programed blog will return tomorrow. Hopefully.

Due to the beibs, Sophee was unable to blog today. And thats ok. I think he looks like dark haired Pink in this pictures

My favorite is that I was talking about how my sister was going to see Justin Beiber on Saturday night at and a girl said, "Aww you have a little sister?! How old is she?" Me: "Oh. She's 24."

Are you a belieber? 

Mail + Babies =

I love getting letters in the mail. I have about ONE friend who still sends letters and cards consistently. I love searching paper source for the perfect card... I have quite a stash growing. I really started noticing stamps because of blogs about wedding invites. I would never spend so much to get these looks ... but OH so cute. 

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My mom recently made this super cute burp cloth... 

and it got me thinking... DUH this would be a great birth announcement... so thats from where these ideas were "born" Im so funny. 

Then I channeled some inner mountain person/ hipster baby mama and made this

 

Baby Announcements above can be found at PaperTherapyShop.etsy.com

Chalk it up to Talent

I always wanted to have cool handwriting. My cursive always sucked, there was never any hope for it. Over the years I created this hybrid of script and print that to this day still varies depending on the type of writing utensil I'm using. No hope.

Last weekend, the Hubs and I visited Danielle and Rob in Katy. We got to see their new house, brand spankin' new kitchen, and have really good married-couple conversations. Danielle also took me to brunch at Tiny Boxwood's (thanks, friend!). Aside from the delightful, tasty food, and dangerous bottomless mimosas, the setting was also idyllic. We both admired the cute chalkboard signage, which is sooooo everywhere these days, but I still love it sooooo much. So much. And we both woe-is-me'd that neither of us has stylin' handwriting.

Then I remembered about a chalkboard artist I had read about, Dana Tanamachi, in Brooklyn, New York. Like this is her legit job -- she hand-letters chalkboard signs. Check it out. She's amazing.

 

Nagging Doubt Viognier from Dana Tanamachi on Vimeo.

There's no hope for this hopeless hand-letterer, but her's is true talent!

As usual, you can find me the other days of the week at alittleWhitenoise.

Birthing Leotard

Another several things marked off the list! 

We went to a child birth class last weekend. We got all of it knocked out in one weekend  (which i highly recommend over having to go for 6 weeks) so we will be ready whenever our little guy is! I can definitely say that I will have the best coach. Steven took his job seriously and I even got back rubs when I was practicing breathing like it was a real contraction. He also kept the mood light by using his photos from his iPhone as my focal point (the pups made a lot of appearances). I can also say that we had the most fun in class. We laughed, a lot! Some of my favorite comments from my coach during the session, “we are going to need to get you a birthing leotard” (as many of the pictures pictured women in leotards for some reason) and after the teacher telling us that during a certain point in labor that is when you may hear your wife use words that she has never used before, Steven’s comment “oh I know what’s coming!” We laughed about what techniques would and wouldn’t work to relax me and how a sudden burst of energy and a weird desire to clean the floor would not give him any indication that I was in labor since I do these things normally. The class definitely helped ease my fears about the whole labor and delivery. I feel like everything is such an unknown for new moms. Here’s to praying for a quick and easy delivery! 

The pictures were better in class because they were actual photos, but you get the idea...

A typical birthing leotard

I also finished collecting all of Graeme’s letters and bought a mattress! Now it is just waiting on a baby.

This weekend we are headed to Ruidoso, NM for a relaxing babymoon get away in the mountains!

Danielle R.

Bring on the Randomness

Loving the randomness going on here. Because, why not? At the end of the day, when we sit down and look at blogs-- what we really want to do is feel happy. Not feel bad that we will never be as creative, as cute, as imaginative, or as quirky as those crafty people. So sit back, relax, and smile on my friends..

Passing on a few of my favorites...

 And I will leave you with this...

Have a wonderful day :)
-Sophee

For Your Enjoyment

In keeping with the randomness of Danielle's post from yesterday, I too will share a few random things I've recently enjoyed.

1.Love Does by Bob Goff.
Such a flipping incredible book. I could sit here and write 500 words about why I want you to read this book. Instead just take a chance on my recommendation and read it.
A few quotes from Bob himself.

“But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. It's a love that operates more like a sign language rather than being spoken outright."

“I used to want to fix people, but now I just want to be with them.”  


“We leak stuff we love.” 

2. PawPaw Cream
So I've been meaning to tell you about this stuff for awhile. A family friend that lives in Sydney (Australia) sends me this stuff on regular basis, because she's awesome. Thanks Linda!!
So this is my crack. I use it for so many things. It's like fancy, 100% natural Vaseline. I thought it was something  you could only get in Australia, but amazing news flash: you, yes you, can buy it on Amazon. It doesn't look fancy or anything, but some of the best things don't come in clever packaging. They speak for themselves.

3. Brandy Melville USA
I was introduced to this place when I was in Santa Monica back in March. All their stuff is between 15-50 bucks. If you're looking for the "thrown together, boho/I don't give a crap" look (which is my favorite most days) then check out their stuff. My sweet friend sent me one of their shirts for my birthday last week. (similar to this one). I've since worn it approx 6 times in one week. I can't stop. Now I'm currently wanting this one. If you like Urban, you'll enjoy their stuff.

4. Studio Oh Journals
I bought a new Studio Oh journal from Barnes and Noble. I'm pretty particular about journals because I'm left handed and well, things like desks, scissors, notebooks and yard blowers, aren't made for people like me. Finding a functional compromise to products designed for right-handed people is important. The one I bought does the trick.


5. Sweat Pants
I bought new sweat pants. Not from some unknown, super trendy, fun store, but yes from the old stand-by, Victoria Secret, actually it was from PINK. You may ask yourself, but Kendall, don't middle schoolers and high school girls wear that?
Yes, yes they do.
 Before you go on and judge me, I challenge you to try these on. ( I purchased the heather silver color)
I'll confess I had consumed a glass of wine at a friend's house before I decided to hit up a VS shopping spree, so my judgement could have been compromised. But seriously, these are SO SO comfortable. No, I won't wear these anywhere but around my house, but gosh, I love them.


Kendall

Hola, Una Calculadora

Hey my little chinchillas!

So we snuck something in on you, well I actually snuck this in on my posse as well: We have a link to collections of our individual posts- per person if that makes sense. Its ok if you like one of us more than the others, were just glad you're here!

Here is where you can find it: on the right side below "in case you missed" and above "Followers" They are not in week day order... cause our names didn't happen to be in alphabetical order :/

I really enjoyed my randomness last week. So its going to continue. And when you put your mind toward remembering random crap, watch the heck out. 

My Dad is famous on CNBC

Why do dads forget how to smile? I can find real smile dad pictures in college and them BOOM, Dad with baby Danielle and its gone. I think it gets worse every year. Year 28. 

OK, so he actually took a really good shot too. 

Have you seen the latest Urban Outfitters Magazine? I swear i could direct these photo shoots

Step 1: Close your eyes, pick out 1-2 pieces of clothing, add boots with legs showing, done. 

Step 2. Slightly trash out a room

--- Include triangle patters, something slightly crude, something that looks "global" done.

Step 3: mess up hair, braid it, or spray paint it, done.

Step 4: Don't smile. SHOOT. 

If that doesn't work.... throw in nostalgia. Success.

Who knew this Bryan Adams Song had such a wicked clap track! 

Did you catch the Ad? While bored at work I was thinking about this Ad. Bing may be better, but its so much easier to say... "I googled that." than "I binged that" No, no one would say that. Because its bung. "I BUNG that." *shake head in disapproval* 

Saw these shoes today, and had a TOSH.0 "20 seconds on the clock" moment. 

(This was the most decent video, search further at your own risk)

Got some New Lamps at Target. WOOT. 

New favorite Blog: Today's Letters

peace out. 

Greece via Instagram

It never fails to surprise me what cool photos you can take with an iPhone. We dropped almost a grand on a brand new Nikon DLSR before our recent trip to Greece, and yet some of my favorite pictures from the trip were taken on instagram.

Thanks to my stupidly choosing to do the software update Apple released without backing up my phone first, I lost a lot of those pictures when we got home. However, the ones I'd uploaded from the road to instagram were safe. Let's experience Mainland Greece via instagram!

Country side between Athens & site of Ancient Delphi.

Treasury of Athens, restored at Delphi.

Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

Tholos at Delphi.

So the site of Ancient Delphi was life-changing. First of all, it's set in a majestic mountain range - such an amazing backdrop. Secondly, it's one of the better preserved ancient sites, so there is quite a lot to see and you don't have to strain as hard to imagine what it must have looked like when it was a thriving place of worship. In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, and a major sanctuary of the god Apollo. It was thought of by the Greeks as the center of the earth (the "navel"), and it was our first stop on a roadtrip of the mainland, and an incredible way to begin our tour of the ancient sites.

Just one question: why have Americans not thought to season potato chips with oregano?

We ate many bags of these along the way.

I cried at Epidaurus. Yes, I know I'm a nerd. Aside from being a celebrated healing center, the ancient city of Epidaurus is also home to the best-preserved Classical theatre.  It was amazing and so . . . ALL THERE - just like it hadn't been thousand of years since it was carved out of the mountainside. This was one ancient site that was thankfully almost empty and we just sat (like in the picture above) and took it all in. I'm sitting almost all the way at the top of the grand theatre, and I could hear the tourist you see standing "center stage" talking in a whisper. Incredible.

 A better shot of just how big Theatre at Epidaurus is really.

Along the way I became addicted to fresh Greek olives. Canned olives just can't compare. I do not recommend, however, trying a green olive off the tree - which both Tim and I did at Delphi when no one was looking. They are the most bitter little buggers you can imagine.

This is the stadium at Ancient Olympia. If you're any fan of the Olympics, you should try to go here one day to pay homage. . . it was also incredible (I'm running out of words that mean "incredible"). There was no real "seating" even in ancient times so this stadium is pretty much intact. Thousands of men just sat on the lawn to watch the foot races. You can even still step on the marble starting and finishing lines, which is what this tour group was doing when I snapped the picture. We arrived at Olympia at about 8:30 in the morning, and by some stroke of genius I suggested we hurry out to the stadium first, to see if we could catch it before hordes of people showed up. We were so thankful we did so -- we had it all to ourselves! Well, with the exception of these two precious pups who were having their own race . . .

After a few days on the road, we stopped over for two nights in the harbor town of Nafplion. It was a beautiful old town with Venetian influences, as you can see with all the old Pensions (mansions). Unfortunately, it also had a cat problem, and the whole town smelled like a cat box, if I'm to be totally honest.

Harbor in Nafplion.

Church in Nafplion.

Old pensions (mansions) in Nafplion.

Peirene's Springs at Ancient Corinth. It was said to be a favored watering-hole of Pegasus, sacred to the Muses. Poets would travel there to drink and receive inspiration. The legend goes that Peirene became a spring because of the tears she shed in lamentation for her son Cenchrias, who was unintentionally killed by Artemis. What was really amazing is there is STILL RUNNING WATER BACK IN THERE. Um, yeah.

Last stop: Athens, the dirtiest city on earth. There were dogs roaming everywhere. We couldn't tell if they were all strays or not, but they all acted as if they owned the place. There were even dogs and cats on top of the Acropolis! I liked how this dog was lying in the middle of the street like he was Boss.

World Traveler check point. Check!

One last glimpse of the Parthenon before we head home!

Thanks for taking the journey with me.
This is my last post about Greece.
Seriously.

As always, you can find me the other days of the week at alittleWhitenoise.

The Rehearsal Dinner

I can't believe it's over!! The wedding was this past weekend and I must say (while it did rain at the beginning) it ended up being such a success. I will share pictures next week as I will hopefully have some by then. But for now, we can take a peek at the rehearsal dinner. It was at a place called Lamberts Fancy Barbacue here in Austin. It has a great vibe and excellent food. It was the perfect setting for our bride and groom! We had drinks, food, and lots of laughs-- it was a wonderful way to kick off the wedding weekend!

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Tapp!!

Glam Up Your Grey T

Fact: there are 2 ways to spell grey. I'm going with the "grey" vs. "gray". So eat it. Just kidding.
It doesn't matter how you spell it, the fact is: everyone has a grey t-shirt. I know the one I love to wear is comfy, understated, perfect for lounging. Who's with me?

I remember when I bought my first "real" grey v-neck shirt, from Urban about 5 years ago. I found it on the guy's side. I don't like wearing fitted shirts, especially t-shirts, so sometimes you've got to shop in the dudes area, and I'm perfectly fine with that..

The whole idea of dressing up a grey T is perfect for people like me, who don't always feel like dressing "neat". So let's get out the grey t-shirts, and think outside the box. Here are a few options to help you along the way.

1. Grey T + Statement Necklace

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2. Grey T +Structured Jacket

3. Grey T + Fun Skirt

4. Grey T + Heels

all images via

Let's branch out. Try wearing your grey T in a different way and see what you think. I'm seriously considering buying  this one. Sad, I just noticed it is sold out. That's okay I can wait. At least its not a guy's shirt. That's a bonus.


Kendall