come together

After our afternoon of shooting tons of outfits for the Remixology post, Haley and I decided to do some just-for-fun photos.  I had brought along this dress as a back-up, so I threw it on and we shot a few more photos before calling it a day.  It's a lot of fun to do photos with someone else.  I get stuck in a rut, doing the same poses, shooting the same angles (though it's more difficult to get variety in angles with a  tripod), shooting in the same familiar locations.  Plus, someone else can see me in a different way.  I think we see ourselves a certain way, and it's always interesting to see how someone else chooses to photograph you.  An outside perspective.   dress(similar)/courtesy of modcloth :: belt(similar)/thrifted :: shoes/courtesy of blowfish necklace/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis :: photos by Haley Hickman Photography Last night Dan & I cooked a meal together, which we haven't really done much since moving.  Well, unless you count making quesadillas, which we do almost on a daily basis.  Our last kitchen was barely big enough to have two people in there comfortably, so cooking in this new kitchen is a dream.  I'd love to make cooking together a weekly thing.  Pick a recipe, get the ingredients and cook together.  We made Skillet Italian Chicken (my grandmother's recipe) and deviled eggs last night and it was so good.  Cooking together is such a nice excuse to spend time in the same space, enjoying each other's company.  
I recently finished reading In Defense of Food, which was really wonderful, and one of the things he mentioned in there was the importance of sitting down together for meals.  My family usually ate at least dinner together, since lunch was at school and breakfast was ... well I was sleeping through breakfast.  But thinking about how fast food mentality has overtaken our culture, and how so much of culture revolves around food, I think it is important to try to eat meals together.  I love how eating with people creates such a sense of community.  We used to get together with a group of friends every week and it was a kind of potluck thing where everyone brought a dish and we'd catch up, standing around the table and enjoying the food everyone brought.  Maybe now that we have a big enough house to host such an event we could start doing something similar.

let it linger

I love the brief time of year when the whole city is abloom with pink trees lining the streets.  I'm pretty thankful for this beautiful spring weather when back in Anchorage they're plowing feet of snow!  A proper "spring" is much nicer than the muddy brown Alaskan break up, which is what will inevitably follow once that dump of snow starts to melt.  I'm not sure it's quite warm enough to go sans-tights though.  It's been much too windy for that lately, but I'm aching to let my legs out to soak up some long lost Vitamin D!  I got a new bathing suit and I can't wait for an excuse to actually wear it!  I may have to invent an excuse because I'm not going on a tropical vacation anytime soon.  I only wore my polka dot bikini once last year and that one needs more wear too, as it's too damn cute to be hidden away in my closet forever.  Time to make friends with someone with a pool.  Flying over Seattle last week I was pretty surprised to see how many people had pools in their backyards.  It doesn't surprise me when I see backyard pools flying over somewhere like LA, but Seattle?  My mom grew up in California and had a pool in her backyard as a kid.  I think that would be so much fun.  I've been getting super jealous seeing Sarah's instagrams of her pool in Phoenix.  I want to visit so badly!  
 
dress/courtesy of abby galloway :: cardigan (similar)+ belt/thrifted tights (similar)+ shoes(similar)/courtesy of modcloth  hat(similar)/courtesy of lulu's :: necklace/courtesy of moorea seal :: photos by Dan
I kind of like how certain items in my closet are so seasonal.  I didn't wear these shoes all winter and now I can't keep them off my feet!  I still have a ton of shoes in "storage" in the Winne which I just never brought in after moving in December, so I'm sure there are summer shoes in there that I've totally forgotten about.  I'm pretty excited about finally being able to put winter coats in storage soon.  Bring on the sun!  The other day an ice cream truck drove by and it felt like summer was officially on its way, though I think that ice cream man may have been a bit overly optimistic.  

musana market

Some of you may remember

Musana Jewelry

from some of my outfit posts and giveaways, but last month I got to do something else fun with Musana!  After working with Musana as a partner here at Delightfully Tacky we decided to do something more IRL and I held a "Musana Market" in my home! Musana sent over some of their gorgeous jewelry and I threw a little party for friends and family to come over and shop, as well as enjoy tasty snacks and beverages.  It was a small little shindig, but I do enjoy entertaining.  Our last house was so small it was just plain uncomfortable for more than two extra people to be in the house, but this new house is great for small parties! Also, for the month of April, I'm 

Musana's brand ambassador

!

If you're not familiar with

Musana

, you should check them out!  Musana Jewelry is a social enterprise that employs, trains, and empowers Ugandan women to break their cycle of poverty and secure greater prosperity for themselves, their families, and their communities. Supported with English, business, and health training, Musana women have the opportunity to pursue their career goals and establish stability in their lives. One hundred percent of profits from jewelry sales in the U.S. return to the artisans and their community through paying their salaries and providing for Musana's social programming initiatives. For many women, this is their first opportunity to be financially independent from their abusive husbands, to send their children to school, and to pursue the education they never received. Every purchase with Musana is contributing to true grassroots development by improving the lives of Musana's ten artisans and their family, friends and larger community.  Pretty awesome, huh?  And if you want to support Musana during April, you can use the code APRIL15 to get 15% off your order!

If you want to host a Musana Market in your home or community, click

here

to find out more!  It's a fun excuse to throw a party and hang out, all while supporting a wonderful cause and company.  I had the opportunity to ask the artisans a question and have it answered for a little video to show at my party.  I asked them "What makes you feel beautiful?" and here is the answer...

here + there

I just realized it's been two months since my last Here + There post.  How does the time just slip by so quickly?  Dan's working on living in the present more this week, and I think that's a good thing to focus on.  So often we get caught up overanalyzing the past or worrying about the future and we miss out on the now.  Not that being prepared for the future is a bad thing, but more often than not "planning" turns into "worrying."  My insomnia is the worst when it comes to this.  I just lay awake... thinking about things, worrying about things, planning things.  Sometimes my brain just feels like a freight train that is not stopping for anything, including the slumber station.  Anyone else got freight train brain?  I should work on some sort of meditation or other mind quieting activities.   All that aside, though, life is so good.  Despite being busy and behind, I'm loving our new little house and how it's coming together.  Spending time with my grandparents last week was really wonderful.  I'm pretty inspired in general.  Last spring was a bit of a rough spell for me, so I'm really happy this spring is faring better.  It doesn't hurt that we've had a really mild winter and spring hasn't been too awful yet.  It's kind of crazy how much the weather can affect mood.  But it also helps that our living space is at least twice as big and there's always a fun project to be done around the house, or with photography, or climbing.  I've been feeling super thankful these days.  
a yummy salad // some pups waiting outside the coffee shop // my photos featured in  northwest travel magazine // going through the lake union locks // starting some seeds indoors auke bay at night // houses on auke bay at night // graffiti in the garages downtown spinning // springtime blooming

casual easter

This is my last outfit from Juneau, Easter Sunday, actually.  I wore my white dress to church in the morning, but when I got home I was helping my grandma in the kitchen and decided to ditch the dress and throw on something more kitchen work friendly.  Plus, it still felt pretty "Easter" with the polka dots and robin's egg blue.  It's kind of funny to be at that age where Easter doesn't involve any of that egg-hunting/egg-dying/bunny/candy stuff from childhood, being between childhood and childbearing.  I remember distinctly being a little brat, running around grabbing all the hidden eggs while my little brother, who was just learning to walk, was trying to get them.  I'm pretty sure I snatched some right as he was going for them.  Little me, you were a jerk.

plaid (similar)/courtesy of free people :: top/the great pnw :: jeans/courtesy of lulu's boots (similar)/target :: belt/thrifted :: necklace/courtesy of moorea seal I've felt so behind on life ever since getting home.  I still feel like I'm playing catch-up, but I'm plowing through and trying to get everything done.  I can't believe I've only been back home for a week, it's felt like at least two.  I've gotten a lot done, but there's still so much hanging over my head.  Of course, I want to do anything but those things.  I really want to get our living room looking more finished with drapes and art hung and walls painted.  I finally decided on a color scheme that I'm in love with, so now I feel like I have a definite direction to move towards with the decor.  I really miss having my mom around with decorating the house.  Decorating houses with her is one of my favorite memories as a kid.  Her and her best friend would get called up to help pick paint schemes for their friends' homes because they were so good at it and I always had a blast tagging along and helping.  I've been texting her photos of my ideas and inspiration, which has kind of made it feel like she's closer.

My parents will probably stay up in Alaska for a few more years, as they're both still working, but I'm hoping they move closer after they're done.  Even though I will be sad if we lose our anchor to my hometown, it will be so nice to be able to just hop over to their house, or have them over for dinner or to help with projects.  Then again, who even knows where we'll be in three years!  I picture us staying in this house for at least a few years, but life often makes plans of its own without informing you.  We shall see!  For now I'm really excited to spend our first summer in this house!  I just planted a few more seeds for our garden and they're (hopefully) growing in our kitchen until we get our outdoor raised beds built.  April showers are pretty hardcore lately, so I'm waiting for a dry spell to do all the outdoor work we have to do.  Can't wait for sunny days!