roaring 20's new year's soirée

2020! How are we here already!? 

I think it was probably sometime near the end of high school that I started to realize how fast time flies, and anytime I mentioned it to anyone older than me, they would say, "just you wait, it goes faster and faster as you age". Unfortunately (and sometimes fortunately, when you have something you're really looking forward to), they were right.

Alas, 2019 has flown by in the blink of an eye and we're well on our way into the new year, and the new decade! 

Madi and I decided to throw a 1920's style party here in our little Treehouse apartment and the night was a roaring success!

I should have gotten a better picture of it, but I decorated that star balloon with some fun typography saying "let's party like Gatsby", and Madi did the chalk art, which read, "among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars", which is a quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby.

Nothing says class like plastic champagne flutes and paper plates ;)

We had 19 people here throughout the night! I think that might be a new record for one of our shindigs. Before we moved into the city, only about half the people we invited would be able to attend because it was such a trek out to our old place. Now we're so central that everybody shows up and it's so fun! I love any excuse to fill our little apartment with friends and laughter. 

I think it's funny that the kitchen always becomes a gathering place, even when ours is the tiniest little cubby kitchen.

There's something I love about our entryway being filled with shoes! Makes my hosting heart so happy.

It was truly such a beautiful start to this new decade. I have such a great feeling about 2020 and I can't wait to watch it all play out. I can't even imagine where I'll be by the time the next decade rolls around!

Happy New Year, friends!

hello, hello!

Hello, welcome to West Coast Wild & Free! 

As the little blurb in the sidebar reads, I intend to use this blog as a space to share and document my adventures, projects, and travels, as well as some thoughts and generic day to day life bits. 

Blogging is nothing new to me. I started my first blog in the spring of 2011, when I was 14 years old and had just discovered the world of photography and my passion for it. That little blog had a pretty good run - 9 years, 459 posts, and 109 followers. However, I never really shared that blog with people I knew "in real life", which is probably a good thing because looking back now, I realize I was pretty dang dramatic in my adolescent years. 

The whole blogging world seemed to fizzle out a little when Instagram started to gain popularity a few years back, and while I love the simplicity and ease of Instagram, I miss the art of blogging and the connections it brought - the writing, the photos I carefully choose to accompany a post, and the interactions in the comment section. 

In a world that seems to be focused so much on the go-go-go, I feel drawn to slow down and live more intentionally in every aspect of my life. 

For the past three years, I have taken a social media break for the entire month of January, encouraged by Amanda, and her blog, Homesong. The first year, I don't remember feeling anything revolutionary, but last year I remember how the step back made me realize how strange it is to be so invested in so many strangers lives, and I didn't like the amount of time I spent keeping up with other peoples lives instead of living my own. Initially, I didn't think I'd go back to posting, but eventually did because I missed connecting, sharing, and documenting the highlights of this one beautiful life I get to live. 

We're only 5 days into January and I'm still unsure of whether or not I'll return to Instagram after the month is up, but I wanted to start this blog as a way to share and connect in the meantime, and beyond, as well! I have some big adventures planned for 2020 and I can't wait to share it all with whoever would like to follow along in this space! 

Finlayson Point