sadie – Page 3 – emerald city diaries

highlights of 2013.

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.

{we woke up to SNOW on friday morning. it was very, very exciting!}

{sadie does not at all look comfy, does she?}

{got a festive holiday mani on saturday morning.}

{packing…}

{sadie’s dog walker becca gave sadie her christmas present. it was a 3 foot bully stick. sadie is obsessed.}

{we had a crepe brunch with our friends cale, jessica, & their daughter jazmyne. jaz & aaron took sadie for a little stroll afterwards.}

{lounged on the couch sunday afternoon & caught some of the seahawks game.}

{again, not at all comfy sadie…}

{we went to the drug store with my grandmother before seeing a movie this evening. this is what was in her cart. all of that is candy.}

{a movie isn’t a movie without popcorn & junior mints!}

we had a fun last weekend before the big holiday which was spent spending a lot of time with friends & family. that is how the holidays should be, right? we are gearing up for some more family time & are very much looking forward to spending the holidays with lots & lots of family this year. but, geez, can you believe it is christmas already? how was your weekend?

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 weekend in pictures.

{loving that we can turn on the heat remotely with our nest to warm up the house before we get home. hating that it is in the low 30s however.}

{which wich for dinner on saturday night. keeping it classy by eating on real plates!}

{sadie was all snuggles this weekend. it was cold enough that we put on her sweater & she didn’t seem to mind.}

{picked up our christmas tree today. what, you don’t put your christmas tree in a shopping cart?}

{tree atop the car. nice work husband! it didn’t fall off, not even once.}

{the view of the christmas tree from the sunroof.}

{loving the winter dream tea from the coffee bean & tea leaf, & my new mug from the SBUX + alice & olivia collab!}

{I have learned the hard way in years past what happens when you try to string christmas lights without stretching them out first. no fun. this year was so much better!}

{while decorated the inside of the house, aaron was out putting up our outdoor christmas lights.}

we returned on saturday afternoon from a week & a half in hawaii {which is why we were noticeably absent from social media the past few days} so the first half of our weekend was spent sitting on a plane over the pacific. this was a trip that was months in the making as we started planning last spring! it was awesome to get away just the two of us for a while for a much-needed break from the real world though it was a little weird to be away from family over the thanksgiving holiday. we soaked up the sun & unplugged {well I did} which was lovely. I will be sharing pics from our trip over the next few days {once I get the photos uploaded & lightly edited}. now we are back to a very, very cold beginning of winter! brr. on the plus side, I can get to decorating for christmas this week! how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures {a look back}.

a happy belated thanksgiving! since I didn’t do a thanksgiving post last week {I have been unplugged this week & its been so great!} I thought it would be fun to do a random review post of some of my favorites from past weekend in pictures posts {this is what I am thankful for, right?}. so here you go!

{knowing that I passed the bar exam!}

{my parents’ pup skeeter when she was this tiny!}

{flying to fun places with this guy.}

{it’s a give & take with food sometimes. healthy & donuts!}

{sadie donning her sweater.}

{goofing off in boston.}

{hanging out with my husband at work events.}

{playing dress up.}

{when we bought a house that one time.}

{celebrating birthdays.}

{reminiscing about the night I met aaron. yep, it was at a bar {but we had mutual friends. seriously!}

{spending time with family! look how tiny kenley looks here.}

{again, dress up.}

{when sadie makes faces. I love her grin!}

{meeting other bloggers like john & sherry from young house love.}

{girl scout cookies. enough said.}

{shopping sprees at target.}

{hanging out with this fun gal & her mom!

{when sadie plays dress up. those goggles kill me.}

{& meeting bloggers like joy!}

{sunny summer days in the emerald city.}

{catching up with my best girl friends.}

{long soggy family walks.}

how was your {holiday} weekend?

halloween festivities {pumpkin patch, carving party, & décor}

we kicked off the halloween season with a trip down to a pumpkin patch the weekend before last. it was fun to pick out the pumpkins right from the field, though we should have gone a few hours earlier as there were so, so many people in the afternoon when we were there. we picked up three different colored pumpkins – orange, green, & white – & a little kettle corn. all in all a fun trip!

this past weekend we drove up to see our friends cale and jessica for a pumpkin carving party. I have carved pumpkins every halloween (that I recall) but have never had or attended a carving party. so fun, I didn’t know what I was missing! I worked on scraping & carving with jessica’s adorable daughter jazmyne, & aaron cleaning & roasting the seeds. in the end we ended up with two carved pumpkins & about a half gallon bag full of delicious pumpkin seeds!

I also decorated the house a bit this year as our neighborhood is apparently quite popular with the local kids. while we don’t get too many trick-or-treaters as we don’t live on the “main drag,” there are hundreds & hundreds of kids in costume running around the neighborhood on halloween. there is even a neighborhood costume parade. it is awesome! anyways, I like to decorate the house for holidays & halloween isn’t an exception.

we are planning a pretty low-key halloween this year by staying home, hosting a few friends, & trying to bribe kids to trick-or-treat at our house. yep, the first 20 kids that trick-or-treat at our house will get a full size candy bar!

did you partake in any halloween festivities? do share!

my weekend in pictures.

{on friday there was a car show at work. i absolutely adore old porsches. someday!}

{a co-worker of aaron’s gave sadie a treat on friday afternoon. sadie didn’t put it down until she conquered it!}

{no real weekend plans meant back-to-back nights of redbox. now you see me we watched with ben; it was okay & definitely a rental. world war z was good, surprisingly good, though it would have been way too scary for me to see on a big screen. it was my first zombie movie & probably my last. yep, i am a baby when it comes to scary movies. it was more intense than scary, but there were still zombies.}

{we finally harvested our eggplant & plan to enjoy the fruits of our labor in a homemade eggplant parmesan later in the week.}

{for as much technology as we have access to we still mow the lawn old-school.}

{chinese take-out for dinner. not something we do very often, but so delish!}

{the sunset was phenomenal on saturday evening. it is crazy getting used to the dark so much earlier this time of year, but the sunsets are worth it!}

{quick run to get molly moon’s ice cream & beer before movie night.}

{sunday morning i was up bright & early to get my lift, tone, burn on at pure barre. i was sad to hear the alarm go off & not get to sleep in, but it was worth it. well, ask me tomorrow.}

{sunday morning brunch with aaron at the local sunlight café. the huevos rancheros were awesome!}

{traffic was so, so bad this weekend & a local bridge closure forced us onto i-5 for a bit which we normally avoid at all costs. no fun.}

{sunday night movie. we saw don jon. it was terrible. don’t go see it.}

we ended up with an absolutely gorgeous fall weekend. as much as i appreciate the sunny weather, our local meterologists should really find alternative work as they kept threatening rain storms that never transpired. we didn’t have any real plans this weekend which meant we got a few things done this weekend – like some much-needed yard work – plus just some down time to enjoy the house & doing nothing. it was wonderful. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{debuted my new favorite sweater – carpe diem!}

{trying to fit in pure barre classes during the week, though i am loving it on saturday mornings.}

{i attended my first alt summit blog conference at the end of this week. it makes me want to attend the live conference – so fun! for now, the alt for everyone classes are perfect.}

{it rained literally the entire weekend. & by literally i mean there was an 80 to 100% chance of rain all weekend long. we are used to fall rain, but even for seattle this is ridiculous!}

{yep, it’s the end of september, the house is freezing, & the electric mattress pad cover has emerged from its summer hibernation.}

{sadie doesn’t mind the rain at all, especially if it means we take a family walk on weekend mornings.}

{we caught the end of the seahawks vs. texans game this afternoon. go hawks!}

{i am attempting to learn more advanced techniques in illustrator. wish me luck!}

we had a chilly & wet weekend given the non-stop rainstorms. boy does it feel like fall in the emerald city! since there was no going outside, we took the chance to get some inside chores done & catching up on a few of our favorite TV shows that are beginning to start up. it is hard to believe these are the last days of september already, but we are looking forward to a fun (& hopefully dry) october! how was your weekend?

happy 9th birthday sadie!

sadie isn’t a big reader of the blog, but i did want to give her a birthday shout out. happy 9th birthday sadie sue! she indulged me in a birthday photoshoot. she hated the entire thing & i bribed her with a cookie, but boy is she a good sport!

{party hat: made by me!}

in all seriousness, celebrating sadie is something that we do every day in our house. she is such a huge part of our lives & i can’t imagine life without her {as is abundantly clear from the enormous amount of blog time she gets!}. everywhere we go people fall in love with sadie & she makes us {well me, i can’t speak for aaron} want to be the best person i can. what is the saying, i want to be the person my dog thinks i am.

sadie – the center of our entire world – have a fantastic birthday!

xo mom & dad

my weekend in pictures.

{sadie & me catching up on the pile of fall fashion magazines.}

{received my alt summit goodie bag in the mail this week. so excited for the alt for everyone blog conference this week!}

{loving jewel tones & chambray for the fall.}

{friday night family cuddle time after dinner out with old friends.}

{attended my first pure barre class on saturday morning. i am trying it out for a month to see if i like it as much as i hope i will!}

{the bad part about having an old house is having storm windows. aaron & my dad took them off this spring so some work could be done on them. guess who got to help aaron hang them back up this weekend?}

{thank you amy & brian for canning the amazing deliciousness of coconut juice! #obsessed}

{this may or may not be sadie’s favorite part of home depot.}

{aaron’s grandpa was in town this weekend & we took him out on the town saturday night with ben & sarah.}

{on saturday night she crashed with me on the couch & her front paws were straight out. #frankendog #hilarious}

{sunday lunch with aaron’s grandpa at one of our favorite bakeries in eastlake, grand central.}

{i spent sunday evening out dinner & shopping with my grandmother. meanwhile ben & grandpa were crabbing at the crab pot! their faces crack me up!}

we had a really great weekend with a mix of house work & family time. we started to get some stormy weather & some of the leaves are already starting to change. i don’t mind that it is officially fall but do hope we get a few more days of sunshine-y weather before we get the seattle grey until next spring! how was your weekend?