J. Crew Jacket.

Remember the J. Crew jacket I blogged about here?  This one . . .

(photo: jcrew)

It's now mine!  I got it in the plum color.  (Check out the new cobblestone and rainforest green colors too -- so pretty.)  I loved the jacket and knew it was meant to be when I received this little coupon in the mail just a couple of days after my post.   

I also picked up this shirt too (on sale + 25% off), but prefer to wear mine unwrinkled. 

(photo: jcrew)

Now I just need it to get cooler here so my coat can see some action . . .

Houston Home.

I saw this amazing house that's for sale in Houston on La Dolce Vita and had to share it.  It's 5,000 square feet and can be yours for almost $1.4 million.  The outside is nice, but it's really the inside I am loving.

Check out those floor to ceiling windows, the gorgeous floor, and the amazing light fixture.  And the paint color is perfect.

This is the butler's pantry.  What's not to love?  Wine fridge, sink, glass front cabinets.  The chandelier may be my favorite part -- love it! 

I am totally digging this room.  The light fixture is just amazing.  Love the fireplace and all the windows letting in the natural light.  It's perfection.

The kitchen doesn't disappoint either.  I love the counter tops, subway tile, pot filler faucet, hardware, and the pendant lights over the breakfast bar.

This is the master bedroom.  The light fixture is great, but I really don't know what I would do without a ceiling fan in Houston.  You can also get a peek into the bathroom -- check out the light fixture and the tub.    

The bathroom is my favorite room of the house.  Check out the pattern of the tile surround.  It's so interesting.  And those sconces are lovely.  If I moved in, I would consider adding a little color to the walls, but something still light and calming. 

Again, the light fixture in this room is awesome.  I would love to meet the person who selected the lighting -- they are speaking my language!

(all photos: har)

A girl can dream . . .

Austin Trip.

Several weeks back we headed to Austin for a quick trip.  We got to town in time to watch the UT game at Ruby's parents' house with a bunch of friends.  (Thanks for hosting, David and Emilia.)  It was one of the few games we've actually won this season!

We love any excuse to go to Austin, but this time my best friend, Lauren, and her husband, Jacob, were in town!  It is always great to see them.  I can't wait for the day that they move back to Texas!

Later that evening, we went out for cocktails and dinner at East Side Show Room.     

The next day, we met up with some friends including Jeremy, Meagan, and Sawyer and Zach, Carrie, and Porter for brunch.  It was great to visit with them and see their cute kiddos.  After eating brunch and grabbing shaved ice at Sno-Beach, a group of us headed to Town Lake for a little kayaking.  

(photo: here)

I wanted to bring my camera along so badly, but Justin said it wasn't the best idea in case it got wet.  I am so glad I listened to him.  After being out on the water a couple of hours, we were getting tired and decided to head back.  Everything was going along just fine until, before I knew it, our kayak was upside down and we were in the water!  We still don't know what happened.    

Our friends, Kevin and Chris, came over to see what happened and to help us get situated back in our kayak.  Our two kayaks were right next to each other at that point, and I have no idea what the heck happened, but the 4 of us ended up in the water again!  The first time I was shocked, but the second time, I just had to laugh.  Thankfully my flip flops and Justin's shoes floated.  Sadly, Chris's free chipotle shirt and Kevin's converse and treasured Astros cap did not.  They are now at the bottom of Town Lake.

After getting cleaned up (and buying Kevin another pair of shoes), we enjoyed a hamburger at Hut's before heading back to Houston.  We had a wonderful trip and had a great time seeing everyone (and getting the full experience on Town Lake)!       
   

A New Look.

First things first . . . the blog recently got a much needed makeover!  Erin over at Designer Blogs did a great job.  For all of you who view the blog in google reader, pop on over and let me know what you think.

Justin and I just got back from a 6-day trip to San Francisco (which included a day in the wine country) and Half Moon Bay.  I will have a full recap (as well as my long overdue recap of our Austin trip), but in the meantime, our trip consisted of the following:  food, wine, more food, beautiful scenery, scarves and sweaters!, and In-N-Out.

Here are two pictures of Napa from my Blackberry:

Pretty Things.

I am loving this shirt from Anthropologie.

(photo: anthro)

And these flats from Kate Spade.

(photo: kate spade)

Pretty Room.

I am digging this bedroom.  I love the reddish coral and turquoise combo.  And how great is that headboard and the wallpaper behind the headboard? 

(photo: decorpad)

Living Water Gala.

Last weekend we volunteered at the Living Water International Gala along with some friends.  If you haven't heard of Living Water, it is a great organization that, among other things, drills and fixes wells around the world in places where there is no clean water.  Along with helping people get water, they also share the gospel.  Living Water's website describes it much better here.  It is amazing to think that many people lack something as fundamental as clean water and what a big impact on society it really has (read here).

We were just thrilled to be a part of such a fantastic organization and event.  There were about 1,000 people in attendance at the Gala.  They had tons of cool exhibits (created by Josh, below in the blue suspenders) demonstrating what people have done to raise money for Living Water (one guy actually ran from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast -- amazing, right?).  In addition, they had a fun photo "booth" set up through Smilebooth.  We definitely took advantage of it!

Here we are after the night's festivities being goofy. 

Justin and I thought it would be funny to reenact the typical homecoming pose.  We are pros, if I do say so myself, but we did have 3 years of worth of practice plus our senior prom.

Last, but not least, we did a cheesy "family" portrait of sorts with our adopted "child," Kevin.  It was nice that we all wore purple -- totally unplanned.  Awesome.

During the program, Justin and Kevin changed from their suits and put on coveralls, boots, and helmets and demonstrated using one of Living Water's drills.  Sadly, I didn't get a good picture of them onstage.  We had a blast both volunteering at and attending the Gala (and playing around in the photo booth too).  

Fall.

In honor of today being the first day of fall (yippee!), I thought I would share some of the things I am looking forward to about the season.

Cooler weather (yeah, that should go without saying). 

(www.weather.com) 

It has still been in the 90's in Houston, so it doesn't feel like fall yet, but there are rumblings that a cool front this weekend could keep the highs in the mid 80's!

Jackets

(photo: jcrew)

I tried this jacket on (in black) a couple of weekends ago and absolutely loved it.  However, it was a little hard to purchase a coat when it was 98 degrees outside.  But I am really digging the plum color now that I see it online.

Scarves

(photo: nordstrom)

And what makes a cute jacket even cuter?  A cute scarf peeking out!  And they make you feel nice and cozy when wrapped around you (especially at my office, which is always way too cold).  Hey, it's either that or a snuggie! 

Socks

(photo: kate spade)

I love wearing fun socks in the fall and winter.  Other than when I work out, it's the only time I ever wear socks.  But I don't wear them a boldly as the girl in the picture.  Besides me, Justin is generally the only one who knows how fun my socks are. 

Hot Chocolate

(photo: my recipes)

I'll gladly take a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows or whipped cream.  It sounds so delicious . . . if only it wasn't so darn hot outside!

Soup and Chili

This is my go to chili recipe.  It's super easy to make and so tasty.  We substitute ground turkey for the beef and serve it with some jiffy corn bread.   It's easily one of my favorite fall and winter meals.  I came across this chicken chili recipe today on Annie's Eats and will have to try it out as well.  We also love her Brazilian shrimp soup.

(photo: annie's eats)

And for the record, another favorite of mine is tortilla soup.  I just love crunching tortilla chips on top, generously sprinkling on the cheese, and topping it with chunks of avocado.  Yum! 

Oatmeal

(photo: here)

I prefer mine with banana slices and just a little bit of milk poured on top. 

Anything pumpkin (well except for Starbuck's pumpkin spiced lattes and pumpkin pie.)

(photo: the way the cookie crumbles)

I love me some pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins (seriously, try these), and pumpkin pancakes.  I also had a dish similar to this recipe with pumpkin, sage, and butter and it was amazing.  I may also have to try out these pumpkin scones.

And, I like to mix a little canned pumpkin into my oatmeal.  Riley likes a little canned pumpkin mixed into his food too!

What part of fall are you looking forward to?

Pretty Spaces.

I need to go pack for a trip to Dallas, but I wanted to leave with you some of my favorite spaces (some I am sure you've seen before, but beautiful nonetheless!).

(all photos: decorpad)

5 things . . .

Since it's been a while, here are 5 of the things I have been doing instead of blogging . . .

1.  Going to Austin.  I'll have a full recap, but we had a blast last weekend!  

2.  Watching UT football.  I picked up this shirt yesterday because I am always looking for cute burnt orange and white attire, and this shirt was perfect!    

(photo: j crew)

3.  Watching Mad Men.  We never watched it when it first came on, and after hearing all the great reviews, we decided we should.  Better late than never, right?  We ordered the old seasons from Amazon and are on Season 2.

I could watch the show just to ogle over the clothes!

(photo: here)

And it's not just the clothes . . . the Draper's headboard is fabulous!  I love the color and the tufting.  But, in full disclosure, sometimes all I can think about is how much it must smell like cigarette smoke!     

  (photo: here)

4.  Cleaning out and organizing the closets in our downstairs bedroom.  It was a sad day today -- I finally donated the television I won at our after-prom party (and a bunch of other stuff) to Goodwill!  After 10 years, it was time to say goodbye to the tv!  Why all the cleaning/donating?  Besides just needing it, see number 5.

5.  Switching around the office and main guest room.  Our office is currently on the third floor, and our main guest room is on the first floor.  We decided to switch the two rooms around.  We have started using the downstairs room as a workout room and thought having the office down there instead may work better.  And, we rarely spend time in the office as it is now.

Getting the rooms looking nice will certainly be an ongoing process. So stayed tuned for updates.  Speaking of headboards, I am thinking about making one for the guest bed following Jesse's tutorial.  In the meantime, here are some office inspiration pics:

(photo: emily a. clark)

(photo: little green notebook)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Wallpapered Bookshelves.

I previously blogged about the wallpaper panels in our master bedroom.  Well we had some leftover wallpaper that I couldn't let go to waste, so I decided to "wallpaper" the bookshelves in our living room (they needed a little sprucing up).  I put the word wallpaper in quotes because I didn't actually use wallpaper paste.  Instead, I just used double-stick tape to adhere the paper to the bookshelves.  I wanted a more temporary solution and, so far, it has done the trick.   

Here's the before:

And the afters:

Taking a closer peek, I received these super cute owl banks/vases from my in-laws for my birthday.  I am using them as bookends for my fun penguin classics.  And thanks to a birthday present from my friend Lauren, my collection drastically increased!         

Also, a while back, I posted about a great bookshelf here and mentioned how I loved the ginger jar.  The very next day, my mom spotted one at HomeGoods and picked it up for me!  Thanks, mom!  I was originally planning on putting it in our master bedroom, but decided I liked it better in the living room.    

Now the bookshelves aren't quite so boring.  I definitely feel like I got my money's worth with just the one roll!  What do you think? 

Where I Blog.

Kate over at Centsational Girl is having a "Where Do You Blog? Party."  I decided to join in the fun because I've enjoyed taking a peek into where other people blog over the last couple of days.

The spot where I do most of my blogging isn't overly exciting -- it's the couch in our living room! 

Even though we have a home office, I sit at a desk all day and stare at a computer, so I like being relaxed on the couch with my laptop.  Most evenings Justin has his laptop out too on the couch and we are both working (or blogging -- me, not him).