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.

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!

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!

Fall Means Pink... apparently.

In case you haven't talked to me in the last five minutes, I'm impatiently awaiting the arrival of fall. And what's been catching my eye lately has been pink. This is not new. I'm pretty well known for pink. I know. Shocking. But fall normally makes me wish I could easily wear red, start eyeing the Land's End cardigans, thinking about warm weather options that wouldn't normally include pink.
Now, it's everywhere!

Nordstrom

I think it all started with these. I saw them weeks ago but wasn't happy with the price point. I decided the days of a new pair of Uggs every fall were over. I moved on. But now, I'm crazy excited about how I got these boots for nearly nothing. Seriously, nothing! I had saved up my last couple of Nordstrom Notes (reward $) and hoarded it with my Nordstrom's gift card I got a couple of months ago and waited to find something I really, really loved. Normally, I cave and buy gifts or toddler (not a baby anymore.. sob) items but this time the husband was pretty adamant that I save them on a me thing. I saw these boots on sale for $113.86 down from $169.95. To be incredibly specific. I had $25 on the GC and $80 in notes so $114 - $105 equals these babies on their way to my house! I think my fiscal saving karma paid off. Now I have to start hoarding my stuff for deals but not in an extreme coupon kind of way that's too much. No one needs a "stockpile" of mashed potato flakes. Stockpiles of Uggs? Yes. 10,000 capri suns? No.

Via 

The pink parade continued. I saw a super cute mint green bunny sweater on Jenny Holiday's blog and had to check it out immediately. It led me to this cute little hedgehog that I had to have. HAD TO HAVE. No clue why but I did. Husband approved purchase! Not totally wheels off on the fiscal responsibility. Yet. If it works out I may have to add all of the options to my collection. See, there's that slippery slope! I did do a quick poll to make sure it wasn't "too young" for me. I typically don't worry about it but something about this made me do a straw man. I think I can do a similar styling as this to make it a little more "grown up". I have some black capri's that are also perfect for this with some flats. Can't wait for gorgeous 70's patio weather! Anyway. Target also has a version in purple with unicorns that are also on the love list. Oddly, the gray option with the black star and the grey/black hearts were my least favorite options but most were likely to fit into my current wardrobe. Maybe I finally let the voice of my husband in my head chanting "no more black!" gain a little footing. It won't last. Remember earlier in the paragraph where I was pairing it with black pants! It totally didn't take.

These are Miu Miu runway images from google and I would like one of everything. I had a similar style pink bag that was a cheap version from Guess but it made it to the giveaway pile after my husband expressed his loathing with every viewing of it. Loathing is being generous by the way. Love that coat. That pink coat looks you could just cuddle up with it and a cup of cocoa and you're set for winter. That's probably not what they had in mind.

Guthrie, Oklahoma

Sophy's school was closed on Thursday and Friday of last week in preparation for school starting this week. Fall will be here soon!!!... digressing. And serious wishful thinking. Anyway, Rolland took the week off so on Thurs night, after work, we packed up and headed for Oklahoma. This could be considered an odd choice but it's halfway between us and our family (Kansas and Missouri). For this test run we met my parents who came down early Friday morning. It was a super short drive and just within Sophy tolerance limits.

Said little cutie, who appropriately looks a little bossy here, was our tour guide running wild through downtown Guthrie, Oklahoma.We picked Guthrie since my Mom had been there several years ago and there were lots of antique stores for browsing. The downtown/square area is adorable with tons of shops and great walking areas. It was really pretty. Kind of a Midwestern version of Stars Hollow.

This garden was on the corner and a little weedy but a terrific spot for some photos. Very few of which turned out. Ugh. It's a great little area to take a moment, journal, rest, whatever you need. I think McKinney needs one on our square.

Love these details on the buildings.

Relatively nice weather. It was crazy humid making the high 80's temperature seem much warmer. Everyone was a little "dewy" by the end of our shopping excursion.

Another little garden. This one a memorial garden. I'm a sucker for a vignette and this one with the pretty garden and the rusting metal roof behind it. Love.

And maybe most importantly, my goodies. I was on a quest to find some studio redo items but mostly just found stuff. This is slightly counter to my clean out project but I'll just have to replace not so pretty fun stuff with the new pretty fun stuff. I've been on a big pottery kick lately and found some great pieces. The two on the right are both McCoy pottery and in my favorite aqua/blue green. The pinecone jardiniere is a great piece combining my aqua~ish dining room/kitchen color with the rest of the mocha downstairs. Plus it reminds me of winter and I love that! I also need to credit the husband with finding it. He's a keeper!

The sweet little deer vase had some damage that had been repaired but I love him. He was less than $10 bucks and the cracks are barely noticeable. He had to come home. It's likely he'll end up somewhere in the studio space or Sophy's room. It's another piece of Shawnee pottery for my tiny collection. Sophy has a cute little Buddha planter that's on her bookshelf that I love. And I have little tiny fairy planter holding random bits on my desk. I may have to swap them out and put Buddha in the studio. So many choices!

The giant pig was at a fantastic store called Prairie Gothic.  She has a great mix of new and old finds. I kind of wanted one of everything but only piggy made the cut. I had my eye on one I saw in a Napa Style catalog but I hate Michael Chiarello so much I refused to order it. This one was cheaper and I like to think cuter. I want some of the serving pieces she has with western images of bulls, cowboys, Native Americans, etc but I need to do some major decluttering before I bring anymore kitchen stuff home.

And last, but not least, findings for jewelry and other arty goodness. A large jar of keys, a box of cracker jack charms, chandelier crystals and a Tupperware container of mix/match jewelry that smells a little but will clean up well. Lots of chain pieces to be taken apart for links in new necklaces and bracelets are worth a little moth ball smelliness. All in all the perfect mini getaway.

Up next, tons of family photos that if you won't care about if you aren't related to me. Plus more Sophy than a normal human can be expected to tolerate. Super excited about this week aren't you?!

Faux Woody Goodness

A big hold up on moving forward with the studio planning was trying to figure out what to do with the floors for the house. We have a small game room upstairs that's carpeted but everything else is tile, concrete or Ikea laminate. Finally, I think we've decided to go with tile that looks like wood. Rolland's become a tile expert at this point and I don't mind grouting so it seems like the best DIY approach at this point. I love how easy it is too keep clean but looks like wood. Sophy can run wild without worrying about doing any damage.

These inspiration images from Houzz make it easy to see how pretty it could be. Now I'm ok with ripping the house apart and moving forward with all our to do's. Maybe keep that a secret from the husband for now though...

Houzz

Love the texture feel of this one but mostly we won't be hovering above it since we're not vampires or super heroes. I would agree to either as long as we're the wealthy sparkly faux vampires who live in gorgeous splendor of the Pacific Northwest or Iron Man/Woman. Sophy with that palm exploder would be a nightmare.

Houzz

This one is to remind me how we can do the transition space.

Houzz

We're heading out for a little antiquing with the fam in Oklahoma for a couple of days. I've got my studio list and can't wait! Pretty sparkling vintage goodness will be mine!

Shoes, shoes, shoes

Looking at my shoe board on Pinterest you'd think I was Rachel Zoe wearing sky high heels everyday.

via

Not so much.

Yesterday's selection complete with super sexy mosquito bites. They're Uggs, if that helps. And super comfy. I've had them for a decent amount of time and still cushy. Today, gray Tom's. I know. Exciting. Still comfy!

It's going back to school time which gets me pondering all of the lovely fall boot options. And trips to Target for stocking the studio with fun supplies. Bouquets of sharpened pencils! (Now I want to watch You've Got Mail... squirrel!).  Anyhoo... if that weren't enough, all of the pushy Nordstrom sale promotions on the intranets. Honestly, they are everywhere!  But, we've really hit our summer stride in Texas, and it's unlikely that I'll be wearing boots soon. Regardless, I will not be deterred in my sweater layering, hot chocolate drinking fall fantasies. Those fantasies include some of the following: loving these floral cowboy boots. Similar but still takers. And my absolute all time favorites. I'm aware all of these require a decent amount of piggy bank saving. Stupid fiscal responsibility. And while I'm daydreaming and not going out of my way, I would pretty much take one of anything Frye.

Even Sophy had a little shoe hankering. Or, maybe I caved after all the adorable toddlers on the intranet kept showing off their crocs. Quick trip to Crocs outlet in Allen and super cute shoes and bag. She had a little trouble getting them off immediately after getting in the car but I think she's resolved that. Crazy. She hates wearing shoes in the car but is happy to wander the house in only a diaper and her shoes. Carrying her purse. Oy.

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was lovely with some tasty goodness. I forgot to take pics of lunch yesterday but Babe's was awesome. Rolland had the fried chicken but I went with smoked. So good. I could've also eaten my weight in mashed potatoes. This was breakfast this am at Jonathan's. Rolland's fancy egg dish was yummy but my biscuits and gravy not so much.

Sophy was very happy to greet everyone

At the bead show she had plenty of friends. She wears the monkey backpack when she wants to roam. She got tired and apparently still needed to snuggle.

Friday night yoga was pretty tough and I ended up wonking up my back a little. Upside was I had trouble sleeping and finished some new pieces. This one is a vintage metal flower with a non-working rhinestone clasp stringing swarovski creamrose pearls. The actual clasp is a vintage eye. I kind of love it.

This piece was super easy. I trimmed all the pin backs off and sanded it down. Drilled two holes and attached vintage rosary chain with a clasp. Love that blue.

I had a hankering to make a fabric bead and use up my leftover oblong beads. This one has a great boho kind of feel with no clasp since it's fairly long. I added extra length with the vintage rosary chain. The silver beads add just a touch of sparkle.

And finally, the loot from the show today. It was super small but I had a budget and stuck with only those things I had kind of in my mind for new projects. I was loving all the pyrite and got a few different sized beads, skull beads, and rose carved beads. Swoon. I can't even begin to convey my love for the quartz stones. New favorite beads in the bead chest.

Five on Friday

I saw this over on Elefantitas Alegres and decided to be a big ol' joiner and participate. The meet up is at A. Liz Adventures.

 

 

 

My Five 

 

1. Trader Joe's yogurt squishers  and a super cute toddler. These, yogurt not toddler, are super cheap and as we found out last night, perfect when frozen (smart husband) for a teething toddler on a hot summer night. Also, it blends in nicely when dripped on her chair. Side note: I could put this adorable little toddler as an item in all 5 since she is the bestest. Real word. Anyway, these yogurt squishers are normally just a big squishy thing of yogurt that can be a giant mess. When frozen, healthier popsicle. Ideally, half that size is best but now that I know that I'll just cut them in half (while frozen seems prudent) and put the other half back in the freezer. That's how you do it in these fiscally conservative times. 

 

 

Trader Joe's has a lot of family favorites that deserve their own post at some point.

 

2.  All things jewelry related. I've made a few new pieces this week (this one and this one and a couple with no photos yet) and have the creative juices flowing. I've got two pieces in progress and another 2 brewing on the back burner. I've been gathering a ton of inspiration and have noticed a turquoise trend going. Will have to add some more projects to brew list.

 

3. With all of this jewelry making, I've been obsessed with the West Wing again. I'm starting Season 4 and deep into re-election campaigning. Last episode of Season 3 was tough. I knew it was coming... sob. Anyway, sooo good. Major West Wing love and it's amazing how many issues going on now are still relevant. The questions and issues they're tacking via fiction, are pretty real and relevant now. Maybe this is why I have to watch while making something pretty. :0

 

4. Local food joints. We're trying to eat at home more and save the food budget, now that we've gotten around to having a food budget, for a few super tasty treats out vs regular helpings of meh. This weekend I have a couple on my list. First up is Babe's, that everyone has been talking about forever, but I have yet to try out. So after swimming lessons, we're hitting the chicken and Costco. I know. So glamorous. Then Sunday, as bribery to drive my ass to Ft Worth and look at beads he couldn't hate more with me while wrangling a toddler, I'm taking Rolland to Jonathan's Oak Cliff in hopes it's tasty enough to forget the imminent hell awaiting him. They have a build your own Bloody Mary Bar! What more could I offer? Also, it's a tie-in with the jewelry making and more bead hoarding. On a budget.

 

5. Yoga. So, I had this hip thing going on for a long time and finally mentioned it to my new doctor. Love Dr. Bonny! Turns out, the muscles are too tight and have gone all wonky. She suggested I hightail it to a yoga class if I wanted to avoid physical therapy. Sophy's school has a Wee Yogi's program - and that name is adorable - which I was checking out at the same time since I'm kind of self conscious about attending a group class. So now I'm doing a weekly private class with Abby. Who is awesome. I'm loving it. The goal is to work on some specific areas then hit the group classes. Although my usual Sat morning got rescheduled for tonight and I may just fall asleep in the meditation.

 

And finally... it's Friday! Woo hoo!

Anniversary

Our anniversary was on Sunday and we ran wild! Or, went to Target bright and early to check out all the Feed stuff. We purchased a fair amount and I loved this bag so I got it and one in orange. Pretty much everyone but Sophy scored in the Target trip and even she could ride IN the bag when tired so a win for everyone! After shopping we let the wild baby run free at the park by our house. We'd gone before and she liked the swings but everything else was kind of eh. She went with Granny and Aunt Anita in March and loved the swings and a little more play. This time, she was everywhere! The jungle gym has all kinds of openings make the plummet to the ground range anywhere from 6 inches to 4 feet. Mama was a little freaked out but did ok. She ran through everything. She played with the chimes, the rolling drums, the swings, the steps, etc. There's also some water features that kids can frolick without submersion in the pool so next time we'll go with the swim diaper and suit.

After a nap and a fair amount of time doing nothing we went out for dinner at one of my favorites, The Porch. Yum. Rolland ordered a beer that turned out not to be what we thought. Not a fan of stout, and as you can see by the color, it was super stout. Hehehe. New beer replacement coming up! The Porch is kind of awesome, not just because they'll bring new beer, but they have a great menu that works for everyone. Sophy had the fancy mac and cheese (waiter couldn't believe we wanted the full order and not kids version. Rookie.), Rolland a hunk o'meat with brussel sprouts and I got a club sandwich. It was a fancy club sandwich! And a shared lavendar and blackberry sorbet for dessert. Soooo good! Oh, we also had the fried port salute cheese with tomato marmalade. I could've eaten 3 orders of it. Sophy approved.

Perfect anniversary day.

Mind Blown

So Jonathan Adler has a line for JCP called Happy Chic. I knew they were making all the changes to be trendy and down with all the super cool kids but I never expected them to really mean it. I love, love, love Jonathan Adler and tried to justify the $350 elephant lamp for Sophy's room but couldn't really do it.  I also love his partner Simon Doonan who was (is?) the creative director for Barney's and while I hate Barney's as elitist assholes - even more so than Neiman Marcus and that's saying something. He has fantastic style and an amazing spirit. His window displays were incredibly.

Uhm, anyway back to Jonathan Adler. He's got some very cool pieces at pretty reasonable prices with the JCP line and I picked a few favorites as window shopping.

Love this little bird pillow. Super cute for kids or just a whimsical accent.

I will admit that this couch is a fantasy more than anything practical in our house. Those wooden legs seem less than sturdy for all the real life flopping that goes on in our house. Also, it seems un-conducive to partially gnawed on bunny crackers and snot that would get wiped on it. But I love it for my dream house that is cleaned by elves that also stock the pantry and cook dinner.

This vase is also awesome. I love the black and white stripe in nearly all schemes since it screams "I'm fun damn it!" at you regardless of how snooty you may be striving.

This is also causing further decorating angst for my downstairs main living spaces (I won't even acknowledge the upstairs). I've wanted to repaint since we did it and it came out much darker than I liked. Rolland was thrilled since he would love to live in a cave without light at all. I'm still contemplating white to brighten it up and allow for multiple accessory swap outs. This is unlikely since I refuse to ever get to such a pitiful state and I kind of hate to paint.

Sidenote: I just finished watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills followed with a Justified chaser and that's not a TV leap the body should normally make. Although that Andy Cohen smack down to Adrienne Maloof would've been Harlan approved.  I'm going to bed to sleep it off. But, Deputy Marshall Tim is quickly gaining super fans.