weekends were made for...

finally getting some fall-ish weather again,

halloween party shenanigans (we were mary poppins & the chimney sweep. also pictured: the cutest piglet you'll ever see, a taco, a lone star beer bottle, the brawny man, a lichtenstein painting, and friar tuck),

yummy texas drinks,

and spending a bit of time in the backyard after a sunday run.

are you dressing up for halloween?

update: book list for 2012

one of the goals on my 30before30 list is to read at least a book a month for one year.

i can technically go ahead and check this one off, since i've read more than 12 books this year, but i want to see how many i can get to by the end of 2012. so, here's a quick update on my book list:

(previous update: here):

1. Not That Kind of Girl: A Memoir - Carlene Bauer

2. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

3. The Same Kind of Different As Me - Ron Hall

4. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson

5. Wild - Cheryl Strayed

6. Arcadia - Lauren Groft

7. Unorthodox - Deborah Feldman

8. The Help - Kathryn Stockett

9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon

10. Blood, Bones & Butter - Gabrielle Hamilton

11. Gone Girl - A Novel - Gillian Flynn

12. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

13. Bringing Up Bebe - Pamela Druckerman

14. The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker - Janet Groth (currently reading)

what are you reading right now?

(see my full 30before30 list here)

ride in a hot air balloon

goal #18 on my 30before30 list is to ride in a hot air balloon.
i'm not gonna lie - i'm scared to do it. but it got on my list, so it has to be done!
my friend john mentioned to me that next month his girlfriend is riding in a hot air balloon around austin for her birthday. i never really thought about being able to do it in the city i live in, i'm not sure why. so for obvious reasons, i'm excited about this and now have hot air ballooning on the brain. because of that, i want to share my favorite photos of this.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

has anyone ever been in a hot air balloon?
don't you think it'd be a perfect anniversary or birthday activity? hopefully they'll allow some champagne on board.

(see my full 30before30 list here)

weekends were made for...

finally getting some sleep! (i know you can't tell because of my glasses, but this was after a very restful night's sleep, which hasn't happened in weeeeeeks), 

perfect saturday mornings in the backyard,

spending time in creepy halloween stores,

dinner dates with a handsome husband,

drinks with friends,


kitties that look drunk from happiness,

amazing brunches,

and work parties that don't suck.

on a note unrelated to weekends - 

has anyone else started their christmas shopping?

last year i was done buying gifts by thanksgiving, and let me tell you - it felt awesome. so my plan is to do that this year again. i used to be one of those last minute shoppers and then i learned that i don't deal with holiday stress very well.

i promise to post more than once this week! hope you have a great monday.

{play} me in october + venting

let me preface this post by saying that i hate debbie downers. i really do.

this whole "fml" thing is one of the most obnoxious phrases that i've ever heard, and i know way too many people who use it all. the. time.

now, that being said - i've had a rough month. insomnia is catching up with me in a bad way...i'm emotional and scatterbrained. i don't think one should be able to go two months with just 3-ish hours of sleep a night! and our house keeps basically pushing us out the door by giving us more and more annoying signs that we temporarily don't want to be homeowners, and we don't want the responsibility of having to pay for everything and fix everything on our own! and we all know how working 1:00-10:00pm is just so fun, right? leaves a lot of time to spend with a husband who's gone half the month for work.

ok, rant over. and i didn't even say fml once.

here's a playlist i've been listening to lately that's been cheering me up...

oh and speaking of cheer, shiner cheer is out. my favorite beer of the year! that's also making me feel better.

on to the playlist:

picture source - my iphone


and a reminder, post-venting session-

source

weekends were made for...

friday night outfits + movie dates,

co-hosting chili + beer fests that include dessert tables & late night yard games,

pumpkin painting as part of my fall to-do list,

testing lipstick for my halloween costume,

& spending a few hours in bed on sunday watching a kid's movie while the husband treats me to a cookie & milk.

even though it was wayyy warmer than what i was wishing for this weekend, i'll take it.

images that inspire: {home edition}

my dad has always had a huge, wall-sized map in his home with pins in places that he's been.

i've always wanted one too-

my dream reading nook-

clean, simple, comfy-

i've wanted a bookshelf ladder since beauty & the beast-

perfectly rustic-

yes. just, yes-

mini green subway tile-

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 

looking back at this post, it seems like all of these rooms/homes have an international flair, no?

i think most of them fit perfectly in paris, spain, maybe italy?

weekends were made for...

coming home from a late shift to wine, brie and crackers from the husband,

testing out scarves + getting photobombed by oliver,

birthday parties that include pinatas, authentic mexican food, and hilarity,

lazy sundays in which i can spend 2 hours reading in bed,

and actually needing to keep my ears warm during a run (it was 55 degrees!)

i had a very fun weekend and am only slightly sad that i work until 10pm 4 nights this week. only slightly.

i went for a really, really good run this morning that i feel great about, and i had avoided that run all weekend. i'm still a little bit in shock about the fact that i had to keep my ears warm, and run with a hoodie. and honestly, that concerns me because of the fact that yesterday was exactly 2 months before my half marathon. and if it's 55 degrees now, in the first half of october, who knows what it'll be on december 9th?! i'm sure it'll be back up to 85 by tomorrow though, who am i kidding.

on a totally different note, here's a sneak peek at a craft night i had with lesley last week - full post will be done within the week!