weekending.

as mentioned the other day, i pretty much played some serious catchup on sunday.  saturday however, knowing there was serious potential to be rained it, i chose to enjoy as much time as possible outside.  

my friend katie and i decided to spend the afternoon kayaking.  it was her first time- and i love taking our friends on new adventures.

we ventured out to baldwinsville, new york- known for lock 24 and a great resting spot along the erie canal.  we put in at a local park (that took us way too long to find) and after a rocky start...yours truly flipped the kayak getting into the water...we made our way to the lock.  

the lock systems are rather fascinating.  basically, along the erie canal, the water ways are actually at different levels.  in order to get from one level to the next, boats enter the lock and water is either drained or filled until you get to the necessary water level.  in the case of lock 24, as we paddled up the seneca river to the lock, we were greeted with these huge iron doors and as they opened, sounded like castle drawbridges being lowered over a moat.  we paddled into the massive lock (large enough to fit a small cruise ship) and grabbed one of the many algae-covered ropes hanging from the side.  

once the doors popped closed, water slowly seeped into the lock and over the course of fifteen minutes, the water raising water level (about a 50 foot difference) brought us to the top of seneca river in the village of baldwinsville.  we spent the next 30 minutes paddling and turned around to head home.  the weather was perfect: warm, calm and sunny.  we ended the paddle with milkshakes from a local diner.  i think it's safe to say...we had a great time.

30 years.

my parents met in high school and fell in love.  they dated through college and after they got married, they had four two little girls & moved from michigan to california with nothing more than a dream.  together they started building a little life and had two more little girls.  they sacrificed so much to make sure their babies went to the best schools, were involved in the right activities and had the opportunities to do amazing things. 

they surrounded us with music, art, mechanics, the outdoors, bike riding and tennis games.  we learned to play racquet ball on the outdoor courts and went on morning trips to home depot.  we went to fish markets and farmers markets.  learned to make floral arrangements and use our very best manners.  they gave us the ultimate childhood, bundles of love and so much more.

these dreams came with sacrifices.  there were hard times and long days.  but throughout the years, they stayed united and fought to build a better life for their little ladies and themselves.  now, 30 years later, they support one another and continue to follow their dreams and work toward their goals.  they have such a unique, honest & genuine love for one another.  it is my dream that over the next 30 years, that love continues to grow and continues to build upon this beautiful relationship.

a very happy anniversary to my mom & dad.  thanks for forever being amazing role models and proving to us over and over again, that love really does conquer all.

{a. with my mom & dad}

because of irene.

thanks to irene, today has become a day of chores & catchup.  i'm working on a few projects for work, researching a new venture that some friends and i are hoping to launch, cleaning, doing laundry (finally) and a bit of movie watching.  now if only my life could be captured as beautifully.  

all images via pintrest

my personal art gallery.

remember this post when i mentioned i'd share with you my wall diy?  well, wait no more!  

a few weeks ago i decided to give our entryway an overhaul.  after a bit of pin-spiration and a trip to the christmas tree shop for some mega-cheapo frames, i poured myself a glass of iced tea and grabbed a hammer. 

determined not to put unnecessary holes in the wall, i chose to move forward with this method.  granted, it would have been so much easier with two people, but after measuring and cutting and leveling and hanging, it only took about 2 hours.  i decided to leave a few empty places for some local art pieces and an "r" i picked up at t.j.maxx.

after spending most of my saturday taping paper, hammering nails, hanging frames and filing empty frames, i ended up with this...

i love how it turned out!  as you can probably tell, i still have a few more frames to purchase and put on the wall, but all-in-all, it's done.  i'm still working to find some new artwork and have yet to sort through our photos to fill the empty frames.  it's slowly getting there and everyday, it's one of my favorite reminders i'm home.

cinnamon-sugar pull apart bread.

i made bread.  legit, yeast and flour, let it rise, patience required, bread.  and what an awesome thing it was!

inspired by this recipe, i finally decided to give bread-making a try.  i modified it a bit, using whole-wheat flour and since i ruined my first batch of butter (i swear, i'm the only person capable of burning butter), egg whites to keep the cinnamon and sugar on the dough.  

all-in-all, it was amazing.  highly-recommended-eat-it-all-in-one-sitting-good.  

and on bread-making?  i'm hooked.