time for an update

buried treasure found in our new backyard

here are the quick facts:

• i got a job.
• we bought a house.
• we had our two year anniversary.
• life feels chaotic most of the time.

honestly, right now in this very moment, is the first time in forever where i feel like i don't have anything better or more important to be doing. don't get me wrong, there is a whole room full of unpacked boxes but for whatever reason, i feel perfectly okay paying them no mind. 

there are too many photos and things to say about everything all in one post so i'll update more in depth over the next week. 

in the meantime here are a few photos from life recently.

zissou can't handle our love

sleepy bathroom selfie in the new house

almost falltime

looking in the window

<3 jojy

lake times

we got to go to the lake for several days for a mini vacation! it was just in the nick of time as we have been bombarded with home buying stress and crazy work schedules. we kayaked, swam, drank beer, read books and slept in the most comfortable bed [a KING SIZE] i have ever been in. 

here are a few photos:

zissou hung out in various kayaks all weekend 

dock dog

kayak tough

summer footwear of choice

wind blown wolverine hair from jet skiing

sunset watching

beauty

<3 jojy

s i m p l i c i t y

i've been thinking a lot about stuff lately, particularly as harrison and i have been looking to buy our first home. with the home buying process there are always things that you're looking for. does the house have a yard, fence, washer/dryer, master bath, wood floors, front porch, enough windows, granite countertops, vaulted ceilings, room for an office, two kids rooms, a guest room and a master bedroom...? the list goes on and on. and can get pretty extravagant pretty quickly. and to add to it, there is now the handy dandy website called pinterest that can make you jealous, dissatisfied and downright angry because you don't [and probably never will] have your five bedroom shabby chic mansion with a hot tub in every room and ridiculously attractive children in trendy clothes you sewed by hand, sitting at your custom reclaimed wood table in front of a chalkboard painted wall displaying a perfectly imperfect scrawled bible verse. i'm totally guilty of feeling like my life is a total bummer after looking at too many "dream homes" on pinterest. 

all of that is to say, what and how much do we really need? the answer is totally different for everyone. but i've been feeling a huge need to simplify my life lately.

i think for harrison and i, simplicity is starting to mean a much smaller home than we originally wanted. at one point in our house hunting, we put an offer on a four bedroom house. FOUR BEDROOMS. for one giant adult, one miniature adult and a medium sized dog [and all three of us are usually in the same room and on the same piece of furniture]. the house ended up not working out and i'm so relieved. we would have been living in a huge empty house and it probably wouldn't have felt much like a home. 

i've been researching small space living and it's really been pumping me up. i've found some incredible stories of couples of all ages and families of all sizes living in houses with less than 800 sq/ft and sometimes down to roughly 150 sq/ft. not necessarily because they can't afford any more, but because they don't want to live in excess. there's actually a whole movement of small space living. it's very inspiring. you should google it and see what you find. since learning all of this, harrison and i have included buying and living in an airstream trailer in our ten year plan!

aside from living in a smaller space, i'm planning to clean out our closet and get rid of clothes. i do this about twice a year anyways but i still seem to have drawers overflowing with clothes i never wear. i would like to get down to about one to two weeks worth of clothes. i wear the same things over and over again anyways, so it shouldn't be too difficult. but because we americans tend to be hoarders, it may be a little harder than i think.

this new-found desire for simplicity can partly be blamed on all of the annie dillard that i've been reading lately.  she makes me want to sell all of my stuff and live in the woods and examine nature and the wonders of life [i should note that you do not have to sell all of your belongings and live in the woods to live simply. there are many ways to accomplish this and it is different for everyone. the whole vagabond forest lady is just a personal dream of mine].

but, whatever the reason, i'm really excited about trying to live life a little more simply. i'll report back once i've actually made some things happen.

<3 jojy

photo credit: the long farewell from our wedding.

there is no way to post this and not sound like a crazy dog lady

alright y'all. if you dislike animals [and all things happy and fun and good] then this post might be a little weird to you.

but. i love my dog. but like, really. a lot.

he loves to cuddle.

he loves to hike.

he tolerates my nonsense.

he loves to swim.

you guys know that we happened upon zissou back at the beginning of march, kind of randomly. we had not been planning on getting a dog really at all, but we fell in love with one of his litter mates that our friends adopted. wiggly tails and puppy cuddles got the best of us, and before we knew it, we had a puppy in our tiny apartment and not a clue what to do next.

growing up, my family almost always had a dog. and we loved our dog[s]. but i feel like dogs nowadays are more "part of the family" than they used to be. i grew up in the woods so our dogs roamed free in their own little neighborhood pack when they weren't chained up [i know i know this is very much frowned upon now!] and they didn't come inside the house but were never late for dinner. and that worked for us and them.

all of that to say, i don't think i ever fully knew the joys of having a dog as part of the family.

the first few weeks of having zissou were really stressful. puppies are a lot of work. but after week two, we were totally in love and sold on him and already talking of more puppies one day. we pretty quickly enrolled him in an awesome and local, group puppy class that we went to every saturday for six weeks. we learned loads about our pup and how to properly communicate with dogs. [we will definitely be back for more classes]. for the first month and a half that we had zissou, we had to be "on" 24/7. constantly redirecting bad behavior and reinforcing positive behavior and teaching him how to walk on a leash and socializing him in tons of different situations. so now, in the fourth month that we have had him, we know him really well. we have a pretty good gauge on what he can handle and what he cannot, where we can trust him 100% and where we 100% canNOT trust him. and he also knows us very well. he knows that we love him and feed him [cause its practically the same thing], that we like to play with him and what we expect of him in most situations we encounter [full disclosure: we came home last night to a chewed up and partially eaten bed in his crate. so yeah. good days and bad. c'mon man!].

the more i have learned about zissou, and the more i have learned about dogs in general [those first few weeks i read every article i could find on dog behavior and stopped every person walking a dog to ask questions], the more i have fallen in love. i have learned a lot about myself and harrison through having zissou. i've made new friends and feel connected to a whole new group of people [dog owners and lovers] that i wouldn't otherwise have noticed. i am understanding the bond between humans and dogs, and i like it. and i don't get mad at people for only posting photos of their dog anymore. cause, hello, have you SEEN my instagram account? dog city around there.

since the weather has warmed up harrison and i are trying to go on more adventures with zissou. i feel like having him has pushed us towards more outdoorsy things. we have always enjoyed a good hike or camp in the woods [i mean we wear chacos. so like. yeah.] but mostly in phases. it hasn't really been a regular occurence in our lives. [although i feel like i should give harrison a shout out for being an eagle scout. so he knows everything. apparently.] anyways, all of a sudden, we want to go hiking every saturday and take zissou to new places and experience new things with him. we are researching dog friendly camp grounds, and vacation rentals and parks and lakes. and its really fun! having a dog to adventure with is such a joy. we were hiking recently and found ourselves laughing and commenting on everything zissou did and then realized we have become COMPLETE dog people. and we're happy about it. what a gift to have something so fun, loving and entertaining with you all the time!

i think there is something real special about human/dog relationships.

and i love my dog. plain and simple. and that's okay.

he loves sticks.

he tries really hard to focus.

he's our favorite pup in the whole wide world.

<3 jojy

life lately

good morning!

i'm just checking in to say that life has been crazy lately but i'm hoping to get back in the saddle soon [figuratively, of course. i'm actually afraid of horses].

things that are happening in my life:

-my temporary nanny job is ending this week. bittersweet. i love this baby boy so much!
-applying for jobs. well, one job. i'm a 'put all my eggs in one basket' kind of gal.
-house hunting. harrison and i have been looking for a house to buy for almost 3 months. it's exhausting and we're so close to swearing off home buying forever. lets go live in the woods!
-learning more about our growing pup. zissou is 6 months old now and being a little bit of a bratty teenager. but he's still cute and funny and cuddly so we'll keep him [oh and i want like a million more dogs. yeah, totally a crazy dog lady now].


see ya soon,

<3 jojy


p.s. the picture above is from our recent trip to charleston for a wedding. z had kennel cough so he had to come with us and it ended up being a blast. i highly recommend traveling with your dog, it makes everything feel a little more adventurous. 

hotlanta ladies: come one, come all!

hey y'all! exciting stuff today for any girls in atlanta:

the lovely ladies of three happy eaters and i are hosting a clothing swap this weekend benefitting hagar's house, a women's shelter in decatur, and YOU are invited!

the short and sweet details:

what: a clothing swap. bring $5 and any unwanted, gently worn clothing/shoes/purses/jewelry
when: this saturday, april 13th at 10:30am
where: amanda's house
why: to support a local ministry, clean out your closets, shop, eat good food and drink mimosas

for full details check out the facebook event page and make sure to rsvp while you're at it.

all proceeds go straight to hagar's house and all leftover clothing will go to oakhurst presbyterian, where they will be distributed to hagar's house and other ministries in need.

who doesn't wanna snag some cute clothes with a drink in their hand and good food in their belly all while benefitting a good cause and enjoying some girl time?!

it won't be the same without you!

<3 jojy and the three happy eaters


p.s. the photos above show just a taste of some of the clothing we have already collected for your shopping pleasure! and yes, we are considering being part-time models... but we'll probably still have to keep our normal jobs.

looking towards summer: how do you protect your skin?

good morning! i was catching up on the interwebs this morning [something i haven't done much of with the new pup!] and i came across this post from sally and molly at a piece of toast about a new brand of swimwear called cover. designed by a couple of skin-conscious ladies who wanted better looking protective swimwear. i think they succeeded! their collection is spf 50+ and still attractive/mature/sexy. 

it got me thinking about summer and what my game plan is for protecting my skin. if you have ever been poolside with me, you have probably witnessed me covering myself in opaque white sunscreen + sitting under an umbrella + covering myself up with a towel. i love feeling the warmth of the sun and being outside, but i do not want to mess with the wrinkles, sunspots and possibility of skin cancer that can come from too much unprotected sun exposure. 

inspired by cover, i started checking around for other cute, long-sleeved swimwear. i found these at j.crew. i love the cute prints and the bright solids. i'm digging the bottom right one. i would pair it with some patterned bottoms and call it a day. i also like the tomboy feel of the swim shirt. it would make me feel like the surfer-girl that i will never be!

what about you guys? how do you protect yourself in the summer? have you ever worn protective swimwear [in your adult life]? do you love to tan despite the health risks?

<3 jojy

[photos from left to right: one//two//three//four// via j.crew]