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)

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.

to-do list: fall version

i've made a fall to-do list for myself, and i'm really excited about it!

i made a summer to-do list, so i figured, why not just keep this up? sometimes we don't technically get anything close to "fall" here in texas, but it's looking like we'll actually get a season this year. and it started early!

so here we go.

-have fun with pumpkins.

i'm not really a pumpkin carver per se, but i'm all about some paint and decorating. here are some ideas/inspiration:

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-make s'mores in the backyard.
there's really no excuse not to do this. everyone loves s'mores.

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-go back to our urban drive in movie theater here in austin.
have you guys been to a drive-in? i had never gone before last year, when they opened up this cute little urban drive-in, and now i'm obsessed. especially when the weather is perfect! it's byob (or bring your own wine, or liquor, or...whatever!), and you can even pack your own snacks or enjoy a handful of food trucks parked right behind it.

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-bake/make something pumpkiny.
both the husband & i love anything that involves pumpkin. are we alone here? i'm sure we're not.

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-try to pull off scarves in a cute way.

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what's on your fall to-do list?

(see my full 30before30 list here)

to-do list: {DIY projects}

ok, because it's on my summer to-do list and #17 on my 30before30 list, i need to get movin' on some craftiness/diy projects. i was supposed to have done 2 by mid-september.

hmm. yeah.

i have done zero this summer. so, i'm forcing myself to pick at least one of these diy projects that i've come across, and i'll have to have it done within the next 2 weeks.

terrariums: i love them. i absolutely love them. i have a thing for cacti and succulents...other than orchids, i'm not a huge flower-type of girl. if the husband came home with some cool succulents that i could plant, or an adorable little cacti garden, he'd score way more points (hint, hint).

so i think these diy terrariums are perfect! also a bonus: my cat tends to eat anything green, which makes it hard to have flowers or plants around. but these are nicely sheltered from his furry paws.

inspiration pieces:

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wallpaper + bookshelves:  we have 2 tall bookshelves upstairs that are very dark and not very much our style, i'm slowly realizing. so i'd love to add a light, simple wallpaper along the back that would brighten them up and make them more modern.

inspiration pieces:

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stencils + pillows: i really like rooms with mismatching pillows, and i'd love for one of these stenciled pillows to be thrown in the mix. the husband & i have several songs that mean a lot to us that would work perfectly for this project.

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color block terracotta pot: this is a very simple diy that i should've done months ago. my mom came to visit & brought me a little aloe plant in a terracotta pot, and it could use a little bit of a makeover. since we plan to spend lots (and lots!) of time in our backyard this fall and winter, i figure it wouldn't hurt to gussy things up out there.

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serving platter + chalk: perfect for cocktail parties & extremely easy to make!

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now that i've got this posted, i have no excuse but to knock at least one of them out.

expect a post soon with pictures of a diy project (hopefully gone right!)

if any of you ladies in austin want in on a craft night, let me know! there's usually always wine involved!

(pssst...see my full 30before30 list here)

updates

a few months ago i posted about my summer to-do list, so i figure it's time for an update on how it's coming along.

this is how things are looking right now:

1. read 4 more books-
i have read 3 books since this list was posted. i've gotten through the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime, the girl who played with fire, and finally read the help (even though i had watched the movie first). i'm about to start reading the receptionist: an education at the new yorker. and i know i can finish that one before september 1st, which means: so far, so good.

2. get through all 10 of my bikram yoga classes (although ideally, I'd like to accomplish this before I go to the bahamas on july 5)
i finished all 10 of my bikram classes that were included in my groupon, and moved on to buy 8 more. as soon as those 8 are done, i'm going to take the plunge and sign up for a membership. it's expensive, but it makes me feel great so i'm thinking it's worth it.

3. complete at least 2 more craft projects
um. well, no crafts have been completed this summer. and i have only a few weeks to get this done, so it looks like i should be posting some DIY inspiration this week or next.

4. host a sunday night supper in june or july
yeah, this didn't get done either. it was entirely too hot and too busy to host a sunday night supper in june or july. i'm actually thinking that we won't host one until october, because i want to be able to enjoy the backyard and right now it's miserable and the mosquitoes have their eyes peeled for me.

5. take photos using something other than my iphone
i have actually been taking photos with my nikon! i'm not ready to share them yet because i feel like they're terrible...but at least i've been taking them, and that's what counts.

so, it's not all done yet. but i did give myself until the beginning of september to finish it all.

 since i mentioned it above, here's what my reading list looks like now:

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. Bringing Up Bebe - Pamela Druckerman

12. The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker - Janet Groth

since i'm ahead of schedule, i'm guessing i'll get through 15 books this year instead of the 12 books that i originally listed as my goal.

have any of you accomplished any of your summer to-do's?

running

last week, i officially signed up to run a half marathon in dallas. i'm not quite sure what i was thinking, but it's too late for me to back out now. i've already committed to a friend who's also running, i've paid for it, i've told the world about it - and this was all on purpose, to keep myself from being able to say "never mind!"

one of the goals on my 30before30 list is to participate in some sort of marathon or race. back in april, i did a really fun, easy 5k and while that allowed me to technically cross off a list item, i didn't really feel like it was worthy.

i have (almost exactly) 4 months to train for this, sometimes that seems like more than enough time & at others, it seems like i'm an idiot. i'm not running with a group, because honestly...i loathe working out with people. i hate when someone tries to speak to me while i'm panting and not even able to form a word, much less a whole, coherent sentence or witty response. but even without a running group, i got this! i know i do. it's not the actual race that i'm worried about. there's no doubt in my mind that on december 9th i'll cross the line at 13.1 miles. i know i've got that part down. because i'm not going to let myself walk near the end when i get tired - i know myself well enough to know that i'll compete with myself allll the way through the finish.  it's the discipline that it takes, that's what's scary.

it's the waking up early on weekdays and weekends to make sure that you've reached your 5-runs-per-week goal. and the "no thanks, i'll pass on that one last delicious cocktail, i have to run in the morning". and the, "yes i know it's already 90 degrees at 8am, but i've got to get out there" statements. those are the things that concern me. but i know that i have to start letting this become fun for me, and i know it'll get there. i just can't wait for that moment! i've reached that point with bikram - i can't wait to get in that hot room, and i'm always excited to get to sweat my ass off for 90 minutes straight.

 so, running, here's to hoping that i start to love you sometime very, very soon!

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are you a runner? any tips to share with me?

DIY round up

in order to help me achieve #17 on my list - to become crafty - i decided to round up some of my favorite DIY's that i've seen in the past few weeks/months. hopefully i'll have a craft night sometime in the very near future and can post pics of a completed DIY project...it's been a long time since that happened.

1. diy cheese platter. (this also perfectly ties in to another 30before30 goal: start a sunday night supper tradition. cheese platters are the best way to start a dinner party anyways)

2. some nail art diy's that are so cute...i have a shaky hand when i'm painting my own nails, so this will most likely end up looking like an abstract painting, but it's worth a shot.

3. a diy color block recipe box. all my printed & written recipes are sloppily laying in a cupboard in my kitchen. i'm thinking that this will look much, much cuter.



4. diy votives. i'm thinking these also tie in to the sunday night supper goal - they'd be cute spread around the tables outside in the fall.

5. a pretty, diy way to keep away mosquitoes. mosquitoes absolutely love me. i'm that person that stands outside and gets 100 bites while nobody even notices there's a mosquito around. so this could really come in handy, since we're trying to spend lots of time in the backyard.

6. a very feminine, but laid-back diy updo.

i have such a hard time doing my own hair. meaning that i don't have the patience for it, so 99.9% of the time, my hair just air dries and i work with what i've got. but this, i could try for the next wedding we go to.

7. a diy cocktail serving tray. serving your guests their cocktails on trays just seems so much fancier than handing it to them, no?

what do you think - would you try any of these?

is anyone else trying (unsuccessfully) to become a crafty lady, like me?

(see my full 30before30 list here)

reading list update

I've finished another book (The Virgin Suicides), so I'm about to start book #7 of the year! 

I've been really, really excited to get started on Blood, Bones & Butter. I just bought it on my Kindle and am crossing my fingers that I can start it on my lunch break today instead of studying modules and working through lunch.
PS. I plan on replacing both the Stieg Larsson books on this list, I'm kind of over them.

So here is my list as it currently stands.

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. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday

9. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

10. Blood, Bones & Butter - Gabrielle Hamilton

11. Bringing Up Bebe - Pamela Druckerman

12. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

bikram yoga + quick summer to-do list

Remember I mentioned buying that Groupon for ten 90-minute Bikram yoga classes?
Well, I went to my first class yesterday afternoon. Let me tell ya, there's no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than sweating through every piece of clothing that you're wearing, and feeling extremely inferior because you're positioned behind a 110 lb yogi girl made of pure muscle. But seriously, there's not.
IT. WAS. AWESOME.
I really and truly did feel like I would pass out within 20 minutes of being in there. And if I wasn't as proud and hard-headed as I am, or if I was in there one-on-one with the instructor, I would've stepped out of the room to regain my consciousness and, you know, be able to breathe real air. But, alas...I could not bear the though of these people thinking, "oh, the newb. I knew she wouldn't be able to make it" (the instructor happily told the entire class that I was the only newcomer to Bikram. Thanks.)
Did I mention that the class was 90 minutes? Oh, I did? Well, that's a hell of a long time. I was sitting very close to the thermostat, and because I'm somewhat masochistic, I kept looking at it to see if it would ever get down to a temperature that didn't make me want to throw up. But no, it stayed at an even 105-108 the entire time.
This sounds like a lot of complaining and exaggeration, but it's not. As soon as the class was over, I felt really, really great, accomplished, stretched, and strong. I can't wait to get to another class (which I think will be this Wednesday), and hopefully this will help me cross off a goal: start a regular yoga practice.


In other news, I made a quickie summer to-do list:
Things I'm going to accomplish this summer:

(I count Summer as now through the beginning of September!)

1. Read 4 more books

2. Get through all 10 of my Bikram yoga classes (although ideally, I'd like to accomplish this before I go to the Bahamas on July 5)

3. Complete at least 2 more craft projects

4. Host a Sunday night supper in June or July

5. Take photos using something other than my iPhone

What's on your quickie summer to-do list? 

Fitness goals? Family goals? Work goals? Travel goals?

(see my full 30before30 list here)

super quick update on my reading list

So far, so good on goal #11 you guys!

I've added 2 more books to my 2012 reading list that I had written down several months ago and shoved in my desk drawer at work. Luckily I was doing a very necessary cleaning of that drawer today and came across my scribbled down titles: Blood, Bones & Butter and Bringing up Bebe. Have you guys heard about that second book around the blogosphere? Some might say it's controversial, but I think it makes perfect sense. It's basically about why women (and men) should raise babies the way French parents do. Where the parents dictate the in-and-outs of every day and dominate conversations and schedules instead of letting children do that. And sure, I realize that it's not only French men and women who raise their children this way. I was pretty much raised that way and I am in no way French. Either way, it sounds pretty interesting and I'm intrigued, so I'll let you all know how it is. Click the titles for more info, below are some of the covers for your viewing pleasure.

(Oh and I finished reading Unorthodox a few weeks ago and just hadn't updated the list yet. So I'm 5 books in and not in May yet, which means I'm ahead of schedule!)

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. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday

9. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

10. Blood, Bones & Butter - Gabrielle Hamilton

11. Bringing Up Bebe - Pamela Druckerman

12.

(see my full 30before30 list here)