Playing House

Last week, I was asked by my best friend Danielle to house sit for about 6 days, so of course I said "Yes!" in a heartbeat! I feel like I pretty much grew up in that house & it always brings tons of memories when I come over. Danielle and I have friends since the 7th grade (almost 7 years!) when we were both the new kids at our middle school. The middle school/high school I went too were both very.. pretentious. It's the school in the area known for the rich kids and extravagant houses (not to mention drugs and booze.. but what high school these days isn't known for that?).. needless to say, I was at the opposite end of each spectrum & didn't quite know my place or where to fit in, but luckily I had a few great friends like Danielle. I have to say, though.. I couldn't be happier to be out of high school and I do not miss one second of it! Those were NOT the best days of my life, and I can say I will look back & miss college once I'm done.

But that's besides the point. Patrick was invited by Danielle's parents to also stay over, which was nice because I have a hard time falling asleep if I know I'm the only one in the house. I have this anxiety associated with people breaking in at night, and will often wake up in the middle of the night and HAVE to check that all of the doors are locked! Anyways, it was rainy for a few days, which was nice because the heat was getting UNBEARABLE. It is insanely humid in the summer in Virginia Beach, and it gets hard to even walk to your car sometimes.. never mind the fact that I have no A.C! We took the opportunity to try some indoor photography.. so enjoy the pictures of Danielle's beautiful house (her mom has amazing decorating skills) and other musings from the weekend.

target headband, forever 21 dress, thrifted shoes

You run through the forest, settle before the sun

You know when you see something and know EXACTLY how you want to style it with? That's how I was with this dress.  As soon as I saw this 1970's peasant floral ruffle dress on Mikhaila's blog, I just HAD to have my chance at wearing it! I left a comment saying how much I adored the dress, she emailed me about a trade for a month, & we made it happen! She posted on my dress a few weeks ago (I'm terribly late!), so check out her post!


turban made from a dress belt, dress from Thriftaway Vintage, thrifted belt, Seychelles Shoes

While taking these photos, all of the sudden I felt about a million bugs on me at once. Mosquitoes are EXTREMELY attracted to me & I think I'm slightly allergic, because what would be a normal mosquito bite on someone else will be a huge welt on myself. It was awful, we took these pictures in about 5 minutes and then I sprinted to the car! Patrick ended up with ONE tiny bite and I counted and, no joke, had over 20.

You guys, I have to admit.. I've been a bit of a mess lately! I'm such a stress case right now. Very, very, very long story put short..  financial woes, especially dealing with school. It feels like everything that could have gone wrong the past week to make me stress financially happened! Car troubles, tuition troubles.. but hey, that's life, right? Man, I'm really feeling the life of being a college student right now! I've been aching for a shopping trip to get some lace up boots & a benton striped dress & a trench coat (along with a few other items) but for now I'm settling for a pair of lace up boots I thrifted this morning for $4, a black & white polka dot dress I thrifted for $2, yet I'm still on the hunt for the perfect trench coat! Perhaps I will allow myself to buy the advertised $35 H&M trench? The woes of a fashionista on a (huge) budget!

Seattle: City Views

So, this is my last & final Seattle post.. for now! I wanted to share some of the amazing city views & sights we encountered, including the University, the Biltmore (the historical apartment complex with moss climbing up the side.. definitely somewhere I'd want to live!), & views from our many walks. I kept comparing to Seattle with New York City, because I thought that I would have LOVED New York City but I was a little disappointed & it just wasn't for me, but what set Seattle apart is the charm & personality.  People were incredibly kind here.. we would be sitting on the bus, chatting about the best way to get from one place to the next, and someone would come over & help us out. On our first day, we were struggling, walking forever with all of our luggage (ok, Pat was carrying most of it), and I asked a lady which way we should head towards & she said she was heading in a similar direction, so she walked with us most of the way & gave us the best tips to make the most of our trip! It was only about two weeks ago & I'm already so completely nostalgic.

Seattle: Feast For A King

When we arrived back home from Seattle, one of the first things my mom asked was how much money we spent on food.  And actually, the answer was, "Not much!" We surely ate a ton of food, but mostly we snacked & ate tons of pho.  The Emerald City is known for it's pho, and I'm not gonna lie, that's a big reason why we are so drawn to it.  A small bowl (which is seriously a bowl the size of my head) will only set you back $5! Perfect for the constantly hungry college students. There is pho practically on every street corner, and we quickly found our favorite location, Pho Than in University District.  The place was always packed, but we were lucky and always managed to snag a table.  Creme puffs come complimentary pre-meal & the homemade pepper sriracha sauce is to die for.

 In order, a few other goods we enjoyed: truffle cheese & mushroom pizza from Serious Pie, black & white milkshake & frozen hot chocolate, vegetarian pho, seafood gumbo, fresh oysters on the half shell, pull-apart cinnamon roll, Iranian sweet roll stuffed with beef, apple cinnamon roll, salmon pate pirosky, & nutella & banana, strawberry, maple & bacon, & raspberry & cream cheese ebelskievers.

Seattle: Shops, Markets, & Exploring

One of my favorite things about Seattle was the abundance of markets, vintage shops, antique malls, & little boutiques filled to the brim with unique items & brands you won't find elsewhere.  Unfortunately, the only markets we were able to make it to the Freemont Sunday Market & Pike Place Market.  Pike Place was undoubtedly crowded, and we tried to get in and get out as quickly as possible, just to say we went.  Although I'm not one for crowds, we ended up going back to Pike Place three different times.  Even though it's one of the biggest tourist attractions, there is no doubt that the food was incredible there.. but I'm saving the food for a separate post!

The Freemont Flea (Freemont Sunday Market) was by far my favorite shopping destination.  Although not pictures, I was able to score a Pentax K1000 with two lenses: 50mm and 135mm.  And it set me back a mere $25! I found out that I'm actually a good haggler. I've been wanting this camera for months & it retails online for $150-300, not including the 135mm lens! There were tons of handmade & vintage items at the flea, it will definitely be one of my weekly visits when we move.

Patrick also his new favorite music shop in Freemont.  The walls were completely lined top brand guitars in impeccable condition.  A unique feature of this shop was the harp selection, and one of the workers actually taught Patrick the dynamics of the harp in about 15 minutes and with a little practice, he was playing pretty little melodies!

Between all of the shops, mostly in the Freemont & Capitol Hill districts, mural art was everywhere, so we made sure to snap a few shots of those as well!