Thursday, 31 May 2012

Davis is one (and he’s walking!)

The other day I had the pleasure of taking pictures for my friend Allison, her husband, and their little guy, Davis, who happens to have just turned a year old!  I really enjoyed capturing some sweet moments, both posed and unposed.  Little Davis was nearing his bed time, but he was a real trooper! 

If anyone in Austin or San Antonio is interested in a super low-cost session (family/child/couple/senior/or just individual photos for your blog or website), shoot me an email! I’m charging next to nothing right now as I build my portfolio.

Happy Thursday!

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Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Khaki, aqua, and nautical.

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Shirt: Urban Outfitters, Shorts: Target, Shoes: c/o Blowfish, Necklace: c/o Deuce (coupon code SOML25 for 25% off any purchase!), Bracelet: Madewell

It always makes me chuckle when someone says to me, “do you ever take a bad picture?” You guys, I am supremely awkward, and it takes, like, twenty awk shots to get one good one. Outfit posts can be frustrating sometimes (especially for whoever is taking my pictures, MATTHEW).  I’ll go through the shots later and finally find one where my body is positioned in a somewhat natural pose, but then my face goes and ruins it. Hence, the photos where I chop off my head (see first picture). 

Regardless, I’ll keep doing outfit shots, because they’re fun and encourage me to actually dress myself. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Crafts & Love neon bracelet giveaway

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a nice long weekend. If you’re reading this on Tuesday, I’m probably geeking out at the (wonderful) Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida right now. GOOD TIMES.

For today’s giveaway, the owner of the sweet little Etsy shop Crafts and Love allowed me to pick which item one of you will win, and I chose this cool neon bracelet, since neon is such a hot look right now. To whomever wins this: watch your back. I might just beat you up and take it.

Enter to win below…

C&L2 ***SOML readers get an exclusive discount in the shop! Use the code STORY20 for 20% off your purchase (valid through June 28).

TO ENTER:

(only mandatory entry)

+ Visit Crafts and Love and leave a comment letting me know one of your favorite pieces! (leave your email address if it’s not on your profile, please)

Additional entries:
(all represented by separate comments)

+ Like Crafts and Love on Facebook
+ Like Story of My Life on Facebook
+ Favorite Crafts and Love on Etsy
+ Pin the above photo or a photo from the shop onto one of your Pinterest boards

Winner will be announced next week. Good luck!

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And the winner of the Shannon Hearts ad space giveaway a couple weeks ago is…

random winner

Congrats to Callie!! Shannon and I will be in touch!

Sunday, 27 May 2012

5 Things

1. As you read this (if you are reading this on Sunday morning), I am flying to Florida with my sister.

2. In Florida, we will be meeting our super cute, five year old little brother for the first time.

3. In other vitally important life-news, I will also be fulfilling a desperate dream of visiting Hogwarts, drinking butterbear, and possibly purchasing my very own Hermione-esque cape and wand at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. Does anyone else’s heart skip a beat when they hear that music? Just me?

Don’t judge.

4. When I told my dear friend Kristin, a fellow HP fanatic, that I was going to Harry Potter World, she immediately became furious with me, and then did the normal thing and bought a ticket for an overnight trip to Florida so she could go, too. I love my blog friends. (Matthew’s response when I told him this? “You blogger friends are just a weird little ring of people.” Touche, Matthew. I don’t think any of us would deny it.)

5. And last but certainly not least, I will be spending a day with Sarah Tucker.

 

Life = MADE.

 

Here’s a little Instagram picture of a quote I found and liked the other day. Made me think.

photo

Friday, 25 May 2012

Some cute for your Friday + Sponsor spotlight

Can I be that annoying dog parent for a minute and post a completely random and somewhat pointless video of my dog simply because she’s cute, and I sort of want to eat her face off? I can? Ok, great. Here’s Gracie, and a squirrel clucking in the background.

She got one once. It wasn’t pretty. Nay, it was a bloodbath. Straight up predators, those two.

 


On to more important things. Check out these two fab blogs and one awesome Etsy shop, and have a great Friday!

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Up first is the gorgeous Sando (cool name, right?) of the blog The Daily Deelight. The Daily Deelight is a blossoming lifestyle and food blog chock full of amazing recipes and peppered in with personality. I’ve yet to encounter a post I didn’t drool over… girlfriend has great taste, literally! Just go to her home page right now and look at the top three recipes that come up. I seriously might make all three for dinner tonight. Thanks, Sando! Get to now her more here, and get on board while the gettin’s good. This blog is a baby, but it’s going places. You mark my words!

Sando Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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Next is another fab blog called Picture It and authored by the ridiculously sweet Amy, a wife, mom, and quintessential blogger. What I like about Amy is that she’s a dang good story teller, and she really lets her readers into her life. That’s my favorite thing about a blog—when I get to feel like we’re chatting over coffee, and I leave knowing something about you. You can get to know her a bit better in posts like this one, and she has a little welcome message for you here, so don’t miss it!

amy1

Blog | Twitter

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Next is the Etsy shop Marolsha, a loyal sponsor of SOML and quite possibly the cutest little shop on the block. There is something for everyone here, and all of Maddy’s pieces are fun, colorful, and whimsical. How cute is that little owl locket?! Reminds me of Hedwig. I want. Go browse!

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  Shop | Facebook

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Thursday, 24 May 2012

Fredericksburg, Day 2

Our second day in Fredericksburg was the most fun! We started out with a morning of antique shopping, which is pretty much my favorite thing (and Matthew doesn’t hate it either). I found lots of little treasures like a few old dresser trays and a couple glass jewelry boxes that I’m thrilled with. I decided a while back I wanted to display some of my favorite and most used skin products on a mirror/dresser tray on our bathroom vanity, but I hadn’t found the right one 'til now. It definitely helps you remember to use your products (such as all the little samples from Birchbox) when they’re right there under your nose while you’re washing your face. I’ve been noticing fine lines around my eyes, etc, lately (horrors!), so I’m trying to consistently use different anti-aging creams I’m trying out. I’ll let you know if any of them perform miracles. :)
But back to Fredericksburg. After antiquing in the morning, we tried out The Peach Tree restaurant, which was just the sweetest little tea room, and probably my favorite place we ate. I got a burger (one of the heartier items on the menu… what can I say… I love my red meat), and then we finished off lunch with a damn good chocolate chip walnut cookie and coffee. Check out that creamer cow. I want one!
IMG_7262-1IMG_7256-1IMG_7254-1IMG_7248-1storyboardtest010 IMG_7270-1 IMG_7278-1 creamer cow here
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Next we did some exploring of the history around town, most notably the Pioneer Museum. This was great because I used to be obsessed with Pioneers as a child and, truth be told, I still kind of am. It was fascinating to explore the old buildings and houses they have on site there at the museum, most of which were built in the 1800’s! My favorite was the old school, complete with carved-on desks by decades of children long grown and likely passed on by now. It was haunting, really. If only the walls could talk in that place! I had fun pretending to be teacher. Don’t judge me.
IMG_7240-1IMG_7212-1IMG_7284-1 IMG_7285-1 IMG_7302-1IMG_7301-1You can’t see them well, but there’s a gun and ax in the picture above, hence the happy smile from Matthew.
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We had dinner our last night and breakfast our last morning at Mahaley’s Cafe, which was seriously top notch and soooo yummy. I ordered the grilled chicken for dinner, and for breakfast we each had a (huge) taco and shared a perfectly gooey cinnamon roll. I didn’t take pictures of the breakfast except for one cinnamon roll shot on Instagram, but if you’re headed to Fredericksburg, definitely try Mahaley’s for any meal of the day. SO good!
IMG_7422-1IMG_7431-2Necklace by Megan :) I almost never take that thing off!
Check out this week’s other Fredericksburg posts, if you missed them…
Amoroso Cottage
Fredericksburg, Day 1
Last year’s Fredericksburg trip