Remember When I Was Good At Blogging?

This is my desktop right now:

Now take that image and apply it to my entire life. My apartment, my car, my legs that probably haven't been shaved in 3 weeks, my schedule, and my head. 

Everything is kind of like:

So, my apologies as I try to catch up.

First, Breck and I had a hot date with some wildlife. We headed South to Fossil Rim, a wildlife reserve that acts as kind of a drive-through petting zoo. 

The animals were... friendly? 

The zebra and I seemed to be getting along when he totally freaked out and started yelling at me. What a brat.

Everyone was congratulating Breck on getting that second picture, but the truth was he got like 20 of them! I was begging him to get us out of there and he was just laughing at me from over on the safe side of the car. I won't be choosing him for my team if there is a zombie outbreak. 

After the park we ventured down to Hico, Texas to check out their famous chocolate shop. 

...and got one of everything. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The next weekend I took a quick trip down to San Antonio to see my parents. The initial goal was to spend all day Saturday sewing so that I could cross another item off my 25 before 25 list. In the end, I said screw it and my mom and I went hiking instead. Good things happen when you procrastinate. 

On the way back to Dallas I stopped at Hamilton Pool, a natural spring outside of Austin. I'd seen it listed on a bunch of "Places to see in Texas" lists and wanted to hike down there myself. 

It was surreal.

Until you're right on top of it, there are no indicators that this spot could exist. But there it is, the most beautiful little paradise you could hope for. Make the trip to see it if you're ever in Austin!

The weekend after San Antonio I went scouting for a photoshoot with a friend and found this little oasis off a sketchy dirt road in Mckinney.

#nofilter 

The water is actually that color? Yeah.

Texas is putting up its A game this season and I tip my hat to it. 

Book Recommendations: 2014

One of my 25 before 25 goals was to read 25 books. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Good For: Reading late into the night and forgetting all other responsibilities. 

Read if you like: Ender's Game, The Hunger Games

Plot Summary: The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity's last hope.

Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it's all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda.

Brielle Stars: 6/5 (If you read one book from this list, it should be this one!)

2. Yes Please by Amy Poehler 

Good For: Giggling to yourself in public places and looking like a crazy person. 

Read if you like: Bossy Pants, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Plot Summary: Amy Poehler wrote a book. That is all you really need to know. 

Brielle Stars: 5/5

3. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Good For: When you need to realize how normal your life is.

Read if you like: Gone Girl

Plot Summary:  Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille Preaker's first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.

As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.

Brielle Stars: 5/5 (Fair warning, this book gets pretty crude.)

4. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Good For: Losing yourself in another world. 

Read if you like: A Game of Thrones, The Name of the Wind, Lord of the Rings

Plot Summary: It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brielle Stars: 6/5

5. Fan Girl by Rainbow Rowell

Good For: Coming off a Harry Potter binge.

Read if you like: Harry Potter, The Fault in Our Stars

Plot Summary: Cath and Wren Avery have been best friends since birth. Being identical twins, they've always come as a package deal. Now that they are beginning college, Wren seems to be pulling away, leaving Cath to retreat into the world of Simon Snow (an homage to JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.) For Cath, the books are more than just books, they are an escape to a world she loves to live in. That is, until someone insists on pulling her back to reality. 
Brielle Stars: 4/5

6. Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas

Good For: Girl Power.

Read if you like: Graceling, Poison Study

Plot Summary: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll be granted her freedom. 

That is until the other contestants start turning up dead.

Brielle Stars: 4/5 (The rest of the series is where it gets really good!)

7. Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Good For: Good vibes beach/airplane reading. 

Read if you like: Attachments, Just One Day

Plot Summary: Under the alias GirlOnline, Penny blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship.

Brielle Stars: 3/5 (A little vapid, but a fun read!)

Christmas Catch-Up

I seem to be always juggling goals. I get one thing under control, only to throw it back in the air so I can concentrate on something else. I'm afraid my blog has been a casualty of that perpetual juggle!

So, here is a brief update of the past few months. 

In November, we had our good friend, Callie Manion, take some holiday photos for us. I've shared a few, but here are some of the others! 

I wanted to incorporate that shoot a with my new venture in hand lettering, so I spent a few hours putting together our holiday cards.

It was our first year sending them out, so they mostly went to family. If you'd like to exchange cards in the future, let me know and I'll put you in my address book for next year!

At Thanksgiving, we went home to San Antonio to spend the holiday with my parents and my older brother Glen's family. That meant a lot of face time with my handsome nephew Leo!

I can hardly wrap my head around how cute he is! We spent the weekend eating, shopping, playing games, and singing "Christmas Monkey" more than any childless adult should. 

December brought a flurry of Christmas spirt and Christmas stress! Since Breck was knee-deep in finals and applying for law school. I did most of my Christmas prep at work. We got a Christmas tree. 

Decorated the office.

And threw a little soiree.

But it's not all parties! I swear we work. 

My highlight from this month was organizing a Christmas line and photo shoot for one of our clients. Working with the models was great, but I actually got to photograph the flat lays! 

It was such a cool process! And come on... when is shopping on someone else's dime not fun?

Squeezed in there, we had Breck's 29th birthday and our 3 year anniversary. Breck could barely look up from his work to celebrate his own birthday, so we settled on take home Carrabaras and presents at home. We exchange the "traditional" gifts every anniversary and this year was leather. After a (100% homemade courtesy of Breck) dinner of homemade lobster ravioli, I gave Breck a Daniel Worthington watch and he got me gorgeous boots from Anthro! Smart boy. I think it's been our best year yet. 

To finsh the year, we spent Christmas with Breck's side of the family in Arkansas. We had Minute to Win It tournaments, movie marathons, explored the Discovery Museum (recently featured in this awesome Jimmy Falllon clip) and got up to all sorts tomfoolery. 

A good end to a most splendid year. 

Boston

In an attempt to complete number six (6. Surprise Breck, make his jaw drop) I sneakily snagged us a pair of tickets to Boston for this past weekend. I had grand ideas of packing his bag in secret, suggesting we go on a drive and then just showing up at the airport to announce the trip, but Southwest not so sneakily sent us a letter confirming our flight. Damn.  

Nonetheless, Boston was enchanting. 

On Halloween night, we took a train out to Salem, site of the infamous witch trials. The little town was flooded (100,000 visitors!) with costumed crusaders. The cobble-stoned streets milled with everyone from Glinda the Good to the entire Ghostbuster Gang.  There were street performers on each corner, bands, ghost tours, shops and treats. 

But my favorite part was the costumes!

I won't sugar coat it, Boston was COLD and WET. Our ridiculously over-priced umbrellas turned inside out with every gust of wind. But it was hard to care with such a beautiful city to explore!

We walked 8 miles our second day in Boston, much of which was along the Freedom Trail. 

We were lucky enough to nab an excellent guide (Isaiah Thomas) who taught us everything from the reason for the pinecone on top of the Capitol Building to the grave robbers who stole John Hancock's hand.

After braving the weather we thought we deserved a lunch for kings. 

(The server doubted our ability to finish it all. Silly child.)

If you knew me during college, you knew I was never far from this guy!

Sal and Shelby were in town for the weekend as well, so we met up for a quick drink and stroll down the famous Newbury Street. I was pretty much fan girling. 

The next morning we took the M up to Cambridge for what will go down as the best breakfast of my entire life. Introducing the Ole Miss:

Okay so my crappy iPhone might not do it justice but just listen to this description: Cayenne-Cheddar toast topped with sausages, mashed chipotle sweet potatoes, scrambled eggs and mango sour cream. Guys. It was so good. True story, I shed a tear because I was so sad I couldn't finish it. 

We headed south after breakfast to check out the Public Library. 

Why can't all libraries look like this? I truly believe that a lot of societies issues would be solved if everyone had a library like this to retreat to.

The last bit of our trip was spent at Fenway.

We had an excellent time! Thank you to Mary and Shelby for their Boston recommendations and tips!

Home Jeeves.