yours does

last week was definitely one for the books. lately i’ve been starting to really enjoy being on my own. there are definitely some adjustments, but i’d say overall i’m learning to embrace it.

i got to enjoy a delicious catch-up dinner with my dear friend, camille. she and i have been friends a while but because of our schedules, we haven’t been able to see each other as much. we finally found some time and enjoyed each other’s company over japanese food. i couldn’t help myself, so we shared tempura ice cream.

one of my coworkers moved to new york a while ago, so i haven’t seen him in a while. he was in hq this week so we had to go out and grab lunch! he told me all about his current new york adventures, and i caught him up on life in northern virginia. it was great talking to him about work and other office gossip.

friday brought bagels! our ceo gets us bagels regularly, and since he gets a mixed dozen, it’s very rare to get the beautiful rainbow bagel. i know taste-wise it’s not any different than a plain bagel, but since i eat with my eyes, it tasted so scrumptious.

over the weekend, i decided to pay my big brother a visit down in richmond. i packed an overnight bag and hit the road for the two hour drive down to see him. when i got there it was lunch time, so he took me to his absolute favorite pho place. i don’t know if you can tell, but i wrote “rva” with my sriracha.

after lunch we headed over to the mall because he needed to do some shopping. i was really excited to check out the short pump mall since i had heard a lot about it when i worked for kate spade. and yes, we did stop by the local store there.

the mall was outdoors, and it was absolutely gorgeous. i’m so glad that the weather was pretty nice, because we got to enjoy the decorations without rushing to get out of the cold. christmas time is finally around the corner – and the decorations are my favorite part!

of course, i had to stop by the tree and get a picture with it.

there was a cupcake shop in the mall so i had to go inside and try their red velvet. the decorations were absolutely adorable. the entire atmosphere was cozy and sweet.

the verdict on the cupcake – it was pretty good! definitely not the best gourmet cupcake i’ve ever had, but i still enjoyed it.

there were little ponds throughout the mall, and i kept mentioning how much cooler they’d be if there were fish in them. the last one we passed by ended up having fish, and i was so excited! it took me several tries to get a perfect shot, but in the end i got a good one of them happily swimming around.

that night we headed out to a local restaurant my brother has been wanting to try. there was a long wait, so we went to the bar to enjoy a drink first. i ordered my usual – an amaretto sour. i noticed a cup of different colored mermaids and asked the bartender what drink comes with a blue mermaid. she grabbed one out of the cup and put it on my glass and said “yours does!” it made me so happy! in reality, it usually comes with the tropical drinks, but i was special. i took her home with me, and now she’s relaxing on my earring stand.

the reason we came to perch was because the sous chef is filipino. he’s been incorporating filipino dishes to the menu, and we even got to speak to him. my kaldareta and arroz caldo was so delicious. my brother, being a huge foodie and experimental cook, had a lot of fun chatting with him about his methods.

after dinner, we walked around richmond for a while and chatted. we ended up at this bar, don’t look back. the atmosphere was really fun, and i enjoyed just hanging out with him. i really missed our talks so it was great being with him. the next day he cooked breakfast and lunch, which were both phenomenal! i was sad to leave sunday afternoon, but luckily i’ll see him again this week for thanksgiving.

when i got back to nova, i stopped at my favorite frozen custard spot before volleyball. it was a nice treat.

finally, i wrapped up my week by listening to in love with a ghost, and reading some poetry by courtney peppernell. i’ve really enjoyed her book, pillow thoughts, and i’m reading it again for the second time. i definitely recommend it if you love beautiful words.

here’s to the short work week ahead, and another spatter of moments turned to memories. ❤