Links for your reading pleasure

Or whatever that means.
We are a little exhausted this week.  Whew.  I am so glad its the weekend!  We have soccer, volleyball, football watching  and birthdays to celebrate this weekend and we couldn't be more excited.  Who knows how these first games are going to go... We are fingers crossed that we don't hate them and then cry at every future event we have to attend based around said sport.   It has happened in the past so wish us luck.

Just been liking some things that are floating around.

This posthumous letter to a writers daughter is everywhere, but I just loved it.

Have yall been to patternbooth?  It is fantastic.

I love this dress.

Confetti Bedding?  Awesome.

Love these fall clothes.  Mostly because I can wear shoes and jackets! Shirts and jeans are much more of a squeeze... Come on fall.

And on amazing again.

Check out Julie's amazing cookies! She is so freakin talented!

And, on this friday the 13 I just wanted to say a little happy birthday to my mom and favorite youngest brother!  You guys are both so incredibly kind, sensitive, sweet.  I could not be more thankful for you both in my life, Jeff's life and the kids love you both more than I could have ever imagined! Yall are truly such a blessing to me and I cant wait to celebrate with you guys this weekend!
Love you both!

Friday Links

Clearly a life motto.

Here are some links for your weekend.

Such a cute cowboys and indians bday party.

This embroidery is incredible.

Pretty shelves.

I am so far from any kind of designer, but I always love looking at dribble and pretending like I am.

I know this is a little old, but I read it and so many follow ups and responses and thought it was very interesting.

This is hilarious.

BEST DAY EVER.  And speaking of TV, Breaking Bad is back.  Just, wow.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

Hope you guys had a great week!!
We get to see al and linds together this weekend and we could not be more excited.  This living close to people is just so great.  And we are taking full advantage of it.  Everything else is going to be pretty low key.  Hope your weekend is full of relaxing and maybe you can squeeze in some last minute pool seshes before school starts.
Here are some of my favorite reads off the world wide web lately-

I thought this post was just so inspiring. I just love the idea of growing past the idea of how we have to grow and buy and change with the design trends.  The woman who wrote the book that the party is about sounds so courages and innovative.  I just loved it.

I have been loving Cup of Jo's motherhood around the world posts.  It is so interesting to see how other mothers parent, live and interact with others in other countries (compared to the US).
And The Office auditions are pretty great, too.

This pinata lamp is awesome.  and I love the tissue paper flower garden.

Straws as cake toppers. genius.

These summer icons are sweet.

I think this is more a need than a want.

This is a pretty DIY.

It is not even in the 90's outside and I cant stop pinning things to knit. Something is clearly off in my head.

TIGF folks.

Friday (yeaaaaa)

Am I right?

We have been playing at the park a lot lately in this crazy texas weather and it has just been so nice.  Its crazy because one day we are in shorts and the next a scarf, boots and a coat.  I am not complaining, though.  I was not ready to let go of winter this year.  I was loving dark colors, layers and boots.  I am easing into pastels and whites.  Hopefully by the time it decides to actually stay hot, Ill be ready for shorts. maybe?






(and we found some bluebonnets on the side of the road the other day.  They are so gorgeous I cant get over it.  aves opted out of the photo op :)
Just cant say enough about these twins lately.  They are just melting my heart with how much they love each other.  With the move coming up and so many changes on the horizon, I am just so thankful they have each other.  They are truly best friends and opposites who pick up right where the other left off.  They hardly ever fight and they are always looking out for each other.  (I guess thats a perk to having three kids ages 3 and under?  I dont really know.  I def did not do anything special to make them this way.  I wish I could take more credit.)  I wish avery had a partner in crime, but she is just so strong on her own and loves her alone time.  I am so proud of how she takes things head on and doesnt complain.  She is much stronger than me.
Ok, sappy story over.
We are headed out for a camping with cousins weekend and I just could not be more excited.  Hopefully this warmer weather will stay through the weekend!
Here are some things I cant get enough of as of late-

Really into her beautiful blog lately.

and this one.  (Totally different. much more sophisticated and together then me.  I just love me a style blog though.) oh, and this one. she is so straightforward and hilarious.

and this one.  there are no words for what she has been through and I just can not imagine how she is coping right now.

Staying with heavy topics I just finished this book and this book in three days.  I could not put them down.  I stayed up late, took them with me and read at red lights (original reading text while driving? Im so funny).  The whole thing. They were amazing and full of so much love and loss and heartache, that sometimes it was just too much.  But I still could not put them down.  I highly recommend both books.  They provided me with so much perspective and gratitude of my place in this world.  They reminded me to be thankful and present in the moment and just to take it all in.
(and the sappiness returned.  sorry.)
Ok, this post has taken a lot of turns, wow.  If you are still reading- a giant invisible trophy is definitely in order.
Hope your weekend is full of twists and turns and lots of love.  Happy friday!

Wednesday Links and way too many self portraits of me

I planned on this going out on friday but did not really get it together until today.

So, here's too much information about me via self portraits.

I have been obsessed with wool and the gang for a while but I just cant justify buying more yarn when I have so much.  I love this collar, though.  So I kind of just looked at it as closely as possible, googled it, saw every pic I could online and made it.  It is def not perfect, but I like it.  So, I made it again in wheat. 

(oh, and I went brunette last week on a whim.)

(and why can't you I ever do my hair like the professionals.  I tried not to shower so I could just keep it like she had it but even when I didnt shower, my professional hair only lasted for like a minute.  And ok, I didnt have to try not to shower.  and I wear this men's flannel everyday.  and my hand is a claw in every dorky self photo.  ugh.)

On the copying note, I did the same thing with this headband after I saw Jennifer's.

Airhead cups?? Genius.

and this Tie Clip is fantastic too.

DIY Temporary tattoos.  and tattooed eggs.

St. Patrick's Day poppers.  SO cute.

Happy Spring Break! Here's to everyone sleeping late in the morning, getting to take their grown up kids to mcdonalds and to get ice cream in the middle of the day.  Woo hoo!

Friday Links

Things have been crazy over here with school starting, homework, getting lunches together, etc.  And we started ballet. And it is adorable.  And then sassy wanted to and then backed out in a matter of minutes (even though I paid and had to unpay in that amount of short time.  Why do I jump on things so fast on things that I know probably wont work out and wait ten years for things that do matter...passport renewal anyone...) I am not the most organized person (at all), so trying to stay organized and on top of things always swings me for a loop.  And then I feel like I have to simplify because I can only keep a certain number of things in my brain...Does everyone do that?  That makes me sound small brained.  I probably am.  And if I had access to the rest of my brain I would probably only use it to store something useless like movie lines or when my shows come on.  

I am so deep.

On with more pressing matters.

Love anything with sequinned shorts and dolly parton.

Cant wait for our party weekend!! We get to celebrate the cutest babies in the world back to back and I couldnt be more excited.

I want to eat this right now. for breakfast even.

Ashley's baby girl is home!!  (Im sure she doesn't care if I call her ashley even though I don't know her and mostly just cry and feel like I know her more with every post.  It is probably so weird how I have followed every move with her little girl but I am just so in awe of her and her sweet family and SO happy for them!!  I did the same thing with my friend Cassie.  I am a stalker.  Especially if you are adopting.  It just makes me teary and overflow with excitement.)

Denim on denim. 

Cool music monday. 

love the painted baskets.

And happiest birthdays to my mom and brother michael.  Love you both so much and could not be more thankful for you both in my life!

More updates on ballet, sorry, labor day and chicken pot pie to come! Hope yall are in for a great weekend ahead!

New Door & a few Links

Just trying something new.  I kind of feel like the circus with the orange curtains and the yellow door, so I am going to have to change one of them...I just cant decide which one yet.
(Have y'all ever said a word over and over and then it kind of becomes not a word anymore?? Thats what I did with yellow while I was making this pic.  Looking at it and saying it- I asked ben and sass what yellow meant and if it was a real word.   Hahahah, I know.  What can I say?  But, really, say 'yellow' over and over and see what happens..  What? Nothing?  Nevermind. Me either.)
I just read this article on memory and memory loss and found it so interesting (this is not the article but I cant find it anywhere! this is just someone's synopsis.  Go buy Elle and read it guys.  It is so good)
Excited about this new record. I love HitRecord and just wish I had skills to collaborate.
Polka dot shorts!! I gotta do it!!
Just made this chicken pot pie on tuesday night and it was amazing.  like so so good.  and I really dont like chicken pot pie.  and there is cream cheese in the crust- how could i resist that. for real.
Loving these feathers.
I want to make this marquee letter.  So cool.
And these cake toppers.
Hope yall are having a great week so far- one more day until friday!! woo hoo!

randomness

I feel like I'm so behind on blogging. Not a lot to catch up on, or at least with pictures.

Kristen and I did have the most rad weekend in Lubbock that we will share soon! I'm still waiting on pics from Celeste. (hint, hint)

Until then, here are some random link ups.

These lettuce wraps are amazing. 

Snake bubbles are on my to do list this week.

A mud pie kitchen in the backyard would be McKenna's dream.

Today is this girl's 21st birthday! Happy Birthday Stephanie! 

Delicious dessert I need to make.

Wish I was snacking on these now.

Cool rug.  

and since a post isn't a post without a picture, I will leave you with this adorable one.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!

Monday Musings

*Those are squash!! Aren't they the coolest squash you have ever seen?!?  They are called Texas Patty Pan squash.  I have no idea what they taste like, but they are so cute, I mean, do they even need to be good?

*I recently read an article about how picking at your face is not just a habit, but that it more of a disorder.  

Do you hear that mom- I clearly have a disorder (called dermatillomania).  

People who have this make up things in their heads that they think are zits or blackheads or whatever and then pick at them even though they really aren't there.

I really don't know if this is real or if I really do need to just have self control when I want to pick at my face, but it feels so nice being described as something that is not real.  That really all the pores and blackheads are in my head.

I need to find a more productive way to deal with stress instead of making scars.  

Like eating candy....

*How sad are the fires in Colorado??? My sister and brother in law live up there and we are praying for their family and friends.  I just cant imagine how scary that must be.

*A switch in the total opposite direction- This weekend we watched Jim Gaffigan's "Mr. Universe" and it was hilarious! I really could not stop laughing.  And its on netflix! I just love netflix. 

*Speaking of direction, we knew it was coming but I def love New Direction.  You don't have to say anything.  Anything you want to say to me, I have already said to myself.  But they are so catchy!!! I love it.

*This book on introverts look so interesting.  Jeff took the meyer briggs personality test at his conference a few weeks ago and then I took it on his same test paper and then made my brother do it on the same test paper after us.  We are kind of obsessed.  It is just so fun to see how everyone thinks and is programmed.

*Tie Dye denim??!! Two of my favorites combined.  I am so going to have to do this.

You're welcome for that crazy look inside my very disorganized brain.
Hope y'all have a great start to the week.

Case of the Mondays

(We found some roly polies this weekend and made them a little home-we'll see how long they live. I give it 2 more hours.)
How heart breaking are the pics of brave little ella in those wires?? it just breaks my heart seeing her liked that and she just has the sweetest attitude! love her.
Just thought I would start this week off with some links.

Its been a while.
Did y'all see the moon this weekend???

This post is something that I have been thinking a lot about lately and am so very thankful for my own mom and dad and childhood.

My friends and I are going to make a friendship quilt together and we are starting to pic out fabrics.  they have both made amazing quilts and I have never made anything and can never cut straight or sew in a straight line.  I think I am going to need some lessons...

Lindsay's grandparents anniversary was so inspirational and sweet.  Her family is so neat (and of course incredibly beautiful!)

every. single. thing. katie does is amazing.  these popsicles look delish;  her nursery-there are no words.  incredible; really all her pics and stories are just so beautiful. (as are her tattoos! I am just in love with all of them!  They are so light and beautiful)

I love everything about this girl.  Her hair. Her clothes.  She is a runner. Her latest post is denim on denim (a personal fave.) love it all.
How good do these look?
These are so cute!
I made these last week and they were amazing! (and gluten free!)
This camper is adorable.
For some reason I cant stop thinking about Thomas J and Veda Sultenfuss this week.  Am I too old to rent My Girl?
My cousin lins sent me this idea this week.  Amazing!! Perfect for this weekend!
Hope y'all had a great weekend and festive Cinco De Mayo!!

Easter crafts to come

Besides eating bag after bag of starburst jellybeans, not a whole lot of Easter happenings have been going on around here. I did buy these cute Easter buckets for 5 dollars at target today and used my silhouette to cut out the girls names in vinyl.

Last year Ella and I silk-dyed eggs using ties and Kristen made paper mache eggs.  I have seen so many cute Easter crafts on pinterest that I hope to do next week. 

These are definitely a "during McKenna's nap" kind of craft but look like so much fun!

Maybe Ella would actually eat her lunch if I did this.

I think I will try the kool-aid method for dying eggs this year.

I do love stripes.

I can't wait to do this someday! What a fun adult egg party idea!

Who says Easter egg hunting has to stop when the sun goes down?! Glow in the dark Easter eggs! Genius.

I will leave you with this classic Easter bunny picture. 

McKenna feels no different about the bunny as she did Santa.  

Some videos for the weekend

Just a few videos I have cracked up at the last couple of weeks.
I am totally obsessed with marcel.  

Guess why I smile a lot? Uh, because its worth it.

This one is going around but I think its pretty cute.

Bri Emery from Designlovefest's loft is super cute.
Rue - design loft fest from Son of Shark Pig on Vimeo.

ok.  I thought there were a lot more.

I guess three is the magic number.

Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend.

Knit Faves

So, my birthday was so outta control I cant even really write about it until I have more time to sit down.  I have most of a post written out but its just so much amazingness and love that I kind of can't even comprehend it right now.  I am still reeling.

So, I have a  few favorite knits right now that would be fun to make for your favorite loved ones for christmas (or buy for them), and I thought I would pass those along.  

Also, a few of you guys have emailed about making knitting and crochet videos and we are throwing that idea around...

Back to knits.  How fun are these???

Gorgeous rainbow blanket.  Garter stitch. Def a can do.

I love this hat and tried to google this bow stitch but I couldn't find it.  Just love it.  And all of her stuff.

Like this bow hat, too.
She is so cute and talented.

So, the closest thing I could find to the bow hat was this pattern so I made this and I love it.  It was really fast and the pattern was really easy to understand.
Her whole site is pretty amazing.  She makes so much stuff! Its incredible.

Like this heart hat.

I love this kids jcrew stocking so much.

and these socks.

and this knit on knit.  love it.
Ok guys, back with birthday stuff in a jif.

Tuesday Loves

Kind of fallish/holidayish and mostly just fun.

This is so fantastic.  I want to start this today.  Love it.

This shop on Etsy is so cute.  I love the alphabet book and the pillows. The tooth pillow is so cute.

Martha makes me want to learn to cross stitch.
How cute would it be to put it on one side of your christmas card after you did it.  Love it.

also loving her twig coasters.  these could also be placemats.  so cute for thanksgiving.

Speaking of coasters, these painted ones are so cute from design sponge.  They would be cute also as hot plates and you could put christmasy stuff or thanksgivingish stuff on them.  I am def trying these.

Just saw this on flickr and a friend of mine wanted me to try and make it and it turns out she has a mini pattern!  It was super easy!!  And its actually from ravelry.com!


and then I made one in navy for aly.

It looks blue here, but its actually super dark navy.  oh well, you can see the stitches better with this alternate coloring...
I am also working on a few stockings for Jennifer.  I hope they turn out good!


Here are just the tops of two of them so far...
oh, and I made the smores thing from pinterest and it was so good.  I highly recommend it if you are in the mood for smores.

Ok, I guess that is all I have so far...
Hope you guys are having a great tuesday!

Biopolar link love

This list of links can show you how crazy my DIY brain is going lately...

I just found this new to me blog and I like some of her DIY...

Love this vase  DIY too.

How cute are these favor pyramids from Martha??

I want to try this herringbone stitch.  Isn't it gorgeous??  Sigh.
I keep asking y'all questions I already know the answer to.  Sigh. again.

Is this possible?? Could I actually make this???
On the complete other side of my brain I have been wondering what I can do to help with the horror going on in Africa and all parts of the world.  I saw this video and just could not even wrap my brain around the horror that these people deal with.
And then I read this post about chocolate and how some of it is farmed by small children.  It just broke my heart and I want to be apart of the solution.  I bought chocolate-less candy this year (which is actually my candy of choice) but I am not sure if that is the safest thing either.  I don't know but I do know I want to do the best I can to help...
OK, so I want to make all of the DIYs today and feel like I need to find out where they sell yellow leather...Maybe I will start on the knit one first since I have too much yarn already...

pinterest food love

 I love when a recipe shows a picture so I have absolutely loved looking at all the different recipes on pinterest. Last week I kinda went crazy in the kitchen and cooked a few of the recipes I had pinned.

This chocolate chip cookie recipe caught my eye on pinterest because it said New York Times best cookie recipe. I have failed many times at making chocolate chip cookies (I should just let the pro Kristen do it for me) but I decide to give this one a shot. For some reason my cookies always turn out flat. Even though these cookies lacked in volume, they made up for in taste. They were so yummy. Why wouldn't they be with FOUR sticks of butter! The only thing I will do different next time is use milk chocolate instead of bittersweet. 

 

Then I made this delicious corn dog. It was so easy and SO good! Who doesn't love a corn dog on a stick?! Put a bamboo stick though a hot dog and then wrap crescent rolls around it. 

This recipe kinda gives me the creeps.

 It's so weird looking but it really was fun to make. Ella loved sticking the raw spaghetti through the hot dog pieces but when it came to eating the cooked product she was a little weirded out. I don't blame her:)

Then I made this jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwich.

It was good but it took me all day to get the jalapeno off my hands from seeding them. Kristen had a good idea of just using jarred sliced jalapenos next time.

Bob loves a wedge salad so last night I made this homemade blue cheese dressing and it was so good!  

Do y'all have any favorite meals you have found on pinterest?