oh, hi.

wow, i don't know if i've ever gone this long without blogging! wanted to let you all know i am still alive and well. finding it hard to keep up with the blog world while i prepare for this enormous transition that is just around the corner. but i definitely miss it and feel very much out of the loop. come tomorrow, august 1st, it will be moving month {we leave august 24th}. i had to pause for a moment after typing that and stare blankly at my screen. you guys, it still doesn't seem real and i guess it just won't until we're there. i have lived here {in the mitten state} for nearly my entire life, and i am moving 2,400 miles away. i just can't wrap my head around it. but i will say that, though the moments of overwhelming sadness/shock/i feel like balling my eyes out are starting to hit, overall i am still feeling really excited for this new chapter. there is SO much to look forward to.

thought i'd share a few of my favorite instagrams of life since you last heard from me. it has been rather full. we have had a 4-day yard sale in the hot, hot heat and moved out of our house & into my parents. we've traveled to the Denver area for my friend's wedding {for which i was a bridesmaid & joel played music} & then to Manitou Springs for some majestic sight-seeing at Garden of the Gods & Pike's Peak. i finally figured out my work situation for after the move. we visited my sister & brother-in-law (and their new pup) across the state and spent a weekend up north with my in-laws. we sent out a bajillion emails to prospective rentals in Portland, filled out multiple applications, paid multiple fees, stressed the freak out, and THANK THE LORD, secured a place to live (woot woot - more on that later). with LOTS of time spent with family and friends in between, some good memories for sure. there has not been a dull moment during these last days in Michigan. hopefully the rest will be just as sweet.

weekend links.

{source}

- this wedding makes my jaw drop.
- hubby and i are trying to get our finances in order because they are a MESS. believe me, i am not exaggerating. love this idea of a spending fast.
- have you entered my giveaway yet??
- have you seen ordinary mommy's new sequin twist blow clips? aDORable.
- also - iviebaby's new geometric fabric line.
- making these tonight and plan to make this soon.
- obsessed with this dress from lalamagic. wishing my birthday was sooner.
- it's not often there's a movie in theatres that interests me, but i really want to see this one

hope you all have a lovely weekend! i will be spending time sorting & purging (can't start too early), making, relaxing and hanging out with a ridiculously adorable 2yo. i really should do some cleaning too, we'll see. i'm finding myself not caring as much about the state of our house since we'll be leaving it this year.

a wedding + ArtPrize

If I could live anywhere in Michigan, it would definitely be Grand Rapids. I really love it there; I feel at home. It is vibrant, artsy, friendly and loaded with character, and has an array of amazing restaurant choices (many of which source from local farmers and offer vegan options). Also, my sister and brother-in-law live there :)

This weekend my hubby and I headed there for a college friend's wedding (where i got to meet up with Maggie for the first time since we were neighbors 3.5+ years ago). Lucky for us, ArtPrize was going on while we were there, so we got to take in some incredible art on Sunday, though only just a tiny portion of it.. there are 1517 total pieces in just within 3 square miles of the city! The horsey one below was my fave. Amazingness.

It seems every post lately is a weekend recap.. I really would like to work on that, especially considering I have so many post ideas in my head right now. I need to learn from my hubby's incredibly disciplined ways!

peony love.

peonies are hands-down my favorite flower. as you may have noticed in my last post, i wore one in my hair on my wedding day, and they were in my bouquet, on our cake and in flower arrangements. so naturally they create nostalgia for me. i get ridiculously giddy when i have my first peony sighting each spring. if you don't have them growing in your yard (which i fully intend on once we have our own place) fresh-cute peonies are not so easy to come across (at least among these parts). so you can imagine my delight when i spotted them in multiple shades of pink at our local whole foods market (which, by the way, i am now kind of obsessed with, considering i have just switched to a whole foods diet).

(wow, i use way too many parentheses. but it totally makes sense, because if you know me in real life, you know that when i talk, i often go off on tangents, or cause the person who i am talking to go off on tangents).

moving on. since i got my iPhone, i have become rather lazy with my photo taking, but i thought these flowers deserved some love from my DLSR (which by the way, i really still have little clue on how to use).

hope you enjoy :)

{an october wedding}

joel and i went to a beautiful wedding in blanchard this past weekend, that of college friends matt & heidi. we had a wonderful time visiting with old friends and dancing the night away. the concluding song of the night was arcade fire's "keep the car running." why didn't we think of that?

joel's mom and brother just happen to live within minutes of blanchard now, so we were able to spend some quality time with them too. it was a wonderful weekend. maggs came with us, and he was absolutely loving his life. the house joel's momma is staying at has a huge lot, so maggs got to run free like a wild doggy. he needed that. i promised him that one day we'd have a big yard for him to run around in.

---

earlier tonight, maggs had one of his ears flopped on top of his head, and it looked like a toupée.

oh, how i love him so.

P is for Peonies.

I absolutely ADORE peonies. They are so lush and so lovely. And very romantic. This is why I chose them as our primary wedding flower. I even wore one in my hair on our wedding day :)



My neighbor was kind enough to let me snip a couple of peonies from her peony bush the other day and, of course, I had to take some pictures. I just love photographing flowers.







Every time I look at them I smile. It is so unfortunate they bloom so briefly ever year.. I am so glad our wedding just so happened to be during peony season. :)


My obsession with peonies inspired me to do a little search on Etsy, and I found some beautiful things. I am hoping to create a treasury with these lovelies.


Peony Yo-Yo Necklace




Peony Baby/Bridal Shower Invitation -- Set of 10




Ivory Peony --- Bride head piece-hair pin




Sorbet...5x5 Fine Art Print




Peony 2- Signed Fine Art Photograph