blue skies have arrived

A full day spent in my bed watching TV. All. Day. Long. At least eight hours of television/movie watching in one sitting. Mulan, American Horror Story, and America's Next Top Model. 

Captain Crunch for breakfast, an appetizer before dinner, and dessert. Grilled cheese. 

Coffee at three in the morning. Russian Rummy, speed, and hearts. A bottle of wine for one. Leather jackets and beanies. Crocheting hats in front of the TV. A group of the best friends sitting spread eagle on my living room floor. Cards against humanity. Driving home at two in the morning. The Conjuring. 

"I like you a lot. And I like making out with you a lot."

Crashing a 20-monthaversary dinner with iHop cheesecake pancakes, finishing two whole pots of coffee between two people, a Target excursion that included picking out a cardigan for someone else's boyfriend, and a girl movie date to About Time. Actual tears. Ginger love. Babies. Ben Folds. 

Finishing an entire book in one evening, Me Before You. So, so good.

Waking up alone in an empty apartment with sun seeping through the blinds. A 30 minute call from Dad. 

A run on the mountain through breaking fog escaping the valley. Dance running to Lorde down the trail. Remembering Norah and the Whale. Realizing the blue skies have arrived. 

weddings, Saturday nights & Sunday mornings, and favorite dresses

There's something about waking up at noon on a Sunday on your living room couch. There's something about the contrast of thundering pummeling rain and the sounds of a friend snoring softly next to you on the floor. Call it some sort of contentedness or warmth of being surrounded on all sides by LIFE and the noises it makes after a Saturday night of board game playing and thunder storms- but it was the most contended way to wake up.

So, I'm ombre again. But this time I'm a blonde one. I know ombre quit being cool months ago and it's not even worth my time to try to defend the two second decision I made to do it or act like it was really hard to go against the masses here in Montana telling me ombre went out a long time ago. Boring brown mop no more, I say!

On to other things, yesterday I woke up at 7am, loaded up a buttered english muffin and protein bar for the road, and drove 100 miles to a part of Montana I've never seen completely on my own in my little Subaru. How have I never really noticed how BIG and expansive and huge and pretty Montana is? Because I've only gone as far as Missoula, that's why. Which is a darn shame. There was this splendid moment where the sun was coming up as I crested the pass going 45mph without another soul on the road that the chorus to Pompeii began that seemed almost too perfect to be something not contrived by my imagination. Then, after arriving at a big red barn that is an actual historic landmark, for four and then some hours I got to shoot my very first wedding with another photographer in Missoula and I had an adrenaline rush the entire time. Is that possible? I'm saying it is. Were my fingers and wrists sore after holding up a six pound camera for that long? They're still sore today.

I guess that's all that's new for now. I really enjoyed blogging almost every day this week and lugging my camera around felt less like lugging for once in the past three months so it could just be that I'm feeling blog inspired again. No promises, but I hope it's here to stick. 

OH, and this is my favorite dress. I know everyone was wondering. Also, it's definitely still summer. I'm not over summer yet even as I sit here with a pumpkin spice flavored tea.

Also, this is Danielle. Who I managed to steal from our old stomping grounds in the Palouse to go to school in Montana. She makes me laugh like no other and is prettier than the sea and you'll probably see her a lot for the next two years.

because cats and sundays

This weekend I just sort of put away the camera. All weekend long. And I just had sort of a thoughtless weekend. No running around the city, no 12 hour long parking fees, no navigating, no "figuring out"- none of it. It was easy and so, so good. Part of my Seattle mentality has been to do everything I can possibly do when I'm not at work because it's Seattle after all and I want to take advantage of it as much as I can, but this weekend after just taking it easy I realized how silly I was for thinking I couldn't take advantage of my time here without going into the city. My go-go-go all the time lifestyle as its been can unpause every now and then and you know, the world won't end and I won't regret a day not adventuring in the city after all. I'm glad I figured that out. Because quite seriously, the Puget Sound is in my background and provided hours upon hours of pure bliss on Sunday.

(Little unknown secret I feel safe sharing now that I don't live alone and the family I'm staying with is back: I'm living on an island close to Seattle and commute into the city every day by ferry.)

SO! Because I left my camera in its place on my nightstand, a couple of uncategorized happenings in my life lately include: the Jim to my inner Pam/future Marshall environmental lawyer turned out to kind of sort be the opposite of grand (but all's well that ends well and by ends well I mean a milkshake and shrug because cats), writing things (real things! like, things that I like sort of like things! like, fiction and stories! and I'm not ashamed to admit that to the world!), making a brand spankin' new friend in Seattle after working with her at the event last week and ending our goodbye with, "Hey, so I don't have many friends, want to hang out sometime?!" and she said I seemed awesome so I skipped away like a happy clam, planning for two of my favorite people to visit me because while I so badly wish going to Austin to meet 20 of the best people I've ever met on the internet could have worked out with my work schedule and vacation time, instead two of my friends willingly spent money on plane tickets to hang out with me on my 21st birthday at the end of the month, and arrangements have been made so that I can go home for the long 4th weekend before I go on vacation with my family to our annual camping reunion.

Huzzah! All good things and only good things are happening in my neck of the woods. ALSO, HELLO JULY! July is kind of my fave. 

what my sunday morning looked like that ONE time

Last weekend, when I had the whole apartment to myself- well, by golly! I made myself some chocolate chip pancakes and a homemade mocha, then sat myself down at the table with none other than our kitty cat. However, I couldn't take pictures of the things behind the scenes that would have spoiled the illusion that my life is actually this pretty once in a blue moon. Not because I cared about ruining that illusion and seem like a normal lazy twenty year old college student, but because it wouldn't have made it past parental controls on your web browser if you happened to have them. The true beauty of this scene and this morning was the pantless One Direction singing at the top of my lungs, messy living room scattered with notes, and raccoon eyes because I just do not care to take off my makeup before bed sometimes. Or before making breakfast.

However, let me tell you: when I have guests over, I like to treat them right. Someone please vouche for me (Katy!?). I like to make them chocolate chip pancakes and introduce them to my cat. And these days I've gotten pretty okay at using the whole espresso maker. So, if you were to visit me, your morning would look like this and that would be beautiful.

But if it's me alone, there's a lot more to be seen. I just thought I needed to clarify that so there isn't any confusion. My pancakes are scrumptious and as good as they photograph, however.

sunday fun day

recipe to put the fun in a sunday when there's a blizzard outside and it's april:

(1) decide you don't want to cook for dinner and instead use your free punch on your frozen yogurt card. you can't feel the cold if you're inside, am i right?

also, i filled my entire 16oz cup with yogurt and toppings. the equivalent of this cup of yogurt would have cost $8.62.

(2) listen to this mash up and dance to it in your living room with the curtains drawn while your roommate isn't home.
(3) think about seattle until your brain hurts. 
(4) drink tea and call your grandma for two hours because grandmas make everything in life sweeter.
(5) will this dress to go on sale again so you can finally buy it after six months of staring at it online and trying it on in stores twice.
(6) if all else fails, watch these youtube videos:

good news and a 10k (+ then some) saturday!

this weekend is starting off wonderfully. as in, the best kind of way a weekend could ever start.

and it's only saturday.

the kids that i nanny are easily the best part of my week. i don't know how i got so lucky to get a job that is not only perfect for my schedule but blesses me with afternoons playing at the park with two of the most fun children ever, but it's too good to be true. even when i'm exhausted by the end of the week or cranky because of the piling on of a week's worth of stress, the second i walk through the door and i'm greeted with their hugs, it all goes away. it's the perfect way to recharge before the weekend starts and end the week.

i got the best kind of news yesterday after work, the kind i'm proud of and can't wait to talk more about when everything is said and done. i celebrated said news with a trip to target to buy a grown up kind of purse and chocolate peanut butter ice cream from cold stone. 

i spent the evening with two people i don't see enough anymore since i went to the dark side that is english literature. 

i woke up at the blissful hour of eleven am after ten hours of sleep and proceeded to go on a run right away. and accidentally ran seven miles. this isn't my best/furthest mileage since starting my running resolution at the beginning of the year, but since i got off track before going to hawaii and not running at all in hawaii, it felt good to get back to a good place after only a week back on my old schedule.

also, very best of all, my goodies from the aerie 40% bra sale came. if that's not worthy of a fist pump in itself, i don't know what is. 

p.s. my layout looks different, i know. and it's going to look even more different soon, but i had just had enough with the polka dots. i know, WHAT? did the world freeze over? 

you mean they aren't even related?

let's go back in time for a second to last weekend.

something i realized after these two set off on their merry way back to washington: i am getting old. i mean you don't really realize you're getting old while you're getting old until a 17 year old is staring you in the face and you suddenly realize you can hardly keep up. i couldn't believe the speed at which these two talked, ate, laughed, and did everything they did. i kept asking myself, what is wrong with me!? where did my energy go!? these two had me falling asleep on the couch by 11:30pm every night. danielle and katy, tell me how to get the energy you two have back. either i've lost it and it's never coming back or hanging out with 20 year olds has forced me to reign in the energy i once had.

thanks for reminding me what it's like to laugh to the point of tears and toots. seriously. tears and toots, guys. it was a fun fun fun weekend. these two can come back any time that they wish because not only did they let me drag them all over missoula to do my favorite things (coffee! pictures! ice cream! pizza! movies! drives! trying on clothes!) but they let me curl their hair and even cleaned my living room before leaving. i like them alright. and it was fun to pretend that i was friends with a set of twins because apparently that's what everyone i introduced them to thought they were, too. you two are the prettiest and funniest gals around.

they made me the happiest.

also, katy blogs. and took all of these pictures. and i only wish my blog had been half as good as hers when i was her age.

sister, sister!

my face in this picture says everything that this weekend was. in a frightening mildly freakish way, i'm sure, but in a "this weekend made me THIS happy" way, too. of course, it says everything that it was for my sister, too, which was "maggie, when are you leaving already? you really annoy me."

someone said that the difference between my sister and i was that i like to take selfies and wear lipstick. which is more or less probably the truest fact anyone ever said. they also left out that i take 45 minutes to get ready in the morning, that i'm on my way to having my own episode of hoarders, and that i'm annoyingly l o u d.

this weekend in idaho was perfect in every single way. 70 degree weather, car singing while driving on the back roads, glitter sandals, eating at my favorite places, running into second grade teachers that still remember my name, walking/running with my mom on the mountain, and seeing the people here that i love.

tomorrow i go to hawaii. i might miss idaho. a little.

the longest weekend

i'm not really sure how to sum up the weekend i just had in just words (there are some really, really amazing pictures that will do it justice later), but let me just say that i have never been more happy to be home safely in my bed nor more excited to just fall asleep. i may or may not have just slept for eleven hours straight.

other than that, i'm hoping i finally catch up on the blog sometime this week (i hate getting out of a rhythm!) between the three senior portrait sessions i'm finishing up and a full work week before i head back to where i just came from for school. so hopefully you'll see me back here tomorrow.

last friday night

... asking if "zac brown" lives here. like the band? no, his name was zach brown.

...meeting the cute kid who makes my coffee four times a week like a champ and recited my order to me. 

...adding him on facebook when i got home.

...realizing we didn't take one picture of the night.

...being the weird people that were casually invited but coming anyways and being the 'randoms'. 

..."is it legal to flurry with guts? oploid. tried to get free coffee." i really hate autocorrect.

...dancing to lady gaga because that's better than dubstep. any day.

...figuring out that i can fit my keys, phone, and cash in my boots for optimal dancing.

... last night out in missoula for the win. kind of. sometimes you have to make the best of a dud kind of night.

weekends that surprise you

well, hello march! i love weekends that surprise you. the kind of weekends that are unintentionally busy. i swear to be a homebody but i do love my weekends spent outside my room being busy. in a lot of ways, i think i've fallen into a too comfortable rut of staying in and watching movies all the time because school drains me so completely. not that staying home all the time is always bad. i mean, i basically spent my entire freshmen year doing just that. however, i'm discovering that spending all day finding random things to do and winding up at uswirl, walking to albertson's for a date afternoon and sitting in the sun (*cough* shade *cough*),finding the top of a pretty mountain with a cool view, looking at old houses downtown, and getting dressed up for no reason can be just as refreshing as being lazy at home. i'm definitely more of an adventurer but my lazy habits definitely get in the way of that.

saturday morning

it's possible that sometimes waking up at 8am on a Saturday morning when you would normally sleep in until noon to go to breakfast can be worth it. this guy's parents are in town. and he just got a new iphone (luckyyyyy) so we played with it in the car. complementary colors are awesome.

Remi

When one of your best friends buys her mom a puppy for her surprise birthday present...

what else is there to do but volunteer to babysit the adorable little pup?

     

Not Even Once!

my weekend was spent...

rapping to lil wayne and kid cudi and lady antebellum

befriending my cousins' floormates that are in the marching band

....three target runs...

rescuing a roommate from hypothermia

eating coldstone at 15% off student night

...dancing...with limbs out the car window

realizing my child sized hands are in fact really child sized

going to Lion King in 3D with 13 other college kiddos

footballing it up like a baller (oops, is that basketball?)

trapped inside a laundry basket

i love

i love:

-chocolate chip pancakes for dinner

-the unfortunately named town called "Smelterville"

-niklaas' new flannel

-my best friend from having a boy toy

-eating lunch with my sister

-stalking colbie caillat (pictures to come)

-lucky underwear

-new towels bought by momma

but most of all?
I LOVE ACING CHEMISTRY TESTSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

week(end) in pictures (best weekend ever)

this is why I go to school in Montana and why I'm in love with Idaho








out at sea for seven years, I got your letter in Tangier thought that I'd been on a boat 'til that single word you wrote
,that single word it landlocked me, turned the masts to cedar trees and the winds to gravel roads. Idaho oh Idaho




can you tell we're related? i love cousin visits





Niklaas came (again! second time in a week!)