fringe benefits

Bangs!  I finally pulled the trigger.  And after years of requests, I filmed a DIY Bangs tutorial!!  It should be posted this week, so all you brave souls flouting conventional wisdom to never cut your own bangs can be crazy like me and do it yourself. 

This outfit has all the desert vibes because I was looking forward to being in Joshua Tree, which I am currently!  I've got some super fun shoot scheduled for the week and hopefully I can squeeze in some outfit shoots too cuz I brought waaay to many outfits.

Thankfully the PNW isn't experiencing desert-like weather anymore. The rains finally came and I know thousands of people affected by the wildfires are so thankful.  It'll be nice to go back to some fall temperatures. I do so love summers in the PNW but I'm ready for fall now.  Mostly I just feel like my forehead is too sweaty with bangs during the warmer months, so it can be fall now. 

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Nearly Autumn

I'm writing this one handed with Jack asleep in my arms so this will probably be short (#momlife). I've been so looking forward to the cooler temperatures of fall that I jump the gun on warm clothes sometimes, this hat being one of those sartorial mistakes.  Holy cow was I hot. But of course, once you wear a hat that's too hot it gives you a horrible case of hat hair and thus was I stuck with my sweaty misstep. In other news, be prepared to see more of this top because I'm in love.

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captain whidbey

This past weekend I was up on Whidbey Island for a wedding I was shooting and it was oh so relaxing.  I've never stayed on Whidbey, just passed through, but this time we spent two nights at the Captain Whidbey Inn, which was so rustic and adorable.  Getting to spend the weekend with Dan after weeks apart was wonderful and we spent hours on the porch drinking prosecco and talking, after Jack finally fell asleep of course.  

We have less than a month now till we get to return to Tacoma officially and I'm teeming with ideas, maybe too many ideas, for what I want to do when we're back.  I have tons of home update plans and dreams, things I want to do with friends, business plans, and overall I'm just looking forward to really investing in Tacoma and diving into being a part of that community again.  

In the meantime, we're kind of holed up down here in Oregon with the wildfires raging just a few miles away and smoke thick in the air.  It's extremely heartbreaking to see the devastation this fire has wreaked on the Columbia River Gorge and we're all down here hoping and praying for rain, which is not something us PNW folks are used to doing.  

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Portland Flea

Yesterday we ran into town to hit up the Portland Flea, which was so so dreamy.  I didn't end up picking anything up, but I am so super inspired for our home decor and my personal style and I could've bought almost every single thing.  I think I'll probably drop a few bones at next month's market right before we move back to Tacoma because I've got a wicker hutch and kilim rug on my wishlist like whoa.

Even though I'm not quite ready for summer to be over, I can feel that my style is ready for fall.  This dress is just waiting for a pair of tights and a cozy long-sleeved blouse.  I'm loving textures that are interesting, a little vintage, cozy, and natural.  Give me macrame, rattan, and weaving all day, every day.

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 shoes c/o Cat Footwear and AMP3 PR

Gratitude + Waiting

This season of life has been particularly hard on me and our family.  Long stretches of time separated from one another, solo parenting, living out of a suitcase for months, and feeling uprooted and desperate for home has been taxing.  I often find myself descending into negativity.  Feeling angry, frustrated, helpless, it's a pit with slippery walls and can feel so inviting to indulge in.  Sometimes when I think that I still have over a month left before we can even move into a home of our own I just feel so depressed.  A month isn't that long, but it can feel like an eternity in my mind, looking at the long days stretching out in front of me, each one its own little infinity.  When I realized we wouldn't be home until October and would miss summer in Tacoma, I got bummed out, but today I want to focus on the positive and get excited about all the great things that I can look forward to, instead of feeling sad that they aren't here yet.  

• Pumpkins on the front porch- we got married in November, right after Halloween, so our wedding had tons of pumpkins.  That first November we had a front yard full of pumpkins left over from the wedding.  It was so festive and I love how pumpkins on the porch remind me of our wedding.
• Going to the pumpkin patch- Dan and I have gone to the patch before, but this time it feels like the beginning of a little tradition with Jack and his first autumn!
• Fall leaves!- Alaska has lovely fall colors, but fall is short and there isn't a huge variety of fall colors the way there is in the Northwest.  Fall lasts so long in the Northwest.  Getting to take photos in the leaves is so much fun and I'm thinking Jack might be walking by then and will be able to play in piles of leaves!
• Home renovations!- In the summer I don't really want to renovate anything because I just want to enjoy summer and it's so damn hot (and we don't have a/c like all idiot PNW people.  Why don't we have a/c? I don't know. We are sadists).  After we redid the kitchen of our Anchorage apartment, I'm feeling really inspired and empowered to DIY the reno on our Tacoma kitchen.  I like our kitchen all right, but it can be so much better, and so much more "us" than it currently is.  Another mini reno I want to punch out?  ripping the nasty, old, dated, brown carpet in our upstairs and replacing it with white wood floors. Oh! And making our old bedroom into Jack's room!
• Going for neighborhood walks with Jack and Dusty- Our home in Anchorage wasn't great for going on walks, and here in Oregon it's pretty bad too.  Our house in Tacoma is the perfect walk distance from some of my favorite coffee shops, and I used to just take Dusty for walks with me, but now I can bring Jack in his stroller!
• Vintage shopping + Thrifting- I've been inspired lately with my personal style. I love the locally owned vintage shops in Tacoma and I plan on slowly building a wardrobe that makes me feel excited by grabbing special pieces from my favorite shops.  One of Dan and my favorite things to do together is go thrifting, and since we pared down our furniture a lot when we moved away, there are a lot of pieces we'll need to replace when we move back.  Instead of just hitting up IKEA, I want to find cool and funky pieces at thrift stores to refresh.
• Getting back in the gym- While lifting a tiny human has probably given me some of my strength back from my year absence at the gym, I'm looking forward to getting my sweat on and having a bit of time to myself.  My gym in Tacoma is my favorite place I've ever found for working out, and I've been looking forward to going back ever since I could think about working out post-baby without cringing.
• Planning Jack's 1st Birthday- Okay his birthday isn't until December, but you only get to plan a 1st birthday for your first kid once!  I do love planning parties, so I'm looking forward to putting together a really fun little party.
• Lady Dates!- my bffs are in Tacoma and I'm so looking forward to getting to hang out with my women.  Mama needs some boozy girls nights and some dancing in her life.
• Learning new things- Two things that I've been wanting to take classes in are pottery throwing and metal working for jewelry making.  Learning a new creative skill just for fun is such soul food.
• Cheap + amazing craigslisting- okay, no joke, people price things SO CRAZY HIGH on craigslist in Alaska.  I don't get it.  And it's nearly impossible to find anything cool.  Craigslisting here in the PNW is a dream.