Look What I Made

Around Here

This week I got a new computer! It wasn't in the plan just yet but the battery on my 2007 Macbook Pro exploded (!!) so we made a trip to the Apple store Monday night.

I spent a lot of time in my little crafting area. I hung nails on the wall and am using little clips to hold posters and Project Life cards and a calendar. I like how it's working out so far. 

My favorite snack right now. Cottage cheese + sunflower seeds. Super yummy!

Stamp stock up! I ordered a couple more stamps for my inventory, these 3 designs sold out super quickly! Also, I recently learned that my shop wouldn't allow international shipping. SO sorry about that. I've updated my shop, it's expensive, but I do ship internationally.

PS - Don't forget to enter my giveaway, it ends today! 

Determined to finish reading 'The Dinner'. I've got about 25 pages left and still have mixed feelings about it. I just want to know what happens. Yesterday morning, I grabbed my coffee, a blanket and read on the porch. It was a little chilly, but wonderful.

I'm still obsessed with my new bike! I rode around Austin for an hour and a half yesterday. I'm hurtin' a little today but it was so fun! I have already found at least 3 new restaurants I want to try with Billy.

 

So as you can see, my week was eventful and uneventful all at the same time. My last day at my job was last Friday, so all week I had nothing but time to myself. Boy, was it nice to be able to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I'm learning already that I'll need to give myself somewhat of a schedule just to stay productive. I simply cannot watch One Tree Hill reruns on Netflix all day. ;)

Snapshots from the Week

01. A cute corner of our home/ // 02. Giant wall calendar in the office. // 03. My favorite slippers that are at least 10 years old. // 04. The sunlight in our bedroom is the best. The huge blank walls are the worst. // 05. Playing around with my new printables! 06. Oh heeey! // 07. Random graffiti with a nice sentiment and weird purple shark. 

My week started out pretty slow and will be ending with a super busy Friday. I'm going to take that as a gentle reminder to myself to take care of things earlier so everything doesn't pile up on Friday. Yikes!

I spent some time cleaning up and getting organzied at home. Starting in March, our apartment will be a revolving door of visitors (can't wait!) so I'm hoping to finish decorating by then. This week, I took stock and am trying to figure out what it is that I want to hang on our walls. 

We don't have too many plans this weekend. I'd like to make it out to Zilker Park. That place is magical. 

Best of 2013

What a year – we traveled, we moved, we ate, I crafted. 2013 was a good one. I took a look back through my blog posts from this past year and pulled a few favorites. This does not include all the happy momemnts I captured on Instagram, but this post really doesn't need to be any longer. Thank you for reading my blog and letting me share all my adventures with you. I am so excited for 2014 - no partictular reason, I just love a new year and a fresh start. Happy new year, y'all! 

To take a trip down memory lane, click the photos to link back to the original blog post.

See my 2012 'Best of' Posts here, here & here.

Around Here

 

It's been cold here (like in the 30's!) which led to a lazy, lazy weekend for us. Even though it's been chilly, I was happy to break out some of my winter gear. After living in Chicago, I've collected some pretty cute winter hats/boots/scarves so I enjoy getting a chance to wear them again. Here are a few photos from my weekend.

01. This photo is not from the weekend but I enjoyed a long walk over my lunch break on Monday afternoon in the rain. It was kind of nice actually.

02. Sunday morning coffee. The big tree outside our window is finally figuring out tha it's fall.

03. Painted pinecones! I picked up a bag of pinecones at the Austin City-Wide Garage Sale for $1 and want to paint them all gold. 

04. My favorite winter hat these days. My sister mailed it to me last year with a note that said, "This is either from Barney's or the Dollar Store." Ha! The polka dot rug is from Ikea and it was only $20. Everyone should have one.

05. A big, crafty mess. My favorite. I love having a little craft space. It's nice to leave unfinished projects on my desk and work on whenever I can steal a few minutes. I have organized and reorganized the space for the last 2 months. I *think* I've got it where I want it though... 

San Antonio Photo Diary

Over the weekend, my parents and I drove down to San Antonio to see what it was all about. We loved it! It's a great town. Our first stop was The Alamo! You have to go there in San Antonio.

We stayed right near the River Walk so we were able to walk around and explore all the little shops & restaurants. Friday night was crazy. We happened to be down there during the annual Holiday River Parade & Lighting Ceremony. I'm sure that is cool but we were not prepared at all for the crowds and mayhem.

Saturday was a little more our speed. We walked down to the San Antonio Museum of Art and caught the River Taxi back up to Commerce Street where we noticed a ton of restaurants and shops. 

It was a quick trip but we had so much fun! I know that Billy and I will go back there sometime soon.

All photos taken with my Nikon D3200 | See past travel photo diaries: here, here, here and here.

Snapshots From Last Week

 

Last week I made a conscious effort to take more photos with my big camera. I feel like we're finally in a place where we're settled into our new apartment and new routines. For now. 

I've been cooking a lot lately. Like full meals. I work from home all day so A) I have more time on my hands and B) I'm around the next day to eat leftovers for lunch. I watch a lot of Barefoot Contessa. She's pretty great, that lady. Everything she makes is very simple to make or adapt. She also introduced me to italian flat leaf parsley which is really good on basically everything. 

Billy has been working really, really hard at his new job. I'm proud of him. I've been working hard too. Both at my regular work and my fun work. I wrapped up a holiday party invitation design + lettering job last week. It got me thinking that I should probably get going on our holiday cards. I really want to make some this year.

My little craft space is just about organized and I really like how it's working for me. I used to work on the kitchen counter at our old place, so really anything is better than that. It's also nice being able to leave unfinished projects on the desk.

My back has been bothering me from time to time ever since the marathon. I have to find weird ways to get comfortable. I think the reason it's hurting is because I don't sit up straight while I'm working. I sort of slouch. 

Candles. Lots of candles burning all day. The one above is a housewarming gift from my BFF.

Photos from My Long Run

I did my long run yesterday and it was long. And hot! But I did it. My feet are a little sore today, more so than usual. I'll be massaging them all day with my lacrosse ball. I took a few photos along the way. It was a sunny, beautiful day in Chicago and I am glad I got to spend a few hours outside! I'll be adding these to my minibook next weekend when I update it. Hope you had a great weekend, too!

 

Each Monday, during my 18-week training, I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here.     

Photos from My Training Runs.

A run doesn't count unless you take a photo of it (kidding). I try to take a different photo every time I go for a run. Almost all of my training runs are done on the Lakefront Trail. I run by the boats, by the museums, by the fountain - all the sights of Chicago. I sort of feel like I'm sight-seeing in my own hometown. I often use them in my Project Life but for my marathon training, I'll be adding them to my minibook as well.

My long run this weekend was 'eh'. It's been SO hot here in Chicago. The weather said that a 'cool front' was coming in after the rain on Friday night. I took that to heart and completely missed the sarcasm on that one. It was still super hot when I went out for my 9 miler on Saturday...at noon. Not good. I made it through, am only mildly sunburn and enjoyed my Sunday rest day that much more. On to week 4!

 

Each Monday I'll be sharing a running/training related post until the race. It might be running specific, or a Project Life insert, or even just a round up of cute Lulu clothes that I want to buy for myself. Follow along here. 

Snapshots: Sunday Morning Edition

01 // My favorite morning tea.  02 // Mister Huey's all lined up. I scored a deal on the pink one from Steals.com. Now I want them in every color.  03 // New letterpress blocks I bought from the Printer's Row Lit Fest.  04 // More letterpress blocks - ampersands!  05 // My washi tape collection is out of control.  06 // I spent my morning catching up on Project Life and listening to my new favorite podcast, Balanced Bites. 

Billy was up and out the door early on Sunday morning to help our friends move. I enjoyed a quiet morning to myself. I cleaned up a little, drank tea and made myself a to-do list for the day. I turned off the TV (the TV is always on in our house), listened to my podcast and worked on some crafty things. It was a pretty great morning. Sundays are always a little bittersweet. I love them, but Monday is just around the corner and it's time for another busy week of work. I have learned to appreciate the Sundays rather than dreading the Mondays.

 

A Walk Around Museum Campus

The weather on Sunday was absolutely perfect. We were lounging around all morning being lazy so I decided to go out for a walk and take pictures. We are fortunate to live so close to the lake here in Chicago. I walked around Museum Campus, behind the Adler Planetarium and along the water. I sort of just wandered around and ended up being gone for 1:45 minutes. I took 141 photos, not all great (but some great!). I'm still trying to use my camera in manual mode, so lots of expirementing happened on Sunday. I feel like I am finally getting the hang of it, learning about light and aperture.

I am planning to include these photos as an insert in my Project Life for last week. I had a lot of fun taking these photos, but I'm really glad that I feel like I have a place to put them too.