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



exactly four years left to complete my list!

today is my 26th birthday, friends!

yep, the big two-six. it's got quite a ring to it, no? that means that i now have exactly 4 years to complete this list of mine...which has got me a little worried because i have quiiite a few things to check off.

but luckily, i'm married to the cutest man ever who takes my list very seriously (more on that in this post: here), and got me a hot air balloon ride for my birthday - in case you don't have my 30before30 goals memorized, that would be #18 on my list. it's not going to happen for a few months because of the fact that it's in the mid 90's by 8am here in austin. so we're thinking of saving it until maybe october or november, but you know there will be an update on that.

 

but what this all means is that i should be able to cross off at least six things off my during my 26th year. these are the ones i have planned so far for the next 12 months:

- learn how to bake my own sourdough bread

-plant a thriving vegetable garden (already started!)

-finish decorating our forever home

-visit spain

-ride in a hot air balloon

-start (and keep) a regular yoga practice (already working on this, too)

 

and who knows what else might present itself as an opportunity to be crossed off - you hear that, radiohead? want to start touring soon so i can cross that goal off??

 

i am so, so looking forward to this year of my life and am beyond excited to get it started.

 

 

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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?

 



seattle, you are lovely.

we're back from seattle!

 i mentioned last week that we were flying up there because my super smart older brother got his master's from university of washington. both the husband & i had been to seattle, but we had never been there together so we were excited to get 4 days to explore. and since it became a pretty big family trip (tucker & i, mom & stepdad, dad, step sister & her wife and of course brother & his girlfriend), i was prepared for a non-stop family-filled weekend. but we were able to get the perfect balance of family time + alone time, and had one of the best trips we've ever been on.

it helps that the hottest it got was 76 degrees, and that there was not a single mosquito in sight...which for these texans was pretty much the equivalent of heaven.

 

i'd say we walked a combined 10 miles throughout the weekend and learned how small seattle really is because we now know we saw so much of it on foot. but all that walking allowed us to do everything we wanted to do - we stopped at art galleries, found fantastic little breakfast spots on our way to our hotel, spotted perfect little brick houses with the most beautiful ivy climbing up the walls, and i got to wear in my new converse that are now not as white as when i got them :)

 

all that walking also allowed us to realize just how ridiculously beautiful seattle is. i mean, we both quickly realized that on the trips that we've made there before, but it is just pretty near perfect. i can definitely say that it's one of the cleanest cities i've been to, and i can really appreciate a place that is so loved that it's residents actually take care of it - can't you?

as much as i was cursing the steep, steep hills when i was walking up them, when we would turn around to look down the hill, it was so worth it. you could see the water on one side, adorable unique homes climbing up a hill on the other, and nothing but green on another side.

 

and sure, it rains a hell of a lot in seattle and sometimes there's no sunshine seen for weeks, but hey! we were there for four days with nothing but sunshine and perfect weather, so let's pretend that's how it is all the time, okay?

 

 

 

 

if you've never been to seattle - you have to go, and make sure you go in june or july. we've now been a combined 5 times, so if you ever need tips on restaurants/bars/parks, etc, let me know! i'd be happy to send them your way.

 

updates (3 goals being worked on!)

i've been a terrible blogger, yet again. i just now realized that i never even posted my pictures from sunday night supper #3 that i hosted at my house last month. but i guess the important part is that goal #14 on my 30before30 list is still being worked on and i have not forgotten about it! just forgotten to post about it.

since i've been MIA for the past two months, here's a little recap of what's been going on around my parts-

 

 

 

 

the first picture is proof that the sunday night supper actually happened! there have also been bike rides, date nights, memorial day parties, trips to deep eddy pool and non-stop working on decorating our house.

and those last two pictures are proof that i haven't forgotten about the fact that i created my 30before30 list for a reason - those perfect little round tomatoes actually came from my garden, as part of me working on goal #9, to plant a thriving vegetable garden. and the most recent photo was just taken last night as part of goal #21 - to start a regular yoga practice. i've been going to a hot yoga class 1-2 times a week for the past 5 weeks and am absolutely loving it.

last summer, i did bikram yoga pretty often and also loved (LOVED) it, but truth be told - it's entirely too expensive. so i can justify hot yoga because it's donation based (aka: affordable), and 75% of the poses are bikram poses. it's a win win!

 

now that the past 2 months have been covered, we can move on.

the husband & i leave for seatle early, early friday morning - we're talking 5:30am - because my brother, the smart one in the family, is getting his masters. this means that we're going from 98 degree highs to about 70 degree highs, and i could not possibly be happier about that.

i vow to post as soon as we get back, and to keep focused on my list!

 

PS. Three months until Europe.

 



italia

i was going to start off this post by saying, "a few years ago, i went to italy with a great friend of mine"...and then i started counting the years and it was in 2006. how is that possible?? i think i constantly say that it was about 4 years ago, which means that i've been completely lying to myself & others for quite a while now.

anyhow, yes. 7 years ago, i went to glorious italy with my amazing traveling partner, amber.

i keep seeing post after post about italy and it is making me itch to go back there. but i'm one of those people who is a little bit snooty when it comes to traveling (yes, i will admit it), and instead of returning to a place that i've already been, i'd much rather be able to check off a new place...except when it comes to italy.

since i've been reminiscing and refuse to get over my need to return there, i wanted to share my photos from when i went "several" years ago. they are from rome, florence & venice.

(and please keep in mind they were taken with a very small, crappy $40 digital camera. so there's that.)

italy, i will return to you.

you and your wine-filled dinners, teeny tiny cute towns with black sand beaches & potato-topped pizzas, money stealing cab drivers and beautiful buildings.

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?