Closet Conditioning

Yay! My closet is finally in decent condition. I don't know how I went so long with just piles of shoes, bags, and hats cluttered on my one and only shelf. Sharing a small-to-medium-sized closet with a person is hard, especially when you have way more stuff than this person but feel guilty when your stuff spills over into his space.

I gave you all a small glimpse of my closet's condition in this post. Piles of shoes, piles of boxes. And you didn't even get to see the huge hanging cluster eff that was my wardrobe.

With just a few tiny investments I was able to turn my closet into a well-organized wardrobe and optimize the little space that I have.

First, I bought some of the velvet hangers for those silky, slippery shirts. I also got some pant hangers with clips so that I wouldn't have to fold them. I think this creates a little more space and makes my jeans easier to find. 

Then I decided to hang my hats and bags above my shelf. Before I had all of the bags and hats in two or three big piles on the shelf, leaving tons of unused space on the walls and a huge mess that was impossible to sift through without creating a bigger mess. Now I have more room for shoes and can easily sift through the bags without messing up the rest of the closet.

The last little investment was an expandable shoe rack. Look at all those happy shoes.

How do you keep your closet nice and organized?

It's Like Winning the Lottery

Two people,

knowing who they are

what they want

and finding each other at the right time,

is like winning the lottery.

A very dear friend of ours, who also happened to be the gent to officiate our wedding ceremony, posted this on Facebook after the big day. I can't believe how true these words are. I keep thinking about the moments during our ceremony when Kyle read his vows and I read mine, and every time I feel like I seriously hit the jackpot. Lottery, jackpot, same thing.

Deck the Halls

One of things I loved about living at home was that my mother would always decorate the heck out of our house for the holidays. The tree always looked amazing and all the little stockings and Santa Clause knick knacks were just adorable. I have yet to live up to my mom's decorating abilities since moving out on my own, and it gets harder every year, especially when I have so little storage space to begin with.

I think I'm going to put a little more effort into decorating this year. We probably won't get a tree, but just a few Christmas trinkets for here and there.

I'm in love with the overall holiday look at West Elm right now. The metallics and whites create the perfect winter wonderland setting. But what I really love are the feathered, felt, and metal pieces because they look a little more natural and like something I could keep up for months after the holidays.

[Feather wreath, felt garland, and crimped metal sphere ornaments]

I also think these little bottle brush trees are perfect if you're going for a more natural, earthy look this season.

How are you decorating for the holidays?

Style Post: Brown on Black

We all know that I like to shop. Yep, that's me. No surprises there. But I've always been sort of picky about trying new stores, especially those that are online only. I should probably get with the program and spread my shopping wings a little bit. Lucky for me, I was able to do that last week with a little help from the girls at A Beautiful Mess and the online store Ruche. A while back I entered a little giveaway on Elsie's blog for a Ruche gift card. Turns out I won (on our wedding day, funny enough) and I was jazzed to try out a few things from Ruche.

One of the first things I loved about Ruche is the huge selection of darling dresses. Every dress has a vintage little twist to it, and the price points are great. I've been on the hunt for more simple sort of everyday dresses. The clean silhouette and fun dots on this little number were perfect for my closet. I also love the little peter pan collar, and the cuffs are different and rather fun.

And I'm still a huge fan of the top knot.

I also forgot to mention that I wore this dress two days in a row over the Thanksgiving holiday. First on Thanksgiving and then again on Black Friday. Oops! That's why I sort of have food coma eyes in the photos. I originally had this dress paired with some Seychelles combat boots until I switched them out with one of my Black Friday finds. I think both work well. I just had to get these loafers on as soon as I bought them!

[Ruche dress (purchased with gift card won in a giveaway); J.Crew tights; Madewell shoes and earrings; Michael Kors watch]

Thanks again to the team at A Beautiful Mess and Ruche for the gift card! It was the perfect wedding present.

Shop Small Today

If you've still got the shopping bug, take today to support your favorite local shops and businesses on what's known as Small Business Saturday. One of my absolute favorite things about Austin is the oneness and diversity. We have a wonderful community of small business owners and it's important that we support those local entities to keep our culture alive and well.

You can do the same thing where you live.

Read more about Small Business Saturday here or on the Facebook page.

A Few Things I Learned on Thanksgiving

Did you throw a big Thanksgiving bash yesterday? We did, and it was a lot of work. Hosting this big dinner for four people was sooo enough for me. I don't even know how people do it for their entire families. Mad props.

While it was a ton of work we had just as much fun, and learned a lot.

1. With sweet potato chips, more oil is always better. And it's okay if the finished product sort of looks like potpourri because it tastes freaking delicious.

2. I'm not June Cleaver so I should probably never try to cook while wearing heels again.

3. Martha Stewart knows what she's doing, especially when it comes to turkey.

4. No Thanksgiving dinner ever started on time and it never will.

5. Always, always buy more butter than you think you'll need because chances are you'll need it.

6. My little digital camera has this really neat setting that lets me take better close-up photos of food!

7. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is the perfect holiday, post-turkey movie to watch, pass out watching, and then wake up to and watch all over again. 

It was a good day. And, as you can see, I learned a lot.

How was your Thanksgiving? Are you shopping right now?

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving

We're cooking away over here. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was adorable and now we've got a dog show on in the background while Kyle prepares the stuffing and I wait for the oil to get hot enough for me to make my new favorite snack--sweet potato chips.

Simon is just confused because there's a lot going on around here, but he's happy and likes having us home on a Thursday.

Thanksgiving kind of crept up on us this year, but I'm glad we're going all out with the meal, having people over, and even decorating a little with some simple flowers and table settings. 

I'm so excited for our first Thanksgiving as a family. And I'm thankful for everything right now, including YOU for reading my blog! Have a good one!

The Year of Firsts

Has it really been a month already? Yes. Yes, it has. Kyle and I got married exactly one month from yesterday, but it feels like it was just last week! It's flown by, that's for sure. But the good news is that we've already done so much as newlyweds, and there's plenty more to look forward to. Starting with our very first Thanksgiving at home. This year it's just us and a couple of friends, and it will be the first time either of us have attempted such a feat without the help of our families.

Are we excited? Yes.

A bit nervous? Yes. On Sunday I practically burned an entire practice batch of homemade sweet potato chips. Oops. But they all say practice makes perfect, so I'm going to give it another whirl on Thursday.

I'm also in charge of the mac and cheese and the spiked apple cider. I think I smell our first Thanksgiving tradition.

In other Thanksgiving-related news, I'm very excited to bust out the new, newlywed place settings and dinnerware, and put a darling little centerpiece together. I can think of a few cute ways to reuse a few of those bottles I collected for the wedding. I'm thinking a bottle or two, a few flowers, and feathers.

Just a few things I've started pinning for some holiday-inspired entertaining inspiration. How are you decorating for the holiday?

The Gorman Velvet Skirt

I tried to keep shopping to a minimum while we were on our honeymoon. It was hard! But my bags were already pretty heavy, and I only had a couple of pounds to spare for shopping before hitting the 50 pound limit. It wasn't until we got to Sydney when I started to get antsy about it. I needed to shop, and there was much shopping to do in Sydney.

I ended up getting out of there with just two new skirts. Not bad. And this high-waisted multicolored velvet one from Gorman was my splurge.

I wasn't even sure if I was going to make it out of there with anything. I loved everything at Gorman, but the different sizing kind of threw me off and I just wanted to make sure I was getting something that I couldn't get back home.

The different colors and shapes on the silk white fabric create some sort of balance for me. So many dots and zig zags. It's definitely a busy skirt, but with a fairly simple shoe and straightforward top it seems to work.

[Gorman skirt; J.Crew shirt; restyled necklace; Madewell sandals; ring from Schatzelein]

P.S. I want to buy more velvet now, like this velvet schoolboy blazer that I blogged about here. What do you think?

Shopping in Sydney

I know I've said it about 75 times--I fell in love with Sydney. I had only heard wonderful things about it before we left for the trip, and I was looking forward to every minute of it, especially the shopping. Or, "window shopping" I should say. Sydney is expensive. VERY expensive. And I had my eye on all the dazzlingly cute designer boutiques full of stuff that I'd never be able to get my hands on in the U.S. without having to order online.

Starting with the shops in the Strand Arcade, a three-story Victorian-style building right in the city center.

 

[Images]

Fleur Wood

I just loved moseying around all the cute, carefully decorated shops. One of my favorites would have to be Fleur Wood--every piece of clothing was so romantic and delicate. I don't wear a lot of slinky, fluttery dresses, but these I wanted to wear. The sea foam skirts and peachy slip dresses were so tempting. I also loved the way the store was designed with the beautiful ballerina wall art, ceramic bunnies, and clean, white furniture. And I'm bummed that I didn't grab a picture of the fitting rooms! Each door was a book shelf, and you had to move the entire shelf as if it was a secret door in order to get in and out of the fitting rooms.

World

Along with a few shops in the Strand, I really enjoyed checking out the boutiques along Oxford Street in Paddington, one of Sydney's surrounding neighborhoods. We walked the entire block back into the city center and stumbled across an interesting little store called World along the way. This shop is VERY interesting. The clothes were one thing--retro print dresses, sheer silk collared blouses, and bright pinstripe suits. But the clothes weren't even the most interesting part. It had to have been all the accessories, decor, and housewares, like the huge collection of vintage china plates with little curse words written on them.

[Image]

Gorman

And then there was Gorman. I'd been looking forward to visiting one of these shops during our stay and hoping maybe I could talk myself into buying just one thing. And that I did, after lots of deliberation. I probably wanted every look from the spring/summer collection. The predominant shades of purple, orange, and blue were vibrant yet subtle, and styled perfectly with some great neutral pieces. I finally settled on a high-waisted, multicolored velvet skirt. How crazy does that sound? I can't wait to put that outfit post together.

And those were just the highlights. I feel like I spent a good portion of our time in Sydney scouring the shops rather than sightseeing. Perhaps this is just my kind of "sightseeing."

Do you like to shop when you're on vacation?

Bridal Portraits

Brides--are you trying to decide if you should have a bridal portrait session? Do it. It's a great way to try out your wedding day outfit and get comfortable with your photographer. And, if you're planning to hire a hair and make-up artist, it's a good excuse to have a trial run with him or her. I'm so glad I had bridal portraits just for all those reasons.

I met up with Katherine O'Brien on one of those insanely hot August days, and I told her I was looking for a variety of shots and settings. We took a few shots in her studio in Buda and in an adorable refurbished camper she has in her backyard. We also shot in a lovely old office building downtown with really unique wallpaper in a few of the rooms. Our last location was the popular Hotel San Jose off South Congress. I've always been in love with all the bamboo and abundant wall ivy, so we were lucky enough to be able to shoot a few images outside.

Thankfully it wasn't as hot on our actual wedding day. I remember sweating so badly as this last photo was taken. But it was totally worth it! Katherine also brought along her Holga and a vintage camera or two. I really like how some of the film turned out.

All photos by Katherine O'Brien Photography
Dress by Rachelle Briton
Veil by Twigs and Honey
Trial hair and makeup by Erica Gray

Our Wedding on Film

Kyle and I are SLOWLY getting back into our regular routine of work, blogging, poodle, etc. It's crazy how much lighter I feel with the wedding being over. Our apartment still looks like a wedding planner threw up in here, but that could also be because I'm dragging when it comes to figuring out what to do with all this stuff.

Aside from that, I'm thrilled to get a glimpse of a few wedding photos! We'll have the rest of them pretty soon, and that's when I'll be able to share more details and pictures of the entire day. But here are a few Holga images that our fabulous photographer Katherine O'Brien took of us during and after our first look.

[Chair I refurbished to match the desk used for our altar]

[Moments after the first look, laughing]

[A few moments alone right after the ceremony]

Everything about the day was so much fun. And I'm so, so happy Kyle and I decided to see each other before the wedding. It was so nice being able to kiss and console one another before guests started arriving. And we had plenty of time for pictures, which was nice.

I couldn't have been happier with our photographers. Katherine and her husband Jeff are immensely creative and so much fun to work with. If you're looking for a photographer in the Austin area, please check them out.

Stay tuned for more photos and a recap of the entire day!


All images by Katherine O'Brien Photography

Me. You. New Zealand. Australia.

It feels good to be home. Thank you, Kyle, for being my partner on this amazing adventure. Up next? The rest of our lives.

[Queenstown]

[Queenstown]

[The Remarkables]

[Sydney]

Catch up on our trip to New Zealand (Auckland, Queenstown, and Dunedin) and Australia (Melbourne, Cairns, and Sydney).

Honeymoon Highlights: Sydney

Is our trip really over already? It sure is. It’s amazing how quickly a 20-day trip can fly by but still seem like a long and tiring journey at the same time. The crazy part is that Kyle and I haven’t even been married a month, but it feels like we’ve already seen so much of the world together, or at least so much of a tiny part at least.

So here’s a quick wrap-up of the last leg of our trip. First of all, Sydney is huge--a whopping 4.3 million people or so roam the city streets and surrounding neighborhoods. But the great thing is that it doesn’t really feel like a ginormous, crowded city outside of the main city center. It’s cozy, diverse, and delightful.

After a quick driving tour around the city with our group, we hopped off the bus to explore some of the quaint suburbs by foot, starting with the Paddington and Surry Hills areas. Oxford Street in Paddington is full of great local designer shops and boutiques, like Gorman, sass & bide, and World (all which I blog about and drool over in this post).

The streets were also pretty charming. I loved how well the buildings and old signage were preserved. I noticed this cute Unicorn Hotel sign and logo and snapped a quick one before realizing that it’s now a bar. It’s still really cute and the bar looked pretty hip.

I got a similar vibe after checking out this old building along Manly Beach. I love the color of the building and the fun typography.

Sydney has tons and tons of beautiful beaches along its coastline. In addition to Manly, we stopped off at Bondi Beach, one of the city’s most well known beaches and neighborhoods, just to take a peek at this tourist hot spot. It was pretty lovely, and we even spotted a small group of dolphins swimming close by.

I decided that I hadn’t had enough pastry on the trip, so we popped off at Bourke Street Bakery in Surry Hills to get our hands on some homemade lemonade and one of these macadamia nut sticky buns.

As for evening activities, we ate, a lot, and caught one stellar performance at the Opera House. I’ve always been a pretty big Nick Drake fan and Kyle was definitely familiar with and intrigued by his music, so we felt pretty lucky to catch a show featuring 10 or so artists performing a collection of his songs. Artists included Robyn Hitchcock, Vashti Bunyan, Lisa Hannigan, and then some. Each one was unique and different, and I loved hearing the various arrangements of Drake’s songs.

And I couldn’t get enough street art while we were away. We spotted this beautiful installation in between two buildings buried within the city center. The piece was called “Forgotten Songs” and it represented the various bird species that used to live and thrive in central Sydney before the Europeans settled there. The installation included recordings of the birds’ songs and you could hear each one as you stood under the cages. It was quite lovely and all the tourists passing by loved it.

And that’s a wrap. We had a beautiful time. When can we go back?

See what else we did throughout Australia in Melbourne and Cairns.

Honeymoon Highlights: Cairns

I think we’ve probably experienced every type of weather on this trip, from the cool and rainy mountainous regions of New Zealand to the warm and humid rainforest area of northern Australia. Our second-to-last stop was in Cairns (pronounced cans), which is a small tropical city located just a few kilometers from the Great Barrier Reef.

The atmosphere was just beachy with lots of young backpackers sunbathing in the city’s open park and public pool. We delighted ourselves in the same sort of laziness, but not without indulging a bit while we were there. We were sure to try some of the local beer and an ice cream cone or two from one of the city’s many gelato shops.

We had one of the best meals of the trip at a little Greek taverna called Fetta’s. Sadly, this was the only night of the trip that I didn’t feel like lugging the camera along, so I have no documentation of all the dancing, drinking, and plate smashing that took place. Needless to say, it was a pretty wonderful evening.

Thankfully I remembered to pack one lightweight, breezy dress for walking along the boardwalk. However, I did forget my hat, so I just picked this one up from one of the souvenir shops.

As for local beer, my grandfather recommended XXXX Gold, a nice light, full-flavored beer. Perfect for beach drinking.

Cairns is also full of some pretty wild street art. We spotted this giant mosaic conch shell along the boardwalk and had to snap a few.

We spent one day in Karunda, which is a small touristy type town up in the mountains. It’s full of cute souvenir shops and I was sort of tempted to buy one of these little backpacks in the shape of a kangaroo.

We also had the opportunity to check out some captive-bred koala bears and kangaroos. At first I was a little taken aback by how differently these animals interact with humans in captivity. In the wild, we weren’t allowed to get closer than 25 meters or so from the kangaroo, and even if we did they just bounced away. And the koala bears were completely still in the wild because they try their best to blend in with the trees and go unnoticed.

Not in captivity. Our guide said that most of the animals have been hand-fed and nurtured since birth, so it was slightly refreshing to know that they were used to being that close to humans. The kangaroos were hopping and lying around loose in the open wildlife area. We easily approached them and could even feed them by hand.

And I couldn’t get over the adorable koala bears. They were MUCH more active than the wild ones as they climbed around, ate, and did what looked like koala acrobatics.

We ended the day with one of those army duck rides through the rainforest and into the river. Have you ever been on an army duck? One of those giant, noisy tank looking things that can ride on the road and float on the water? We have them in Austin, and I always thought they were sort of goofy. But they are perfect for riding around in the rainforest.

See what else has been happening in Australia.