seattle. it is nice to finally have summer weather but it stinks not to have A/C when its this warm!}

{our CSA this week. this is the half-share, i would hate to see the full! #nowonderwearevegetarians}

{a family walk thru the ravenna ravine. this spot near our house is nice & shady, plus there is a creek that runs thru it that sadie likes to swim in.}

{sadie & me.}

{i finally framed the picture my mom gave me while she & my dad were in town. isn’t it perfect? also, this reiterates how much i need to find a jean jacket…}

{the heat isn’t actually set on our nest, but we are keeping it on in order to run the attic fan during the day. & yes it does say our house is 81 degrees. inside.}

{sadie got a bath this afternoon & her chest hair is priceless when it is air dried. #sheisafurrybeast}

{on our way to the eastside to see my grandmother for dinner we got stopped on the 520 bridge for boat traffic. sitting on the freeway in 90 degrees is not fun.}

{it seemed appropriate that my grandmother wanted to see the movie the heat this evening. PSA – it is bad. funny, but bad.}

after weeks of complaining about the rainy & cold weather we finally got some summer in the emerald city. now everyone is complaining about how hot it is! i realize that there is a heatwave everywhere this week but i am assuming the majority of you have A/C. we only have A/C at starbucks & nordy’s – guess i will have to go visit those places this week, oh darn! i had high hopes of getting some yard work done as our backyard is out of control, but it was a bit too warm outside for me to tackle it. oh well. how was your weekend?

a year in review {house diys}.

it is hard to believe but we have been in our house for a year – can you believe it? while it doesn’t seem like yesterday that we were moving & packing & unpacking, it definitely doesn’t feel like its been an entire year. {where does the time go?}

i thought since so much of this blog is devoted to the work we have put into the house, it would be fun to do a review of all of our house projects over the last year. {also, this is making up for the fact that i have been horrible about keeping the house tour tab up-to-date.}

here we go! {are you ready for lots of pictures?}

{entryway} – chalkboard paint

{living room & dining room} – paint color, curtains, west elm light

{bathroom} – paint color, Ikea light, vanity

{kitchen} – paint color (walls), painted cabinets, painted countertops, painted tile, kitchen island, roman curtain

{office}

{bedroom} – paint color, roman curtains, closet doors

phew! it is hard to believe we did all of that in just one year. we still have lots of things on the to do list, including some bigger projects that we are saving up for! reviewing all of these projects makes me thankful that we have such a fun house to work on & enjoy. it was scary to make the decision to buy a house last year {it felt so grown-up!} but we have loved every minute of it & learned so much.

what sorts of projects have you completed in your living space? do you ever go back & review all of your hard work?

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?

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