Life Lately

My parents came to visit this week!!  It's always so fun to have them around.  I've never thought it was weird for family to live far away.  Growing up in Alaska, all our extended family members were at least one plane flight away, usually more.  When I went away to college and started living two flight legs away from my family it kind of seemed normal, to a degree.  Going to school in Washington I realized how sort of odd it is to live so far away from family.  So many people I met were super close friends with cousins or other extended family members, and they went to college only a few hours drive from their parents house and could visit on the weekends if they wanted.  I had to take two flights to get to my parents, which usually took around 7 hours total travel time.  A lot of Dan's family lives in Washington state and he's pretty close with his aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  It's a new experience for me to see.  I'm not super close to my extended family, but I'm very very close to my "nuclear" family, so the handful of times a year they fly down/I fly up are always a treat.  Perhaps someday my parents will move closer to us.  It would certainly be so wonderful to have them around to hang out and have fun, and in the distant future when Dan & I decide to start a family, it would be great to have them around.  I'd love for my children to have a closer relationship with their grandparents than I have with mine.  I guess there are sacrifices to be made for living in the "last frontier," but I cherish growing up there and am so thankful for having spent my formative years up there.

 my sweet love // climbing at Little Si // delicious taco truck // S'mores & cookouts
new favorite swimsuit // drinks & bites with my parents at 1022! // iced americanos, yumm
guacamole in the works // new pretty shades

Lulu's + DT // Vintage Springfield

I had just checked off seeing the Meteor Crater in Arizona when I was thinking about what my next destination would be for me and the Brave.  I had been following Elsie's chronicles of the grand opening of her boutique, Red Velvet, and I realized that perhaps it would be possible to go visit.  So I looked it up and discovered I wasn't that far away!  I drew the next X on my map and started heading eastward to Springfield, MO.  Elsie and Emma were so friendly and hung out with me for a couple days while I was in town.  We hung out at the shop, ate cupcakes, took blog photos, tried on vintage dresses, and more.  It was really fun!  One of my favorite parts of my Brave trip was getting to meet up with blog friends in real life!  

Floral Engagement Lace Dress + Suede Lace-up Oxfords +
Rock Candy Pastel Sunglasses + Sunny Florida Coral Pink Handbag/courtesy of Lulu's.com
necklace/courtesy of poppy & fern :: photos by Dan

Here in Tacoma we've got a few cute vintage shops.  Vanity is one of the vintage shops I like, located right on 6th Ave, not too far from our favorite haunts.  I was looking for a cute vintage dress to wear for our wedding "after party" that we were having the day after our wedding, and I found the perfect little 50's dress at Vanity, along with a nice pair of gloves, a pillbox hat, and a petticoat to give the dress that 50's flare.  My BFF/Maid of Honor got her Mad Men bachelorette party dress from Vanity at the same time!

A couple other Tacoma vintage shops I enjoy are Orange and Nine Lives Vintage.  Orange is less than a block away from Vanity, and Nine Lives is only a few blocks east on 6th.  It's nice that there are a few vintage shops on 6th now.  It makes for a fun little vintage-shopping walk... with coffee and/or beer rest stops in between, of course.  I have a dress from Orange I've need to get altered for a while.  Oh altering pile, you are so large and full of things which could be super cute.

Check out my other posts in this series here and here!

Sunshine on my Shoulders

People.  I'm in heaven.  Summer has hit Tacoma hard, and boy is it good.  All I want to do is sit outside in a sundress and soak in the vitamin D like there's no tomorrow.  The forecast for the next week is all suns, which I'm pretty sure I haven't seen since last September.  Hallelujah!  And as far as sundresses go, this one is my all time favorite.  I got it from ModCloth two years ago and it's the perfect sundress.  not only is it yellow, but it's the perfect length and so lightweight and breezy.  The day when it's finally warm enough to wear just the dress with no tights or cardigan is the best day.  Of course, the evenings can still get a little chilly, so I like to bring this denim jacket along.  It's the perfect weight for summer evenings.

dress/modcloth :: shoes/courtesy of seychelles :: jacket/courtesy of lulus :: bag/fossil

This weekend was super exhausting, but great.  On Sunday we woke up early and met up with a bunch of friends to go rock climbing out at Exit 32.  I was kind of groggy after spending the previous night sort of violently ill for some reason, but after about an hour and getting some coffee in me I was feeling excited about the day.  The weather was perfect.  Super warm and sunny, but not roasting, and the hike up to the crags was cool in the shade of huge evergreens.  It was my first time climbing outdoors on real rock, so I was pretty thrilled to finally climb "for reals."  It was awesome.  There was a bunch of us and only one rope, so we all took turns.  I climbed two routes and felt really good about my first time out.  I'd love to go out again and try some of the other routes.  Life has been pretty crazy for the last couple weeks and only seems to be continuing the crazy streak, so it was nice to take an impromptu trip to the woods.  All the fresh air and exercise was a much needed reboot, and even though I could've been working the whole day, it was good to get a change of scenery.

Temperatures Rising

Now that summer has arrived in Tacoma, it's so refreshing to wear thin, breathable fabrics and do away with layers.  I love layering, but I do look forward to the summer months when all I have to do is throw on a couple light pieces and head out.  These crochet shorts are a nice, breathable, summery piece.  These days I'm more of a dress kind of girl, when it comes to warm weather dressing.  Throwing on a dress is just such an easy route to go when it's hot outside, but shorts can afford the look of layering without actually putting on a bunch of layers.  What's your go-to hot summer day outfit?

top/courtesy of ruche :: shorts/courtesy of free people :: shoes/courtesy of modcloth

Dandelion Flower Crowns

It's Friday! This has been an overwhelming week full of emotion and stress, so I think I'm going to try and relax today. We've got some big decisions to make this month, and it's easy to let the stress of decision-making get the best of me, but it's finally summer in Tacoma so I'm going to put on a sundress, make a flower crown out of dandelions, and hang out with Dan in the sun.  I'm wishing a relaxing and rejuvenating Friday for all you lovelies!  Give yourself a break and wash away all that stress!