TGIF, TGIF, TGIF

Dear Matthew,thank you for the valentine’s day I wanted. You know me so well and never disappoint when I tell you “I don’t want to know the plans.”  And it was pretty damn hilarious when we practically wrote the same thing to each other in our cards #marriedpeoplestarttoactalike. Dear Diet  LifeStyle Change: I’m back! I swear. Just ate my first YF meal in a week. And I only gained 2 pounds back, so thank the heavens!! Dear Lou Malnati’s – get back in my life. And in my belly. Seriously, the best pizza I’ve ever had! Dear Weekend – I am so happy to see you. TEE GEE I FFFFFF. Dear Wine – you feel so gross in the AM I need to quit you for good. Dear Exercise Gods, please please help me get motivatedddddd.  Cast a spell on me or something. And Lastly, Dear Tierra’s Eyebrow, I can not wait to see you on the WOMEN TELL ALL special.

Happy Friday Ya’ll, I plan to clean and decorate my house before a book party gathering next week. Holla!!

Over and out.

Birthday Stories + my love for 27

Yesterday was my day of birth, AKA the best day to open your Facebook notifications. I gotta say it was one for the books. I'm sad for it to end really, which technically I still have two more birthday outings so its not over just yet right???  But really, I want to soak in this birthday as much as  I can.  I always get anxious around birthdays, and while this year was filled with its usual pre-birthday jitters (is this normal?), I can honestly say everything was super amazing. I spent the day with great friends near and far. 

My heart truly is content and my mind is at ease.

I partially attribute these feelings to really loving 27. I've got a new comfort in own skin that seems to have evolved the past couple of days. I got to thinking about why this birthday was so different than my last. The night before my 26th I bawled my eyes out.  I realized -  my mid-twenties were actually quite volatile - jam packed with crazy ups and downs squished in with a few dramatic life changes. A long distance relationship, moving cities, a new job, Getting engaged!! Wedding planning my brains out, getting hitched, then building our first home. The transition of marriage... All rewarding things,  but of course coming with their own challenges. A labor of love if you will.  All of these events in our life led up to this moment of feeling more settled. The next couple of years we get to JUST BE. And I am so grateful for that.

So I thought it only fitting to write "Bon voyage mid-twenties" on my cake - you know to really soak in this new comfort and quiet. It's gonna be a great year.

Here are some pictures of the day. Cheers to birthdays and loving life :)

 This girl knows the way to my heart, showing up with decorations! 

 My honey. Grilling up a storm for me.

Love all these girls to pieces.

Got lots of flowers this birthday :) including some from my Austin crew. Love those people.

 Jenn and Baby Molly!

 

Mrs.  Marci

I made a good wish! Over and out.

A Book Party Experiment

First up, its go Texan Day at work. We..err..half the office is decked out in our Rodeo gear, see Lindsey in the middle below, and tonight we are heading out to the Chili Cook to kick-off the rodeo! I get to bust out my boots, see my pops, and hang with our peeps as we cruise from tent to tent.  (Excuse this gross Iphone pic)

Second up.

Book party was a huge success. I was super nervous to have ‘a party' for the first time and I’m glad I took the plunge. Hosting isn't my forte, so I'm glad to get some practice.

Our first book was No Easy Day, the Navy Seal account of capturing Osama Bin Laden.

We didn’t have any our rules in place yet, actually I had no idea what I was agreeing to, I just said I'd host since I don't live far from work.  We voted on the book this time, and I didn’t even think to decorate until the night before. After a quick trip to Target a red, white and blue theme was born, inspired by the miliary nature of the book. I definitely stayed up til 1 am the night before.. but hey it was all worth it!

 

I also put a sign on our door with a quote from the book.

 

What was great about this book, is we all shared where we were when 9/11 happened, and how we heard the news that Bin Laden had been captured. It was so interesting to see generational gaps. Where I work is actually the world trade center for Houston, so you can imagine what an interesting day at the office it was for my boss. Another coworker worked in LA at the time and thought the LAX airport was next. We all had SUCH different experiences that played into how we read this book. And we talked about the secretive nature of the current war, and the recent fascination with the CIA’s involvement, sparking TV shows and Movies such as Homeland and Zero Dark Thirty. I was pleasantly suprised about how much we had to say! We were worried it'd be crickets when it was time to talk, but we had no problems there. We also set a bunch of rules about how to run the club and you can read them below. 

If you are toying with the idea of starting a book club, we established some common rules last night!

 

******

 It was a really cool experience. So how does one start a book club, and what does one do? I still don’t quite know, but our book club consultants , Pooja & Juawana  gave us the skinny on how to have a successful Book club. Obviously I am no expert, but this is here are the rules we agreed upon last night:

-         First, remember this is supposed to be fun! It’s really an excuse to get together and have food and wine IMHO.

-         Whoever hosts the book club picks the book, the location and general theme and food. It doesn’t have to be a house, the point is to be creative and get people in the mood to talk about the book! If you are reading a book about India, maybe go to an Indian restaurant. The point of them picking is to expand your horizons. Be creative!

-         We all pay 10 dollars a piece, and the host uses those funds for food and alcohol how they see fit

-         You have to read at least a portion of the book. Don’t be the book natzi, you can still share if you’ve read sections, but if you've read none of it...ya...

-         Pick the next book within 24 hours of the book party, because if not your club may not fizzle out due to indeciveness

 

 

 

 

 

 

What camera bag / strap do you have?

 

 

Really quick, all you camera experts. What camera bags and straps do you use for toting around a DSLR which can fit in a larger purse? What's reliable? Where do you shop??

 

A Debbie Dump

 

I wish I had a fun post for you today.

But I do not. Womp womp.

Truth is, I am tired as hell.

I woke up today and actually wished I would get sick, so I could just stay home and get out of all my obligations. You’re probably thinking, just play hooky dummy.

But because I am a terrible liar, I usually have to actually be sick to call in sick.  And I rarely get sick.

So back to my wishing I was sick thoughts,  Does anyone else do this? Um please say yes!

 (over lunch I just confirmed, that I am in fact, not alone lol)

My friend Lynette said I needed to carve out some time to relax, you know, un-busy myself. And I realized, I really make myself this busy. I don’t like to stop. I don’t like to relax. I mean, I like to relax for a couple of hours. But how does one carve out time to relax? Like - really, really relax. Unwind. I just can’t stop.

I really shouldn’t complain about having plans with friends and family, or dump my debbiness all over you. Even tho I just did both of those things. Whoops. But in good news, I do get one day next week to be off. And that would be my day of birth folks. Holla holla, big 2-7 here.  And see my dad on Friday, and if you knew my dad, you’d know he’s one goofy dude.

And because I *swear* I'm not throwing a pity party, & just keeping it real I've disabled comments.

 Peace and chicken grease, ya’ll. Tomorrow is a new day.

Unfinished Projects

Happy Tuesday! Hi to all the new faces around these parts!  If you’re like me your significant other had the day off, which left you very confused on Monday morning. I kept thinking, when is he going to wake up? Should I wake him? Then it dawned on me, its President’s day. No complaints here, I got a sweet lunch date out of it. Curbside service to one of our fave downtown diners. Anywho. I did something this weekend that I Loathe. Finish projects. I love to start projects, dream up what I am going for, search blogs and pinterest. THINK about what I am going to do some more (Yes, I am a muller, but details make all the difference IMHO).

Then I run out in a mad dash…..kind of like a manic person.. to buy all my supplies ( I generally forget the most basic items… and have to go back). But this weekend, I got down to it. We finally painted the foyer, After months of thinking about a green or a blue or a gray color, and a swing and miss at home depot, I found the perfect color.

Why is it perfect? Because it looks blue gray during the day, and seafoam-green-gray at night. HA! The best of both worlds for an indecisive person like me. Seriously tho, I might continue on with this color in our master bedroom, the office, and we already decided to finish up to the 2^ndfloor beyond the foyer. Pictures to come, there just hasn’t been any sunlight (Boo on you rain).

We tackled those cornice boards, I bought the fabric and batting a month ago.

And finally painted a copper mirror that just was not jiving in our living room.

Heres the general direction of our dining room... still a lot to left but I am finally feeling like its coming together ...

And no pictures because I simply forgot, but we finally touched up and finished the built-in shelves. We painted the back of the shelves a very dark (shocker) navy blue. If I could make my whole house navy blue… I probably would.

Now all these house projects have been spurned by our inaugural book club meeting, kicking off this Thursday. We are reading No Easy Day, the story about capturing Osama Bin Laden, and I’m only on page 70 of the book. EEEEK. It's really good so far, I flew through it last night. Be back soon, anddd (groan) I owe you a Yeast-free diet check in!

-Tessy

SPD: A Bird Baby Shower!

Hellloo my dearests. I know everyone has valentine’s day on the brain, but not I! maybe that’s a product of getting married, but honestly a low-key dinner tonight is all that we wanted. I’ve never even been that into Valentine’s day, but really I’ll spare you the details of how trivial I think Valentine’s day is. I don’t know where were are going as of yet, which a surprise of any sort gets me excited.

Anyways, I want to talk about something else that just warms my heart. Baby showers! My friend Jennifer and her mom Debbie asked Emily and I to help host her shower, and I was pretty stoked. Not even gonna lie! Let me start with we all used to be crazy college roomies, I mean we got matching tattoos together, romped around 6^th street…. now fast forward a decade later….and we are standing in each other’s weddings and throwing baby showers. The bonds you make with girl friends, the history you create as you are there for each other through such important milestones is just wild. I always have a blast looking back. Because I am just cheesy like that!But anywho..

 

Jennifer’s nursery theme was all about birds and branches, thus we went with a “Tweet Baby Girl” theme. We freaking ran with it! Here was our pinterest inspiration:

 

 

And VOILAAAAA –

 

I think dressing a table really makes everything come together. Gives it that extra pop, and it was just fabric from Hobby Lobbyf or 2.99 a yard, spray painted clothespins,  some ribbon for 2 bucks at walmart. We bought the bird houses from Hobby lobby for 6 bucks a piece, and spray painted those as well.

 

cupcakes fo yo face!

Every shower needs a sing! Emily and Stan made this one below,the letters were $1.27 each, and they used a staple gun to attach the letters to the rope. We bought that fake branch from Hobby Lobby and we thought it made all the difference.

Also – the Mom-to-be’s only request was a macaroni bar, since it was her biggest craving during pregnancy. So a macaroni bar she got! I dont know about you guys, but It always boggles my mind that no one serves real food at baby showers. I mean come on! Feed your guests!

 

Mrs. Soon to be Raines!

But really the best part was watching her open all her gifts. Molly's closet is more full than mine! Freaking awesomeness.

 

I really can’t wait to meet her little girl, and see her little boy get a baby sister.

Congrats to Jenn Jack and Connor!

 

Tessy

Happy V-Day + a very snazzy giveaway

Not just a giveaway, a snazzy giveaway. A very, very snazzy giveaway!

Me and a group of lovely females are giving away a pair of Hunter Boots! I wish I could win my own giveaway bc I seriously have been lusting over a creme pair of Hunter Boots for a hot minute, but nonetheless home shopping dominates my "discretionary budget" these days (can you tell I'm married to a finance man?!?), so I'll leave the the Hunters to all you fabulous ladies! If you aren't here from Erin's blog, enter the rafflecopter underneath the image and go getcha some!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***Please note that this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents***

If you're here from Erin's blog, Haiiii! I'm Tess and Nice to meet you! Just a little about myself, I'm an Internet junkie, wife, blogger, DIY lover, paint aficionado, sort of free-spirit, nerdy kinda girl.
I started this blog to document my life, share my experiences as I navigate this thing called life!

I love all things creative, which Is why I'm such a scatterbrain (I think), and I grew up in the burbs but love, love, love the modern city-life, hence my blog title :) Any-who enough about me! Go check out some of the lovely ladies hosting this giveaway with me!

Tess :: Anne :: Jenna  :: Marianna :: Monica

     Sarah  :: Brie  :: Shannon  :: Kelly :: Janna     

Happy Monday... From a plane!

Writing this from a plane, which my dorky self finds extremely fascinating! Seriously ill never fly sans Internet again!

I've been gone for a week, but life and this blog here should get back to normal By Thursday. Thanks goodness because my diet has fell apart. Into a million little pieces, like that one book Oprah liked so much. And I haven't been sleeping the best, but after 2pm tomorrow I will be a happy little camper wrapping up my first big event of the year.

Also, this Thursday Ill be posting my first saw it, pinned it, did it, baby shower edition! So mosey back! It really turned out great! And I snapped some pictures below.

Ps. Do any of you watch GIRLS? Best show ever, I'm hooked!

Alright, this Texas girl is off to freeze her tush off! Its 34 degrees in the Windy City, and I forgot gloves. EEP.

NYE resolutions - are you checking in?

It is the beginning of the month, my birthday month of course! AND I never posted my New Years resolutions so lets have a little ol' progress report now shall we? I always said I would list them out, but I realized taking a pic. of my chicken scratch is more fun. Oh and I just found this hilarious article that will get you in the mood to look at those resolutions.

Here we're my resolutions, well more "goals" actually written a few days befor NYE. Take a peek into mah journal folks.

If you look closely at the picture above it says lose 17 lbs. That's all post-wedding weight. I've lost 8 lbs out of 17 thanks to the yeast-free Diet. 11 lbs to go. Up next, Work out twice a week for one hour. EPIC FAIL. I don't know why I dread working out so much but I do. Time to get over it.

Now this is where it gets funny. Get to bed by 10:30? Its happened a time or two. Cook two times a week at minimum - HA. The joke was on me. Cooking all the time now. Learn how to cook less processed meals. Another cruel joke. How about NO processed foods on the yeast free diet :)

I still need to sign up for a an inDesign class and take a photography class. I almost signed up for a sewing class, but decided I need to put that on hold for now. Somewhere in there, I had finish decorating house - which included a stripe wall which we completed on Dec. 30th, we got the built-in shelves painted, curtains purchased (Saturday AM) and fabric for cornice boards ordered. We finally nailed stuff (not much) into the walls. A lot for January I'd say.

Build a creative space in the house - this is a favorite. Can't wait to start this one. There were also some significant travel plans hidden there and I am really trying to make that happen.

Anybody else look at their NYE list yet? I'm a NYe junkie so do share!

Tessy

A Random Weekend in Pictures

I was putzing around with my camera this weekend. Matthew said it's time to drop our projects and take a trip outta town, so out of town we went.

V-day sprucey spruce on a Friday night.

Leaving Houston, Galveston bound!

One of my fave places

Surprise! It's Mardi Gras. Whoops we forgot.

Random Darth Vader siting

Galveston Pleasure Pier

240 feet up we went.

The only thing I could find to eat, Sans the cocktail sauce.

What I thought was a sign that the 49'ers would win. Apparently not.

Over and out. Bye bye Galveston.

Then we came home and cooked a ton of YF items. Like this spinach and artichoke dip. And I watched the game in my robe, holla! But more about my progress (or lack there of) in the diet department later. I also FINALLY blogged my New Years Resolutions. If you're nosey and like to read other people's resolutions, like me, well then you can read them here.