emerald city diaries – Page 87 – family + adventures + the emerald city

my weekend in pictures.

{i waited for a meeting on friday at platform 9 3/4.}

{met john & sherry of young house love. see the full post here.}

{window shopping at j.crew & found my next handbag.}

{someone told sadie there were treats behind the counter at ace hardware.}

{date night at agua verde.}

{sunday night birthday celebration for our friend andy. dinner was italian family style & it was delish!}

{aaron & the birthday boy. with matching beards.}

{coat on sale at anthro in my size? yes, please!}

we had a relaxing weekend getting a few projects done around the house, but not getting out much due to the return of the rain. boo. we are definitely wishing for spring, though it will be weeks before we will get “spring” weather. how was your weekend?

young house love book signing.

this afternoon amanda & i ventured down to the tacoma home & garden show to see john & sherry of young house love!

{we got there just a few minutes before john & sherry went on stage & got sweet front row seats.}

{i got to hang out with miss m all afternoon – so fun!}

{photo op!}

{we waited in a really long time & ended up at the end of the line after giving up, leaving the line & wandering around the home & garden show, but we ended up with signed books. success!}

john & sherry are exactly as i thought they would be – given their personalities really shine thru on their blog – & were super sweet when we met them, even though they were exhausted after hours of book signing! thanks for hanging in there for us john & sherry!

{sidenote: i was in the works to get them here for a house crash, but, alas, they were jet-setting all over the pacific northwest & we couldn’t make it work. maybe next time.}

have you ever waited to see someone famous or for a book signing?

diy framed polaroids.

a while ago i posted about the polaroid project where i made “polaroids” out of pictures of parisian french doors. i really liked the way the pictures turned out, but i didn’t love that they were just stuck on the wall. the pictures came down along with everything else over thanksgiving weekend when we painted the bedroom & i finally got around to finding a new way to display the pictures {i framed them!}.

this was super easy. i picked up two fjallsta frames from ikea. i knew i wanted big picture frames & decided the square frame was what i wanted. i also picked up some poster tack & two heavy white posterboards from target.

i opened up the frame & took out the mat. i traced the outside of the mat onto the posterboard, one for each frame, & then cut. {this is what the second picture is, i know its hard to see with the white on white.}

then i measured the inside {back} of the frame to figure out how much of a margin i would need to leave between the edge of the posterboard & the edge of the pictures. i left a one inch margin on the left, right & bottom edges, and a one-and-a-quarter inch margin on the top {the extra 1/4 inch was to account for the washi tape}.

then i added a small wad of poster tack to the top corners of each picture. the washi tape was already on the tops of all the pictures.

i placed the four corner pictures first & then filled in the rest of the grid.

& then the frames went back onto our bedroom walls as a fun reminder of our trip to paris!

what kind of art are you framing & hanging on your walls?

my weekend in pictures.

{the ingredients to make a milkshake for someone who is lactose intolerant. not quite as good as the real thing but still pretty tasty!}

{there may have been a happy sadie dog at our house on friday night. #familymovienight #happydog #cuddlingwithmomanddad}

{just make yourself comfortable sadie. #poser #shethinkssheownstheplace #soproper}

{a bit of painting this week. so excited to share the final results soon!}

{phew, we finally organized our pantry.}

{i hate the smell of microwave popcorn – anyone else? – so we got an air popper. super healthy because it is just popcorn, except when you want to be unhealthy & melt butter on the top.}

{sadie & i spent a sunny sunday afternoon catching up on vogue. #stillnotcaughtup #onemonthbehind}

{one thing we want to do in the new year – can we still call it that 20 days in? – is to support our local farmer’s markets. we spent some of our sunday stocking up on local, in-season vegetables & fresh farm eggs.}

{pattern mixing in the bathroom. i have a patient & open-minded husband.}

{i remixed my faux fur vest this weekend – once for work & once for brunch – because it is the warmest thing in my wardrobe & we are barely getting above freezing here in seattle.}

we had a really low-key weekend which was a nice change. there were a few house projects completed & worked on, but for the most part we enjoyed our time off. while it makes for a pretty boring weekend blog post, it was nice to do nothing for a change. how was your weekend?

giveaway winner!

& the winner of the rodarte + starbucks giveaway is:

congratulations rachel! please email me your shipping address to aaronandmisha@gmail.com.

thank you to all of you who entered!

my weekend in pictures.

{after the electrician was here we had lots of fun unwrapping every. individual. piece of our new dining room light.}

{better late than never: 2013 let’s do this! i think this might be this year’s motto, at least to begin with.}

{sadie could be found here pretty much the entire weekend as we finally had some sun! #sunbather}

{nope, that’s not snow, it’s frost. it was so chilly that frost has been covering everything the last couple of days.}

{shopping for pipe wrenches. there were a lot of trips to the hardware store this weekend to fix our bathroom sink.}

{we had a quick date night at chipotle {in our finest cocktail attire} on saturday night.}

{happy engagement party dave & mary alice! we celebrated the engagement of good friends. we will both be in the wedding party for their fall wedding.}

{after a few setbacks aaron fixed our sink – hooray!}

i am just over a week into the flu & finally feeling better. week one had me down, but i am determined not to let week 2 keep me from being a person again. how was your weekend?

instagram @mishacslower // twitter @mishacslower // pinterest @mishacslower

the day we traded three lights for one.

i haven’t really kept it a secret that the light pendants in our dining room are not my favorite thing in the house {see here}. but, for what they were {a light source for one entire side of our large living space} we kept them without too much complaint.

however, when you are a house owner {or a grown-up or both} & santa asks you what you want for christmas, you immediately start listing domestic things: vacuum cleaner, towels, dish towels, etc. this year i asked santa {very nicely} for a new dining room light!

so i got it & its AMAZING! {there are pictures below, i promise – thanks santa!} we would have hung it right away, but since our current light fixtures were in a really funky place {in the center of the room, yep, the center!} we had to call our handy dandy electrician to come in & move some electrical for us.

after he was done you can see that there were three really nice holes left in our ceiling. it has been suggested that we install a few disco balls {via our dog walker} but i think we will attempt our first plaster patching. yep, that’s right, our ceilings are plaster – bless old homes & their lath & plaster. {thankfully all of our walls have been updated to dry wall, yes!} the good news though, we were told that plaster is easier to patch than dry wall – huzzah!

okay, enough with the rambling, here is our new dining room light. prepare yourself because she is a beaut!

gorgeous, no? it didn’t take me long to find this lovely light as i frequently peruse west elm {mostly online, but the store is lovely!} to see what home goodies i can’t live without. i have had this guy on my wishlist for months, waiting for the day when it would finally grace our dining room!

so there it is, the newest addition to our house. now, is anyone interested in three lovely pendants? i can get you a very good price!

have you updated any lights in your house recently?

instagram @mishacslower // twitter @mishacslower // pinterest @mishacslower

this is not a sponsored post. all opinions expressed are my own.

giveaway!

***this giveaway is closed. please visit here to see who won!***

last week on instagram & in my weekend in pictures i shared my newly purchased rodarte + starbucks mug that i snagged on the clearance rack. i bought it to keep at the office so that i could enjoy tea or lattes without wasting all of those cups & lids!

well, aaron & i were on the same wavelength that day {great minds really do think alike!} & he surprised me with a rodarte + starbucks mug! so, instead of keeping both {i mean do i really need the same mug at work & at home?} i decided it would be a great giveaway!

so, the part you have been waiting for – to win your very own rodarte + starbucks mug all you have to do is:

01. follow emerald city diaries by clicking on the follow button to the right {if you don’t already}.

02. share what your very favorite, go-to coffee/tea drink is in the comments below.

that’s it! this giveaway will be open until tuesday, january 15th. a winner will be chosen at random so be sure to stop by next week to see if you are the winner. good luck!

blog giveaways – thumbs up or thumbs down?

instagram @mishacslower // twitter @mishacslower // pinterest @mishacslower

this is not a sponsored post. all opinions expressed are my own.

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?

instagram @mishacslower // twitter @mishacslower // pinterest @mishacslower

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.

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

see highlights of 2011 here.