friday

this song makes me want to throw on my polka dot dress and drink a fancy cocktail. luckily, the weather is beautiful here in portland, so we're off to an outdoor happy hour with friends. i see a few st-honore 75s (champagne, st-germain and lemon juice) in my future. happy friday!

thoughts, part two

every other morning, i've been spending an hour at yoga before work. what started out as a desire to stretch my limbs has turned into something way more for me. the teacher that i'm going to now has really been focusing on one particular lesson for us to meditate on before we begin our practice. she asks us all to acknowledge one person or situation that we feel is toxic to our health, hold onto it for a moment, and then let it go. when i got sick recently, it was easy for me to feel helpless and complain. i have also struggled with uneasiness and stress brought on by other people over the course of my life. but these meditations have shown me that letting negative feelings consume me is exactly what toxic people want: they want their own unhappiness to be met by someone else; their insecurities are projected on to others. instead of dwelling on these thoughts, i am making a conscious effort during yoga (and off the mat) to acknowledge their presence, but only for a moment before letting them go.

bill cunningham new york

i'm off to class tonight! last spring, i scheduled my two courses for this term to be back-to-back, with the idea that it would be best to just dedicate one day a week to class. but now that i've been on summer vacation for almost four months, i'm slightly regretting that decision. here's hoping that i can stay awake and focused for both...

i did take the day off from work today and was delighted to see that bill cunningham new york is now on netflix. it chronicles the life of new york times photographer bill cunningham and his uncanny ability to capture fashion through the years. he revolutionized the whole concept of street style! if you have netflix, i highly recommend this documentary.

alexa chung for madewell

alexa chung is one of my top fashion idols. i am always envious of her outfits and look to her for inspiration when building my own wardrobe. for the second time, alexa has teamed up with another love of mine (madewell), and the result of this genius collaboration is a truly lust-worthy collection.

images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

scenes from the weekend

this was the last weekend before (my final year of!) grad school begins. on saturday evening, drew + i saw bon iver. turns out, justin vernon's voice makes me melt just as much (if not more) live. on sunday, i went to the design*sponge craft event that was held at the beautiful ace hotel in downtown portland. grace bonney was so warm and friendly, and led us through a stamp diy out of her new book. alexandra hedin came from seattle to provide us with tasty treats + drinks. i ended up making two different stamps and placed them on a canvas tote together. and as if the weekend couldn't have been any better, it started to feel like fall! the cool, crisp weather prompted me to make a batch of this curried butternut squash and lentil soup.

1. happy bon iver fans.
2. a glimpse of the stage (we were pretty far back on the lawn).
3. adorable table display.
4. cupcakes.
5. (a blurry) grace bonney and i.
6. sporting my newly stamped tote bag.
7. curried butternut squash and lentil soup.

that grandma sense

i can't wait to be a grandma someday. most of the time, i already act like one. i have a bad back, like to wear large knitted sweaters + typically get into bed before most people go out to party. but regardless, i can't wait to have that sixth sense that grandmas tend to have (they somehow always know everything all at once).

between my stomach troubles, back to school anxiety, and discovering that penny has feline asthma (yes, there is an inhaler for cats called the aerokat), i've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. yesterday, i came home to a package on my doorstep from my grandma containing the cutest old framed photograph of my parents on their wedding day + me as a youngster. the attached note read, "thought you would want this to warm your little home in portland". how did she know? how could she tell that this cute old photograph was exactly what i needed to cheer me up? must be that grandma sense.

let's go scamping

dreamy pictures of decked-out campers all over the internet lately have sparked some serious wanderlust. much to drew's dismay, while i love the idea of spending a night under the stars away from all distractions, i'm not the biggest fan of traditional camping (blame it on the spiders). but with a scamp, all of our camping problems would be solved! now all we have to do is save the absurd amount of money it would cost to bring this idea to fruition, plan our journey + hit the road.

images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9