capital city bakery, austin

a few weeks ago, on my "me" day, my friend and i were craving a sweet treat after having lunch at Takoba, so we checked out the oh-so-cute-and-yummy Capital City Bakery on east 1st street. the house and decor were so cute and the people working there were super friendly. the only problem? they had too many delicious looking choices to pick from! they even have GF and vegan options. i ended up inhaling the key lime cupcake while we were there and my friend had the carrot cake cupcake. they were SO delish that i had to take some to-go to share with my family at home. can't wait to go back and try one of their cookie "sammies"!

ME time? what's that?

it was friday at 6:30pm. there i sat in my used-to-be-oversized-but-now-snug maternity pj's on my favorite red chair, flipping through the dvr recorded list and hoping to come across something i hadn't seen the first 3 times i went through. nothing. i had already finished all of my work for the week and was all caught up on my social media feeds. the house was mostly clean and laundry was done. and there it was. quiet. calm. peace. it was so quiet that i could hear the clock on the bookcase ticking and the cat purring on the back of my chair. and my thoughts. i could actually hear my thoughts... well, in addition to the katy perry song i was singing in my head. i was alone. my husband was at work and my daughter was at my parent's for the night. the only person i had to attend to was myself and i was... well... lost.

it had been a pretty rough week. in addition to my daughter's sudden nightly bedtime meltdowns, i was starting to have some anxiety about the upcoming addition to our family. i had also recently entered the phase of my pregnancy where i couldn't sleep because i'm big and uncomfortable and have to pee every. damn. hour. top that off with what i can only assume is a bit of hormonal imbalance, and i was a serious hot mess.

i love being home with my daughter every day and i wouldn't change that for the world. but. there are days every now and then when i just crave alone time. like, an hour without someone NEEDING me or touching me or talking over me. or you know... a trip alone to the bathroom. so that week when my mom heard the crazy in my voice over the phone one hectic day and offered to have my daughter over for the day and night later that week, i was stoked. i knew my husband would be working all day and evening that day and a day just to my damnself sounded like heaven.

i started the day off with an early lunch with a friend, followed by a visit to a yummy local bakery in east austin i had been wanting to try. we even stopped at a fun austin mural wall to take some photos. it was an awesome afternoon! but when she had to go back to work and i was left with the city at my fingertips and hours of no plans, i was somehow at a loss for how to spend my time.

before i had my daughter, i relished in alone time. my husband always worked odd hours and a lot of evenings and weekends, but i was used to it and loved doing things with friends or by myself, or just being at home alone. before him, i spent most of my 20's living alone. of course i would do a lot of social things with girlfriends, but i would also occasionally catch a movie or dinner by myself and i really enjoyed it. but. there i sat, 6:30pm on a friday night after a week of craving ME time, and all i could think was that i really missed my baby girl and husband and wished they were home to snuggle with me on the couch. crazy, right?

it got me thinking... maybe sometimes as mothers we just need to have that time to ourselves to remind us of how much we actually really love someone always NEEDING us, touching us, or just tending to someone else's needs before our own. it's my life now and it's a blessed one. it has only been three years, yet somehow it's hard to imagine what in the world i did with my time and thoughts those 30 years before i was a mother. a role i wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

now if only i could find a way to be a mom but still pee alone... 

my little heart breaker...

she brings me comfort with her snuggles. she makes me beam with pride with her mature politeness and kind gestures. she makes me laugh harder than anyone can with just a flash of her goofy grin and silly sense of humor. she challenges me with her strong will and independence. she has an innocence and view of the world that keeps me grounded. she reminds me daily what love is, with just a glance from her big brown eyes or the soft touch of her little hand. she makes me a better person. she is my biggest blessing and being her mother makes my heart more full than I could have ever dreamed.

*dress by Slyfox Threads

life's latest 'grams

1. nap time. it used to mean a good hour or two of productivity around the house for me while R slept... but lately i've been soaking up some zzz's along with her more often than not!

2. gorgeous spring days call for being goofy outside with my #1 goofball.

3. realized recently that i'm sort of obsessed with taking pics of quirky austin restaurant bathrooms, which leads me to a new home project idea... stay tuned!

4. coffee with sweet photographer friends is always good for my soul. <3 

5. bedtime has been serious hell lately. settled on letting her sleep on her nap mat that night on my bedroom floor so that she could see me on the couch. once i was no longer fuming, it was kind of a sweet view.

6. 29 weeks and feeling like i've already hit the uncomfortable phase of this pregnancy. isn't it a little early for that?!

7. our first trip to our neighborhood library. she LOVES it! teaching her about borrowing v. buying, but she seems to have a little trouble letting go of the books when we have to return them. 

8. busy, busy month of senior sessions for me but i'm soaking up the creativity time!

9. i still love seeing things through a 3 year old's eyes. she's always so fascinated with the fish at the aquarium. 

10. turns out walking around a theme park at 7 months pregnant in 97 degree heat... not so fun. apparently listening to me whine for 3 hours was just as bad as the misery i was in. ha!

11. soaking up the moments on our last little family getaway with her as an only child.

12. spent the day celebrating my guy's birthday, which included slices from East Side Pies... yum!

home tour continued: our family room

we definitely spend most of our time as a family in this room and i really wanted it to reflect us and our love of austin. 

when we first moved in, i was obsessing over getting a white media center and bookcases and had been internet stalking this one from pottery barn for months. except it was $3500. BEFORE shipping. like... what?! i scoured the internet and every store in town that i could come up with when i finally had a lightbulb moment in the furniture aisle of target one day. i saw these threshold book cases on one aisle and the media stand on the next and thought to myself... i could DRILL those suckers together and make almost the same thing that PB carries! and by I, i mean my husband and dad could do that when they assembled those beasts! the best part? it cost a combined total of $350! i wasn't crazy about the knobs on the cabinet doors, but i bought a couple of nickel knobs at lowe's and fixed that right up!

the corner with my turntable is my favorite little space in our house. i grew up listening to albums with my mom and every time i listen to one now in my own house, i get that giddy, nostalgic feeling. i love curling up on the floor next to it when i'm having a stressful day and reading through album inserts and listening to music. what's even better is how much my daughter loves to play her albums and dance around. i even found some old Joe Scruggs children's records at Half Price Books that i had as a little girl and she loves them. i listen to a lot of the beatles and my heart just about exploded the day my daughter started belting out "strawberry fields forevaaa!". 

have you heard of Woodsnap?! SO in love with their wood prints and i may have "peed my pants just a lil' bit" (as my daughter says, ha!) the day the FedEx guy delivered this giant gem to my door. and a big shout out to my amazing friend Spanki for taking that picture of us outside of our favorite restaurant... such a treasure to have that moment captured and i smile every time i look at it. :)

just a little touch of my other favorite city, NYC. they make me think of my bff who lives there that i miss like crazy!

i needed something for this wall space when i came across this shop on Etsy and discovered that she made custom sized skyline paintings. in love with the way it turned out!

and, finally... this. a book about the history of austin that my parents gave to my pawpaw a few years before he passed away. i miss him so much and i love having this displayed to remind me of him and his sweet spirit. 

13 years ago this weekend...

i had butterflies in my stomach as i stood in my bedroom and stared at my super cute new outfit i had laying out on my bed. new jeans and a black silky top from Express that i could only afford at the time because of my friend, Visa, and my irresponsible 21-year-old spending habits. the next day i was going on my first date with that cute older SWAT guy who i knew at work as "Rios". that guy who kept asking my co-worker about me and happened to always be leaving work the same time i was walking to my car in my gym clothes. that guy who somehow never understood our computer system and always had to ask ME for help. that guy who came up to the office the day before our date on his day off, which also happened to be his birthday, just to say hi. that guy whose huge brown eyes and long lashes melted my insides every time they glanced at me. 13 years ago, i had no idea that the date i was about to go on the following day would be the beginning of the rest of my life.

this saturday, that guy, aka my husband, celebrates his birthday. that day and every day after that, i celebrate that younger guy and girl who had no idea that one date would lead to a lifetime together.

happy birthday, Rios.

no-bake granola balls and my little chef...

one of our favorite things to do together is bake. she loves to make just about anything with me, but she's such a picky eater that it's always more fun when we find a something that she will actually eat! i came across this recipe over at Delighted Momma for no bake energy bites, or what my daughter calls "granola balls". they are our new family favorite snack... SO easy to make and they are gluten free which is a bonus in our house! if you're an "all natural" or GF household, be sure to check out her blog... she has great recipes and tips! 

here are some shots of my little chef whipping some up for us this morning. lucky for her, our kitchen doesn't have a pants policy. 

GF no-bake "granola balls"

1 cup gluten free oats

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup almond butter

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla 

mix all of the ingredients and roll into bite size balls. refrigerate and eat!