Friday's Fancies #4

This Friday I am liking up with {av} & creating an outfit that I would wear to the Royal Wedding, if I received an invitation (dreaming, obviously).

Yes, I stayed up to watch the Royal Wedding. I couldn't help it, I wanted a peek at Kate looking all lovely on her wedding day! & I'm glad that I did - she looked perfect! Her dress, her hair, her make-up, it was all perfectly in place & gorgeous!

Beaded Shift Dress  |  Starbust Feather Hair Accessory  |  Pale Pink Leather Sandals  |  Fendi Coat

Rose Oval Earrings  |  Judith Leiber Clutch

What would you wear?

Did you/are you going to watch the Royal Wedding?

weekend scenes - part two: three bears at a bar

Okay, If you don't personally know me, my boyfriend &his cousin Jenni, that title might sound a little strange... The three of us spend A LOT of time together & I cannot remember when, where or how it started, but we call each other the three bears. We are kinda silly like that.

Luke & Jenni both came up to Seattle this past weekend (she lives in Portland, too). Our first night I made dinner & then went to a super fun bar in the Fremont neighborhood (it's only a few miles from my neighborhood in Queen Anne).

The weather was exceptionally nice for a Friday night here. Nice meaning that we had no rain; it was still a bit chilly. The outside section of the bar had a few fireplaces & overhead heaters - yes!

Well, here are some pics from a very fun night, with two of my favorite people:

weekend scenes - part one: suite night at work

My title banner doesn't exactly match my blog, but I could care less, it's baseball colors! 

This past Saturday I had my suite night at the Mariners game. 

Each season we get one night where we can invite 20 people & enjoy a game. So, I gathered some family & friends & had one fun night that I wont soon forget!

We started our evening a bit early by meeting across the street at the Pyramid Ale House around 2pm for beers and a very late lunch... After a few hours & a few hundred dollars later I'm sure, we headed over to the ballpark to watch the game from our suite.

 The many pitchers of Apricot Ale....

LOVE having a brewery right across the street from the ballpark!

Cheers to good times in the beer garden

 A great group of friends & family... & we're missing over half of our group, too!

 Our view of the ballpark from our suite. Love seeing downtown in the background!

 Love me some cuzzy bear!

My wonderful sister & my awesome dad!

My Luke.

 Luke & Heather

 Coley & Connor. Connor is one of my best friends' sons. I think she was off grabbing a bite to eat, so she missed the photo... :(

 View from the suite.

More views from the suite...

My dad's boss & his hilarious family!

 Uncle T's beverage of choice.

 Playing around with my new camera lens at the bar.

 Cuzzys!

 Me.

We had such a great group of people in our suite & we had such a silly time, can't you tell?! 

I can't remember the last time that I laughed so hard the entire day & into the evening. 

I still have more photos from this past weekend that I'm going to share - but i didn't want this post too photo heavy. SO make sure to check back in the next day or so to see what else we were up to!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day, bloggy friends! I love that we have a day to celebrate being nice to the earth, but really, every day should be earth day. I am hoping that on a day like today, awareness can be made & even if a few minds are changed, it's a step in the right direction.

Today I am sharing a few things that I do in my everyday life to celebrate Earth Day, every day...

 [via]

Reuse your water bottle. Avoid buying bottled water. I use the same water bottle & just go back & forth for re-fills to avoid plastic waste.

Lower your thermostat. We use a space heater that uses the same amount of energy as one light bulb. (we also live in a teeny tiny apartment)

Turn off lights and electronics when you leave the room. Unplug your cell phone charger from the wall when not using it.  If I'm not using something & it doesn't need to be plugged in, I unplug it. There is no use wasting energy.

Buy products that use recyclable materials whenever possible. We buy a lot of products that are made from recyclable materials. 

Recycle products that you use.  We recycle our cardboard boxes, aluminum and tin cans & we've also started a mini table-top compost for leftover food.

Bring your own bags to the grocery store. Given a choice between plastic and paper, opt for paper. I need to be better about remembering my reusable bags... I'm getting better! But when I forget, I always get paper bags & then recycle them.

Go paperless. Consider reading your newspaper and magazine subscriptions online. Switch to electronic banking and credit card payment, too. All of my payments are done online (minus the rent). I've also opted out of receiving catalogs in the mail, I can check out their products online.

Do full loads of laundry and set the rinse cycle to “cold.” Your clothes are still going to come out clean, & you use less energy in the process.

Wash towels after several uses. We use our towels a few times before washing them. Especially the towels we use for our hair. 

Plant a garden.  We have a tiny garden. You can't have much of one in a tiny space, but we've managed to plant & maintain basil, cilantro, bell peepers and chili peppers on our patio.

What do you do in your everyday life to be green?

How to have a fabulous birthday weekend...

This past weekend I turned one year away from the big 3-0. (eeeeeek!)

But, if there's one thing that I've learned from getting older,
it's that life just keeps getting better & better!

Here's how I spent my special weekend:

At an alumni event (for Luke):

Luke's Alma mater has an alumni group in Portland & his friend is the president of that group. We got together on Saturday at Mcadam's Bar & Grill to watch the Little 500 bike race & played Sink the Biz (their favorite drinking game they played back in college).

Enjoying delicious food (fondue!!):

We went to Urban Fondue with Luke's aunt and uncle & stuffed ourselves with the most delicious port wine cheese fondue, a chicken/pork/prawns entree & a banana caramel dessert fondue at the end. Way too delicious!

With good friends:

I have such a fun group of people that I always have the best time with! After dinner we went to Life of Riley in the Pearl to watch the Blazers playoff game & drink a few beers.

Enjoying new (to me) sporting events:

 I attended my first Timbers game. It was so much FUN. We have an MLS team in Seattle & everyone always talks about the crazy energy & crazy fans - I saw that firsthand last Sunday! We'll definately be going back for more games this season!

Loving Long Distance

Today, we are talking about Long Distance Relationships... & I'm so lucky to have {av} from {long distance loving} gracing my blog with her presence today! She's sharing some sweet tips on how to make your long distance romance a little more bearable. I won't write too much, I'll let her do the rest... Enjoy! :)

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Hi! My name is {av} and you can find me Monday thru Friday at {long distance loving}! I'm so happy to be posting here at Little Miss Holls while Holly celebrates her birthday weekend in Portland :)

Holly and I have one very important thing in common: our long distance relationships. While I'm no longer dating my husband long distance, Holly is still a long distance warrior! She asked me to write about something relationship-related, so I'm coming through on that request with this post. I want to share a fun way {cv} and I kept each other smiling over our three years of long distance:

{image credits: billy joel + dave barnes}

Did you guess it? We sent each other music via iTunes! Just a month into our long distance stint, he sent me 12 Gardens Live from Billy Joel. It was the summer of 2006 and I was studying abroad in France. I managed to sleep through his phone call that morning and was admittedly a little bummed. I got to school early that day to check my email and found that album as a sweet surprise in my inbox. He'd sent it before he went to bed--and after I missed his call. It meant the world to me that he was thinking of me an ocean away--and to this day, that album holds a special place in my heart. {We subsequently saw Billy Joel live twice later in our long distance years...yes, I grew to love BJ that much!}

Over those three years apart, {cv} would send random bursts of songs--and I would do the same. One of my other favorites was the Dave Barnes album from 2008, Me + You + The World. I actually fell in love with Dave Barnes the summer I was in France and was aching for this new album that April. Before I even had the chance to buy it for myself on its release date, it appeared in my inbox. Though {cv} couldn't come to his concert with me in Virginia later that month, I still felt like a little piece of him was there with me--singing along to Until You.

Billy Joel and Dave Barnes aside, sending music {in iTunes form or some other way} is an easy way to let someone know you're thinking of them. It's a fun surprise--and I would venture to say a welcome one! Whether it's for your significant other who is a six-hour drive away or a friend who lives on the other side of the country, it's sure to bring a smile to their face. The songs you send will surely leave a lifelong imprint in their memory banks!

How do you stay connected across the miles? 

Thanks again for having me, Holly! I hope you enjoyed your birthday :)

xoxo {av} at {long distance loving}

Friday's Fancies #3

I'm linking up with {av} over a {Long Distance Loving} for another installment of Friday's Fancies! This week I am creating a "birthday-out-on-the-town-look" (Saturday is my birthday, hehe). Okay, someone please buy this outfit for me now! I would love to wear it out for a night on the town with my friends!

Soshanna Dress | Belle Noel Bangels | Drop earrings | Jimmy Choo Shoes
 Want to join in? Link up with {av} & create your own Friday's Fancies! 

Happy (almost?) weekend!

I just have to get through today... & then tomorrow... & then it's THE WEEKEND! :D
I'm extra excited about this weekend because Saturday is my special day, my birthday! I'm a nerd, I know.

I'll be venturing down to Portland to spend my birthday with the bf & some of my favorite friends & family :) I.Love.My.Life. But before I head out, I wanted to let you know that you need to come back to the blog **this Sunday**! I'll have a guest post from a very lovely lady that you simply must check out - you wont be disappointed!

These gorgeous prints below just might give you a clue as to what my mystery guest post-er is going to be talking about on Sunday!

 So Happy

 Someone misses you

 Portland

 

Long Distance

I realize this post was just a bunch of "fluff" & I really have nothing going on at the moment :-/ But if you stop by in the next few days, I'll have more to entrain you, promise omise! Let's just blame this week on my crazy busy work schedule, okay?! ;)