4.29.2014

minus & plus

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Jared called me this morning to let me know that he had made it safely to the streets of Manhattan, where he's staying for work for a bit. The safe part is not a minus. It's the "Jared gone" & "me not in Manhattan with him" parts that get me.
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I'm having a really hard time coming up for a plus for this that doesn't sound sarcastic, but I do have plans to stay busy & productive & watch lots of stupid Once Upon A Time & Grey's Anatomy. (I love but I hate but I love.)

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SUNBURN. I made it all the way to the end of the beach vacation & on the laaaast day out on the beach (which, honestly, only 3 days were swimsuit weather), my back was TOASTED. Like, sunburn pain woke me up on Monday morning. Tragic, because I didn't really even want to get tan this summer, much less sun burned. I am so, so sorry, skin.
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Coconut oil is doing wonders in the soothing department, & the burn should become the hint of color that I needed to look slightly more alive for the rest of the summer. This being the first summer that I'm not working outdoors at events all year, I feel especially protective of my skin. Now, please remember that my resident back scratcher/aloe applier is not in the same state/apartment as me, so if you imagining me slapping coconut oil across my back one hand at a time in a sad attempt to soothe my sunburn really takes this home as a plus for you, then go right ahead. I am sure it is quite the sight.

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Returning to a regular hair routine after a week of beach hair love. My mane loves the salty air, that's for sure. (Bonus fact: the beach air also does wonders for golden doodle hair)
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I've been working on some new updos for those (many) (... many) days that I don't want to wake up early enough to style it. It's keeping my interest in having long hair peaked, which is always good, since the other option is shorter hair aka looking like a 13 year old.

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After a month of trying to cut meat & dairy out of my diet & feeling like I just compensated with carbs, I'm more annoyed than ever with my stomach issues & general lack of motivation to care about food. I so wish I could be that person that loves exercise & vitamins & healthy foods, buuuuuuut... It's real REAL difficult for me.
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I'm hopping aboard the Whole30 train, which isn't too far off from the dietary restrictions I followed last year when I was getting ready for bridesmaid season. I'd love for this to be the beginning of a lifelong romance with whole foods but I'm not going to plan the wedding before the first date, NAH MEAN?

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Knowing far too much about our upstairs neighbor's night life to be able to face him in the stairwell, making mornings awkward since we both leave the apartment at the exact same time.
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I have perfected the art of waiting for him to walk across the family room, forget something in the kitchen, then finally walk to the front door to leave. Does this make me the most socially awkward person ever? I don't care. Neighbor, if you're reading this, I'm sure you're a very nice person but you need a new bed.

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Parallel parking. OR RATHER, living on a street where we & our neighbors all know how to parallel park, but then there's the YMCA & restaurant patrons that take up three spaces with one foul swoop of their giant SUV parked 3 ft. away from the curb.
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After nearly two years of living on this street, we have both developed our parallel parking skills to elite levels. I suppose it helps that we have small cars but... If parallel parking were an Olympic sport, we'd take... Well, bronze, probably. & maybe only if it were on a local level, BUT STILL.

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Not knowing how to make coffee when the resident coffee maker is out of town.
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Testing my caffeine addiction by abstaining & actually living to tell the tale. I've had a couple of mild headaches in the afternoons, but it's also been raining for two days straight, which could also be the culprit. Tomorrow marks Day 3, so if you see me & I try to bite you, please know that it's not you, it's coffee.

4.23.2014

wearing - 15/50

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sweater - Forever 21 // chambray - Kohl's // shorts - J. Crew // flats - Old Navy

Hullo from the Outer Banks! I'd LOVE to stay & chat, but there is hot tub outside calling my name, & who am I to resist its advances? xo

4.21.2014

easter sunday

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Some family photos from this year's very short Easter Sunday - Jared & I met up with my family after church for the annual family photo op (2013 & 2012), scarfed a delicious lunch & then packed up the car to head down to the Outer Banks for the week. Jared, very sadly, is home until tomorrow night, so I'm counting down minutes until my sweetheart joins me in this little slice of North Carolina paradise.

Although it rained the whole way down & into this morning... & although it's still quite chilly/windy out, I'm grateful for some relaxation (read: answering emails from as far back as two weeks ago), some serious cuddles with the golden doode, & the promise of a 76 degree day tomorrow that ends with Jared & I in the same state. Hallelujah x 2!

4.18.2014

four good things

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LAVENDER - I made lavender simple syrup for the first time last year when I hosted my friend Dani's lavender & lemon themed bridal shower. It's a springtime must & I cannot wait to try Eden's lavender mojitos at Easter brunch.
SPRING HAIRS - You can barely tell, but I added some orchid to my blonde last month, & I cannot WAIT to go back to Wynter & add more. It's actually a dream come true to have some pink in my hairs. LOVE.
EASTER EGGS - My sisters & I (with assistance, or supervision? from the menfolk) have begun taking Easter egg dyeing very seriously over the past couple of years. Then, we make some very seriously tasty deviled eggs.
LINEN SHEETS - Must. Have. Since pink hair has gone from to-do to to-done, owning linen sheets has moved up the list. I daydream about pulling those straight out of the dryer & straight onto the bed but oh yeah. Need a dryer.

[p.s. see some more good things on my pinterest]

4.16.2014

wearing - 14/50

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shirt - Everlane, Ryan Tee // maxi skirt - thrifted // shoes - Forever21 // necklace - antique

I'm about to talk a LOT about a t-shirt.

When all of my favorite bloggers started talking about Everlane tshirts, I immediately added at least 4 shirts to my virtual shopping bag & dreamed of slouchy-t days. Being the amazing company they are, Everlane noticed that I had been dreaming of owning one of their shirts for over a year, & by the grace of the silky-like-butta rayon gods (& a little account credit), the Ryan Pocket Tee made its way into my closet. HOW GREAT IS THAT? I could honestly live in this shirt. I sort of have, the last few days. It's heaven in a t-shirt.

As a 25-yr-old that should be spending $25 on bills & parking tickets & oil changes, I am 1) a bigger fan of this fantastic company than ever because hey there, awesome customer service! & 2) convinced that it's that time in life to start investing in the clothing that I allow into my closet. We successfully purged our closets & dresser drawers for last weekend's yard sale - Enough so that we're now sharing both a closet & a dresser, saints preserve us. If it didn't sell, we took it straight to the donation drop-off. It's so freeing to have gotten rid of that much stuff, but it's also a fresh start for quality clothing purchases. We'll see. Right now the clothing budget line reads: "$Do you really need that.00" Nice, right?

*This is totally not a sponsored post - I paid for my Everlane goodness, & I'll do it again. I just really, really love it.

4.11.2014

hrva blogger happy hour

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Local bloggers! (Or not so local bloggers that just want an excuse to visit the beach, which, c'mon...) The lovely ladies of 6 Petals & I are hosting our second HRVA blogger meet-up & we want to see your faces! Come meet us at Pacifica in Virginia Beach next Tuesday, April 15th for good drinks, good food & good community. We'll be there (with goodies!) from 6-8pm, & we're going to try REALLY hard to not eat all the s'mores before everyone gets there. 

If you think you'll come, we want to make sure we have plenty of seats. Let us know in the comments here or on the Virginia Blogger post, OR via facebook or twitter.

& hey! If Tuesday night is no good for you, send me your e-mail address & we'll get you added to the Virginia Bloggers HRVA event mailing list.



4.09.2014

wearing - 13/50

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jean jacket - American Eagle // dress - H&M // shoes - Old Navy // necklace - gifted

Guys. I have so little to say. After a few weeks of calm & regularly scheduled programming, this week has all the things crammed into it. So, while I could sit here & talk about how long I put off buying a jean jacket as an adult because they reminded me too much of being 6 & so frustrated that I couldn't move my arms freely, or how much I hope this is the last outfit this spring that features tights, or how great our botanical gardens are but those bees, man... I'm going to stop typing & resume The Great Clothing & Stuff Purge of 2014. It's worth it it's worth it it's worth it it's worth it...

photos by: kelsie of with lavender & lace

4.07.2014

pollen & ginger

photos from last week | with our niece | in my parents' backyard
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(This man with this baby... YOU GUYS DON'T EVEN KNOW. He's smitten = I'm swooning)
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Back to the top of the week! After a gorgeous past week spent outside as often as possible with our baby niece, Monday showed up with all sorts of rain & a headache to boot. As such, I have not felt even the least bit sorry that the only thing I allowed on my to-do list today was editing photos from a shoot this weekend. It's either that or doing some serious deep spring cleaning in preparation for our yard sale this weekend aaaaand... I pick pictures.

I'm actually really excited for this yard sale, because heaven knows it's about time we get rid of some things. It's been 3.5 years since we got married (whaaaat) & a year and a half since we moved into this apartment, so there's a mixture of things-that-I-was-way-too-nostalgic about, things-that-never-really-fit-in-this-apartment & things-that-we-can-now-afford-to-buy-the-grown-up-version-of that just need to go. Having been together since I was 17 & he was 18, we are acutely aware that we have gone through (& will continue to go through) every phase of adulthood together, including the shedding of $20 Ikea rugs & jeans from high school. Actually, our biggest task this week is hopefully downsizing from two his & hers dressers to one shared dresser... Which seems laughable, but we're surely going to try. I'll stop talking about our clothes now.

So now, I'll shamelessly advertise that if you live nearby, you should come buy aaaaall of the Bethune things on Saturday. There will be a cute golden doodle to pet, while you're at it so everybody wins. (I'm not crazy enough to put addresses on the internet, so please shoot me a message on Facebook if you'd like more info.)

4.04.2014

local, little & lovely - with lavender & lace

Having grown up about 30 minutes away from here & constantly yearning for an opportunity to move away & experience a new city, it's been a journey to embrace Norfolk. It helps that our fair city is getting cuter by the day, & has really great things coming up on its horizon (hey there, arts district!), but it's also been a lot of soul searching & seeking contentment. Further than contentment was fulfillment - accepting where we are right now & making the most of it. This (mildly cheesy) pin really hit home a few months back, & sort of sums it up for me.

At any rate, we adore Norfolk & want to share some of our favorite of its gems. It is with great pleasure & pride that we begin a new series on this little blog, highlighting the local, the little (& not so little) & the lovely places in Norfolk, Virginia. We are a wonderful community, filled with good souls & great food. We also have cute stores, combined with an appropriate amount of respect for cats, vinyls, succulents & knitted things. Without further ado:

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It is only fitting that we begin with the cutest vintage shop maybe ever? With Lavender & Lace, which happens to be owned by my dear friend, Kelsie McNair. She's a bombshell, an artist, a blogger friend, an entrepreneurial prodigy & a delightful songbird
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Having started With Lavender & Lace in 2011 as an online vintage shop in Boston, we are so grateful that her business boomed & outgrew its online presence. She moved her store into the heart of Ghent, & created a unique oasis filled with handmade goods, authentic vintage clothing & shoes (for men & women), & antique pieces. 
I can't tell you how many times I've looked for a dress for 6 hours in Forever 21 only to be greeted with vintage perfection the minute I walk into With Lavender & Lace. It's a cozy place that makes you feel more like your looking through your best friend's closet, which is so much more my speed than speed shopping in a overly bright two-level store with some Pitbull remix blaring. 
Kelsie sees her storefront as "an opportunity to cultivate a creative atmosphere. It is a place to create meaningful dialogue - a place to sell the aesthetic of a creative, interactive, & inspired lifestyle. It's a place that provides an alternative to all-too-artificial fashion." & it's true. True & needed. Home to local artisans' goods (like June Jars & Studio Posy) & repping a serious collection of local music & classic vinyls, there is truly something for everyone inside these walls.
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Do yourself a solid & pop by!
With Lavender & Lace
617 Colonial Ave in Norfolk

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