Happy Friday! After being out of town for a couple of weekends in a row, I'm really looking forward to relaxing and being at home for this one. I have plenty to catch up on around the house and lots of blog posts and projects to work on, but the weather's supposed to be gorgeous...so I'm also planning to take a book down to the beach and get some sun! Speaking of which, do you have any suggestions? Here are a few of mine (both books and movies).

Recent faves: 1. Love with a Chance of Drowning: Loved this inspiring memoir--it definitely got me dreaming about adventures and travel! / 2. The Hundred-Foot Journey: A feel good storyline, beautiful setting, and delicious food. Win-win-win! / 3. Woman in Gold: Based on a fascinating true story. / 4. The Secret Keeper: An intriguing mystery, beautifully written, with a satisfying twist at the end. / 5. The One I Love: Not your typical romantic movie…it has an interesting premise that hooked me from the start. I didn’t think the ending was totally satisfying, but I still liked the movie overall.

On my list: 1. Beautiful Ruins: I just got this from the library! It sounds interesting...plus we're going to Cinque Terre this fall, so obviously, I need to read it. / 2. All the Light We Cannot See: I've been hearing a lot about this book, set in Germany and France during WWII. It looks like a good one. / 3. Pitch Perfect 2: Duh! Can't wait to see this movie--I loved the first Pitch Perfect. / 4. The Age of Adaline: Intriguing premise, beautiful setting, and a love story? I'm in. / 5. The Forgotten Garden: Another book by Kate Morton, who wrote The Secret Keeper (from my list above). / 6. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: I've been seeing a LOT about this book on Instagram and other blogs. I thought a book about cleaning up and organizing might just stress me out, but I keep hearing good things, so maybe I should read it.

What have you been reading & watching lately? And what's on your list?

I used to subscribe to Real Simple, and I always loved their "New Uses for Old Things" column. Those are my favorite kind of DIYs--useful ideas that are simple and easy to implement, using common items that you might even have already. Here's an example from my house: store your earrings in a ceramic egg carton! It's cute, practical, and works perfectly. If you don't have a ceramic egg carton, they're really inexpensive--but an ice cube tray or a regular egg carton would also work.

I shared a bunch of other easy organization ideas on Bali Blinds last week. Check 'em out, and tell me: what are your favorite tips and tricks? I love learning new ones!

I’m back! Sorry for the long break…I’d thought I might squeeze in a few blog posts while I was on vacation, but I ended up just relaxing and enjoying our time off. No work, no blogging, no laundry…it was pretty great, not gonna lie! We spent the first half of last week in Austin, where we stayed with Ben’s grandparents. It was crazy to be there during all the flooding, thunderstorms, and tornado warnings. But we survived! We didn’t do a whole lot of sightseeing, what with all the scary weather…but the point of that trip was really to spend time with family anyways, and we did lots of that. Plenty of poker games, swimming in the pool, sitting on the porch and chatting, and of course lots of barbecue (hey, when in Texas). Plus, I got to see fireflies for the first time! The second half of the week we went to Friday Harbor, which is in the San Juan Islands here in Washington. I’ll share more photos later, but we had a great time there as well! One of the best parts of that trip was seeing a pod of orca whales from the ferry on the way home. SO cool.

While we were in Texas, the strap on my swimsuit started fraying and coming apart…so now I’m on the hunt for a new swimsuit! I still have a couple bikinis, but I always like to have one suit that’s a little more covering--but not a boring one piece. That combination can be hard to find, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite options with you guys. 

1. Front twist one piece - $210 / 2. Seersucker one piece - $115 / 3. Mix & match tankinis - $90 / 4. Scalloped one piece - $68 / 5. Set the serene one piece - $85

What do you think? Which one should I get?? I’m leaning towards those adorable mix & match tankinis from Kortni Jeane (the top photo and the middle one), but she’s out of stock in a lot of my favorite colors and patterns right now.

It's my birthday today--I'm turning 26! It's not a milestone year like 30 or anything, but birthdays always make me reflect a little on the year that's passed, and what I'm hoping for in the year to come. Ben and I haven't had any major changes over the last couple years: we're still living in the same place, working similar jobs, etc. All that continuity has made the last few years go by really fast! And while I'm happy with our life overall, I'm hoping that this year we make some solid steps toward pursuing the dreams and goals that we've been talking about for so long. This goes along with the quote I shared yesterday: "choose done over perfect." I think part of the reason we haven't taken a leap yet is that we are both cautious. We want to wait for the perfect timing, for the perfect house, for everything to feel juuust right. But waiting for perfection means we'll just keep waiting and waiting, until it's too late! We'll never be perfectly ready, but we're getting close to "good enough." So this year, I'm hoping we actually take some leaps, even if there are still loose ends that feel scary and uncertain. We'll see!

But anyways, enough of the serious talk. Birthdays are for celebrating, so let's have some candy! These treats are from Sugarwish, an awesome website that lets you give the gift that's perfect for any occasion--candy. Check my Instagram today--I'm giving a box away!

Feel free to use my birthday as an excuse to eat treats all day. I definitely will!