7.4.12

happy independence day everyone, don't you just love all the patriotism this day brings out. however and wherever you are celebrating this day, i wish everyone a safe & happy holiday.. and of course all the cookout food you desire!
...and if you haven't gotten enough red, white & blue yet, here is a collection of flag shots from previous posts. i think our flag is so beautiful so i seem to take a lot of pictures everywhere we go. from honolulu and california, to virginia and north carolina.. the flag gets me every time!)









(photos from these posts: here, here, here, here, and here

life lately via instagram

happy friday y'all. my agenda has been pretty busy the past few weeks & this weekend we don't plan to slow down. the husband is all mine this weekend, no work! we going to baltimore for an Orioles games with friends, saying farewell to matt's best friend who is moving to north carolina & doing some work around the house.

time is flying by, but i thought i would share a few of my instagram photos from the past few weeks. just a few highlights: we took a road trip to illinois to visit all of my family, we're enjoying the sweetest tomato ever from my tomato plant which is in full bloom, spending mornings relaxing and watching the dogs play together (they are already best friends & i never get sick of seeing them together!), a midweek double date in Frederick for amazing thai food, we finally got chairs & a table for our (tiny) patio so we've been spending many a night out there, eating homemade peach pie & drinking wine, thanks to this heat wave we've been reacquainting ourselves with the pool (& margaritas :), on a whim we decided to run the baltimore 10-miler & reward ourselves with a break in our no beer diet, after the race we made our way up to harrisburg, pa for a wedding which was a BLAST (nothing like dancing in 3in heels after running 10miles), i've been burying myself into books again since my summer session started but no complaints here, catching a few baseball games at camden yards and a hot dog with crab meat on top, we celebrated our second wedding anniversary (our first one actually together) with a relaxing, simple date and our gift to each other finally arrived: our beautiful dining room table. we loooooove this table & i can't help picturing sitting at this table 20 years from now, it's our investment piece.

my summer favorites

"summers here to stay, and all those summer games will last forever
go down to the shore, kick off your shoes, dive in the empty ocean."
- dave matthews band


i know summer is still technically a week away, but for me the first day of summer is when i can wear a tank top without goosebumps, or when our grill sees the light of day again, or when i put all my winter gear away and replace it with sundresses and bathing suits. so according to my standards, it's summer y'all! as a florida girl, summer is my favorite time of the year. heat, humidity... eh doesn't bother me (although my curly hair might say other wise.) more than any other season for me, summer time is so distinct. summer has it's own smell, it's own sound, it's own feeling. and i love it all.

so i decided to share a few things that i love most about summer. feel free to add a few of your favorites in the comments.
sunshine
watching the fireflies
cookouts with good friends
bike rides
the smell of the ocean
shorts & bare legs
trips to the beach, although they don't happen enough since we moved to Maryland
outdoor concerts, especially country music
white jeans
anything that smells like coconut
summer theme songs (like this one, or this one & of course this one!)
my freckles that come out to shine
flip flops to show off a bright pedicure
fresh fruit from the farmers market
summer birthdays (including mine!)
dining al fresco
being on the water (i swear i was a sailor in my past life)
baseball games
a good book by the pool
everyone wearing bright colors, how can you not smile
a swimsuit and tan lines
sangria, or a margarita, or a mojito.. i don't discriminate

photo via found on interest

bear.

we are so excited here at the fast house because our family just got bigger! a few weeks ago, we added another pup to our family. his name is Bear and he is keeping us so busy but also giving us some good laughs. like our other dog, wrigley, he is a chesapeake bay retriever.

matt & i are just a little dog crazy so we are so happy to have another pup to spoil & love. it makes for a very, very happy home. bear is almost 3 months and i am soaking in all this time that he is little. it's been so fun seeing his personality develop and get to know wrigley. (he loves his big brother ;) all the middle of the night trips outside, early mornings and constant attention is so worth is because we love this little guys so much already.

i think i already have 500+ pictures of this little guy but i can't help it. he's a ham. here's a few.


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travel photos: Big Sur + the Pacific Coast Hwy + CA1

besides long (but not long enough) stops in santa barbara, san francisco, san diego & coronado a major part of our trip was the drive between each city. between each city we look the science route (only hoping on the highway a few times) and made lots of stops. the view along big sur, the pacific coast highway and CA1 is stunning. windy roads up mountains, along the beach, through mass amounts of rolling green hills. theres nothing like it.

we found a farmers market north of monterey and picked up the biggest strawberries i've ever seen and 8 avocados for only $1! then stopped in monterey for chowder with a view overlooking the pier to watch the seals. (btw, i love seals, so freaking adorable!) we stopped a few times along big sur, one of the most breathtaking parts of the trip. we spotted tons of elephant seals perched on the shoreline. of course we had to make a trip to in-and-out burger (#animalstyle).. is there anything better than a good milkshake? thanks to a good recommendation we stopped in san luis obispo to stretch our legs (pssst. good shopping there!) a drive through LA and a few quick pictures in Malibu happened too.

it really was a whirlwind of a trip, but i loved every minute of it. it was so great to take another trip with my love & spend quality time with our best friends. i am already anxious to go back. if you're looking for a great adventure i highly recommend this one.


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travel photos: san diego + coronado, ca

our last stop of the trip was san diego & coronado. we spent two nights in san diego's gaslamp district and our last night at the north island navy base. it was bitter sweet knowing it was the tail end of our trip but we had so much fun. my best friend bailey who was with us was our personal tour guide since she spent some time there when she was younger while her dad was stationed there. i loved that all three places we stop were so different than the other. san diego certainly did not disappoint.

our first night we ventured out for dinner and drinks around our hotel. thanks to some good recommendations, we found ourselves at la puerta for easy one of the best meals, ever. i've thought about those pork tacos more times than i would like to admit since that trip and i could probably write a whole post about how much i loved it. (beyond the food, you gotta try their house brewed beer and/or the frozen mojito, but i digress..) then we capped the night with drinks at a swing dance bar. (yep, you read that right.) the next day we meet up with bailey's brother, taylor, (who is stationed in coronado) for a trip to la jolla for some beach time before catching a padres (vs. dodgers) game. we must have been good luck, because the padres won! after the game we headed back to our hotel rooftop bar for some celebratory drinks. our hotel was right across the street from the stadium and the roof have an amazing view of the ball park, the bridge to coronado and most of the gaslamp district. while on the roof deck we even saw taylor fly over in a helicopter (very cool!)

after taking san diego by storm, we headed over the bridge to coronado. we spent the day venturing up & down orange avenue, visiting the hotel del coronado and walking coronado beach. that afternoon we decided to rent bikes and ride from the hotel del to the naval base for a tour from taylor. i've had the misfortune of visiting many army posts, but it was exciting to get a glimpse into navy life and see the helicopters he flies up close. (go seahawks!) the rest of the day and night was spent eating and drinking. it was kinda the theme on this trip.

ps. props to north island naval base for the best base/post lodging we've seen. can't beat an ocean view!


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more to come: tomorrow, i'm sharing some miscellaneous pictures from our road trip and some of the "pit stops".