Cuts & what nots...

So I promised yall I would start posting some updates on the kiddos. Well, lately, hair has been the big thing.  Yes, hair...even with everything going on:)

Lola has always wanted to keep her "long beautiful hair" as she calls it.  I call it "long & stringy".  I've been begging her to go with me to get a trim.  She went with me a couple weeks ago for my hair cut and while we were there decided nope she didn't want a hair cut b/c she wanted to keep her "long beautiful hair"...again "beautiful" was a bit of an overstretch. Ok...so in the meantime, she took it upon herself to give Gaines a little trim of the bangs...with ummmm "child proof" scissors I must add...

Long and adorable shaggy bangs turned "dumb & dumber" style bangs (the movie - Jeff Daniels...identical cuts) .

Alright, so lets jump forward a week or two.  I decided it was time to go get Gaines his first real trim at the barbershop to help weigh out the short bang look and while we were there, Lola decided she wanted not only her hair cut but she wanted it "like her Mommy's hair".  The result...

Well, Lola thinks she's a little superstar now (unless she's mad at me and a couple times I've gotten the whole "I don't want my hair like my Mommy's anymore" line & "I want my long beautiful hair back").  Anyway, it is adorable and SO much easier to keep up with now.

Now, lets move forward another couple of weeks to this week.  Well, when I went to get Gaines hair trimmed at the barber, I kind of chickened out and only had them cut about an inch.  I SO love his long curly ginger locks and just couldn't do anymore.  Lately, with the "buster brown" bangs as a friend calls it, the "party in the back" had gotten so long that it was a bit out of control.  I got home Sunday from the lake and decided it was time for a "real" trim.  Unfortunately, I left this in the hands of Clay (thinking he would be super conservative) and he just started chopping....chopping, chopping and chopping, then I tried to fix and all of the sudden I panicked b/c we got this...

Have you ever in your life seen anything quite like this chili bowl-esk hair-do....goodness gracious!  I've been a little devastated but I do know it will grow back.. In the meantime, poor thing....really! 

Moral of the story...don't try to cut your own kids hair!

Out with the old, in with the new!

Hello my dear Hola Lola readers!  Clearly I haven't been doing my job keeping this blog up and I've heard many of you voice that you want me to "come back" so you can know what the heck is happening in our lives...lets face, you want to know how the kiddos are doing. I hate that I've let this little diary of my kids go stale over the past few months but once again, I hope to try to post updates every week or at least a couple times a month.

I can't wait to post updated pics of kids and all their happenings but for now guess what....we FINALLY made it into our new house.  It's been a couple weeks of H-E-L-L!!! Packing, cleaning out, packing some more...it always comes down to the last minute and there is still even more to pack...YIKES!  But, we finally got everything packed up, moved and we have survived up to this point.

Good bye old house (a.k.a The Compound).

At the last minute we realized we have too much stuff (really junk) and we were moving to a much smaller home so we took it upon ourselves to rent a 20 foot dumpster.  I never in a million years thought we would fill that sucker but guess what...not only did we fill it but we ran out of room.  This after we also gave away and sent a ton of stuff to Goodwill.  What not cleaning out for over 10 years will do. 

Hello new house!

Ok.  So I noted above that we've "managed to survive up to this point" b/c we still have a LOOONNNGG way to go.  We are doing some upgrades to our new house and they have not yet been completed so as of now we're living in a construction zone.  As of today, we've been in this house for two weeks and we still don't have hot water, dishwasher, washer & drying, stove or oven.  On top of this, much of our shelving, etc hasn't been installed so we can't finish unpacking.  Then, to top it all off, the construction waste and our move in waste got out of control quickly so we had to rent yet another dumpster (yes, that's a different one).  While we had this one, we also had the lot cleared off.

The good side....

Yes, we have a mess but we're still so excited about this house and what we'll end up doing with it.  We did manage to get the inside painted before we moved in and we decided to go with an all white living and kitchen (floor to ceiling literally) ...realize a bit crazy with 2 young kids and 2 big dogs but it is beautiful right?!?!?! We also have our huge collection of books still sitting on the floor as we wait for shelving to be installed in living (maybe this week...fingers crossed). Despite the current mess, we know it's all temporary and we'll soon be settled. Next step is to have the outside carport torn down, paint the outside of the house and then we'll put up another more modern covered patio. I'm really hoping we'll get work start on this next week (again...fingers crossed). We just absolutely love our new little joint and the new neighborhood.  I can't get enough of it at this point and it's all so exciting for us and the kids! Can't wait to keep you posted on progress.

See you soon! 

Celebrities!

Hey guys...check it out.  We made the paper!  This was taken at a fabulous store on wheels (an airstream...totally groovy), BootLeg.  Nothing like trying on some shoes and then finding yourself later in the paper. I guess you could call us celebrities now:)

Off to Dallas and Atlanta this week.  Already miss the kiddos just thinking about it but I'm beyond excited for the flight out to Dallas as Lola will be with me.  Yay!

It's a riot!

Hello all!  We continue to have tons going on around here.  Work continues to be super demanding and I'm about to go on a three week travel spree...UGH!  The good news is next week I'll fly into Dallas and plan to take Lola with me as she's been dying to get on an airplane again.  Then I'm off to Atlanta.

Lo and Gaines continue to be little riots!  Ha. They're so great but we still have those crazy moments when everyone is screaming at the same time....actually have these more than I would like.  And, our house is still in complete chaos at all times.  At this point, I've definitely eliminated the idea of the third child b/c it is I-N-S-A-N-E as is. Here are some of the happenings.

Lo had two of her girlfriends from school over for a play-date on Sunday (Lord, I never thought I would use the term "play-date"...what has this world come to).  They had a blast...after play time at the house, we went to the park and then off to Home Slice for dinner.

Gaines, Gaines, Gaines....Wow...what a ham...definitely what you would consider a HANDFUL!  He's also a big time snuggle bug.  Not many moments at home when you don't see him in his mamma's lap in full on snugly position...I hear this is a boy thing. His curly locks are really starting to grow....still no haircut and don't plan on one anytime soon.  He also tries to do everything his sister does which includes but is not limited to throwing on tutus, putting his hair in pony tails and wearing tap & ballet shoes around the house. Loved the bow tie picture which was his Easter attire and it was a-dorable!

Lola still loves to paint and we continue to have painting fun several times a week.  Gaines has really gotten into it now too.  Of course, like Lola at his age, he's more interested in painting himself vs. the canvas.  Oh well, it's fun regardless.

Happy hump day!

Instagram Recap

Hey guys!  Here are some of our doings over the past week are so...

Adorable anniversary card made by Clay & Lo.  We’ve had walks to South Congress for dinner and a performance by Lola on the Jo’s stage.  Also received a fabulous package from Quarterly Co.

New animal print purse I’m obsessed with, taking in the sun with Bella, picking dandelions, blowing & making wishes  (G’s favorite thing right now) plus a fabulous make-over from Rochelle of Rae Cosmetics.  Boy did this make a difference in what this 35 year old face looked like!

A surprise visit from Molly & Ben which equated into a day of girl chat, long lunches consumed with more chatter and drinks and a kid free night out on the town.  Oh, it was a dream day!  New wedges. Pile of clothes that still sits on the bed as I take on the challenge of changing out my closets from fall/winter to spring/summer (UGH) and I finally made time to get my hair did up.  No, this isn’t natural:)

Such a fun week and love seeing all the photos gathered in one place.  Happy Monday all!

11 Year Anniversary

I hardly can believe it but it's our anniversary today.  11 YEARS...WOW!  Can you believe it?!?!?!  The big day....

We've grown so much since this day 11 years ago.  We've lived in NYC then Dallas again and now Austin and have since added two dogs, two adorable kiddos and a fish to our lives.  Today, after running errands, I came home to the sweetest gift I could receive.  Clay & Lola made this for me and taped it to the front door.

This is the absolute best gift I could have ever received!  Happy Anniversary to us!  And here's to 11 more years plus more ahead of us.

The Bolder the Better!

Hey guys!  Not sure if you know it yet but I FINALLY launched The Bolder the Better site.  The website/design needs some work but I decided it will take a while to get it exactly right so no need for further delay.  Also check out the Bolder facebook page.  I'm not sure where this will all lead but so far I'm having fun with it and have already met so many great people through the launch of the blog which is great. Hope you like it!

Hello All!

Wow...it's been a while!  Since I last posted, you wouldn't believe what all has happened around here. The month of February (which I'm now referring to as the month of HELL) started with Gaines getting sick, which then turned into croup (of course).  We have dealt with that before so no biggie until his fever shot up so high that he ended up having a febrile seizure one night (always at night). Yep, we had to make the 911 panic call which turned into a night at the ER and what we didn't know at that time but would also be the beginning of many sleepless nights. To make a real long story short, Gaines was basically sick for 2 1/2 more weeks which included but was not limited to six visits to the doctor and really not one full days work through the entire saga (even though we were both swamped with deadlines).  Whew!

Alright, so we finally got through all that fun (just last week) and now we're trying to get back into the swing of a somewhat normal life (or as normal as we ever are which isn't very normal).  For example, this morning we woke up hoping to start off the week with a bang and instead discovered that both of our cars had been broken in to over night.  See...it's never normal around here.  I may as well stop now or I may come up with some additional craziness that I just happen to be forgetting at this very moment (I try to completely block out the chaos when possible).  In the meantime, here are two of my favorite pics I took of the kiddos over the past couple weeks.  I'll be back soon with all the updates and new things going in their little lives.

The Thinker

BTW...Lola is wearing Peek Kids (my absolute fave brand for the kids) and this picture was actually featured on their Facebook page with the following quote "Look at this beautiful thinker!"  So cool!

Here he is my friends....my little hipster.  Let me tell you...this little guy is a HANDFUL and I still can't get enough of his big smiles. 

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!!!

An obsession with print on print!

I've always been a sucker for fashion/style and going BOLD!  I love that 2011 brought lots of fabulous trends.  One of my favorites is the "print on print" trend. I feel this is something I've been doing for years but have really taken it to another level in 2011.  Specifically, when fall arrived as it brought the opportunity to layer, mix and match.  Here are some images I dug up of some of my "print on print" looks I've been wearing this fall and now on into winter.  Of course, most of them involve animal print because I'm AP OBSESSED!

Top - Antrhopologie, Jacket - Can't remember as it's literally pushing 7 yrs since this purchase but I actually think it was from Stein Mart, Jeans - Nordstrom (2010), Belt - Target (2009), Boots - Free People

This animal print top is one of my faves which I wear several times a week.  I will mix & match it with just about any and everything!

Top & Jacket from one of my favorite local stores Co-Star.

I'm also a little obsessed with dots...polka dots that is. I have fun mixing this shirt with bright jeans, scarves of all prints & colors and I really love mixing it with this textured "velveteen" jacket.

Animal print top - Anthropologie, Stripe top - Francesca's (2010), Jacket - H&M (2005), Boots - Anthropologie (2010)

I'm pretty much obsessed with this coat which I got at H&M way back in the day when we lived in NYC.  I love that it has a vintage look.  Heck...considering how old this sucker is, it will probably soon be considered "vintage".  Year over year I never look for a new coat as this one is ALWAYS my "go to".

Sweater - Strut Austin (2009), Dress - Emerald's (2009),  Scarf - gift, Green Jean - Anthropologie, Boot - Free People

Believe it or not, Lola picked this outfit out for me. I had to tweak a few things but for the most part, this is her creation which I LOVE.  Do we have a future stylist on our hands????

Top - Maya Star  - local Austin boutique (2010), T-shirt - Fossil, Jean - Paper Denim (2008), Boot - Free People

I pair this top, t-shirt and boot with something several times a week. They are all "go to" items in my closet. Love the boldness of the colors and patterns.

Dress - Urban Outfitters (2009), Jacket - Urban Outfitters (2010), Scarf - gift from several years ago, Boots - Urban Outfitters (2010).

I guess you could say I was having an Urban Outfitters kind of day.  I bought this dress when I first found out I was pregnant with Gaines to help hide the puffy belly.  I kind of forgot about it until last week and it is now another "staple" item to throw on as it's comfy and great to pair with any print or color.

So there it is!  Evidence that clearly I'm obsessed with pairing prints, colors and more.  I will say that one great thing about pairing prints is you can always turn an old piece into a new outfit.  My strategy is to purchase the basics (whether it be dots, floral, animal print or all of the above) and then pair away. And, don't forget....when in doubt GO BOLD!!!

DIY bags & wrapping paper

I had a lot of very high hopes this holiday season of things I was going to make for Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, we're now down to the very last week and I'm just not sure how much of it I'll get done.  ARGH!  However, we were able to make these adorable little bags filled with goodies for Lo's teachers.  The best part is we had a ton of fun while making them.  It's just this simple....

canvas bags and glittery bags for the goodies.

You can get a 3 pack or 6 pack of these canvas bags at Hobby Lobby.  This very simple canvas bag has become one of my "go to" items when you need to throw together a quick gift (or a special gift) as there is so much you can do with it. 

The artist!

Then it's time to entertain a toddler while making gifts.  Isn't this the best!!!  In the picture above, Lola is making wrapping paper.  Yes, we made our own wrapping paper this year and it turned out really cute. 

We also added some glittery sparkle and a felt cut out!

At one point, Lo took a break from the wrapping paper and started painting the bags for her teachers.  Each bag was special.  Lola would note which bag the teacher was for and then painted away.  She could not wait to wake up the next morning to deliver her gifts.  The teachers went nuts!  This is a great way to give someone special (the teachers in our kids lives) something special!

Here's another idea for ya....

As a birthday gift for the kids aunt, Tia Molly, we got a larger tote at Hobby Lobby and the kids created a "masterpiece".  I grabbed some fabric (animal print of course b/c I'm obsessed) and sewed the sash but you could use ribbon too. 

Then we made a tag using vintage fabric and sewed it to the inside to the bag.  This way, that special person will always remember who it's from.

Give it a try!  It's fun, easy and I can guarantee you that the person you're giving it to will love it!

Off to Houston for a client meeting now.  Happy Tuesday!

Rainbow bright!

I'm all about bright, bright, bold colors (hence the name of the upcoming blog - The Bolder the Better). As I was going through my archives trying to clean up folders, I found I've saved lots of bright images with rainbow like qualities.  Here are some of those that inspire me the most and make me happy!

Art / Photography

Streets

Stairs

  Decor

Kitchen

Party

living space

Food

Orange slices

 Fashion

Neon bows via Of a Kind

Via The Man Repeller whom I'm Ob-sessed with...

Via Honestly WTF - yet another obsession.

I apologize for all the images where there is no source.  I seemed to have misplaced the document used to save my sources on images...UGH!  Thanks goodness for Evernote now which will allow this to never happen again.  Yea to organization!

Happy Friday all!!!