trip highlights: austin, tx

If you follow me on instagram, you may have noticed I visited Austin, Texas last month. It was my first time to Austin, and while we were only there for 48 short hours, we hit up most of the spots on my must-see list.

The majority of our time was spent on 6th Street. My favorite bar was a dive on the Dirty 6 side called Dizzy Rooster, which I later found out was one of the favorite haunts of the Real World Austin cast.

The entire bar was covered in bottle caps. I loved every filthy, rusted one of them.

6th Street was oddly welcoming to K-Staters. Call it southern hospitality, or a way to get purple people in to your bar to spend a bunch of money. Either way, I liked it.

The weather was insane, and lucky for us we were out early enough to get a prime spot on the roof-top at Shakespeare's. From what I encountered, the tailgating experience is nothing like it is in Manhattan, or most Big 12 campuses for that matter. Instead of SUVs and RVs lined up in fields and parking lots surrounding the stadium, most people hang out at the bars on 6th Street, or went to a banquet hall that I can only describe as where your aunt may have had her wedding reception in the early 1980s. It was so Texas, and it was awesome.

After our loss (boo) and a perfect night's sleep on Saturday, we awoke on Sunday to meet friends at my now FAVORITE brunch place ever: Bess Bistro on Pecan. First off, they serve dollar mimosas, which apparently is a normal occurrence in Austin. This needs to become a thing in KC. Stat. Brunch was all-you-can-eat, so I started off with a mimosa and an order of deconstructed croque monsieur. I've never even had a constructed croque monsieur , so I wasn't really sure what I was ordering. It had just the right amount of truffle oil on the toast, a perfectly crispy-fried poached egg, and spicy blackened ham. After a pass through the delicious buffet line, Adam and I split the most popular order of the day - Fruity Pebble pancakes. Oh My G, I thought about those pancakes for days afterwards.

We had almost a full day before needing to head to the airport, so after eating our weight in breakfast food we bid adieu to our friends and went to Rainey Street. It's a small street where the adorable houses have been transformed into bars with backyard games, garages turned into restrooms, and parking lots filled with food trucks. Such a fun little street with so much character.

ATX - you were fun. I'll be back.

happy wednesday

best friends

I'm finally tackling my inbox, and found this article I had emailed to myself this summer.

Hope those instagrams make you as happy as they made me.

trip highlights: nashville

Or NashVegas, as some like to call it.

Stick 12 sorority sisters in any city and it's going to be a good time. But put all of us in Music City, and times aren't only good, they're downright rowdy.

This is not even close to a comprehensive city guide of Nashville, because we almost never left Broadway street. For a really amazing (although slightly dated now) post on all things Nashville, head on over here. For a few pictures of the fun the city has to offer on a girl's trip, keep on scrolling.

Now I know back here I said our only set plan was to go to Bluebird Cafe. I was so excited to tell all you Nashville show lovers about it. Turns out, our reservations were for Friday night instead of Saturday night. So we missed the Bluebird, but to be honest, it was probably for the best. When 9:30pm rolls around and you're with 11 of your best friends from 6 different states and just finished bar hopping along the main strip, it is highly likely you'd be asked to leave the famous listening bar due to volume control issues.

So instead, you could find us every night in the back of Tootsie's, usually on stage helping the bass player with his chords. We dined at some pretty delish spots, my favorites being Merchants for lunch and M for brunch. May I suggest the mimosas....

The rest of the trip was spent walking up and down Broadway, running in and out of live music bars as we pleased. I definitely did some damage in accomplishing resolution #4 that weekend. Thank you Nashville - for being so fun, so country, and so inviting to us all. We'll be back.

month in photos: january

Better late than never, right?

January 2013 was one for the books. 

It included trips to the Fiesta Bowl and Mexico.

My 27th birthday and a celebration at KC's urban winery.

A major investment purchase.

And my first experience at being unemployed.

Gotta love life's timing.

Friends for 13 years at Amigoni Urban Winery.

College girlfriends. It was gameday, can you tell by all the purple?

The look of a successful wine tasting.

Burning the midnight oil branches on the beach of San Pancho.

Taking a break from cover letter writing to enjoy the new Kate Spade book.

lately

I took a longer break from the blog than expected. A week of that break was because I was here:

In case you're curious, all but the photo with the beer and Kindle were taken with the Rebel. 

Love, LOVE it.

The rest of the blog break, how do I say this, is because I've been looking for a j-o-b. That little endeavor I mentioned here? Yeah, didn't work out. It sure wasn't for lack of effort. To put it extremely kindly, the devil angel investor backed out on his entire investment while I was boozing about San Pancho. So on my second day in Mexico, I received an email from this guy announcing he is pulling the plug on 12 people because his health is bad and he's stressed.

Surprise!

It should have ruined the trip, but some people have an uncanny ability to compartmentalize. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's not. In this case, I did all but forget about the situation waiting for me at home for the rest of our time in paradise. Thank goodness for tequila.

I learned a lot in those 2 months of starting a company. Lots and lots and lots. But the most important lesson I'd like to document here (in case I get any hair-brained ideas and want to start a company again someday) is to ask for the financials and a business plan before signing anything. Duh, right? I'm a finance major, I should have known better. But things get exciting, you trust people you shouldn't, you get that giddy light-headed feeling of exhilaration, and you go with it.

The upside of being unemployed: I allow myself to drink wine every night that I apply for a job. So it's Monday night, and you better believe I'm drinking wine. Cheap wine. Because after all, I'm unemployed.

Truthfully though, unemployment is nothing to take lightly. I kind of joke about it here because you don't want to read a sob story and because I'm awkward. And because this isn't the worst thing that could happen to me. I'll be fine and happier in the long-run doing something else (until then, does anyone need their dog walked?). I do want to say, there are a handful of my former colleagues who have been left high and dry by this horrible man (dangit, I knew that would slip in my typing somewhere) in a depressed economy in upstate New York with kids and sick parents to take care of. I pray for and think about them everyday. It's heart breaking.

With that, if you have a job, take today to be extra thankful for it.

Sorry for the debbie downer ending there, but that's what's been up lately.
Onward ho with the job search!

refinery 29's 29 places to visit in 2013

via

Even though I have been stateside for a mere 72 hours, I can't help but daydream about the destinations refinery 29 suggested visiting this year. While San Pancho, Mexico didn't make the list (more photos to come), number 24 is especially nice.

Where would you like to travel to this year?

winter tropical vacation must haves

I am aware of the following facts:

1. Mexico is warm when Kansas City is cold

2. Mexico is fun

3. Weddings are amazing

4. Mexico + wedding = REALLY good time

5. I'm visiting Mexico twice, both for weddings, within six weeks of eachother

6. My life is completely ridiculous

Far from a travel professional (still haven't been to Europe, tsk tsk), I have traveled south of the US border a handful of times over the past few years. The crazy thing is, I get to travel south again in 5 days, which also happens to be my 27th birthday. Which is why I felt obligated to list #6 above. It's the truth.

Naturally, I'm waiting until the last minute to pack. But luckily with my recent escapades to Tulum (first of the 2 weddings), Dominican Republic, and Cancun, I have the warm weather vacation packing list pretty much down to a science.

In case you're planning a trip somewhere warm during these last cold months of the season (or if you just want a head start on pool season), here are a few of my tropical vacation must haves.

j. crew popover

I have this in white (shown in chambray) and got it a size up so it would be longer, and use it as a cover-up. It's especially perfect if you're going on an booze cruise excursion where you'll be in the sun for hours on end and want those sleeves by the end of the day. It also makes me feel preppy on the beach, which I love.

stella & dot charlize teardrop earrings

These bring a beachy element to any outfit. I wear them nearly 100% of the time I'm on a tropical vacation.

soprano racerback maxi

This maxi is super form-fitting and lightweight. It's perfect as a cover-up as long as your bikini bottoms don't have string-tie sides, or as a casual dress at night.

havaiana sandals

In the blogging world, Jack Rogers sandals rule the roost; but I can't wrap my head around forking over $100+ on beach shoes. Havaianas are comfortable, reasonable, and offer really cute designs.

lumene vitamin c+ day dream with SPF

All day. Everyday. Plus it smells like citrus. This redhead has not had a face sunburn in two years.

Top photo by me while in Cancun December 2011.

typical me

Yesterday's post may have been a bit of foreshadowing on my part.

Remember when I mentioned I took a crazy small amount of pictures in December?

That's all about to change in 2013.

I made a pretty major move in checking off new year's resolution number six this past week. 

yayyyyyyyy.

Typical me, start with the most expensive and exciting of resolutions and work my way up (or down?) from there.

Now I just need to learn how to use this thing.

PS: I haven't forgotten about my bedroom reno, although I'm sure 95% of you guys have. That pretty white duvet the camera is on is a big part of it, but I need to set up a lamp, and have my suitcase unpacked for two weeks straight before sharing any more deets. So that should be... let's see... in March.

month in photos: december

Last month was crazzyyyy. Crazy good. Crazy fun. Crazy busy.
I took a crazy small amount of pictures. 

Feeling festive with jingle bells in mason jars.

His & hers K-State shoes.

Architectural amazingness. Kauffman Performing Arts Center.

Somebody loves his Weber Smokey Mountain smoker.

Love this piece of art from another night of wine and painting at the Hook Gallery.

Really fun events not captured on camera:

Nordstrom private holiday shopping event.

Catching the second night of The Book of Mormon in Chicago.
Winter scenery (snow & cars on the side of the road for miles) from our 13 hour drive from Wisconsin.

The half-scarf I knitted to keep myself from going insane on said 13 hour drive.
Seeing the K-State men's basketball team win at home.

All in all, a merry last month of 2012!

i'm back and need your advice

My view last week. 

What I'm looking for more of this week.

via

I'm back from an extremely fun and relaxing vacation in Tulum. The freckles are out of control I tell ya.

One of my favorite people got hitched to a wonderful guy, and I played in the ocean with Blue Eyes and many new and old friends.

A few more pictures will be up later in the week, but I wanted to ask your advice on something. 

Through this past year of blogging, I've fallen completely in love with photography. 

I am starting to recognize when pictures have been taken with a DSLR vs. iPhone vs. little Canon PowerShot, which is what I currently use for vacations. 

It's a great starter camera, but I think it's time to take the plunge in to the expensive exciting DSLR world. 

Especially after I used my friend's Rebel a few times while in Mexico. 

So here are my questions for all you photographers (amateur or not) out there: 

What's the word on the street for the best beginner DSLR camera? 

What camera do you use? 

Do you like it? 

Where is the best place to buy? 

Are the warranties a waste of money?

Can I get something great for under $800? I sure hope so.

Give me all you got.

Update: I plan on taking lessons so I don't act like this with my new camera. Seriously Sony, hilarious.

month in photos: october

October was one wild ride.

6 happy hours.

4 Wildcat wins.

2 bachelorette parties.

2 surprise birthday parties.

1 nasty cold.

1 bucket list item completed.

0 cute pictures with Blue Eyes.

countless prayers said for the victims of Sandy.

just a bunch of slobs at Liz's bachelorette party in St. Louis

be prepared to see many more pics of Tiff and I in January as we head off to Mexico for destination wedding #2.

pretty pink Kansas City sky. 

impomptu DIY project with leftover Kate Spade packaging.

number 2, baby.

my 2013 planner arrived, compliments of Letter C design.

tgif.

via

I'm celebrating two 30th birthdays, seeing a good friend (and awesome blogger) I don't get to see near enough, cheering on the Wildcats, and hitting up the Hollywood casino with my family & Blue Eyes for baby bro's birthday.

Hope yours is lovely too.