um, october?

*tap tap* is this thing on?

oh hi there. i have a blog! i should maybe write some things about what's going on in my life as a somewhat-settled LA resident these days. let me catch you up:

i turned 30. this is my first picture as a 30 year old. looking good.

i got two new tattoos in honor of my new decade. here's one.

i traveled to san francisco, dc, and made my first trip back to nyc as a non-resident (but not a tourist, i swear!) where i got to catch up with friends.

i've become obsessed with stand-up paddle board yoga. i know, so LA.

i'm on day 6 of a whole 30 challenge and feel fabulous. this was breakfast yesterday (with two eggs on top).

we saw the sound of music singalong at the hollywood bowl and it was the best night of my life.

we hiked runyon canyon in the 100 degree heat and were rewarded with these views.

i could do with a bit less dramatic heat, especially because we are lacking an air conditioner, and i am counting down the days until we get our own place and i can sleep in our own bed again, but other than that, not too much to complain about. i might try and write a few more things on this here ol' website every now and again, if that's ok with you.

anyways, what's new in your neck of the woods?

you know you were at an epic wedding when...

you wake up the next day with only two pictures on your phone, because you were too busy dancing and taking shots of fireball and twirling parasols and singing karaoke and spilling wine on everything and eating tacos from a taco truck at midnight to take pictures.

so yeah. i guess i could describe the beauty of the bride, the venue, their love for each other, etc. but really, all there is to know is that it was all perfect and we had too much fun. literally too much.

yes, apparently, i crave candy corn when i'm hungover. tried to balance it out with a 'juice' but to no avail.

i'm still recovering.

hey, it's my last week of my twenties, i'm going out with a bang! back to la tonight - which means its our first time returning as residents. still feels surreal to be up here in seattle and not be flying home to JFK. but i missed our palm trees, so i'm excited to get home!

a very beachy labor day weekend

well, that was a successful weekend! we spent both saturday and monday lounging at the beach and taking full advantage of the sun and the sand. our plan was to go to malibu, but as we were driving through santa monica, we got impatient, found parking and set ourselves up right in front of the waves for the whole day. it is SO much easier to get to the beach now than it was in NYC... no more renting zip cars and sitting for 3 hours on the long island expressway. we made it there in under 30 minutes both days! yes please. 

apart from beaching it up, we ran errands on sunday, and then last night, i went to a yoga class and practiced right next to zach gilford and his wife (he plays matt saracen on friday night lights!!). they were both adorable, and we even chatted after class. i know, it was so la. 

i know summer is supposed to be 'over', but i feel like ours is just beginning! definitely the first of many weekends spent lounging on the sand. how was your long weekend?

check out our sweet set-up... purchased everything at a sports authority on our way that morning. um, yeah, we're going to step up our gear game, don't worry. #stripesonstripesonstripes

there were dolphins frolicking right about where waves were breaking, and blake boogie boarded out there super close! it was so beautiful and surreal to see them, though i could have used a few more flips and tricks. they seemed kind of lazy. 

he is officially the worst selfie-taking partner ever. honestly. 

five on friday: boyhood, good reads, and sweaters

i know everyone is asking this, but seriously though, no one has answered it yet: how the heck is it labor day already? it feels like just yesterday we were packing up boxes in nyc and getting on a plane to europe, and yet here we are, already two weeks into our new life in la. it's pretty insane! a few random thoughts on this friday before the long weekend...

a view of downtown la from silver lake

i'm feeling really left out of all this talk about sweaters, pumpkin spice, and boots, and it's kind of bumming me out! the grass is always greener, i suppose. last fall and winter, all i wanted was sunshine and 80 degrees every day, and now that we have it, it's kind of surreal! i'm not sure what kind of fall shopping to do other than more shorts and sundresses. i know, pity party for one over here.

when my mom was here last weekend, after a long day of walking around in the sun, we parked ourselves in a movie theater to see 'boyhood' and i can't stop thinking about it! such an amazing film, especially because the main actor who plays mason looks JUST like my little brother (er, younger brother, as he's 12 and taller than me), so it was like watching him grow up again. if you haven't seen it, carve three hours out of your weekend and thank me later.

my latest staying-up-way-past-my-bedtime-and-burning-through-my-kindle-battery read was the emotional roller coaster otherwise known as 'the husband's secret'. i seriously had whiplash from all the plot twists (hey-o!), but couldn't put it down and can't wait to read her next book. i think i read that it's going to be turned into a movie, which yes please. highly, highly recommend this book.

we're going on our first la beach trip this weekend! we're going to take off super early to beat traffic and explore malibu, which i've never visited before. fingers crossed for some celeb sightings, which for some reason are far more exciting here than they were in nyc. there is literally nothing better than a nap on the beach, so i'm really excited.

alright, this is me "working" this afternoon. i'm thinking i'm gonna call it an early day. hooray long weekends! hope you have a great one!

11 days or 11 years?

i don't know whether this is a good sign or a bad sign, but i find it very difficult to believe that we've officially lived in LA for only two weeks. i mean, it feels like we've been here for ages and ages, and i think that means we might be home! i've found a great running path and yoga studio, figured out a daily routine, located all our nearest j.crews and whole foods, and pretty much have settled right into things. quick sunset picture interlude because obviously:

taken right in front of our apartment's entrance

and to really feel like we're at home, we had our first guest come stay with us... my mom came to visit from austin!

we did all kinds of neighborhood exploring and walking and eating, and to top it all off, on monday we went shopping at the grove with my mom and sister's personal stylist from austin, laurel from trophy boutique. it was SO MUCH FUN. i was in desperate need of a wardrobe revamp, given the fact that i no longer need any office attire and want to totally west coastify my clothes. so with laurel's help, i went way out of my comfort zone of striped t-shirts and j.crew chino shorts, and even bought a romper. A ROMPER. i never thought i'd see the day, but good lord is it comfortable.

at the end of the spree

i am super pumped to have some new clothes to wear out and about and love the idea of reinventing myself in this new place. i mean, what else is turning 30 and moving across the country good for? although you can pry my striped t-shirts from my cold, dead hands, i'll occasionally branch out now. for realsies.

can we also talk about how it's labor day weekend already? holy crap. has this summer been nuts or what?

thoughts on thursday: meet frankie!

um, look who arrived yesterday!

a VERY happy early birthday to me! meet frankie, my new prized possession. frankie and i are already BFFs and are going to explore all of LA together. i can tell that this is the start of a long and happy relationship. she just needs a bell, a basket, and a rider with a less dorky helmet, and we'll be all set.

this whole turning 30 thing is pretty swell!

a very LA kale salad

hello from los angeles! it's been five days since we got here, and we've been crazy busy just getting settled and exploring our new neighborhood. honestly, i don't know why we didn't move here ten years ago. i'm loving it so far, and can't believe i'm lucky enough to call this place home now.

much, much more to say on that front, but in the meantime, go check out a guest post i did over at jessica's blog about the best kale salad everrrr (i know, very la of me, right?) and i'll be back soon!

today's the day!

image via

it's a day that's been marked on our calendars since january of this year... and tonight, we will fall asleep in our new city! i cannot wait to wake up tomorrow and start exploring. i keep checking the weather to see what it's going to be like, forgetting that it's going to be 85 and sunny every day forever. old habits die hard...

hope your weekend is just as momentous and exciting as ours (but requires less time in a car driving down I-5). happy friday!

last week at the gorge

before i share some pics of the amazing concert we went to last week, can i ask you to send some good vibes to some of our best friends who just gave birth to their son at 30 weeks? he's in the NICU and to make it more complicated, they were visiting DC from NYC when she went into labor, so they're stuck away from home for at least a month while he gets stronger. i'm really proud of the way our group of friends sprung into action to send love and support, but if anyone has ideas on how we can best take care of them during the next few weeks, i'm all ears! and of course, sending some get strong thoughts to sweet owen would be amazing. thank you!

so last friday after we packed up in seattle, our first stop en route to california was at the gorge, this incredible concert venue in eastern washington that overlooks the columbia river. it's so beautiful on its own, the concert itself is almost an afterthought. we saw arcade fire (SO GOOD) and the people-watching was probably the other highlight outside of all that nature. some very... um, special people made the trek out to the middle of nowhere - obviously, we are totally normal and don't fall into that category. right? right. anyways, i was on a sunset picture taking tear. kind of hard not to be, i mean look at that view. oh, and of course, arcade fire was totally amazing and i'd highly recommend catching them live if you can!

serious concert selfie

totally normal, just like i said. right?

just a bunch of normal matching french shoes. because we're normal.