It's the land.

Austin's one of those places that if you took away the downtown buildings, Hyde Park, the shops on South Congress, the food trailers and every other building in town and had just the land left, you'd still feel so lucky to live here.

The land is what makes Austin so special. Yes, the little gems you find all over the city- the "I love you so much" graffiti on Jo's, the Daniel Johnston frog on Guadalupe, the chill bars on Rainey Street- give Austin its character, but they're not what make Austin. It's the land. If you picked up and moved the buildings 50 miles east, it wouldn't feel like Austin. It's the water and the trees and the hills that give this town that Austin vibe.

This weekend, Brittany, Mallorie and I found a pretty piece of Austin land to take pictures of: Red Bud Isle. Robbie and I drove by Red Bud Isle a couple weeks ago by mistake and while driving by I thought it'd be a nice place to stop and visit. Sure enough, I found myself there this weekend and I know I'll be back.

Red Bud is a tiny little island in the middle of Town Lake. When I get a puppy, I'll be sure to bring it here for walks all the time.




We saw some girls hanging out in a shady cove with their bathing suits on. I'm definitely going to steal their idea and find a shady spot this summer when it's blistering hot out. It's already 90 degrees here and it's only March. I may die from a heat stroke this summer. And it's not like Riverside, California weather where it's hot, but bearable. It's humid, sticky-hot. God help us all in Texas.


With all of the rain we've been getting, there's green everywhere you look.


So lucky to be here.


*Update: Check out some photos I took of Mallorie during our photo shoot trip at Home is with you.

Gold glitter nails.

(Forever21 nail polish)

In honor of seeing the Hunger Games tonight, I will be wearing this awesome shirt and painting my nails gold.

I'm looking forward to starting a couple of sewing projects this weekend after getting $40 worth of fabric for $20 from an awesome coupon from Living Social! What are your plans?

Here's some blog love for my favorite posts this week:

Read Karen's inspiring story about a homeless man showing her what giving is all about.

Check out Miss Cactus's (soon to be MRS. Cactus) first engagement party.

Part one and part two of Michelle's photo session with The Digital Bird.

Fabulous printed jeans from Brooke at Lovers Letters.

For you Harry Potter fans: some college friends picked up and moved to England recently. They live near the real Hogwarts!!

Wanting to make an awesome scrapbook like Elsie.

Haven't read the post from Dana at Wonder Forest about her thoughts on the Hunger Games movie. Will read after tonight!

Happy weekending, y'all! (Still trying on the y'all thing...)

Fashionable friends.

How adorable are these two?!

I met Michelle (left) from Uncharted Style and Lauren (right) from Cactus Collective at the TxSC a couple weekends ago and they were complete sweethearts and absolutely hilarious. We all met up for lunch yesterday at Blue Dahlia on the East side of town.

How cute are their boots?



Check out a post about Michelle's awesome TARGET dress (can you believe it?!). Don't you love Lauren's sweater? I need to get a couple of style tips from these awesome fashion bloggers.

Yay for new friends!

Hugo's happy hour.

I have to be honest.

Making friends in a new city is hard. And believe me, working from home doesn't help the situation.

Which is why I was so stoked to meet up with some fellow lady bloggers for a happy hour at Hugo's! We all agreed it was kind of like going on a blind date, except this was way more fun. We drank margaritas, had a tasty dinner and chatted like we were old friends.

Totally looking forward to happy hour round two with our little blogging crew!

(Ketrin, Knowing Ketrin & Shalyn, So Shay)

(Brittany, Secondhand Magpie; Mallorie, Home is with you; Amanda, Maggiano Takes Austin)

(Leah, Sweet and Sour Showers & Ruthie, The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart)

(Shay, So Shay & Jenni, Story of My Life)

*Mallorie was so sweet! She brought a cd of her husband's amazing work for each of us! Shay and I even met up with Mallorie on Friday to hear Dave play. He was fantastic. Be sure to check out his music here.

Some Austin blog love

I'm giving Austin blogs some love today.

Three favorites that I've found so far:

1. Austin Eavesdropper by Tolly Moseley
I'm pretty sure this is the most popular blog in Austin, and possibly Texas! Tolly's a storyteller. She posts great little tidbits about her life everyday. My favorite recent post is the "Austin Eavesdropper TV" video interview she did with Jaynie Buckingham from Cutie Pies Bakery.

2. I'm loving Adored Austin by Indiana Adams. She's part of the Texas Style Council, who's hosting a Blogger Conference in March (my birthday weekend!). Miss Indiana, I wish I had your fashion sense.

3. The Possumbox. Their videos crack me up.

And of course, a picture for the day. A group of us went to the UT/Texas A&M game last week and I felt like I was at an NBA game. Why is UT's basketball stadium so big?!

Who are your favorite bloggers?