Cuteness In A Box

I found Grigio all cozied up inside a box I had been filling up to send to somebody. Perhaps he's had enough of this indoor cat life and this was his master plan to get shipped to see the outside world. (I like to anthropomorphicize my pets) 

Portrait of Ava

My friend Megan asked me to paint her a portrait of her daughter Ava for Ava's dad Darren for Father's Day. Ever since I can remember I've loved to do portraits, so of course I agreed to do it and was honored that she asked me to. 

At first I couldn't decide what medium to do it in, but ended up choosing acrylic paint and decoupaged some specialty paper onto the canvas as well (her dress). I am very pleased with it. It's gotten me inspired to do more painting. I hadn't done much in awhile and realized how much I missed it. 

Claudia's for Indoor Grilling

Friday night Claudia invited a few of us girls over for dinner at her house. She had just received a new indoor grilling set and wanted to break it in. I'd never seen one before, and it was so much fun. We each got our own mini pan and spatula and were given an assortment of ingredients to grill up. All of us got cozy as we sat on the floor and grilled up our mini meals throughout the night. This was especially great for me, because I wasn't allowed to gorge myself on a huge portion all at once, which I tend to do on a very regular basis (pace yourself Brooke, pace yourself). We even made chocolate chip pancakes for dessert! How great is that!?

It was great to have a girls' night again. Although we meet for brunch regularly, this gave us the opportunity to really hang out. Thanks Claudia for putting it together!

Anne & Eric Get Engaged!

My longest and dearest friend Anne has gotten engaged to her very sweet beau Eric. Eric, along with his dog Zoey, decided to surprise Anne with the big question while on a hike at Silver Dollar Lake off of Guanella Pass, just south of Georgetown, Colorado. 

When Anne met Eric it was just when I moved to Austin. By the time I met Eric several months later, I could tell that the two of them made a great couple. I could tell that Eric made Anne so happy and that in turn made me happy as well. 

Sounds like the wedding will most likely be set for August 1st, which is also Jeff and my wedding date (we were married in 2003)! How awesome is that - that we'd get to share the same anniversary together as couples! 

I am soo excited to share her special day with her and can't wait to hear more wedding plans to come.

Love you Anne and Eric! You're getting married!! Yay!!!

Saltwater Engine

Gas prices eating your wallet? Yesterday I spent $45 on 11.5 gallons of regular unleaded to fill up my Mazda 3 ($3.94/gal). That's the most I've ever spent on gas, and I'm sure that's not anything compared to less fuel efficient cars. A coworker said they spent $100 to fill up their suburban. 

So, get this; what if we could make an engine work on salt water! Forget about gas prices and harming the environment. Well, the engineer John Kansas may have come up with a way to make that happen. See here. 

Doggie tricks - just for fun

Check out this cute site. It qualifies as 'just for sh*ts and giggles'. Tell the dog to do any kind of dog-related command. The best is  the kisses command. These are our doggies in a 'sit stay'. They're perhaps not quite as talented, but much cuter! hehe

Jason, Xochitl and D&B!

Jeff and I had a blast with my coworker Jason and his wife Xochitl at Dave and Buster's. The four of us met up for the first time yesterday. It turns out we have a lot in common. Jason and Jeff are both mid-thirties and Xochitl and I are both 30. We seem to have a lot of other parallels as well. We were only intending on doing a happy hour but it ended up being an entire night. At one point we looked at the time and realized it was 11:00 and hadn't even eaten dinner yet! Oh, how time flies when you're having fun. 

Jen from Middle School

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, Jeff reconnected with an old friend, Jen, back from middle school. We met up with her and her cousin at an Austin staple The Hill's Cafe, where Jen knew the singer performing. We had a really good time hanging out on the patio and listening to his music, while Jeff and Jen reminisced and we all drank beer. It was great meeting you Jen. Hope we can see you more often now.

Photo Shoot for Kara's Shirts

A few weeks ago my friend Kara asked me if I'd help her do a photo shoot to model some of her t-shirt designs. She's a fellow graphic designer like myself, therefore I didn't hesitate to help out. We had the best time posing in crazy scenarios. For one shirt design, she wanted to capture her mid-jump, for another I crawled through brush to climb in a tree and look scared (I actually look retarded), and another design I was to act as if I was painting a mural. The photos illustrate her designs and their corresponding photos. This is such a fun way to display apparel designs and it was a great way for us to hang out as well!

Black Cab Sessions

I heard about this great site that features artists (musicians and poets) performing in London taxi cabs. Such artists include Death Cab for Cutie and Austin's own Daniel Johnston and Spoon. Such a simple idea and so great! Who needs MTV? Check it out here !

Welcome Elijah Rayden!

Congratulations to Meghann and JJ for having a healthy baby boy last week! We wish you the best and brightest future as a new family.

Click here for a clip from the baby shower. All four generations singing. Now that Elijah is here that makes five generations!

Welcome Addison Marie!

My cousin Mindy and her husband Galen welcomed a new baby girl to the world today. Her name is Addison Marie. She was born at 10:10 this morning by c-section (7 lbs. 13 oz., 19.5 in.). She'll be a baby sister to Samantha. Happy birthday Addison!!

RA and Laura leave Austin

RA and Laura are moving back to Colorado to start a new chapter at the Rio in Boulder. The four of us had our last hoorah together last Saturday and went to Silhouette for sushi and drinks on the veranda at the Intercontinental Hotel. We will miss our brunches at Moonshine and their wonderful hospitality during holidays and celebrations. Thanks for being one of our favorite couples. We will miss you! 

Last Wednesday the Austin Rio threw a surprise going away party for RA. Typical for a Rio party, it was crazy fun! RA was honored with a lap dance, sans actual stripping, from Monique and then Ricky and Jeff. Let's hope he enjoyed Monique's the best. Ha! There was fun with candle wax and a few people took a dip in the fountain. It was also great to see everybody again, especially Jen, Mikey, Lohtse and Ricky (see photos). 

Brent Weinbach

Our friends Chris and Laura invited us to a comedy show on Friday. The headliner was Brent Weinbach. Here's a video clip. Jeff and I had never laughed so hard! Please check him out if he ever comes to your neck of the woods. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Thanks Chris and Laura for inviting us. We also had a great night hanging out with them after the show. It seems Laura loves Grigio, my cat, about as much as I do too (see photo). :)

New Car!!

After 10 long years with my 1991 Mercury Capri I have upgraded to a 2007 Mazda 3i Touring.  It is bittersweet saying goodbye to the Mercury, for I shared many eventful years with that car and I will miss having a convertible, but to say the least, it was time to move on after many mechanical problems with it towards the end. I guess you could say that when I make a commitment, I tend to do so for a long time. I've always had long relationships, whether it be a boyfriend, a job or even a car. So, I hope that my new car will last as long as possible because I anticipate a great future together! Thanks Jerry for being such a sweet person for making it possible.