plant stand | lobster rolls | modern bathroom | printed skirt & chambray | july | summer shadows

Lately I've been feeling sucked into summer mode, where I've been giving into bad habits like sleeping in til almost noon and watching too much tv. Now that the 4th is over and July is in full swing, I want to start buckling down this week in order to spend my free time more wisely. I have a few tasks in mind I'd like to complete before school starts back in the fall, like finishing up an online portfolio and printing an album full of photos, so I'm hoping to wake up earlier and start making use out of every single day. I love summer and the magic that comes with beach vacations, fruity drinks, and travel adventures, but there's something to be said about the magic that comes with everyday summer, too. To me, this board captures that everyday summer magic, filled with late afternoon light, greenery, and soft, breezy fabrics.

10 things.

10 things I'm thankful for this week:

1. Lonnie surprising me with pizza and the best bottle of rum he could find (two of my very favorite things) to celebrate our 5 year anniversary
2. having a guy I can count on to always be loyal and loving
3. extra lime
4. hiking up to Crabtree Falls
5. My best friend Samm texted me to let me know she was in town for the day so I met her and her family for lunch at Early Girl and ice cream at The Hop
6. waking up slow with the late summer sun and re-watching Fried Green Tomatoes in bed
7. making brownies with Brandon on the rainiest day of the week
8. pressing flowers into sketchbooks
9. finally buckling down to achieve my goal of exercising 4 days this week instead of my usual 3
10. getting all dolled up for a date night out

moodboard monday.

california waves | state of mind | poolside watermelon | summer berries | reds & blues | pearl tassle earrings 

My family's annual beach trip always happens to fall the week before the official start of summer, and so it's always easy for me to get in a summertime kind of mood coming back from it. My legs are tan, my spirit is light, and my diet consists mainly of fresh fruit and ice cream. In my free time this week, I'm looking forward to becoming even more fully engulfed in summer by spending some time outside in the sun, relaxing a lot by watching a few old movies, and getting back into a real routine at the gym. 

10 things.

10 things I'm thankful for this week:

1. having a tan
2. buying new jersey sheets for summer
3. including plenty of fresh fruit in this week's groceries
4. getting back into art journaling(trying to do this at least once a week this summer)
5. really good ice cream
6. looking through vacation photos post-vacation
7. seeing Jaws for the first time ever in theaters with my dad for Father's Day
8. listening to old tunes that I haven't heard in a while
9. things are starting to really feel like summer around here
10. #lovewins

seaside vacation.

As promised, I'm sharing a few snapshots from my trip to the beach this past week. We visited my grandmother who lives at Holden Beach, and for her 79th birthday we took a day trip to Carolina Beach and Wilmington to go shopping and eat lunch. I've never spent much time at either place, so the day was exciting and fun for me. Carolina Beach is such a classic and colorful beach; I fell absolutely in love with it. We stopped at Britt's Donuts, and now eating fresh donuts on a boardwalk is my new favorite thing to do on vacation. I came back from my trip feeling so inspired by the bright punchy colors and old school vibes of these simple coastal towns. I'm so glad I have these pictures to remember everything by, and I love the feeling that they capture exactly what summer is all about.