Happiest Monday! Especially happy given that my website went back up over the weekend, after being down due to hosting issues all week long. I have had this blog for over four years now (where has time gone??), and I am not much of a cried, but would be lying to you if I said I didn’t cry frustrated tears on Monday when I wasn’t able to access WordPress. Thankfully, the wonderful gals at Blogzilla helped me get it back into action, and I can bring you two weeks worth of reviews! Because I totally know you were anxious for that, right? Ha. 

We started our serious potty training efforts on Friday after school. The first days are so frustrating and involved four accidents, but all in all, she’s starting to get the grip of it and didn’t have any messes last night! We’re going to be persistent no matter how many times we have to clean pants, undies and sheets! All tips welcome.

Some other highlights from the last two weeks include:

• Spending five days in Durango with our good friends, the Jarvises – sweet Ellery is a few months older than Isla and we are obsessed with her! She has so much energy and spunk and had us dying laughing all week – also nervous at times when we thought she had eaten poisonous berries and got her head stuck in the banister!!!
• Photographing a few last minute shots for the Meg Grant + Co launch today! Meg is seriously so talented, and I’m excited for her new branding.
• Taking maternity photos for Kate Blue of For the Love of Fancy at Brazos Bend State Park – I’ve edited half and cannot wait to finish and send them over!
• Having my 20 week appointment, where we did the anatomy scan and we got to see Emi’s toes, feet, hands, spine, heart, brain, etc. She is looking healthy!! So incredibly excited.
• Photographing the new cuteheads fall collection, which is seriously the cutest ever! I’m obsessed with all of the pieces.
• Going to brunch at Sweet Paris with Destiny, Truman and her mama and then taking some outfit photos afterwards. 
• Finishing Isla’s second week of school with no tears at all – she had her school photos on Wednesday, and her practiced smile made me laugh so hard. It is the fakest smile ever, but totally works for a toddler photo.
• Attending the Houston Tidbits It girl event at Neiman Marcus that Meredith won! Seriously so proud of her.
• Going to family dinner at Adair Kitchen with my parents, sisters and Ivana – I’ve missed that Super Foods bowl!!! It’s delicious.
• Eating The Counter Burger with Ivana and Bob on Saturday night after Kate’s maternity photos!
• Getting my nails at Soho Salon – am I the only person that hates getting mani/pedis?? I’m so impatient and feel like it’s such a waste of an hour. 
• Going to church at Bayou City Fellowship and eating lunch afterwards with Phil and Sydney at Ruggles Green – loved catching up with them after not seeing them for weeks!
• Getting my photo taken for the A Couture Cause shoot with Traci Ling – although I don’t like being in front of the camera, I was honored to be included!
• Meeting with, then subsequently picking, Kelly Cusimano as architect – we love him and can’t wait to start the design process!

I hope you have the best Monday and week to follow! I’m anxiously awaiting the 80 degree weather next week!

Hello from Durango! We’re back in Colorado for a week, then return to Texas… indefinitely! Ha! I feel like we haven’t been home for more than 10 days in the past two months. So, of course this week in review post is late, but I do have some exciting news to share: we’re building a house! Last Monday, we closed on a tear-down property in Briargrove, a cute family-friendly neighborhood close to the Galleria, and met with a few builders and architects before heading to Colorado. We have one more meeting the Tuesday we return, and will make our final decisions after that. I’m so excited about this journey, although I know it’s going to be a big headache at times – especially with a newborn baby! 

Other big news was that Isla started her first week of Mother’s Day Out at Chapelwood and loved it (despite drop off, of course). She came home talking about Mrs. LAWWWWWren and her new friends. She’s going three days a week, and while I miss her like crazy when she’s gone, it’s nice to pack that time with photos and editing so that I can spend more time with the family at night!

Some other highlights from the week include:

• Taking blog photos for Alex, Carrie, Molly and Destiny photos.
• Eating lunch with Meredith at The Counter, because my veggie burger craving has yet to subside. It was so good catching up with her!
• Coffee and crepes at Sweet Paris with Megan, where we ran into Elly, Lilly and Linh 
• Photographing our good friends’ newborn baby girl, Harper, in her gorgeous floral nursery – she is so beautiful! I’m so happy for Ilene and Kenny!
• Eating dinner at Pei Wei after visiting the house for the first time – we typically avoid big chain restaurants, but seriously, have you tried their quinoa?? The Thai Dynamite with Quinoa and Tofu is to die for.
• Swimming at my parents house on Saturday morning – Isla loves Mimi and Papa!
• Ordering the last piece of furniture for nursery, and now I’ve just got to decide on wall paper for one of the walls! My craziness in getting it done early is due to the big house decisions that are about to come our way!
• Driving to Colorado, as crazy as that sounds – we split the journey up (almost) equally, and despite a few sleepy hours, it went really well and Isla slept for most the trip… and watched Frozen twice for the awake hours!
• Spending Labor Day in gorgeous weather in Durango and relaxing after a crazy week!

I am seriously losing track of time over here! I’m trying to recall the past seven days for my weekly post, and am struggling to do so! We traveled from Colorado to Texas (16+ hours!) overnight on Wednesday, so basically I can write Thursday off as a total haze. Friday was spent catching up on laundry, cleaning, errands, groceries, etc. in the morning, and then we went to my parent’s house in the afternoon to see some of our closest friends (basically family) who were visiting from Scotland. We spent Saturday morning and early afternoon with Destiny, Sid and Truman, and the evening with Sasha’s mom. Sunday called for church at Bayou City Fellowship, then spent the afternoon in Katy, before returning home to clean up the evolving nursery! I have almost ordered every big piece, except for a new chair and a dresser, which I’m looking to have custom made. There’s a reason for the rush, which I’ll share soon!

Our last few days in Durango were spent eating at our favorite restaurants, doing our favorite hikes, going on long bike rides, dipping our feet in the freezing cold Animas River, and relaxing at the house before returning to reality! We’re heading to San Francisco in a week (cannot wait!!!) and then back to Houston for a week before turning back around and going to Colorado for a week and a bit. So chaotic, but we love it! Then life will return to normalcy afterwards!

Hope you had a great week!! xo