our move: how it's going.

Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.

 

Yesterday we pulled into Houston, and even though everyone was telling me about it and how hot and humid and coastal it is, I guess I didn't pick up on it so the way it looks took me by surprise! I pictured brown, flat Texas. It's totally green here though. It's very tropical, since it's right on the Gulf. It's like Florida actually, and I love how lush and green it is.

We packed up all of our material belongings last week and took off on Sunday morning. We put all of our furniture in a storage box that U-Haul is going to pick up and deliver to us, and then put anything else we were bringing in a little trailer and pulled it behind Jacob's Jeep. We took our time with the trip and drove ten hours to Albuquerque the first day, then to Fort Worth the next and finally to Houston yesterday. Debmom (MIL) came with us too and it made it so much easier for us to all be able to take turns driving and keep each other company. We also used walkie talkies for the whole trip which were seriously SO convenient. If you're ever caravaning on a long, unfamiliar drive, get some. I don't know how we would have done without them!

Did I mention we were literally homeless? Yeah we didn't have a place to live when we got here. We have to return the U-Haul tomorrow and we were just praying that we would find a good place that we could move into immediately. Our prayers were answered. We found a sweet apartment four hours after rolling into town, were approved immediately and get to move in today. AND it's right on a Bayou! (Gators, y'all.) It's in a small town about 30 minutes from the city and I think it's going to be perfect as a temporary home while we get used to everything here and look for a house.

It's great to be here, and it is so comforting to have family nearby. Jacob's sister Jen, her husband Mark and their two cute boys are right in Houston so we never have to feel alone! I'm sure that this move will be hard to get used to in some ways, but I think they are the perfect buffer to make it less so. The only real issue we have had so far is how we have no idea how to get anywhere and sometimes Siri starts to recalculate for no reason and we end up going the wrong way on a one way street. Hashtag: FirstWorldProblems. Those moments are not awesome.

pizza and pastries with friends.

I had a fantastic lunch date with my friends Malorie & Mari last week. We went to Vinto in Salt Lake, I have been wanting to try it for. ever. Not joking, like 4 years or something, and it finally happened! It didn't disappoint either. The pizza was delish. Then we walked a few blocks down to main street to try out Eva's Bakery. The chocolate croissant I had was so good, but I want to go back and try everything. Even the vegan chocolate cookies were tempting, and usually putting the word vegan in front of any food makes it sound, ya know, like it will taste like dirt.

Photo stolen from Mari's instagram. She's a photographer.

Mari, Myself & Malorie at Vinto 

This bakery is so charming. I mean, it's bright blue, and has a very old-fashioned feel. So hip.

 Malorie and Me in front of Eva's 

The baguettes look tempting! I know I would not be able to stop and would eat the entire thing in one sitting so I should probably refrain. I just love carbs too much! Bakeries are dangerous territory.

 Malorie, Mari inside Eva's 

Malorie and Mari have been best friends for a long time, and I'm lucky to have become friends with them this past year. I kind of knew Malorie through her cousin and kind of just through being facebook friends, and Mari and I met when we assisted my brother in proposing to her sister, so now we're kind of related. Now the three of us meet up for lunch about once a month and have game nights as couples sometimes too. It's so great to make new friends that you just instantly click with. Thanks for the fun lunch, ladies. - or -  Thanks for the fun, lunch ladies.

my first clients.

I have my first design clients! These ladies. I am a TOTAL rookie at blog design but it's something I have fallen in love with this past year, and the only way to get better is to practice am I right?

This love actually goes back to Myspace. Remember Myspace? I had so. much. fun. making my page all cute and finding the best pictures to put on there and stuff. I got compliments on it all the time. That's where I started learning basic HTML. Then I always kept my personal blog pretty simple. When I started creating Pretty Providence last year I had so much fun. I got a handful of e-mails asking who designed our site, and how much did it cost? Which was a huge compliment but just made me want to get better.

I re-design it every few months just because I like to, and after a while I look at it thinking, "This looks terrible! I have to start over!" Anyway, I am so happy that these girls have hired me to make their blog look awesome and I am taking this challenge seriously. I know I have a long way to go and a lot to learn though so I am going to take some graphic design classes in the fall. You know because I think this is something I could really do well at if I had more training and skills.

to my husband on his golden birthday.

you are the best thing that ever happened to me.

birthdays are my favorite.

Little sis with 18 cupcakes for her 18th birthday.

I love birthdays. I always want to make them into a national holiday. This week both little sis and little sis-in-law had birthdays and the festivities aren't over yet. They should always last a week at least. Right? Yes. Anyway, I got to deliver balloons, go to breakfast, make cupcakes, go bowling, and watch the sis try to blow out 18 sparkler candles - that was the highlight of my year - it took at least 5 minutes because the flames kept coming back. So entertaining!

Also I started re-designing Pretty Providence. I've got the new header and basic look done, and updated all of the social media outlets with the new stuff (so refreshing.) Now I just need to update all of the sidebar stuff and do a little spring cleaning. I totally love learning how to do all of this html and site design stuff. Once I know where we are going to be living I'm going to look into graphic design classes!

No news yet on that front by the way, but lots of interviews are happening and I'd say that we are getting closer to knowing. I've started packing up some parts of the house already because I know it is a huge job and I'd rather be ahead than behind in that department. There are so many things to do and think about with moving. I want it to be peaceful and less nightmare-ish than everyone says. We'll see!

beauty - weekend inspiration.

via maraid design.

by nickolaus muray.

 via wit + delight. 

unknown source.

I have been staring at these photos all morning! So gorgeous. Having a peaceful Saturday, I cleaned a little (feels good to have that out of the way) and I'm working on a lesson for my laurels tomorrow. Very much looking forward to watching a little SNL with Justin Timberlake as both the host and musical guest tonight.  I'm hoping Andy Samberg might make an appearance.

in which i ramble on.

I've been having some productive days lately. The kind of days that make me feel super accomplished and happy with myself. It's not that I'm not usually productive, but when most everything you do is done on a computer, sometimes it's hard to feel like you did anything since you can't touch it. Does that make sense? On Thursday I painted my life away. I painted two canvases, two honey jars, two frames, and four letters. That was fun. Once I got going there was no stopping me. Jacob took a nap and woke up to see half the items in our house different colors from what they were when he fell asleep.

Friday my bff Court (Ceebee) came over and took photos of my house. I am going to post them on Pretty Prov next week as kind of a house tour thing, showing how I've decorated the place for pretty much $25. Ha, maybe a little more, but mostly everything is hand-me-down or from thrift stores. I also just wanted some pix to have of this house to remember it's awesomeness by. Jacob and I are pretty eager to move out, it's just such an old house, and the issues it has are becoming too much. We've been living in this place for 3.5 years now and we are truly excited for an upgrade. Nonetheless, it is our first home, it has so much awesomeness, and we are going to miss it dearly.

Over the weekend we watched almost the whole third season of Downton Abbey (all three seasons in two weeks. Yikes!) which also felt productive somehow... we are going to watch the last two eps tonight. I can't wait. I know it's going to be sad because everyone is yelling about it on twitter... Then today I put together a giveaway and a "birthday party kit in a box" post for this week and am currently baking a cake! My favorite cake too. (It's our Pretty Providence blog 1st birthday this week, hence all the birthday shenanigans.)

Also, we went to the Awful Waffle with friends last week, I took Court to Cafe Rio as a thank you for the photo shoot Friday, and then Brandee came to stay with us on Saturday night and we returned to the Awful Waffle for more deliciousness. So basically we ate GOOD! The Awful Waffle has delicious waffles, but the true champion item is their FRIES. Oh my gosh they are phenomenal. I want them all day every day.

Update: Finished Downton. WTF, Downton!!!!?