as it comes time to bid farewell to summer i thought i would round up some highlights from mine to share with you all. also, i haven't been the best at updating the blog for the past couple of months and i have all of these pictures that i really don't want going to waste.

our anniversary

may 30th of this year marks our sixth anniversary and my oh, my how it has absolutely flown by! we weren't sure what to do to celebrate this year so i hit up groupon for some ideas. i found a whale watching excursion that sounded really fun in huntington beach. our boat found a blue whale! that's him poking his blowhole right above the water in the bottom right picture.

we've had such a fun time growing together and learning from one another. if we've learned anything it's that you inevitably have your ups and downs but through it all you know you have one another. that's the foundation in my opinion of a strong marriage, putting pride aside to stop an argument mid sentence and just hugging the other person because you love them more than you love being right and you'll do whatever it takes to make the other happy. you have each other and that's all that matters.

i think we're both realizing that since we've moved to california that these are going to be some of the best times of our lives and ones that we'll definitely look back on fondly one day as we're reminiscing with our future children. it's an odd feeling to be knowlingly living some of the highlights of your life. but hey, we're not complaining!

our birthdays

a household of two cancers over here! two days apart in fact. on my birthday i was particularly feeling a little lonesome and homesick but coming home to this surprise from my thoughtful, sweetheart of a neighbor sure did help! she's made me feel more at home since day one. she's always putting little notes in our mailbox and doing sweet gestures like this. i'm thankful for that!

visits from old friends

we've been so fortunate to have lots of visitors this summer to help ease us into the transition of living so far away. it's been wonderful. we had such a blast showing emily and jimbo around hollywood, malibu, burbank and road-tripping to veeegas! i can't even begin to tell you how insanely hot it was in vegas. i mean like literally take your breath away, sweat dripping the instant you step outside kinda hot. phew!

what really prompted the trip was us missing out on a concert that jimbo was really excited about in LA because the tickets ended up being sold out. he noticed they were playing in vegas so we decided to make the journey out there because well, why not?! in the meantime, all i was concerned about was finding a hotel with one of those classic pool parties i'm always seeing on social media. well, it certainly happened and it lived up to everything i was hoping for!

sequoia national park

a couple of months ago benji's brother cal came to visit us and we made the three hour trek up to the sequoia national park. why the redwoods get all the glory, i don't know! these trees are seriously underrated people. basically the redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, while these are the largest by volume. so in other words these trees are massive! the largest tree in the world (by volume), the general sherman in this park, is 36 feet in diameter at it's base. amazing!

also, i finally got a national park passport on this trip and i'm pretty dang excited about that. i can't wait to fill it up!

another visit from an old friend

did i mention we've had a lot of visitors this summer? ha! my friend meg was on a business trip in vegas and decided to come visit us while she was at it. we had a great time. we went to runyon canyon park, venice beach, hollywood and lots of other places i'm forgetting at the moment. i'm especially thankful that she came because total she was away from her little girl for over a week. i know that was tough.

beach daaaze

we love beach days! we headed out for some sun and sand this past weekend. our favorite one to go to is hands down, zuma beach. the water is so clean and it's a great escape from the crowded, touristy beaches in the rest of LA. the weather was perfect and we even got in the water since it wasn't frigid like it usually is. let me tell you, the waves are huge up there! i can see why people like to surf here...it's incredible.

i hope you all have had a great summer!

xoxo,

ashley

happy friday everybody! i hope you all have some great plans for the weekend. i've decided to do a little feature called 'fashion friday' for my blog. it'll be anything from hairstyles to outfits every, you guessed it, friday. i've been toying with the idea of chopping all of my hair off and in the process i've found so many cute styles that i thought i may as well share some of them with you. i know as both a stylist and client that it always helps to have a picture of what you want so maybe this will be just the inspiration you were looking for!

the classic bob

nothing fancy here, just your classic one-length bob just above the shoulders. this can be styled with a middle part or side part for some variation and looks great straight or wavy. it's just long enough with careful placement of a few bobby pins you can still put it up and out of your face. big plus!

textured bob with full bangs

omg, i love this cut. always have always will. too bad bangs look like an atrocity on my round face or i would go for it. anyway, for those of you without my unfortunate dilemma, this is a really stylish cut that's again still long enough to put back if needed. it's all about the textured ends for this wavy look. you're stylist will know just what you mean.

pixie with long side swept bangs

why don't ya just chop it aaaall off? i mean, a pixie should probably be on every girl's bucket list. this version gives you length in the front so that it feels feminine and has a softer look.

chin-length bob

i had my hair this length a couple of years ago and i loved it. it's so liberating to have short hair sometimes. none of that getting caught in zippers or seatbelts mess. just me? okay. anyway, this looks great once again wavy or straight. it's really up to you.

super short textured pixie

let's face it. whoever these ladies hairstylists are, they're killing it. i mean really. this is a gutsy cut, i'm not going to sugar coat it. if you have the nerve, as for a textured super short pixie reminiscent of twiggy.

short asymmetrical cut

this my friends, is the kind of haircut a stylist gets excited about. the daring, offbeat haircut request can be few and far between. this style works with lots of hair textures. it's similar to the long pixie, but this is more dramatic. make sure your stylist leaves one side quite a bit longer than the other and emphasize that you want it piece-y.

the lob (aka, long bob)

possibly summers hottest cut, the lob is flattering on almost everyone. it bridges the gap between short and long. it works on most any face shape and it's most definitely easy to style.

and that concludes the summer cut round up! i hope you all enjoyed these styles!

xoxo,

ashley