mexico trip 2014

time for picture overload. 

also, let's not mention the fact that i haven't posted in months. we'll just move on from that.

last week, tucker and i got back from a vacation that we had kind of been putting off for a long time. about 2 years ago (or maybe even more), we bought a groupon on a whim for a 4 night stay in baja california sur, mexico. it was one of those things that seemed like such an incredible deal that it'd be stupid to pass it up, and it turns out that was very accurate. i say that we had been putting it off, because with work, moving in to the house, other personal travel, etc, it just wasn't happening as quickly as we thought it would. but long story short: we made it to cerritos surf colony and completely fell in love with the place. it was one of the best trips we have ever been on, and we're so, so glad we finally made it out there.

this was one of the few beachy places i haven't been in mexico, so i was really happy to get to check another place off. i can say that i've never been to a beach that's as isolated as this one was - there were never more than about 20 people on the beach at a time, so it was like we had it all to ourselves. 

our little casita was right on the beach and we were lucky enough to wake up and fall asleep to the (super loud) ocean sounds every single day. 

we spent most of our time either reading on the beach, in the cute little town nearby eating shrimp tacos and looking at art galleries, or having a beer in the pool area. we were even able to get a massage on the beach right in front of our little villa! it also helped that there were 2 kitties that lived on-site, the food at the pool bar was amazing, and we found a top secret half-mile beach that we had to ourselves***. 

both of us really, really hope we make it back out here sometime in the next few years, it is definitely a place that has left a mark on our minds, and we hope it never gets spoiled!

***i have to give major props to my husband here. the picture below is the walk-in entrance to the secret beach that we found. not pictured is the mile-long hellish road that we had to drive down to get there. while i was saying "ummm maybe we should turn around?! i don't think our rental can take this road!!!" in a high-pitched voice that usually only dogs can hear, my husband politely ignored my complaints & drove like a champ over approximately 6,732 huge rocks, dips and cacti so that we got to this gem.

summer to-do list update + europe stuff.

you'd think that summertime would be the easiest time to keep a blog updated, with the 105 degree days that keep me inside for the hottest hours of the day, the non-stop pictures i've been taking and the overall fact that it's just summer. but, nope.

clearly you can tell this is not the case for me.

 

although, i do have a few updates from my summer to-do list! 2 weeks ago i posted an update: here, and i'm now happily able to cross of #6 which is to read 4 books between now and the day we left for europe. we still have six weeks until we leave!!! which means i'll probably reach this goal 2 or 3 times over, but that's not a bad thing. in the past 2 weeks, i've read:

1. this is how you lose her, by junot diaz. (one of my all time favorite books is another one by this same author, called the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. if you haven't read it and you don't mind crude humor, please read it. it is so, so good)

2. the fault in our stars, by john green. (i am not a person that cries with books, you guys. it's just not my thing. movies? yes, i'll cry approximately every 10 minutes, but not books. this one here is the exception. at one point i'm pretty sure there was a snot bubble coming out of my nose. this book is great)

3. where'd you go, bernadette: a novel, by maria semple. (this. book. is. hilarious. and sweet. and weird. what more could you want in a book?)

4. the dharma bums, by jack kerouac. (this is my go-to book. i've ready it probably 6 times between the time i was 15 and now, and it's one of my favorite summertime books)

 

now that you got my riveting book reviews, i've also planted a few tiny and adorable succulents...there will be more to come since now i want them all over my house. so here's the current list update:

1. host a summer party

2. go to hamilton pool

3. take a day off work during the week to enjoy austin

4. use my nikon more

5. finally check off goal #5: bake my own sourdough bread

6. read 4 books between now & the time we leave for europe

7. plant some succulents and/or create terrariums

8. keep up the yoga routine i have so far


there's also a very important piece of information that has come to my attention this past week:
both of my brothers (and their ladies!) will be joining tucker + i for part of our europe trip in six weeks.
I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT THIS!
we get the best of both worlds because the first week of the trip will be just the 2 of us, doing our own thing and filling the days however we decide to fill them. and the last week will be full of family and running around and itineraries and i'm sure tons, and tons of pictures. these six weeks could not possibly get here any sooner.
but of course, not too soon since i do have 4 more things to check off of my summer to-do list. so i guess i should get on that.

since i still haven't gotten around to photographing the entire house (and let's be honest, it's not quite ready for that. still. after 6 months of living here), here are some tidbits and corners, and a calligraphy version of our wedding vows that we are frame-hunting for:

 

 

 



summer to-do list: update

near the end of june i posted my summer to-do list right: here.

i decided to put 8 goals on there because 5 just seemed too easy. and i was able to cross of 2 things already:

hosting a summer party & take a day off during the week to enjoy austin (this may seem like a strange one, but i'm super picky about when i use my time off work! i usually set a rule that i won't take a day off unless i'm leaving the city limits which ensures that i always have enough time for vacations, so i forced myself to make an exception here).

 

we had a small group of friends over the first weekend in july - we played ping pong, tapped out a little half keg, snacked on fruit skewers and chicken taquitoes and our friends were kind enough to stock our bar with several bottles of vodka and wine! they do know us afterall. and while i fully intended to use my nikon to take pictures of the party (since it's part of my to-do list), it just didn't work out that way. between baking more rounds of tostaditas and taquitoes and making sure my cat wasn't having a heart attack (he's skiddish), my iphone was just so much more convenient. so here are a few snapshots of the day:

 

 

 

 

 

then a few days after the party, the husband & i took a day off of work to go to krause springs with our friends john & jamie. but since i made the goal specifically to "enjoy austin" during the week, we also attempted to make a stop for early morning bbq (that's the best kind of bbq) at franklin bbq (named the best bbq in america by bon appetit! no big deal), but decided that time spent at krause springs was more important than the 2+ hours we would've spent in line at franklin...so we headed to kerbey lane, which counts just as much since it's an austin staple. 

after we had very full biscuit bloated bellies, we headed to krause springs and it was every bit as beautiful and fun as we were hoping it would be. we kept extending our time ("we'll leave at 3! okay, we'll leave at 4. maybe we should leave at 5??") because we all wanted to live there permanently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

here's what's left on my summer to-do list:

1. host a summer party

2. go to hamilton pool

3. take a day off work during the week to enjoy austin

4. use my nikon more

5. finally check off goal #5: bake my own sourdough bread

6. read 4 books between now & the time we leave for europe

7. plant some succulents and/or create terrariums

8. keep up the yoga routine i have so far



first day of summer + mini summer to-do list

happy first day of summer!

back in april, when it usually starts feeling like summer here in austin, i posted my summer to-do list which includes:

1. host a summer party

2. go to hamilton pool

3. take a day off work during the week to enjoy austin

4. use my nikon more, and

5. finally check off goal #5: bake my own sourdough bread.

 

i'm feeling a little ambitious and wanted to add a few things to it...what better day to add to a summer to-do list than the first day of summer?

so here we go:

 

6. read 4 books between now and the time we leave for europe.(september 17...remember i checked off goal #11 - to read at least one book a month for one year? i want to get back in to it)

 

 

7. plant some succulents and/or create succulent terrariums.

(this is one type of plant my cat won't eat)

 

 

8. keep up the yoga routine i have going so far.

goal #21 on my list is to start a regular yoga practice. i mentioned a few weeks ago that i've been going to sweaty yoga 1-2 times per week for the past 7 weeks now, and i am going to try really hard to make sure that stays consistent. once i reach six months, i feel confident that i can cross it off my list because at that point, i know i'll keep it up!

 

1 // 2 // 3

 

(ps. i've already scheduled off work on july 12th to spend an austiny day with the husband & maybe some friends galavanting around town, and a summer party is in the works. so far, so good!)

 

what's on your summer to-do list?

 



mini to-do list: summer version

last fall i created a fall to-do list and, surprise surprise, i actually checked everything off.

i'm going off of that momentum (from 6 months ago?) and will make sure i check everything off this summer to-do list. i haven't been this excited for summer in a long time since i have really lucked out and it seems as if there will be a good amount of travel time, out-of-town-friends time & family time all wtihin the next 4 months.

i'm ready for you, summer.

 

#1 host a summer party

i've been wanting to host a little party at the new house but since we still have some work to do before we're ready to have people over, i suppose i'll wait a month or two.

 

#2 go to hamilton pool

there's no excuse for the fact that we didn't go last year, so i'm forcing us to find time for it this summer...ideally during the week when it's not filled to the brim with kids (who will pee in the water, i just know it!)

 

 

#3 take a day off work during the week to enjoy austin

this may sound like an easy one, but i'm a big time hoarder when it comes to my time off. typically, my rule is that i won't take a day off work unless i'm leaving the city. but i'm making myself play hooky to do things that are otherwise way over-packed during the weekends.

 

 

#4 use my nikon more

this one is a little vague, i know...i'm not giving myself a certain number of pictures or a certain amount of time to dedicate to it because i don't want it to turn in to a chore. but since goal #12 on my 30before30 list is to master taking photos the way i picture them in my brain, i've got to start somewhere.

 

 

#5 check of goal 5 on my 30before30 list and finally bake sourdough bread!

i know this sounds like a weird one to put on a list like this, but when i check this one off, i'll explain a little bit more.

 



1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 /

 

see my full 30before30 list here

 

do you have anything on your summer to-do list?

hosting parties, take a trip, grow some summer veggies?



 

 



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:

source

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:

source

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.

source

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.

source

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

source

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)