January Day

The Front of the Class

The Texas Style Council conference is just about 6 weeks away! I'm excited. Blogging conferences are fun, even for a hardcore introvert like myself (though I've gotten a lot better about talking about my blog by going to them). 

Plus, I recently sold my ticket to Bloggy Bootcamp: Brand Edition. I really enjoyed BBC last year and was looking forward to attending again. But I will be approximately 37 weeks pregnant by then, and I don't need to check with a midwife to know that making a 4 hour trip to Dallas is simply not a good idea. I could go into labor that weekend! (But more likely I'll just be kinda uncomfortable and not in the mood to network with fellow bloggers.) I know Carrie will have a great time, and I'm looking forward to hearing about what she learned.

So while I'm bummed about not attending BBC, I'm happy there's another great conference I can attend in the meantime. And, it involves no travel and I get to sleep in my own bed at night! 

The  conference schedule is still tentative, but I'm looking forward to Tolly's Freelance 101 session and the session on creating a media kit. It looks like it will be a fun weekend!

Are you attending the Texas Style Council conference? I'd love to meet up with some fellow bloggers for dinner before the swap on Friday night. oh, and tickets are still available (but maybe not for long?) if you haven't registered yet.

One Little Word Album

Despite really being gung-ho about my One Little Word for 2013 (abundance), I haven't really given my word the attention that it deserves. Which means I was also woe-fully behind on my One Little Word album (even though I've been watching the class videos each month). So this week I decided it was now or never if I was going to play catch up, and I spent yesterday afternoon working on my album. 

My album is a 1.5" Rebinder. I like the naked cardboard look. I attached a couple of doilies with rubber cement. 

This is the first part of January's prompt, which, for the most part, was mostly completed in January.

Here's the second half of January, and a vision board for February.

I opted to skip March's prompt because it was writing-based and didn't make much sense to do it month's after the fact. So I picked back up with April, which was fun, because it involved going back through the photos I had taken so far this year.

May (also a lot of fun to work on) and June (in which I admitted I hadn't really been paying attention to my word). 

So now I'm all caught up, and had an enjoyable afternoon playing with paper in the process.

Are you working on a One Little Word album this year?

How to Start Your Day Over

Do you ever have days that are just crummy for no reason? I (often) have days that head south for no apparent reason. I wake up ready to take on the world and by lunch time I'm ready to crawl back in bed. Of course, crawling back in bed does me no good: I get behind on work, and blogging, and housework and it's not exactly fun to try to catch up again. 

I'm learning what small adjustments I can make when I realize my day is headed in a not-so-good direction. Sure, the occasional bad day is unavoidable, but if I can stop myself from having a day that ends with me grumbling to my husband about how stupid my day was, I'll give it a shot.

Here are the things I've tried so far:

Wardrobe change. I work from home. Sometimes my day is taking a detour before I've even changed out of my pajamas. But you know what? Sometimes actually getting dressed is the first step in feeling like you're actually on top of things. This also applies if you're too hot/ too cold or simply uncomfortable.

Turn on some music. Sometimes just turning on some music, whether I'm working at the computer or trying to motivate myself to empty the dishwasher, does wonders. But I have to be careful about what I choose to listen to. Bon Iver is rarely a good choice in these types of situations.

Go for a walk. If I'm frustrated by my inability to get the words flowing, it helps to get my blood pumping. A quick trip around the block, even when it's 95 degrees outside, usually does the trick.

Change locations. I'm an introvert, but I'm learning that even I can develop cabin fever. Packing up my laptop and heading to the nearest Starbucks is pretty much a guarantee that at least my next hour or two will be productive and on track. 

Take a break. Not so much of a break that it's difficult to get back to the task at hand, just enough time to let your brain focus on something else. I like to make a cup of tea or fix a snack (and sometimes having some caffeine or something to eat alleviates some frustrations, too). 

How do you start over when you're having a less-than-great day?

With Gratitude

This week I am grateful for having a productive work week, for spending quality time with my family, for being another week pregnant, for the time to sit and knit a tiny sweater, and for our crazy pets that never cease to entertain me.

What are you grateful for this week?

I'm Vlogging about Pregnancy

You can watch my "TTC & How We Found Out" video here. 

First things first: I have no intention of becoming a "mommy blogger." Absolutely no offense is meant towards anyone who might identify as such, it's just not something I've ever seen myself being. At some point, my child(ren)'s stories will stop being mine to tell, and I don't really want to get in the habit of sharing the minutia of our daily lives together on the internet.

That said, I think it would be really difficult for me not to talk about pregnancy/ motherhood in some context. It is a part of my life, just not my whole life. 

In an effort to document this pregnancy and keep the blog true to its tagline of being "daily inspiration," I decided to make a series of YouTube videos. I published the first one today, and I have a few more qeued up (filmed before we had gone public with the news). And of course, there will be more to come as I gestate. 

I'll be the first to admit I have a lot to learn when it comes to creating videos, so bear with me through the less-than-great lighting in this first one. I will get better, I promise!

If you want to keep up with my YouTube videos, please consider subscribing to my channel. I will do my best to also post links on Twitter and Facebook as I publish.

Thanks for watching!

Exfoliating the Bullshit

One thing that became clear to me last weekend when I attended With Intention was that I needed to be even more brutal when it comes to clearing out the physical clutter in my life. It's a realization I've been slowly coming to terms with over the past couple of months, but as I sat there talking about the overwhelm and guilt I feel while trying desperately to keep up with the housework, I knew that I had already started what I needed to do: get rid of the things that don't serve our family, aka the bullshit (inspired by this quote). 

So this morning I made a drop off at a thrift store (full disclosure: most of this stuff had been sitting in the entry for uh, a few weeks). Two boxes and two bags full of stuff that no longer has a place in our lives.

To be honest, some of it never did. Like that pink plastic cup from Blissdom. While I appreciate a good freebie, if I bring it home, it should be something I would have paid for. In this case, there's no way I would have paid for that cup. I don't watch Suburgatory, as much as I appreciate Jeremy Sisto for his brilliant performance in Clueless. And beyond that, I hate drinking out of plastic cups or glasses (I prefer a Kleen Kanteen or a mason jar if I'm on the go). So while I'm getting better about just not bringing stuff home in the first place, I'm also getting real about the stuff we already do have. Less is more. The less stuff we have, the less there is to put away or clean around. 

I have an abundant life. Sometimes that manifests itself in less than desirable ways. But I'm working on it. I stumbled across the Home Organizing 101 series on A Bowl Full of Lemons the other day, and I'm so glad. We have a big house. Decluttering and organizing it is daunting. I need someone to break it down for her. And it's obvious I need to do this now, because the next few years are going to largely revolve around a tiny human (or two?). I hear having small children underfoot isn't always condusive to tackling home improvement projects. Plus, my mom, a public school teacher, is off of work for the summer and ready to help and motivate me.

So here's to exfoliating the bullshit. And if you have any tips for managing clutter in your home, I'd love to hear them!

oh, and Jess Lively has written about exfoliating stuff a lot, so you should check that out if you need some inspiration. 

First Trimester Reading List

I'm a researcher. There's no way around it; if I do something (especially if it's life changing!), I've probably already read a book or at least a dozen blog posts on the matter. So there's no way I'm going to get through pregnancy and motherhood without reading a book (or seven).

And of course, I started reading early. It was a great way to channel the excitement (and possibly a bit of the sheer terror about what we are getting ourselves into) those first few weeks when we were keeping our big news mostly to ourselves.

Pregnancy Day-by-Day: My husband picked out this book because he liked the pictures (that sounds silly, but truly, there are some great graphics in the book). As the title suggests, there's a page (or two) for each day of pregnancy, which makes it a great book for tracking the growth and changes in your baby (and you). We try to read it together every day, though we were definitely better about this at the beginning of the pregnancy!

Great with Child: This probably wouldn't have been something I picked out on my own, but Elise Blaha mentioned it on her blog a couple of times and seemed to highly recommend it, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Truly, it's a great book. It's a quick, easy read that's thoughtful and inspiring. The book is a series of letters written from a poetry professor (and mother of a young child) to a friend expecting her first baby. 

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth: I am hoping to have an intervention-free birth at a free-standing birth center (I'll write more about this is a future post), but this book is also useful if you're undecided about what type of birth you are hoping to have. The first part is dedicated to dozens of birth stories (I always find these interesting; every baby certainly has his/her own way of coming into the world!). The second part talks about the labor and delivery process; I picked up some valuable information, like how important it is to keep your jaw relaxed during labor. 

I'd love to hear your recommendations on what to read as I prepare for motherhood and giving birth. 

50 things To Do this Summer

Summer doesn't officially begin for a few more weeks, but Memorial Day weekend always symbolizes the kick-off to summer for me. I wanted to dream up a bunch of things to do this season to really embrace and enjoy one last summer before our little one arrives (life will certainly be different next year!). I hope to return to this list often over the coming months whenever I'm in need of a little inspiration. (I also made a Pinterest board that you can follow and/or repin from to your heart's content!)

1. Go to the beach
2. Load up on magazines and hang out by a pool
3. Make popsicles
4. Make friendship bracelets
5. Visit a museum
6. Join the summer reading program at your public library (yep, it's for adults, too!) or set your own summer reading goal
7. Make sun tea
8. Get a pedicure
9. Stargaze
10. Have a movie marathon (I'd have a John Hughes marathon!)
11. Have a cook out
12. Build a campfire and make s'mores
13. Send snail mail
14. Make a summer scrapbook
15. Stay hydrated with fruit or veggie infused water
16. Buy a squirt gun and challenge a friend to a shoot out
17. Bedazzle a pair of sunglasses
18. Go to a drive-theater (or create your own in your backyard)
19. Grow something
20. Sew a maxi dress or sundress
21. Plan a road trip
22. Make lemonade
23. Go berry picking and make jam
24. Go to a small town festival
25. Start a book club
26. Make ice cream
27. Make iced coffee
28. Make a picnic blanket
29. Start a Pinterest board and decorate your future beach house (or ski chalet if that's more your speed!)
30. Create an ultimate summer jam mix
31. Go to a water park
32. Buy fresh flowers
33. Make an ice cold cocktail (or mocktail!)
34. Build a sandcastle (find a sandbox if you can't make it to the beach)
35. Journal your memories of summer as a kid
36. Eat a watermelon and have a seed spitting contest
37. Visit a snocone stand
38. Perfect a summer hairdo (preferably one that gets your hair off your neck!)
39. Learn something new
40. Buy a book of crossword or sudoku puzzles
41. Go tubing
42. Participate in a photo challenge
43. Indulge your inner child with a coloring book and crayons
44. Make a fruit salad
45. Visit a farmer's market
46. Go thrifting with friends and see who can find the tackiest tchotchke
47. Read a (trashy) romance novel
48. Find live music and enjoy
49. Make a hammock and hang out
50. Make a beach or pool tote

 Happy summer! What are you looking forward to doing this season?

With Intention Recap

I spent the weekend holed up in central Austin about 7 other ladies, discussing ways in which to have a business and a life with intention. 

The workshop was led by Jess Lively. Jess used to design accessories but now she spend her time helping people design lives and businesses with intention.

Going into the weekend, I was hoping I would come out of it with a clearer idea of what I wanted to do with my career (which is looking different even from what I wrote about in this post) as well as how I can make adjustments in my day-to-day life in anticipation of becoming a mama.

I did get that... in addition to a little bit of information overload. Honestly, I'm still processing what I took in over the weekend. I think I might be for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, we were given awesome workbooks that I know will help me as I start to make some life changes. 

It was a weekend filled with good food, intelligent ladies and amazing gift bags (who doesn't love a gift bag?). I'm so glad I signed up for the workshop, even though it's given me a lot of work to do-- on my business, my home, and myself.

If you ever have the opportunity to work with Jess, do it! She's amazing.

Trippin'

We spent Memorial Day weekend down in our second favorite slice of Texas, Port Aransas. (Actually, with the continued high mold counts in Austin, Port A might find itself in my number one spot.)

My husband grew up vacationing down there. I grew up thinking it would be neat to vacation in the spot every year (my family took some fun vacations, but never to the same place twice). This was our third trip there together and I fall in love with it a little more each time we go.

In the past, we've visited on a weekend just outside of the summer season (so the weekend before Memorial Day or the weekend after Labor Day) since accomodations are less expensive. But since we'd like to own property there in the future, we figured we'd better see for ourselves what the town was like on a holiday weekend.

Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. There was definitely more traffic in town, and more bodies on the beach, but it didn't feel overwhelming and we still had a very enjoyable weekend.

We ate snocones, rented a golf cart and drove it around town and up and down the beach, played mini-golf and did a lot of lounging. It was delicious. We are hoping to make one more trip later this summer as a family of two before our beach routine changes pretty dramatically!

Where's your favorite summer vacation spot?