Early Bird Catches the Worm

Those who know me, know that I’m rarely awake before 8:30am. Thank goodness I have a job that allows this anti-morning personality of mine. Anyway, long story short, I’m awake right now. At 7:44am on Friday August 27th. (I actually awoke at 7:02am) It is cool outside. I’m about to take a walkjog. Then get ready for my day. And I’m happy to have my eyes open.

My heart is split between two places…

This weekend was nuts. Exhaustion inducing nuts.  One part Fort Worth and one part Austin…which generally, for me, ends up being a recipe for insane fun and intense exhaustion.

I spent Friday night in Fort Worth with my local crazies, bowling and drinking brews. I shot awake bright and early saturday morning to high tail it to Austin for Lig’s bridal fiesta that spun into a entire month’s worth of beauty all wrapped up into one day.

Each time I catch a glimpse of the Austin skyline after my 3 hour trip on the concrete wasteland that is I35, I get this feeling. I’m simply…home. Let’s make some lists….

Things I miss about Austin, Texas

– My Sister and her beautifully crazy friends. My mood is immediately improved the exact moment I enter their presence.

-Ligon, Whitney, Cheri, Dani…girlfriends

– Madam Mams. I have yet to find any comparable thai anywhere in DFW. Let me know if you care to contest that.

– Burnt Orange. God it felt good to drive down the drag and see the overwhelming presence of longhorns darting in and out of traffic towards campus. I miss being a student.

– People walking and biking everywhere

– Proximity to New Braunfels, hill country, Lakes, unadulterated land, Houston, etc.

– The Quirks…the way people dress, speak, act, live without restraint.

– Music. Just drive down south Congress, 6th, Guadalupe, any street really,  with your windows rolled down.

HOWEVER

Things I’m loving about Fort Worth

-The Funky Town vibe

– New, equally beautiful, crazy friends

-My Parents. So close and always willing to help me stock my pantry, listen to my dreams and fears, and so much more.

– Old Friends. Bethany, Laura, Lauren, Clay, Matt, Robert, Whitey. It is absolutely lovely to renew old friendships.

– My little house. Too cute for words.

– Having an entire metroplex to traverse.

I guess its just interesting to love the place I’m in, while yearning for a place I used to be.

Well hello summer…

Thank goodness gracious the summer season is here. I’m so thrilled about its arrival, I just can’t see straight. So THANK GOODNESS it’s here. I have so many tentative plans to celebrate the sunny/freakishly hot season as well as so many plans that aren’t event planned yet! I tend to be a creature of last minute decision making.

Take tomorrow for instance. Sweet sweet Bethany and Laura have invited me on a river trip. I made the decision just today to leave for a three day trip down south to enjoy the thrills of Austin, sixth, then New Braunfels and Gruene Hall. Wow, how wonderful is it to make plans so suddenly and to be able to follow through on them?! I’m ecstatic.

I’ve been really really ridiculously overwhelmingly busy as of late. I finished with my last relay on Saturday the 5th of June. It is over. And I hate to act like it was a horrible six months of hard work. Well…it was hard work, but it definitely wasn’t too horrible. It is extremely satisfying to see the events that my blood, sweat, and tears have gone into. I’ve been blessed enough to see how these beautiful Relay nights have truly affected the communities I’ve been working with for the past year.

Perhaps a visual representation might help 🙂

Alright, humor me here, but I’m going to try and quickly explain exactly why these Relay For Life events, that I work with, are so very special. The goal is to raise money to fight cancer. The year of fundraising is rejoiced and celebrated by an annual carnival-esque event. During the 12 hour overnight event a community takes the time to Celebrate, Remember, and Fight Back. We celebrate the lives of the cancer survivors who are present. We then remember those who we’ve lost to cancer. And then we pledge to fight back against the disease in whatever way possible. The entire idea of relay is summed up in the first picture. HOPE. We are hoping for a better tomorrow. A world without cancer. A world where people aren’t hurting as much as they are today.

Wow. I can’t help but love a job with such an intense message at the core of it.

I know I moan and complain about my schedule, but goodness, I can’t imagine doing anything else right now…unless it included porch sitting, brunching, and day drinking 🙂

Alright, enough sappy stuff. I love my job…blah blah blah.

All I can say at this point, is that I’m excited for the season to come and I hope it includes me being a porch sitting, day drinking bruncher.

liz

Felicidades

I’ve spent a lot of time outside today. Well maybe not a TON but I did walk outside and have a bowl of cereal this morning. Plus I’m currently writing this while sitting outside…so that counts. This morning was a beautiful surprise. I realized that that Mac’s climbing tree has grown the most perfect little purple flowers all over it.

After the rain last night, hundreds of them had rained down into the grass in my backyard. I transplanted one branch into a recently used wine bottle.

They made my kitchen smell so good! Hopefully they’ll last just a few more days. Anyway, the tree flowers were such a simply pretty way to start my morning.

I’ve just decided that it’s of ultimate May importance to get into the Cinco de Mayo mood. So I’ve plugged in my fiesta lights, eaten a tortilla, and updated my facebook status in Spanish.

In no way am I trying to diminish the real reason for Cinco de Mayo, which is (thanks to wikipedia) a celebration of a surprising Mexican Victory over France. 🙂 I just think it’s interesting how holidays can be so subjective right now. It seems as though once one becomes more grounded in life or their community, they form holiday traditions that tend to stick. Right now, I’m just not into that. I sort of like the idea of allowing the holiday to take me where it pleases.

Take, for example, how I spent last 4th of July. I stuck my feet into a kiddie pool with some wonderful temporary Austinites and watched fireworks over town lake from my car. And that will be different from how I spend this year’s 4th and probably the next.

Personally, I just like to celebrate. Cinco de Mayo is the perfect excuse to cook up some Tamales and put my mom’s famous margarita recipe to the test. If I had even realized that it was earth day, I would have probably taken the time to plan a little garden party complete with needing-to-be planted flowers and tea…long island iced of course.

Fortunately for me, I have some wonderful friends who think the same way. Whether it’s the Biggest Loser Season finale feast (Bethany, let’s plan this one), Friendsgiving, or TGIW…Thank God It’s Wednesday…we can always find a reason to celebrate.

As you may know, it is one of my favorite past times to turn an average dinner, happy hour, or whatever into the perfect opportunity for a toast. There is always something to toast to. There is always something that is worth recognizing and commemorating…even if it is only the end of a bad day.  

So…Felicidades.!Here’s to making it through May 4th…just so we get to celebrate on the 5th.

liz

Scrapbooking and champagne

An unlikely combination with extraordinary results.

Hello Friday, I’m happy you’re here

These are the pretty little feet that  I woke up to this morning at approximately 7:15am:

This is what I’m looking at right now at approximately 6:20pm:

Mac window hunts birds, while I drink a cold Pacifico and watch the day turn into dusk. We both are in no position to complain.

I know that I started this blog back in the wintry weather of December with promises of consistent updates. Those promises were obviously empty. However, I now promise to blog whenever I feel like it. And today it just feels right.

The weather is beautiful and the birds are chirping etc etc and all that other silly optimistic stuff you all know I love. I’m excited about today.

I’ve been really blessed to see some of my people in the past few weeks. Some of the people who have been too darn far from me.

The Whitney Radley came into town for St. Patrick’s Day weekend. We spent three days dancing to Phoenix, mixing to-go mimosas, covering ourselves in green clothing, and laughing hysterically at our ridiculousness.

Fortunately for me, my bff til we’re 30, Kirsten Hedin, was in town the same weekend! As always, she provided endless entertainment with her stories, sass, and st. pattie’s day chants: Lovers Willard Amherst! LOVE HER!

Last weekend I sped down I35 to Austin for a little “I like to pretend I’m a college student again” trip. I got out of the shower on Saturday to find Miss Dani Dias, obviously a master at the art of breaking and entering, sitting in my sister’s house waiting to wisk me away for a surprise. This girl knows how much I love to cook (and who am I kidding, eating!) so she took me to Whole Foods, shoved a basket in my arms, and said “GO”. So I went. I filled it up with delicious goodies like pineapple, prosciutto, apple juice, and curry powder. She must love me 🙂

Ligon is in town this weekend with some friends for a conference for grad school. She stayed with me on Wednesday night. I also let her sleep in my bed! See I can share 🙂 Last night we ate at Taverna and then Ventured into Pete’s Piano for a few songs. The hilarity continued when someone (Ligon) “just wanted to dance” and the group decided upon Bar 9. Can you say…ICK? The very entertaining dance circle that Ligon formed caught the attention of the entire bar…I think that’s a good thing.

Anyway, it feels really wonderful to be here. Right now. On a Friday.

Love,

Liz

Today

This made me happy today:
“Therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, because you don’t. No one does. You shouldn’t be trying to check off the boxes of life; they aren’t real and they were created by other people, not you. There is no explicit path I’m following, and I’m not walking in anyone else’s footsteps. I’m making it up as I go.”

Only one week left of work and then I’m free to do as I please for two entire weeks! Goodness, that sounds so refreshing. I plan on catching up on my reading, seeing a movie or two, practicing mid afternoon yoga, sleeping in, getting a hair cut, and just enjoying the simpler things that days without obligation can bring.

So. Pumped.

liz

All I want for Christmas is…

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Christmas is almost here. I realize that it’s probably the last thing on everyone’s minds, what with all the holiday music, parties, shopping, etc.

Sarcasm…obviously.

Honestly, it’s so overdone that I’m having an adverse reaction to the “cheeriness” that December is bringing. I just can’t seem to drum up any holiday spirit!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally pumped about the two weeks I’ll have off of work. I also cannot wait to see my extended family in Houston. And I don’t mind admitting that I’m a huge fan of Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is you”.

I guess my point is that…well I don’t really have a point….I’m just sort of bad at Christmas. I thought about putting lights on my pretty little house, but I couldn’t imagine myself up on ladder swaying precariously while trying to string lights on my roof. With my luck, I’d probably fall. And my wonderful mother gave me a beautiful turtle dove ornament the other day. I took it out today, and instantly dropped it on the floor where it shattered. Also, I’m a terrible gift giver. I never know what to get anyone.

So…I decided to indulge my selfish side and put together a Christmas list. Here’s what I came up with in hopes of generating some excitement about Christmas:

Christmas Wish List 2009

1. Hair Straightener

2. Free standing hammock

3. Chiminea (sp?)

4. North Face Fleece

5. My house painted

6. Mixer

7.  A trip to South America

8. Stackable washer and dryer

9. A grill and grilling lessons

10. A scratching post for Mac the cat

11. Skeleton Key Tattoo

12. Gold earrings

13. A car wash

14. Pair of Black leggings

15. A longhorn win in Pasadena

16. Bicycle

17. Central Market Groceries for a year

18. Air Wick plug-ins: fresh linen scented

19. Champagne

20. ACL tickets

21. Student loan debt paid off

22. A pair of sperry’s

23. A headboard for my bed

24. A flight to chicago

And Finally….

25.  2010 to be the best year yet.  Bethany, mark my words.

 

So I know this list is just a tiny bit extensive, but a girl can dream right? I  also realize that two of these items make me look like a silly frat boy, while one of them makes me look like a crazy cat lady. The rest just make me look like a dreamer.

Santa, can you make this happen?

Am I blogging?

Alright. I’ve been pushed, shoved, held down and tortured….basically, forced to have a blog.

So here it is.

I’ve been contemplating, over the past few days, about what exactly to put onto these “internet” pages. What is one supposed to write here? Is it a journal…and online diary, if you will? Should I type my innermost thoughts? Or am I supposed to try really hard to be funny so that people will wait with baited breath each day for me to write something?

Whatever it is supposed to be, I am, most likely, going to miss the mark sometimes. But here I am, regardless. Typing.

My hope for this…is that my friends and family, that aren’t as near as I’d like them to be, will read this blog and feel just a tad bit closer to me than they were before. I know that when I read the writing of my sister, friends, and even strangers, I feel more informed about what is going on in the worlds and minds of those people. I feel connected. It feels really good.

So like I said, here it is. This is my blog. It will, undoubtedly, be cliche, standard, and boring at times. But here’s to hoping that sometimes…just sometimes…you might be surprised, inspired, and happy about whatever it is that I decide to type that day.

love,

Liz