{happy holidays}

may your days be merry & bright...

wishing you a happy christmas filled with love and laughter!

A&O

{local love} holidays in highland park

friday night: date night. it was A's turn to plan the surprise date - a christmas-tastic afternoon/evening in dallas.

{galleria!}

first stop: the galleria. shopping, lattes, and the biggest christmas tree this side of rockefeller center. we watched the kids ice skating around the tree and stayed long enough to see the cheesy light show. we talked about our crazy weeks and did a lot of people-watching. one sweet hello kitty hat and one cozy grandpa sweater later we headed south for phase II of our date.


christmas lights in highland park. we're not talking inflatable snowmen here, people. they take their christmas decorating very seriously. a christmas tree in every room, a string of lights on every branch of every tree in every yard {no lazy zig-zagging here}. you can do your own driving or take a carriage ride through the town. either way it's definitely the best christmas light situation in all of dallas.  

{memory lane}

towards the end of our christmas lights tour, we drove by my old elementary school. we got out and peeked into the windows and played at the playground. it was such a perfect winter night - cold and clear, with the brightest moon ever. we played a little basketball and then crossed the street to the soccer field. i vividly remember running laps and playing kickball there, back in the days when my biggest worry was about which keds to wear with my color-blocked tee shirt and christmas was at its most magical. 

{party animals} our blue blue christmas party

A and i throw a christmas party every year. we usually make ourselves crazy in the process, but we love it anyway. this year we threw a "blue christmas" party: blue champagne punch, blue yummies, and my favorite: blue stripey straws. everybody wore blue and much merriment was made. 
each year we pick a charity to include in the festivities - this year we asked our guests to bring a bag of dog or cat food to donate to a the north texas food bank. we ended up with tons of food for needy pets {thanks, friends}! our cats thought they'd hit the jackpot when they discovered all the food under the tree the next day. they were pretty brokenhearted when we took the food away, but then we explained the meaning of christmas to them and they were okay with it {i think}.

{homebody} holiday decorating

every year right after thanksgiving we decorate for christmas. we put on christmas movies, decorate the tree, bake sugar cookies, and generally just get all christmasy.

{scoop's favorite day of the year!}

{gubs helps make paper snowflakes}

{the finished product}

{A gets creative with leftover dough}

{stateside} thanksgiving in ithaca

a couple of years ago my mom and stepdad ditched the texas heat and moved to upstate new york. i was sad at first - i'd never been more than 45 minutes away from them! and as much as i miss having them here, i know they're so happy up there {plus, now we have another place to go visit!}.
ithaca is a college town in every sense of the word - it's home to cornell and ithaca college, hippies of all ages, a spectacular farmers market, delicious vegetarian restaurants, lots of resale shops, local artists and musicians... it's situated on the southern shore of the largest of the finger lakes, and it offers incredible views, stunning waterfalls, and gorgeous gorges. there are local wineries and independent breweries and gimme! coffee and purity ice cream.
this year we headed up to ithaca for thanksgiving. it was a nice quiet week: we did a whole lot of eating, relaxing, shopping, sleeping, and more eating.  when we weren't stuffing ourselves stupid at the house and lounging around with the two kitties, we shopped and ate our way around the ithaca commons {perhaps not the most exciting shopping scene ever, but the food situation is pretty fantastic}. we hit just about every thrift shop we could find {ithaca has a killer salvation army store, by the way} and sampled fifteen different craft beers that we bought at the ithaca coffee company. we watched as much football as my parents could stand {i think A managed to terrify their friends with his football yelling}. we even decorated the house for christmas. then we ate some more.

{appetizer chips at simeon's}

{crazy plastic bag mushroom sculpture}

{mate factor: coffee shop/tree house}

{wall spidey}

{two of many beers}

{weekender} fall in fredericksburg: day one

{on the road again}

it just so happens that A's family has an incredible historical home and a good amount of land in the texas hill country just outside of fredericksburg {why, yes, i am the luckiest girl in the world, thank you}. it's especially lovely in the fall, so we decided to take a half day on friday and go down for a long weekend.


naturally we grabbed lunch in west at the czech stop. {this place is absolutely a must if you ever find yourself driving between dallas and austin. the kolaches are made fresh every day by czech angels in heaven. exit 353 on I35. do it.}

after five or six hours on the road, we arrived in downtown fredericksburg. most of the shops there were closed, but we walked down main street and found a little dinner spot called hondo's. pure hill country awesomeness. specialty margaritas, great patio, live music, stuffed armadillos, et cetera {you had me at popsicle margarita}. when we were finished eating, we "got married"* at the gazebo by our table and then wandered over to check out the band playing outside at a restaurant across the street.

an hour or so later we were driving up to the house, scattering the dozen deer who had been grazing in the yard. we took a moment to admire the stars in the cold, clear night sky before heading in for the evening. we ate dessert {pumpkin kolaches from west} on the couch and watched a little television until we were ready to sleep.

*we're big nerds, in case you haven't already figured that out. specifically, love nerds. any time we see a really good wedding spot, we have a two-second ceremony and a kiss. vomit if you must. i'm not ashamed.

{weekender} fall in fredericksburg: day two

frigid weather and a noisy old windmill prevented us from getting much sleep that night, but we woke up with the sun {and the local rooster}. we drank our morning coffee and then we got all bundled up in some borrowed hunting clothes for a walk.

we explored the barns behind the house {i found some treasures to take home!}, visited the cows and turtles at the pond, and saw the various broken-down tractors and trucks that live on the property. we hiked through a huge overgrown field where A claims he used to find arrowheads and elephant bones as a kid, saw some giant ant piles, and then came upon a group of trees where three deer were grazing and playing.

after our walk, we freshened up a bit and went back into town. we ate brunch on the patio at mahaley's - sadly, we'd missed their famous breakfast tacos by about an hour, but A's burger and my sandwich were yummy and satisfying. we soaked up some sunshine and gathered our strength for an afternoon of shopping...

first stop: red. quite possibly the best store i've ever been to in my entire life. no joke. modern and vintage home furnishings, fabrics, and accessories, all merchandised so perfectly that i wanted to move in and/or cry tears of joy.

next we hit der kuchen laden to get a cup of coffee and look at all the kitchen toys we never knew we needed. we drank our coffee outside and listened to some local texas folk music.

after coffee we stepped into homestead and friends, another incredible antiques store with fantastic displays. the store goes on forever - there's an upstairs, a basement library, a courtyard and side rooms all filled with amazing treasures {and more than a few creepy ones}.

we visited some other great shops, like house.wine {wine bar + home decor? yes please!} and something different II {eclectic home furnishings and accessories}. but my all time favorite may be dooley's five and dime. it's pure junk, all of it, but it's the most fun ever!

worn out from our day of shopping, we picked the closest pizza place and ordered a pie to go. we sat at the bar in the charming courtyard and drank a glass of fredericksburg wine while we waited. of course we also checked out the game room and wrote on the chalkboard before it was time to go home.

back at the house, we scared all the deer in the yard again. we ate our pizza and watched the most recent harry potter dvd {i know, we're such party animals}. after dinner we went out into the back yard to look at the stars and listen to the sounds of the texas hill country.

{weekender} fall in fredericksburg: day three

we slept much better on our second night in fredericksburg {thankyouverymuch, heater and white noise iphone app!}. we woke up early and watched deer and cardinals in the back yard while we drank our coffee. we took our time packing up and saying goodbye to the house.

on our way out of town, we stopped in llano at cooper's {another must if you find yourself in the area}. it's an old school, nothing fancy, paper-towels-on-the-table and beans-in-a-bucket kind of place. if you don't get there before 11:30 you will be waiting for a long long time to place your order at the meat pit, but you won't be disappointed. we ate a quick bite and then headed home after our perfect hill country weekend.

{party animals} owl birthday party

a year ago this month, my ridiculously adorable niece lila was born! now it's time to celebrate her first birthday {and i'm the lucky lady who got to design her owl-themed party invitations}!

{p.s. how cute are those owl cupcakes her mommy made?}

{party animals} nola-bama wedding road trip

this weekend A and i took a road trip to go to our friend's 10-10-10 wedding in gulf shores, alabama! 


we left friday afternoon and carpooled with our good friend C. since it's a long drive to alabama, we decided to break it up with a little detour to our favorite city in the us: new orleans. we met up with two of our other friends and had the craziest awesomest twelve hours of our lives - we ate dinner at the gumbo shop, invented an epic drinking game, got our cards read in jackson square, danced our faces off, and who knows what else!

the next morning we had craw fish omelets in jackson square before the four-hour drive to gulf shores. we got there just in time to check in to our sweet beach side condos {thank you, C!} and head over to the ginormous beach house where the bridal party and families were staying. the wedding-eve celebration involved delicious home cooking {by the groom's grandma}, beer and tequila shots {poured by grandma}, and more dancing {also by grandma}. at one point i got kidnapped by the groom's eight-year-old daughter and we went on a secret mission of some sort. then we ate cake.

i'm not sure how we even woke up the next morning, but we did. and C and the girls had prepared an amazing champagne-and-seafood brunch!

after brunch we all got dressed and headed back to the beach house for the big show! the ceremony was beautiful - all of the guests stood on the sand, facing the water and watching the bride and groom say their i dos. the sun was shining, the bride looked gorgeous, and it was time to party! i would've expected nothing less than the most fabulous party ever from our dear friend K, and she delivered. i laughed, i cried, i danced like a crazy person, i even had to take a nap in the middle of it all. then i danced some more. we left right around the time that everyone started passing out on couches. but the thing that sticks with me is the sense of overwhelming love and joy that we all shared with each other this weekend. we were all family, whether we knew each other or not, celebrating the happy couple on 10-10-10.

{local love} state fair of texas

{howdy folks}

i don't want to hyperbolize this, but the state fair may be hands down the very best thing about texas. big tex, corny dogs, car show, baby animals, people watching, carnival rides, fried everything, pig races, weird exhibits...the list goes on and on. A and i have gone to the fair together every single year since we started dating. the foundation of our relationship was built upon our mutual love of the state fair and fletcher's corny dogs {okay that may be an exaggeration. but one year we each ate three!}. somehow we make it work, even though we will never be able to agree on which condiment is appropriate {ketchup, obviously}.

{the eternal battle}

at this point we have it down to a science:
1.  show up early
2.  fletcher's corny dogs for breakfast
3.  car show
4.  more car show
5.  baby animals
6.  shopping pavilions & midway walk
7.  petting zoo
8.  tater swirls

9.  maybe a show {frisbee dogs or pig races}
10. maybe a ride or two {if A is feeling brave}
11. exhibit hall {butter sculpture + children's art}
12. turtle pond
13. more shopping
14. funnel cake

{local love} pumpkins at the dallas arboretum

october is my favorite month in texas. the weather is blissful, football season is in full swing {hello, texas-ou!}, the state fair is on, and everything everywhere is pumpkins! yesterday A took me on a surprise date to the pumpkin festival at the dallas arboretum.