Exclusive Pumping

This is not just one of those posts where I tell you how busy I've been to excuse a delayed absence on my blog, although it is that as well. This is a post where I tell the story of one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. It's personal, it's intimate, but it's not embarrassing for me to talk about it.

Geometric planters from Art Stvdio Brooklyn

Yellow ceramic tripod planter

I love succulents, colorful planters and geometry, so I was immediately drawn to these Southwest-inspired planters made by fellow RISD graduate Erica Peterson.

Hillary Visits

We were very happy to welcome Hillary to West Texas for a few days recently. She came all the way from San Francisco to see us and my bump! She got to come to the baby shower and the next morning, we loaded up the car and took a mini road trip to Marfa & Fort Stockton.

Baby Shower Hostess Gifts

A lovely group of family friends decided to throw a shower for our baby on the way. I wanted to give each of them something to say thank you, but I wasn't sure what to do at first. After scouring Pinterest and Google Images, I found lots of great ideas, but ultimately decided to go with something homemade to give it a personal touch without costing an arm and a leg (I had ten gifts to make, so I couldn't spend $20-$30 each, as much as I wanted to!)

Homemade jalapeño jelly seemed fitting for this group of Texan ladies. I designed the packaging myself and included a recipe card and a small spoon and knife for serving the jelly with cream cheese and crackers.

Stud Love, Vol. 1

Black Quartz Stud Earrings, $16 from dinosaurtoes
Mini Simple Sterling Silver Stud Earrings, $8 from VirginiaWynne

Yesterday I wore my biggest earrings and suffered for it. Though I love my large, leaf-shaped earrings, they are very uncomfortable on a windy day. Sometimes you just need a good pair of studs to keep things short and simple.

Here are five of my favorite post earrings from Etsy. I think this will have to be a series of posts, because I have a lot of trouble narrowing down my favorites.


World Map Stud Earrings, $20 from bloomyjewelry


Diamond Shaped Beaded Stud Earrings, $45 from saracramer


Minimalist Triangle Stud Earrings, $12 from GoldandSilverLining

All photos are copyright their respective shops.

Animal Earrings by Faz Jewelry

Grey and white striped cat earrings

These aren't for everyone, but I think they're so funny and cute I thought I should share. Faz Jewelry on Etsy makes jewelry by encasing photographs in resin.

Sleeping cat earrings

Most of the earrings offered are cats, but there are also a few dogs and even a chinchilla! The artist has been working with resin for 3 years and has been creating these double-sided resin pieces for over a year, so she knows what she's doing.

Brown Pomeranian earrings

These are the perfect gift for the cat lady animal lover in your life! See the entire collection in Faz Jewelry's Etsy shop.

Cute grey & white cat earrings

Sandhills Day Trip

Our friend Brady came in from New York for a quick visit this week, the first of what I hope will be many visits from friends in the upcoming year. There wasn't much going on in town, so we made a spontaneous day trip to the Monahans Sandhills State Park.

The Next Big Adventure

Four years ago today, my life changed forever when I hosted a tall, scruffy CouchSurfer named Sam. He was riding a motorcycle home for Christmas, from San Francisco to Charleston. His last minute request almost went unanswered because the CouchSurfing website would not load a reply page, but I managed to get in touch and let him know he was welcome minutes before he left an internet cafe in New Mexico.

Aerial Nudes by John Crawford

When I saw this series by John Crawford, I was immediately drawn to them. I love the bold, graphic shapes of aerial photographs, and I enjoyed the humor in spotting the nude in each photo. Each one gives the viewer a little aha! moment of incongruousness.

Tiny Showcase

Left: Adam Hancher Right: Susie Ghahremani

I've been following Tiny Showcase for years, but this is the first time I've thought to blog about them! If you haven't heard of it, Tiny Showcase is a small print shop in Rhode Island that sells high quality,  limited edition prints from talented artists on a smaller scale, so you don't have to be rich to collect some great art. In addition to this, a portion of each sale goes to the charity of the artist's choosing, so everybody wins!