Austin + Magnolia Market Recap

I've had so many requests for a recap of my Magnolia Market trip so today I'm excited to finally fill you all in on the fun! A few weeks ago my girlfriends who I've known since elementary school and I headed down to Austin as a 30th birthday celebration.

The five of us live in 4 different states and 2 time zones, so getting together has been a challenge and I'm so glad we made this trip happen! Breaking away from work and catching up with my girls over drinks + tacos with the best guac ever was definitely what I needed to refuel my tank.

We debated on locations for our trip but ultimately the food and atmosphere of Austin won us over! And with Waco being about an hour and 45 minute trip from there, we figured why not make a day trip of it?!

I highly recommend if you're looking for a rental home in Austin to check this one out! It was the perfect location with an amazing back patio and decor, and was in walking distance to a brewery so we were close to all of the action. 

Austin is so eclectic with old school shops on South Congress Street and tons food trucks! Seriously, Austin's food truck game is on point. 

One of the places we were bummed to miss was the "trailer park" on South 1st Street. It's a collection of food trucks with tons of seating and string lights that we planned to go to before a crazy storm rolled in on our last full day of the trip.

Before getting on the road on Saturday, we stopped by Jo's Coffee for road trip essentials and snapped a group shot by their famous I Love You So Much mural.  Coffee + giant cinnamon rolls? Don't mind if I do... although I guess I missed the memo about not blending into the green wall...

Then we hit the road for the easy trip out to Waco and the mothership... Magnolia Market.

I've been watching Fixer Upper since it started and it's just amazing to me what Chip and Joanna have done with this place. It's right off the highway in a busy part of town, but you feel like you're stepping into a different world. The inside of the store feels like a normal shop at first and then you go into a warehouse-like section.

So much white and black, gorgeous landscaping, more food trucks, and so many family-friendly things to do while mama shops. There were cute wooden swings, footballs for kids to play with in the big open field, and black and white striped bean bags to lounge on.

There were lines to get into both the bakery AND the store itself, which seemed crazy to me but I get it... they have over 8,000 people visit each weekend! Fun fact: we learned that after talking with Joanna's mom while waiting in the bakery line! She was so sweet and just kept saying how blessed they feel for the success of the show and what they could bring to Waco.

If you head to Magnolia Market, don't get deterred by the bakery line. It was wrapped around the building and down the street but they keep things moving and it only took us about 30 minutes. Which obviously was made so much better by chatting with Jo's mama and debating which cupcake flavors we were each going to get.

We all started planning to get just two and by the time we got inside, we were ordering 3 giant cupcakes each. Not sorry! I went with the Red Velvet, Lemon Lavender, and Silobration (vanilla with chocolate frosting). All were SO good but the Lemon Lavender was one of those one and done kind of things because it had such a distinct taste.

Once back in Austin, we headed downtown for dinner at Grizzelda's (cool atmosphere with a couple celebrity sightings but food was just okay IMO) and drinks on Rainey Street, which is basically a bunch of old craftsman-style houses turned into bars where I felt SUPER old. Ha! 

We came armed with so many restaurant recommendations but so little time to try them all. Our favorites were definitely Terry Black's Barbecue and Torchy's Tacos. I'm not a huge fan of guac but dang Torchy's was so good!

I came home planning to add tons of string lights to our outdoor space, painting everything white and black, and bringing my husband back to Austin just for the food. Can you tell where my priorities are?! Such a fun time, love my girls for making this trip happen!!

If anyone is traveling to Austin or Magnolia Market soon and has any questions, ask away!

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Easter 2017

I hope you all had a fun weekend!

Easter officially became one of my favorite holidays this year... capped off by a surprise visit from my parents!

Though I could do without the double pink eye and colds that two out of three of us have right now. Not sure how my boys got so sick but our house has been on a bit of a struggle bus since my parents left. This could also be partially due to a crash in sugar levels after finishing the last of our Reese's eggs...

The weather was absolutely perfect so we soaked up the sun at Magnolia Plantation's Easter egg hunt on Saturday. Rowan was a bit intimidated by the large crowd of parents charging towards the eggs with their toddlers in tow (I don't blame him) but slowly got into it after tasting every piece of candy in each egg he found along the way.

 
For some reason Easter egg hunts apparently suck the energy out of adults too?! Or is it just me?

We decided after Rowan's nap to set up egg dying outside on our patio while my husband grilled some burgers. It was the perfect evening, with surprisingly little mess to clean up considering you never know what to expect when you give a toddler 5 cups of dye to drop eggs into.

On Sunday we went to an early church service and headed home to host Easter brunch with my parents and close friends. I went a bit overboard on the basket filling... every year I forget what I bought and keep adding to it but the practical things like a shark towel and new red Natives were a big hit! And the bubbles... Always bubbles.

We tried hard for a good family photo but I think Rowan was starting to feel pretty crummy at this point so we took what we could get.

He's now on day two of eye drops and hanging at home with me... honestly if I don't get pink eye and his cold after being sneezed on a million times, I must have some kind of crazy immune system. Fingers crossed!

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One Room Challenge :: Week 2

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Minted. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

This week in ORC land, it was all about the gallery wall!

If you asked my husband for one of my worst qualities, he'd probably say my indecision.

In high school I had big dreams to become an interior designer, and luckily for myself and others that didn't happen because all of my clients would have unfinished spaces. Oops! I knew I wanted to move our family photos to our loft space and replace them with fine art, with a few family photos mixed in, but I was overwhelmed at the options.

Enter: the sweetest Minted Art Stylist, Cherie.

In case you're unfamiliar, Minted offers personal art styling for those of us that need a little boost in our decorating skills. There are a lot of perks besides not having to wrack your brain for the perfect art combination or spend hours looking through all of the pretty fine art options.

As part of Minted's art styling process, you receive 2 custom concept boards, 2 additional revisions, a full rendering of your wall with each option provided (for visual people like me this helped a TON!), and a 20-25% discount plus free shipping on your purchase!

You aren't required to buy everything, in fact to keep our gallery wall within my budget I opted to buy just the art and use my own frames for a couple of the prints.

To start you take a fun, quick quiz telling them what space you need art for, what your decorating style is, and the color palette. I think I selected contemporary, classic, and vintage if I remember correctly... this seemed to fit the overall Modern Farmhouse style I am going for.  Then I emailed Cherie an image of the wall and the exact dimensions she was working with.

And here is the perfection that she came up with...

 

Honestly she nailed it. I loved every piece of art, the subtle hint of blush in some of the pieces, and the mix of frames. I had my heart set on art shelves, but the second option she provided was so gorgeous I almost opted for that instead! Seriously how sweet is that Mother's Embrace print?

Here was option 2:

I asked her to tweak a couple things, like add a mat to the Parisian Windows print, and she sent a new rendering of the wall so I could see how it would look. I happily approved, so she sent me final hanging instructions and all of the details I needed to place my order.

I can't wait to share more progress next week! In the meantime my next to-dos are to find some bamboo shades to add texture, replace the rug, and find pillows that are toddler friendly (i.e. machine washable).

If you have any questions about the personal art styling process, feel free to reach out! I highly recommend it for a perfectly tailored gallery wall if you're stuck like me! Thank you so much to Minted for working with me on this space!

Now I'm off to get inspired by the other ORC projects!!

One Room Challenge Week 1: Before Photos and Inspiration

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One Room Challenge :: Modern Farmhouse Living Room

I've been dragging my heels on finishing our living room for SO long, its almost embarrassing. It doesn't need a major overhaul but a refresh with this thing called styling will go a long way considering how much time we spend in this room! So I thought what better time than the One Room Challenge, where I actually have to meet a deadline in 6 weeks?!  

If you're hearing from Calling it Home, welcome! I hope you stick around!

 So here are the before photos....

Not terrible by any means but it just doesn't look finished. Here are a few of the big things I think this space needs:

- Our ceiling light doesn't work so that needs to be addressed or replaced

- Accent pillows. Lots of them

- Some kind of greenery. I have a black thumb AND a toddler so I'm totally going with a faux plant in here

- An updated gallery wall with a mix of personal photos and fine art 

- Replace the rug that somehow looks white in this photo but its actually super gross and worn out after having a dog, toddler, and husband trample on it for 2 years 

- One accent chair or two? Or just a different style?

- Floor lamp to hold us over when the ceiling light stops working

- The whole thing needs a bit of styling

 

I love to add hints of the farmhouse style but I really like it to be more of a clean and modern farmhouse look mixed with classic furniture.

Sofa. Coffee Table (DIY here, or similar). Pouf. Basket. Key Art Print. Paris Art Print. 

Faux Fiddle Leaf Fig (really want this one, or maybe a shorter version). Accent Chair.

Floor Lamp. Throw Blanket (similar). 

So there you have it! Any thoughts for mixing classic with modern farmhouse? I don't want to go too over the top with farmhouse but I also want it to be fun and relaxed!

 

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Friday Faves, St. Patty's Day Style

This post is so totally random because I just have not had the time to blog lately, but these cookies are so dang good I had to pop in and share!

ONE. Sea Salt Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I confess I had a moment of weakness and ate 3 of these within seconds of each other. I can just see all of the pounds I've worked off on the treadmill coming back immediately but they are SO WORTH IT. Seriously you guys, make these cookies. The secret to making them super fudgy is under cooking them (I baked mine for 11 minutes) and letting them sit for 5 minutes on the tray while you stuff additional chocolate chunks on top, then transfer to cooling racks.

And in case you're wondering, no the recipe does not call for sandwiching green frosting between two cookies. But, why not?

TWO. Anthropologie Sale

I love a good Anthro sale because that's basically the only time I can shop there! And a pretty one-piece swimsuit! My top two picks here (love the back!) and here are 20% using the code SPRINGPERK this weekend. This suit in particular sold out so fast last year, so definitely snatch it up while its on sale!

THREE. These photos.

Taken one year apart. Last year these two had a serious love/hate relationship but they've become such little buddies now and I love it so, so much.

Tonight our wild St. Patty's Day plans include a beer and caulking our shower. So fun, right?! Plus some photography location scouting downtown and finally taking 2 year photos of Rowan. He is totally over my camera being in his face so this should go well. ha!

Have a great weekend, friends! 

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Life Lately

I'm not entirely sure how we're already a week into March, but there has been so much going on behind the scenes over here and I'm excited to share some fun news!

+ I'm going to be an Aunt!! For most people this isn't a huge surprise but I'm an only child so that makes the odds of me being able to spoil someone else's baby a little lower. To top it off, its a girl so I finally get to buy all the baby girl things!

I'm co-hosting her baby shower and I'm just a little obsessed with this sweet little elephant invitation. Minted nailed it again... the rounded corners and envelope insert are totally worth the upgrade in my opinion! We're going to keep the elephant theme kind of minimal but focus more on the color scheme. Next up, I have to start working on some table decor and a banner.

+ Because I don't have enough on my plate I thought it would be fun to officially start a photography business! This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time but didn't have the confidence or even know where to start... so a huge THANK YOU goes out to all of my friends and family for their encouragement and advice! I'm starting slow with a few families that we know in the area but once I get some of my portfolio built up I'll share more info! 

Elephant Piggy Bank c/o Baby Aspen

+ You might spy a familiar room in Shutterfly's 100 Cute Baby Boy Nurseries post! I'm so flattered they featured Rowan's nursery, now that we're inching closer to a big boy room it was so fun to look back and see the room we brought him home from the hospital to! There is some seriously amazing inspiration there, including baby girl rooms and themes, so if you're expecting don't miss it!

+ Speaking of babies, I love this post on new mama advice from Baby Aspen! I was so excited to contribute and honestly it was tough to narrow it down to one piece of advice... if only I could go back to my first time mom self and read this!

 + I think we're officially at the stage where R repeats every single thing we say, last week he told me I had to leave his play area because he and my husband were doing "man stuff." He is also really into trains all of a sudden, does anyone have a train table you recommend? Did your toddlers play with it enough to make it worth it?

So what is new with all of you?! I need a major catch up session!

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Disney World Recap with our 2 year old (!)

Hi friends! Just showing my face here to prove I still exist... I'm not sure what it is about a vacation, but it takes me weeks to get my act together once we're home. Our latest trip was no different, but I blame our crazy schedule while we were there for just totally wiping me out after!

In a span of five days we managed to drive to Florida, spend two days in Disney World for Rowan's 2nd birthday, celebrate with our friends at their rehearsal dinner and wedding, and then drive home. It was 110% exhausting but totally worth it.

Rowan is the most cautious child I know, so we spent some time prepping him for our trip. I was worried he would be scared of the rides so we showed him videos of the more popular ones before we left. That got him so excited that every time we left the house he was upset we didn't end up at "Mickey's House." On the other hand, he ended up loving the rides so maybe it helped?

There were so many new things at Magic Kingdom since the last time we were there pre-baby, like two Dumbo rides instead of one, a Winnie the Pooh ride (a huge hit for our little Christopher Robin!), a Little Mermaid ride, and new restaurants. We were lucky to have fast passes to all of the rides  (Thanks to a friend, you're the BEST!) so we were really spoiled and avoided long wait times. I have some fast pass tips below though!

Rowan was a bit clingy with so many people around but he requested to go on Dumbo twice and cheered after every ride, so it made my mama heart so happy.

The first day at Magic Kingdom was a long one and we somehow managed a stroller nap so that gave my husband and I a chance to check out some of the new food spots and an excuse to sit in the air conditioning. If you go, you have to check out Gaston's Tavern for the ham and cheese pretzel! The LeFou's Brew was also a hit for a hot day.

We also learned that our child likes the idea of characters, but he draws the line when they get within 20 feet of him. He did pretty good at the Winnie the Pooh character dinner (the breakfast was booked up waaay in advance) though, provided Eeyore didn't come anywhere near him and the rest of the crew made it a quick table visit.

The second day after breakfast and exploring the Animal Kingdom Lodge a bit, we headed to Epcot. Probably not the most toddler friendly of the parks but we couldn't miss the rides there for our little Nemo, Dory, and Frozen-loving toddler. The old troll ride in Norway was converted to a really great Frozen ride... I think that was my personal favorite actually!

Once we got back to my in-laws' house, we celebrated Rowan's official birthday with breakfast birthday cake and presents before my husband left for groomsman duties that day. We kept the Disney theme going with a Dory cake with an ungodly amount of colorful frosting... but it was delish and Rowan was crazy about it so that's all that mattered!

Quick tips for conquering Disney World with a toddler:

+ If you're planning a trip, I highly recommend getting the Magic Bands. They are included if you're staying at a Disney resort because they function as your room key. You can link your park tickets, Disney photos, fast passes, and use them while shopping or eating in the parks. It was so convenient!
 
 + We used to live in Florida so I knew that February (or basically anytime other than holidays and summer) would have lower crowd sizes and better weather. We still had 80+ degree days while we were there though!

 + Use the Disney World app to set up fast passes, see interactive maps of the parks, find showtimes and parades, or make dinner reservations.

 + Fast passes: You can have 3 fast passes scheduled at one time, an hour apart, and then once you use them you can get more. The app makes it super easy to set up more as you go.
 
+ Unless you want to spend a minimum of $60 for photos by the Disney staff, make sure to ask them to take photos with your phone or camera as well. We thought we could buy one or two separately but no, that is definitely not the case... so we have no photos of the three of us!

+ We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which was so different than any of resorts I stayed at as a kid. Although we didn't have a lot of time to explore there on our short trip, I would definitely go back! The pool and playground were great for toddlers and they even provided a full size crib in the room!

The rest of our trip was so much fun but so freaking busy! Sadly my husband and I did not take a single photo from the rehearsal dinner or wedding! I think we were so excited to have two date nights in a row that we totally forgot we should document it. At the very least I wish I had proof that I do in fact still wear heels from time to time...

I did find THE most perfect dress for the upcoming wedding season though, so stay tuned this week for all of the pretty details!!

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Friday Favorites

Three posts in one week?! You guys this never happens, I might need to pop open some bubbly tonight.

This week has felt like it's been crawling, mostly because we've got fun plans for next week including Rowan's 2nd birthday celebration! My baby is going to be TWO! I still can't wrap my head around it. Anyway lots of good things to share this week so I'll get right to it...

Mickey Outfit via Gigi Babies

+ In lieu of a birthday party this year, we're taking Rowan to Disney World! We're just doing a quick 2-day trip to Magic Kingdom and Epcot, so if any of you mamas have been to Disney with a toddler please share any tips you've got!

+ Did anyone catch this week's episode of Fixer Upper? Major house goals! Except we can probably leave out the chicken coup decor in the playroom. Totally working to get my husband on board with selling and buying an all brick fixer upper this year though, I think he's almost convinced!

+ Mamas, you must read this Space Between Baby and Boy article, even if you're a girl mom! It really hit the nail on the head for me because without us even knowing it Rowan has transitioned from a little baby to a big, independent kid. It's been a tough transition on me honestly. Which also leads me to this article that I loved!

+ Okay enough sappy stuff, I've been on a vegetable kick lately and this crispy brussels sprouts recipe is so dang good. The breading probably isn't the best for my diet but whatever!

+ Don't miss this post if you're stumped on a Valentine's Day gift or need low-key at home date night ideas! (Heart day is on a Tuesday, who really has the energy for a date on a school/work night?!) Enter to win a $100 credit for JORD wood watches and you'll get a $25 credit just for entering! Seriously such a unique gift!!

Anyone have fun plans for the weekend?! It's been so gorgeous here, I think a park play date might be in order before the Super Bowl! 

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Favorite Camera Gear for Beginners

Happy February, friends! Today I wanted to share some of my answers to the most asked question I get... what kind of camera gear I use! I'm always so appreciative of the sweet comments and emails I get about my photos, so I thought it's was about time to get a post together.

Also I'm not getting paid by anyone for this post (I wish... come on Canon! haha) although there are affiliate links. I'm honestly just a Canon user and wanted to share my beginner experience to where I am now in my photography!

Up until the past few weeks I've used a Canon T3i DSLR camera but since purchasing it a few years ago I've been slowly adding to my photography arsenal.

1. Canon Rebel DSLR Camera: The Canon Rebel series (newest T6i version here) is a really great starter DSLR in my opinion. I started out using the automatic settings and then as I learned how different ISO, aperture, and shutter speed settings work, I ventured into different camera modes. Canon cameras have an AV mode which automatically adjusts all of your settings while letting you control the aperture... which is basically the blurry background you see in photographer's images. I still rock AV mode every once and a while, and using it made learning manual mode a little easier. The plus side to the Rebel series is you don't ever have to learn manual mode if you don't want to, and your images will still be beautiful!

2. Lenses: My go-to lens is the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens. On a Canon Rebel camera which crops your photos a bit, the 50mm makes you feel like you're practically standing on top of your subject. It's also a fixed lens so you can't zoom so it definitely takes some getting used to. BUT its such a better lens than the kit lens that comes with your camera and its super affordable! I'd say 95% of the images you see on my blog are taken with that lens.

The only time I use the kit lens (18-55mm) is when I need a wider angle or to zoom from far away. When we went to Europe I only used the kit lens and my images were a million times better than an iPhone photos (even though I didn't edit them much) so don't stress if you don't think you're ready for another lens. You don't necessarily need another unless you just want to take some nicer quality photos of your kid!

3. Remote: I have the Canon Remote and it has been so handy when I'm trying to get into the image. It's a low cost investment and is really easy to use.

4. Memory Cards: My T3i camera does not have a built-in wi-fi, so the Toshiba FlashAir memory card has been a MUST for me. I think the newer Rebel version is enabled for wi-fi though! If you need a wi-fi memory card, all you have to do is keep your camera turned on and your phone will find the memory card wi-fi. Then download the app and save your images directly to your camera roll.If you don't need wi-fi, I like the SanDisk Extreme memory card.

5. Tripod: I don't use my tripod too often but just like the remote, it has come in handy a few times when we want to take family photos. I have the Ravelli light weight tripod which folds up into a small case so its really easy to travel with and set up.

6. Editing: I use Adobe Lightroom for editing and absolutely love it even though I probably only know how to use about half of its features. It's not totally necessary for beginners, but it does help. My editing style is light and bright, so even though I tend to overexpose my images in my camera, I use Lightroom to fix some of the coloring, crop, convert to black and white, etc.

If I'm uploading an image from my camera straight to my phone, Snapseed is my first choice for an editing app, followed by VSCO. I never use any filters on my images.

7. Photography Breakout Courses: When you're ready to step your photography up a notch or just need some inspiration, tips on editing, etc. I highly recommend taking a Clickin Moms Photoschool breakout taught by a professional photographer. They are 100% online and usually run between $35-60 per course. Most breakouts include a huge PDF with tons of information, videos, and a forum where you can submit your own images for review or learn from others taking the course. I recently took the Behind the Scenes Volume 2 breakout and it was SO worth the money! Seriously it was amazing, I learned so much about editing that I could have never learned on my own!

My sweet husband got me the Canon 6D camera for the 30th birthday and its been a bit of a learning curve for me, especially because my old lens needed calibrated with the nicer camera, but I'm getting there!

But I'm still so happy I had the Rebel T3i as a starter camera so I obviously highly recommend, especially if you're expecting a baby, traveling, or if you're a blogger! If anyone has other questions please don't hesitate to ask!

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