Dreaming Of Winter

I had a great time this past weekend playing host to Miss Emily.  Once again, she beat me to the punch

and posted a sweet little recap over on her blog.  You can read all about our shenanigans here.  

Well, I had a nice three-day break from work, but in approximately two hours, that break is over, and one of the most stressful work weeks of the year will be smothering me.  Buuuut, that hasn't happened yet, so I can still be happy and dreamy and floating around outside of my head.  This morning, as this cold front is blowing in at 30 mph, all I can seem to think about is how much I wish Texas experienced full blown seasons.  The summers are much too long and the winters are nearly nonexistent.  I know people that live in the northeast and other places that have long, treacherous winters despise the snow and want to wish it away at all cost, but I am not one of those people, and I really want some snow down here!  However, I am not a brainless human, so I know my dream will most likely not come true, but I will continue to dream my little beating heart to pieces because that is what I seem to be best at these days.  

Here are some pictures I have been drooling over this morning thanks to Pinterest:

Cupcakes For Breakfast

One of the classes, or sessions, I took during TxSC was called "From Blog to Book" lead by two incredibly talented and driven young women who have both published books.  Sitting there, listening to them talk about the ins and outs of the creative process and getting published simply blew my mind.  I don't necessarily have a formal "bucket list" as people are calling it these days, but if I did have one, writing a book and getting it published would be close to the top.  I have always enjoyed writing.  I was an only child until I was seven, and I've always been super independent.  I had friends, of course, but there were times when I really just wanted to play by myself.  I loved creating fictitious scenarios and stories for my barbies and paper dolls.  I had an extremely overactive imagination, if you will.  I could seriously entertain myself for hours upon hours every day.  From my elementary days well into high school, I would write poems (some of them embarrassingly emo), and I even started a few short stories, but they never held my attention long enough before I was on to the next fabulous idea that popped into my head.  I guess I just never had a good enough idea.  That one idea that I could take all the way to the top.  Since that TxSC session, the wheels in my mind have been creakily turning trying to come up with something I could write about.  Something I'm passionate enough about to write a lot of material and something I likely won't lose interest in.  This morning, I had a mini-cupcake - along with a grapefruit - for breakfast, and I watched my subconscious shake its head at me and giggle a little because I am the type of woman who will always have a partial little-girl mentality.  I'm afraid I will never fully become an adult, and honestly, that's fine with me.  Who wants to be a boring old grown-up anyhow?  I never want to forget the little things that meant the world to me as a child.  I want to be able to treasure those feelings of innocence and naivety for as long as possible, and if I want cupcakes for breakfast, I will HAVE cupcakes for breakfast.  So, to make my point, this idea of things that keep us young, that have kept me young, could be the sprout of a literary idea, and that makes me happy.

Have a happy Thursday!

xoxo

My First (Not To Be My Last) Blogging Conference

Remember when I mentioned that I was going to the Texas Style Council conference a couple of weeks ago?  Well, it was this past weekend, and it was so much more than I had ever dreamed it would be.  When I think about all of things I learned and experienced, I am excited, overjoyed, enthusiastic, inspired and, most of all, overwhelmed (in a good way).  It's like my eyes were opened to this whole new beautiful world of women that are just like me.  I know it sounds so cheesy, but I've always felt a little strange compared to other members of the female population, sort of off balance or something.  It was just really nice to be surrounded by people who have very similar interests and ideas, but still each individual has their own identity and specialty.  I probably sound like a weirdo who isn't making any sense, but I swear it makes sense in my head.  Here's a quick rundown of my weekend:

On Saturday I attended five sessions:

Life Blogging 101 with Jenni of Story Of My Life, a fellow Austinite
Monetization 101 with Bethany of The Glamorous Housewife
Self-Photography 101 with Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky
Personal Budgeting 101 with Kelsey and Eric of Words of Williams
Create Your Media Kit with Tieka of Selective Potential

On Saturday night, all of the TxSC sponsors gathered in the Texas Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency for the ultimate Prom Party complete with 80s #1 hits, a rowdy dance floor, free schtuff, photobooths galore and a cash bar.  'Twas loads of fun.

And on Sunday I attended four more sessions and had the pleasure of hearing Elsie and Emma speak about what they've learned from blogging.

Children on the Blog & Social Media with Katie of Skunkboy (This will be relevant when I have kids because I do plan to continue blogging into motherhood.)
Do Your Dreams Now with Jessica of Noonday Collection
Handling Your Critics with Jen of Jen Loves Kev
From Blog to Book with Becky of Chipper Things and Megan of Greetings From Texas

(Top: Q&A Sunday Afternoon, Left: Elsie & Emma, Right: Katie from Skunkboy)

Every single session I went to was super entertaining and informative, and all of the speakers managed to hold my attention the entire time which is just astonishing.  Well done, ladies!

Shop Dreaming

Happy Friday, little lovers. 

One day, I will have a room in my house dedicated to the art of carnivals.

Now, here's a list of things I want, but cannot afford at the moment:

Free People Marina Embroidered Dress

                                                                                            

Kate Spade Mug

                         

Westward Leaning 7.2 Sleeping Beauty Sunnies

Kate Spade NY Shawna Shades in Pale Mint

KitchenAid Stand-Up Mixer

Marc Jacobs Classic Q Izzy Handbag

Anthropologie Oxfords

Apple iMac

To round out this super random post, I present you with my current favorite song, "Sinful Nature" by Bear In Heaven.  The video for the song is basically a weird, David Lynch-esque interpretation of Pretty Woman.  I could take or leave the video, but the song is absolute gold.  Enjoy :)

xoxo

Wednesday Summer Inspiration

I don't know about you guys, but I am beach-dreaming like MAD!  Grooving to the Beach Boys, craving pina coladas, pining for a new pair of oversized sunnies, inhaling the summer air and wishing I could go swimming in the sea...

XOXO

Plans For Summer

Well it's finally feeling like summer around here, and I'm actually enjoying it so far.  Talk to me in August, and I'm sure I'll be wishing the heat away hiding in black cave of cool, ethereal darkness.  Although summer tends to be my least favorite season, it does make for some really fun times.  For some reason, I couldn't think of how I spent my summer last year.  This morning I was thinking really hard about it and wondering what all I did because we didn't float the river - not even once, and we didn't do a whole lot of swimming aside from when we had friends and/or family visiting.  So I went back in my blog archive and remembered I went to Portland!  So maybe we didn't do very many little trips or things because I was saving money for that?  I guess that makes sense.  We did go to a few live shows, ate a ton of amazing homemade meals, moved to a new apartment and much much more.  For nostalgic purposes, here are a couple of my favorite posts from Summer 2012: one + two.

As for this summer, I am making great plans, people.  Just you wait and see.  I refuse to be a couch potato the whole summer!  I want to get out and do things and be active and love every minute of it!  So i've started compiling a list of things I want to do this summer.  Now, J and I are planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest for mid-September, so we won't be getting TOO wild, as we will be maintaining a budget for the upcoming trip.  At the very least, I would love to make a little day trip up to San Antonio for some Fiesta Texas theme park action.  I'm dying to awaken the daredevil inside of me!  She's been napping for far too long!  I miss running around Astroworld riding any and every ride/rollercoaster in my sight.

Last year, we did drive out west to Spicewood for a day of swimming in the fresh-water springs, and Jason and I have already talked about going back out there again this summer.  So this WILL be happening.  Two popular fresh-water swimming holes just west of Austin include Hamilton Pool, which we haven't experienced yet, and Krause Springs, which is where we went last year.  It was so relaxing and beautiful, and there was a little snow cone truck parked right there on the property.  I'm excited to return!

About 45 miles south of Austin you will find the quaint, small town of New Braunfels where the famous super-sized water park, Schlitterbahn, makes its home.  I haven't been to Schlitterbahn since my freshman year of college with the guy I was dating at the time.  If you don't show up super early, you run the risk of waiting in lines for hours the entire day, which can get a little frustrating.  However, there are two parts of the park - the older part and the newer part.  The older part is way better because most of the water rides are tube chute rides that last a long time so you get your money's worth and they make up for that long line you just waited in.  The older part is also a lot shadier with huge oak trees all over the places so you're not standing in line for an hour and in direct sunlight.  The newer part, from what I remember, is hotter, more annoying and the "Master Blaster" and "Dragon Blaster" rides, while loads of fun, are super short and not worth the two-hour wait.

Another fun summertime thing about New Braunfels includes tubing on one of the two rivers that run right through the town - the Guadalupe and the Comal.  In college, I used to float/tube a lot and we almost always picked the Comal or the San Marcos rivers, not really sure why.  They were probably more affordable and more convenient.  Floating the river can be so much fun!  Some of my fondest memories of my college friends were our floating adventures.  Tossing jello shots to one another, drinking Coors light all day and all night, getting flipped out of our tubes, hardly being able to stand up at the end of the float, and, of course, eating dinner and ordering margaritas by the pitcher at Adobe Verde on our way back to San Marcos.

Lastly, if time and money allows, I would love to make a trip down to Galveston beach at some point this summer, even if it's just for a couple of days.  I have wonderful childhood memories of Galveston - walking up and down the strip, eating amazing fresh seafood, biking along the seawall, building sandcastles and drip castles, getting painfully sunburned with no regrets, closing my eyes, hearing the waves softly crash into the beach, the sound of seagulls squawking from above, the smell of suntan lotion and sea salt in my hair and just letting time pass by without a single care or stress in my mind.  I would love to be able to stay at this Holiday Inn Resort right on the seawall, but it looks pretty pricey, and I doubt they'll accept my employee discount.  I'll just be beach-dreaming until I can actually get down there and experience all those beautiful, silly little things I remember from years ago.

What about you?  Do you have any plans for the summer?  Or any dreams for the summer?

xoxo