tiny tots with their eyes all aglow, will find it hard to sleep tonight

happy christmas eve to all of you.  we will be on our way to tulsa soon, hopefully with quiet roads and clear weather.  remember all the anticipation of this night from when we were little?? i still get kind of giddy, not gonna lie...maybe we'll see santa and his sleigh on our drive! sweet dreams of sugarplums to all of you :)

xoxo

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where the love light gleams

getting everything in order ready to go to tulsa and visit friends and family. it's always hard to have to split the holidays between mine and stephen's families, and so far it hasn't gotten easier, so hopefully this is something that gets better in time.  i'll be missing my family (especially seeing my nieces faces light up when they see what santa brought them!) but luckily have some super in-laws and our t-town friends who are pretty much my family anyway so it's far from being a lonely holiday but you catch my drift :)

i hope you all will be having a lovely christmas surrounded by loved ones.

"i'll be home for christmas, if only in my dreams..."

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oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet niece kaitlin! she is the wonderful age of 6 today :)

good tidings we bring for you and your kin

well it's pretty quiet around the office, so  roxy is up here being a good little helper to those who have stuck around this week :)

i'm so ready for our little adventure to tulsa...what are you doing for christmas? going anywhere fun to see family or just staying home for a quiet celebration?? one day...one day stephen and i will have a quiet celebration of christmas all to ourselves...one day ;)

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all the stockings you will find hanging in a row. mine will be the shortest one, you'll be sure to know.

our little stockings (that's roxy's on the left, of course) and a cute little wreath i threw together with some old garland + ribbon + a coat hanger.

just a bit more christmas spirit for you today :)

(title lyrics from jolly old st. nicholas)

a very dallas weekend

did everyone have a good weekend? i had quite the fun weekend and feel very 'dallas' today...on friday night we had our girls' night at the mavs game (we beat the suns, woo hoo!) that's us with our reindeer antlers :)

then on saturday some friends came in town from las vegas, we ate at the Y.O. ranch steakhouse, which was so delicious (highly recommend the sea bass, yum!!). on our way out, while passing the neiman marcus downtown, we saw an insane amount of santa clauses. come to find out it was the dallas santacon! here's a photo of the scene we saw, found on their flickr account.

it was hilarious and crazy, i've never seen so many santas!!

after our fun night out at cameo, stephen and i got to go with our friends to the cowboys game! it was our first time to see them play and they beat the redskins so a good time was had by all. however, i felt like a little bit of a traitor cheering for the 'boys since i'm such a huge saints fan...and my saints lost...oh my. here is a view from our awesome seats:

so that was our dallas whirlwind adventure weekend :) kinda made me fall in love with this city all over again...

looking forward to an easy week at work and CHRISTMAS this weekend!! eeeeeep!

where did the week go?

kinda flew by, didn't it?? my mom came in town yesterday so i took the day off to spend with her.  i had to share this photo of the display inside barney's at northpark.

i'm a big daft punk fan so i found it extra entertaining, and especially love the crowdsurfing guy and his cool plaid tie. i love to go in there even though i can't afford anything because they always have the coolest displays!

anyhoo mom and i had a great day shopping and eating and catching up...i truly cherish these moments we get to spend together :)

i hope your week was fabulous and you have a great weekend!!

xoxo

traditions

being from louisiana, on christmas eve our family typically eats gumbo and reads "cajun night before christmas." i love it, and it's a tradition that i hope to bring into our family for years to come. (now, only if i can get my gumbo to be even close to as good as mom's!) since we'll be with stephen's family this year, i'll miss out on the delicious treats but hopefully i can read the book to anyone who will listen...complete with authentic cajun accent ;)

what kind of holiday traditions do you have? are you making any new ones?

oh and if you haven't read the book, this is the best reading i've found so far :)

wish list

in aubergine, pretty please :)

something for after the long workdays 

and a little indulgence reading.

what's on your wishlist?

friday funnies

just thought we could all use some funnies this lovely friday...

• roxy in antlers
• how to gift-wrap your cat
• a hilarious hamster commentary
• the funnest mittens i've ever seen
• a clever & cute print
• the perfect funny (and useful!) gift for your gal pals
• an adorable, guilty dog
• and a christmas ninja

hope you all have a fun-filled weekend!

xoxo

a typical conversation

stephen dropped me off this morning and we were talking about christmas gifts among other things and it went something like this:

stephen: i want to do something nice...
me: well i'm going to make them each a mini cheesecake so if you want to do something extra that's fine as well.
stephen: i'll make you into a cheesecake.
me: oh yeah?
stephen: (raises his hand like he has a wand) EXPELLIO-CHEESECAKE! wait no...EXPECTO-CHEESECAKE!

and we are nerds. the end.

(photo of my mini cheesecake)

dreamer

remembering john lennon today, 30 years after his death.

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and my dedication to the song that is most meaningful to me

"you may say that i'm a dreamer, but i'm not the only one. i hope someday you'll join us...and the world will be as one."

RIP john

"a dream you dream alone is only a dream. a dream you dream together is reality." - john lennon

it hasn't snowed a single flurry, but santa dear we're in a hurry

just a few pics of the decor...starting with our little tree

1. the tree (which we put on a table to make it seem bigger)

2. the beautiful antique gold ornaments from my great aunt

3. my first ornaments i bought when stephen & i got married were 6 of these beautiful red balls

4. roxy all tuckered out after a hard day of cleaning & decorating.  (doggie pj's from target)

blue christmas

well, not really...but factor in my blue tights, roxy's blue sweater, and the christmas trees (complete with hanging snowflakes!) and you get the title :)

i cannot wait to clean our apartment and decorate the living daylights out of it with chrismas cheer! it's been dismal at home since we got back from colorado since stephen has a million final project things to work on and there's no time to tidy up and make our home a little bit more joyful...so i'm taking time tomorrow for a decorating day! what about you, have you/do you plan to decorate? or is your house all cozy with winter wonderfulness? ahhhh i'm longing to be back in the snow and out of this 60+ degree december in texas...but pretend snowflakes will have to suffice for now!

hope you all have a fabulously awesome weekend

xoxo

in colorado we...

 rode in a two horse open sleigh

 made snow angels

 skied with the fam

 robbed a bank...kidding! we rode in a gondola

hung out with honest abe

and marveled in nature's beauty.

also, not pictured above, we: 

• drank loads of hot chocolate (with various delicious liqueurs)
• watched a shameful amount of football
• got lost on what we dubbed "the trail of tears" (while we were skiing, if that tells you anything)
• watched my nieces in the cutest of cute ski lessons
• missed roxy to pieces (how could we not?!)

so that's that! we had such an amazing time in steamboat...probably my favorite trip to the mountains ever. a lot of family bonding, eating too much, and pushing our physical limits too far :) who could ask for more?! 

i hope this gets to you

just a sweet video to brighten your day :)

first things first

here are some pics from stephen's birthday party last weekend...it was saturday night live themed!

 we were the coneheads (obv)

 here i am with the continental and stuart smalley

 and what would an SNL party be without matt foley?!

and this was our amazing "friendsgiving" dinner table...complete with salley o'malley, the welshley arms lovers and a gilda radner favorite, tracey (and another continental! ha!).

it was such a fun celebration for stephen and we are so grateful for our awesome friends who love to play along :)

thankful

hello dear friends, sorry i've been absent from the blogosphere! after stephen's birthday festivities, we jetted off to colorado to spend thanksgiving with my family and i've been enjoying time off the grid sorta speak. after i decompress and catch up from all the traveling and adventures, i will share some more fun with you.  i hope you all had a marvelous thanksgiving holiday!!

the above picture is from my last day on the slopes in steamboat springs.  just lovely...i wish i was still there :)

xoxo

live for each other

this was on my yogi tea last night. love love love love it. let's not forget it, ok? :)

nosey

sumbunny didn't wanna get out of bed this morning!!

birthday love

happy birthday to my love. 

my heart and soul...

i am so proud of you and everything you do

i love you so much!!

happy 28th birthday...congrats, you made it through the rock star year :)

dreamy weekend

what are you lovelies up to this weekend? i hope to: 1. get some laundry done, 2. cuddle with roxy, 3. catch up with friends! that's it...easy to please ;)

these photos are some more of my hipstamatic fun, i took them on wednesday night while i was waiting for the class i was speaking in to start.  this is the main street garden park in downtown dallas and it's such a neat little spot.  the photos look dreamy because i used the kaimal lens with the dreampop flash, and voila!

i hope you all have a fabulous, dreamy weekend!

xoxo

dear veterans,

thank you for all you do and have done to keep our country safe and our freedoms within reach. thank you to the parents, wives, husbands and children of soldiers who have made the sacrifice. and thank you to all who support our troops even if you don't understand what it's all for. to my friends, family and those i've never met, your service means more than i could ever explain. and for those still fighting overseas, i want you to know i want nothing more than for all of you to return home safely.

i wish i could give you hugs and thank each of you for your service. but this will have to do...

xoxo

read about the yellow ribbon program.

(photo from our walk earlier this week)

nerves

i am going to speak at a graduate class tonight about my career, how i got here, and what i do at the foundation i work for.  i am beyond nervous...i guess i just still see myself as that girl who just got out of college and no one quite trusts yet. like, what would i have to say that could possibly be of interest to people in grad school?! but then i get back into my reality bubble and realize that i've accomplished quite a bit before the age of 30, and might have a few words of wisdom to share.

at any rate, wish me luck, and i hope they like what i have to say :)

also, i hope my face doesn't turn red...fat chance, it always happens.

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dress up

i don't think i've ever done a straight fashion post here, but there are some swoon-worthy looks out there right now that i just have to share with you.  here are my pretend-shopping picks for the day:

the top outfit is a must for a casual day of shopping or brunching with the ladies, how comfy does that poncho look? it makes me want to snuggle :) and the shoes? too cute. (from lulu's and free people). and for a trés chic night out, pair  this dress (from nastygal) and hat (from asos) together, complete with those red lips and you've got a showstopper!

and i think i'll go ahead and add all of these to my christmas list...

well i hope you enjoyed my fashion fix today. xo

feelin' lucky

just a little snapshot of one of our favorite lunch spots, lucky's cafe. if you're in the dallas area and have a hankerin' for some home cooking, look no further.  might i suggest the fish & chips (catfish, naturally) and the baked squash, simply divine. and who knows, maybe you'll get just the cutest little lemon wedge in your broccoli.

have a delicious monday. xoxo

have a snuggly weekend!

what are you all up to this weekend? it finally got (a little) chilly here so i plan on curling up with roxy as much as i can and snuggling for warmth :) maybe i'll make some chili or bake a lot of cookies...cool weather turns me into a baking machine, does this happen to you?? i simply can't get enough of the baking when it's cold.  maybe it's because our apartment is pretty cold and the oven keeps me warm, haha!

well whatever you do, i hope you enjoy it! have a fantastic weekend xoxoxo

no label

 
 

a while back when i got to visit my parents in katy, tx, we attended a fundraising event at the no label brewing co. in downtown katy.  the brewery is housed in an old rice mill and has many of the original signs and fixtures in and around the building.  no label is a brand new brewery so they aren't quite selling on the market yet, but i can assure you we will be first in line when they do! their beers were absolutely delicious. and who wouldn't love a company with the slogan, "we don't need no stinkin' label!"? ha! 

so these are the film shots i captured from the event.  from the top: one of the old notices from the rice mill; the patriotic flags; stirring the hops; pouring the beer; one of the staff of the brewery serving beer; my dad (right) and his friend john talking to gilberto royo, the owner (left).

it was a fantastic time and might i suggest that if you're in the houston/katy area that you check them out!