trip via instagram

Don't worry friends, after this, you won't have to see any more Instagram pictures from the trip. 

We're currently in Minnesota (YAY HOME!) catching up with family and friends, and I am probably too busy hugging everyone to take any pictures. Enjoy your break from the picture overload...

1-3: CT: mystic seaport (aka nautical heaven)

4. RI: beer at julian's in providence

5: RI: outfit for meeting the lovely {av} for dinner

6: RI: the best taffy every in newport

7: MA: boston, baby

8: MA: old north church. love me some paul revere

9: MA: delicious homemade raspberry pecan waffles

10: ME: holy gorgeous, maine is pure trees

11: NH: rainstorms 

12: VT: moose crossing signs EVERYWHERE

13-15: NY: gorgeous skies and niagra falls

16: IN: intense sun

17-18: necessary road trip snacks

Am I the only one who rainbow organizes their gummy bears?

Yeah, I'm sure I am. That's cool guys, whatever.

xo, lp

on being selfish...and thank you

*disclaimer- i realize this is a lot of talking for a monday post. bear with me people.

** double disclaimer- if you're new around here see more of what i'm talking about here
-----------------------------

So as you all know, Michael and I are moving back to the Midwest.

We've been travelling for the past 8 days, hitting every single New England state on our way. Up until yesterday, it just felt like a vacation. We've been seeing so many new places and enjoying so much time with friends we hadn't really slowed down to realize we were getting closer and closer to home. While driving through Ohio and Indiana it suddenly hit me that this wasn't vacation, this was reality.

The selfishness sunk in then. Not all of me was ready to be back.

You know that feeling when you leave your phone/computer/etc at home? The totally unplugged feeling? At first it's unnerving because you're so used to having contact with everyone at your fingertips, right? Well I don't know about you, but after a bit it's so freeing. You don't feel like you need to respond to every text, tweet or email immediately, and it's thoroughly enjoyable. 

That's how it felt in Virginia. It was just Michael and me, on our own, enjoying time together uninterrupted. It sounds selfish, because it is. I have to say that every moment down there was like relishing the feeling of being totally unplugged. We didn't have any commitments/events to attend, and we didn't feel bad if we just spent the night in instead of seeing anyone. While I am beyond thrilled to be back to seeing our families and friends, I'll miss living in our little bubble. Although Virginia wasn't the right place for us for keeps, it was the right place for us at the time, I know that now. 

via

All of this being said, I will be [figuratively] holding my breath until we arrive back tonight. There are so many people I cannot wait to hug.

Thanks for putting up with the onslaught of Instagram pictures. I know, I got a little bit obsessed with the pictures of toll tickets (and that wasn't even all of them!). This blog will clearly go on, in fact tomorrow I'll have a recipe post I totally forgot to get up before we left! The next few weeks will be a whirlwind of camping, moving, and figuring out what the heck we're going to do with ourselves...and I absolutely cannot wait.

Have you ever felt that need to be unplugged?

I highly recommend it, it feels great...just don't be surprised if it's hard to go back!

xo,lp

Flight Essentials

If you all ready Ashley's lovely blog StyleAsh, then you've already seen this post! A little while back when Ashley  went on vacation to Mexico, she had asked me to do a post on flight essentials & what to wear on the plane for fuss-free travel. I know some of you lucky ladies have been talking about upcoming trips [insert angry, jealous noise here], so in case you're not a flight pro- use this little guide!!

-------------------------------

Now, don't look at this list and assume I'm a boring grandma. I promise I'm a fun 24 year old- but trust me, these are 6 necessities for flying:

 1. Whether it's dehydration from plane hopping or a baby crying in aisle 4, headaches happen. Be ready.

2. Keep bobby pins handy to keep your hair out of your way. I mean, I guess this is a necessity day-to-day, but if you're stressed out finding your boarding passes, the last thing you need is your hair up in your grill.

3. Airplanes are dry. Fact. Keep your lips from cracking!

4. Ear popping stinks, and chewing gum (and yawning!) will help the process during takeoff and landing.

5. Babies cry, old men snore, dudes play their iPods too loud. Bring ear plugs for a quiet ride.

6. Please, for the love of what/whomever your believe in, BRING HAND SANITIZER. Do you have any idea how many people touched that SkyMall magazine today? No? You don't want to. Bleh.

--------------------------

Yes, if we lived in the glory days of flying where it was an honor to ride a plane and there wasn't 20 layers of security, I'd be dressed to the nines flying too. Times have changed, but there's no need to look like you just rolled out of bed either! If all else fails: layer, layer, layer.

1. Layering is key, so start with a basic tee in case the plane gets hot! No one likes to be sweaty, it's a fact.

2. A big cardigan is a great way to layer- comfortable, loose, and warm enough in case the plane gets chilly.

3. Stretchy pants. Black skinnies. Enough said.

4. Flats, or other easy slip on shoes. You know you'll need to take your shoes off for security, so don't waste your time tying on tennis shoes or pulling on high riding boots. Simple, comfy flats are the way to go.

5. If you're still hoping to be stylish, make sure to wear plastic jewelry! There's plenty of cute plastic chains out there- they're light and won't set off any metal detectors. In my last flight I had a nice old TSA pat down because I was wearing a metal watch & necklace. Totally dropped the ball there. 

**Items to avoid? Anything that is tight or requires a lot of effort to take off and on. Flying should be comfortable and easy!

What are your flight essentials?


xo,lp

wild excitement

Happy Monday!

Have you all seen those commercials for "The Shops" at Target? Those geniuses curated items from some of their favorite shops around the country and brought their merchandise to the stores. Clothing from Miami, candy from San Francisco, and house goods from Connecticut are just a few of the things they feature. The candy shop had me at hello because of their salt water taffy. (for more info, click here)

In other news, please tell me you saw the story of the lady getting mauled by the two cheetahs in South Africa. Just another reason why you DON'T TRY TO CUDDLE WITH FEROCIOUS BEASTS! The best part is, the husband doesn't help her, he just keeps taking pictures of the attack. Ridiculous. 

Alright, on to Instagram Mondays:

1-3: a little view into my work wear. yes, i do wear big necklaces a lot. deal with it.

4. obama was in richmond. word.

5. part of the rva skyline

6. first friday artwalk on broad street- glowing sidewalk awesomeness.

7. bands & spoken word a block or two away from our apartment.

8. yours truly back in the day. 

9. clouds rolling in to FINALLY break the humidity.

How was your weekend? 

(here's hoping there were no cheetahs involved)

pssst. follow me on Instagram HERE!
psssst x 2. tomorrow i'm sharing my strawberry basil lemonade recipe. tune in. 

xo, lp

the best moments

having your sweet 2 year old niece grin when she sees you and throw her arms out for a hug saying "hi auntie yaya (lala)!!"

seeing two stunning and wonderful people get married in the most tasteful and elegant way.

taking the time for an early morning photoshoot with your love.

Michael and I went back to Wisconsin for the weekend for his sister's wedding. It was much needed, and well enjoyed. Besides seeing Michael's whole family, we saw my parents, both of my sisters, and my ADORABLE niece Lydia. To sweeten the deal, I got to see lovely blogging ladies Carly & Lauren.
It made us realize how lucky we are to have such wonderful family, friends- and how much we miss the amazing Midwest! There will be more pictures to come- and I'm not even going to apologize about it....

Can we all agree my niece is the cutest thing out there? Good. 

**all photos taken by Louisa of louisa marion photography/ Rivets & Roses. when pinning/sharing/etc please give proper credit!

busiest weekend ever.

Whoa. 

Somehow Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun all mashed together and felt like about...8 hours?

I went back to the Midwest for the first time in 6 months, and FYI- it's 1:19 am EST.

Michael and I just got back in town a little bit ago and somehow I'm running on enough adrenaline to share some Instagram shots of the trip. If there are spelling errors I apologize- proofreading doesn't exist at 1:19 am. It's a well known fact.

The weekend was full of wedding bliss, amazing food, and sprinting through O'Hare. Yup. Sprinting. More on that later.

Hope you all had as wonderful of a weekend as we did! 

1. pastels & packing  

  2. selected baubles   

  3. reunited with my love at the airport

4. richmond international   

5. plane necessities  

 6. tarmac sun

7-9. madison capitol building at all hours of the day&night

10. photographer seester  

 11. early morning photo shoot  

  12. the cutest bug

13. beauty & the beard  

 14. wedding details  

15.  uw madison band concert spectacle

16. wi life: meat raffles   

  17. home of the best salted caramel shake on earth

 18. red pants, say what!?

I promise there will be more [coherent] trip updates to come...happy monday you good looking people.

If you don't already, find me on Instagram HERE! 

Insta Love

How is it Monday again?

My parents were in Virginia this past week, and our days were filled with wine tasting, beach strolling, Richmond touring, gallery visiting, and plenty of eating. I've been pretty MIA on blog commenting, Twitter, etc- and I can't wait to go over all your posts that I missed last week!! 

In other news, I finally figured out that Instagram is available for Android users. HECK. YES. I finally get why everyone is so in love with it. I just got an account this weekend, and added a feed on the blog:

Finding me should be easy because I've got the same old name as Twitter, @lpodlich! 

Now that I'm in with the uber cool crowd, I can finally link up with a {little} dash of ash - here's a taste of my weekend via Instagram!

1. stained glass ceiling in the jefferson hotel

2. new RVA murals during first friday art walk

3. three people i love. (mom/dad/michael)

4. old wheel in shockhoe bottom

5. japanese garden at maymont estate

6. a quick limonata on a hot day

7. james river rapids

8. gallery showing on broad street

9. new additions to the jewelry tree (inlc. diy neon necklace)

Hope you all had a lovely weekend

Have Instagram too? Leave a comment with your handle so I can find you!

xo, lp

The Weekend Michael ate 3/4 of a chicken.

As I'm sure you've all gathered from this post and this one too, we fully enjoyed our trip to OBX. This post isn't full of ocean photos though my friends, this post is about food. Yeah, just food. 

Michael and I love trying new restaurants- and we managed to hit 3 new places last weekend. 

#1: Get Fresh Cafe- Norfolk, VA

As you all know, we are huge nerds and love hitting up Guy Fieri's restaurant recommendations from Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. We were happy to see that Get Fresh Cafe was on the way down to NC. This place was such a hole in the wall we drove past it about 3 times before we figured out where it was! It ended up being inside of a building that hosts an indoor farmer's market, and as you can see below it was tiny!

 The menu boasts ingredients from local farmers and bakers- so there were plenty of vegetarian items for me to choose from (insert fist pump here). I ended up going with a cheese panini [read: fancy grilled cheese] and sauteed local veggie mix.The bread on the sandwich was deee-lish, and even though the veggies were a little greasy, they were damn fresh.

 Michael went for 1/4 chicken with homestyle mac & cheese and mashed red potatoes. Mmm-mm. That's some down home, Southern cookin' if I've ever seen it!

 Overall, I'd give Get Fresh Cafe a B+. Good, fresh ingredients- just a little underseasoned!

#2 KDH Deli, Inc- Kill Devil Hills, NC

We stopped at KDH Deli for lunch our second day to fuel up for the drive home, and I can honestly say I've never seen such HUGE sandwiches in my life. All the bread is baked fresh from a local bakery, and the meats and cheeses are all actually good quality and recognizable (I'm lookin' at you Subway). The wheat bread was actually wheat- not just white bread tinted brown.

 I couldn't even get a picture to show to scale how freaking huge these subs were- Michael's was big enough to feed a family of 4. Seriously. you can see his amazement below:

 Overall, I'd give KDH Deli an A : Super affordable, delicious, and to top it all off: friendly staff!

#3: Outer Banks Brewing Station - Kill Devil Hills, NC

It was a gloomy evening our first night there so we decided a nice dinner out would make it all better- and OH MAN it did. We went out to Outer Banks Brewing Station which was America's first wind powered brewery. While I normally drink beer or whiskey, being on vacation made me decide a fruity drink would be a good idea. I don't remember what was in it- but it tasted like vodka with a side of fruit juice. Danger!

We started out with Hush Puppies- which are evidently the official food of NC- you can find them on every menu out there! They are basically onion infused friend dough that you slather in butter. You can feel your arteries clogging as you eat them- and it's totally wonderful. 

 Michael felt the need to eat more North Carolina chicken, so he ordered a BBQ half chicken with mashed potatoes, cornbread, and sauteed beans. He claims it was unbelievable. Take his word for it. 

 My dish was stellar. Goat cheese ravioli with butternut squash, dried cherries, greens, caramelized onions, with a balsamic drizzle. My mouth is watering just talking about it. Gahhh. I only brought my bad point and shoot camera to dinner so this picture doesn't do it justice- it was lovely. 

 I'd give OBB Station an A- great food, more than generous portions, and terrifyingly strong drinks! 

Does anyone else out there love hush puppies as much as we do?

xo, lp

OBX take two

Happy Monday you lovely people.

** If you haven't read/seen The Hunger Games and don't want any spoilers, avoid this paragraph**

Hope you all had a great weekend...I worked Fri-Sun but managed to get to see the Hunger Games with Michael. A 14 year old girl sobbed (yes, not cried, SOBBED) for about thirty minutes after Rue died. Finally a guy turned around and shushed her. She then cried AGAIN when Peeta and Katniss reunited. Oh, teenage hormones, how I do not miss thee. At the end about half of the audience applauded. Did the people of Richmond not get the memo that movies aren't real life? I'm confused.

Moving on: My parents are in VA right now. 

You all have no idea how hard it was for me to not put that sentence in all capital letters. Oh hell, this is my blog, and I'm okay with being 24 and acting like a 6 year old excited to see her mommy and daddy.

MY MOM AND DAD ARE IN TOWN!!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That being said, I won't be around getting back to comments/emails/tweets today or tomorrow too much. 

BECAUSE I'M TOO BUSY HUGGING MY PARENTS!!! WHO ARE IN TOWN!!!!!

Okay, I'm done, I promise. I had you all fooled thinking I was a mature, sophisticated lady, didn't I? Well the jig is up I guess. Hope you all stay loyal readers after all that, but if not- I understand.

-------------------------------------------------------

Today I'll leave you with a little glimpse into our trip last weekend to the Outer Banks, NC.

According to the weather man (aka the big fat liar) the whole east coast was supposed to be washed away by horrible thunderstorms and possibly a tornado. Of course, just in time for our vacation. Perrrrfect. Well, we said screw it and went anyway. Other than a little drizzle our first day the total rain time during the weekend was about 20 minutes. Psh, the lies those people tell.

We spent our time walking on the beach, antiquing, salt water taffy eating gorging, lighthouse watching, and checking out the spot the Wright brothers first took flight (!). 

Long story short, we love OBX. Mmm-hmmmm. 

Thanks for putting up with so many capital letters. I promise that won't happen again.

Anyone else love salt water taffy as much as I do? Let's chat.

OBX B&W

Michael and I were in the Outer Banks, North Carolina this weekend.

VACATION. YES. 2 WHOLE DAYS OF VACATION! TOGETHER!

My brain is still on vacation too, so today's post won't have any witty writing or super riveting questions...just some b&w photos of the weekend.

Happy Monday my loves.

I'll be back tomorrow with a delicious recipe post!

xo, lp