The Bolder the Better

Hey guys.  Good 'ol Hola Lola will be out of order for probably the next two weeks as we are crazed with work (Florida all of last week... now swimming HARD to try to get my head above water) and when not working and entertaining the kiddos, we are spending all our time trying to launch the new The Bolder the Better (fashion,art, music) blog.  I CAN NOT WAIT to kick this one off! We're hoping within the next week (or two max)...YIKES!!!  In the meantime, please be patient with me here at Hola Lola because I (and the kids) will be back! 

P.S. I must also mention my back has gone out and I'm walking around like a 90 year old decrepit woman. Not even kidding! 

TGIF

Wowsers! IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY!  I put this in all caps because to be short work week, it sure did seem loooonnnngggg!  But, we finally made it and now I'm super excited to get into the weekend to see what it has to bring.  Hope to recap next week but for now, here are some clips from today....

Someone woke up with some major bed-head.  With the curls and all, there is typically some frizz kickin' it in the mornings and I always have to wet the hair-do down to get it looking right. But today was a little more crazy for some reason.  It was so cute, I decided to leave it exactly like this!

My outfit today (which of course includes animal print...Imagine that!).  Top - Zara, Scarf - gift from years ago, Dress (yes, it's a dress not a skirt) - BCBG via Co-Star (a bit obsessed with this local boutique), Tights - Amazon, Boots - Pookie & Sebastion (NYC boutique).  These boots are pushing 10 yrs old and I still LOVE them!

Nothing better than an ice tea with crunchy ice! After very little sleep last night, this helped get me through the work day....

 After I picked the kids up from school, we went to our favorite local burger joint!

Lo can never resist the candy/trinket machines so we got us some staches for a quarter which served as our entertainment while we waited for our burgers to arrive.

Now onto the good stuff...Ahhh...the vino!  P.S.  Love this wine stopper my dad got me for Christmas.  He was SO proud of this gift and could not wait to give it to me.  His quote was "I bought you the second best gift I've ever gotten you"....second to the key finder (also from Brookstone) he bought me a couple years ago (Yes, I'm one of those who is always looking for my keys). 

I hope everyone has a good' weekend!

Back to the grind!

I had the opportunity to take 10 days off from work.  Well, that included weekends and work holidays but it was more time than I've taken in years.  I found when you have a demanding/stressful job taking time off is interesting and it's still yet to be determined if it's worth it.  Here's how it goes...It takes 4 days to get the stress of work and the idea being away from the office off your mind...then you have a few days in there where you actually feel "stress" free (minus the sounds of screaming kids and all other things in life that bring stress)....then there are the 3 days before you go back to work that you start worrying about all that will have to be done when you return....then there are the two nights before when you get NO sleep due to this stress...IS IT WORTH IT?!?!?!? Despite all the stress of work, etc, keeping in mind we work hard to give our family a good life then I guess this makes it all worth it....right?!?!?!? I just wish there were a happy medium.

Even after taking those days off, I still feel like I need a break.  How is that?!?!?  Maybe it's because the holidays had us running around Texas non-stop.  Then, when we got back it was all about getting everything in order at the home front.  So, once again, I'm at a point where I feel I'm hitting an existential crisis.  I hate these moments and really hate kicking off 2012 feeling this way but also know it will pass. In the meantime, we'll just keep cranking along.....working long days, dealing with the sometimes stressful mornings and evenings, try to sleep when possible (my body doesn't allow this much anymore these days), grocery shopping, keeping house in order, etc....it really does seem never ending and at times daunting.  Thank goodness for moments like these to keep us going....

Climbing fences seems to be one of the kids new favorite things to do these days.

Home Slice is one of our favorite stomping grounds in SOCO. Good NYC style pizza.

Munching down on the good stuff! 

Lo wasn't too happy that G tried to snag some of hers.

Ahhh....the good stuff!

A walk home on a beautiful day in Austin.

Happy 2012!

Wow! It's 2012.  Kind of crazy.  I hardly can believe how quickly time flies.  It seems my baby girl was just born and she'll be turning 4 this year.  And, then there's my baby boy who will be turning 2.  Wait...didn't I just have him???? I mean, I'm still struggling with the baby weight from that pregnancy (note to self...don't let yourself gain 50 + lbs). YIKES!!! The good news is it's a new year so I'll make sure and work on that in 2012!

Last year I started 2011 with a blog that was full of optimism (here). Unfortunately, even with all the enthusiasm it took less than 30 days for everything to start crashing around us.  But that's ok....we've become stronger as people and as a family because of it.  We had a year that included much financial distress (the most ever) but we also had our happiest year ever (as a couple & as a family)....funny how that works huh????

This year we're kicking off 2012 with new projects, a new blog and new dreams (more to come very soon).  Rather than making "resolutions" we will set goals and take those goals one day at a time. If we accomplish them in 2012, great!  If not, then there is always next year to keep trying.

I loved the resolutions/goals we set for 2011 - Read more, Run more, Love more, Want less.  These four simple goals have been hanging on our fridge all year.  They are one of the first things we see when we wake up and one of the last things we see before we go to bed. For now, we'll stick with these and add to them as the days of 2012 come and go. 

Happy New Year all!!!