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Monday, December 31, 2012

farewell, twenty-twelve.

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Last New Year's Eve, uber reluctant to bid 2011 adieu, Grams + I found ourselves walking along a cobblestone street in Kensington trying to find our way back to our hotel after spending the afternoon in a snowy Christmas village. It was right before midnight where a gorgeous display of fireworks would light up London's skyline  when the heel of my favorite brown boot broke off. I briefly faltered but after cursing the cobble + catching my balance, I clearly remember looking up at my grandmother and saying, "Please don't let this be a foreshadowing of how this new year is going to turn out." ... 

Ohmyforeshadowing, it was. I contemplated not doing a review of twenty-twelve {frankly because I am so excited to see this year come to an end, I might just crawl in to bed at 7:30 tonight + forego the sequins, the ball drop + all that jazz.} but after reminiscing over last year's review here + o-ten's review here, I decided it would be a lovely, more jocelyn-esque idea to give 2012 a proper farewell, seeing that I am a huge fan of closure + all
january
January arrived. I laid out my wishes for the new year but then snowmaggedon hit Seattle sending my car sliding sideways down the hill I lived on in Green Lake + with it went all my resolutions. Right. out. the. window. Thanks to the good graces of a kind neighbor, I made it to Carly's 25th birthday celebration + had an amazing time gulping sipping wine in Santa Barbara. I was also given my first nickname, I snow-shoed through a quaint little German town + realized who the girl really worth having was.
february I started my very first clinical rotation + proceeded to spend nearly every day of this entire year in a NICU... coping only by attending happy hour @ 7:30 am. I put a chest tube in a chicken, learned that life's moments of impact will change our lives forever... and to let the hard ones go. I also encouraged every one of you to go find passion, the most beautiful make-up for a woman. 
march March marvelled on, the paradigms shifted + I instagrammed my heart out. I didn't sleep hardly a wink the entire winter quarter until I went on a little weekend away to Tennessee when my heart grew too big for my body. I spent countless hours in local coffee shops drinking hazelnut lattes + was overjoyed to spend my spring break slowboarding in Whistler with Sammi. I met a wonderful friend {hi Alex!} from Texas + I grew exponentially fonder of the yummy cuisine in every niche of Seatown.
april In April, cherry blossoms bloomed + I delved in to crossfit. I went to Florida for an impromptu roommate reunion at a little resort on the east coast of where we remade Call Me Maybe before it went viral + the world followed suit. I fell more madly in love with the Pacific Northwest daily {especially the tulip fields} but also made a shocking discovery that Portlandia is real, y'all.
may May was liberating as I discovered what I would do with my one wild + precious life on a drive illuminated by the super moon through the Redwood Forest. I went to LALA land + ran a half marathon in NorCal on the Avenue of the Giants. I traveled to Sea World with Reese, Kara, Megan, Jess + Ella + my life became more technicolorful. Oh, and I finally found the words to honor my mama. 
june June was an overwhelming mess of classroom, clinical + work. .. where the adult learner in me had an incredibly hard time balancing the Libra's in me need to be social... foregoing all sleep as laundry piled up, my inbox flooded and I lost all control of my life with the start of summer. I moved to Belltown. This little blog turned 5. I escaped to LA for the weekend to frolic in vineyards + dream of traversing around the country in an airstream. I snuck back to Winnipeg for an amazing friend's wedding + relished in family love. 
july In July, I celebrated independence + commuted to Anchorage to attend my Level II clinicals in an awesome NICU with an incredible team of practitioners. I slowly transitioned back to blonde. I met another amazing friend + we painted Seattle rad redefining Sunday Funday on the three days off I had that entire month. My schedule was brutal but amazing:: brutally amazing.
august Oh, August. You spoiled me with all your sunshine. Rollerblading was my favorite way to take in the gorgeous skyline + those western sunsets. It became a habit to spend sunday perusing farmers' markets + having bonfires at the beach. I nested with Kara in preparation for baby boy + paddleboarded with Sammi through deep cove. I hiked nearly every afternoon I had off + by the end of August, Seattle had me completely wrapped around its space-needle-of-a-finger.
september September was a perpetual happy celebration of my golden birthday. Heather + I explored the San Juans. Celeste + I ventured to the end of the Earth. I helped a car thief escape from an overturned vehicle. Jason Mraz performed at the gorge + I spent every night of my birthday week with all my favorite Seattlites before flying to Knox to celebrate with the light of my life. It was golden, indeed.
family1of2 October was overwhelming with the impending doom of leaving Seattle but I continued to get lost in apple orchards + took full advantage of restaurant week {which is actually two weeks} to spend quality time with my favorites. College football was in full swing + my final farewell to a city so full of wonderful people and a job that didn't once feel like work was: beautiful. All my favorite friends in one spot? I am one lucky girl. 
november November was spent on a tropical island for my first Level III clinicals where I mostly learned that island living isn't for everyone, especially this girl. Before heading to Hellwaii, I spent a lovely weekend in LA with a few of the girls that make leaving Seattle so insanely hard. And after two years of heart mending, I was able to happily let go, give thanks + take a surf lesson with an adorable instructor named DJ. 
december This last month has been a series of highs + lows returning only briefly to Seattle to write finals. With exams came a few good-byes my heart wasn't ready to make as the reality of leaving Seattle hit me full force boarding that east-bound plane + I ugly cried in the security queue at Seatac. I had a lovely weekend in Tahoe with two-thirds of my other halves but I miss my roommates immensely + decided this whole living in three parts of the country is not acceptable. But I  was delighted to return to my sister's cozy home just in time for the holidays where Santa came with a new little nephew, a couple of weeks too soon. My beautiful sister and her sweet husband are ringing in the new year in the neonatal intensive care unit celebrating their new tiny little life... a fragile miracle that is humbling my heart + putting my blessed life back in to perspective... one breath at a time. 

This year has definitely been chalk full of discovery + my one resolution for this coming year is to put myself + all said little discoveries together in one place + slow down. 

2013, I'm armed {with optimism} + ready {for your arrival}.  10, 9, 8,...

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

mele kalikimaka.

...is Hawai'i's way to say Merry Christmas to you! 

hellwaii from Jocelyn Kirk on Vimeo.

I wasn't entirely fair to Hellwaii while I was there. There were a few fleeting moments... especially Thanksgiving week when Tad came to visit... that I was able to brave the world outside my Seattle embassy {read: Starbucks} and explore the sunshiny island without being traumatized by the public transit system... among a variety of other things that inhabit that island. In the week Celeste was there, we actually rode around the entire island on a city bus and clearly survived to tell about it. We also ate macadamia nut pancakes and attended the Chief's Luau for Thanksgiving dinner {highly recommend!!}! We took a surf lesson on the NorthShore + ate lunch at a shrimp truck followed by some shaved ice at Matsumoto's. We took naps on pristine beaches + went on a catamaran with a keg of mai tais. We saw dolphins + flying fish. We snorkeled with sea turtles + a very rare monk seal. We built recliners in the sand on the very picturesque Lani Kai. Our favorite place to watch the beautiful sunsets was at a little bar right on the water in Waikiki called Rum Fire. Live acoustic music played nightly as we drank spritzers and soaked in the views; you could even see Diamondhead in the near distance from our table. We met awesome people through an interesting night of couch surfing + laughed until we cried at in our hotel room. As I was getting out the shuttle at the airport after a looooong month, the driver said to me, "I'm sorry this island was terrible to you but not a lot of people would be brave enough to come here by themselves to learn. You are a better person because of your experience. If you take nothing else from your time here, know that." 

The theme of twenty-twelve seems to be a few amazing moments mixed in amidst the chaos and challenges just when it seems to be getting to be too much. & while I am sadly soo excited for the new year to arrive, I am feeling extra happy tonight for the little speckles of awesomeness I've experienced periodically throughout the year. Today was a perfect speckle experiencing the magic of Christmas through Reese, spending quality time with grams + nesting with Kara. Oooh, how this new year already promises so much love, wonder + excitement... I can't hardly wait!
nice list.

Monday, December 24, 2012

joyeux veille de noel.


eiffel tower twinkles on. from Jocelyn Kirk on Vimeo.
Last Christmas Eve, Grams, Auntie Paul + I dashed across Paris on the Metro to get to Notre Dame just before midnight to attend la Messe de MinuitIt was amazing. The sound the organ made as it reverberated through the church. The way in which the candles illuminated inside. The smell of incense permeating the air. I couldn't speak the language but yet I felt I understood everything the speakers were saying.  It was one of those bucket list moments that I will never forget... the entire two weeks, actually. Paris is magical this time of year. The yule logs that are displayed in store windows are scrumptious. The Christmas villages that serve the best hot chocolate + have chestnuts roasting on a real open fire, I die. I felt like I was in a holiday dream... but hands down, my favorite moment was when the lights on the Eiffel Tower turned off at 1AM and the tower twinkled on. Words don't do her beauty's justice but I was able to capture the twinkle in a cab ride home one night. 

This year, I am thankful to not be on shift and with my sister and her little family. Grams is here, too + each day has been filled with so much meaning having Reese in our lives! Tonight, we went on a joyride around Knox looking at Christmas lights synchronized to music on local radio stations, a big thing here in Eastern Tennessee... Santa Claus comes soon + I can hardly wait to wake up to experience Christmas through the eyes of a very animated two-year-old. Joyeux Veille de Noel, mon ami!

i still believe...

little mister.

invitation
We have less than three weeks until baby boy "dub" Williams arrives and we are just about over-the-moon around these parts, modifying bedrest by renting a "janky" wheelchair at the mall to pick up a few last minute items, spending the time just before bed watching him dance around in Kara's teeny belly bump... and on Saturday, we celebrated his much anticipated arrival with a sprinkle shower for Mama + big-sister-to-be. littlemister don your dapper2 placesetting stachetag cookies berrybunch Angela + I had so much fun staying up til the wee hours of Saturday morning cutting, glueing, sewing until our fingers bled making banners, stuffing favors and adding intricate little details to our uber cute theme: Little Mister.
mamatobe guess that stache guessthatstache ultrasound fabricstation onesie onesies3 onesiesstation2
openingprezzies littlegifts mustaches mystache bigsister karaandreese Location: Tea at the Gallery, Knoxville, TN
Cookies: NattyEm's Cupcakes
Invitation: Mermaid Monkey Designs
Place cards, tags and thank you labels: My Party Designs
My Stache Favor Bags: PaperMoonbyKAT
Wet Your Whiskers Printable: Green Elephant Prints
wishes reesey

Thursday, December 20, 2012

favorite moment #6: rattlesnake ridge

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sitting through another hospital orientation this entire week learning Tennessee's style of neonatal care really makes me miss seattle... especially those strenuous peaceful hikes just outside city limits to the top of ridges that provide the most breathtaking views of the cascading mountains + one pretty blue lake below. I bet it's beautiful this time of year. ooxo

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

favorite moment #5: in my dreams, I am a...

favemoment5
... party planner. Seriously. There is nothing that makes me giddier than scouring the internet for hours on end looking for design ideas, d.i.y. projects + the cutestthingsyou'veeverseen on Etsy to transform life's tiny moments in to magical celebrations. I am up late tonight partially because I am still on Hawaiian time but mostly because I am so excited for Kara's tea party this weekend! I am having fun putting together the final little details of Kara's sprinkle of a shower we'll be hosting this Saturday to give Little Mister a proper welcoming. IMG_9182 I was pinning a few things to my baby boy #2 board earlier when I was reminded of another favorite moment of twenty-twelve that I never posted about... a Saint Paddy's Day party Kara and I threw nine months ago which we called our Top o' the Mornin' Pajamas &  Pancakes Breakfast! All the little families in her mom's club came and it was the luckiest way to spend our day in March! =) 
Inspiration and design for the party found here