A Sunny, Western Washington Weekend

This weekend was super fun-filled. It started with post-work-sunny happy hour with Lisa which turned into us meeting Dustin and some other friends for dinner and more drinks in Greenwood.

Lisa, Holly, Me and Kristen (the ladies of the group) at the House Sports Bar 

Saturday, Dustin wanted to take his new car out for a day trip, so we picked up our friends Art and Amy and headed up to Anacortes.

Dustin and his new car in Anacortes 

In Anacortes we grabbed some beers and a snack, walked around for a bit, and then hopped in the car and headed south.

me and some random man in Anacortes

We pulled over at Deception Pass to admire the beautiful views and take some pictures. I would love to head out there this summer and make our way down to the beach below the bridge. How fun!

 

 Deception Pass

Amy and I at Deception Pass 

After driving a bit further we saw some go-carts on the side of the road. It was totally random and kind of ghetto, but Art and I decided to ride the go-carts while Dustin and Amy watched. My go-cart totally died mid race and the guys working the track had to come save me. It was all pretty funny, I was smiling the entire time. And now my leg is really sore from holding down the gas petal - I think that might mean I need to exercise more? Whatever...

 

After go-carting we drove south a bit further and we ended up in Coupville. We parked and walked down to the water and explored a bit. It was still totally beautiful outside and we all wanted to soak up the last bit of sunshine (seriously, days like this in Seattle are SO few and far between).

 

After our walk we went to Toby's Tavern for a few pounds of delicious muscles, fries and beer. Mm! For a random, divvy little bar they had surprisingly good seafood.

 



After we finished up at Toby's, we decided to head up to the Oystercatcher for the second half of our dinner, and we all agreed we made a great decision. The Oystercatcher was absolutely delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in the area.

Dustin, Art, Myself and Amy at the Oystercatcher

 

We ended up riding the ferry back to Mukilteo and driving back to Seattle late Saturday.

Sunday Dustin and I went to our friends Dan and Kristen's for Easter lunch (HAM!) and mimosas in the sun. It was a great end to a super fun and sunny Seattle weekend.

SIX things

Greenlake on Saturday (I love that sunnier days are less rare lately)

 ONE

I read this quote earlier and it totally resonated with me. Does it with you too?  

We are the girls with anxiety disorders, filled appointment books, five-year plans. We take ourselves very, very seriously. We are the peacemakers, the do-gooders, the givers, the savers. We are on time, overly prepared, well read, and witty, intellectually curious, always moving… We pride ourselves on getting as little sleep as possible and thrive on self-deprivation. We drink coffee, a lot of it. We are on birth control, Prozac, and multivitamins… We are relentless, judgmental with ourselves, and forgiving to others. We never want to be as passive-aggressive as our mothers, never want to marry men as uninspired as our fathers… We are the daughters of the feminists who said, “You can be anything,” and we heard, “You have to be everything.”   - Courtney Martin

 TWO
Speaking of things that resonate with me lately, I finally watched the season 2 finale of GIRLS last night. Adam running to Hannah at the end? I loved. I have so many feelings about that show. If you want to discuss, I'm totally game.

 THREE
I made a trip to Ikea this weekend in an attempt to furnish my new apartment with very necessary things such as a mirror and a table. Can I give you all a piece of advice? NEVER go to Ikea hungover. Or by yourself. And hungover, by yourself? Never, ever. Just trust me on that.

That being said, I made it out alive with a mirror and a dining table and a whole bunch of other things too. Ikea is good for inexpensive mid-twenties-apartment-furnishings. I feel like I'm nearing a stage of life where Ikea will no longer be the (acceptable) go-to for furniture, but for now, it's affordable and easy. So, I went with it.

 FOUR
While I was having a nightmare of an experience at Ikea on Saturday, Dustin was buying a new car. It's totes fancy (I'm both a little obsessed and a lot jealous). It even parallel parks itself. The Corolla is feeling so inadequate since Saturday. But, to make it feel better, I did buy the new Justin Timberlake cd for it to play while driving. That man can do no wrong (except for the whole marrying someone who isn't me thing).

P.S. #sogood

 FIVE
I had some really great friend time this weekend. Friday night I "raged" with Lisa. So fun hanging with her all night. Saturday evening I went to Kickin' Boots in Ballard for dinner with my friend Kate. If you didn't already know this about me, I love BBQ. And Kickin' Boots was awesome. I'd totally recommend it. And while you're there, get the Bourbon + Bubbles (bourbon, lemon, sugar, sparkling brut, orange lace) - even if you don't like Bourbon (I don't), it's fantastic. Trust me.

 SIX
This is how I felt basically all weekend.

Bring on the week!!
I hope you are all having a fabulous Monday.
xo

 

another awkward OOTD and also, I moved!

Because I know you guys loved the last one so much, I'm back with another totally awkward (and totally boring) OOTD post, work edition. Yay?

 

Luckily today, when I went to take my bathroom selfie, there was no one around, so I quickly snapped two shots before exiting the bathroom, thus avoiding another hide in a bathroom stall and feel awkward maneuver. 

 

shirt (I got at h&m in London about 5 years ago) | jeans (citizens of humanity) | shoes (steve madden) | watch (michael kors) | glasses (warby parker) | badge (c/o Microsoft)

#fancyasfuck

Like I said before, black shirt, black shoes, jeans. Standard. Boring. You get it.

But, next week I have some purple pants and a special zebra jacket planned, so you might have THAT to look forward to. #shitsgettingcrazy

Anyway, enough of the REALLY boring stuff I wear to work. This last weekend I moved into a new apartment. It's about a block and a half from Greenlake and I'm in love. 

It's a totally tiny one bedroom, in a small, brick building with only 12 units. The interior of the apartment was recently gutted and totally re-done, so it's pretty fancy by Rebeka standards.

 The new kitchen ^^^

 

Even though it's tiny, I'm LOVING my new kitchen. I'm also loving being reunited with all of my things that were previously in storage. It's crazy how happy having my own space, with my own things makes me. Hooray for exciting change.

Because it's been a few years since I lived alone, I need to go to Ikea this weekend to get things like a small table (where I can eat my meals, I mean, not that the coffee table/couch set up isn't working for the time being, but you know, I feel like I should act like more of a grown-up than that), some new kitchen utensils, and some bathroom storage stuff. It's all very exciting. That being said, I would greatly appreciate you all crossing your fingers for me in hopes that I don't get crazy crowd-induced-anxiety at Ikea. I think I can... That place can be nuts.

Anyway, I've missed you all. What have you been up to lately? Fill me in, please.

xo



most awkward OOTD post ever

When I got to work today this e-mail from Lisa was waiting for me:

My work day so far:

Got to work. Checked email.  Checked Facebook.  Checked Pinterested.  Was like Rebeka should start a blog about her work outfits.

Then I was like WAIT Rebeka has a blog... I need to check it out.  Then I checked it out. YEY FOR NEW UPDATES! And then I was like Rebeka should start blogging her daily outfits still to help me out.  And then I was like I need to tell Rebeka.  She needs to stop being so dedicated to work and get online. 

That is all.

So, I mean, what else could I do but go take a selfie in the bathroom at work and you know, only get one shot in before someone else comes in, quickly hide my phone and pretend like I'm not taking a picture of myself in the bathroom (with my iPhone, at Microsoft, shame), look at it, immediately think I look awkward and fatter than I do in real life, duck into a stall, try and wait the person out so I don't have to post an awkward pic of myself on the internet, meanwhile more people come in, I decide that I can't wait everyone out just to take another, say "meh," think "maybe if I duplicate myself it will distract from the awkward" (no) and post it anyway.

This is why I could never be a fashion blogger.

So, let me present to you my OOTD:

shirt (forever 21) | jeans (paige denim) | shoes (old steve madden) | watch (michael kors)  | bracelet (gift from marissa)

SURPRISE!! Canadian Tuxedo! Because I like to play a fancy little game called different day, basically the same outfit. Also, #alldenimallthetime #totesfancy

Microsoft is super casual so usually I wear blue or black skinnies, black flats or heels, and a denim top or a sweater (usually black) to work. Also, have I mentioned lately that I'm ready for warm weather? Bring on the dresses!
 

Beth's Birthday Gurlcation

Last Friday, after the longest week in the history of weeks, I drove to Portland after work to meet Beth and Marissa for Beth's 25th Birthday celebration. After lots of planning we decided the celebration should take place at The Nines. So, we booked a beautiful room, with one king bed (yes, just one, please & thanks), ate the best meal of our lives complete with surprise champagne at the  hotel's rooftop restaurant, and took some time to enjoy the view of downtown slash take some a ton photos all over the place.

After that was all said and done it was only about 10:30pm so we decided to walk around to find another drink. And another drink we did find. We found one at this club. Like, people grinding, rap music playing kind of club. Then, after a few minutes when we decided maybe that wasn't the place for us, so we wandered until we found the most magical bar of our lives. PURE MAGIC! It was full of super nice hipster-types (and here I thought I didn't like the hipsters) singing and dancing to the top 40 songs we all jammed out to in high school and college. Score. It was the most non-threatening, fun, dance-on-the-tables (truth), drink a tallboy of PBR, kind of dance party. The three of us left sweaty at 2am. And then got Voodoo Doughnuts. And then walked back to our hotel holding hands.

Gurlcations with B+M are my favorite thing. I could not have asked for a better night (well, maybe minus rude, end of the, guy-friend texts, rawr #guysruineverything).

So, obviously, here are (just) a few (crappy quality, iPhone) pictures of the fun:

Selfie in the Hotel before Dinner #obvz

 

Waiting for the elevator:

Beth and Marissa with their champagne:

 Beth and I at dinner:

Our second favorite place in the hotel (our most amazing comfortable bed was our first):

 

 

Beth and Marissa on the roof (aren't they pretty?!)

The three of us on the roof, after dinner, before everything else, phot cred to some random man who wanted to be our friend:

re-do

This morning I did it again, hopefully for the last time ever, but it's out of my hands at this point and all I'm left with is a fading anxious feeling.

I completely blocked so much of the summer bar exam out of my mind that when I got to Tacoma early this morning I suddenly had a flood of emotions and anxiety and memories that weren't there before. It's confusing to me how I block things out. Maybe if I would have remembered all of the fear and anxiety and awfulness I would have started studying earlier than I did this time around. Maybe not though.

I got to the convention center early, not feeling particularly ethical, found a corner and huddled up on the floor clutching my paper cup of black coffee and re-reading my professional responsibility outline for the 100th time until it was time to go in to take the test.

When I finally went into the room I forgot about the awful proctor, and the exam passwords, and the anxiety and fear, and the thirst, and how long the whole thing feels when you're in the middle of it and you just want to be done. But this time instead of rushing through, only looking for the finish, I took my time and I typed and made notes and thought about my answers until there were only 2 minutes to go. I'm not sure how I did (because clearly, it's hard to gauge these things) but it's over. And that feels good.

The most random things filled with my favorite people

Well it’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I just haven’t had much motivation with work (which has been so, so amazing) and a million appointments all the time and studying for PR and dreaming of warm places (Fiji maybe?!) and spending more time than usual with my most very favorite people #happyheart.

I was able to make it back to Hood River two weekends in a row recently (one of which was super spontaneous). Those trips were filled with so much goodness. I missed it there. And, AND guys, I get to go back again for Beth’s birthday (at which point I will have re-taken that darn ethic’s portion of the bar and hopefully be done with that for good). I reallyyyy can’t wait. Friend time is the best time.

So, because I should be studying right now (I’m getting more coffee smell even more saturated into my hair by the minute sitting here in Zoka, so I guess I should spend my time here more wisely), and because I’m still feeling a little bit of a loss of things to write about on the internet (so many thoughts, so little I’d like to share (weird)) here are some poor quality iPhone pictures of good quality people for you:

Marissa and I at Henni’s for dinner while in White Salmon during one of my trips (p.s. that place is seriously amazing):

Josh and I later that evening – REUNITED AT LAST:

Josh and Marissa (matching hoodies, ain’t no thang):

Dave and his overalls, me delirious from spontaneously driving 5 hours and arriving at a house party in Hood River at 11pm (good choices), and Beth who later regretted this picture – sorry for posting it on the internet… and instagram -  oh, and someone’s hand holding a chip photo-bombing/starring:

Lisa and I getting some Friday afternoon happy hour while I should have been studying for the bar. No worries, we spent the whole next day camped out at Zoka: 

My favorite Uncle and I at his surprise 70th birthday party (which I loved so much, best day):

And don’t worry, I also cut my NASTY LONG hair (seen above) and then to celebrate, Marissa and I took some double selfie shots and then ate tacos…

Oh, and in the midst of all of that Valentine’s day happened, for which Dustin got me a wine aerator, and for which I ate guacamole and my heart was happy:

Friends>Internet.