take me back

when i first moved to dc, i used to see obx stickers on cars. my curiosity got the best of me and i had to google what that meant.

most people know it stands for outer banks, but it was new for me. i'd never heard of it. 

this year, i finally experienced it and had one of the best vacations of my life. we rented a place on the beach and stayed there with two other couples and one dog. 

we stayed there for a week that included the fourth of july and a category 1 hurricane. luckily, besides some really loud wind, there was no damage where we were staying. even after living in florida for college, the thought of riding out a hurricane on the beach freaked me out.

i hope we make this a regular thing, because it was a blast.

leaves

i wanted to do something similar to what i did in the fall. but instead of watching the leaves turn colors and fall off, i wanted to do some time lapse photos of them growing back.

well.

i missed a few days here and there, and it was like i blinked and they were all back.

guess spring was serious about making its comeback. 

killed it

for me, weekends don't get much better than this. 

hanging out with my boys (lucy too of course), beautiful weather, shopping for herbs, blooming flowers everywhere and impromptu cocktails at our neighborhood spot.

hope you got to spend the weekend with the people and pets you love the most. 

buried

as dc winters go, we've had a lot of snow this year. but anyone who lived here in 2010 will definitely remember snowpocalypse/snowmageddon and the near-weeklong closures it brought with it.

i was living in dupont circle at the time, right on 17th and massachusetts.

after the snow finally stopped falling, the sun came out and since we were going stir crazy, we went for a walk to the mall and downtown to check out the aftermath.

this was dc in february 2010. under more than three feet of snow.

i've started to hear some rumors of more snow next tuesday. yikes.

happy spring?

tbt

...to that one time i thought we'd just take a quick family picture because it's so pretty outside and he's in a good mood.

hackers

before we moved into our current home, i used to share a studio in dupont with my husband.

it was tiny, but i loved living downtown and got used to making the most out of tiny spaces. when we first moved into our house, it felt enormous by comparison. but three years in to homeownership and it's definitely starting to feel a little crammed.

if you're in a similar situation where every square foot matters, here's three ikea hacks that'll save space. also? no assembly required.

we don't have enough space in our bedroom for nightstands. for a while, we were charging our phones on the window ledges, but it wasn't super practical and they weren't easily accessible. mounting two ribba picture ledges ($9.99) to the wall has been a great solution for us. they take up zero floor space, they blend in nicely with our baseboards, and they hold things we'd normally have on a nightstand. as you can see, it holds an iphone almost perfectly and you still have room for other devices (like a tablet) and glasses (me) or a retainer case (husband). 

our pantry is another area where we keep needing extra space. we have a few shelves in there already, but since we cook a lot at home, when it's fully stocked, it can be hard to see everything that's in there. 

we mounted another ribba in there, and not only is it functional, i can also see and access everything that's inside.

when you live in tight quarters, vertical storage is your friend. this stainless steel wall shelf ($25) is supposed to be for your bathroom, but it fits right in with the other metal wall shelves we have holding our plates in the kitchen. it now holds the coffee grinder and some canisters we got from target and ikea.

_ _ _

the house is always a work in progress and these changes have been fun new additions.

brand new

little jake turns three months old in a few days. 

the first night we brought him home from the hospital was...hectic. i'm not gonna lie. we weren't prepared for life with a newborn, i was still really sore from my c section and my husband had slept on a shitty hospital "bed" for the past three nights. not a recipe for success. 

the nurses at the hospital were violently anti-pacifier ("not until breastfeeding is established!" *eyeroll*) and so we went without it that first night. by day two at home, we popped it in his mouth and felt stupid for not giving it to him in the first place. 

we both slept on the couch for about four days since i wasn't supposed to go up and down the stairs right after the surgery. that first week feels so long ago now. but i took a few pictures to document that time we were a brand new family in late october.

i'm coming to the end of my maternity leave. i'm so grateful my employer offered this time off to me; i'll never forget this time i got to spend with my happy little boy.

golden light

yesterday after the snow stopped falling, the sun came out.

right around three o'clock, the afternoon light was just about perfect so i pulled myself away from the breaking bad marathon we had going on and took a few pics of the rosebush in our front yard. 

hope you enjoyed your day off if you got a snow day.

oh so quiet

on weekends, if you happen to be out and about before 10 am, it's really peaceful.

there's something that happens after that 10 o'clock hour that changes everything. i'm usually awake quite a bit before 10, but i'm not always out the door at that time. every time i find myself driving or walking around at 8 or 9, it's like a whole different world.

i took thees pictures on h street, around eastern market, and in front of union station--places that get crazy busy once the city wakes up. 

so if you're an early bird or just happen to have some place to be on the weekend, enjoy the brief stillness. cause that brunch crowd is comin.

_ _ _

see past district detail posts here.

district flea

a few pictures from the district flea's debut on saturday.

the weather was absolutely perfect.

did you check it out? 

it's here until october 19.

the food was pretty awesome too.

san francisco vacation, part II

 here's the rest of the san francisco pics. 

we really had an awesome time. 

links to the places in these pics:

crissy field

sea salt cookie, biscuits + jam

state bird provisions

san francisco vacation, part I

i took a ton of pictures while we were out in california, so i'll be spreading these out over today and tomorrow. 

enjoy!

links to where we went: 

divisadero farmers' market

4505 meats

snack time

ferry building marketplace

historic trail

a day at the park

nats games. one of my favorite things to do this time of year.

and even though i can't sip on a beer this season, it's still awesome.

especially when you go on pups in the park day.

(we took lucy last year.)

make sure you get out to the park this year. 

and go nats!

perfect friday weather

today, dc's showing us exactly what a friday afternoon in may is supposed to look like.

hope your weekend is a good one. 

put it in the air

one of the most beautiful details of this great city happens after the cherry blossoms have come and gone. as the leaves begin to take over the blossoms, the light-as-air petals are swept up and across the streets of dc.

you may have noticed this phenomenon before, but it's especially breathtaking on a windy day. it's really cool when you're walking outside and you notice this petal shower happening.

...and you never know where they might end up, like these guys, trapped under the seats at nats park.

they're a little hard to see in a few of these pictures, but you can't miss em in real life.

see a few more district deails here

i hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.