life lately

 
(well... this was a big post but then blogger went and un-published it and deleted half of the post.  Instead of trying to replicate what I'd initially wrote, here's the bare bones of what was there before...)
Watching: The 4400.  It's on Netflix instant!  I started watching it years ago, but I think I left for college and then stopped.  Dan and I are pretty big sci fi fans, so it's fun to watch another sci fi show. I also started watching Harper's Island. It's funny watching two shows set in the Seattle area.  
Excited About: My new iMac!  My MacBook Pro has become pretty non-functional, and it's rather old (early 2009).  It'll be strange having a desktop, but hopefully it will help focus on work.
Thankful For: My mom visiting this past weekend!  I'm so thankful that despite living thousands of miles from my various family members, I get to see them relatively frequently.
Anticipating: Shooting a wedding this weekend!  The forecast calls for rain, but I'm hoping it'll hold off.
     
walks with the dust :: walk for wishes with my mom :: tomato harvest making salsa :: succulent :: siding the garage :: dusty impeding my workout
 "Feminism is being free to decide who I want to be and how to act"
 So many feels. Well played Katy Perry.
 The Make A Wish fundraiser is done, but there's still a few weeks to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital!  I'll be running their Run Of Hope 5k on the 29th with a team, and if every one of my Bloglovin' followers donates just 50 cents I'll more than surpass my $300 fundraising goal!  Donate here :)
 This documentary is so beautiful and moving.  Humanizing those who are so easily dehumanized by the prison system, and redeeming lives once thought unredeemable.  So much compassion, love, and hope in a place no one would expect to find it.
 My mom did this for me and I didn't even realize it until I was an adult woman. So thankful.
 A wonderful talk about shifting the way we approach kids with ADHD, Learning Disabilities, and other "disabilities" in school environments.  So many of my thoughts put into words.
 Well played, Guinness. Way to make a masculine, manly beer commercial that makes me like men more, not less. 

the narrows

This is where Dan and I took our bride and groom portraits after our wedding reception.  This evening reminded me of that one.  There was a slight nip in the air and the sun was beginning to set.  I've done outfit photos here a couple times, but it's fun to see how I've progressed as a photographer since the first time I shot here.  Granted, a few of these shots are a bit out of focus, but somehow that's how it goes with a tripod/self-timer set up, which is why I like being able to shoot other people.  It's so much easier to get things like focus and exposure correct when you are behind the lens.  I'm shooting a wedding this weekend up near Mount Rainier and I'm super excited to be able to shoot in such a gorgeous location.  Plus, it's rather nostalgic, as Dan and I honeymooned up near Mount Rainier.  I'd love to spend an anniversary up at the cabin where we honeymooned, someday.  Perhaps for a more significant anniversary like our 5th or 10th.
Talking about our honeymoon made me start thinking about it ... and I so thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was so laid back and cozy.  We stayed in an old log cabin, ate cheese and drank wine, had lasagna and old fashioned's, walked around the woods, soaked in a private hot tub, and played tower defense games by fireside.  Even though a tropical honeymoon would've surely been fun, there's nothing that suited us better than our woodsy, cozy honeymoon.
 


top/via swap :: jeans/courtesy of modcloth :: boots(similar)/courtesy of blowfish necklace/in pink :: bracelets/musana and jewelmint
I'm not typically one for drapey tops, but I got this one at the last swap I had with friends and I thought I'd give it a go.  Since it was a swap, it was basically "free." Swaps are great ways to try out items that you might not typically go for, or want to spend money on when it might not turn out.  I think it's high time I organize another swap.  Perhaps mid-october.  It's crazy how time goes so quickly.  How is it almost October!?  I remember booking this weekend's wedding and thinking how far off it seemed and now it's in a few days!  Craziness.  I know bloggers go on and on about how time flies, but as I get older it really does feel so bizarre.  Now that we have Dusty, she's another indication of time's quick passage.  We've had her for little over a month now, but she seems so big!  Not necessarily in size, but in how she acts.  She's become so much more mature and "grown up," if you will.  For a puppy, that is. She's such a wonderful presence in our home.  In the beginning I was pretty stressed out, being a pup-mom (becoming a "real" mom now seems devastatingly terrible. My neurotic tendencies seem ill-suited for parenthood sanity), but she's understanding commands more these days and being less of a toddler.  I've been happy with our interactions out and about.  So many people have given us great feedback on how well behaved and calm she is, especially around children and other dogs.  She has her manic moments, but for the most part I'm so happy with how well she's growing up!  I feel silly talking about her as if she's a child, but it's funny how a pet really does become part of the family.  I'm glad we chose Dusty, versus the other pup we were considering who was much much more energetic and crazy.  Dusty's personality fits into our family so wonderfully.  I can imagine she'll be a great "older sister" whenever we end up having a human baby.

forest family

  On Friday night my mom came down for a super quick weekend visit.  It was fun to have her come down and spend some time, and on Saturday afternoon my brothers drove up and they spent a few hours hanging out and eating dinner with us too!  Even though my parents still live up in Alaska, it's so wonderful to live as close to them as possible.  If you're leaving AK, flying from Anchorage to Seattle is the closest place you can go, and I know my parents had always hoped I wouldn't stray too far from Seattle simply for that reason.  Even living in Spokane was a bit more of a hassle since there had to be a layover in Seattle and then another hour long flight across the state.  Mom, Dan, and I all went to the Farmer's market with Dusty in Saturday and we bought another whole chicken and roasted it the same way we did a few weeks ago, but this time we fed my mom and brothers.  Plus we had some extra corn on the cob from our CSA, and a bunch of ice cream torte left over, so it was a great way to feed everyone.  I got to go out for drinks with my mom both nights and we went shopping at University Village up in Seattle on Friday, which was fun.  We visited the new Lululemon store up there and I lusted after all the pretty work out gear.  I've been wanting a better yoga mat than my thrifted one, and those Lululemon ones are pretty snazzy.  Kristi's let me use one of her's in the past and it was quite nice.  Lately I've been practicing Pincha and my hand stands.  I've never been able to do a hand stand or anything like that, but I've never practiced, so I'm giving it a go.  It's pretty fun!     dress/courtesy of modcloth :: shoes(similar)/courtesy of seychelles necklace/roadside shop glasses/courtesy of bonlook :: bracelets/courtesy of musana and jewelmint  

eight fall soup recipes

 
Last fall I went a little soup crazy and made soup constantly.  Since fall is on it's way I thought I'd share some of my favorites from last year.  There's nothing better than curling up with a book (or a blog) wearing a cozy, chunky sweater, and slurping up a hot bowl of soup with a slice of crusty bread.  I love how easy soup is, too.  Just throw things in a pot and let them simmer for a while. Voila, soup. 
Everything Soup (above).  One of those soups where you just find random things in your fridge/pantry and throw them in a pot.  So good.
 
Chunky Pumpkin Soup. Perfect for pumpkin season!  A fall flavor explosion.  

White Chicken Chili.  Chili counts as soup, right?  I'd say it falls in the soup category, at least.  This one is one of my favorite.  It's a lot less chili-y than your usual chili.  I love chicken in a chili instead of ground beef, too. 
 
Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup.  I love me some tomato soup, and I also love me some parmesan cheese, so the marriage of the two was perfection in my mouth.  Plus, the creamy texture is delicious.

Chicken Taco Chili.  A very hearty chili.  I served this to my dad, uncle, cousins and brothers when they came to help side our house.  The menfolk approved.


Corn Chowder.  I made this at least two or three times last year.  So easy, and with the bacon on top, it's irresistible.  MOR BACON PLZ.

Sweet Potato Soup.  Another fall favorite flavor.  I love sweet potatoes, and this soup was so yummy.


Vegetarian Chili.  A nice alternative to your regular meaty chili.  And a good way to get rid of excess cans of beans in your pantry.  Don't forget the cornbread.  I live for it, mmmmm.

pieces of flare

My summer wardrobe obsession was maxi dresses and skirts, and I'm getting the sense that jeans are going to be fall's wardrobe obsession.  I feel like that sounds boring on the style-front, but I'm actually pretty excited about it.  Having spent most of my adolescence in decidedly unstylish jeans-based outfits, I think it's taken quite a while to figure out how to wear jeans in a way that makes me feel stylish and creative.  One of the things that has hindered my ability to really delve into styling jeans is that for a long time the popular jean cuts weren't really suited for my body type.  I longed for high waisted jeans to come back in style for about a decade and now that they're finally here I'm hoarding them like Twinkies.  My mom has a pair of white high-waisted sailor-esque wide-leg (whoa, too many hyphens...) pants and I have lamented many a time that she was smaller than I and I could only ever barely squeeze into them.   Wide leg pants are one of those things that petite girls tend to shy away from, it seems, out of a fear that they will make us look shorter, stumpier, and wider.  I remember thinking this same thing about maxi dresses, and the opposite actually proved to be true, so I figured my misconception might carry over to wide leg jeans. These jeans are very long on me, I have to wear my giant platforms and they still skim the ground a tad.  Thankfully these shoes are one of my most comfortable pairs of heels, so I don't really mind, and as a bonus it makes my legs look crazy long.  It's been forever since I had a pair of jeans in my wardrobe that wasn't a skinny jean.  It'll be fun figuring out how to style them in different ways!     top(on sale!)/courtesy of wildlife works :: jeans + shoes/courtesy of modcloth bracelet/courtesy of musana jewelry :: necklace/courtesy of moorea seal Remember how I was all, "I'm not ready for fall yet, I'm holding onto summer still!" Yeah, nope.  Over it.  It was hot as balls today.  Bring on the crisp air and sweater weather please.  It was honestly much too warm to even be entertaining the idea of putting on dark jeans, but I was so excited that they came in the mail finally I couldn't resist putting them on immediately.   All that being said, I'm pretty excited these days about how "me" I feel in the outfits I've been styling this year.  For my Remix Archives posts I have to go back into my image banks and find images where I'm wearing the same item, and sometimes I go all the way back to 2009.  I actually like quite a few of the outfits from 2009 and 2010, but I started having a weird transitional style period starting in 2011 extending through part of 2012.  I like some of the outfits from that period, but there are quite a few things that I'm just like, huh?  But it's all a process.  Growing pains.  Learning what feels right and what doesn't.  What makes me feel more myself and what makes me feel like a hermit crab in a too-small shell.