The best weekend: part one

This past weekend was amazing. My lovely friend Sarah came to visit and it was a complete whirlwind. We stayed up way too late every night, got up way too early every morning, packed fun things into every single minute, and still didn't do everything we wanted. It felt like being back in college again. (Of course, I'm feeling super old and tired now, but it was worth it!) Sarah arrived Thursday night, and Tyler and I went to Starbucks beforehand so we'd be awake for her arrival. We stayed up well past midnight comparing music libraries and talking blog things (I recently--finally!--convinced her to start one; you can visit her blog here).

The next morning we headed out to do some thrifting. I plan on getting together & photographing my haul for a post soon, but I have to go ahead and show you my favorite find:

I know I mentioned this little beauty Sunday, but I'm just so excited about her (yes, I've determined that she's a girl. I'm very seriously contemplating naming her, too. I'm already that attached). This is the exact model camera that my mom bought when I was born, and I've borrowed hers so many times--it even went on my first trip to Portland with me (and took all of these pictures over several borrowings).This one was only $15 thanks to a Groupon (did you know they have Groupons for THRIFT SHOPS? What.the.heck.). It normally takes me awhile to get through a roll of film, but I've flown through this one because I'm so curious to see if everything works properly. We definitely had a ton of fun snapping away this weekend, between my new friend, Sarah's DSLR, and both our iPhones. 

Friday we hit the thrift stores as soon as they opened, and then met up with another friend from grad school at Tea Bar & Bites. If you live in Springfield and haven't been, go yesterday. It's heavenly.

I had the turkey & Gouda with potato salad and soup--which tasted exactly like my favorite soup that my mom makes, by the way. (Side note: Remind me to post that recipe soon!) So tasty!

This is Shaye. We love her! It's kinda a travesty that she and I live in the same town and hardly ever see each other. (Also, I look really weird here. I blame it on a combination of the sun in my eyes and extreme happiness, but maybe my face is really just weird-looking. Eh. Whatevs.)

After brunch, we said goodbye to Shaye and headed downtown to walk off our lunch and do a little shopping before.....

 ...I introduced Sarah to Elle's. She's a fan (obviously. Who isn't?)

After that, we did a little more thrifting...

...and then found a half-price bookstore. My aching wallet, man. We followed that up with a trip to Target and finally called it a day. Having friends in town is one of my very favorite things, especially when it's a friend who loves trying new restaurants & stores, and doesn't mind spending hours poking through junk to dig up some good finds. We had all that covered by day one. :)