necessities.

{source. p.s. don't you just love her!?}

five things i just can't live without:

{at least for now}

1. neutrogena sun screen. the absolute best.

doesn't clog pores, lightly scented and blocks those harmful rays.

what could be better? nothing.

2. salmon. it's my new go to dinner and lunch, for that matter.

lovebird and i have mastered a delicious way of grilling those bad boys-

 thanks to papa carlson for showing us his tricks. 

simply delicious, mouthwatering and irresistible.
3. burt's bee chapstick. {grapefruit flavor, please!}

known fact: i have a secret stash of burt's bee chapstick tucked away at all times.

i'm never without it, literally.

4. bikinis. yes, you heard me correctly.

i've been living in one all summer long; pool day after pool day. 

right now, i have to steer clear of the clearance bathing suits in target,

or else i'd be coming home with armfuls of them. 

5. longchamp bag. i'm convinced every girl needs one.

so practical, fashionable and the perfect size.

don't let it's simplicity fool you. 

one tip: given it's large open pocket, keep things organized inside. lots of little bags! 

go on, tell me something you can't live with out.

at least, for the moment. 

ballerinas meet yosemite.

{instagram username: eleasejane}

we had quite the weekend with this photo shoot.

the beauty that is engulfed in yosemite is unbelievable.

every single time it takes my breath away.

standing there in nothing but a leotard felt exhilarating;

as if for some reason my "nakedness" gave me a grander sensation. 

what better way to spend your weekend than hiking in your pointe shoes?

we all had so much fun laughing, posing, shivering, splashing and snacking.

it was a day full of nothing but smiles.

as well as posing with tourists, drinking the most delicious hot cocoa,

waking up {too} early to get ready, caravanning in the most windy canyon, 

demolishing our pointe shoes in the river, soaking up the sun,

posing over and over again, and laughing more than we ever have before.

 it was day to remember. 

how was your weekend?

did you spend hours watching the olympics? i sure did.

"olympic time" is possibly my favorite time. 

i think it's safe to say:

pointe shoes, yosemite and the olympics make for a perfect weekend.

happy monday. 

xoxo

ouch.

hello muscles.

the ones i haven't used in a couple months.

the ones that are screaming with soreness and exhaustion.

the ones i am suddenly discovering, almost as if i never knew they existed.

it takes me a good twenty minutes to actually roll myself out of bed.

as i do so, you should hear all the cracking and popping.

doing the good ol' wake up stretch in the morning is suddenly painful.

this is the life of a ballerina.

in fact, it's almost expected to wake up sore year round.

good thing the "out-of-shape" sore only lasts for a little while.

or at least that's what i'm hoping for.

i wouldn't trade my life of being a ballerina for anything.

however, i would trade those sore muscles of mine any day of the week.

oh, the life of a dancer.

this week i'm saying: bring it on. 

have a happy weekend.

this weekend for me includes:

a photoshoot in yosemite, while wearing a leotard and pointe shoes.

just when those tourists thought they were going to see half dome,

they just might run into some crazy ballerinas hiking and posing.

afterwards, i plan on coming straight home to sit in an ice bath. 

my muscles may then, actually thank me. 

surely, i'll post pictures. 

{instagram username: eleasejane}

follow along, and i'll follow your lovely weekend too. 

xoxo

take a boat into venice.

venice

this is where we started our lovely trip in italy.

venice in ten:

1.arrived and got completely lost; two hours lost.

2.first on the itinerary: straight to st. mark's square.

3.oredered our first margarita pizza and bought a painting from a local.

4.took a long nap. trust me, it was needed. 

5.first "real" italian dinner: 

i ordered the traditional pasta with mushrooms. lovebird ordered an italian steak. 

6.onto our first taste of authentic gelato! {grom}

7.enjoyed a {very} romantic stroll along the canals.

8.breakfast at the hotel while chatting with sweet english women.

9.last stop: the famous rialto bridge.

10.a gorgeous city; 

the atmosphere was so italian and nearly impossible to put into words. 

{the humidity was a little much, i'll admit that.}

just a taste.

here's a little taste of venice. 

i am still sorting through the ba-jillion pictures we managed to snap.

if only it was a quick and easy job to sort, edit and post pictures.

part of me has needed a vacation from my vacation. {if that makes any sense}.

i've been taking things slow:  

running errands, slowly getting back into work,

visiting with friends, laying by the pool and cleaning my home 

that seemed to have collected an inch of dust while we were gone.

{what a nice welcome home gift, right?}

so, please bare with me-

i do promise to eventually post pictures from italy. 

meanwhile, it's back to dance i go.

today is going to be ruff.

 tomorrow my muscles will be screaming.

wednesday, they will want  to kill me.

thursday they'll still be paying for the consequences 

of not me not staying in shape over the summer.

friday they may finally be used to the pain

and saturday they'll be rejoicing in a day off.

my reply to the pain will simply be:

sorry that i'm not sorry, because italy was well worth it; 

every last second of it.

life seems to suddenly be starting back up again at full force.

where did summer go?

is it really already over?

at least we have one last destination wedding to look forward too-

oh, and our anniversary too!

it's not quite over, and believe me- 

i'm holding out for every last second of summer i can get. 

be a bird.

happy sunday.

may you be that patient bird today

and have an exotic adventure.

ours will be spent with dear friends eating delicious food laughing the night away. 

there is bound to be a silly adventure somewhere in that plan. 

i hope you are having a lovely weekend.

xoxo

life in links.

 i thought i'd fill you in on my life via links:

have you heard the big news? exciting, if you ask me.
so happy i splurged on these clearance mugs at anthro. 

we went here yesterday. oh, how lovely it was.

these, are my newest addiction. 

i'm just going to have to make all three of these .

if only i could have brought this place home from italy. 

please tell me you've heard of this.
have you entered this giveaway? trust me, you'll want to.  

your turn:

leave me a link below.