Fashion Friday

I used to have what I called "Fun Fridays" back in the day. On "Fun Friday" I would kind of take it easy during the work day. I always got everything done that needed to be done but I would also plan lunch with a girlfriend, possibly run errands and maybe even leave a little early that day to reward myself for making it through a tough work week. But, now that I basically need to work 7 days a week 15 hours a day, there are no more "Fun Fridays" (and hasn't been for a long while) but rather "Frantic Fridays"...ARGH!!!  Anyway, since I've had to do away with my "Fun Fridays", I thought I could have a "Fashion Friday".  Why not right?!?!!?  With that, here's a look that I came by that I'm COMPLETELY obsessed with...the skirt, the boot, the necklace, the glasses, the hair...UHHHH...I want to be this chick!!! TOTALLY groovalicious!

Via Cats & Rocking Chair

Although I will NEVER look like this chick (one because I'm too dang old), my goal is to have this outfit or something similar maybe.  Luckily, it's doable...I think. After the Missoni stafu at Tar-Jey, maybe this is my opportunity to acquire a Missoni-esk piece (the "esk" is the key to this word)! See this skirt on  In Love With Fashion. I've also seen some skirts in a similar style with different prints in the Nordstrom Junior department (Yes, I'm 35 and shop junior departments..EEEK!) that were reasonable priced...$40ish

Another obsession I feel I'm going to have this fall (once fall weather ever gets here...) will be the wide-leg jeans.  Over the past couple years, I've stuck with the skinny jean and still love them but I think I'll also have to grab a good pair of wide-legs to spice up the ol' wardrobe. Albeit, I'll have to lose a few more EEELLL BEEES (that's pounds) to really pull these off.  It's amazing that it's harder to pull off wide-legs than skinny jeans but this is a fact...at least for me. Here are some good wide-legged looks.

 Via Anthropologie

 Via EmersonMade

Via Free People

And, lets not forget about the original and where it all started.

BTW...I also plan on snagging a pair of wide-legs for Lola too.  She had a pair last year and I LOVED them but I'm assuming she's grown out of those by now.  

So that's Fashion Friday...and now it's time to get frantic! Happy weekend!

We're all about tents around here...

Tents, tents and more tents.  We've been on two camping trips this year and still have one more to come.  On top of this, we've set tents up in just about every room in our house as this is Lo's "thing" right now (among many others).  This is our most recent creation....

Bed jumping is another one of Lo's fave things and now Gaines.  I let it happen all the time and will continue until it results in a broken limb! YIKES!

G is not so happy here!

Yes, we have a full on tent from a sporting good store in the kiddos room. They love it!  It will be there until it's time for our next camping adventure and will then return.

No, our little tent set up is not necessarily the tents you see out there on other blogs, pinterest, etc but it is one that has been created over time. Oh how I would love to have more time to come up with creations such as the ones below but I guess you could say ours is more organic right?!?!?!?!

 Via Happiness Is... This really does make me happy just lookin' at it. 

Via Tim Walker Photography - Magical!

 

Via Shoelaces and Cheese -I would love to sit and each cheese and crackers and drink wine in this tent.  Wouldn't you???

Via Babble

 Seriously love them all!

I'm in a funk!

I hate this feeling...being in a funk but I've hit it.  After no sleep last night due to both kids waking each other up then waking up to the same morning routine of all screams, trying to get everyone dressed, fed, teeth brushed, etc then everyone is off and BOOM...all the sudden it's quite. QUITE!  I don't know how to take quite anymore.  So, this morning after everyone left, I sat outside and drank my diet coke trying to pull myself out of the funk all along thinking "I don't think I can drag myself into my office to work all day" but I know I have to.  If the weather was nice (not 104 like it was yesterday), I could take my computer to Jo's or another coffee house to work but NOPE...I sit here in my office and have a good 8 hours of work ahead of me...the same work. I'm done with all my deadlines but now I have to spend the next two weeks catching up only to start new deadlines.  HELP!

On top of all this, we're coming off a high.  Non-stop travel for work and plans every-single-weekend for two months straight.  Now, there are no work trips scheduled until November, no weekend plans...I craved this moment for so long and now that it has arrived I kind of don't know what to do with myself.  No ACL to look forward to...no Marfa to look forward to...only the same ol' daily routine.  This is life I know.  But sometimes it's hard to take...the same routine day in and day out.  I think "How can I spice up our life???" Really...how can I?!?!?!

I also sit and think that I want to redo our living room and guest bedroom.  I want a new rug, I want to re-upholster a chair, I want new bedding but it's just not going to happen right now.  I also hate all my clothes...the same clothes I loved so much over the summer.  I look at my closet and feel I have nothing to put on....so I put on the same old things...over and over.  These days, I rarely put on make up or brush my hair anymore. NICE!  I'm over it all.  I.NEED.FALL.WEATHER.  I'm even thinking I might go ahead and switch out my closets just to feel my wardrobe has been refreshed.  I can't believe it's end of September and this it the outfit I have on today.  REALLY?!?!?!?

I don't know.  I really don't.  I do know I hate this feeling and can't wait to move beyond it.  Yesterday, when I picked up the kids from school, I couldn't bare to come home to the same routine so we stopped at Amy's Ice Cream on South Lamar and ate good grub, played on the playground, took photo booth pics...it was fun!  A good way to switch up the routine.  But now, here I sit again...the same routine.  Oh...what to do!?!?!?

Now, I don't want this post to come off like I don't love my life...because I do.  Anyone that knows me well knows I love my kids, I love my husband, I love my family, I love my friends, I love my job, I love Austin, I love my house and all of it more than anything.  But sometimes, I believe we all hit a point where we just feel strange and need something but don't know what.  Luckily, these moments always pass.  I'm looking forward to this one passing soon.

I leave you with this quote I saw a few weeks ago which just stuck with me...so much so that I wrote it down...

When will fall arrive????

Technically it's fall but unfortunately here in Austin we're still feeling the 100 degree weather.  Lovely!  I'm over summer and I'm ready for beautiful fall weather and to pull out my warm clothes. Although we're not quite there yet, I was inspired by some of these images that remind me of the fall I love so much!

You can just feel the crisp weather in this image by Patric Johansson via Söderberg Agentur.

Looking forward to long sleeves, scarves and tights (although not viewed in this photo). Loving this look from Never Fully Dressed.

Pumpkins.  Can't wait for the pumpkin patches to begin popping up around town.  Here's Gaines from last year.  Wow..he's grown.  I can't believe this time last year I was on maternity leave.  Has it really been a year?!?!?!?

And Finally, fabulous fall comfort food...My favorite is chili with cornbread...What about you?!?!?

Lord help us...it's Monday!

Well, it's Monday and I don't know about you but I'm having a very tough time getting it going.  After traveling for all of August and September for work, I don't know what to do with myself now that I have a full week in the office to actually get something done. On top of this, after a long trip back from Marfa yesterday, I kind of just want to lay in bed and relax. Of course, this is not going to happen! Needless to say, it's taking me some time to get in the groove.

Speaking of Marfa...WOW...what a fabulous trip!  We has such a great time and met some great people.  Including one person specifically that I feel we'll be long time friends as we all had such a connection.  Love it when this happens!  Luckily, I'm sure our "Goodbye" is only meant to be short. Anyway, on this tough, tough, tough Monday, I thought I would start the week off with a tune from Mother Falcon. This was a moment I loved at Trans-Pecos over the weekend. They are absolutely phenomenal and really doing something different which I love...




Happy Monday all!

Trans-Pecos Festival of Music and Love

 After a long weekend of music out at ACL, I'm feeling some withdrawals.  Luckily, we only have 2 days before we're off to El Cosmico in Marfa for the Trans-Pecos Festival of Music and Love.  We're excited about the line-up...specifically our new neighbor Patty Griffin (and possibly Robert Plant) will be playing at the festival and many other bands such as Black Angels, Heartless Bastards and Mother Falcon. I never can get enough of music like this!

Even above the line-up, I think I'm more excited to head back to El Cosmico to hang with groovy folk, camp, play music, bike around the fabulous town of Marfa and maybe even get to hang with one of my favorite people, Liz Lambert.  Absolutely can't wait!  Here are some moments from our last visit out to El Cosmico/Marfa...

 Marfa - The town of all towns. 

 A favorite hole in the wall bar. 

We had a special Design your own TOMS moment while we were in Marfa. They had a blank canvas up and we were able to write a special something. We dedicated ours to the kids and Uncle Foy. TOMS will take these canvases and produce shoes from them. It was a pretty cool moment!

 JUDD - What it's all about!

I seriously can't get enough of this place!

A little girls dream...

My little cousin, Taylor, got married at the Arboretum in Dallas this past Sunday.  I hardly can believe she's old enough to get married as she was a Junior Bridesmaid in my wedding over 10 years ago.  Boy how time flies!

Taylor married a wonderful man, Austin.  He's literally one of the nicest people you could meet.  They asked Lola and Curry to be flower girls in the wedding which was very special to us.  Lola has been talking about this day for months.  When the day finally arrived she did such a good job. She loved being a flower girl and dancing/prancing around at the wedding reception.  For a while there she wouldn't stop following Taylor around. I think she thought she was a princess which she was on this day. Lola said to me "I love Taylor and Austin's wedding! Can we spend the night here?"  We weren't able to spend the night but the wedding was beautiful and I'm sure a dream wedding for Taylor and Austin.  Their off to St Lucia now for their honeymoon...I must say I'm jealous.

The beautiful bride and her father (Uncle Corky)...

 Our little flower girls...

Lola was suppose to hold Curry's hand down the aisle but she kind of left her in the dust as she was so excited about throwing her flower petals out on the ground.  When it was all said and done, Lo kept saying "Are you so proud of me?" and of course...we were so proud of both of them.

Congrats Taylor and Austin!  We're so happy for yall!

What I'm reading now....

I finished up The Leftovers in just under a week.  I highly recommend this one.  Without telling too much, as you read this book you don't realize how connected you become to the characters until it's over and you continue to think about them for days.  It also makes you value those you love most as they could "suddenly disappear" at any moment.  Tom Perrotta does a great job touching on "faith" without blatantly throwing it in your face.  How those who are extreme (or not so extreme) can destroy themselves without even knowing it.  This is a definite read for everyone. 

I decided to move onto a love story.  I chose One Day by David Nicholls.

We've all seen the movie previews featuring Anne Hathaway (one of my faves) and Jim Sturgess (still haven't figured out exactly how he fits this character but hopefully I'll get there).  I REALLY want to see this movie but part of my obsessive personality won't let me see a movie until I've read the book. I've only gotten through the first few chapters and I'm LOVING it!  The way David Nicholls writes is very inspirational.  Two people struggling with who they are and what they want to be....both in very different ways. There are so many sentences/statements made by these characters that I've underlined or written down as I want to always remember them.  Even though I'm just getting started on this one, I can probably go ahead and confirm it will be highly recommended.  Will keep ya updated!

Supereditions!

I'm absolutely LOVING these little books by the Parisian publishing house Supéreditions. The stories are short and funny with an original concept...the kiddos can play a part in the book to create their own illustrations.  Kids can use markers, pencils, crayon, watercolors, cutting and paste paper....anything! I'm telling you...I'm completely enamored by these!

 

Where do monsters and spiders hide when they're afraid?

  

The angry fairy

ACL is upon us....

I must admit up until now I've had a very hard time getting excited about ACL this year.  Not because I'm not S-U-P-E-R P-U-M-P-E-D because I AM!  The reason is I've been going non-stop for work which included waking up (yet again) at 3:30 a.m. on Monday to catch a 6:00 a.m. flight.  This just following a full week of travel all of last week (and the week before and the one before that).  BUT...here we are...it's now Wednesday and I fly back later today and now can start getting in full on ACL mode.

I'm completely stoked (can't believe I just used that word but it's so fitting for this moment) about the line-up this year.  Although we've seen a good number of the bands at least once this year (because most of them are our faves), I still can't wait to see them again in the ACL atmosphere.  I'm sure I'll have much more to say as we get to the weekend and many updates on our fave bands and those who we aren't so familiar with and discover (BTW...one of the bands I'm obsessed with (yes I know I have many) is Angus & Julia Stone...we just happened to watch last year at ACL having no idea who they were...they are BEYOND phenomenal...more on them to come).

Anyway, the list of artist I'm excited to see is limitless....yes...the line-up is just that good this year. But, as you know, one of the bands I'm loving these days just so happens to be Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I've always liked them a lot but my true obsession began after seeing them at the Railroad Revival Tour. The lead singer whose name actually isn't Edward Sharpe (stage name only) but is Alexander, just released a new album and he will be playing at ACL. After RRT, I absolutely can't wait to see him again.  Of course, I should know it will likely be different but I'm still looking forward to it.  Here's a clip of a recent song release off of Alexander's new album...brace yourself because he's a strange bird...just warning ya!

Bright jean...YES!

Anyone else excited about the bright jean trend????
Yes, I realize this is more of a Spring/Summer 2011 trend but when you start getting 100 degree weather in April, it makes it a little tough to pull this one off as I couldn't bare to squeeze into a pair of jeans with weather like we've had. But, now that the it is cooling off...I'll be all over this one! Can't decide which color I'll go with yet....I think I'm kind of leaning toward red but we'll see!!!

Everyone have a fab weekend!