so close (yet so far)

My friend Amber (who took my favorite photo of all time) gave me a little photography lesson last week before we met up with Loryn for happy hour.  While I don't know if I understand everything she wrote down (there are lots of numbers on that paper), I did figure out how to manually focus and adjust my white balance.  Baby steps, people.

I will always maintain that La Condesa has the best happy hour ever.  Really cheap, really good margaritas, great bar menu, decor that absolutely slays me...  It's a no brainer.

texas, our texaaaaaaaas...

I thought with a fancy new camera, I'd be blogging lots more.  For some reason, however, I haven't touched this thing in a while.  This time I've got post graduation and pre move-to-New-York-and-job-hunt-all-day-every-day has been really lazy.  While I love it, I need to get on some serious memory making, 'cause I've got about a month left in this lil' city I love so much.

stoplight instagrams

I spent yesterday afternoon sitting at one of my favorite coffee shops (Jo's), watching the cutest little sparrow eat my muffin,  (Don't worry, I was done with it.  I don't plan on eating after a bird.)  

The littlest sister met up with me for a little adventuring on South Congress.  We sat at Jo's and did a little prep work for one of the projects I talked about in this post.  I'm making a version of Wood & Faulk's wool camera wrap and I found the most gorgeous woven fabric to work with.

After a bit of fabric shopping and pizza (HOME SLICE! - an important part of the list), we walked along the bridge and up Congress to take lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures.  (Don't ask me why Larisa made a to-go bag beard...)

capturing a master instagrammer at work... 

We walked around the Capitol for a bit and I remembered how much I love the building.  It makes me feel so Texan-y.  (Just go with it.)  The guards at the door got a kick out of our sister act and Larisa might have almost sneaked up a closed off staircase.

Nobody got caught.  Don't worry.

Old man loafers and moccasins.  We were meant to be.

i just need a few things to feel content

Red lipstick and my favorite royal blue grandpa cardigan.

Tom Yum from one of Austin's best Thai places and a good book.

Getting to check a place off my list and eating large amounts of peanut sauce? How do you get any better?  

these things I's been readin'

I'm a pretty fast reader, so the bulk of the reading I did during the school year was on my iPhone (yeah, ebooks!)  They were cheaper and it was easier to not carry around anything else with my already giant and heavy schoolbag, but lately I've been missing real live books.  There's nothing like the feel of paper and the heft of a book in your hand.

A few weeks ago, I spent a glorious hour at Book People, (the best book store in the whole world, y'all) and picked up an old favorite, a present for a friend, and something new.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is one of my favorite books of all time.  I let someone borrow it a few years ago and never got it back, so I figured I needed another copy.  Read it, people

A Practical Wedding by Meg Keene is a fresh, sane look at wedding planning.  Now, don't get all excited... I'm still very single, but my friend Angie is getting married and I think she'll love it.  I've been reading this website for a few years (why I read a wedding blog, I dunno...) and it has a great take on feminism and weddings.  Getting married?  Check out the site or buy the book, trust me.

How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran is (according to the New York Times) "a glorious, timely stand against sexism so ingrained we barely even notice it."  I didn't agree with every single word on the page, but it all made me think.  Love, love, love.

The prettiest book I've been toting around, however, is this notebook Evane gave me for Christmas.  It's got pretty (unlined! - which is important) paper and a sweet ikat cover.  I've been keeping it close for those moments when I need to jot down a brilliant idea.

Trust me, I've got lots of brilliant ideas.

all I dreamed it would be.

After seeing the Austin episode of No Reservations, I was determined to visit Franklin BBQ.  It's been on my to do list forever and seeing Anthony Bourdain rave about it finally made it all happen.  The second my friends Amanda and Will heard about it, they were up for the adventure.  Adventure?  Well, Franklin isn't a normal restaurant.  It opens at 11:00 Tuesday through Sunday and closes when it runs out of food.  If you want a meal, better show up early and get in line.  So we did.

We got there around 9:00 AM, so we were pretty far up in line - luckily, because the line stretched out waaay behind us.  People were geniuses and brought camp chairs and coolers.  We thought we were so prepared with our Baileys and hot chocolate, but we learned our lesson for next time.  (In related news, I'm a homemade dark hot chocolate making master!)  We made do with sitting on the ground (right in the handicap parking spot, so luckily, no cars pulled up) and counted down the hours.

Will put his sweet doodling skills to use personalizing our cups.  (That's Stephanie, Amanda, and Will in  brisket, ribs, and sausage, respectively.)  As it got closer to 11, someone walked down the line and asked us what we were planning on ordering.  When the numbers added up (to whatever amount they'd made that morning) those people in line got the "Sorry, by the time you order, we'll be out of ribs/brisket/everything" speech.

Once they opened the doors at 11, it was only 30 minutes until we got to the counter.  Those 30 minutes were torture.  We were so excited and inching up the line while seeing and smelling the BBQ was just too much.

The walls were lined with awards like this... I agree Austin Chronicle voters: this is the best brisket in the history of the world.  Seriously.

Aaron Franklin, the owner, is the one you order from and he cuts and serves every piece of meat you eat.  He was super friendly and so kind about how much we were geeking out over the food.  It was kind of embarrassing, but he was sweet about it.  We ordered So. Much. Food.  5 or 6 people would have been stuffed if they'd eaten all we ordered.  Of course, we ordered it all: brisket, ribs, pulled pork, turkey and sausage.

Example of our over ordering?  As we were figuring out how much of each item we wanted, Aaron suggested 3 ribs.  Our answer? 7.  (Duh! 2 for each of us and one I'd promised to bring to my dad...)  That's how we approached everything - err on the edge of too much, stay way away from too little.

See what I mean?  Notice the BBQ for 10 and the single serving size beans and potato salad.

I was a vegetarian for years and haven't been eating meat for that long, so I don't have a lot to compare this BBQ to.  Nevertheless, this was the best thing I'd ever eaten.  I don't really have words to describe how delicious it was.  We devoured it, stopping only to repeat, "THIS IS AMAZING!" or "THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER EATEN!"  

The carnage.

All I can say is, you have to try this.  If you like BBQ, you'll love it.  It's not over hyped; it's so worth waiting in line; it's all I dreamed it would be.

so long, farewell...

I'm spending my New Year's Eve on the couch, cuddled up in blankets, surrounded by snotty tissues.  Hot, right?  Despite the crappy end of the year, it was a really good Christmas.  I got to hang out with these kids and spend hours on that giant sectional in my grandmother's living room.  That sectional saw a lot of my behind this Christmas, but we finally turned off Gator Boys and Cajun Pawn Stars (quality television programming) to play a hotly contested round of Balderdash.

We take board games very seriously at Granny's.

That's my sad little purple piece way in last place.  I'm normally much better at these games.  Kristi and I even beat the venerable team of Dad and Granny last year at Password.  (It was really big deal, trust me.)

Even without a Balderdash victory, it's been a really good year.  I graduated from college (Hook 'Em!); I made plans to start my career and move to the big apple.  I spent time with the very best friends in the world.  I loved; I lived; and I laughed.  I designed some pretty rooms and watched some funny movies and ate some yummy foods and listened to some gorgeous songs and made some beautiful music and read some perfect books and laughed and laughed and laughed.

2013 is going to be a big scary year of change.  Some of the plans are still brewing in my pretty little brain and a few have the wheels rolling already.  I know New Year's resolutions are a trite and pretty meaningless thing, but for an all-or-nothing person like me, the idea of starting the year fresh and on track is an appealing one.

We'll see where this year leads, but I'm sure it'll be genius... obviously.

So Long, Farewell from Iain Gall on Vimeo.

I got a brand new camera!

It was totally meant to take pictures like these.  Ok, maybe not...  Though my siblings are pretty good gloves-scarves-and-hats-that-we-get-every-year-from-granny models.  Is this a viable career option for them?

Oh, and don't think I'm a horrible sister for putting a picture like that of my brother on the internet.  He poses, he deals with the consequences.

I have been wanting a new camera for forever and my stepdad and mama generously graduation/christmas gifted me the perfect one.  Now, I don't know what I'm talking about, but my research showed it had everything I was wanting in a dslr, with the tiny size and portability I needed in a point and shoot.  It's beautiful.  Even though I've only had it for one day, I've had so much fun taking photos of the fam (and the new baby second cousins!)

My father would like you to know that there is a very high chance he'd just said something quite profound to Hannah in this photo.  He's very profound.

It's been a fantastic couple of days.  That hottie in the photo above suprised everyone with a last minute trip home for Christmas.  I got sweet and thoughtful presents (that were exactly what I wanted) and have spent every minute of it with family.  I got to show off my stick horse making skills to Granny and lay around on the giant sectional with everyone and show her our favorite apps.  (My grandmother is quite the techie.  There is nothing she likes more than a cool new app for her ipad.) We facetimed cousins in Arkansas, watched babies play with their new toys, and napped.

(Arkansas cousins have the best accents!)

Willis and Silas (Kristi and Cliff make cute babies.)

I miss her.

Now, these were all taken in a dark living room from the same spot on the couch on my first day of owning the camera, so hopefully it'll go up from here.

it's a wrap!

(I meant to post this on Friday, but I didn't actually do it... Just pretend it's before Christmas and still timely)

Well, in the sense that I wrapped some presents, not in the sense of being done with anything.

One of my happiest college memories (the first time) was when my student organization raised money by wrapping presents at Barnes and Noble for donations. It. Was. So. Much. Fun.  (I know that's weird.)  I don't think I've bought traditional wrapping paper or "Christmas" ribbon in years, but I always have fun looking for substitutes.  This year's wrapping is a favorite, though it did take a little finagling, especially on the kid's presents.  It's all super cheap - my favorite kraft paper is actually at the dollar store in their mailing supplies section (though I got the wrapping presents bug late Wednesday after the dollar store was closed - such bad timing!) and the embroidery thread I used is only $.30 a piece if you don't have a few spare skeins lying around like I did.  (If you want kraft paper and you can't find any, try the back of wrapping paper.  Most are printed on that shiny white paper, but I found 3 at my grocery store printed on kraft paper, so I just used the wrong side!)

A note about doing this style (a string wrapped round and round and round): it's a lot harder to get 50 pieces of thread off a present than 2 or 3.  Memories of Christmases past: "I can't unwrap this, Stephanie!" So, I devised a plan - ok, maybe it can't exactly be called a "plan," (whatever... semantics) but this is how I did it.

1. I like to start with the primary colors; it's good to have a full range of colors, but I start with the ones I like the least.  They'll be mostly covered up by the "good ones."  I pretty much only try to keep the front looking straight and even - the back is a lost cause.
2. When you're wrapping the threads make sure to secure them with tape only in the middle, like so.  (It'll make sense in a second, I promise!)
3 & 4. Continue with the rest of your colors, keeping white and black towards the end (I did them 3rd and 4th to last) so that they're prominent.  Black and white really make colors seem more colorful.  (And keep that tape in the middle!)

5. Leaving yourself a little gap, securely tape two more lines on either side of the tape you've already laid down.  You're about to cut the loops of thread, so make sure these are tight and secure since they'll be the only thing holding it all together.
6. Carefully cut in the two gaps you left yourself on either side of the original tape.  (Sharp scissors are useful, unlike the ancient pair of Fiskars I used)
7. Once you've cut away the middle part, you've got two piece of tape securing the thread on both ends.  Reinforce those and they'll stay when you want them too but shouldn't be too hard to rip off on Christmas morning... (I said "shouldn't."  Don't hold me responsible for any present entrapment casualties.)

I only did a few small ones like this, but I still used the floss for the bigger presents - just with a couple of colors.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

what I'm loving right now.

These gorgeous photos Evane took of Hannah's room at our old apartment.  I love that wall of concert posters more than anything.

This (blurry) shot of my genius mama walking across the stage to receive her nurses pin (I think that's what it was.)  I couldn't be more proud of her; she's the only one I've ever called when not feeling well and the best nurse I know.

I finished the last episode of Freaks and Geeks the other day and I'm sad.  Seriously, people... this show is amazing.  Funny and touching and full of people you know.  I spent the whole time going, "Oh! That's that guy that's on that show!" or "She's on this?"  Watch it.  Now.

Loving this shot from my old living room.  The brass, tarnished silver, white ceramic, hobnail glass, old wood and screws, and the patterned wool rug...  Love.

Every year when the kids get together to decorate my mother's Christmas tree, my brother puts random things on it.  He wasn't here this year, so I did a bit of guerrilla decorating for him.

no more sappy, I promise.

Just pure gratitude to the family and friends who drove for hours here and back to east Texas, bought plane tickets, re-arranged finals, adjusted family Christmas and birthday celebrations, and spent their precious holiday weekend to come and see me walk across a stage for 4.5 seconds.  I heard their cheers, crossed my fingers again that I wouldn't trip on my uncomfortable shoes, held on to my too small cap (Yeah right, one size fits all!  What about my giant head?  One size fits all normal-headed people.), smiled at the man I'd never met but evidently runs my school, and took the rolled up piece of paper that said, "Don't fail your finals or you won't actually get the piece of paper that we're pretending to give you right now!"

It was so worth it.

I wore my little blue shawl/scarf/stole thing all day and had the dumbest, giantest (that's a real word; trust me, I'm a college graduate) smile on my face when everyone asked, "Did you graduate today?"  I got a free strawberry lemonade out of the deal, so the whole tuition thing is almost evened out.  The family and friends all went to lunch at the group of food trucks on south Congress.  It was delicious (salted caramel creme brulee!) and as I sat there with a bottled Mexican coke and a fresh squeezed lemonade (as would be the theme of the day, It's my graduation and I can have both if I want!) I stared at all the people who loved me and realized again just how lucky I am.

After a mid afternoon siesta and a more comfortable shoe change, Hannah, Katrina and I headed over to the east side to meet up with Matt and Bri.  We had yummy tacos and margaritas at Takoba and more tequila shots and Hendrick's at Shangri La.  It was the perfect go-out-and-party-it-up night for a girl that never goes out and parties.  Despite my frustration at the EAST SIDE KING BEING CLOSED BY THE TIME I GOT UP OFF MY LAZY BUTT TO ORDER, we ended it at Lucky J's on 6th and Waller.  Chicken and Waffles!  Katrina and I split a cheese steak from a neighboring food truck; the star of the evening, however, was the chicken and waffle with bacon, swiss cheese, syrup and hot sauce.  I believe that's what's known as magic.

Those photos?  2 AM is the best time to take use a photobooth.  Fur-hur-shure.

I started off this post by once again being crazy sappy about people I love and ended it with descriptions of food.  So, pretty much life as usual.

does anyone even use real mail anymore?

I would get it so much more often if my mailbox looked like these from the English Dept. offices.  My apartment just isn't up to par in the stylishly-getting-mail arena.

Post office chic.  (I'm well aware of how ridiculous that phrase is.)

sappy time (part 2)

I know I already got weepy last week about my family, but it's gonna happen again, people.  I'm just really lucky.  I'm sure some of you think that you have people who love you, but compared to me, you're all Oliver Twist and "please sir, I want some more (friends)."  (That's really confusing punctuation, so I'm just gonna leave it like it is...)

Most of my family is coming from across the country to see me walk across the stage for 3 seconds.  I'm just waiting for all the yells.  (I didn't get the only loud Corder genes!)

Behind the scenes info: when this photo was taken a few Christmases ago, a random lady relative called us "a bunch of hussies."  I think it wasn't meant to be an insult?  Also, be grateful girls, I was gonna put that picture of us doing ANTM in our Christmas snuggies.

Little known fact: that photo of Evane and Campbell is of the only time they've interacted without bloodshed.  :)  ...Skunks!

My family is precious.  You don't get to pick your family and I really lucked out with this one.  Nobody does group texts and That Thing You Do quotes like us.

You do get to pick your friends, however... I did a fantastic job with that one.

I will never not love this photo. Note to self: always have red lipstick, red nails, a glass of wine, people who love you.  Also, I love how Loryn looks like a blow-up doll in the top left photo.

My friends are as good at making faces as I am.  (What? You don't have photos of you and your friends  with crazy hats?  You really should.)  These people love me, even though they know all the sucky, not-so-pretty, wanna-hide-the-skeletons-in-the-closet, icky stuff...  Do you know how special that is?  They make me better and let me love them.  Life is good, people.  It's good.

Anyways, graduation.  This Saturday at noon, it's on.  Party time!  I know my instagram followers are going to be disappointed at the lack of late night "I'm studying in a coffee shop/library" shots.  No more photos of my laptop, coffee and homework... Here's a small sampling to make up for your future loss.  

best photo ever?

I think so.

photo by Shan Renee

My friends James and Mara got married last year and it was a killer wedding.  Mara was the hottest bride ever (seriously, there were some Jessica Rabbit curves going on) and all of the details were beautiful, but for me, the best part of the wedding was the massive dance party.  People got down!

I look like I'm leading some weird meditation exercise (it's really just the YMCA, but whatever).  Man, I love this picture.

thanks-lazing.

how my iphone saw the day...

Thanksgiving was fantastic.  I went all Julia Childs with Larisa and made a delicious dinner on Wednesday.  (My mother's Thanksgiving plans for Thursday were cancelled, but we went ahead with Thanksgiving a day early)  I refused to do anything on Thursday but lay around and take naps.  It was glorious!  Mama and I played Rummikub while Larisa made fancy hot chocolate.  We played old standards and sang "Someone to Watch Over Me."  (She has the best voice...)

It was all I wanted in a vacation.  For future reference, if anyone wants to impress anyone with their culinary skills, feel free to use this menu: slow-cooker turkey (I was super happy to have one less thing to schedule the oven for), HEB's pecan praline spiral-cut ham (the best decision I made), macaroni and cheese (from scratch!), roasted garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry-pomegranate sauce (A: why would you ever use the canned stuff when this is so easy? B: mine turned out a cranberry-orange-apple sauce 'cause I forgot the pomegranate juice), green bean casserole (nothing fancy, just the recipe on the can of fried onions... don't judge, it's my favorite!), and those magical canned crescent rolls with some rosemary-garlic butter.  

My favorite dishes (beside that fantastic ham) were the whipped sweet potatoes with coconut milk from The Kitchn and cornbread stuffing with sausage and apples from The Pioneer Woman.

this is what it would all look like if I was a professional food photographer...

via pioneer woman and the kitchn

The last two years I made Bobby Flay's pumpkin bread pudding with spicy caramel apple sauce and my brother said it was the best thing he'd ever eaten... So there's that.

dude, I'm so helpful (small town antique store edition)

I've accepted the fact that I'll be moving to NYC pretty soon and can only take a few suitcases with me.  This really hinders my random accessories buying habit...  I always say that you can easily and cheaply find the little tchotchekes you need to style your home well; you just have to look.  I know that so well because I'm always buying little random cheap things and it's been really hard the last few months to not indulge in a little thrifting.  Instead of going cold turkey, I've decided to use a patch and just take pictures of all the things I could be buying.  My frustration is your information.  Dude, I'm so helpful...

(alternate post title: get stuff to make your shelves look like this)  

I constantly have a wish list of things I'm looking for at a great price.  For me, this usually includes big pieces of furniture or pieces that are usually expensive.  So, when I'm shopping for accessories for a new bookshelf, I'll still keep a look out for a good condition, well-shaped, overstuffed chair or an awesome vintage rug.  I usually don't buy the big stuff unless it's at a ridiculous price, but I always seem to find the killer rug or dining room table when I'm just looking for some vintage books or a non-heinous floor lamp.

I found this rug at Goodwill when I was looking for cut-glass tumblers.

Despite all that I just said about keeping an open mind and ABLFBS (always be looking for big stuff), I know that a thrift store can be overwhelming... If your budget is small, it can feel especially chaotic.  So, divide what you're looking up for into groups.  You should go in there with that open mind, but if you're having a hard time finding the good stuff, it can help to get specific.  These are the things I look for (especially if it has to be a quick trip): dishes/glasses/serving ware; small accessories (like the little dog or elephant on the bookshelf above); wall art; and collections.  You can also say, "can I use this as it was intended or can I display it decoratively?"  

With this in mind, I took a bunch of pictures at Witherspoon's Antique Mall during our yaya weekend.  I didn't buy any of this stuff (though I did get a few Christmas presents, for which I am so proud of myself!)  Let's break it all down into my categories...

Dishes/glassware/serving pieces:

I didn't find (or photograph) a million pieces, but I did get a shot of these adorable little saucers.  You don't have to just use dishes in the kitchen; this would be adorable on your dresser to corral your bobby pins or by your door to hold your keys.

Small accessories: when I said inexpensive, I meant it!  These are the little things you collect so that the tops of your dressers, shelves and tables don't look so bare.

a vintage scale ($14), an old medicine bottle ($3.50) and a metal scottie dog ($5)

vintage cleaner can ($1.50), ginger canister ($?), oil cans ($14 and lower)

Wall art:  what you put on your walls definitely doesn't have to have been created for decorating your walls.  I'm a big fan of non-traditional wall art.

(coffee filters! I miss my cute little living room)

gas station thermometer ($?), porthole window ($?), and old high school diploma ($45)

I freakin' love this diploma; this is definitely going to be a new item to search for on etsy/ebay.  The thermometer looks cool on the old wooden wall, but would be even better in a sleek and modern room (Maybe a nursery?  Such a bright pop of color!)  Hang that porthole on the wall if you're going for a bit of nautical style...

Collections: I had this idea that I was going to have a giant trophy collection (which wouldn't included any I actually earned) and it would be funny/adorable.  See, I'm not the most athletic person in the world, so having a shelf full of soccer and track prizes would be pretty funny.  However, I got derailed from my original goal when I found these three vintage trophies.  I realized it couldn't get any better than this.

They're some of my most beloved possessions, and though any of them would look good on its own, they're a million times better in a group.  I've got a collection of vintage tennis rackets; none of them would make any sense displayed by themselves, but as a group they're striking.  (Get it?)  If you're always seeing cool old board games or vintage paint-by-number landscapes, start buying them when they're priced well.  Get three or four and voila!  Display them together and you're set.

I'm well aware that these are ridiculous, but I'm really liking the idea of a vintage wedding cake topper collection.  These are kind of cheesy, but they've got some really cool old ones out there.  Ok, ok... you're right; it's pretty insane.

I know I already showed the middle photo, but this is a perfect example.  I was looking at these oil cans as small accessories to use in styling a table top or shelf, but as I looked through my pictures, I realized how many I'd seen that day.  Instant collection!

Using something as it's mean to be used: well, duh.  This is a no-brainer and probably the easiest way to look for things.  I kept all of my grains, beans, flour, sugar, etc. in these glass containers from IKEA, but these vintage ones are way cuter.

"Stuff" as art: personally, this is my favorite way to go at thrifting.  Stuff.  Cool (usually old) stuff that can be styled interestingly.

Horribly lit/taken photos, I know... but great ideas!  Set that trumpet alongside a little vignette of books and a candle; set one of those old hats over a big rock and use it as a bookend.  (The rock would be hidden inside, of course...)

Find a meat grinder at a garage sale?  You know what to do with it now...

this is everything I ever wanted in anything - via funkytime

Longest post in the world, I know.  At least if I couldn't buy any of these things, I can share them with you.  Then maybe you can go to Granbury and buy them and give them a loving home...