home is wherever I'm with you.

today, I'm pretending that our life is a movie,

& that this song plays as the credits begin to roll.

xo, kelsey

dirty laundry

ha! you thought this would be some juicy gossip.

nope. it is literal dirty laundry.

& also my companion for the next 5 hours, along with ingrid's new album.

if you're unimpressed with the amount of clothing, fear not - there's more. it's just inside the hampers.

it's cleaning day for me as the husby works a lovely 9 hour day at the caffeine factory.

(which is code for that coffee place that you go to/drive by every day.)

the past three weekends have been spent out of town or filled to the brim with church activities,

& our cleaning lady quit after an hour when she realized how much laundry we make in a week.

(... which is a lie. there was no cleaning lady.)

what I'm trying to say is... lots of clothing to wash. lots.

it's a three day weekend!!!

sleep in past 10 a.m. - CHECK.

& blah blah blahhhh about the other stuff on my self mandated to-do list.

have a wonderful weekend!

I'm off to hang out with some permanent press & dry-clean only tags.

xo, kelsey

a little picnic

So, I was a little leery calling this mini-date a "picnic,"
because there's nothing cutesy, homemade, or cherry-pie-in-a-basket about it.

We didn't even ride our bikes there... In fact, we drove.

But to be safe, I looked up the definition of the word picnic,

(which is: an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in the open air)
& I figured, well, that is in fact what we did!

Jared & I have been picnicing/day-dating/midnight walking at this lake since there was a Jared & I.

Really truly, our first "date" took place here,

so there's good memories all around. (More on that soon, promise.)
There's a "secret entrance" down the street from Jared's parents' house
that I like to think only Jared + his siblings + their friends know about,
& for the longest time, it was the only entrance that I knew existed.

It was a few years ago that one of us got a craving for that chicken teriyaki that they throw at you in the mall food court,

so we picked some up, stopped by Chick-fil-a for lemonade (I'll take full responsibility for that craving),

& then took it to the lake to enjoy the beautiful weather.

The whole thing stuck, & now it's a little bit of a tradition, I guess.
Like I said, there's no brie, wicker or checkered blankets...

But it sho' is delicious, & it sure is splendid.

I'll admit - It's the first time we've had this date since we got married,

so I of course got a little sentimental & started dreaming about bringing our baby there someday...

to that first place where mom&dad awkwardly smiled at each other on the dock,

skipping rocks & making eyes.

Alright, I've taken this blog to a whole new level now that I've introduced you to the lake.
You should take me to meet your parents next, or something.
At least start introducing me as your girlfriend.

without further ado...
our day off:

xo, kelsey

la mer - a farewell to summer, pt I

It's been September for 14 whole days now, but it's just beginning to hit me that summer has ended.

The distinctive lines between summer & fall have blurred over the last two years, 

what with the addition of a day job and the subtraction of the back-to-school factor.

Traffic is back to it's stop&go norm, the sun is setting earlier, & we're spending more evenings on our back porch.

I'm not kidding myself - I am welcoming fall back with wide open arms,

But I can't help but be *a teeeeensy bit* sentimental over yet another newlywed season ending.

Summer, you were great! 

A little toasty, but I'm sure I'll be dreaming of your warm embrace soon enough.

::some of my favorite ocean photos from our first married summer::

 

xo, kelsey

lately: phone photos

1. an august sky

2. bacon chocolate chip cookies + the perfect cup for cookie dunkin'

3. fried green tomatoes from Cotton

4 & 5. Some yummy summer drinks

6. fingernails - ignore my writing bump.

7. QUELF!

It's been a quiet "day off," but somehow busy aaaall at the same time.

I'm taking off for a work conference this week, & am thus overwhelmed with all the leaving-town goodness that ensues.

I'm making my outfit list, my shopping list, my blog schedule list, my must-wash list...

So. Many. Lists.

But I'm excited! Should be a good trip.

For now, I'm off on the hunt for a good trouser jean.

My 19 yr. old self is all like, "Whaaaa??"

But it's time. Professional Kelsey, reporting for duty.

happy monday!

xo, kelsey

an afternoon with Shirley

The wedding went wonderfully, & we are so happy for our brother & brand new sister.

The newest Bethunes are now honeymooning in Mexico,

& we are in full blown "recovery mode" today, which has involved: 

-sleeping in later than I'm willing to admit
-a trip to the bank, like real adults
-tossing the unwanted bachelor party leftovers that made their way into my fridge

-sitting on the couch folding the clean laundry that has overtaken our apartment over the weekend
-drinking Shirley Temples because I'm on a ginger ale kick

-watching Phantom of the Opera, circa. 2004 on HBO 

-whining about how awful it is, even though neither of us has changed the channel yet
-planning for dinner on our porch because, HELLO beautiful weather!

With coordinating duties taking over, I neglected to take any photos of the weekend.
I'll be back with a more organized plan. 

Promise ;)

xo, kelsey

museum day with the coulombs

1.    Being cultured, for free!

2.    Jared and photo-crasher Amelia

3.    Pattern inspirations from Africa

4.    Tristan Lowe's "Mocha Dick" - I sorta wanted to take it home with us. 

5.    Pantone mugs? Be still my beating heart. 

{I'm trying to look past the horrible photo quality... The phone isn't quite cutting it these days.}

Amelia & Andrew,

thank-you for letting us infiltrate your day off.

We love you & your city, 

& we won't ever get enough adventures with the Coulombs.

xo, kelsey

carytown burgers

Amelia & Andrew got married at the end of May,

(see the beautiful photos on Korie's blog here)

& we have all EAGERLY anticipated hanging out as married folk ever since.

With a super busy summer of work, events, internships and school,

it seemed like we'd never figure our schedules out...

But as four (of five) kindred spirits (we missed you, Allison!)

we pulled strings & made a Richmond Monday happen.

Um, we pretty much just ate & talked & laughed & then ate some more.

But can you blame us when we're in a city with eats like Carytown Burgers?

Bring on the California Burger.

xo, kelsey

Our Day Off

We spent the morning at the beach with our sister-in-law & her sweet little munchkins.

We stopped off & got some fresh fruits from a roadside farmer's market,

& now just the two of us are home, eating peaches & watching Robin Hood, Disney-style.

Don't you just love the opening credits to this movie?

The best, followed closely by 101 Dalmations, in my book.

Love our old school cartoons.

It's a short week for me, 

as we begin wedding festivities for our friends Amelia & Andrew on Friday!

We are ::SO:: excited.

Happy Monday, everyone!