hello 2017!

i'm pretty sure i've used that header for my first post in the new year every year i've had this blog, but hey it works! here we are, fresh into 2017. the holidays are behind us, azalea is back in school for the first time since december 16th, and i'm attempting to potty train ashford (yikes!). let's just call it his (or my) resolution for the new year. i'll let you know how that one is going next week. in the mean time, here's what we were up to over the long weekend: 

friday night thatcher came home early from work. after the kids went to bed, we busted out his new oregon trail game i got him for christmas. it was actually pretty fun despite the fact that we both died :) 

 on new year's eve, we had our friends vanessa, matt, and ewan over for a feast of appetizers, drinks, and dessert. we made cocktail weiners, bacon wrapped pineapple and bacon wrapped asparagus, cheese/crackers/sausage, spinach artichoke dip with veggies, cowboy caviar with tortilla chips, and chicken wings that they brought. it was all delicious! the kids ran around like crazy hooligans and the adults attempted to relax.



 at 7:45 we did the netflix on-demand kid's countdown to the new year, which was pretty cute. the kids broke our ear drums with their horns, but they had a blast. 



their family left by 8:15 (haha) and our kids were in bed by 8:45. thatcher and i watched 'under the tuscan sun' on netflix (remember that movie circa early 2000s? i used to own it on vhs). surprise surpise, i fell asleep not far into it. we were in bed well before midnight #partyanimals

new year's day we ventured to golden gardens beach for the second year in a row. tons of people gather there and have bonfires on the beach to burn their christmas tree, and some run into the freezing cold sound in their swimsuits. it's fun to watch! 

 it was pretty chilly for seattle - mid 30's and windy. we let the kids play on the playground for a bit, then headed home to warm up and have lunch. 

while ashford napped in the afternoon, i walked down to market street to a clothing boutique called 'kick it'. they were having a 30% off sale. they rarely have sales and i love their clothes, so i was excited. i got a blue top, a gray swing dress, and the softest vest ever. i'm obsessed! 

we also took down our tree, which is always sad, but just feels like a good way to kick off the new year. we've had this storage shelf in the closet under the stairs in the kids' room since we moved here and i though why not bring it out in the living room? it works perfectly! 

we made homemade pizzas for dinner and just hung out at home the rest of the night. 

monday (bonus day!) we got to see our friends kelli and jake who were in town from san francisco. they came to seattle to celebrate nye with a group of their friends and invited us to join, but we opted to see them for lunch yesterday instead. we went to 8oz burger co and stuffed ourselves with delicious food. it was so nice to catch up with, even though it was only for a couple hours. 



i would love to make it down to SF to visit them this spring. we shall see! 

less than 3 hours later, i met up with my mama friends for happy hour at matador restaurant. i was still full from lunch, but that was okay :) we enjoyed margaritas and nachos for dinner. we were done by 6:45 so we decided to go down the block and get our nails done before heading home. i'm quickly becoming a convert when it comes to manicures. i never really got them except for when i was in weddings in the past, but they are really nice to do! and much less expensive than pedicures. this was my second time in a month (regular ones only last about a week). apparently ashford cried for me for an hour while i was gone. that boy is soooo attached to mama lately. i love him, but we need to work on this. that's why i'm gung ho about gettig him potty trained, so he can go to preschool a couple days a week. wish us luck!

hope your 2017 is off to a good start!