Who else regularly scrolls through their insta feed to see the pix they’ve posted? 🙋

Just me? Okay. Moving on.

Even if you aren’t lurking your own social media, everyone has their favorite pictures. The ones that capture the perfect moment in time and flood you with memories. I love looking through pictures. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve scooped up my baby albums at my grandma’s house, absorbing the pictures of my childhood.

Old vacation pictures are another favorite (and part of the reason I love maintaining this blog so I can look back at all of the places I’ve been). And then there are just the random pictures from any old day that capture the moments between big life happenings.

For Friday Favorites this month, I’ve created a combination of some of my favorite pictures below and a few captions to explain why.

^ First up? Bali. This picture is blurry but I love it. It was taken at the end of a fun day at Potato Head Beach Club. I think we both look so happy, content, & in LOVE in this picture, which is why I like it so much. Plus, it brings back memories of lounging by the pool and drinking fresh watermelon water all day with Mike. Bliss.

^ I also love this picture I snapped on one of our morning walks in Bali. (I can almost feel the humidity just looking at it… ha.) We walked the path from our villa to down town multiple times a day – stopping at Taco Casa (seen in the pic above) a few times for nachos and sangria – so this picture brings back good memories of our time spent there. I also like the local on his bike in flip flops with a grocery bag of water and snacks; the greenery; and the spray painted fence in the background.

^ My last Bali picture is this one of Mike and his niece. (Her shoulder blade doesn’t look like that IRL; just a weird angle…) Mike’s sister lives in Australia so we don’t see them too often but look how happy Ella looks with uncle Mike! Just smooshing his face and living her best life in Bali with the fam.

^ Remember when taking a million pictures on Apple’s Photo Booth was the thing to do? This snapshot was taken in a mini photo sesh with two of my closet friends in college. (Let’s take a sec to acknowledge how dark my hair was……..)

Full disclosure: Before this picture was taken, I had just tried my fake ID for the first time at TGIF Friday’s happy hour (and it worked!) so we were a little tipsy. I remember it was a rainy Friday and we were like, let’s party! But… all of our friends were busy so it was just the 3 of us. Despite that sounding lame, it was such a fun night. This picture just reminds me of that time in life; where my friends were the center of my world and one of my biggest concerns was if my fake ID was going to work.

Present day, we have to schedule a hour coffee date 2 months in advance (and there is a 50% chance even that won’t work out) because … #adulting.

^ This is the picture that made me think about some of my other favorite pictures. Earlier this month, Mike and I attending one of my oldest and dearest friends weddings. She was a gorgeous bride in the perfect dress and as she was walking up the aisle – having just gotten married – I snapped this picture of her. It was such a special moment for a few reasons. 1. Look how happy she looks! The picture captures the pure excitement of the newlyweds. 2. Selfishly, I love that she is glancing right at me. I remember locking eyes with her as I was taking the picture and, just like in high school, knowing exactly what was on her mind. I feel like she knew my excitement and love for her in that moment too.

^ This was taken the day before thanksgiving a few years ago when a whole bunch of our friends went out to celebrate Friendsgiving. (Side note: my glasses are totally fake in this picture and I just wore them as a joke… little did I know I would be wearing real eyewear a few years later.) It was one of those perfect nights when everyone made it out. We did sake bombs, had margaritas, went dancing!

This night is extra special in my memory because it was before 3 of my closet friends (2 photographed above – April, where you at?) moved away 😦

Maybe we’ll get lucky one year and have a sequel.

^If you look in the right corner you’ll spot my mom (with the camera) and me and my grandma laughing hysterically. For context, this picture was taken on a girls’ trip to New York City we took a few years ago (read about it here). We had just – or were about to (can’t remember the exact timeline) – demolish a margarita pizza in Time Square before going to the Broadway show we had tickets for. My mom spotted a crowd of people and a camera that was projecting them onto a big screen in the middle of Time Square. Immediately I thought; no, while my mom was like; let’s go!Obviously she won. 😉 At first glance, this isn’t the best picture. There are a ton of other people in it with us, it’s blurry, you can’t even see the whole screen… but I love it. I distinctly remember my mom being so pumped to be on that big screen. She had a huge smile and was bobbing up and down saying “oh yeah, oh yeah.” <– which is why my grandma and I were laughing so hard.

This picture and memory encapsulates my mom; spur of the moment, life of the party, happy. 🙂

^ Ok I might be on a mama llama/NYC love spree right now but this is another one of my favorites. It was on another trip to New York a few years before when we went with my grandma. We were visiting the Empire State building with a friend of mine who had recently moved from the Bay Area to New York. She snapped this picture of us and I love all of mine and my mom’s similarities in it; our hair color, both of us are wearing hair clips and have sunglasses on our head. PLUS, look at that view of the city. ❤ love.

^ I love this picture of one of my best friends, Leslie. I think it’s just the cutest. She looks so happy. (I took this picture while riding a bike behind her, a mere weeks before I had to get stitches from a biking accident — now I never ride without 2 hands on the handlebars AT ALL TIMES ha.) I remember this day was gorgeous. She met me for lunch at Google and after we met a whole bunch of girlfriends at a local beer garden.

^ This picture was from 4th of July last year. I can’t say it is my favorite picture of myself 🙈 but I love Mike and our friend April in the background. These two are v similar and I bet they were cracking some joke as I was taking this. I remember this day also being gorgeous. Plus, we were playing impostures and living like the rich & famous in Kardashian Land Calabasas that weekend. Private pool and hot tub all to ourselves on a holiday weekend? Check.

^ I love this picture of Mike in our apartment. We were just chatting, sharing a nightcap when I snapped it. Something about how mundane it is makes me like it.

Whiskey. Water. Sweats.

Also, this is probably weird but I like looking in the background of pictures and seeing what people’s houses are like. Are they messy? Are they clean? What nicknacks do they have? So, if anyone else shares this quirk, here’s a good glance of my living room…!

^ I think it’s rare that we admit to liking a photo of ourselves. All too often, we’re quick to call out bad pix and silently compliment the good ones. (Or is this just me!?) WELL I want to work on that habit & start lovin’ myself more; which is why I picked this #selfie as a favorite.

Mike and I were on our way to Yosemite when I snapped this in the front seat. You can see our bikes in the backseat, my teal straw from an iced coffee…

Blonde locks, black tee, and probably black leggings; getting ready for a weekend of drinking wine, hiking, and sleeping under the stars. Love it all.

Other Friday Faves:
January
February
March

2017
Friday Favorites #5
Friday Favorites #4
Friday Favorites #3
Friday Favorites #2
Friday Favorites #1