72.

 

 

Today we met Sister Mandi and kids at The Woodlands Waterway District. She was telling me about her amazing experience there earlier this week and I was so excited to check it out. 

We grabbed lunch at the Hubbell & Hudson Market and checked out all the fun goodies they had. We went on and on strolling and talking about how we loved the market and how good it felt to be in there and how we wished it could be our regular place of shopping.

We took our lunch down to the splash pad just a few steps away and had a picnic while watching the kids play in the water. Our sandwiches were phenomenal. I chose the chicken goat cheese sandwich with carmelized onions, roasted red peppers and walnuts, and let me tell you...that sandwich will be frequenting my dreams!

It was such a lovely time with even lovelier company.

71.

 Here's a few snippets of my place here in Houston. The apartments come furnished so it's important to me that I put in as many personal touches as I can while still being minimal.

Left: Some Anthropologie zinc letter look-alikes I made for about $7 total.

Top: An awesome thrifted cross stitch that was meant to be a gift but never got mailed out...Sorry CoCo (I'm attached now.) Plus some thrifted jars with giant safety pins and Billy Bob flowers (Thanks Angela-they're still being loved.) Plus an Ikea plant.

Bottom: A cross stitch my mom made when she was young. Plus a vintage owl, either terracotta or ceramic, that belonged to my late grandma. I think we had a lot in common. Wish I could have really known her! Plus another Ikea plant and pinch pot that holds a yarn puff instead of salt;)

  

Top: Yarn puff flowers I made and put in my two favorite jars, which were 25 cents each.

Middle: Books and some frames acting as book ends.

Bottom: A scrabble art piece I made Boyd for Valentines day one year.

Right: Ikea succulents in some pretty metal vases. (Ikea has the cheapest succulents I've been able to find- $2.99 each.)

70.

There's just something about a great vintage piece that makes me feel so right.

It's been far too long since I've been to an estate sale...until this morning, that it. I came home with this satchel(satchel just sounds so much better than purse, no?). It's leather is perfectly soft and worn and the color can take me from summer to winter. I love it. It's the perfect size with the perfect number of pockets and the $4 price tag had me gleaming. I thought this scarf, found at an estate sale here in Houston, last summer was the perfect touch.

69.

Yesterday Melissa and I took the girls and Grandma Judy (who is in town for a few days) to The City Centre here in Houston. This is one of my favorite spots because it's a great little upscale area with a few yummy restaurants and a couple of fun shops. In the center of everything is a grassy area where people let their kids run wild. It's a happy medium for adults and kids.

After shopping at Anthropologie we had dinner at Ruggles Grill, followed by a few rounds of Ring Around the Rosie.

We built up a big appetite for dessert and found ourselves in a dilemma when trying to decide between frozen yogurt at Red Mango or cupcakes at Sweet.

Cupcakes won. And I'm so glad we decided to go because we hadn't ever been and the shop was so adorable. You could say I was obsessed with it.

Every detail was perfect down to the cute handwriting on the chalkboard wall.

And did you see those Macarons??? I have seen pictures of these all over the place and every time my mouth waters. I've wanted to try them for the longest time but had no idea where to find them. Well let me tell you, they are just as appealing to the taste buds as they are to the eye. I may or may not have eaten four of them before we left the shop(with my two cupcakes).

Oh, and my cupcakes? Best ever.

I wouldn't consider myself a huge cupcake fan. I don't particularly like cake because I don't care for the texture. But these cupcakes were dense like I prefer with just the right amount of frosting.

I highly recommend the Vanilla Bean Chocolate and the Dulce De Leche!

68.

We made a surprise visit home last week and surprised my mom and sisters for Mother's Day. It was great! They had no idea we were coming. 

While we were there we had Auntie Hils do our hair. She is seriously so good! I feel so refreshed and I feel like Evie has her sassy hair back to fit her sassy personality.

If you or your little girl(or husband or son for that matter;) is in need of a hair cut/ color job, go down to Hair-Do Salon in Dana Park in Mesa and book an appointment with Hilary Worthen. You won't regret it.

67.

EASTER 2011

This year Easter was a lot of fun. However, if I'm being honest, I will say, it wasn't the most spiritual. And that made me really sad. I sure was missing the Easter Pageant this year. I didn't feel as fulfilled without it. Plus, when you have an 18 month old running around at church it's hard to feel completely uplifted. Luckily, on the 45 minute drive to and from Mandi's house we listend to the Lamb Of God by Rob Garnder, which was truly amazing and that made up for a lot.

So let's begin with the festivities that happened the day before Easter.

I made little bunny sacks on a whim with some materials I had on hand to deliver to Evie's friends here at the apartments.

And inside were these adorably delicious goodies.

And who else to deliver these Easter treats but the Easter Bunny herself.

I showed Evie what she looked like in the mirror and she loved it! She kept looking at herself and smiling and twirling. But even more than that, she loved carrying around her basket of goodies. She didn't so much love actually giving them away though;)

 She was so adorable walking down the halls in her little get-up and knocking on the doors. It was hard not to eat her up.

Church came real early Sunday morning and we had to wake the princess up. She went straight to her little basket of eggs. Neve rmind the giant basket of toys.

I attempted to make bunny pancakes for breakfast and failed mostly. One out of about ten worked though and that's all we needed.

 She loved it.

 Next it was off to church and my girl looked so precious in her Easter outfit.

I made her headband and corsage and Grandma Judy and the Bead Diva made her bracelet.

After church we went out to Mandi's house and had a delectable Steak Brian dinner followed by an Easter egg hunt. Evie knew just what to do. She loved carrying her basket and putting the eggs in.

The kids had so much fun and we were so happy we got to spend Easter with the Collins crew.

66.

Thank you to those who helped me in my decision making. This little miss is going to be getting bangs again. But not until we visit home and can have the one and only Auntie Hils do it. So for a bit longer we will enjoy them this way.

Ps. The weather was amazingly cool today. I always love a chance to break out the cardi's and leg warmers. And it's been so long since I did an outfit post, so here it is.

Clip: F21

Cardi: Janie& Jack

Shirt: Daddy's vintage hand-me-down

Belt: Target

Jeggings: Children's Place

Leggings: Baby Legs

Flats: Gap

I love her bitty bum!