valentine’s day – emerald city diaries

eloise {valentine’s day}

during her trip a few weeks ago, my mom brought eloise a teddy bear that was mine when I was little. this was a special valentine’s day bear that an old neighbor/friend made me, so it meant a lot to see him again! eloise happened to be wearing a valentine’s day –esque outfit so I thought a quick photoshoot would be fun! {these were taken with my iPhone so not the best quality… but still adorable!}

{sweater: babyGap // leggings: babyGap}

happy valentine’s day from eloise!

my weekend in pictures.

{we attended a fun celebration for both a birthday & an MBA completion for our friend sara – congratulations!}

{hit pike place market early saturday morning to pick up last minute party goodies – fresh flowers & french macarons! the tulips are so gorgeous & I have filled my house with them.}

{the dessert table set-up for my birthday bash.}

{kicking my feet up after a long & fun night of entertaining. loving this fantastic anthro skirt {no longer available}!}

{leftover cupcakes & donuts for breakfast? sure! don’t worry, we also had some blueberry muffins…}

{aaron showing our little friend jaz how to snap a straw.}

{car accident + rainy weather = major traffic issues.}

{meet fred, my grandmother’s new roommate!}

we had the most amazing weekend celebrating february birthdays with our friends & family. seriously, it was the best! sleeping in, eating macarons, & catching up with friends is the very best way to spend the weekend. now I am in disbelief that we are in the last week of march already – where did february go?

how was your weekend?

friday I’m in love: {a valentine’s day announcement}

my previous friday I’m in love posts I have mostly been round-ups of things I am loving for that week {see here, here, here, & here}. this week though, I thought it would be fun to share this year’s family valentine.

for those of you not yet in the know {which is likely a lot since we’ve kept mum recently} we would like to share the LOVE & are absolutely thrilled to announce that our family is growing this year!

if that doesn’t make your valentine’s day happy, I don’t know what will!

{I would love to give a huge shout-out to jihan & geronimo balloons for making & sending over this gorgeous, fun, & festive balloon!}

be sure to check out what kendra is sharing! what are you loving this week?

friday I’m in love.

welcome back friday! be sure to pop over to kendra’s blog too to see what she’s up to. we would love for you to join us! leave a comment and we’ll come check out what you’re loving each week!

{one} boeing & the 12th man.

boeing not only wrapped its new freighter planes with seahawks graphics, its newest jumbo jet also took its first flight in the shape of a “12.” if that’s not support, I don’t know what is. good luck seattle! go 12th man!

{two} cupid’s arrow cupcake topper.

I am loving all of the valentine’s décor & diy ideas that are floating around the interwebs {for obvious reasons}. I am particularly enamored with this cupcake topper that was featured over on the Oh Happy Day blog.

{three} julep freedom top coat.

I am pretty certain I have talked about my love of this product before, but every time I use it, I fall in love again. when I do feel fancy & go get a mani/pedi, I always go to julep which is my all-time favorite nail salon {bonus that it is 5 minutes away from our house!}. months ago the gals started using this freedom top coat after two or three coats of color. once it is on, you sit 10 or 15 minutes with your nails under a light {just any regular light} & like magic, the coat finishes almost like a gel polish! seriously. it isn’t perfect, but it does mean you can put on your jacket & pay for your mani without smudging your nails. I use it at home now when I am feeling not quite as fancy {& have to paint my own}. I just put on one top coat over the color & sit at the dining room table under the light for 15 minutes. you an even read a magazine as long as you keep your fingers facing the light. then, as long as you don’t really rub your nails, you are free to get along with your day. if that’s not freedom, I don’t know what is!

what are you loving this week?

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.

happy valentine’s day!

{wouldn’t it be amazing to get a giant heart balloon from geronimo balloons from your valentine? i think i would keep it forever.}

i hope everyone has an amazing & love-filled day celebrating! people ask me a lot whether i like having my birthday on valentine’s day & the answer is a resounding yes! i do feel bad for my husband because growing up my birthday & valentine’s day were two very separate holidays, both celebrated {thanks mom & dad!}, but i really do love it. since i do share a birthday with a holiday, i love that it is a day that is filled with joy & compassion for those around you. where gestures of love – big & small – are made in return for a few x’s & o’s.

whether you have an official valentine or not i hope that you find a lot of love today!

xo M

valentine’s day diy: sparks card & date night jar.

to wrap up my valentine’s day diy {just two days away, eek!}, i have two small projects to share.

first up is a card which is loosely based off of a card i have seen before in stores.

supplies:

short matchstick
cardstock or blank card
thin wire
marker or pen – i love the thin sharpies
construction paper/paper/envelope
washi tape – optional

i cut out a folding card from plain white cardstock. i put the fold on the top edge, but you could put it on the side edge too. then i laid down the matchstick where i wanted it on the card – a bit off-centered – & punched two tiny holes on both sides of the matchstick. then i thread a short piece of wire thru the holes, looping around the matchstick, & putting the ends thru the back of the card. i twisted the wire to secure the matchstick.

then i wrote out “sparks fly” on the outside of the card, & “when we’re together” in the inside. simple as that.

the last project i have to share is a fun valentine’s gift for aaron – a date night jar. we have been talking about the fact that two-and-a-half years into marriage that we don’t go on dates really anymore. at least not like we used to. so, i thought it would be fun to compile some ideas so that when we find ourselves looking for something fun to do, we could skip past the brainstorming & move right to the date!

there are lots of “date night jars” on pinterest so definitely search there if you want some more versions of this idea.

supplies:

short glass jar – i used a mason jar
fat popsicle sticks
acrylic paint – i used festive red & pink
sharpie or marker
felt
twine or string

i started out by brainstorming & writing out all of my date ideas. i tried to make half of them free dates & half of them pay dates. i was with some girlfriends during this process which helped the idea-flowing tremendously, but i tried to think of all of those things that we always say we want to do or only do when out-of-town guests are visiting. then i painted the ends of the sticks {both sides} – red signifying the pay dates & pink the free ones.

then i put all of the sticks in the jar, painted side up. i traced a heart out of felt & tied it onto the jar with some string.

it’s not too late to whip up a fun something for your valentine! do you craft or buy for valentine’s day?

valentine’s day diy: heart elbow patches.

valentine’s day holds a special place in my heart for obvious reasons {pun intended & it is my birthday}. i thought it would be fun & festive to share a few valentine’s day diy projects over the next two weeks, well 11 days.

this first project is something that i have been wanting to do for a few years. i had an old j.crew hoodie {my fav} that i literally wore the elbows thru {sad story, i know}. i wanted to put patches on the elbows but it has taken me a while to figure out what i wanted. in thinking about valentine’s day, i figured it would be fun to put heart patches on the elbows. worst case, i could take them off & try something different!

supplies:

sweater/sweatshirt/shirt with worn-out elbows {or not, the patches could be decorative}
red felt
red thread
scissors
paper or cardstock {for stencil}

i started by cutting out a heart-shaped stencil from cardstock. to keep the shape consistent on both sides, i folded the cardstock in half & drew out just one side. also, it is important for an elbow patch to bigger than the hole; this sounds obvious but the first heart stencil i cut wasn’t quite big enough. fail. after i made a stencil that was the right shape & size, i cut two hearts out of felt.

then, i pinned & sewed the hearts over the holes. the holes were a bit off center on the sleeve, so in order to avoid putting huge heart patches on the elbows {i thought that may be a bit much}, my patches are off-center.

happy elbows!

have you patched anything with hearts?

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.

how was your 2012 – was it a year to remember or are you itching to start 2013 already?

see highlights of 2011 here.

a visit to new england: new hampshire & vermont.

from boston, we rented a car & drove north to new hampshire. we stayed in manchester, NH for the remainder of the week, sort of a jumping off point for the rest of our time in new england. manchester is a really cute little town with an amazing number of restaurants right on elm street in downtown. while it may have been nice to stay in other places, like say a bed & breakfast, it was so nice to have to unpack & repack only once! we celebrated my birthday & valentine’s day with a five-course dinner (which we split) at XO on Elm – it was delish! we also had to try the highly recommended dancing lion.

after settling into new hampshire, we took a short day trip up to vermont. it still amazes me that you can get to another state in just two short hours (that doesn’t happen where we live!). our first stop was in waterbury to visit the one & only ben & jerry’s factory. it was amazing! we got a tour of the factory & got to sample a never-been-released coffee cake ice cream.

we also drove just a little bit further into vermont to visit the von trapp family lodge. you probably only know of one von trapp family. are you quietly singing “doe a deer a female deer”? if you are, you are right on! the von trapp family was made famous from the movie the sound of music which was loosely based on their lives in austria during ww II. apparently waterbury, vermont looks much like the “mountains” of austria (i put mountains in quotes because any one who has actually seen a mountain cannot actually say that anything in new england is actually a mountain). originally the von trapp family just had a lodge but today it is quite the winter resort.

have you ever ventured into vermont?