As the parents of two little boys, Ryan and I spend a lot of time at local parks. A LOT of time. In fact, most weekends, we drive to another nearby city or small town, specifically to find a new park to explore. Well, for that and a Dairy Queen.
Texas parks are really beautiful and we both love taking pictures of the scenery and the boys, and I like to keep my eye out for little extras that make me smile.
(Banksy style in Marble Falls, Texas.)
(Inside the Girls’ bathroom in downtown Belton, Texas.)
Graffiti is such a loaded term, I think. This is art.
My mom was an only child, which meant that my sisters and I didn’t have to share our maternal grandmother with any cousins. We got her all to ourselves, and that was simply amazing. Nonnie passed away fifteen years ago, and I still think about her every single day. I’m so grateful that she knew Ryan, and she would have been absolutely enthralled by the fact that my middle sister and I have four little boys between us.
Last Christmas, my mom gave the three of us rings that once belonged to my grandmother. I was incredibly touched by this, and I remember her wearing the ring I received, a pretty sapphire (her birthstone) encircled by pearls on a thin, gold band. The ring was slightly small for my finger, so I took it to a local jeweler in Pflugerville, and he did a beautiful job enlarging it.
(My grandmother’s sapphire ring.)
I love this piece with all my heart, and it reminds me of my grandmother in so many ways. She loved birds decades before it was the cool thing to do, and this ring is reminiscent of a tiny nest, with the gold branches surrounding the pearls. I don’t wear it every day, but when I do, I feel such a special connection to my grandmother, and I’m hoping that, one day, I might have a granddaughter who will treasure it, too.
And this year, Ryan and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. We knew in college that we wanted to get married, and I might have twisted his arm a little bit by anonymously sending him a pamphlet about my dream engagement ring. (This was years before Pinterest, y’all.) But my guilt got the better of me before the information arrived in the mail, and I told him about my sneaky scheme. Still, it got the ball rolling and when he did finally put a ring on, um, me, it was the one I had always wanted. The most beautiful ring in the world, I think. And then we had two babies in two years, and my scleroderma got all wacky, so my joints swell randomly and my ring won’t always fit over my knuckle.
Since it’s too beautiful to keep in a box, and Ryan told me that he wanted me to love it for the rest of my life, I had both my wedding and engagement rings slightly resized, and now I feel like a new woman!
(My wedding set.)
I’m so excited to wear my gorgeous set every day again, and it was such a special way to celebrate our tenth anniversary!
Whoa! A new header, then a new blog title, then another new header, all in one week! All done, I promise!
They say if you do something three times, it becomes a habit, so here we go. These are some things that caught my attention this week.
How Downton Abbey changed a life. And no, it wasn’t mine.
Anthropologie’s November catalog is literally a fairy tale reinvented. I wish I had an occasion to wear these pieces.
A little late for Día de los Muertos, but still beautiful. Raul Malo’s version of “Saint Behind the Glass” by Los Lobos. And “San Antonio Baby,” for mi familia.
A talented designer who lives in Smithville.
I was on Twitter Monday night during the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, and I was so impressed by how quickly news and information was transmitted. Well done, guys! My prayers are with everyone on the East Coast as you recover.
Have a wonderful weekend!
