weekending.

this weekend was one of the first in a while where i had absolutely no plans.  so i lounged, tried to beat the heat, chatted with my love, continued the house hunt and spent some much needed time at the beach listening to some live reggae music and playing in the sand.

it was low-key, full of sun and my favorite peeps, and just what the doctor ordered.

currently.

march, what a month it's been.  between all the festivities, a new job, a trying to keep up with our day-to-day life, blogging as always, took the back seat.  part of me is okay with that and another bigger part of me, wishes i was a better multi-tasker & life-balancer.  but that's for another post.

currently, things around here have been wonderful, adventurous, surprising and so enjoyable.  for the most part, our weekends have been engulfed with activities, like we're desperately trying to make up for the frenzy of the week.  we had the pleasure of taking to the seas to go whale watching, hosted a couple fun family dinners & spent a few days dining out on the town.  most recently, we celebrated easter and i was shocked to walk into a fantastic thai-themed surprise party.

this month was anything but normal.  i'll share some of these adventures with you over the next couple days and hopefully some other forgotten posts that unfortunately, were left in the dark when i signed off from this space weeks ago.  

enjoy your tuesday & let's meet back here tomorrow! :)

our turkey day.

hi friends!  did you survive the whirlwind holiday?  this year was so laid back compared to last year- particularly since we weren't hosting.  instead, we celebrated at my in-law's house with all the families.  it was very casual & very nice.  i was tasked with the dessert.  i made two pies that were a huge hit and quickly gobbled up.

the morning of thanksgiving, we kept our turkey trot tradition alive and ran the father joes thanksgiving day 5k.  we love this tradition; it's a great way to start the day, burn some calories and if you can get the family involved, a relaxing way to spend time together before the holiday chaos and food coma takes over.

the rest of the weekend was spent playing board games, crafting, hiking and taking evening walks on the beach.  my main priority was spending time with family since my grandma's in town from albuquerque- so it was nice to slow down, catch up, and enjoy everyone's company.  i'm very much looking forward to this holiday season.  since we don't have a home to decorate, i'm indulging in a diy christmas to help keep the creative juices and holiday spirit flourishing.  luckily for me, christmas carols, hot chocolate and warm slippers can be enjoyed anywhere.

enjoy your week!

the color run // san diego.

by now, you've likely heard of the color run.  you know the one.  where droves of people dressed in white, tutus, and rainbow wigs come together to run a 5k, all the while being assaulted with tons & tons of colored powder.

well. last weekend, i was one of those crazies.  & i loved every minute of it.  when i found out we were officially moving back to san diego, i called my sister and asked if she wanted to participate.  without hesitation, she said yes.  and our team was born.

introducing team colorburst.  without hesitation, this is hands-down, one of the best 5k's out there.  it's not timed, so we were able to enjoy the race as a team & they allowed strollers.  originally, we weren't going to bring the kiddos, but man, were we glad we did.  they made the race.  we would have enjoyed ourselves without the kids, but it would have taken us much less time to finish, we likely wouldn't have stopped to make powder angles in the colored dust, or had a random color fight in the middle of the course.  yep, we were totally those people.  

after crossing the finish line, we joined all the finishers in a color festival.  we re-learned the cupid shuffle (one of those dances that once learned and after a brief refresher, comes back to you in no time) & danced together in the morning heat.

the last hoorah was a final color explosion.  after counting down from 10, everyone shot their color packets high into the sky and soon, brightly colored dust was everywhere.  & it was awesome.  we cheered and danced in the colored smoke, willing it to land on us to finalize our personal colored masterpiece.

by the end, we were a fantastically colorful, hot mess.  so much so, it took days for some of the powder (mostly blue) to finally come off...but that's beside the point.check to see if you have a color run coming to your city (the color run or color me rad).  then sign up!  trust me, you'll be so glad you did!

our weekend, only late.

things around here are moving much to fast.  everything is seemingly flying by, & try as i might, hours are not dragging by.  and i won't lie, i've been pouting quite a bit about it.  but we don't roll over easily and are still doing what we can to make the most of our last days around here.  fall's definitely here, so it's making the bittersweet, so much more enjoyable.

things have been exceptionally busy.  the big move sort has begun and the piles in our basement are mounting.  we accepted an offer on our home on monday, signed the paperwork this morning and as of yesterday afternoon, a. is officially on terminal leave (basically a three month vacation) from the army! there's so much yet to do, but as they say...one day at a time.

over the weekend, we double dated and mini golfed with some sweet friends.  we watched football, i started a new project (i'm now picking road-friendly hobbies) and spent most of sunday flying (i flew the plane!) and double-dating once again.  we baked and cooked and gardened and packed.  as they all tend to do in these parts, the weekend rocked. 

i can't help but get overly emotional lately.  we have so many huge changes happening in our life.  new jobs, a move across country, a new city, finding a home, making friends and building a new and wonderful life somewhere else.  it's a lot for two people & i won't lie, it's stressful.  then add on the emotion of saying goodbye to a city you deeply love & goodbye to a home that holds some of your most precious memories.  throw in the see ya later's to some of your favorite people in the whole world and you now have an emotional roller coaster.

so consider yourself warned- as happy and wonderful things are around here, know there's also a lot of emotion floating around.  so these next two weeks might be much like today, a little random, a whole bunch of reminiscing and probably a few tears.  thanks for bearing with me, and letting me keep it real.

water-side camping essentials.

1//2//3//4//5//6//7//8

a. & i are spending this weekend on canoe point; a small island in the thousand islands only accessible by boat.  in addition to a tent and food, the above are some of our watersport & camping essentials.

basically, we're going to spend the next couple days in our bathing suits as we swim in the river and nights by the campfire enjoying the full moon, solitude and one another's company.  we're excited to get away & camping is definitely one of our favorite activities.  making this trip the perfect hooray to end the summer.

i hope you and yours have a fantastic labor day weekend!

weekend round-up.

it's obvious summer is coming to a close in syracuse.  days are cooler, nights are down-right cold, & the sun is setting much too soon.  i love when the weather begins to change and sweaters are part of the daily attire, but for now, i'm enjoying the last of these beautiful summer days.

i completed my final wedding of the season this saturday and basically spent sunday afternoon recovering.  we enjoyed a celebratory dinner with friends (more on that this week) and later, treated ourselves to some frozen yogurt.

believe it or not, all photos were taken with my beloved iphone.

an extended weekend via instagram.

the main reason i decided to get an iphone was for the camera & photo apps.  yep, i'm one of those people.  and i'm so glad i did.  having a great camera on me at all times has led to so many photo memories that would have otherwise passed us by.  now, i find myself capturing a lot of the little things, and relishing in those little moments more than i ever did before.

as for instagram, i've never been more obsessed with a social media frenzy.  i share more pictures via instagram than i do on facebook- and while it drives some of my non-instagraming friends a little crazy, anyone following me (@jess_russ) has a nice little window into our life.

a. and i celebrated a long weekend with lots of dining out, long walks, visits with friends, and gardening.  i started a few projects, was inspired by a print i stumbled upon on etsy, made use out of our little backyard garden goodies and repurposed some old flowers.

what about you?  have you hopped aboard the instagram train?