GRATITUDES + BREAKTHROUGHS 08.13.19

Gratitudes

My week was sprinkled with work and social activities and for the first time in a long time they were pretty even. Hittin’ up that work/life balance.

Thursday I headed back in to D.C. for cocktails at Top of the Gate with my college gals and we caught Aladdin over at the Kennedy Center! Top of the Gate has one of the best views in the city, especially if you LOVE Georgetown! It looks directly over the waterfront! I indulged in an aperol spritz and a rose before the show along with some small shared plates! After we walked over to the Kennedy Center, and if I’m being honest I wasn’t overly hyped for Aladdin. I originally responded yes, to grabbing a ticket so I could hang with my friends and I wanted to visit the Kennedy Center again. Y’all Aladdin didn’t disappoint! It was cleverly written, a lot of topical and adult humor! I loved the costumes, super colorful and lots of fireworks! It was a nice night out!

Leah + CJ had their engagement session last week! I met them at their favorite place, CJs family farm. This is where they spent most of the time growing up, they were high school sweethearts! We road around the farm together and snapped photos all evening. I did want to mention that CJs Mom made the BEST crab pizza. I walked into the house and I laughed, because we were in Maryland! Haha!

Ayla and Francesco’s wedding is approaching fast! I’ll be flying to Italy on Sunday for a mini vacation with my Mom, sister and aunt before heading south for their wedding! We gathered all of their details and I shot everything so that I didn’t have to also pack my wedding day styling kit. It was so nice having extra time and florals to work with. Also, a huge shout out to Cathleen with Curious Fox Press, she did their invitations! If you know Cathleen you know she is insanely talented with paper, but also in finding the most lovely details that go with her paper. Without me knowing, she searched the internet and found these authentic Italian dishes and had them drop shipped to me so I could use them for Ayla’s details! HOW FREAKING THOUGHTFUL!!!!

I also took a walk through the NoMa Harris Teeter to grab florals for styling and stumbled upon the Harper’s Bazaar issue that my photos are in. It was crazy being able to walk up to the display and thumb through to find my images in an international publication! I’m still riding high on that article!

Sunday I slowed down a little and wrote out my packing list for the trip, edited and also went over to Katlyn’s for a last minute family dinner. We had a comfortable – athleisure was encouraged – evening with roasted chicken, corn pudding, potatoes and key lime pie! We sat outside and watched Tenny + Evelyn play with a water table. The whole family just relaxed, the Norman fam loves a Sunday together – Summer Sundays if you will. When football season starts which is just around the corner we’ll all meet at my parents for crockpot meals and appetizers to watch the game!

Nails. Nails. Nails. Honestly, I’m letting my manicure last week stretch through this week. I’m planning on getting them professionally done on Friday or Saturday morning, so it’ll last while I’m in Italy. I’ve been avoiding dip + gel because the dip from March destroyed my nails. You’ll hear it straight from me, I’m not a fan of dip. I will however get a dip this go round. My packing color palette is fairly neutral and my dress for Ayla’s wedding is a deep coffee latte color with white beading/sequence. I’m sort of leaning toward an ombre pink manicure or I’ll go with my fav of a grayish-purple. We will see on Friday!

Breakthroughs

Over the weekend Ayla called me a NOVA nomad when she saw my neatly packed bags and my professional cleaned and organized car. The last 2 months I haven’t spent a full week at home. I’ve been packing and unpacking bags about every 3-5 days to head somewhere else.

I sort of laughed, but when I thought about it… it’s true! I’m a professional packer now, I know exactly what items go with each other and how few things I can live on for a few days. I’ve taken on the motto “good enough” from my first trip to Italy back in 2014. I packed all wrong and ended up having to problem solve outfits on the fly.

I can pretty much go anywhere with a carry-on or a backpack and survive for a few weeks. Which will definitely come in handy this coming weekend when I leave for Italy and Malta!

Maybe I should share my packing lists, suitcase options and travel necessities? Would anyone be interested in that?

As always, thanks for reading! xoxo.