Thursday, January 29, 2015

If Instagram + Pinterest had babies....


If you know me - like, at all... You know Instagram is far and beyond my favorite mode of social media transportation. But, it is not without its flaws.


In a perfect world, Instagram would cut a little chunk of Pinterest off and make beautiful social media babies. Take a minute a picture that baby shower! I just pictured Blake Lively's Fall baby shower: 


Um, right??

As a blogger, I really enjoy Instagram to follow other bloggers, designers and small businesses. Of course there are my friends and countless English bulldog accounts thrown in there as well :) Keeping that in mind...here are some of the changes I would make to Instagram:

1. Being able to "Pin" and organize the Instagram photos you like. There are a ridiculous amount of screenshots on my phone of posts I need to go back and read, or of a project that I want to DIY or of a pretty space I want to keep as inspiration.

2. If they won't let us "Pin" our photos somewhere on Instagram, I wish they would let us access Pinterest directly and Pin from a post.

3. I would like to be able to organize the accounts that I follow by categories: English bulldogs, OKC, bloggers, designers, friends/personal, celebrities, etc. I realize that not everyone uses Insta the way I do... So this could be helpful for those like me and annoying to those who just use Insta as a picture feed. I think this would be extremely helpful for businesses though. What am I supposed to do if I ran across something on Instagram I want to buy and forget to take a screenshot, or like it? I would go to my "Shopping" category and find awesome t-shirt again. 

 4. I wish you could add a link in the description of the picture or in the comments. Just so you don't have to keep changing the link in your profile.

 5. I wish there was an "advanced search" you could look through the people you follow. I follow over 600 people.... so when I was in Dallas a few weekends ago and wanted to know which of those accounts were from the Dallas area. I wanted to see if I followed any local stores, restaurants or any bloggers who might have good local shopping/eating choices readily available. Or at least if I knew who was from the area, I could directly ask their opinion. I realize this one is a little EEPY-CRA, but this is only for those who offer up their location.

Anyone have Instagram's #?

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Bishop Arts District

Last weekend Molly and I made a quick trip down to Dallas to visit our sis Hillary. We indulged in Rosa's, discovered the Dubsmash app and explored Bishop Arts District.
Bishop Arts is a funky neighborhood that was plucked straight from a hipsters dream. Its cute, trendy and right outside the ghetto. You can park your car and just start walking to some pretty quirky shops and restaurants. 

We ate at Oddfellows and grabbed dessert at Emporium Pies with our mom and our friends Courtney & Debbie. I can't get enough of these types of neighborhoods. All of the boutiques are very reasonably priced and each one is different than the other.


I also started (and finished) Serial this past weekend. ADDICTING. I just love any sort of crime drama, and this one does not disappoint. I'll do an official review of it in another post. 

 

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Pursue: A Holiday Workshop

Oh man oh man oh man. You guys know how much I enjoy workshops. Some (my husband) say that I'm obsessed, and some (my husband) say that I spend too much money on them. I can't help it!
Back in December, my friend Brandi and I attended Pursue: A Holiday Workshop. We got to dabble in some brush lettering taught by our friend Molly and play florist with the oh so beautiful blooms Kelly of Poppy Lane Designs brought for us to play with! All the while Chris Castro was busy making us some hand crafted cocktails and homemade, dreamy focaccia bread. Plus it was at Plenty Mercantile in Midtown, which is a great local shop! Seriously, one of my faves!

Not only are these workshops just a creative blast, but you are surrounded by other creatives (both professional and hobbiest) people who are geeking out right beside you. No funny glances when you are standing on a chair trying to get the perfect shot. No judgment when you are arranging and rearranging your setting so that it is camera ready. You set at a table with a few strangers and you get to chatting, becoming friends with others who share your love of the perfect Instagram post.
Ya'll.... Its just so much fun! Here are a few pics from my camera, but let me forewarn you- THE Holli B was there taking some (too) legit (to quit) pictures of her own that I'll share with you guys later. 



  

 If you have ever taken a calligraphy class and have been wondering about switching lanes to brush calligraphy, I say DO IT! I love brush calligraphy just a teensy bit more than ink calligraphy. Forgiving would be the best way to describe the difference. I officially went for it and addressed my Christmas cards...Check 'em out!



Thursday, January 8, 2015

2014: A Year in Review

Guys, it's 2015. This year has always been somewhat of an imaginary futuristic year that would never come...mostly because it is the year of my 10 year high school reunion. It's officially my first "Time's Marching On" moment.

Today I'm going to recap my Highs & Low of 2014. Overall it was a wonderful year, full of travel, family and friends. We made an addition to our family and lost a family pet. We marveled in how awesome God is and how lucky we are to be surrounded by some amazing people. I listed everything in order of how they went down throughout the year.

High: We got our wedding pictures back from Caroline Rentzel. Emotions were in full force as we relived all of that perfect day. Amazing.

   
High: A trip to Dallas to see Chelsea Handler do stand up and connecting with these fun friends (plus Jake, Cody & Keith)!



High: I took Lauren Essl's Calligraphy Class with my friend Taryn (I posted about it here). You've heard me gush about it before...but man I LOVE creative education!!


High: Trip to Austin for our friend Delaney's graduation. Austin is a pretty cool town, we are definitely making another trip down there. (That part of Texas is my fave....you have Gruene, Austin, floating the river, Round Top shopping is on my to do list...just so many great things!) 


High: We went on our first of two camping trips with our besties, The Jones'. 


Biggest High of the year: We became parents to our sweet and cuddly fur baby, Dixie! She is our little English bully and we are so in love. I'm doing my best not to be "that mom" and have her take over my insta feed...but sometimes you just gotta give into that lovin' feelin', ya know?


High: Our wedding was featured on Wedding Chicks!!! Super big high seeing our (my friends, family and vendors) hard work paying off in a humungo way!! I still get a little giddy thinking about it.

High: McGuire Family Vacay to Grand Lake. It was our first vacation as a family in 10 years and it was so fun! So much fun that I took ZERO pictures! It felt really nice to be unplugged and just enjoying my hilarious family! We introduced them to Cards Against Humanity, baked, relaxed, laughed, made fun of each other, swam a lot and found out how big of a chicken I was because I'm too scared to go fast on a jet ski! I stole this picture from Kortny, my SIL of my dad and Bryson steering the boat.

High: I got a promotion at work! I could put a pic of my new office up, but I'm embarrassed by how bare the walls still are!

Lowest of Lows: I lost my bestie, my flower bully, my favorite cuddle partner of 8 years and my niece dog to cancer. It was seriously the hardest and worst time ever. I'm very lucky to say that I've never lost a human I'm very close to, so I don't have anything bigger to compare it to. I am super thankful that I have some pretty awesome pics of her from our wedding! I still get really emotional thinking about her, and before we got Dixie I was actually really fearful that I wouldn't love my own dog as much as I love Zoe. Of course, that's ridiculous. 



High: In October we started an unintentional travel spree. 4 of 5 weekends we were on the road! First, to Dallas for the OU/Texas game (Boomer Sooner) 


Second, our 2nd camping trip with the Jones'


Third, we went with our friends Justin & Brandi to Eureka Springs. 


Fourth, we headed to Nashville for our anniversary trip and to see our friends Boston & Janelle! Another amazing city I have yet to blog about. But it'll come, I have to share with you all of the great places we ate! 


High: Our first wedding anniversary!! What? Our first year went by so quickly! We spent it by sleeping in, eating Bundt cake and watching Frozen and Monster's University :) We're boring...and it was perfect! 


High: I went to Pursue's Holiday workshop with my friend Brandi. Our friend Molly (one of the owner's of Pursue) taught us how to do brushstroke calligraphy and Poppy Lane Designs taught us how to put together a beautiful flower arrangement with trimmings from the yard. It was a glorious day!



Overall I'm surprised by how much we traveled, disappointed by my lack of blogging and my Sooner's football season (better luck next year, right?). And still missing ZoĆ«. Obviously the good outweighs the bad and I had a wonderful first year of marriage with my hubby! 

Here's to higher highs in 2015! Maybe we'll buy our first home, spend more time with family, catch up on our DVR, and grow closer to friends, and Christ.
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