emerald city diaries – Page 79 – family + adventures + the emerald city

my weekend in pictures.

{after a fun morning of catching up & crafting, my friend brenda & I popped into west elm. there was a pop-up shop with a few etsy sellers. & cupcakes!}

{saturday night date at boom noodle wouldn’t have been the same without a s’more crepe!}

{amanda & I did a crafternoon on sunday that included gold paint & glitter. I can’t wait to show you what we were up to!}

{sunday night dinner was thai take-out since we were too busy to get to the store this weekend. no complaints here.}

I apologize for the complete lack of pictures for this weekend post. I had two weekend craft dates & lots of time spent catching up with friends – it was lovely! throw in a good barre workout, a date with my husband & you’ve got yourself a pretty great weekend. how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{working on a project for a Pinterest Christmas. if that isn’t exciting, I don’t know what is!}

{the cold weather may be worth these beautiful fall leaves.}

{I was in need of a mani & this time of year opi’s lincoln park after dark is my go-to. I just picked up this julep freedom top coat that the gals use when I go into julep for manis & it is awesome! it cures in 10 minutes – no smudged nails. seriously, if you do your own manis put it on your christmas wishlist!}

{I popped into banana republic after getting my hair blown out & styled on sunday morning. next on the list for the day: family christmas card pictures.}

{we found ourselves in south lake union – a neighborhood just north of downtown – on sunday afternoon & aaron wanted to pop into the tesla store for fun. just sitting in that car felt expensive.}

{west elm is also conveniently in south lake union, so we browsed the “garage sale” of floor model furniture & made wishlists for our house – okay that last one was just me. plus, I thoroughly enjoyed the christmas décor even in early november. I am not ready for christmas decorations everywhere, but seeing a few makes me excited for the holiday season!}

this weekend flew by, despite the extra hour we got on sunday! we had family friends in town which meant we got to have friday night & saturday night dinner with my grandmother – so pleasant – & spent the rest of the weekend without a lot of plans. it is pretty crazy to think we are already a few days into november, but it definitely feels like fall in seattle with rain, wind, & leaves on the ground. how was your 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.

{kicked off the weekend with a mani!}

{triple date night at the one day’s wages charity gala on friday night with these ladies.}

{saw captain phillips on saturday night with my mom & grandmother. best movie I have seen in a very long time – definitely recommend!}

{I love this time of year – christmas catalogs!}

{I planted some spring bulbs in the front yard sunday morning while aaron did a little raking. we are pretending to be good homeowners.}

{pumpkin carving with friends on sunday afternoon!}

{aaron, sadie, & jaz playing. it was the sweetest!}

{we have broken out all of our winter gear as our house is already freezing. thank goodness for the genius who invented cashmere pants.}

my mom was in town this weekend & aaron was back east on a business trip so everything seemed a little crazy. crazy, but good! we had an awesome weekend spending time with friends & family which was much-needed. it makes me excited for the holidays coming up & to take some time with loved ones who we don’t get to see every day.

also, a huge shout-out & congratulations to our cousin kendra & her family on the new addition! love you guys!

how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{we took the drive south to kent to carpinito brothers’ pumpkin patch on saturday morning.}

{my first time to a pumpkin patch. if aaron would have been okay with it, I would have gotten an entire wheelbarrow full of pumpkins!}

{sadie loved the pumpkin patch, apparently there were a lot of good smells. she was so good while we had to wait for all of the people.}

{on saturday night we went to the Seattle Opera. neither one of us would consider ourselves opera fans per se, but we fully enjoyed the daughter of the regiment!}

{a really fun date night at the opera & impressed with how many other seattleites were dressed up for the occasion.}

{a selfie via aaron.sorry for the fuzziness…}

{tonight we went out to etta’s at pike place market to enjoy the second week of seattle restaurant week. i have always heard good things about etta & the meal did not disappoint!}

we took advantage of a slow weekend to indulge in a few much-needed date nights, though sadie wasn’t too amused. the weather has definitely turned here to cold & we are remembering the age of our house given the number on the thermastat! we are still at the point where we don’t want to keep the heat on all the time, so an extra layer or hat is the way to go in our house for at least a few weeks longer before we give in & turn up the heat! aaron is headed out of town for work & I am gearing up for a busy week along with my mom making a short trip into town. plus, i am still grappling with the idea that it is the end of october – seriously, where did the last three weeks go? how was your weekend?

my weekend in pictures.

{the end of #embracethecamera challenge. read more about it here & check instagram for the entire week of photos.}

{all dressed up with somewhere to go on saturday night.}

{the wizard of oz was the first play of the season at The Paramount.}

{swung by jamba juice post-pure barre on sunday morning for a smoothie. when did the menu get so big?}

{crisp fall weather this weekend meant we turned the heat on for the first time in months.}

{even with the heater on it was still puffy vest weather!}

{sunday afternoon amanda came by for a short crafternoon. i may or may not be starting on some things for chrismas…}

{aaron made eggplant parmesan tonight from the eggplant we grew this summer. it was delish!}

ah, where did the last two days go? i say this every week, but the weekend days go so fast. this weekend we didn’t have a lot of plans & i felt like i got a lot off of my to do list – always a good feeling going into a new week. we celebrated our six year dating anniversary on thursday, which seems insane that it was that long ago – talk about time flying! how was your weekend?

{happy two years!}

happy birthday blog! it been two years & 284 posts here at emerald city diaries, can you believe it?

i want to thank everyone who has supported this blog the past two years thru following, reading, pinning, & commenting. it means the world that you care about our little part of the interwebs!

i thought it might be fun to share the top two blog posts from this past year, not surprising that they are both diys. {& i know, diys have been a bit absent from the blog recently. i am working on changing that in the very near future!}

the most popular blog post is the diy swaddler tutorial. i ‘made this for amanda’s baby shower. her daughter just turned one this summer – eep time flies! {sorry for the terrible picture. this was back when all of my tutorial photos were taken via iPhone.}

& the second most popular blog post is the kitchen backsplash update. {yep, i was surprised too!}

also, a happy birthday shout-out to my big brother jason {who happens to share a birthday with the blog}!

thanks for celebrating emerald city diaries with us! its been an awesome two years!

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?

fashion friday {a fall cape}.

after being completely inspired by new york fashion week {along with my favorite fashion blogs – atlantic-pacific & 9to5 chic} & a little demand from blog readers, i am going to give fashion fridays another shot. aaron & i are still in the learning process {both behind & in front of the camera) so hang in there with us! i am not sure how i feel about this more formal fashion blogger shoot so you may see some more casual #ootd posts to come.

{cape: ann taylor // shirt: target boy’s (old) // jeans: paige denim skyline skinny (nordstrom) // shoes: ann taylor (old) // purse: j.crew (similar) // watch: dkny (nordstrom – old) // bracelets: stella & dot eden & renegade // earrings: stella & dot fiona}

thoughts on capes? how about fashion fridays?

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?