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?

five on friday: i'm alive, i swear!

holy. crap. hello! this week has been one thing after another and none of those things have involved blogging. alas, here we are on a friday yet again, so how about i catch you up on what's gone on the past seven or so days?

we survived the family reunion. 
and miraculously, so did everyone else! it was certainly a lot of together time, but i mostly marveled at the fact that blake's family has been doing this every four years for the past 30 or so, when my family wouldn't even be able to visit the same state together without melting down. and yes, there are all kinds of idiosyncrasies and politics and dysfunctional members as there are in every family (so i hear), but it was pretty cool to be a part of this one! oh and we got a lot of fun boat rides and meals out of it. win win.

then i got sick. 
like really sick. monday night was the worst, and let's just say it will be a long time before i eat steak with chimichurri sauce again (DAMMIT, THAT'S MY FAVORITE). tmi? sorry. but in a lovely twist of fate, turns out that on top of some weird 24 hour bug, i got a terrible head cold - yes, in july - and have been feeling miserable since tuesday. it is now friday, and i am over. it. still feeling only about 75%, but i'm hoping that i can finally get back to normal to enjoy this beautiful weekend in seattle! also it would be great if i could stop sounding like an 85 year old smoker hacking up a lung.

oh, but in between, i bought this dress!
eek, i want it now!! eagerly awaiting ups this afternoon and trying to decide if it's too fancy to wear to a bbq tomorrow afternoon. probably?

and i got my hair cut. 
but since i've either been puking or sneezing since then, it's been rather difficult to get a good picture. so you'll just have to wait for the big reveal in a few days. but i looooove it!

also i might just never leave seattle.
or really, i guess i'd like to summer in seattle. having been here in the winter, i know it's not always like this, so i'd rather spend july and august here when it is stunningly perfect. and yesterday, the blue angels were practicing right over us for a few hours, and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. they're doing a big show for a week-long festival called seafair, and we're going down to the boat this afternoon to watch it. yes, another friday on a boat.

this weekend, we've got a few bbq's, and i'm dying to get back to yoga and go stand up paddle-boarding. our time here is flying by! what's on your agenda this weekend?

west elm sale picks

let's pretend for a minute that we had an apartment in la already... and didn't have to wait til december to scratch my decorating itch. weirdly, i doubt our subletter would be super thrilled if she came home after four months to a totally redone space. i mean, whatever.

but back to this fantasy apartment... i'd be going nuts at the west elm sale right now, especially because it's an extra 25% off. here's what i'd be picking up for us. feel free to shop on my behalf and let me know how it goes!

dot medallion duvet cover / freeman storage unit / courtyard wool dhurrie / bamboo laundry hamper / claudia pearson dog plates / chevron crewel pillow covers