wearing - 38/50

top - The Limited // jeans - Madewell // pumps - Target // hat - Cotton On (similar) // lips - Nars, Fast Ride

As a very loud bang! of an end to what became 2014's quietest month on the blog, I am ever so pleased to formally announce that we are heading to London & Paris with our besties, Amelia & Andrew, for 10 days, & AH! WE LEAVE THIS SUNDAY! Cue running around like crazy people, trying to pick out proper attire/shoes & buy last minute travel stuff & then make it all fit into a backpack. We have become absolute crazy people in the past week. In what can only be descrived as a darling twist of irony, both of our jobs have required more of our time than ever over the past two weeks, & suddenly, after waiting for this trip for SO LONG... It's here, & I'm not even close to ready.

All of that to say... Here! Have an outfit! I'm going to try REALLY HARD to post while we're gone, but I'm choosing to make my life all sorts of easier by leaving the macbook at home. I make zero promises on the blogging front. However! Please feel free to follow along on our adventures over on Instagram - We'll be sharing our European holiday under the hashtag #bethulombsjumpthepond. Yes, we have a faux joint last name. The love is real.

wearing - 37/50

bomber jacket - Urban Outfitters // top - Forever21 // jeans - Madewell // necklace - Charlotte Russe // wedges - Old Navy

Jared got me this bomber for my birthday & I've pretty much tried to wear it every day, regardless of my activity. I'm a nightmare to shop with, as I detest unintentional shopping, so Jared has had to master the art of paying attention to the item I pet the most during my 15 minute attention span in clothing stores. & master it, he has. I love this jacket. It's the BOMB. (Ugh. Sorry. I couldn't stop that from happening.)

So, red lips! This is a fairly uncommon occurrence. All I can think about is whether or not I have lipstick on my teeth or if it's bleeding onto my chin (because lip liner is a whooooole 'nother level of makeup that I have not yet earned enough points for) or how much longer it will be before I can kiss my darling husby without leaving a magenta shadow. But! I LIKE it. & I'd love to be better at it. That seems 26-y. 

& on that note, I've been letting everyone know that I turned twenty-sexy last week. Sounds better. 

four year anniversary

Since last October 23rd, we've made some big changes. Pursuing dream careers, landing dream jobs, spending four months apart (& surviving), squeezing our life into a teeny DC apartment, seemingly constant travel, & getting to know a new city -- We've been hoping for this year for a long time. The Jared & Kelsey in the picture above would be ecstatic & probably really overwhelmed if they knew what sort of tomorrows they had ahead of them.

Sitting down to write this post is always easy. It is so easy to talk about the million different ways  & reasons that I love this man, because I can think back an hour in my life & see love. Love was him getting up an hour earlier than me to go to a job that provides for us, even if he only gets one day off-ish a week. Love was him brewing coffee even though he didn't have time to drink a cup himself. Love was a kiss on the cheek (because morning breath) & a "I love you so much" before I had even opened my eyes. Little things.

I can't believe that our next anniversary will be our fifth, or that in May we'll have been together for 9 whole years... Mostly, because this reality is still such a dream. We spent 4.5 years as boyfriend and girlfriend, dreaming of marriage. Sometimes, when it's 11pm & we're just sitting down to eat a bowl of bad-decision pasta because neither of us wanted to cook, I realize that these are the moments I hoped for back in 2009 when I was driving back to my apartment. Never having to leave. 11pm pasta. Little things... The dream.

Jared Stedman,

We have had some serious adventures this year.

I'm so happy to be by your side & continually navigating adulthood with you.

You make me whole.

I love you, my handsome.

Love, 

yoursallyours

wearing - 36/50

dress - Anthropologie // boots - Urban Outfitters (similar) // necklace - Old Navy

I've been a bad blogger. I'm adjusting to a new schedule, & daily grocery shopping + blogging were the first to go straight out the window. Sorries. I promise that this isn't a sign of things to come from 26-year-old me. I'll get it together. Last weekend's birthday festivities were so good that I barely took pictures, so you also have that to look forward to. Riveting!

Innnnn the meantime, you can find me living in dresses like this one - A dress that make you look trendy no matter what kinda food-baby you have going on? I'm on board.

in which I realize my birthday is this saturday

I have spent all day in front of my computer screen, writing. These days usually land me here with you, dear blog, as my only companions for the day have been a Google+ Hangout this morning, Lorelei & Rory for 41:53 over lunch while I ate leftovers from Saturday night, & my beautiful plant babies that I'm obsessively monitoring because I don't think I can emotionally handle them dying. It's been a good day, because it's the good kind of writing. The kind of writing that merits classical music, a whole pot of coffee (thanks, babe!) & the wooliest of socks. I got a lot done. Then I had to write the date down.

Not that writing the date down was a bad thing. However. Even though I've been singing "Octoooooberrrrr!!!" for 6 days now, I didn't really realize that my birthday is this Saturday. I knew it was coming but my, is that close. & what's even more strange is that it's a Saturday birthday & I have no elaborate plans. Saturday birthdays are like, shooting stars or sale candles that actually smell good, or groupons for macarons -- They should be cherished & embraced! But instead, I'm perfectly content with my plans: By next Monday, I'll have seen three of my best friends and my parents & had a day off with Jared. Birthday week? I'll take it. How twenty-six-y of me.

Man. 26. OMG, 26. Things about my life feel twenty-six. I frequently flip couch cushions so they don't become too worn in certain spots. The first website I visit in the morning is now the news instead of Facebook. I recently spent a decent amount on proper make-up, something that I previously would have scoffed at. I water plants. I shop at the farmer's market on Sunday mornings. I sweep our floors daily. I go to the grocery store almost every day, because I'm prioritizing eating breakfast. These all seem like things that twenty-six year olds do.

Then there's the things that I've skipped for 26 years. For some reason, I've made it 26 years into life without knowing what swiss chard tastes like. Like, I actually googled that in the middle of the grocery store (because I grocery shop now, remember?) while standing in front of the greens section, being misted. I can't actually brew a pot of coffee. I don't know how to operate a combination lock, as I've learned the hard way at work this week. I avoid talking on the phone at all costs unless it's someone that is close enough to know my middle name. Dusting is gross. I've never watched Mean Girls, Titanic or Donnie Darko.

There are clearly things to work on. Things to start doing. Things that twenty-six year olds do. Things like scheduling the next hair appointment while at the salon, paying beaucoup bucks for some form of regulated exercise, reading the newspaper... Hiking. & maybe those things will start happening. Jared & I aren't the supposed-to types these days, so there's also a chance they won't. But mannnn, I'll tell you what. My stars changed between 25 and 26, & now I'm just really excited for what a new year holds.

I'll be back for a farewell to 25 post. For now, I'm off to watch youtube videos about how to open a combination lock. #livinlavidaloca