Movin' on up!

I haven't forgotten about you, there's just been crazy cuckooness in the world of Huff. Some of which is I've moved here for all future bloggy goodness!

Come visit, the water's fantastic!

Wild Side

Channeling a little Rachel Zoe today with my chevron and panther. My necklace was a gift from my sis-in-law and brother from Bauble Bar. It's a favorite. I love, love, love them. Bauble Bar and my fam. In this case, I think Bauble Bar has great pieces for reasonable prices. Sweater on sale via Lane Bryant. Can't find the B&W version. Super soft. It's been a long few days so you can see all the lovely dark circles under the eyes without makep. NOT a very RZ way to go.

Also, Sophy and I both have the same weird bang trim. Mostly because I'm the bang trimmer.

Sophy in the Splash Pad

We had a little photo "mini-session" with Ryan. These were a couple of my favorites and it's how we found out that Sophy loves herself some splash padding! It's also how I found out that the water features in the park are called Splash Pads. Who knew?

 

Canvas Pop

This might be my new favorite item in the house. I took the pic as her regular pre-school pic. That night I was playing around doing some afterlighting on it then posted it on Instagram. I kind of loved it immediately. Shortly after I got an email that Canvas Pop had reclaimed wood frames. It was meant to be.

For a pretty hefty price (~$100), I ordered it. Hoping it would look good. I love, love, love it. This pic is just so perfect for her and a great color. The wood frame is fantastic. They've got a 30% sale right now and I may have done some Christmas purchasing. I'm not sure how I occupied my time pre-baby, iPhone/iPad mini and apps.

Anyway, I was not in any way paid or coerced to pimp out Canvas Pop, Instagram, Afterlight. Not that I wouldn't be willing, just no offers forthcoming. It's early in the picture season and I really am going to need to pace myself. That toddler is just too cute!

Five on Friday

 

Five on Friday

5. I'm still kantha obsessed. Well, I'm still obsessed with painting everything white and adding a ton of color via accessories. So far, I've found very little that's as bright and warm as kanthas. Love these on Etsy. And THESE! Wow. SF Girl by Bay had a post featuring Hand and Cloth. Greatness. This little elephant with kantha stitching is adorable. I may have to get a few as my new "go to" baby gift along with the wubbanubbas. Those are fantastic.

Marigold Textiles on Etsy

I'm a little fuzzy on whether kantha is the stitch you see here or the material or the quilt that uses that material and stitching. Oddly the intranets provides conflicting information. How is that possible? If it's true, it's on the internet. Or, not so much.

4. This is my new favorite piece from World Market and would add it to the house immediately if I didn't live with a husband and a toddler. Neither would approve. The color is really lovely although I may have to side with the husband and toddler on it's actual comfort and practically. In my adult doll house this would be in the dressing area where I lounge with a champagne cocktail. 

World Market

3. Now that I've declared it fall, repeatedly, I'm getting out the crock pot and putting it to use. We bought this super fancy one on sale at Williams-Sonoma and I love it. On Monday I made pot roast and it was fantastic. I also tried to make lentils and chicken sausage which was meh. Sophy liked it (the lentils anyway) so it wasn't a total waste.

I can brown and saute in it before I actually add everything to simmer all day. It's pretty awesome. We also got a $25 gift card when we bought it and Sophy has since absconded with it. Not a happy Mama. I had earmarked that GC for a glass pitcher. Someday I'm going to find it squirreled away under her toys and baskets. Maybe. Good thing she's pretty adorable. NOTE: not paid for by Williams-Sonoma but if they wanted to send me that nifty glass pitcher that'd be great. Oy.

 2. I'm a little sad that the Rachel Zoe Project has been canceled although last season was a little blah. I kinda wanted to see pregnancy round two and outfits that would ensue. And now that I've cut off most of the Real Housewives, my dosage of crazy over the topness is fairly minimal.

1. Holy poop! The Halloween shop at Carter's is up and running! Full on Halloween costume planning is commencing!

Blah

This was pretty much what I got when I tried to get Sophy out the door this morning. I can't really blame her. I kinda feel like that myself. 

Just in case you thought she was always picture ready. Not so much.

Weekend Round Up

Sophy had a fantastic time with Aunt Anita and Granny. She was more than happy to share how she'd like everyone to behave for pictures. Lots of snuggles and adventures on Friday while Mommy and Daddy were at work. Lots of shopping and tasty food and just hanging out.

The willing babysitters meant we ventured out for a movie, Elysium, which Rolland loved and I found meh. We did see it at the new DFW Alamo Drafthouse and I really wanted to love the theater but it was also just meh. It was 108 out and felt like it was 98 in the theater. The food was pretty tasty though. I had a baked pretzel with hatch chile queso... yum. It was disappointing when eaten next to someone smelly. Ick.

Monday we caught up on Top Chef Masters. I've been hoarding episodes. I'm really enjoying Francis Lam as a guest. He was a favorite on Cooking Channels "Unique Eats" and "Food(ography)".  I'm also ready for Sang to get off my TV. I usually love TCM more than Top Chef just because everyone's established and plays nice. There's always somebody who's kind of an ass (Michael Chiarello) but this is usually rare. I love the camaraderie and the season with Jonathan Waxman will always be a favorite. This year feels a little more bitchy.

Finally, we're caught up on visits for a while so it's time to start the crazy "to do list". Pray for me.

Saturday Car Ride and Shopping

The family visit has been lots of fun with car rides, tasty food and shopping. Sophy prefers the car rides to shopping but does enjoy running full speed through all of the racks so there's that. I found shopping highly successful with an entirely new pj wardrobe. Mine were looking ratty and are now almost fully replaced. Woo hoo!

I'm a little worried with all of the Fashion Week talk on the intranets I could succumb to a serious shopping binge. I've really been pretty good about the spending (except for the boxes that came to the house this week...uhm.  Ooops. Most were gifts I promise! For real!)

Update post lunch and nap: new jeans and plain white t-shirt. Multiple Sophy outfits. Couple of gifts also purchased. Macy's sale was decent.

Five on Friday

Five on Friday meet up at a. liz. 

5. I just saw this burger on Dinner with Julie and feel like the guy on the Geico commercial with his mind blown! It's a burger with a babybel cheese wheel inside. How did I not think of that?! This looks super tasty. May have to make these this weekend.

4. My in-laws are in town this weekend so we're contemplating a movie while we've got a visiting babysitter. Jobs looks really good so does Lee Daniel's The Butler but I'm not sure I want to be that serious and grown up. There's always Kickass 2 or The World's End. We also have the new Alamo Drafthouse to consider!

3. And if we're going to a movie we need dinner. Dinner with no throwing of crackers or demands to be "put down". Nice. I keep a list of restaurants in the notes section of my phone for a quick reference. It helps with the "where do you want to eat" question. A funny kind of movie deserves a little tasty goodness like Jerry's Wood-Fired Dog. I've seen it's tasty goodness via instagram feeds but haven't tried it out. We've also lived here a long time and haven't tried out Hattie's in Bishop Arts. That might move to the top of the list.

2. With the family in town, there's also likely to be some shopping for the toddler. I usually pick up a few things (or a lot), even when her closet is already busting out. The new Peek collection is crazy cute. The Tea collection also adorable. And finally, you can never go wrong with mini-boden. You'll likely go broke, but not wrong.

1. The State Fair of Texas signs are up! School started! Football is starting! It's Fall, it's fall, it's fall! Well, it's 105 here this weekend but I can feel fall!

Drained

via pinterest

Aside from all of my big photo wins, it's been kind of hectic for lots of reasons I don't really want to go through at the moment. But, I saw this on Pinterest and actually laughed out loud then sighed.

It really does sum it all up.

Photoshop Apps

I'm trying to make use of the fancy DSLR and have been incredibly inspired by the blogger-nets (I kind of hate the term blogosphere. I don't know why). Some major favorites are Under the Sycamore, Meg's Whatever blog  which totally captures kids and Kansas for me. It reminds me of my summers when I was growing up. On the flip side, the city pics on Sweet Fine Day are a different kind of greatness. Urban playgrounds and city kids are fun to see. Finally, the food porn, plus kid, plus island pics and other awesomeness of Gluten Free Girl's blog gets me through the crazy Texas heat. Day dreaming of picnics on an island in the Pacific Northwest... sigh. BUT, I did see the sign for the Texas State Fair so fall really IS almost here!

This is a tiny subset of the blogs I read with lots gorgeous photos and decorating/beauty shots. However, these stand out for me as they capture everyday moments. Making them magical, particularly with kids. Sophy is growing at a crazy rate and she's at school while we're at work so I have less of an opportunity to see her everyday interactions with world. I want to have a record of this time when she's exploring, learning and finds everything pretty nifty. This is what I will hold on to when she's slamming her door and screaming "I hate you". She can even watch me weep over the pics after I remove her door for slamming it but that's an entirely different thing. Let's not dwell. Not ready, not ready!

I've waxed poetic~ish about my love of apps on my phone and really, really wanted something similar for Photoshop. Turns out, there kind of is! I read about Totally Rad Lab on Ashley's blog but couldn't quite figure it out but found they had a free trial so I started playing with it. Now I'm hooked. It's a lot more of a commitment than my $1.99 phone apps but so far I think it's worth it. I hope I'm not spoiling anything for the family, but photo stuff is my new gift go to so I feel like I can justify the cost. Kinda. I hope my husband doesn't read this. :O

So here is an example of a "before and after" with Totally Rad.

Before

After

I cropped the poop out of it so you can get closer to the tiny toddler in the photo. I know there's a lot going on but I wanted to really get that feeling from the splash park. There may have been a little fixation on the rainbows. I don't want to talk about that either. Rainbows rule! Anyway, the super processed feel you see on phone apps is a favorite but this isn't a look for everyone. They have a lot of options for some subtle adjustments. I may have mentioned I'm not much of a "less is more" kind of girl.

The next set are from Pioneer Woman. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with PW in that I used to love her but after she turned into a giant marketing brand the "simple prairie girl" vibe was kind of lost. I do love her photos though. Recipes... eh.

Before

Ok, so this one has the tiny toddler making a break for it with Daddy's shadow at the bottom of the pic. I kind of love it which is why I end up keeping all of my photos in an "originals" folder taking up huge amounts of space. I'll figure out something with picture hoarding after I conquer my actual "stuff" hoarding. Anyway, back to the photo. And then it became...

After

This. I did want to crop it a little tighter though to get more of Sophy in the pic again. I also really modified the contrast and did a major sepia moment. I wish I would have rotated the image, you know, so that it's straight (OY!) but I didn't. I think on the whole most wouldn't find it a successful photo but I kind of love it. She's just on the edge of exploring on her own. Ready to break free and find adventure. That's a moment I want to have forever.

To Do List

I always like to see people making lists since I'm a list lover from way back. Anna at Door Sixteen has some ambitious home project lists which inspired me to do the same. Also, I need the public shaming since the private list making isn't really getting me anywhere. This is a post-Labor Day list since we've got family coming and then we're free to run wild! It's pretty ambitious but here goes:

1. Move everything out of the studio/guest room
2. Remove the quarter round molding from around the floor
3. Patch quarter round holes
4. Remove laminate floor
5. Paint the walls
6. Paint molding
7. Install wood tile floor
8. Grout said floor
9. Rearrange and move everything back in to look like this or this or this. Or not.
10. Remove quarter round in the hallway
11. Patch quarter round holes 
12. Paint the hallway
13. Paint the molding
14. Convince Rolland I need a shiny sparkly chandelier (really love this) in the hallway
15. Put down tile
16. Grout tile
17. Move everything out of Sophy's room
18. Remove the quarter round from around the floor
19. Patch quarter round holes 
20. Remove the laminate floor
21. Paint? It's really, really pink and makes everything weird in pics. May just knock it down a couple of shades
22. Paint molding to cover hole patches
23. May consider a new light fixture since it's also crazy dim... Rolland really might kill me. :O  Maybe just use existing hanging IKEA light over rocking chair and add a switch?
24. Install wood tile floors
25. Grout floors
26. Build built-ins and window seat along window wall
27. Figure out how to make/find a seat cushion for window seat
28. Move all back in and hope she's still got a reasonable sleep schedule

Take a break for Christmas!

Sunday Splash Padding

It's been a super busy weekend but we took some time this morning for a doughnut and park run. We had a mini-session with Ryan last weekend and Sophy loved the fountains. Today was more of the same!

Five on Friday

Yay, it's Five on Friday time and that means it's, well, Friday! I kind of feel like this.

And here we go...

5. The latest episode of Interior Therapy had the husband giving me a little side eye. The couple were living in "her" decorated version of the house that leaned very much to Mark Ryden. And by lean I mean was totally covered in it and lots more of that style of artwork. She also had a lot significant number of unusual pieces that I had some skepticism about including stuffed rats and clown portraits. Yikes! Now, I admit I like an occasional doll head as much as the next person  and kind of adore Mark Ryden but she had gone a little overboard. Since we watched it, I've been rethinking the entire home decorating/knickknacking I've got going on. I will say that someone with a "toy collection" a la Star Wars hoarding better not look too hard at me. Side eye back to the husband there.

4. So ignoring #5 where I swear off all questionable art and excessive item displaying. I kind of really really want these. Our antiquing trip set off some kind of dormant pottery collecting gene. I'm on a definite 30's and 40's pottery kick and have almost started a collection for Sophy. I have not for a few reasons.

• These are things I like and don't want to hear it when she's 13 and hates everything.
  
• Also, I don't want her stuck with having to deal with my hoarding on her behalf when she finally moves out and has to deal with a U-haul full "her" stuff. I do have some self-awareness about this. She may have to have this though.
  
• And the husband gives me the look and just shakes his head. I do not want to see this same behavior in a pre-schooler.

3. I've been seeing these awesome Valentino pumps all over the intranets. Greatness. So we have to suspend our disbelief that a) I wouldn't immediately break an ankle. And, b) that I would spend nearly $1,000 dollars on shoes. After all of that, these are fantastic! Perfect with some boyfriend jeans and a cardigan for casual with an edge work outfit.  I also have to get beyond them being called "Rockstud". That's just... ugh.

2. Ok, since I've agreed not to hoard on behalf of my toddler daughter, I'm contemplating merchandising her things in some fun ways. I love these crates. This book wall is on the must list.

1. And I've decided I'm kind of screwed since I have a "vignettes" board that would induce nightmares in Jeff Lewis and my husband.

Happy Friday!

Let the Sunshine In

I saw this gorgeous balloon backed by the sunrise this am at baby school drop off. It was gorgeous. But when I saw how the pic came out I just shook my head. I may have sighed.

I'm trying to be brave and take risks. To make some dreams become reality and it's hard. Really, really hard. Most of the time I feel like this picture. It's great potential but just not there. I'm already thinking how it's disappointing. I know. I have issues. I'm not a naturally optimistic person. This is coming as a shock. I'm more of a "if we're in a plane crash let's hope we lose consciousness before the fiery death" kind of a girl. All of the adults in our house worry about worrying too much. This is no way to live life and it's no way to teach my daughter how to live.

Instead, I want to feel like this. A second shot with a change in the angle and some editing.

I want to embrace the possibilities without becoming paralyzed over fear of disappointment. I've avoided opportunities because I didn't want to risk it not working out. Being rejected. Instead, I'm trying to push through. Risk. If it doesn't work out. It's still ok. I'm still ok. I still have a lot to be grateful for and there may be even better possibilities I didn't see just beyond the trees.

Breathe Deep. Set your intention. Be brave. Exhale.

Diptic App

I'm still playing with my iPhone/iPad photos and trying out some new apps. I'm a bit of a photo app hoarder. Sigh. A lot of the experiments end up on Instagram. Usually late at night. You know, to hide the app hoarding via publicly posting on the intranet. This was not a well thought out plan.

These were made with the Diptic App which I'm still kind of meh about. I think it's fun and I do enjoy looking at all of the Sophy faces but I don't see this taking over for some of my standby's. Mostly, I don't see myself taking a ton of photos that lend themselves to grouping this way although I'm willing to do some foodie samplings to try it. Might be an interesting was to gather some travel shots for a book... well hell, I may be talking myself into finding more uses for it now! Oy.

I have 4 more days to finish my SnapShops class. I really hope I make it.

Art Show

Sophy and the Bicycles

When we were in Oklahoma last weekend, we stopped in Ardmore at the Cloverleaf. I have a follow up post, just to drag those two days out even further, but this is a quick Sophy-centric post. She loved all of the bicycles outside the shop and had to take a closer look.

Peek

I love Peek.They have such great kids stuff like this. Or this.They do kind of blow the monthly kids clothing budget so I wait until I find stuff on sale. This fall's line of science stuff for girls is greatness. I may have to stock up in larger sizes for later. Sophy asking about Marie Curie is much preferred to the latest Disney pop star.

Not blogging on behalf of Peek but that would be fantastic! Just happened to get their latest via email and couldn't resist sharing.

Five on Friday

It's Five on Friday time again link up at a.liz ... I kind of skipped the last couple week for reasons unknown.

5. We're doing a quick summer mini-session with Ryan on Sunday so I'm obsessing over outfits. Still have no idea what's "cute" but can get "wet". Those are sort of mutual exclusive for me. Oy. My true obsession about this is mpix. I'm seriously addicted to their print services. They make all my pics look great and I order nearly everything in the lustre finish for this fantastic metallicy finish. LOVE. I also use their app for pics on my phone and it's amazing.
Note: they did not in anyway ask me to pimp out there services, I just have to share my new photo printing addiction. If they want to give me benefits for pimping there goodies I wouldn't say no!

4. iPhone photography. I just got my DSLR fixed and took it on our mini-trip. I may have posted 1.2 million photos online. Not sure if you saw. Here or here. But, I don't normally carry the big fancy camera around but I always have my phone or iPad mini so I signed up for a class specific to the phone. It's SnapShops which is awesome. It has lots of great information and now I'm a little concerned I won't get through it all in the next week. EEK!

3. Afterlight. I have a bunch of phone photo apps that I rotate through but this is my latest favorite. I can size images to "square" then make all the edits and add layers with sizing perfect for Instagram. Love Instagram. I could add that as #2 but I'll just do a combine gushing here.

2. Loving these art posters from Loose Petals on Etsy. Since I work in the travel industry now, these seem like perfect additions to the office. I've already a purchased a Dallas print and am now undecided as to my next favorite. They're all fantastic!

1. Totally random baby panda! Sophy has started saying "bear" which sounds a lot more like "beer" than "bear". It's the best thing ever. We call her Sophy Bear or just "bear" so it's extra cute. I drove her to school every morning and we practice saying "Mommy", "Daddy", etc. When we get to Sophy she just giggles. Sigh. Heart melts. I hope to catch up on all of my bear snuggles this weekend!

Peace, Love, Om

I signed up to do a show this fall and hadn't really expected to be accepted but I was. Yay! Now, I have to get my tail in gear and get some goodies made. I have a small amount of pieces done but really want to get a lot more stuff finished and also stock the Etsy store. I'm thinking I need to start that now to maybe do a holiday push.

While I got 3 pieces done last night, note mostly assembly since this would be quite a feat given how like to mull over the details before I commit. I happened to glance around my desk and noticed my saints medals sitting next to my little Buddha. I  had drilled a hole in him over the weekend playing with my fancy drill. Hubby did a great job with that Christmas gift. But had just set him aside until I decided what I wanted to do with him. He looked pretty comfortable with my little Madonna charm. Then, over in the corner of my mat I saw my crystal. Hmmm, I lined the 3 up and loved them. Little good luck/positive karma going there. Who couldn't use more of that? I dug around until I found an extra branch piece and wired them on. Love.

Next decision was the chain. I could've gone with actual chain but didn't have any that felt hefty enough. They were all relatively delicate and I wanted something that would hold up with the larger charms. My eye caught this vintage rosary chain I had attached to soldered charm and tried it on this piece. It was an immediate hit. This is the kind of thing I need to be adding to my trays for store/shows but right now it's resting comfortably around my neck. Maybe it's a test drive, maybe a new personal favorite?