Monthly Archives: July 2012

101 in 1001

I’m always one to make lists to help improve my quality of life and continue to learn and grow, but I tend to not finish the lists or I get bored with them. Or sometimes I just forget about them. I came across the Day Zero project and I wanted to make my own list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days. The tasks I chose are very doable, and very specific which ensures a better chance of me actually completing them. I showed my list to Derek and he was very excited and wanted to help me complete everything, so I’m excited to challenge myself for the next 1001 days. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this challenge, here’s the lowdown.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks/goals/challenges in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and represent “stretching.”

Why 1001 Days?
It’s all about a realistic deadline. 1001 days (about 2.75 years) allows you several seasons to complete tasks, which is better for organizing and timing things like overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Start Date: August 1, 2012
End Date: April 29, 2015
Goals Complete: 8/101
Goals in Progress: 14/101
Last Updated: February 5, 2013

~~Crossed out~~ marks a completed item
Italics marks a partially completed or in-progress item

I’ve also broken my list into categories to 1. help me find them to cross them off, and 2. to be able to focus on certain areas of my life that need it. So without further ado, here is my list!

Business | Blog | Grown-up Stuff

1. Apply for an LLC

2. Have our apartment published in a high profile blog or magazine

3. Work for one of my dream design firms

4. ~~Buy a new car~~ [10/12 I bought a 2013 Mazda CX5 and I just love it!]

5. Complete the 30×30 Remix Challenge

6. Write a regular column for a local magazine or blog

7. Backup my laptop once a month (3/33)

8. Put $10 into savings for every task completed

9. Invest in a nice piece of furniture

10. Update all of our photo frames with more current/memorable photos

11. Develop a chore chart and stick to it

12. Pay off my credit card

13. Write a tour post for each city I’ve spent a lot of time in (0/7)

All Things Intellectual

14. Subscribe to a magazine and actually read it cover to cover

15. Buy a piece of local art

16. Read every Jane Austen novel (0/6)

17. Learn calligraphy

18. Read 20 new books (0/20)

19. Watch 10 classic films I haven’t already seen (0/10)

20. Purchase 5 really good design related books (2/5) [1-Design*Sponge, 2-Young House Love]

21. ~~Watch The Wizzard of Oz sync’d with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon~~ [8/4/12.. it was pretty neat, not mind blowing or anything]

22. Attend The Nutcracker every Christmas (0/3)

23. Become fluent in Spanish

24. Read 5 autobiographies/biographies of people I find interesting (0/5)

25. Sign up for a creative class at the local college

26. Restock my vintage stamp collection every season (4/11)

27. Watch the Oscar-winning Best Pictures of the past 20 years (6/20) [Slumdog Millionaire, Chicago, A Beautiful Mind, American Beauty, Titanic, Forrest Gump]

28. Feel 100% comfortable using a DSLR camera (without having to ask Derek for help)

Paying it Forward

29. ~~Pare down my wardrobe and donate things I never wear~~

30. Pay the bill for someone behind me in the drive through line

31. Adopt/rescue a puppy

32. Help build a house with Habitat for Humanity

33. Leave an inspirational note in a library book

34. Volunteer to help people pass the NCIDQ every Spring/Fall (3/5)

35. Donate $10 to a charity for every item I do not complete

36. Volunteer to be on the Fiesta flower making team one year

37. Leave a $20 tip on a meal that cost less than $10

38. Leave a secret in a Post Secret book at a bookstore

Friends + Family

39. Host a dinner party

40. ~~Buy my parents an Apple computer~~ [Christmas 2012]

41. Send out Christmas Cards every year (0/3)

42. ~~Make a new friend~~ [Hey Angelica!!]

43. Send a fun unexpected package to a friend

44. Have a spa day with my mom

45. Play a board game at The Friendly Spot every month (1/33) [8/1/12 - Creationary]

Adventure

46. Sign up for Ballroom dancing

47. Go thrifting in Kerrville, TX

48. Go camping

49. Take a hike

50. Go on a picnic

51. ~~Marry my best friend~~ [engaged 11-11-11, married 12-12-12]

52. Make a dress using my sewing machine

53. Attend the Round Top Antique Fair

54. Learn to drive a standard transmission

55. Create my own Dear Photograph, moment

56. Teach Derek how to ski

57. Go to a San Antonio Missions game

58. Pick out and take home a real Christmas tree

59. Go to the racetrack and bet on a horse

60. Have an all night tennis tournament

Travel

61. Visit New York City

62. Visit Marfa, TX

63. Take Derek to my Alma Mater

64. ~~Visit Italy and throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain~~ [Honeymoon 2012]

65. Take Derek to a Tech football home game + tailgate

66. Visit 3 states I’ve never been to before (0/3)

67.Go on a spontaneous weekend getaway

68. ~~Apply for a US passport~~ [arrived 8/3/12]

69. Go on an Alaskan cruise

70. Go wine tasting in the Hill Country

71. Fly first class

For the Body, Mind & Soul

72. Drink 8 glasses of water a day for a week on four separate occasions (0/4)

73. Go to Bikram yoga 3 times a week until the wedding (4/19)

74. Start and keep a once sentence daily journal

75. Run a 5k

76. Sketch something every week (3/114)

77. Swap out my beach cruiser hybrid for a a road bike

78. Find out my blood type

79. Complete the “French Women Don’t Get Fat” Leek Soup detox

80. Complete the Bikram 60 day challenge

81. Buy flowers for myself once a month (0/33)

82. Complete RCIA

83. Stay in bed for one entire day

84. Take a detox bath once a month (1/33)

85. Send a postcard to Post Secret

86. Go on a long walk through the neighborhood after dinner once a week (6/143)

87. Wear red lipstick at least once a month (3/33)

88. Find a church we both love

89. Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day

Food, Inc.

90. Take a cooking class

91. Try 50 new recipes (10/50) [8/4/12 - 3 layer chocolate cake, 8/15/12 - Garlic Chicken Parmesan, 8/17/12 - Strawberry Lemonade, 12/24/12 - zuchini fries, 12/24/12 - zuchini pizza logs, 12/24/12 - mini grilled cheese sandwiches, 12/24/12 - pizza poppers, 2/3/13 - pretzel dogs, mac & cheese muffins, cocoa crispy footballs]

92. Make homemade jam

93. Eat vegetarian for a week on 5 separate occasions (0/5)

94. Try 20 new foods (1/20) [mamón on 7/30/12]

95. Start an herb garden

96. Bake a loaf of bread

97. Go fruit picking and make something with my loot

98. Go an entire month without fast food, on 3 separate occasions (0/3)

99. Give up sodas for 1 month on three separate occasions (1/3)

100. Try 15 new beers (5/15)

101. Pack my lunch every day for a week, on 10 different occasions (0/10)

I’ll update everyone with my progress occasionally, or if it warrants a funny story, but for the most part you can see my progress by clicking the 101 in 1001 tab under our header. If you’d like to join in on the fun and make a list of your own you can link up to it in the comments below.

what i wore: seeing stripes

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shirt {jcrew}, skirt {bloom}, shoes {payless}, bag {kate spade}, necklace {anthropologie}, watch {michael kors}, ring {charming charlie}, headband {target}

It may appear that this cute little dog happened to stroll up to me during this photo sesh, but she actually belongs to Derek’s family. Her name is Sophie, or Soph-a-loaf as I call her. I also have a good friend named Sophie, so when telling stories about funny things human Sophie did, Derek is often confused or totally blown away that his little dog could write funny emails, or has a cherub on her lap, or needs help painting her curtains, or has curtains for that matter.

I’ve always believed in giving dogs people names, but luckily my parents’ ~~dogs~~ cherubs have British names so it’s not likely we’ll have this issue with them. Unless Rupert Grint comes over to play Harry Potter with us. Then things might get confusing. Or awesome.

extra! extra! read all about it

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We’re going to postpone the usual What I Wore post until tomorrow because we have some exciting news! This month’s issue of San Antonio Magazine has our familiar little mugs splashed across the first page of their Insider’s Guide.

Every year San Antonio Magazine releases their Insider’s Guide filled with the ins and outs of what’s cool and what’s not in our fine city. And this year we were lucky enough to be included in their blogs to follow category. If you’re new to the area or just visiting this is a great issue to pick up to lead you toward the best restaurants and shops and hangout spots in the area.

I just love how they described our little blog, and to be included with so many big names in San Antonio we truly feel honored. So if you haven’t yet, be sure to pick up a copy of this month’s issue at your local newsstand to learn more about our fine city. If you aren’t in the area you can also read the complete insider’s guide online here, with our feature here.

Thanks again San Antonio Magazine!

wedding wednesday: registering for gifts is cray cray

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This post is a wee bit overdue, but let’s just say that wedding crunch time is in full swing and I’ve been busy making paper flowers and cake stands, and designing invitations 24/7 for the past few ~~weeks~~ months. Back in June we had reached our six month mark which meant it was time to start registering for gifts! We’ve both been very excited about this part because we’re finally going to have items in our home that are 100% ours, rather than leftover college dishes mixed with thrifted bowls, and a mismatched silverware set with 4,700 spoons because we just love cereal and ice cream that much. We finally get to choose what we’ll be cooking with, eating on, serving on, sleeping in, drying off with, and passing down to our children. No pressure!

Needless to say it was also a little overwhelming. We knew all of the basics that we needed: cookware, bakeware, dishes, flatware, glasses, stemware, towels, sheets, china, etc. But when I started looking at the several different checklists floating around the internets I realized there was a LOT of stuff we hadn’t even thought about. So after looking at all of these checklists and sort of editing them down to what we really needed I came up with our own list.

You can download our list here to use as a jumping off point for your own registry, if you would like. As people who have lived on our own for a while, we’ve accumulated a lot of kitchenware, some of which we’ll use and some we needed to upgrade. As people who love to cook we wanted to cross this part off our list first! So we headed to the greatest place in the world: Crate & Barrel! We’ve both always loved how clean and classic all of their pieces are, so we knew we would be able to get a lot taken care of there.

As soon as that little laser gun was in my hand and I felt it’s power, we were on a roll! We were able to find our everyday dishes, glasses, serving bowls, some of our appliances, and misc. kitchen gadgets like food scales, tongs, salt cellars, a butcher block, etc. Everyone was so nice to us there and other customers were congratulating us like crazy, it was such a fun experience. Plus to our surprise we received a gift for registering with them! Yay!

For the rest of our registry we did a little online research at our favorite stores to sort of see who had most of the items we were looking for. So of course we headed to Macy’s. Unfortunately that weekend they were having a huge sale so a lot of things were picked over. But we were able to scan in what was there and then added the rest online. According to this photo, I was a little distraught.

Our registry consultant Henry was so wonderful to work with, and he informed us that they were having a registry event later that week and assured the inventory would be restocked, so of course we came back to have some delicious treats and finish off the Macy’s portion of our registry.

He also let us play around with different china patterns before settling on our own place settings.

After Macy’s we stopped by Sur la Table and William Sonoma to see which place we preferred and definitely decided to go with Sur la Table because they had Derek’s dream knives. And you don’t get between a man and his knives. Literally.. it probably wouldn’t end well. And while there we picked out a few other items like cookie cutters, cake decorating tools, and giant fancy ice cubes that Derek’s favorite bar serves.

After Sur la Table we had a few remaining pieces left that were only available at Bed Bath & Beyond including our Kate Spade bath towels, our cookware, storage containers, some bakeware, wine glasses, and a couple serving pieces for our china. Once we got home we realized there were still a lot of things that we couldn’t find exactly what we wanted at the stores that allow for Wedding Registries. After googling a little though I came across MyRegistry.com where you can literally register for anything that has a website, and keeps it all in one place for your guests to easily shop online or even print it out and take it to the store with them. The only downside to it though is it doesn’t automatically mark off what has been purchased so your guests have to remember to go back and say that they’ve purchased it, to avoid duplicates. It even has a little bookmark you can click while on another website to easily add things to your MyRegistry [kind of like Pinterest].

This way we were able to add things to our registry from places that don’t offer that service like West Elm, World Market, Kate Spade, Jonathan Adler, etc. We also took a few pieces from Amazon [even though you CAN register there] because we didn’t want have 500 places we registered at with only one or two items at each place. So MyRegistry.com helped us keep everything a little more organized for our guests.

After all was said and done, here are some of our favorite pieces that we’ve registered for, but to view everything on our lists just go here.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

After hitting up all of our favorite stores, our checklist quickly turned into this:

There are still a few items we need to find like placemats, casserole dishes, and table linens, but because those items are usually seasonal we have to wait until closer to the season when our guests will be shopping otherwise we risk items being sold out. It’s a tricky balance! There are already a few items that have sold out so we’ll have to revamp our registries right before we send out our invitations in September. Where did you register? Have we left off any items you think are crucial to starting a home together? Do tell!

a tale of two boots

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So this post is totally un-DIY related, but it is shopping related. So that’s exciting right? I also want to preface that this is a sad story, so if you’re looking for a happy ending where a girl finds her dream boots, keep on walkin’ folks!

This past weekend Derek and I went shopping to kill some time before meeting up with some friends who were in town. We passed through Nordstrom and totally forgot that they were having their anniversary sale! As card members, we’ve been warned about this for months and spammed like crazy in our inboxes, but still forgot about it somehow. Honestly I remember thinking “oh it’s probably just all of the summer stuff that they’re trying to wipe out.

Wrong.

They had introduced a bunch of new fall stuff that was about 50-60% off. What?? I realized this as soon as we walked in and saw boots EVERYWHERE. I know it’s a little early to be buying riding boots, what with it being about 100+ outside, but when they’re 50% off and you’re going to Rome in a few months, who can resist?

I have been wanting a pair of Tory Burch riding boots for as long as I can remember because 1. they’re extremely well made, 2. they’re the perfect height and shade of brown, and 3. I’m obsessed with Tory Burch [duh]. And I saw these for $299, regularly $495:

I died. So I immediately asked the sales guy if they had any in my size and he laughed and said they don’t have any at all. So he called around to every Nordstrom in the country to see if there were any left and there was one pair left in Miami that was on hold for a girl and that they’d call me if she didn’t buy them by 6:30pm.

They never called.

I looked them up online they they only had a 10.5 left, and then I googled the Nadine style and guess what? They’re only sold at Nordstrom. Tory herself didn’t even carry them. Super! But then I was really starting to wonder if I really even liked them though since I hadn’t even tried them on yet. So I asked to try on the black ones, but all they had were 9.5s which were boats on my feet. They were comfortable though and the perfect height, but since they felt super huge and I normally wear a 9, I was a little worried I was asking for the wrong size this whole time, and maybe there were more 8.5s floating around the shoeniverse. So to be sure I ran over to Neimans to try on a similar style of the Nadines to make sure I was asking for the right size to begin with and found these guys:

Now granted it’s the middle of summer, so I was trying these on with shorts [AKA optimum calf room right?] but I could not get them to zip up for the life of me! I was literally having to pinch and shove my calves into these babies. I have never considered myself to have “large” claves, they’ve always been pretty average sized. And I’ve never had any issues with riding boots not fitting but these suckers were made for pencil legs! And I planned on tucking my skinny jeans into them along with socks for galavanting around Rome, so needless to say I was a wee bit disappointed. Maybe Tory Burch boots aren’t made for me? Or maybe it was just the Calistas? I’ll never know. Because when I went back to Nordstrom to ask for an 8.5 they said they were sold out all over the country. They ordered 15,000 pairs and they sold out within the first two days. CRAZY. And most of them are being sold on Ebay for full price. Blasphemy! It’s like the Missoni situation all over again! So because I procrastinated and didn’t go to the Pre-Sale with all of the other crazies, I missed out on an amazing steal. But I gave them my information and they said they’d call if any were returned, but I’m not holding my breath.

I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

Do any of you have this problem with Tory boots? Have you ever missed out on an amazing deal like this? Are you still kicking yourself? I can’t be the only one who gets sad over a boot-pertunity. But don’t worry. It was a happy ending for Derek because he was able to take advantage of the sale and score some dapper Hugo Boss black dress shoes along with some To Boot New York brown oxfords. Yummy!