lonesome.

late night.

gid sleeping.

homework stress.

end of semester blues

choreographer's block.

wish he was awake so I could snuggle.

feeling lonesome.

so i decided to play my sweet ukulele.

(instead of finishing one (out of a million) of my majorly important assignments)

And now I'm going to go get in bed and snuggle with a sleeping hubby.

happy friday, sweet friends.

a post about fashion.

qvessstion: 

(that's "question" with my russian accent)

I've been thinking alot about fashion lately, friends. Not just about what is in fashion, but what makes fashion. What is it? And why do we care so much? I mean- it's just clothes- they just cover our bodies, keep us warm, keep our feet dry. Why all the fuss?

I've been thinking a-lot particularly about personal style and fashion. Fashion includes countless different unique styles. How do we pick the one we like? Is it economic status? Is it personality? A way to express oneself?

I feel like I've had my fair share of ups and downs when it comes to fashion & style. I didn't really care about what I wore from age 5-18. I was a gymnast- as long as I had (sometimes) clean leotards and sweats I was fine. Then I went to college. I made a vague effort. Nicer jeans. Beloved t-shirts. Not much had changed; I was still super active. I liked shopping, but was more excited about finding a cheap deal than I was about finding something that I appreciated stylistically. 

I'd switched from being a gymnast to being a dancer, so really I just replaced my grips for pink tights. Maybe I'd wear a cute sweater every now and then. I didn't wear my tennis shoes with every outfit. But like I said- not much had changed. I moved to california for a summer internship working with marketing. That cleaned me up quite a bit. I developed an adoration of shopping. All of a sudden I was willing to pay for quality- and I didn't care about cheap deals unless it meant I adored whatever it was I was purchasing.

I went through a phase during the end of college/beginning of my marriage when I became really interested with only certain retailers. I wasn't trying to be a snob. I was trying to be selective. I wanted to look professional and stylish at work.

Then I went through a (short lived) period where I just stayed away from shopping. It seemed to stress me out- so I thought I'd do myself a favor and not remind myself of what I didn't have.

Now I'm in this weird phase where I like to online sneak peek at things that I would never ever ever be able or willing to pay for. I've started looking at fashion blogs with goorgeous women who wear brands that are unbelievably expensive. 

Friends. Who pays hundreds of dollars for scarves? 

I don't. I don't think anyone who reads this does either. 

(Virtual high five.)

After pondering where these strange habits have come from, I've concluded its because I'm back to wearing tights and (sometimes) clean leotards. Something about going through loads of tights literally as much as I do underwear makes me feel for some reason the need to research how one is technically fashionable.

So here's my question for you, dear readers: 

(should you be brave enough to answer)

How do you find fashion?

And how to you make it yours? 

Happy almost friday, friends.

Brown Eyed (Chorus) Girl...

Love this little girl. 

Love spending my time with her, regardless if we're swinging,

being silly in the car,

or playing dress up.

But my favorite thing lately, is singing along to music.

Check out this video-- 

little girl loves to sing to the chorus of brown eyed girl 

(appropriate for the women in our family...)

If you look closely, you can see her getting really excited before the "sha-la-la-la" part comes. 

Hope this brightened your day as much as it did mine!

Happy Sunday.

in six photos...

In my last post I said I didn't take any photos while we were in canada. I was wrong! I took these with my phone to document our epic road trip this week. Bless you, instagram.

We covered over 1800 miles in seven days. Go us.

Sunrise on our way out of the great SLC. 

(did I mention we left at 5 in the morning?)

At first  I thought there was a small town in montana called starburst (like the candy) and I was obsessed. Sunburst is quite adorable as well though...

The border...

 Look for the canadian flag. 

That's what I was trying to photograph...

Sunrise on our way out of alberta... :(

 all in all, a pretty sweet roadtrip.

oh, canada.

Trip up to canada to visit the best friend.  

Got up around 4:30 in the morning to get there.

Worth it. 

(of course, I was sleeping while sweet gideon was driving)

Britt and I were roommates in college. Out of everyone I lived with, I've kept in touch with her the best (no competition). How I love that we can just not see each other for months (sometimes years) and just pick up where we left off. 

A sign of a true friend if you ask me, friends. 

Brit and I stayed up talking about funny stories from our apartments. The ex-boyfriend stories. Tales from our late movie nights. Reminiscing about when we met our husbands. We rolled our eyes and giggled about roommate drama. Our apartment definitely had its fair share.... 

(a quick thank you to my many roommates who were drama free...

 and a sincere apology to the few of you who I somehow managed to offend with a single glance...)

We remembered our sweet past, then fast forwarded to the now- and imagined what the future holds. All while we munched on canadian chocolate. 

Ah, to be in canada with my sweet husband, my sweet britt and her sweet jason.

Is there anything better?

I submit that there is not.

When I'm having massive amounts of fun, I forget to take pictures friends. 

This is why I've placed our faces on pictures of the things we did together.

We hadn't even been in the motherland for long when 

Brit and Jason took us curling. 

I ate the ice.

(I was told I was graceful in the process, so I don't mind one bit.)

After we finished curling, the four of us ran a 6K. 

(have I mentioned I don't run??)

 But we did it. And it wasn't bad!! 

Of course, I think running next to my best friend helped the situation significantly. 

Anyway, I think I'm going to start signing up for 5Ks and stuff. If I can do a 6K in Canada, surely I can do a few 5Ks in the states. Even if I don't have her making me giggle the whole time. 

Another thing Brit and Jason introduced me to is CrossFit. 

It's a workout. 

It's about 10-15 minutes.

(Of hell.)

So sore the entire time we were there. Still am sore, actually.

We took naps frequently. I think we were all exhausted the entire time. 

Having fun can be so tiring.

We ate brit's phenomenal cooking. 

We looked around at very expensive model homes. 

Just for the heck of it. Had we stayed longer I feel very confident we would have test drove high speed luxury vehicles. I don't know why, I just am.

In the evenings we watched movies and caught up on lame TV shows while we made fun of them. 

Goodness, it was marvelous.

(all while we ate ketchup chips, and other canadian treats with french writing on them)

I don't know why exactly, but I had a much harder time saying goodbye this trip than I ever had. There was this looming sense that this time of our lives is finally coming to a close- and by that I mean, the "lets stay up till 2 in the morning and eat junk food while we talk about how awful this season of the bachelor was"- time of our lives. The "superficial carefree years" time of our lives.

 Is it that we're growing up? I mean- we've both gotten married, but that didn't change much. I think its that we're just getting older. Brit and Jason own a house. Like a real one. I remember when things like buying a house seemed next to impossibly far into the future. Yet here we are.

Part of me imagines what it would be like if Gid and I were to have a baby and Brit and Jason came by for a visit. Would we still watch weird 15 minute episodes of crappy cartoons late in the evening because it made us laugh incredibly hard? Would we tackle each other? Would we hide behind corners, jump out and make eachother scream? 

(For those of you who are wondering, I'm just talking about myself and Brittany- jason and gideon were very calm and probably a little irritated with the volume that came with brit and my shenanigans.) 

Probably not when we have little ones. When we have kids, we'll probably watch 1/2 of a movie (like Marley and Me, or some other family tearjerker), hug eachother gently around 9:45 pm and whisper our goodnights as we crawled into bed.

I dunno. I can't imagine not staying up till at least midnight with my brit. 

And I can't imagine not tackling her, even if we're eighty.

Maybe we're growing up. Or maybe not quite yet. 

Either way, I love my best friend.

Have a lovely rest of your break, friends.

Adventure is out there...

Friends, let me introduce my latest craft:

You may have seen it floating around pinterest. 

Here's the pin that inspired me:

And here we have our version of it:

What you need for this craft:

-scissors

-pins 

-A frame (no glass necessary)

-scrapbook paper for the background. (I selected a sea foam greenish blueish)

-cork-board (you can buy a roll of it for less than $5 at Michael's craft store)

I'm actually a little embarrassed how big Texas turned out. 

I didn't do that on purpose, I swear. 

For the most part, I'm proud of the finished product. 

I have however, become painfully aware that we have yet to visit the midwest of our country. Every time I walk by our adventure map, I swear I hear a little voice say, "you need to go to chicago!!"

...pretty obvious where we've spent most of our time, isn't it friends?

I suppose we're just westerners.

We have had our fair share of adventure, though...

I'm flirting with the idea of making a few smaller versions of this with other countries. Gid and I have been able to travel throughout Canada and Russia. We've got to document, right?! We're also flirting with the idea of going to brazil in the next five years. Time will tell. Maybe I'll need to make a few more of these babies.

In the meantime, I'll just continue to be grateful for the lovely places I've been able to have adventures in.

"Adventure is out there!"

-Ellie

Have a lovely thursday, friends.

Missing Sweet Boise.

A few weeks before we left Boise, we had a dear friend do a little photoshoot for us, so we could remember the sweet city of trees. One of the perks of being a photographer are the connections I'm able to have with talented artists. 

I just have to brag about this lady for a second:

Erin and I met when we were freshmen in college. We didn't get to live together (regretting that), but my roommates and I invited her over often. She's crazy fun; I've always loved her infectious personality. Not only is Erin sweet and humble, but she's a super talented photographer. Self taught, people. 

(That's really saying something for the work she brings to the table.)

As expected, Erin did a lovely job on our photo-shoot. I'm constantly impressed with her attitude. I'm not sure if my fellow photographer friends will agree with me, but I find myself a little stressed during most photoshoots. Not Erin. Her personality is peerrrrfect for this profession.  Perfect for any kind of shoot- especially with kids- she's more patient than I thought was humanly possible. Anyway, if you didn't get the hint, I'd recommend her to anyone in the Boise area. 

  Be sure to check her and her work out here. 

I got this photograph a few months ago as kind of a sneak peak- look familiar? 

I had it as a profile picture for a while.

We tried to do a few serious photographs- like in the old days.
Right before Erin clicked the camera,
I'd taken one look at gid's face and lost it.

Super grateful she managed to catch this moment...

Captures our contrasting personalities, don't you think?

I remember when Gid and I got married, we really weren't super comfortable kissing in front of people, and it showed in the photographs. 

(Well, I can tell at least.) 

I guess we've gotten over that...

And since Gid worked in the capitol during the two years we were in Boise, we had to get some shots there. It's such a lovely building. Very nice for photographs too, I might add.

Big shout out to sweet erin for doing such a lovely job. 

We couldn't be happier with your work!

Happy Tuesday to you, friends.

questions questions questions...

Sweet friend with the sweet blog tagged me in this survey game thing. 

Sounded like fun. Hereeerrre goes:

THE RULES:
1. Post these rules
2. Post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions provided by the one who tagged you
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag
5. Tag 11 people

11 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I own the shaky weight from the infomercials. I've used it twice.


2. I research when pet stores have adoption days, and show up just so I can hold puppies.


3. I love pink martini. (the band) 


4. I was a double major double minor in undergrad. Majors: Photography & Advertising. Minors: Dance & Russian. Now I'm getting my MFA in Modern Dance. Als0- I'm a crazy person.


5. I sing in the shower. Mostly Sinatra songs.


6. I love pretty umbrellas, hot air balloons, teacups, photobooths, gelato, and pixie haircuts.


7. I was born in Puerto Rico, raised in Texas, and my best friend is Canadian.


8. I don't really think the movie Dirty Dancing is all that good- except for the quote "nobody puts baby in a corner".

9. My middle name is Suzanne.

10. Gid and I slow dance in the kitchen often while listening to ella fitzgerald. I think it would be annoying to watch.

11. I love having secrets.

11 QUESTIONS SWEET CARRIE ASKED ME: 

1. If you had to choose a career completely different from the one you are currently in, what would you choose?
This is confusing. Right now I'm a full time graduate student studying dance, doing photography on the side while knowing that as soon as the tights are off, I'll be hopefully having a little one. So besides that? I've always thought it would be fun to have a small flower shoppe with a soda bar attached.

2. Name 3 things that terrify you
Ferrel rabbits.
Having a sick baby.
Running a marathon.

3. What is a television show you are embarrassed you sometimes watch?
Unfortunately I've kept up with the Bachelor/Bachelorette for the past several seasons. 80% of the time I get bored and fast forward to the last five minutes, but it's still shameful. I turn it off immediately when my husband gets home, but he still knows I watch it.

4. What is one of your favorite blogs (leave a link)
You have got to read The Polished Pickle. I just love that Megan Marie.

5. What is something you have wanted to tell someone but have not been able to?
I sometimes really don't like sundays.

6. What is the last book you read and what is your opinion about it?
I recently read the hunger games trilogy. Loved the first one, was lukewarm on the second and third. I think I might have been feeling guilty about reading teen adventure books instead of attacking the massive list of classic literature I need to read.

7. What is your favorite flower? Show us a picture of it. 
This is difficult, because my favorite flower changes often. Today I love peonies. (see above)

8. Who does everyone say you look like?
I've never really had anyone tell me I look like anyone else. Which is sorta nice. I just look like me. :) I'm sure I wouldn't have my feelings hurt if I was told I looked like a movie star.
 (depending on who it was...)

9. What is your favorite article of clothing?
I have a black cardigan I got when I was in high school. I sort of love that it still is a regularly used staple piece of mine.
 I also have about 4 little black dresses that are fab-ulous.

10. Tell me about your family.
We're normal. In the sense that we're crazy. There are five kids in my immediate family. Three boys. Two girls. We get into fights, and we drive each other crazy. We eat. More than we should. But then we exercise together too. We swim, we jog, we dance. We watch jackie chan movies while we eat mexican food from our favorite cafe. We make each other laugh. So hard. Like I said- we drive each other insane. But we also love and defend each other fiercely. Because we're family. We admire my sweet perfect mother and my awesome super hero dad.
We're pretty much normal.

11. What is your least favorite chore?

I actually love to clean. Its a de-stresser for me. 

(That doesn't mean I'm good at it...)

11 QUESTIONS I'M ASKING:

1. Worst/best/awkward date story?
2. Dream vacation?
3. What do you like best about yourself?
4. Tell me about a time your heart was broken.
5. If you could do anything in the whole wide world what would it be?
6. First movie star crush?
7. Favorite holiday and why?
8. Guilty pleasure?
9. Secret wish?
10. Fashion Icon? 
(you can choose a role model if you don't really care about fashion)
11. Best day ever story?

WHO I TAGGED
1. Brittany
2. Kylie
3. Megan H.
4. Courtney
5. Jenny
6. Mindy
7. Rachel 
8. Kala
9.  Hannah
10. Sam
11.  Megan M.

That was fun! Have a lovely monday, friends.

hair drama.

Friends.

Don't you hate when you go back and forth with hair decisions? I do.

I know the majority of you are thinking to yourselves, "This is what you're stressed about, Alyssa?" And you're absolutely right. It's a ridiculous thing to be whining about. You're more than welcome to log out. 

I don't blame you. Have a lovely day.

on to annoying hair issues:

Remember this post? It was at the very beginning of The Happy Pear. I was so proud of myself. I hadn't cut my hair more than a trim for yyeeaarrs. All of a sudden, it was short. I loved it. I put it into cute little pony tails that fell out at the back.

I felt bouncy and I liked it. 

Then I decided to get gutsy. Remember this post? It was when I decided to do a pixie hair cut. I've always been a little obsessed with audrey, and I thought maybe if I cut my hair like her, I'd become her.

Needless to say, I was wrong. 

Some people actually really liked it. Mostly girls, to be honest. Some people really didn't. Mostly boys (surprise surprise)- with the exception of my sweet husband who insists he likes it both ways equally because what he really likes is my face- not necessarily the length of my hair. 

(Does anyone know of a lie detector I can rent?)

I've gone back and forth on whether I liked having a pixie cut until it reached the length it is today. I don't have many pictures of my hair at pixie length. I'm wondering if it's because I avoided being photographed because I was self conscious...



Anyway, the other day, as I was innocently browsing on pinterest, I saw them: multiple pictures, one after another of pixie hair cuts that I had to have. I silently reminded myself of those countless days that I felt like a boy with my hair that short; how I felt like I should loose weight constantly for some reason.

(did I mention I'm sipping a milkshake gid made me as I'm writing this?) 

Surely it was just a bad idea that would go away soon enough. 

Another day, I saw all sorts of cute hair styles with bangs. 

I needed them. 

Immediately.

(obnoxiously cliche to use zooey for a bangs inspiration picture- I know)

I went through a phase where I was pretty sure I'd make a good asymmetrical hairstyle kind of a girl...

But now I'm back to the pixie hunger.
And it's not going away.

(unfortunately, there is an awful desire to become as thin as the girls in these pictures attached to pixie hunger..)

Please, someone talk some sense into me. I happen to know several readers of this blog are unbelievably fashion/style savvy, and would so love some opinions, advice, or warning.

That is, if you have time for a really silly cause- like my hair...

(sigh)

of all things to be blogging about on the sabbath...

My mother would be ashamed.

(that's not true actually. My mother is crazy fashionable. 

I should call her and ask what she thinks I should do...)

Have a happy end of your weekend, friends!


ps- after some extensive searching, I found a few pictures with my hair pixie short. The two in the dance studio were taken by a sweet friend who was helping me prepare my audition piece for graduate school- so don't judge me for the lack of makeup, ok?