Weekend Photo Love: 8/27

You know it's been a ca-razy week when I'm posting photos from the weekend on a Wednesday, and let me just tell you, it was also a ca-razy good weekend. On Friday night, there were margaritas and Mexican food. On Saturday, there were waffles, sunshine and rollerblades (which crosses #8 off last year's birthday list). And on Sunday, there were new clothes and a VMA after party where I saw Katy Perry, Jamie Foxx and the cast of Glee. (That's the red carpet above - check out all those photogs!)

I have to admit, it was all so fun, I'm still a little giddy! And to think we're only two days away from a long weekend - does it get any better than that? (I say no. way.)

Thankfuls

I recently discovered this cute little lady and fell in love with her thankful posts. I think it's important to stop every once in a while and list all of the things you're thankful for, don't you? It keeps you, well.... thankful.

So, as this week comes to an end, I'm thankful for:

• Fun lunches everyday (pretzel bread sliders! fried green tomatoes!)
• A silly, snuggly, non-smelly (thanks to a recent bath) Cajun
• Popcorn and lemonade, every afternoon at 3:00
  
• Instagram photos shipped to my door in the cutest little squares (via PostalPix)
• The most amazing (and cheap!) produce market just blocks from my office
• Two fun new pairs of glasses (thanks to Coastal Contacts' BOGO sale)
• Extra tickets to VMA after parties (FREAKING out about this one!)
  

What can I say, it's been a great week around these parts, and I have no doubt the greatness will continue into the weekend. Have yourself a fun one!

Weekend Photo Love: 8/20

This weekend was so much fun, just as I'd hoped it would be. The concert on Friday night was a good one, and we were able to get super close to the stage - which always makes things better. After the show, we were excited to host a couple of guests for the night (we love having guests in our guest bedroom), and even more excited when they fell madly in love with Cajun (that little love bug!). They wanted to sneak him into their suitcases and take him back to Seattle, but we said NO WAY!

On Saturday, we woke up early to get ready for the wedding, and while it was grey skies in the morning, the sun broke through right on time and it turned out to be a beautiful day. From the ceremony overlooking the water to the back yard reception, it was both perfectly simple and fabulous at the same time. (You can see the Mexican paper banners and the mariachi band in the photos above - my two favorite parts of the celebration.)

P.S. - Mason and I both got new glasses recently, and we showed them off at the wedding for the first time. I love how we look like a couple of nerds. Glasses are such a fun accessory, don't you think? (My frames were inspired by this lovely lady and this post about fall fashion.)

Twin Towers

I am so, so glad that it's Friday! Tonight, Mason and I are headed to The Troubadour to see The Randy Rogers Band in concert, one of our very favorite Texas country bands. Then tomorrow, two of our good friends are getting married in a park overlooking the Santa Monica beach, with a backyard reception to follow. I'm looking forward to catching up with friends we haven't seen in a while and soaking up all the wedding-ness (I do love a good wedding). We're staying in a hotel on Saturday night so we can be close to the reception spot, and you know what that means - POOL TIME! (I'm setting my alarm for 8am on Sunday to allow for plenty of swimming before check-out.)

I hope your weekend is packed full of good times, too!

P.S. - Can you tell the difference between the two photos above? I bet you can't! (One is the fake Las Vegas version and one is the real Paris version - pretty cool that I got to see both this summer.)

P.P.S. - I'm trying so. hard. to hang on to my excitement and love for summer (because I waited so. long. for it to get here, gosh darn it!), but posts like this and this are making is really hard not to jump inside a sweater and warm up a mug of hot chocolate. Oh man...

Thoughts on 30

It's official! I'm 30 years old - and I can't even believe it. (Even typing it feels weird...and wrong.) I'm sure I'm not the only 30 year old to say they still feel 23, but it's true! I don't feel old enough to have my 20's behind me and my 40's only 10 years away, but thankfully, even though I don't feel 30, I'm really not that sad about being 30.

Don't get me wrong - it can be a little freaky when you let yourself dwell on the fact that your 20's are gone forever - like gone, gone forever - and you'll never be that "young" again, but once you pull yourself up and out of all that mumbo jumbo, you kind of realize 30 really is just a number - and you're the same person you were on Friday when you were 29 - and you can act as "young" as you want for as long as you want - and then you feel much better (or at least I did). Because, honestly, I'm extremely happy with the place I am in my life right now. It's exactly where I pictured I'd be at 30, and I'm not only excited to see what my 30's bring (a house! dogs! babies! perhaps?), I'm also perfectly ready for all of those 30 year old things - not kind of ready, not a tiny bit ready, but ready, ready - and that feels really good.

For those of you wondering why I haven't posted my 30th birthday list yet, I've got some sad news - I've decided not to make one this year. (Don't cry!) The point of the birthday lists was to inspire myself to have new experiences and fun adventures throughout the year, and while I've had a ton of fun scratching things off my lists for the past 3 years, I have a sneaky little feeling that my 30th year is going to include more new experiences, exciting changes and fun adventures than any birthday list could hold. So, while I'm sad to not post a list this year, I'm also completely excited by the thought of all the fun this year could possibly bring (and looking forward to sharing it with all of you along the way!).

And now for some photos of our Vegas birthday shenanigans (think endless buffets, cold pools, and amazing balloon hats!):
















And now, on to the next decade...

Wish me luck! :)

Number 27

Can be crossed off the list. (At least the getting part - we'll have to see about the keeping them alive part. Wish me luck!)

Germany in Photos

All of the photos above are from Dominik and Soni's fantasticly fun wedding reception. The ceremony took place at the City Hall with their closest family and friends, and the reception was held in a barn that belongs to Soni's family with a larger group. Everything from the dress code (everyone wore yellow - Dominik's favorite color) to the food (steaks and kabobs were grilled outside over the bonfire), was so fun and so Dominik and Soni. We're thrilled that we could be a part of their special day!

(Want more? See Germany through my iPhone.)

Paris in Photos - Part 2

1) Arc de Triomphe 2) View from the top of the Arc 3) Ferris wheel 4) Gelato 5) Banana and Nutella crepes 6) Paris metro 7) Cruising the canal 8) Eiffel Tower at night

Our last night in Paris was like a mad dash to do and eat and see everything we hadn't done and eaten and seen yet. We started the night off with a cruise down the canal where we got to see the city in the most romantic light, and we finished it off sitting on the curb of some cute cobblestone street, eating gyros and paninis, sharing a Coke and watching the people. On our walk back to the hotel, we grabbed one more gelato and squueeeezzzed it in - because you can never have enough gelato in Paris. Never.

(Want more? See Paris through my iPhone and Paris in Photos - Part 1)

Paris in Photos - Part 1

1) Paris at sunset 2) Mug of hot chocolate 3) Locks on the bridge 4) Park sitting 5) Statue copying 6) Pretty packaging 7) Laduree macarons 8/9) The Eiffel Tower

Here are a few more shots from Paris. The first one may just be my favorite photo from the whole trip. (If you look alllll the way to the left, you can see the Eiffel Tower!) I took it on our first night in Paris, the only night we took advantage of our hotel's 8th floor deck with an amazing view of the whole city. We went up at 7:30pm, not wanting to miss the sunset (little did we know the sun doesn't set until 10:30pm!), and we sipped red wine, ate olives and took a ton of pictures before heading off to dinner at some little sidewalk cafe. It was a great night, and a great first introduction to the city.

(Want more? See Paris through my iPhone.)