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!

look where we are!

yes, blake is actually excited. he just chooses not to show it, apparently.

we made it! well, almost. we are officially in california! we're staying in sacramento with my dad for the next few days, and then finally (FINALLY!) heading to la on friday afternoon. it was so exciting to cross that state line, and totally surreal after our summer of bopping all around the planet.

all packed and ready to hit the road! 

my view for much of the day. 

mt. shasta in northern california

selfie payback for blake not smiling in our state line picture.

our weekend was jam-packed, with an arcade fire concert at the gorge friday night (more to come on that), a 14 hour drive from eastern washington on saturday, and then on sunday *drum roll please* we got a car!!

cr-v, i love you.

yes that's right, we officially have a set of wheels to call our own, and it's the very first time in my life that i've had one. i'm not gonna lie, it feels awesome. i can just hop in and go anywhere i want, anytime i want! pure luxury.

ah yes, it's all coming together. los angeles: are you ready for us?

so long, seattle. next stop: california.

well, today another chapter of our epic summer adventure comes to an end. remember when we lived in nyc? yeah, me neither. that was approximately seven million years ago at this point. anyways, we've been spoiled rotten in seattle both by the weather and by blake's parents, but our three weeks here have totally flown by! i could happily stay another month, but it's time for us to pack up and keep on moving. and by pack up, of course i mean throw all of our clothes in the trunk of the car because i'm sick of packing suitcases. might even use a garbage bag or two, that's how classy our travel has become!

tonight, we're headed to see arcade fire at the gorge, which i am so excited about, and then tomorrow, we head out from eastern washington down to sacramento, where our next pit stop is at my dad's house until the 15th. anybody have a good road trip playlist that lasts, oh, i don't know, 12 hours or so? i predict an epic battle for control of spotify tomorrow.

i'll leave you with one final amazing seattle sunset seen from the deck last night, as i've got some clothes to put in trash bags. see ya in california!

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

top five things i'm excited about in la

in just over a month, we will be rolling into la with just a few suitcases, ready to take on the world. that makes it eight months from the original idea percolating to actually making it happen... and during those eight months, i've had a lot to get excited about. here's what i'm most looking forward to about living in los angeles.

1. weather. duh.

this could probably be numbers 1 through 10, i am that excited about the sunshine. i truly thought i was in it for the long haul with new york city, and never really pictured living anywhere else, until this winter and the phrase "polar vortex" entered my vocabulary. as i'm typing this wearing shorts in july with freckled arms, it's almost a distant memory. but those long dark days of february made it really easy to say goodbye to nyc and hello to year-round 70 degree days.

nope. nope. nope. no more.

a new month, new goals

holy crap. how is it july today? how has it been a whole month since we left nyc? so insane. to start things off right, i'm setting some goals and writing them down here so that i HAVE to achieve them because that's how goals work. here's what i'm committing to this month:

being present: this is the most challenging of the list. there are so many big life changes for us in the next few months, that it's really hard to focus on today and enjoy each day for what it is. i'm going to make a concerted effort to not spend all day googling restaurants and yoga studios in la, or apartment-hunting, or google earth stalking different neighborhoods (yes this is a thing). instead, i'm savoring this time we have to ourselves, in france, before the craziness starts. this one will be hard but is the most important to me. 

running: i have two running-related goals this month. it's been about 30 days since i last laced up, my longest break since i started running two or three years ago. yes, we were on vacation, and bopping around europe, and getting settled here in semur, but i don't really have any excuse to not be running any more. a great motivator? i'm going to sign myself up for a race later this fall in la! once i put that money down and have a date to train for, it's much easier to find that motivation in the morning. and i know i feel a million times better when i take that time to get the blood flowing.

sugar dragon: oh man, oh man. to borrow a whole30 phrase, i am really battling my sugar dragon here. after doing two whole30s in the past 10 months, my eating habits had really changed. i already knew dairy and gluten were my nemeses, but since last august, we'd also cut out all grains, all sugar, all soy, and cut way back on alcohol. lo and behold, here we are in july and i'm sneaking dessert with every meal and having a glass or two of wine every night. it's obviously not crazy, but i just know i feel better when i eat less junk. part of me says, hey, we're in france, it's ok to indulge! but then the other part is seriously craving the magical tiger-blood phase of a whole30. compromise? cutting back on sugar. maybe just one macaron a day instead of five. or ten. and a whole30 in october.

saving cash money: to be totally honest, spending six weeks in europe was the best financial decision we've ever made. do you know how much more money is in your bank account when you're not paying manhattan rents? it's crazy! having some extra cash floating around is tempting me to take advantage of summer j.crew sales, but instead, we're trying to sock away as much as possible for all the fun expenses that await us in la in august. things like a car (?!?!), an apartment deposit, new furniture, etc. so here's to living frugally in a place where to be honest, we couldn't really even spend money if we tried. except on wine and macarons (see goal above).

so that's what i'm tackling in the next... (thirty days have september, april, june, and november, all the rest have 31 ...) 31 days!

what's on your list to accomplish this month?

goodbye to all that

"I remember walking across Sixty-second Street one twilight that first spring, or the second spring, they were all alike for a while. I was late to meet someone but I stopped at Lexington Avenue and bought a peach and stood on the corner eating it and knew that I had come out out of the West and reached the mirage. I could taste the peach and feel the soft air blowing from a subway grating on my legs and I could smell lilac and garbage and expensive perfume and I knew that it would cost something sooner or later — because I did not belong there, did not come from there — but when you are twenty-two or twenty-three, you figure that later you will have a high emotional balance, and be able to pay whatever it costs. I still believed in possibilities then, still had the sense, so peculiar to New York, that something extraordinary would happen any minute, any day, any month." 

Joan Didion, "Goodbye to All That"

it's happening!!!

oh, don't mind me. just sitting here, waiting for movers to take everything we own and put it in storage.

hey belongings, see you in LA!

our (long!) weekend was...

...warm and fuzzy
thursday night, we had a big going-away party and i was blown away by the number of people who stopped by to wish us well on our new adventures. knowing that we have such an amazing network of friends in this city is one of the hardest things to leave, but any opportunity to see what kind of influence you've had on others' lives is a powerful experience. also, it was just downright fun! we hung out at a bar in the east village, and then ended the night with some terrible mexican food. so lucky to be riding off into the sunset with this guy!

...full of boxes

the movers come on thursday morning, and save for our sheets and towels and some kitchen basics, we're ready for them. not gonna lie, growing up moving every two years has made me an incredible packer. see those boxes down there? those were all packed in three hours. and labeled, and entered into our inventory so we know what's in every box. hell yeah. this ain't my first rodeo.

...upside-down

the best thing about nyc on holiday weekends is how empty and quiet it can feel. until you walk over the central park and realize that everyone is hanging out there! on sunday, to reward ourselves for packing, we wandered around and lounged on the great lawn for a bit. by lounged, i mean, did some yoga. 

... the end of an era

we had our last family dinner with friends coming over for a taco feast on monday night, and we pre-gamed on our balcony (aka our favorite "room" in our apartment). love having this little slice of outdoor space and sitting across from this guy. sigh.

what did you get up to this weekend?

five on friday: nyc bucket list

alright, it's time to face facts. we have just three weekends left in NYC, and one of them (memorial day weekend, of course), is going to be spent packing and getting ready for movers. yikes. so i'm linking up again to do a five on friday post with our nyc bucket list! let's see how many we can get done in the next two weekends...

1. take the staten island ferry. it's free, beautiful, and you don't even have to stay in staten island very long! totally worth it for the views and the photo opps.

2. do a double-decker bus tour. this is one of those activities that, once you move here, fall pretty low on your priority list. the last thing on earth i want someone to confuse me for is a tourist! can you imagine?? the horror. but it's a great way to see the city from a new perspective. why not?

3. one more visit to the brooklyn flea. now that the weather has warmed up, the brooklyn flea is back in full swing. such amazing food trucks, and it's really fun to browse and then sit in the sun and enjoy the people-watching. plus, taking the ferry to get there is an added bonus. apparently, ferries are big on my bucket list.

4. run along the west side highway. i've been a pretty lazy runner the past few weeks (for a number of reasons), and i am a die-hard central park loop runner, so i've only done the west side highway a few times. we're staying downtown for a few nights after moving out, so it'll be a great time to get a few runs in with some heart-stoppingly beautiful views.

5. walk from the UES to the LES. one of my favorite parts of living in nyc is just leaving our apartment and heading off on foot to discover whatever it is we're going to discover. going on long walks the length of manhattan is such a fun way to see what's happening around the city, and making a few pit stops for refreshments along the way makes for an excellent afternoon.

have you done any of these in nyc? if you were moving, what would be on your bucket list?

five on friday!

linking up again for a random miscellany of thoughts this foggy, dreary friday. bring on the sunshine this weekend!

1. donna tartt

have you all read the goldfinch? yes? ok excellent. because every time i go to my kindle, i hope there's a little bit more of it to read. it was truly amazing. i've since then gobbled up everything else by the same author, and right now, i'm reading the little friend and it's just not scratching the goldfinch itch i had, even though i think it's even longer (which is hard to believe). i am about halfway through but can't seem to give up on it. maybe it gets better?

2. silver lake!

one of the most exciting things that happened this week was that we locked down a sublet in LA from a colleague of mine who will be traveling from august til december. it's right smack dab in one of the neighborhoods we wanted to check out, which is the "brooklyn of LA" (i'm rolling my eyes right now in case you can't see), but seems really walkable and full of cool restaurants, coffee shops, and all that good stuff. so relieved to not have a big apartment hunt awaiting us! it will be so much easier to get a place in december while we're actually there, and now we'll have a chance to take this neighborhood on a trial run!

3. mad men

i'm in denial that there are only 3 more episodes left this "season". i seriously can't even talk about life after don draper. that is all.

4. #bringbackourgirls

if you haven't yet signed this amazing petition, take a sec to add your name. it's about to reach a million signatures, which is really incredible. 

5. this gif

enjoy. i can't stop looking at it.

happy weekending!!

keep it/switch it (living room!)

what's the best part about moving? well, for me, it's the chance to find a brand new, totally blank canvas to decorate and make our own. to be totally honest, when we moved into this apartment two years ago, i really thought we'd be staying for much longer than two years. so we put quite a bit of effort into making it feel like a home, and did the big adult furniture upgrade (so long ikea, hello west elm!).

so lately, i've been thinking a lot about what i love about this place and what i'm excited to do over. let's start with the living room!

keep it

• i really, really love our gallery wall! will definitely be redoing it in the new place.
• the paint color is coventry gray by benjamin moore, and it's just the right kind of gray - not too blue, not too brown.

switch it

• our couch is the blake sectional from west elm (yep, guess who picked it out?) in stone, and it is incredibly comfortable and resilient. but it's going to cost $500 to move just that one piece of furniture, and then it'll start to add up in storage. i think we're going to go ahead and sell it and just get a new one in LA. i kind of like the idea of getting a different color, as this one is a little more beige-y than gray. maybe something a little darker, since i hope we'll be getting a pup once we're settled! anyone in the market for a couch?
• the coffee table situation is pretty terrible. we've had this old leather ottoman as a placeholder for, oh, two years now? would love to upgrade to something wooden and industrial, like this one or this cool tufted one (love me some tufting!). 
• the throw pillows i can take or leave. i am thinking we'll move away from all of the color we have and go a little more neutral, so maybe replace those with less bright patterns. we'll see. 
• the rug is this west elm dhurrie, and i love the color and pattern, but think we can use it somewhere else. it's always been a little too small for this space. 

keep it

• um, this whole tv situation is kind of sad. 

switch it

• how about a new tv that we could mount to the wall? 
• this poor little ikea bookcase is ever so durable and flexible, but i'd love to get an actual media console. and maybe one that isn't smaller than the tv? sigh. 
• yep, let's just switch all of it.

keep it

• directly across from the sofa are our bookshelves. we have managed to amass quite a collection of objets (i believe that's french for 'stuff') to display on our bookcases. our white porcelain animals are 100% making the move with us. 

switch it

• i was really going through a colorful phase when we moved in. the green is a little much, so i'm thinking we will probably keep these guys (they will pack flat once we disassemble them), but i'd love to get either some white or wood shelves in the new place. 

what do you wish you could re-do in your apartment or house? 

five on friday: european travel extravaganza!

linking up with april and friends for a little five on friday action!

for most people, moving across the country is enough of an adventure for one summer.

apparently, we are not most people.

when a family friend posted on facebook about needing a house- and dog-sitter for six weeks in a small town in burgundy (yes, as in burgundy, france), we realized we had a pretty near once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. with no apartment lease holding us down (it's remarkable how freeing not paying new york city rent can be!), our belongings in storage for a surprisingly fair monthly fee, and my ability to work remotely from anywhere, we jumped at the chance.

but why just go to burgundy when you can also spend two weeks flitting about the continent? yes, we added even more, because why not? (if i was still allowed to say #yolo, i think it would fit quite perfectly here, but i'm really trying hard to move away from that). so for the first two weeks of our trip, here's where we're off to!

stop 1: london

staying with some friends in friggin notting hill... could it be any more perfect? we'll ease ourselves into our european summer by hanging out here for about three days, just enough to find a favorite pub and of course swing by for tea with wills, kate, and george. 

stop 2: ohringen, germany

my step-dad is german, and he, my mom, and my little brother spend a few weeks visiting his family each summer. we're going to hang out with oma and take advantage of more free lodging. i expect to gain at least 15 lbs in the few days we're staying with oma... she is famous for ensuring that you're stuffed to the brim at every meal.

stop 3: heidelberg, germany

as a proud graduate of heidelberg american high school (which has now since closed!), i spent my senior year here, and considered it home while i was in college. i haven't been back in about six years, so i'm excited revisit my old stomping grounds and show blake around! and yes, that's the castle at which our prom was held. no, i'm not joking.

stop 4: paris

the last time i was in paris, i was 16, and though shopping at the gap on the champs elysees was the height of sophistication. this time around, we're staying in an airbnb and can pretend we're real parisians. the only thing on my agenda is strolling around and sitting in outdoor cafes, people-watching with a glass of cotes-du-rhone. 

stop 5: semur-en-auxois

our home base for the rest of the summer is this tiny town about two hours from paris. here's hoping my high school and college french comes back (it's a wee bit rusty...). we'll happen to be here during the world cup too, so i'm pumped to root for france from the village brasserie! it'll be slight change of pace from nyc, but i'm excited to check out the great wines and beautiful countryside. 

so yeah, not much going on this summer. once we're back stateside at the end of july, we'll hang out in seattle for a bit (because why not?), and finally make our way down to LA to start our new life at the end of august. i honestly can't decide what part i'm most excited about... but not paying rent for a good three months is definitely up there. 

happy friday!

a fresh new start

in about five weeks, our little apartment nestled on the upper east side of manhattan will be packed up and put into storage. our painstakingly chosen wall colors will be painted over, and everything we own will be in boxes. it's a little mind-boggling to sit here and see everything we own, and then picture it on the other side of the country in a few months.

we're moving to LA! i am excited. i am sad. i am nervous. i am (every other emotion under the sun). i love new york, and never thought i'd leave... but here we are! a new adventure awaits.

of course, in between the move, we'll be spending our summer in europe, having somehow secured a dog and house-sitting gig in the middle of burgundy, france. um. what? is this really my life?

so this new corner of the internet is going to hear all about what it's like to pack up and move across the country, spend a few weeks in a foreign country, keep your belongings in storage for several months at a time, and start all over in a brand-new city that is the polar opposite of what you've grown to love.

if that all sounds too dramatic, then fret not! i'm excite to post about what i'm cooking, wearing, eating, watching, reading, drinking, wearing and all of that fun stuff. off we go!