great things

A friend (hey Adam!) suggested that it's about time I start to highlight some great things in life on the blog. And I couldn't agree more. Things were getting a bit heavy around here.

I went on a vacation last week.
Hint: There was sun. And Blenders.

Santa Barbara.

And it did not disappoint.

View from my parents' street. Can't handle it.  

Lots of beach times.

 

Saw the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games...still reading the third book.

Gots to document the blue sky. Wouldn't want to forget what you look like.

 Yeeeeeeeeeee I'm in Santa Barbara!

Having a pet for a week is the perfect amount of time. Especially when it's Jack Jacks.

Sister time in the sun with these two hotties.

 

 

Coffee date with Mom at SB RoCo.

 

Had a delightful breakfast with my pretend little brother (Hi Jordan!) at Savoy. 

They have a magic kitchen.

 The always gorgeous Santa Barbara Cemetery.

 

Visited my grandparents' beautiful grave with my mama.

 

 

And I have yet to unpack. 

Sorry not sorry.

above all else

Trippy photo, right?

Above all else, guard your heart,
                          for everything you do flows from it. 

       Proverbs 4:23

Had a short but sweet McConnell's ice cream date at the Santa Barbara Mission rose gardens today with my middle sister, Emme. 
I don't think she realized it then, but she has shown and taught me all sorts of things about the above verse just by the way she lives her life.
I used to always pray, "Lord, please guard my heart because I don't know how to."

Looking back, I think that was a bit of a cop-out on my part. 

But God still followed through on his end of the deal. He tends to do that.

I'll be 26 next week, and I still don't quite have the whole "guarding your heart" thing figured out. 

Also, my sista introduced me to this song. Have a listen—
If you're viewing in Google Reader, click here:

 
"My flesh may fail...but my God, You never will."

game changer

 I'm one of the cool kids now! 

The iPhone 4S is pretty dang cool, but Instagram...now that is another animal.

Be my Instagram buddy (I don't know what to call it...follower? ...friend?).

Username: Madeliiine

I'm also still in Santa Barbara, where it looks like this all the time—

home = paradise

Somehow I ended up in Santa Barbara on a work trip this week. I know. #spoiled

Somehow I didn't bring my camera. #whatwasIthinking

Lucky for both you and me, Matt Wier is a genius with his lens. 

This is where I was born and raised, you guys! Could it be any more gorgeous?! 

Santa Barbara, meet the Interweb. 

Interweb, meet Santa Barbara. 

You may fall in love now.

It is a perfect 73º outside. 

I had breakfast at a cupcakery with one of my best friends. 

Last night I saw more of my favorite people from home than I can count. 

I reminisced about Italy (EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO!) with this girl. And wine was involved.

I had In-N-Out with this guy. 

And somehow managed to spend a decent amount of time on both my old high school and college campuses. Which are both so different now. To the point where I got lost. 

Vacationing at home has been a treat this week. 

sAnTa BaRbArA 4 lyyyyfe!

I'm in California...

...where no one goes below 75 on the freeways, no one can parallel park, and no one tips at coffee shops. 

Ahhhh, home.

Wasn't expecting this, but I'm actually missing Seattle. I know...right?!

So I found an alcove in one of my fav SB coffee shops between friend dates and shopping with Mom to sit back and process. New reading material close by, some surprisingly good cold-brewed coffee...and there's even a guy outside the window wearing a hoodie and smoking a cigarette on a bike. Perhaps Seattle and Santa Barbara are more similar than we thought...except for the fact that the coffee shop is playing Pepper. So that's a struggle.

I'll get all introspective on you guys later (who's excited?!?!), but for now, some photos that just make me glow inside. I've shown her off before on the blog...in fact I think she was one of my first posts two years ago! 

Meet Zoe, my sort-of-niece...aka my cousin's 5-year-old daughter. Every time I see her (every time) she asks if I brought my "clicky camera." And so we do photo shoots. Every time. The missing-tooth-gap kills me. I'm in love.

 

In other news, head over to my dear friend Allie's blog, No Small Dreams, to see me rattle off about high school crushes and semi-embarrassing "pros & cons" lists. Life-changing stuff.

what awaits...

Ready to see these crazies tomorrow.

On the Santa Barbara bucket list for the next ten days:

• Celebrate Santa Barbara's Fiesta like there's no tomorrow. I wish I had pictures to show you what this truly means. Maybe better off that I don't? Lots of dancing in the streets. Lotta confetti eggs sold by the crate. The best street tacos north of the border. More dancing in the streets. Unwanted high school reunions in dive bars...
• Cook for my family every day, because that's one of my favorite love languages.
• Meet up with a fellow blogger and newfound e-pen-pal (we know, we wish there was a cooler way to say that too).
• Get a tattoo finally...whhaaaaaa??
• Pick blueberries. Eat blueberries. Finally not pay $$$ for blueberries.
• Reinact this blog post in every single way...since SHE'LL BE IN SANTA BARBARA FOR THE WEEKEND TOO!
• Run on the beach with this little piece of work. 
• Love on these sisters.
• Tan.

Go do something great with your week. 
Read some poetry while you're at it. This one helped me out today: The Certainty of Numbers.
Listen to this remix of Pumped Up Kicks. I promise it won't make your ears bleed like some other remixes.
Make this Rainier cherry mojito. And then make me one.
Gawk at what I like to call floor porn, and then get upset that you have linoleum when you could have these Herringbone wood floors made with reclaimed French Oak. For serious.   

wild hearts can't be broken

Young love.

Found these gems when I went home to Santa Barbara last week... 

I'd be lying if I said my self esteem wasn't boosted just a little.

The second one was signed:
"Love for eternity, Brendan"

♥

Pretty sure we were "going out" for all of two weeks.

 And I'll never understand why it was called "going out." We had nowhere to go.

No one has cars (or driver's licenses for that matter) in 7th grade. 

And what mom would let their 12-year-old daughter go to a movie theater alone with a boy?

Not mine.

But we did hug once.

And we passed notes like wild fire in study hall. As you can see.

I actually found quite a few more treasures in an old trunk from junior high and high school, but I've got to spread out the wealth over at least two blog posts.

What did you all do for Cinco de Mayo? ...if anything? :) I climbed to Tangerine Falls in the Montecito Mountains ("hills") with one of my favorite people. I'd never been on this hike before but was still fairly certain we were going the wrong way since we were literally using tree roots to climb up boulders. Then again, I'm a little more dramatic about it because I'm on the shorter-legged side... Either way, Jordan was my fearless leader and the view from the top of the falls was incredible. The ocean was covered in a thick layer of fog, but you can still see the islands off in the distance!

 

In other news, Sister #2 and I drove down to Pasadena yesterday to pick up Sister #3 from APU after she finished her freshman year of college! At age 17, too—you go girl! 

On the drive back, we absolutely dominated Eminem's rap in Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie" song, and while I was openly proud of our ability to sound just like Shady, it made me start thinking...

Pathetic how I can rattle off Deuces like it's NBD...yet don't remember the last chunk of Scripture that I actually committed to memory?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Chris Brown's music as much as the next white girl, but I'm committing to you all right now that I'm going to start rearranging my lyrical priorities.

seryn - we will all be changed

so good. so so good.

80 degree-day filled with beaches, a French Press iced Americano, Backyard Bowls and lots of face time with the people I love.

not to mention the best street-style tacos I've had in months. should I stop yet? okay, I'll stop.

this song was a theme for today in every way...

seryn - we will all be changed

surprise!

It's really not that big of a surprise I suppose, but I'm in Santa Barbara for the week! 

Monday to Monday of pure, unadulterated, California sunshine...

Both my parents' cars are stick-shifts, which I'd never had the joy of learning...until last night! My good friend Ryan came over around 11 (he claims that's when the most cars are off the road so his life wouldn't be in as much danger) and lead me through it with the patience of Coach Taylor. I know I'll get bonus friendship points for comparing him to Coach. But it's true.

Today was spent shopping with Mom and Emme (sister #2, who came back to CA as well).

We decided to keep it local, so we went here today and bought these shoes. I think it's the first time I've legitimately deserved new running shoes. As in, I actually wore them down this year—I didn't just get tired of looking at them.

Happy hour on the beach during sunset? Check. 

More in depth breakdown of why the %$&#* I ever left this place tomorrow...

back & forth

From Los Angeles...

...to Seattle.

Round two in two weeks.

Jet setting is my new fav.
Not.

And as an added bonus this week, my sister pulled together a little video of our first trip up to Seattle from Santa Barbara...road trip style. Don't worry—it's only about a minute, as opposed to the 20 hours we actually spent in my car. I'm not promising any professional videography here—we filmed it on my sister's phone, balanced on the dashboard on top of an empty Naked Juice bottle. Profesh. 

But the song we set it to is worth the listen:

Foster the People - "Pumped Up Kicks"

Santa Barbara bucket list

My last days in Santa Barbara filled up like giant water balloons about to burst. I've been on the brink of tears, which is very unlike me. I've been dropping my best friends into tiny time slots, which I like to think is also very unlike me. And I still feel like I'm forgetting something. But one by one I'm checking off my favorite Santa Barbara things and saying goodbye. It's amazing what you can get people to do when you whine these three little words: "But I'm moooooooooovvvvviinnng!"

Goodbye Channel Islands...

Sunday I ate at the best local Thai food restaurant with my fav group of people, and then literally binged on an entire pint of cinnamon ice cream from McConnell's with Michelle and Lauren. McConnell's is going to be a hard one to replace. 

Yesterday I took long walk with Sister #3 and Jack to Backyard Bowls (pretty sure that doesn't exist in Seattle either).

Goodbye perfect Santa Barbara sunsets...

Today I made the pilgrimage to my favorite beach—twice! Sat on the rocks at Hendry's with Katelin during high tide. Went back for more later with Nicole and saw massive star fish during low tide. In between beach walks, I had lunch at El Sitio on the East Side (aka legit Mexican food in a part of town where you would expect...legit Mexican food) with Kelsey. FYI, I'm linking pictures to all of these names so you can stare at my beautiful friends.

Goodbye happy hours on the beach in the middle of winter...