Category Archives: Personal

Woodland Pixie | Maya’s Halloween outfit 2019

So, I didn’t get in these this year…

I’ve made mild attempts in the past years, but October is my crazy busiest month for work, and this year has been even busier. I’ve had no time for…well, just about anything. BUT…I’m determined to still do all the normal stuff for Maya, and attempt to capture it!!

We literally had 5 minutes before Houston was going to take Maya up to his parents house to visit for a few minutes before we ate dinner and then trick or treated.

I still can’t believe this was just a branch we grabbed that had fallen down in a storm! I just wound it around and tied a bow in it. Literally…less than a minute, done.

ALSO…can’t believe it was slightly warm enough to get a pic without her coat!

This LIGHT!!!

This dress is actually an adult size ballet costume that I thrifted probably 3-4 year ago! Maya hadn’t been that keen on it, but she loved the idea of it for this costume-yay for hoarding haha!! I had to knot it up in the back to make it fit.

This last one is so good. Honestly, I LOVE it, but it’s also indicative of her feelings…

“Are we done yet…?”

On Maya…

Crown- DIY (Literally wrapped a branch we found on a walk around a few times!)

Jacket- Marks & Spencer (thrifted, similar here)

Dress- Adult ballet costume, cinched to fit (thrifted)

Boots- Joy Folie (thrifted)

Keeping it Real…

There was lots of “throwing the basket around” attempts…

None of them succeeded…

But, I admire the thought!!

3 Generations…Girls Night Out! | Aqua by El Gaucho

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My dad decided a while back that he wanted to do a boys night out with Houston, the boys, and Houston’s dad.

Great idea!!

Oh, but, WAIT!!

Then, my mom suggested that us girls should go out too! Sadly, my mother in law couldn’t join us, but my mom, Maya and I went out!

Such a special evening. Of course…we’re girls and we used it as an excuse to get dressed up! As we should.

The food was AMAZING! I cannot believe I’ve never been to AQUA by El Gaucho . The food was delicious, views were gorgeous, service was exceptional, and the company…beyond words.

Thanks Mom! ❤️

A few pics we snapped before we hopped into our Uber!

Uber car selfie for the win!

And, Maya took the image of me with my mom!
I mean…

Coloring!

YUMMY FOOD!!
And bathroom selfies! 🙂
I ran outside before the boys left to see if they’d at least let me take a picture with my phone, but…

This was all I got.

THANKFULLY they had their picture taken at the meal!
On me…

Leather Jacket- Vintage (thrifted)

Dress- L’Agence “Sophie Print Maxi Dress” (eBay $35, retailed $600!!)

Belt- Vintage (thrifted)

Booties- Paul Green “Kimberlie” (eBay $24!!, retailed for $400+)

On Maya…

Jacket- Xhiliration (thrifted, similar here)

Dress- (thrifted, similar here)

Leggings- Crewcuts (thrifted)

Sandals-

Keeping it Real…

Um…where are we supposed to stand?? AND…Maya’s face!

Again…I just want a hug!! haha.

(all pictures taken with a shutter release and tripod, except ones of Maya :))

LBD and Booties for our TEN year anniversary!

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Wow…I’m SO behind on blogging, it’s ridiculous.

And…this is my busiest week to date, having photographed 15 families, and two more this weekend, oh…and Maya’s bday tomorrow, but…for F’s sake. I need to finish this post!!!

Edited to add that, I’m now at 25+ families, and Maya’s birthday was 2 weeks ago, BUT I had a complete rain out this weekend, so, I’m going to be posting ALL THE THINGS! Ok, I probably won’t, but I’m posting this post that I had 90% done ha!

Our official anniversary was on 8/8 (those pics here), but we went out on the Saturday night after to celebrate.

Good food, amazing wine, and the best company…

Happy Anniversary to us!

Love is me saying “Can we go take pics??” 5 minutes before he orders the Uber, and he said YES!

Oh, and while I have the tripod set up….can you take a few of me, since the remote still isn’t working?

SNAP, SNAP, SNAP!

Again…my love language haha.
My face is like “You’re ok still snapping, right??”
And big thanks to my parents for taking Maya for the night!

I took this right before they took her out to dinner!

In, or course her favorite outfit that they brought her back from Vietnam!
We started off the night going to the Goldfinch Tavern in the Four Seasons downtown Seattle.

It’s a BEAUTIFUL hotel and bar in downtown Seattle. Not sponsored in any way, but I’ve been the bar a number of times, yet haven’t stayed in the hotel. It looks amazing though.

The bar has a great happy hour, at times live music, always a great ambiance, and if you can secure it…a great view of the water! We got there late for that, but didn’t care 😉

Oh, and the food…

SO GOOD!
Next, we went to the Purple Cafe & Wine Bar

Honestly, we rarely leave our neighborhood, BUT the great thing about Seattle and honestly Costco, is that you can get gift cards for 20% off to a bunch of amazing restaurants! We’ve been to so many, but one memory that we had of an early date night was going to Purple and having stuffed dates with a red wine flight that blew our minds!

SO, we decided to go back and maximize our money!

I would recommend asking to go upstairs if you go. It’s a much more intimate experience than down below. Almost as if you are in a small bistro,

We forgot to do that this time, but…we had better light for iphone photos haha.On me…

Dress- Misa Los Angeles “Zelda” (eBay for $30!!)

Leather Jacket- Vintage (thrifted for $6!!)

Cross Body Bag- DVF (eBay, similar here and less expensive here)

Booties- Paul Green “Kimberlie” (eBay)

Keeping it Real…

One of my fav pics of the Huz, and so accurate of how he feels about pics, but…he’s a trooper!!

I didn’t want to mess with the focusing stand, so…the Huz was my focusing stand.

So…

(all pictures taken with a shutter release and tripod, except ones of Maya :))

Mother’s Day 2019

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Truth be told. The Huz and I were trying to get a picture of just us. Of course, the quickest way to get Maya into a picture is to NOT want her in one.

I swear every time we take family pictures my mom and I think…”Well, hopefully we got ONE!!” haha. And then every time we get SO MANY!! But it’s not always smooth sailing and happy laughter and smiles… 😉 .

We were taking pictures right in front of my neighbors house, and of course they came outside…haha. Don’t mind us. Fortunately, they are used to it by now!

Hope everyone had an amazing Mother’s Day!!

Maya is 7!

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We took these pictures the day before Maya’s birthday (which was October 4th…) . I kept meaning to do a post that honored her, and well…October FLEW BY!

Well, things haven’t really slowed down, but I wanted to make sure I posted these before too much time had passed…

I just went back and reread last year’s birthday post, and so much of it is still spot on. Which proves that you will always be unapologetically YOU! At least I hope you will…

You are both equal parts incredibly sweet and cuddly yet fiery with a “HISS” and claws ready to pounce! Which…anyone who knows you, knows exactly what this last part looks like! 😉

You still love to sing, and have started making up your own songs. They are AMAZING!! Usually you don’t like me recording them, but I’ve managed to get a few! One of which you taped yourself in one of the last posts! Never mind me yelling at you in the beginning haha. I had no idea what you were doing…

You’ve also started making up your own jokes and riddles. I keep asking at the end…”Did you make that up??!!” Yup!

You still don’t like organized sports and prefer to just have FUN! I keep signing you up though, much to your frustration…When you try, you’re very good!

You do love to swim though, and really turned a corner over the summer!

You are still hands down one of my favorite people to be around! Our morning snuggles are the best part of my day, as are our bed time cuddles/reading. We’ve plowed through a number of series. Some of your favs are the “My Happy Life” series and Ivy and Bean. You read the first page and I finish the chapter. Then if you want another chapter we alternate pages. It’s been what’s made the biggest difference in your reading. Anything to stay up later! Kind of patting myself on the back for figuring that out 😉

We end every night blowing kisses to each other…you in bed, me at your door. Then, we fight over who loves each other more.

Ps- I do!

It was SO windy when we got to the beach, and I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get any shots! I actually LOVE how the wind made our hair crazy! Definitely good for a laugh! I jumped in for a few 🙂

This is my fall uniform. Cozy knit, skinnies, and booties. Looooove. One of my favs!

On me…

Sweater- Joie “Fringe Cardigan” (eBay $20)

Top- The Great (eBay $3!!! short sleeve here and less expensive here)

Jeans- Frame (eBay $18)

Boots- Frye Billy Short (thrifted NWT for $50!!)

On Maya…

Dress- Crewcuts (thrifted)

Boots- Frye “Veronica Slouch” (thrifted for $15!)

Keeping it Real…

I honestly could have done an entire post of bloopers! The wind really was impressive!!

Almost blew her over!

Because it was so windy, I couldn’t hear when the shutter would go off. SO…there’s a lot of me checking the remote.

And…Maya kissing where I was!! HAHAHA 🙂

(all pictures taken with a shutter release and tripod, except ones of Maya :))

Happy Birthday to me! | 44

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Ok, so my birthday was back on the 18th, but there were a few delays celebrating, and then more delays on me working on the pics.

I just realized I haven’t posted for almost 2 months! There was a time when I posted every single day. What the what?? Then it went to 3 times a week… Then a few times a week.

And now…

Well…

Here’s some pics from my birthday celebration. I’m obsessed with anything cowl neck!! If it has it in the back, I’m always in! That grin though… Slightly out of focus, but whatever…. Getting the Huz in front of the camera requires a special occasion, and I WILL pull the bday card!! 🙂 Loooooove this next one! Maya fake laughing…um…? One of the reasons we didn’t celebrate a little sooner was that Maya fell off a bench at Girl Scout camp and cut her head open. This kid can handle pain like a CHAMP, but…trips to the Dr and treatment…not so much. Trips to two different Urgent Cares later…she was totally fine, but our dinner reservation was not. BIG thanks to my parents who had dinner waiting for us when we finally came home.

A few days later we celebrated for real, and…you’d never know she had 5 stitches in her head 🙂 Maya’s in a “I’m going to make any kind of face but a real smile for pictures” phase…it’s neat. But she sure does love her Meme and BOPO.

At some point I’m hoping to get back to blogging here regularly. I miss it. I miss taking pics with Maya. I miss the documentation of what’s going on in our lives, because honestly… In the blur of our chaotic life, I forget… I forget the little moments, and to be honest, I have to stop and really think to remember the big moments. This blog was my reminder.

Truth be told, it was also my highlight reel. And while that’s not a true depiction of our day to day life, I need that to look back on sometimes.

SO…hopefully we will get back to this more regularly, but maybe we won’t and that’s ok too.

On me…

Top- Boulee (eBay)

Purse- Botkier Bianca “Bella” (eBay)

Jeans- 3×1 (ebay)

Sandals- Ugg (thrifted, love these on sale here)

On Maya…

Dress- Crew & Lu (Old, but love this updated one!)

Leggings- Gap Kids (thrifted)

Shoes- Naturino (thrifted)

Keeping it Real…

When you aren’t sure if the timer is working….but it is haha 🙂

Maya aka Zoolander….

Um…is this thing on?

Yup.

And where are we supposed to stand??

🙂

Pretty typical Maya shot as of late…

AND…I messed up where we were supposed to stand!!! SO BUMMED, but…still love this in all

it’s blurry goodness 🙂

(Most pictures taken with a shutter release and tripod, except ones of Maya and my Parents and a few of me and Maya-thanks mom! :))

Happy Mother’s Day to me! | 2018

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I don’t really want a big fanfare for my birthday or Mother’s Day. Really, I want a hall pass on some of the day to day duties (namely DINNER!) and I want pictures-duh.

It’s what my mom and I ask for every year, and I’m SO glad I have them to look back on!!

If you want, you can look back on 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 part one and two (lucky year!), and 2017.

And…I’ll admit. This next shot wasn’t just of me haha.

The remote was going crazy and firing off never ending shots until we turned the camera off! Needless to say, there are a LOT of outtakes. And…some of Maya and the Huz next to me with questionable looks on their face :). But, since I didn’t get a chance to take a pic of just my outfit…this will have to suffice 😉 What to say about this sweet nugget…

While she challenges my patience, she also brings me so much joy, love, and pride every single day!

I am one lucky mama.
And…twinning is always winning! Love these next few!!!

BUT…just wait for the outtakes at the end…
My new favorite of the three of us!! And…to my amazing mom and friend…

Maya and I are both SO lucky to have you in our lives! Even luckier that it’s in our daily lives!! I can’t even… Again….NEW FAVORITE!
Funny story. I cropped myself out of this shot because I was frantically running towards the camera on the tripod that was going CRAZY taking pics! Maya’s face though….WORTH IT! All the heart eyes… Pretty much the best reality of our group shot attempts… But then we got this!! And this, so…I’ll take it all! And then…letting her do what she loves to do.

Which, is what I love to capture, so…win WIN!

On me…

Dress- Corey Lynn Calter (eBay for $14!!, LOVING this midi version!)

Clogs- Sven “Ankle Wrap Strap”C/O

On Maya…

Dress- (thrifted, but similar here)

Clogs- Sven “2 Strap Sandal” C/O

Keeping it Real…

I thought of doing an entire post of our outtakes, but…let’s be honest. I don’t even have time

to blog REAL posts, so…here are some of the best ones. There are more!

SO…just know…as my mom and I walked away, we thought…

“I’m sure we got one or two…”

And of COURSE we did. BUT…, it wasn’t all super smiley perfectness…

AND, I really could have posted twice as many outtakes, BUT, I also could have posted twice as

many shots that I love too! I guess it’s all about balance…and…reality. 🙂

This first one. Maya probably telling my parents she doesn’t want to take pictures. And one of the many shots with the shutter firing when it wasn’t supposed to!