Lots of people with different stories all gathered in one place to make a life for themselves. The hustle, the bustle, the excitement...
But then again, I like the idea of big fields of flowers. Giant expanses of green and gold. I think my ideal location would be somewhere accessible to both - that way I can go to either as I please. But whenever I do think of big cities, I think of being on the go - armed with a handbag and a coffee. And preferably a handbag from Jenny N Design.
Jenny's fabulous store is stocked to the brim with gorgeous, chic handbags to cater any woman's taste. From cute and casual to strictly business, her selection has something for everyone. With her inspirations being nature, architecture, fashion and food, she understands what it takes to create a beautiful product.
Jenny's favorite colors are fuchsia, turquoise, black and gold - an eclectic mix, just like the city of Austin where she lives. Jenny tells me that it's the perfect mix of diverse lifestyles from high-tech professionals, students and musicians, to politicians and people who value small businesses. She loves the fact that if she goes downtown at midnight, she'll find all these people gathered together in the many bars lining the streets, and then come morning, she'll find this same motley crew running laps and canoeing along Lady Bird Lake.
Her hobbies include her bag designing, along with art, graphic design, working out and cooking. She also loves organizing parties on party boats to take advantage of the Texas heat and the cool water.
Jenny is generously giving away a $50 Gift Certificate to her store to one lucky reader. To enter, please leave a comment telling me if you're a city girl a county girl, or a little bit in-between like I am. I will announce the winner on Sunday.
On Saturday morning, I met up with Sarah for a lovely breakfast of serious beignets. Gotta love morning pastries! Then on the way home, Brian and I stopped by one of the giant chess boards in Houston. Brian is a great chess player. Me - not so much.
Then this afternoon, we had an awesome pizza lunch. At the start of this year, I started a "Foodie Club", and every month we meet at a restaurant representing a different country. We've had chicken feet at a Chinese place, German food, Indian, Ethiopian, and this week was Italian. Yumminess!
What were your weekend highlights?
(PS. The winner of the Nina Glaser giveaway is Madeline. Congrats!)
My homesickness for Australia was spurred on by the World Cup. Watching all the Australia matches and seeing all the Aussie fans in the crowd... Australia was such a beautiful place to grow up. I was born there and lived there until I was 22.
Weirdly enough, one of my fond memories of home is doing the laundry. Bizarre, but true.
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My sister and I would take turns loading the washing machine and then hanging the clothes outside to dry. I never used a dryer before until moving here to the US. Back home we would just peg all our clothes up and they would flap and dry in the Aussie breeze. At the time it was such a tedious chore. It's funny the things we miss...
Since I am homesick, naturally I turn to comfort food. I love to cook and bake, but this week I have done it more than usual. Food is definitely comforting to me. Pretty much all food can be Comfort Food to me - just the act of cooking or baking and then eating it is really therapeutic.
Like a bird, I like to gather shiny things to line my nest. Carefully selected, pretty treasures to reflect my personality in my space.
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That, my friends, is why I love the Nina Glaser Etsy store. It's filled with unique, unpretentious loveliness that echoes my taste to a T. Nina's Mixed Media creations remind me of vintage story books, quaint little day trips, and secret letters - it's absolutely charming.
Drawing inspiration from the world around her, Nina creates each item with great care and detail. Things like a funky flower or well-written song lyrics set the tone for her creativity, along with the colors of a summer day - teals, mustards and oranges. Nina first came to Etsy as a buyer, drawn to the handmade movement, and pretty soon after that, she wanted to join in on the Etsy fun and opened up an Etsy store of her own.
Coupled with creating, Nina also enjoys spending her time taking walks. Not only do these walks inspire her, but they're also therapeutic and calming. Nina also enjoys live music and watching movies like Once, Closer, and also comedies. And what's a movie without popcorn? Her favorite snack is popcorn made the old-fashioned way, over the stove top.
For your chance to win, please leave a comment here telling me which prize you'd choose if you won, and also tell me about one of your favorite things you have lining your nest.
I don't care that cupcakes are out of fashion now. I keep hearing that they're "so 2009."
Come on, people - it's food we're talking about here! That's like saying that poultry is not trendy to eat - it doesn't matter! It's FOOD!
The other day I met up with some girlfriends for some good, old-fashioned cupcakes.
I will always like cupcakes - they're cute, sugary and the perfect portion-size. So don't tell me that they aren't trendy anymore, because they will ALWAYS be in style to me!
(PS. The winner of the Emily Ann Designs giveaway is Emily. And no, it's not the same Emily that owns the store, hahahaha, they just have the same first name, hehehehe. Congrats!)
One New Year's Eve when I was about 7 years old, all the parents in my neighborhood had given their children a little Parachute Man toy.
A few moments before midnight, we all gathered outside to the park and threw our little parachute men up into the air, so that as the clock ticked down to the end of the year, our little parachuting men were floating all over the night sky.
From that night on, I always thought about going out to play at midnight.
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When I saw the lovely Etsy store Emily Ann Designs, it brought me back to my childhood, and all the lovely, whimsical things that I would dream about. Emily's store contains beautiful stationery and artwork full of lovely color and pattern. It reminds me of candy and playgrounds.
Emily's inspiration comes from her collection of children's storybooks and toys, which clearly shows through in her work. The childlike innocence in her illustration is very endearing, and her favorite colors of turquoise, fuchsia, yellow and green play an echoing role in her store.
Emily adores stationery, stickers and all things paper, and loves the fact that technology today has allowed us to reproduce our art by the push of a button on a printer. It's these everyday things that we take for granted that Emily appreciates the most. And something else that Emily appreciates... a just out-of-the-oven gooey Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie with ice cream. Yum!
The lovely Emily is giving one lucky reader the chance to win TWO personalized stationery sets of their choice. To enter, leave a comment here telling me about things you always wanted to do when you were a child. I will announce the winner on Sunday.
I love looking at pretty, good-quality wedding photos.
However, taking good photos is only 70% of what Brides want in a wedding photographer. They also want their photographer to be easy to get along with, and someone that will help them relax on their big day.
Brian's old roommate and another one of his friends are both Wedding Photographers, and they made this fun little video. Here's a little peek into how fun Wedding Photographers can be.
Brian's friends are the guy in the dread-locks and the guy wearing the "I Shoot People" t-shirt.
I had mentioned Edmund in a blog post previously, and if you want to check out his work, you can find his blog here. Morgan's blog can be found here.
(PS. The winner of the Yaghie giveaway is Kristin)
............... By themselves, baked in cakes, piled on top of icecream, placed over a slather of ricotta cheese on toast... berries are always a welcome treat.
I've been eating a lot of chocolate desserts lately, but was really craving something homey and berry-sweet, so I dropped everything and made some little Strawberry Rhubarb Bakes. Afterwards, I got a little camera-happy taking pictures of all the lovely berries, and my cute little desserts.
How do you like your berries? Plain? Baked? Do tell!
Whether it has colorful walls and furniture, or white decor with small pops of color - color really makes a difference to cheer up any room. Like a lot of you, I like browsing through pictures of different interiors and getting decorating ideas. Brian and I live the "apartment life" at the moment, but I can't wait for when we get our own house!
Have you ever come across the store Yaghie? It is a gorgeous, colorful Home Decor store owned by Design Extraordinaire, Petergaye S. Kisielewicz. I adore all the colors and patterns on offer, and pretty much want to buy it all!
Petergaye has a Bachelors Degree in Interior Design and also segues those skills into graphic design. She enjoys illustrating, painting and designing her ideas that are often inspired by her ethnic background. Her family is blended with different cultural origins from European to Caribbean, and those are clear influences to see while browsing through the Yaghie store.
Her favorite colors are shades of green, yellow and orange - the lovely shades of summer. With trips to the beach and summer-time traveling, Petergaye is constantly invigorated by the beauty of the colors around her. And when she's not outside enjoying the sun, she likes to relax at home watching classic movies like Gigi and Breakfast at Tiffany's, or enjoying some of her Grandmother's sweet potato pudding.
Petergaye is generously giving away one of her charming Paris Mugs to one lucky reader. To enter, please leave a comment here telling me what your cultural background is, and what you like most at Yaghie. I will announce the winner on Sunday.
This weekend I made my own fondant. I'd never made it before and was excited to try.
Making decorative flowers proved to be more difficult than I thought, so I settled for something equally as adorable - buttons.
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I love buttons. They are so cute and have so many different shapes and sizes, so I thought they'd be a perfect, whimsical little decoration to add to my chocolate cake.
We rush from A to B, and all the way through to Z. How often do we take a break to rest? How often do we set aside time to be thankful?
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It seems like moments to ourselves go on the back-burner, when really they should be a prominent part of our routine.
Photography is one of my favorite hobbies. It relaxes me and definitely reminds me about the beauty around me. But as I think about my day-to-day routine, I haven't been very intentional about setting aside time to be thankful to God for the things He's given me. More often than not, the times when I am alone with my thoughts are just gaps in between my schedule - not times that I have deliberately set aside.
Do you set aside the time to contemplate and be thankful for the blessings in your life?
All photos, layouts, and illustrations are by me, unless otherwise stated. If you would like to use any of my images, please contact me at cityofdionne@gmail.com.
I love sour candy and dark chocolate (desserts are a weakness of mine). I love meeting new people and reuniting with old friends.
Leftovers for breakfast are the best, especially cold pizza; and I've learned that in life, you can never go wrong with a cupcake. I thrive on creating and sharing and being part of anything beautiful.
I love the beauty that God has made in this world and finding that beauty in the most unpredictable places.
