Random thoughts on a rainy Saturday: 1. I am so happy right now because the Dipladenias are blooming and blooming. I wait all year for the Dipladenias to arrive. We buy them every April and they bloom(with proper watering) through September. Dipladenia and Mandevilla are cousins (except I think Dipladenia is cuter). 2. It has been storming here in Texas–thunderstorms and lightning and rain and more rain. I LOVE thunderstorms. I lay in the upstairs room sometimes and just watch the skies dance. 3. I just got a brand new tool that finds my top 10 sellers each week. I was so surprised at number ..read more

Does this look familiar? This was the house at Christmastime. Look at that yard. 2023 was a tough season for the yard and the beds and the general vegetation here at the house. We had a snowstorm and two big freezes after everything started to bloom and then there was hail and a TON of unexpected rain. Sigh. Double sigh. That green stuff is basically weeds covering the dirt. But now? There’s hope. We had a sprinkler system put in and seeded the yard with Bermuda that loves the sun. And this is 2024. A new year. A new plan. And a WHOLE BUNCH OF NEW PLANTS. And I can’t wait to show you the bef ..read more

Do you know how much I love reading your comments? Seriously. It is one of my greatest joys in this life. To write something and have someone respond is a gift. When I wrote the story of the ring and what I discovered it brought up all the things from all those years at Baylor. Truth? It was so challenging. I didn’t have a car so I saved my pennies working at Dairy Queen the summer between freshman and sophomore year at Baylor to buy a moped. I drove that moped everywhere. It was only .25 to fill it up and I drove it to work every day on the Waco circle. I worked at El Chico’s and the requir ..read more

Random thoughts on a brilliantly sunny Saturday: 1. I went to the BEST estate sale this week. It was kind of fancy. You had to put your name on a list and they only let in a certain number of people at a time. But it was worth every minute of the wait. I found a treasure trove of vintage jewelry from the 50’s and 60’s. 2. My hydrangea bush is looking amazing. There are little tiny leaves on the old stems everywhere and the leaves are getting bigger and bigger. Fingers crossed we get hydrangeas this year. Growing hydrangeas in Texas is no joke. 3. I wore black and white linen polka-dotted pant ..read more

I just finished a mini refresh of this blue and white office. Here are some ideas and inspiration for office decorating. This is the door I walk through every morning when I head to work on this blog. My office door. I grab coffee and a few of my hopes and dreams and ideas head into this room every day when the sun rises in the east. I just finished a mini makeover on this space that was born out of necessity. A necessity called Buddy. Sigh. Buddy our golden retriever and he’s 17 years old and he’s been with our family since before the twins learned to read. He’s funny and smart and full of ..read more

Wondering how to create an outdoor pea gravel patio in the yard? Here’s how we added a patio to a corner of our yard. I’m not sure which I’m more excited about. The fact that we are in the path of totality for the eclipse today? Or that we finished the front yard this weekend (and created the CUTEST pea gravel patio for al fresco dining). (total aside: someone just told me that the song “Total Eclipse Of the Heart” is the EXACT length of the solar eclipse today. I have it cued up for when it goes dark.) It’s a true toss-up. I mean…solar eclipses are amazing and a natural phenomenon that’s ..read more

Looking for ideas on how to add a little spring kitchen decor? Here are 11 easy ideas to decorate your kitchen for spring. Does anyone know who invented Daylight Savings Time? I want to send them a thank you note. I’m sitting here waiting for my fake tan to dry and using a gua sha tool to try and train my forehead and I still had time to completely weed the two front flower beds outside in the garden. All thanks to that extra hour. It’s amazing what can be accomplished with all those additional minutes. Plenty of time to use for spring decorating in the kitchen. And my spring kitchen decorat ..read more

Random thoughts on a sunny Saturday morning: 1. Happy Easter. Everyone is in town and we are having a party tonight and church and a celebration tomorrow. 2. The set of cooling hotel pillows that I have on every bed in this house is back on sale for 73% off right now. You can see them here. 2. Guess what? My beloved Dipladenias are back in town. We went to Lowe’s last night and there were rows and rows of them so we bought them and loaded them into the car to fill the planters again. I almost did a cartwheel right there in the center aisle. 3. What is your favorite thing to buy at Trader Joe ..read more

Looking for tips on how to save space when packing for your next trip? Here are 11 of the best packing tips to travel light. I have been meaning to write this post forever, but somehow January and February got in the way. Remember when we took off halfway ar0und the world and told you I packed perfectly for the trip? Okay it was just the Caribbean—but you get my point. In all my trips and all my journeys, I think it was my proudest packing moment. I know this is a little random, but I kind of went to packing university. I never really paid that much attention to how I packed before, but I kn ..read more

Looking for spring decorating ideas and inspiration? This home has all the flowers and the decor and the stories. Come take the spring home tour. // blue and white planters // I love a house tour that starts with once upon a time. It’s true. I am the luckiest duck in the world to be the temporary caretaker of this home. That’s exactly how I feel about these rooms and this window and this vintage dresser from my husband’s grandmother brilliantly colored spring flowers. If this is your first visit here to the blog and I’m just meeting you, here’s the story behind this house starts here. The Re ..read more