Howdy gang. How's your summer going?
I turned 35 and all I got was astigmatism. Hardy har har, yes? But seriously, I treated my ever squinty eyes to an eye exam as a birthday gift to myself and walked away with this snazzy set of glasses.
My Mom got me a Ninja Coffee Bar, which is just as amazing as Sofia Vergara says it is. Hubby got me several little gifts that I've had on my list: a butter dish, a pepper mill, and a funny cat to hold my steel wool on the kitchen windowsill.
Getting old is hilarious.
But some people still find me interesting. I was interviewed by the folks at Foody Direct recently. Check out their blog post to hear what motivates me to keep writing and making.
I'm working on putting together my next series of classes at CRAFT Austin. What would you like to learn about? I've got bath bombs, gemstone soaps, DIY Nail Polish, and mineral makeup on my mind.
If those sound interesting to you, please let me know! Your input will help me select which classes to offer for Fall 2016.
I attended a sweet little media event at Venezia Gelato a couple weeks back. This cute little gelato place is located on South Lamar, right next to Mother's Tattoos.
I enjoyed a light and creamy cone filled with lemon and pistachio gelatos alongside some of my favorite Austin blogger and instagrammers, Girl Eats World, Sugarfoot Eats, and Bake Me Away. Thanks for the invitation, Venezia!
Guess what else was right next to Mother's Tattoos? I tried to catch a pokemon inside it, but that didn't work out.
At home we've been devouring Noosa yogurt. The Aussie-style creamery sent over a massive box of Strawberry Rhubarb for us to check out and it was delicious! I am delighted to see their pumpkin flavor appearing on shelves lately too. My other favorite Noosa would have to be lemon. Scott loves cherry, and CC likes the strawberry rhubarb best.
Speaking of CC, he had his second birthday at the end of May. Whoah, right? Not to be totally cliche, but I CAN NOT believe how fast this is going. How is my babe already a tot? We threw him a little party with kids, crafts, pizza, and a trampoline full of balloons.
Oh, and I carved him this watermelon monster.
I've been hard at work trying to catch up on writing chapters for book number two. I still haven't settled on a proper name for my book about natural living projects for mama and baby, but I'm hoping something snappy will hit me soon. Inspiration is aplenty, what with my sister popping out an adorable nephew recently and my first fabric sponsor, Honey Be Good, sending a shipment of beautiful eco-concious fabrics for me to work with.
I managed to churn out almost three chapters on a recent trip to my mom's house. 10,000 words a day is a furious pace, especially with a certain someone demanding a certain something constantly. Am I still using 500 extra calories a day? I sure hope so.
As for the rest of our summer, we've been doing our best to get out there an enjoy ourselves despite the heat. Swimming is a huge part of our strategy and we do our best to get to local spots like Deep Eddy or the YMCA whenever we can. My folks also have a saltwater pool at their house which makes trips to Nanna and Pop's house extra enticing. We even hiked down to the greenbelt last weekend for a little creek swimming.
We spent the Fourth of July at my parents' place as well. Their neighborhood had a little parade with families on bikes, kids in wagons, and a real-deal fire truck. Naturally, our wagon was decorated the silliest and got loads of confused looks. I asked my 3-year old nephew what the eagle should say and here we are. I'm a firm believer in letting kids imaginations take the lead. It makes them happy and the results are often hilarious. Caw!
I'm trying (again) the Little Moments Photo-a-Day Challenge. So far, I'm on Day 3, and have posted 2 photos. Not bad, right? You can follow my adventures on Instagram, or better yet, join the fun with Little Moments.
What are you doing for fun this summer? Give me the lowdown in the comments below.