springtime in dc

some springtime prettiness in our nation's wonderful capital.

oh hey

So the thing is...

I had no idea how CRAZY this whole owning a company thing would be. NAIVE, I know. When it comes to small business, busy is not just good, it's great. It means something is working. It means we're doing something right. But no matter how many articles & blogs I read about work/life balance & learning how to walk away from work when work is also your couch, I still wasn't prepared, as discussed at great length here. Anyways...

Hi, blog. How are you? I haven't seen you since March. Things got a little a lot crazy. Things are still crazy. I have exactly 46 minutes to sit here & write before I need to move on to the next task on my to-do list. I still haven't written a This Month post for April. (tbh, I will probably backdate it & we can all pretend I hit publish on April 1st. It's like a really great April's Fool's Day prank, RIGHT?) Things will continue to be crazy until sometime in June. I know, I know. Life is harrrrrrd & I'm pretty much a spoiled brat. Don't think for a moment that I am not grateful to be doing what I'm doing. I'm just kinda bad at the balance part of it right now.

Every year, I do my annual year-in-review post & get so frustrated that I didn't make time for one or two blog posts a week. Little ones. Just a couple paragraphs about what's going on in the life of the Jared Bethunes. So, here goes.

• I've been traveling in little doses, just around Virginia, sometimes spending as few as 36 hours in DC before heading out again. Jared was sent to Vegas for work, & his plane landed as I was pulling the car out of the parking garage to head to Roanoke for a conference. Honestly, it's insane, but it's also... fun. (For now. Talk to me in 6 months.)
• Somewhere in the middle of all this, we found a dog to adopt. He was perfect. The adoption fell through. Heartbreak ensued. Hope springeth eternal for our Someday dog.
• Jared randomly had Easter Sunday off, so we took a quick trip to my parents for the annual Essmann family photo & over-the-top delicious Easter dinner. 
• Amelia & I had our first Tart Event Co. wedding of 2015, which was also our first wedding since our public launch in January. It was beautiful, & perfect, & the groom was English. 
• Spring has sprung in DC & we're being reminded of how much we love this city with every morning that we spend drinking coffee on the balcony.
• The newest Star Wars trailer is out & you better believe that's big news around these parts.
• & just for funzies, Jared went through his first car wash over Easter weekend. I found that to be worthy of documentation:

this month - april

MAKING - antihistamine cocktails, because allergies

CRAVING - a first trip to the beach, which is usually in April

PLAYING - the curly-or-straight game with my hair as the humidity begins to move in

LISTENING TO - podcasts, morning & evening & drives to Richmond-ing

READING - the Skimm every morning & feeling oh so informed!

WATCHING - way too much of The X-Files, to be completely honest

WEARING - a lighter coat, hallelujah

LEARNING - how to pack for 2-5 day trips real well

GOING TO - TWO Cardinals games at the Nats stadium! AHHH!

WORKING ON - weeding the winter clothes out of our closet, little by little

OBSESSED WITH - La Croix and peanut butter toast

PLANNING - itineraries for a few different visitors, from friends to grandparents

EXCITED FOR - Into the Woods & finalllly watching it

HOPING - to win back our back patio from the birds that have taken over it this winter

STARTING - to spend more time on Pinterest, but only because of Tart

FINISHING - a long hunt for a coffee table, hopefully

What are you up to this month?

the quest for lobster rolls

Jared & I imposed a rule when we moved here & fully understood just how many restaurants surrounded us. Realizing from experience just how easy it is to find a favorite place & turn it into a date night routine, we pledged not to eat at the same restaurant twice for the first two years we live here. The rule doesn't apply to fast food, because I can't even explain what would happen if we'd tried to only eat lunch at Shake Shack or Sweetgreen once.

IF we return to a restaurant, it can only be with newcomers. For exaaaample, if we find ourselves with out-of-town visitors or coworkers & in need of a place to eat, we can return to a restaurant we know to be delicious. It's turning out to be a pretty brilliant rule, actually, & I'd highly recommend it even if you've lived in the same city your whole life. Keep it fresh! *snaps/high kick*

Last week's culinary adventure landed us at Luke's Lobster in Penn Quarter, & it did not disappoint. I had sampled their lobster rolls at a bridal show late last year & have been raving about it to Jared ever since. Not the cheapest of lunches, unsurprisingly, but pretty affordable for the quality & experience. We were having a very pleasant conversation until we started eating, & then neither of us spoke until we were done. There are several places around the city that brag about their lobster rolls, & we've now only tried one... But, even though our rule allows us to start a search for THE BEST lobster roll, our lunch budget may not. Or maybe I'll just start selling off our valuables to fund my newfound lobster roll habit. Who knows! Life's a lobster, roll with it. (Sorryyyyy, I hadta.)

Tasty food & a handsome man to eat it with. It's a good life, guys.

emily & trent go to washington

Our friends Emily & Trent were in town last weekend, & I got to tagalong with them on Sunday. There's always more sights to see than Jared & I can cram into a day off, so having visitors with a planned agenda was a real treat.

Always stunned by the history you can encounter in this city after stepping out of a metro station.

Middle of the intersection selfie

We were like kids in a candy shop at the Air & Space Museum

Completely oblivious, we popped out of the National Archives 1 minute before the St. Patrick's Day Parade started & happened to be on the corner of the very start of it. Serendipity!

Me & my sisters had a mild obsession with Michael Flatley's The Lord of the Dance when we were kids, & I still get a little bit excited when I see Irish step dancers. In fact, this video made me cry tears of happiness. 

Hi friiiiiiends!

One of my favorite constants in life is receiving a phone call from Emily with her newest plan for getting us into the same city for a few days. Once upon a time, we lived next door to each other in an idyllic suburban neighborhood in Indiana, with a shared backyard & a golden retriever apiece, spending our days riding bikes & dreaming on a swing set. We spent every day together up until the day that my family moved back to Virginia.

12 years later, we've managed to see each other at least once a year nearly every year, which is quite the accomplishment. We've added husbands to the equation, & now we spend our visits in our big kid apartments, dreaming of the day that our annual trips are a shared beach house while the kids entertain each other. So grateful for their friendship. Come back soon, Em & Trent!