five on friday

well another week has come and gone! and another week that i didn't really blog... i'm basically a failure! in my defense, it has been a really busy week, but hopefully i can get inspired/motivated to blog more. i'm just really glad it is the weekend -- i really need some sleep!

linking up with april this week for another 'five on friday' -  here are the top five things on my mind this week:

[one]
last week i took my italy photos over to my friend's house to show her because she had just gotten back from italy as well! i had all of my photos on my external hard drive (because i took 1200...) and they are shot in raw, so the file size is HUGE. well.. her cat went crazy at one point and sped out on to the patio and hit the cord, sending my hard drive flying and crashing to the ground. we both literally stared at it.. like DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? well, it did. it wouldn't turn on... she insisted that i leave it with her to get fixed. i feel bad too! but i really really REALLY hope that it can be recovered. all of my pictures from 2001 and beyond are on that drive. what this did inspire me to do is buy a second hard drive. ha. i'm sure it will be a good investment, because i plan to take a lot more pics and i'm sure with the size of those photos, it will start to fill up!

[two]
celebrating my cousin's bachelorette party last weekend was a blast. exhausting, but a ton of fun! it was fun to meet a lot of her friends, but even more fun to hang out with my frusins all weekend (for those of you who don't know, frusin = friend + cousin).

it was a really fun weekend! roadtripping with my sister to the west side of michigan - south haven. we got there friday and set things up and got things ready for the rest of the group to arrive. saturday morning, we had mimosas and homemade breakfast sandwiches, took a quick stroll around town (it was HOT - summer has finally arrive in the mitten state!), got a fancy coffee, and headed to the beach. then the storm rolled in and we headed back for apps/drinks before we hit the town! fun night. sunday was brunch (lots of beverages - water, coffee, bloody mary - necessary.) and a little shopping before we all departed.

the awesome little beach house we stayed in | little collage of the cute decos/mimosa bar! \ me and my sister at dinner
there were 3 jessicas at this party (my sis being one of them) and they all happened to sit on the same side of the table at dinner.. with me! Jess sandwich!| brunch on sunday with lots of beverages was  necessary. |
mini beers - cheers to babs! (also my sis in the top right - really showing that mini beer who is boss!) | cousins in lake MI

[three]
i am completely overwhelmed by all of the candidates, and really just the 2016 election overall. luckilyy i came across i side with, a site that helps you find out which candidate your beliefs align with. i am going to keep my personal beliefs off this blog, but it definitely was a site that was helpful in both knowing the issues, and finding out who believes what!

[four]
lately, i have been seeing 12:34 on the clock a lot. like seriously, every single day. sometimes twice... it is starting to get a little interesting, for lack of a better word. i don't really know if i should be creeped out or what!

i did just find this info , which helps me put my mind at ease that it is not necessarily negative but could be positive :) i'm not always into horoscopes/numerology/astrology etc, but the regularity in which i see this number has made me wonder...

don't mind the pin it button... it wouldn't go away!
via

[five]

finally finished editing ALL of the sessions i did the weekend before i left! ideally i would have had them all done before i left for italy, but that was not at all realistic in this case! and then the unforeseen issue with the hard drive, i had to start over for one set. the only good part of that is that i took a lightroom webinar yesterday and learned a bunch of new tricks so i got to use some of them on those new edits! 

here are a few of my favorites!

these two kids seriously crack me up! so much love for them!

Looking forward to this weekend! hopefully being productive and relaxing!! one wedding shower, a pedicure, and other than that i am free to do anything i want! 

have a summery weekend!