Dreamy Gardens

Wow...just wow.

I don't know how insane an elaborate garden would look outside of my modest home but I would LOVE to be so ridiculous.

I Look Like I'm Drunk...

On many occasions during a stay away from home, I will take extra time to look decent...Nothing special, just an extra minute or two. This will make me feel a little better, more confident-other people will even say they like my hair, or I look cute.

Then I get photo's sent to me, taken by other's around me. Everyone else looks happy, ready for the picture- I stand out like a sore thumb! I am not exaggerating! It is not me being especially hard on myself because I don't have low self esteem or anything. I am just NOT photogenic.
To make it worse, other people own these pictures!

Unless it is a professional picture where I do not have distractions, I always end up looking bloated, tipsy, mad, really tired, in pain, even balding. My clothes never look like they fit, OY!
Now I am doing some research on how to be ready for a picture under any circumstance, and begging people to tell me that I didn't really look that sloppy all weekend.

This happens so often that I have resorted to (sometimes) asking my oldest kid to take a picture of me before I leave the house, so I can edit.

OY, I SAY!
I need a support group.

Hoots

Aren't Owls so charming?
I could find a home for one of these...

Petit Collage

Small Owl Print

Owlet

Cute Little Owl Bangle

Owl Key Ring

Gone for the weekend

My posts have been dwindling already! I could use some real down-time.
Now here I go, leaving for the weekend to visit in-laws. By visiting, I mean, babysitting my own children while my husband parties with his family. I will try not to sound too cranky about it-I am assuming...

I have made a resolution with my husband to start going to bed at a "reasonable" time. Reasonable being before 1 am. The plan was to start getting ready for bed at 11:30 and in bed by midnight.
It has not been going as planned, but I have been in bed before 1 am.

Tonight, I'm not going to make it.

I'm not giving up! Once we get this habit going, we are going to add another.

Up early to jog, perhaps!
TeeHee!

My Oldest...

If these puppies were hers, their names would probably be Miley, Zac, and Demi Lovato....

Adorable Bird Bowl

PrinceDesignUK
Who loves Etsy? I do!

Peonies

My favorite!
One of these days, when my husband and I have a real wedding (we eloped), there will be peonies all around me.

This kit at MarthaStewartCrafts.com give you fake flowers without the tacky. Love it!

My one wedding flower was a Hibiscus that I ripped off of a potted plant at the Marriot where we married. I wore a dress that I hurriedly grabbed from Macy's that ended up matching the Hibiscus perfectly.

On the way to Dallas, we called my husband's grandpa and said "Would you mind throwing on some shoes and marrying us?"
Mr. Collins, being ordained, agreed.

Grandpa did a lot of talking while marrying us, most of it I didn't catch. I know the Post Office was mentioned, and that he played football as a young man, on to the official stuff of kissing and be-ringing.

I actually suggested eloping since we were already living together and a wedding seemed kind of silly since we had been on track with starting a life together, but I just love small, tastefully simple weddings.

Don't you?

Octolicious

Yoko Sekino-Bove

Fawn and Forest------------------ TonicHome

FeelMoreHuman--------------------

DesignPublicHuge Triptych

------------------TonicHome



Love the melamine plates! And the adorable pillow from Fawn and Forest will look super in my kids' barren room.
As far as Octopi go...three's a crowd.

My firstborn is back from her Michigan vacation looking so much older I could just fall over...

I challenge you, Crayola

I've decided to abandon my old, fairly neutral decor palette. Having always felt a need to lug around my mother and grandmother's style, I always had my own version of what I'd grown up in.
My grandmother's home was always well put together, very traditional, but not afraid of a surprising color or piece here and there.
My mother was very coordinated, very bland. Wanting to keep the house gender neutral, it just translated to masculine. Blue everywhere, pinstripe,...geese.
I've always had a more updated and stylish version of their tastes. It took forever to break from that and see that it wasn't my style, just comfortable. I was never in love with my home but I would contantly think about it, and shop for something to fix something else.
This is why we are starting from scratch and why most of our belongings are still in boxes, or shoved in a corner of the garage.
I am repurposing, or replacing a lot. This is a rental home, like I've said before, that is difficult to work with. But it's temporary so I can ignore it.
One thing is for sure, there is going to be color in a BIG way.
Here is some inspiration:

Bright and Sunshiny

I just can't look right in orange, but that is one of the lovely things about crossing the threshold from 20's to 30's. I buy things that I LOVE and don't worry so much about the color, or how short I am.
In most of my 20's, the only low heel I would be caught in was a gym shoe.
It really is a great feeling to relax and enjoy.
I will always love an orange ruffle!
Go Anthro!

Life with MY 2 year old.

Me: Audrey, it is time for a nap.
A2: I'm not Audrey, I'm Scrooge!
(My husband has introduced her to Ducktails...to my dismay)
Me: Okay. Scrooge. It is nap time.
She runs behind the dining room table, expecting me to run in circles to get her. HA!
Me: Oh yeah, definitely. You are being a toot.
A2: I"m NOT Toot! I'm Audreeeeeeeeeeeyuh!

Last month, it was the same conversation, only she was Squidward.
She insists we all call her Scrooge McDuck or Squidward Tentacles.
Oh, and her father's screwdrivers are called "Scroogedrivers".
If we call her "cute" or "silly" or anything else, she assumes we have forgotten her name is Audrey and proceeds to freak out.

NSFW! Dave Chappelle's pottymouth comedy.

I think this man is a comedic genius. You can think what you want.

I DO apologize, the language is shocking.
Enjoy!

Current addictions:

France
French lifestyle.
The movie Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain.Officially my most watched movie.
Learning French at Livemocha.com
Decoupage
Starbucks DoubleShot can of coffee in coffee flavor. Don't judge me!
A&E Intervention

If I were a rich girl...

Austin Cityscape
Barton Springs- Austin



I would move back to Austin where I'd have a lovely shop in a lovely spot and I'd live upstairs.
I would also have a small spot always waiting for me (and my family, of course) in Savannah, Montmartre, and Venice.
Traveling, being my most extravagant thing.

Beautiful Savannah







I adore Savannah, Georgia








Venice, Italy











Montmartre, Paris



I moved to Austin from a suburb of Detroit with my husband several years ago and I have never felt so immediately at home. It is a young city and still growing, that is really the only problem I had with it. I loved it as it was. It was so well known but also like a secret I was in on.
The music scene, the food, the hills, the bluebonnets, the incredible people, the shops! I can go on all day.
We left to move to a state I just can't settle. My gut tells me that we will find a way to move back, despite the fantastic job my husband landed here in Oklahoma.

I was instantly infatuated with Savannah, Georgia.
Before my 3 year old and 1 year old were born, we took our first child on a road trip to Disney World.
On the way there, we had just planned to pass through Savannah and have some barbecue, but i was completely taken. I am a sucker for anything old, beautiful, and stylish- Savannah was jam packed. I demanded (ha!) that we stay until the following morning and I was obliged.
Dragging my family all over the place, we met lovely people, shopped some fabulous shops, and just enjoyed the scenery. I spent the trip from Savannah to Florida talking about how we were going to move there one day.

Montmartre and Venice, I have not had the honor. YET! I don't need to go into why, they are famous for their charm.
LOVE.