Hodge Podge

Literally hodge podge because this is just a compilation of all the rando things that ran through my head this week.

So it's been a year since our wedding and I still haven't had my wedding dress professionally sealed and packed. But I thought to myself, "I don't want to stuff my wedding dress in a box and put it in the back of my closet...it's too beautiful!" Then I remembered that Real Housewives of Beverly Hills episode where the world caught a glimpse of Adrienne Maloof's wedding dress framed in a giant shadow box and beautifully displayed in her closet. Sigh. Idea: I should frame my wedding dress!

First, I called my mom just to see if she thought it was totally crazy...she always brings me back down to earth...she thought it was a great idea! Second, I talked to Paige to see if she knew of anyone in Dallas who would frame a wedding gown. (Paigey is my go to girl for anything Dallas...you have a question and the girl has got an answer) Obvi she pointed me in the right direction and added that she thought I should definitely do it. With my mom and Paige rooting me on I made my way to the framing store. So I walk in and hesitantly ask if they frame wedding dresses and I thought to myself, "these people are going to think I'm so nutty." But the fab gay guy at the counter says, "hunny we do that all the time." score. How could I ever think no one in Dallas has ever had this crazy request...did I forget where I live? I love this town! Needless to say I picked everything out (including the most expensive frame in the store...seriously how does that always happen to me?! I don't look at the price, pick it out, and then when I go to the counter it never fails to be the most expensive thing in the store. Talent or curse? Idk) and I got an estimate.

It's now officially on my to do list. First, I have to have my mom ship the dress to me. Second, I have to have my dress cleaned again and sown...someone stepped on my dress circa 2am at the reception and ripped a huge piece on the bottom. Cringe. But it's ok they were drunk and I was really happy so no big! Then finally I can take it to get framed which will take a while once they have it but will be so worth the wait! Can't wait to display my wedding dress, walk by it, and remember the most special day of our lives! Love. Love. Love.

Another thing that I am totally dying to do but will have to go on my wish list for a while because the wedding dress in a frame trumps all is a portrait of Lilly. Again I was told about this by Paige. There is a really cute, young painter from Fort Worth named Natalie Erwin who does the most lovely dog portraits. She will come to your home to meet and photograph your dog in order to capture their personalities in their own environments. I die. The background of the portrait will even be of actual things in your home...their bed, favorite chair or couch, etc. Paige and Holly have the most adorable portraits of Colton and Crosby!

Lucas is finally back from training in San Antonio and I missed him so much...its so nice to have my hubby back home. Last night was his first night back and I slept so well! I had not been getting a good night's rest while he was gone just because I've gotten so used to having him sleep next to me. Baha I sound like a stage 5 clinger but its so true. And if that werent cheesy enough that was the longest we've spent apart since we got married. So glad he is home.

So I learned an interesting new word at work this week that apparently all the young cool kids are using: bougie. Bougie comes from the french word Bourgeoisie which described the French upper class and their ownership of nice things. I learned all this after one of the fellow interns at work said I was bougie. I was like what? And she said lets just say your not the Forever 21 type. I didn't know if I should take offense or take it as a compliment but whatev she is really nice and cool so honey badger don't care...plus I think she felt bad after I told her I was actually wearing a Forever 21 dress hahah. The girls at work even say it about themselves all the time. Like, "i love valeting. Thats so bougie of me." so random but im considering adopting it. Anyways those are my spastic thoughts for the week! Xoxo

My 15 Commandments

I am not one of those people who has a list for everything or one of those "if it's not in my schedule ahead of time I can't do it" kind of person, but I do have 15 little rules near and dear to my heart that I try to live my life by. None is more important than the other...it is the combination of them all that helps me keep my life in order and in what Lucas and I refer to as our "zen."
Total side note: if either of us starts getting a little stressy or flustered we just tell each other to find our zen. Kinda hipster of us I know, but I think Lucas says "you gotta find your zen girl" more often to me than I do to him but that's besides the point.

Prissy's 15 commandments:

1. Never leave things on bad terms, fail to say something you feel like you have to, or go to bed angry.
-one of my dearest childhood friends got into an argument with her older brother one morning, stormed out, and then her brother lost his life that afternoon in a terrible accident before she could apologize.

2. Don't ask for a favor unless you are willing to return it. So make sure you think long and hard before asking for something.
-my parents always taught my sister and I never to ask for favors unless we absolutely had to because it's always better to do something for someone because you want to not because you feel like you owe them something.

3. Never show up empty handed.
-Big Martha taught us that its rude to show up to any event empty handed...no matter how casual the gathering is. If I'm invited to dinner at someone's house I always make sure I bring something: food, drinks, flowers, a candle...really anything to show the hosts that I am grateful I was included in their plans. I never show up without a gift at someone's birthday celebration...it's just nice to feel special on your birthday. Finally, I always send a gift for a wedding and/or shower...even if I don't go! Being invited to celebrate with the bride and groom on their special day is a huge honor, it means that they wanted you to be there to witness and participate in the beginning of their life together...the least you can do is send a gift.

4. Once you have said it, it's out there for good.
-thank you Pi Phi for teaching me how to sensor my social media. The only thing I have to actively work on are my words....sometimes I just have word vomit. Oops. It's easy to gossip or say things you don't mean when you're angry but it's hard to take them back. People can forgive but don't necessarily forget so it's important to censor.

5. If you borrow something, return it promptly. And make sure it's clean!
-whether it be a baking dish or an item of clothing make sure it is returned quickly to the owner and that it's clean. I literally lent a piece of clothing out once and it was returned to me 3 weeks later without being washed. WTF? Needless to say I don't lend out anything pertaining to my wardrobe any longer. Sorry I'm not sorry.

6. Try to have your nails done at all times.
-personally when I see a gal with her nails done I think to myself "she cares about her appearance." If she cares about taking care of her nails then I assume she cares about taking care of herself in general, which is always a good quality. It's easy to forget or even have time to do your nails with as hectic as life can get. But you don't necessarily have to go get them done...doing them at home will do the job! I have to say that shellac has revolutionized my life in this aspect because it lasts so long. Needless to say you will rarely see me without polish on...if you do I apologize in advance and you've caught me at a hoodratty time.

7. Don't commit to do something if your aren't absolutely sure you will be able to follow through.
-its better to turn something down than to commit and then not follow through. It makes you seem like an undependable person, and odds are you will not be asked again.

8. Take care of your teeth.
-I can't help it I'm the product of two dentists. The first thing I look at when I meet or even see people is their teeth. I literally cringe when I see people who I can tell are neglecting their teeth. I always carry floss, mints, and gum in my purse for an after lunch refresher or for when I get something stuck in my teeth which shockingly happens often. If you see someone with something in their teeth tell them...it's so embarrassing but it's better then having the person realize it later and then wonder why no one told them. Trust me I'm the queen of third party embarrassment but somehow I awkwardly muster up the courage to say something.

9. Don't lie even if the truth is hurtful.
-this is my biggest pet peeve! I have a really hard time when people lie...even little white lies or "bending the truth" or withholding information. I rather tell the truth or be told the truth even if it will hurt my feelings or it will hurt someone else's.

10. Persistence is key.
-you can't stand around in life and hope things will workout or good karma will come your way. You have to actively work towards your end goal and put in your time and then surely things will start to happen for you. It's nice when you get handed things but that is the exception not the rule. Determination, perseverance, and persistence are probably some of the most admirable qualities in my opinion.

11. Be yourself.
-in the words of the honey badger himself, "honey badger don't care." When I was younger I used to be really concerned with what others thought but now that I am out of college and married and have my good friends....honey badger don't care. I say what I think and I am who I am. If you want to be my friend great and if you don't that's fine too. So liberating.

12. Don't do business with friends.
-I've seen it happen and I've seen it subsequently fail and ruin a friendship. Never a good idea.

13. Be kind.
-there is nothing sweeter than feeling loved, appreciated, cared for, and respected for. Treating others like you want to be treated is a good policy.

14. Everything happens for a reason.
-literally my life mantra. There have been times in my life when something bad happens or things don't go my way and I think to myself why? I would wallow and be upset about it when in reality it later turned out to be a HUGE blessing in disguise. Don't question God's plan...He has a plan bigger than what is in front of us at the moment and it will definitely work out the way it is supposed to.

15. It is what it is.
-shiz happens. Sometimes there is nothing you can do about it so you just have to accept it and move on.

Wow now that I've read through it to spell check it all sounds so dramatic. Baha. But I truly believe my little rules. Can't wait for the housewarming party in 12 days! Lucas thinks I'm going a little overboard with the plans but honestly does he remember who he married? He secretly loves it.
Xoxox

Crazy

Hello dolls! After a month and a half long hiatus I am back and finally have enough time to do my hoodrat activities like blog. Life has been crazy since my last post...in the words of Seal himself, "But we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy. No we're never gonna to survive unless we are a little crazy." Words of wisdom right there. So much has happened in the past month and a half: I finished my first year of law school, went to Missouri to see Andre graduate from college, went to McAllen for a week, started my internship with Catholic Charities Immigration and Legal Services, and moved. phew. it makes me tired just thinking about it.

I am officially a 2L and so proud of myself! Not only did I survive my first year of law school but I rocked it. And I can honestly say I only had a few melt downs which occurred mostly when I had consumed some cocktails and let my pent up stress run wild which then led to tears, but that is pretty much normal in law school or at least that is what my fellow law school friends say as well. maybe we just all say that to eachother to make ourselves feel better. I apologize to those of you who witnessed my melt downs first hand, specifically on my birthday and Cinco de Mayo...on the bright side I had a really good time on those ocassions as well! Either way I am a happy girl, and I am definitely enjoying my summer vacay.

The day after finals it was off to Missouri to watch Andre graduate from Mizzou. Lucas and I definitely realized how different it is from Baylor...not in a good way. Anyways we are so proud of little Andre for graduating and starting his job! Highlight of the weekend: taking a picture in front of the Pi Phi House. It had a legit light up arrow and chain on top of the door that you could see from far away. i was def jelly we didnt have one in Waco.

                                          The Rodriguez gang

                                         Pi Beta.

A day after we got back from Missouri we went to McAllen for about a week to just chill and go to SPI. It was so nice to hang out with family & friends and have absolutely NOTHING to do after being on the go for the previous month with finals and then Missouri. We went to SPI for a day and posted up by the Wanna Wanna bar...it was such a scrumptious day and week.
                                     
The day after we got back from Mac town I began my summer associate position at the Immigration and Legal Services department of Catholic Charities. So far I have learned tons, the attorneys there are soooo nice, and it is really rewarding to help out people who are truly in need. #lovemesomecatholiccharities

After coming back from McAllen and starting work at ILS, our lives were pretty much consumed with moving until now. I absolutely hate moving...it truly is like torture. Packing and unpacking and organizing and cleaning. vom. So we moved last weekend and I enlisted the help of Big Martha. If you're moving you might want to consider hiring her. JK. But literally she is like an organizing and cleaning feign...Big Martha is the best little mover I know. One thing I realized when we moved into our cute little house is how much stuff we had in our one bedroom apartment. We were definitely living like hoarders for the past year...its like we exploded into our house and everything finally has a place. But since its bigger I obvi had to purchase some furniture. Biggest splurge: mirrored chest from Z Gallerie. love. One of the nicest perks about having a house and a dog so far? Not having to go down three flights of stairs to take Lilly out in the morning and at night. Lucas and I would take turns doing it because it was such a pain...now it rocks and Ms. Diva loves hanging out in the backyard...freedom! My new fave hang out spot: the guest room. Why? It is basically my college room which makes me think about how care free I was while at Baylor. I am literally in the guest room typing this out. Lucas has to go to San Antonio to get certified for his new job for a couple of days and I am pretty sure Lilly and I will be sleeping in my college bed while he is gone. best bed ever. Let me give you some background on the mattress we purchased when we got married. Lucas likes the mattress he is sleeping on to be firm, and I like to feel like I am sinking into my bed. problem. Mattress shopping was so stressful and we def bickered our way through the process. I am pretty sure the guy at the Mattress Giant on Henderson thought we were headed for divorce over the mattress situation. Too bad we are madly in love and luckily found a happy medium, but I still like my college bed better. I am going to miss Lucas terribly while he is in San Antonio but I am going to be as happy as a clam sleeping on my extremely squishy college bed as I am as dream about our adorbs little house.

                     My munchkin on her throne of pillows...happy she has an entire room to herself.

We are obsessed with the part of town we are living in now! There are so many things to do and delish restaurants to try. We recently went to Rise with Luke and Leah and LOVED it. def a repeat and everyone should go. It is the most charming little souffle bar with a wide variety of things on the menu and a pet friendly patio. i die. Next time I am totally getting the lobster souffle. Being sushi lovers, the next place on our list is obvi Shinsei and we also want to check out Neighborhood Services. foodie problems.
I love a good party and playing hostess. So now that we are in a house I want to throw a housewarming aka an excuse to plan an event. My latest obsessions during the housewarming party planning have been Pinterest and Etsy. I've only ordered something off of Etsy once before, and I have had Pinterest for a while but never really checked out the Wedding & Events section because I have always thought to myself "I am already married so I dont want/need to browse the wedding & events section." Most of the pins in that section are wedding related but there are a few regular party pins with really cute and creative ideas. I literally spent like 3 hours on Pinterest the other day. embarassing. I am not used to having this much extra time on my hands with school so its kind nice to hoodrat around online. Etsy is like a party supplies paradise. Cute, simple, and cheap. done and done.

I promise it wont be a month until my next post. xoxox.

Weak in the Knees...

First, I apologize for being a bad blogger...school has been crazy and I am not going to lie this will probably be my last post until finals are over on May 9th! PARTY! Second, WARNING I am about to gush about my hubby, the first year of marriage, and our wedding. sorry I am not sorry.

Our one year anniversary is coming up on April 30th, and I it has definitely made me relfect on the past year, realize how blessed we are, and made me day dream about reliving our wedding. tear. I am as weak in the knees for my husband today as I was the day I met him. I can't believe that around this time last year I was getting ready to marry my best friend and worrying about last minute wedding details. This past year has definitely been a lovely adjustment...we got married, moved to Dallas, started law school....definitely never a dull moment. I love how marriage makes a relationship grow in a way that you never thought it could, and makes you learn new things about eachother even when you have been together for 9 years. Like how Lucas can't simply close something softly...he is a slammer. He slams doors, cabinets, drawers, anything without even realizing he is doing it. And he definitely learned how I have a "doing the dishes" problem. But that is the beauty of it all...you learn to be patient and to love the other person for who they really are more than you already did.

One of the reasons I think I day dream about our wedding ALL the time is because it was the happiest time of my life. I got to spend precious time with my little Wilcox family while I was living at home, had no worries, and I was about to say "I do" to the man of my dreams. Seriously so care free. pure bliss. Not only was it such a happy time, but I put so much time, thought, and effort into making our special day our version of perfect. It really was a labor of love and I felt so proud of the day we had put together to celebrate with our family and friends. To Lucas and I it was perfection (as I am sure everyone feels about their own wedding). Everything had a purpose for being there...it was a reflection of who we are as a couple. From the hydrangeas (one of my faves), to the sushi (our fave date dinner food) and cigar roller (lucas. duh.) at the cocktail hour, to the dinner with the lump crab stuffed jumbo shrimp (love me some crab) and steak (lucas' man food), all the way down to every single cocktail served and every song played as well as each party favor handed out (we both love a good party).

flower power.

                                         One of the cocktail hour munchies.

           I die. Food tasting. Can I have our wedding meal once a week please?

                                                      Crisp.                                                                  

                                         Drink tasting. um yes please.

                                         pure chocolate decadence.

          I have a picture of Kendall hovering around these tables. priceless.

                                        Comfy feet are happy feet.

       Wish I still had a bony back. I miss my trainer. JR rockin it with the boa.

                     Most surreal feeling ever. Truly the happiest moment of my life.

We are so excited to experience all of our friends upcoming weddings...especially when you have 12 of them in 2012 like us. I love the uniqueness of every wedding we go to, and how I always leave telling Lucas how that was "very them" in regards to the feel and look of the wedding. So much love. I love it.

Once finals are over we are going to celebrate the special day, and I can't wait! Even though we have to celebrate a little late my hubby gave me our anniversary present early so that taking a contracts final on our anniversary will be a little less painful. I love him. In honor of our wedding day almost a year ago below is a link to our wedding trailer. just a little obsessed. xoxo

                                 Wedding Trailer & Highlights

Celebrate Good Times

This past week was spring break and my birthday/St. Patrick's day. I felt so celebrated and blessed by my husband, family, and friends! The celebration started the Tuesday of Spring Break with a couple's dinner with Luke and Leah. Leah's birthday was this week so we decided to celebrate early before her and Luke headed back to Austin for the weekend. We went to Tillman's in the Bishop Arts District. I love that area of Dallas because you forget where you are...it reminds me of the Meat Packing District in NYC. Everyone needs to try Tillman's as well as Bolsa for dinner, and Oddfellows for brunch. so good. Hatties is also on my list of must try places as well. Anyways, Lucas and I love hanging out with Luke and Leah. When Leah and I lived together in Austin, the boys would come visit for the weekend and we would have the best time together...eating, going out, telling people Leah is Persian. the usual. So when we get the opportunity to hang out together we do. Dinner was a blast and we ordered alot of food including s'mores for dessert...so campy. By the end of the night we had planned a trip to Napa, and made friends with a homeless man who talked to us about how rich people wear loafers and Michael Jackson wore white socks in the Billy Jean music video. Success.

The celebration continued when we went to Sushi Axiom for my birthday dinner last Friday night...delish. Hands down my favorite sushi in the Big D. Lucas got me a scrumptious cake from La Duni and number 2 & number 4 sparklers to put on the cake. I was sooooo happy. I really wanted sparklers for my 21st birthday cake. It didnt work out so my long lost dream of having sparklers on my birthday cake was finally fulfilled. When we walked into the restaurant we gave the cake to the hostess and told her about the sparklers, she then proceeds to ask which number goes first. really? Lady do I look like I'm turning 42? absolutely not...way to freak me out into thinking I might need Botox before I am 30. Dinner was great except for the part where we were getting rushed at the end for reaching our 2 hour time limit...not cool Sushi Axiom, but that didn't stop us from going out and having a good time. A REALLY good time. I do this to myself every year. I go out the night before my birthday, have too much fun, and then feel miserable the next day on my actual birthday. I have vowed that next year I will not do it again...it stinks to feel under the weather on your bday.

The next day on my birthday we made our way to the block party/parade on Greenville. It was my first St. Patrick's day in Dallas and I was so excited to experience the trashiness of the whole event. Thank you Marc Cuban for saving the holiday....Dallas loves you! Well we missed the parade but we were determined to make it to the block party....it took us a little longer than we thought because A. it was like a one hour walk from our apartment which Lucas said would only take us like 20 minutes B. we were not on our "A" game physically. We finally made it and everyone was ready to have a good time...again. blah. The best way to detox is retox right? no. I was out for the count but loving life observing all the crazy people celebrating...especially some of the chicks' outfits...scandalous. We ended up being at the block party for an hour, getting a cab to Jake's to eat, and then heading home to nap and watch the Baylor game. Overall it was blast minus feeling slow on Saturday.

Paige was unable to make it to dinner with us last weekend because she was in Austin with her family for a baby shower and her sister Holly's wedding shower. No worries though this darling doll doesn't miss a party without making it up later so last night we had dinner at Toulouse. Perfect. Lucas isn't a huge fan of Toulouse so he never wants to go...they have this amazing Lobster salad that I have been craving since the last time I was there so when Paige suggested it I was ecstatic. I was running late (what is new), and when I walked in Paige was at our table taking a large gulp from her glass of wine...that a girl. I would not expect less. Then we both realized we were rocking bright pink. It wasn't planned but we weren't shocked. We obvi ordered a bottle of wine and started off our conversation right where we let off last time we saw eachother like a month ago.

Lucas got me a certificate to get my eye lashes done for my birthday...love. Once you get lashed you wont go back. Its addicting because when you don't have them you feel so bare. Lucas thinks its ridic but since it was my bday he caved. What a wonderful hubby. Just make sure if you get them done, you go somewhere that uses Xtreme Lashes products! So as soon as I sat down at our table for dinner Paige immediately said "I love your lashes." That is why we are friends....she is just as over the top as I am and doesn't think I am crazy for it. Love her. We ended up ordering a chocolate souffle for dessert. yum. The waiter brought it out, made a small hole at the top, and poured a little bit of the side of fudge inside. As soon as he put it down and walked off, we poured the rest of the fudge in. We are ladies but we like to eat. fatties at heart for sure.

Our night ended in typical fashion by digging in the trash in the bathroom. normal for us. We were in the bathroom washing our hands when Paige's ring went flying into the bottom of the large trash can. We wrapped our hands in paper towels and started digging past lots of papertowels and a few feminine products. Gross but fall on the floor laughing hilarious. Overall I felt like I got so much love on my birthday and I am so grateful to have surrounded myself with the people I have. I can't wait to make all my friends feel just as loved on their special days!

Key Players:
Luke and Leah- I believe it was Leah's sister Bri who said at their rehearsal dinner that Luke has never had a bad day in his life. I believe it is true. Luke is one of the happiest and easy going people I know...its so refreshing and admirable. He didn't even get frustrated when moving a mattress out of our apartment with Leah. what a saint. Leah and I lived together in Austin and I am so happy we did. I feel like I got cheated in college because I didn't know Leah as well as I do now and can definitely say I missed out. I am so grateful to have built a better friendship with her while being roommates and can now call her a close friend. I dont think I will ever find someone who loves Brie as much as I do like Leah. we love the Laniers.

Gilt Groupe Obsession

Gilt Groupe. I have a love/hate relationship with this website of amazingness. I first found out about Gilt Groupe about a year ago when my sister was shadowing a really trendy, young vet in McAllen. One day she told Dan that she loved her Tory Burch flats and asked her if she had gotten them on Gilt Groupe. Dan said no, but of course asked what Gilt Groupe was. The vet invited Dan to join, and then Dan invited my mom and I to join...big mistake. The three of us are hooked (sorry Lucas) and we keep getting other people hooked as well (sorry Kels). I also found about how dogs squeeze their anal glands while Dan was working at the vet's office. gross.

When Dan first invited me to join, I was sceptical about how good of a deal these "flash sales" really were, but they are incredible. Some things are up to 70% off! Between the Wilcox women we have purchased quite the array of items including trips, bags, shoes, clothes, jewelery, food, house items...the list is endless! Our Thanksgiving turkey was even from Gilt Groupe...Gilt Taste to be exact. Our turkey was the loving "pet" of an Amish family who obvi lived in an Amish community. The turkey was also only fed organic foods, and it lived a happy life until the time of its unsuspecting execution. true story. so ridic. I thought it was a little over the top, but Big Pat and Big Martha are very into the organic thing, and they swear it was the best tasting turkey they had ever had. IDK how they are going to top that for next year's Thanksgiving, but I am confident Big Martha will find something.

Everytime I get a package at our apartment with the Gilt Groupe logo on it, Lucas gives me the "did you just buy something from Gilt Groupe again look" but when I tell him what a good deal it was he can't help but laugh at me and say fine...especially when I order something he has been wanting like the great deal I got on a French Press he wanted. We have a coffee obsession so naturally anything coffee related is a must. I have the Gilt Groupe app on my phone, and I get a text from them before every sale begins at 11am, 3pm, and 8pm. Warning: you have to jump on these sales fast because things fly in like 2 seconds flat. I always miss the 11am sale because I am in class so i'm upset when they have the really good stuff at 11am. The good thing is that if you are in love with something and it is already sold out you can add it to your Wait List. Don't give up hope on the Wait List...I've gotten emails up to 2 months after i've added something to my Wait List telling me my item is now available. I actually just got an email about a Kooba bag I had added to my Wait List back in January which I didn't end up buying, and my mom just got an email about some Missoni flats she had added that she did end up buying.

My mom and I currently both have some Ippolita rose gold bangles on our Wait Lists. I love love love these bangles and missed them because they were on the 11am sale. My mom knows i've been wanting some so as soon as she saw them she added them to her Wait List too. Total coincidence and we told eachother about it later...I hope one of us gets an email.
And now that they have been on Gilt Groupe for half the price there is no way I could make myself go out and buy them full price...that is the downside to Gilt Groupe. You either say to yourself A. I will wait to buy it until it is on Gilt Groupe B. I really hope that is on Gilt Groupe.

They have had pretty much everything on Gilt Groupe from Kate Spade to Pour la Victoire. The one thing I can't believe they haven't had is Stella McCartney handbags. I have been dying for the Stella McCartney Baby Bella Tote in Blush for like 2 years. If it is ever on Gilt Groupe beware ladies I am coming for it. If it is on the 11am sale I will literally skip class and have my phone/laptop/ipad ready to go for when the sale begins. I will recruit my mom and sis to do the same in hopes that one of us snags it. Until then it is wishful thinking until I graduate from law school. It is the #1 item on my "when I graduate from law school list." An anniversary trip to Napa is at #2 and the list gets a little fuzzy after that since its pretty long. The Cartier Love bracelet is def on the list, but Lucas and I have decided that it can be the push gift for our first child which is definitely a LONG ways away so i'll have to wait for that one for a while. No problem waiting.

It would match everything. I die.

Until then I'll be waiting for my Ippolita bangles and hopefully Baby Bella Tote. Happy Shopping!

House Hunting Blues

So the lease at our apartment is up this week but we are staying. blah. When we first started looking for places to live before we got married (almost a YEAR ago...one year anniversary coming up soon!!!) Lucas wanted to live in a house. I said no. Before you think to yourself "is she crazy?" the reason I said no was because I didn't know much about Dallas except how to get to Northpark and La Duni. literally. How would I know what a good area of town to live in would be? But now that we have lived here for almost a year I would consider myself a Dallasite (not a local...i'm proud to say that I will always be from McAllen and that is has an extremely special place in my heart even if some people think it's ghetto) and think I can make an informed decision about where to live and look for a house.

We started looking for a house at the beginning of the new year. Problem #1 aka biggest problem: I am extremely picky and Lucas is not. We were looking for a two or three bedroom house so that we can have a guest room and an office to study in, a big backyard for Bocephus to run in, wood floors, large closets, updated bathrooms and kitchen, in a good part of town, and with an alarm system (Lucas works the night shift at the hospital sometimes so I am most certainly not going to be by myself in a house at night without my hubby...he wouldn't allow it and I would freak out). Phew. Talking about all my "requirements" wore Lucas and our realtor out. They were always asking me if I would be willing to budge on at least one of my "requirements" but the answer was always no because it was a carefully selected list of items that had already been reduced down to my must-haves. I'm not saying I need to have stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops (even though I would definitely not object to it), but I absolutely do NOT do laminite floors, brown carpet, flowered wallpaper, wood paneling, or bathrooms with brightly colored tile straight from the 70's. gross. I would rather stay in our apartment thanks.

Finding a home is hard. We would find a house we liked, but then discovered it was somewhere shady like Oak Cliff. Then we would find something else we liked, but then found out it was built for a stackable washer and dryer, and since we bought brand new side by side front loader washer and dryer (weirdly obsessed with how great they are) right after we got married, that was not an option either. Then we would find something really great again, and realize that it wasn't pet friendly. We started to feel like we were never going to find something. Then we did. We found this adorable two bedroom two bath renovated home in the old Lake Highlands area. It was PERFECTION. It had wood floors, an updated kitchen and bathrooms, a laundry room, large closets, an alarm system, large backyard with a wooden fence and landscaping, two car garage, and an electric gate to get in to the back. It was also near White Rock Lake so Lucas could ride his bike around the lake like he does now, and I could take the pups on walks. And for a great price!

It all seemed too good to be true. It was. Two girls in nursing school had just put in an application. grrrr. So we scurried, got the paper work filled out, and put in our application too. It was going to come down to whoever had the "better" application. Turns out the owner of the home isn't a huge fan of having pets in his rental properties, and since the other girls only had one 10 lb. chihuahua versus our 20 lb. cavalier and 75 lb. german wired haired pointer...the girls got the house over us. ugh. Lesson learned. Next time we put an application in Bocephus will not "exist" until after we have signed a lease. Needless to say we are a little bitter about it, and haven't been able to find something we like as much as the cute little house on Hambrick Road (mostly because we keep comparing everything we find to that house).

       How cute is it?! It even looks like there is a shining light from Heaven casting down on it. tear.

Because we don't want to move just for the sake of moving, and because we don't want to move into a place we don't absolutely love, we decided to extend our lease for three months. In the end it will probably best since we are both really busy right now, and the summer will be a better time to move and hopefully find more homes. Plus side to not having found a place is that we finally got all the junk out of our apartment and into a storage unit. We had my college mattress and box spring, our christmas tree, a bike rack, an ottoman, and boxes of ornaments/decorations in our living room and back patio. We looked like the people from the TV show Hoarders: Buried Alive. It was so ghetto. We didn't want to get a storage unit since we thought we were going to move soon, but since that isn't happening for a couple of more months we moved it all out. Thank the Lord. I was so happy that all the shiz was gone that I decided to "feng shui" our apartment one day when I got home from school while Lucas was out. I moved all our furniture around by myself. bad idea. Lucas got home and was like why didn't you wait for me to help you? Idk. My back hurt for like a week, but whatevs it looks so great now.

Until then we will continue to be in our little one bedroom apartment happy as clams. Even though sometimes we both complain about how "cozy" our apartment is, we wouldn't trade spending our first year of marriage learning to deal with eachothers quirks and building our life together anywhere else for the world. Our first married apartment will always have a place in our hearts, and I am sure 50 years from now we will laugh about how we both couldn't stand in our closet at the same time (mostly because of how many shoes and bags I have. sorry babe.).

Side note: I am obsessed with Downton Abbey. If you haven't seen it, it is a must. I love a good period piece. Kelsey and I went through a phase in college where we rented every period movie at the Blockbuster in Waco and would stay up watching them. The Young Victoria is one of my favorite movies of all time. The next cavalier I get is going to be named Dash. Not after the Kardashian's store Dash, but after Queen Victoria's tri-color cavalier Dash. Needless to say I am anxiously awaiting the third season of Downton Abbey's release in September. Check it out.

Key Players:
Bocephus- aka Bo or Bobo. He is named after the dog in Kenny Chesney's song "Keg In the Closet." Bocephus is Lucas' dog and he is quite the character. Very destructive, lots of energy, doesn't get along with other dogs, and kind of territorial. Sounds bad but he really is the sweetest dog and loves Lucas so much. He currently lives in McAllen with Lucas' parents because he needs a backyard (we learned that lesson after he destroyed Lucas' apartment in college). Lucas misses him everyday and we can't wait to move into a house so that we can bring our "gaurd dog" with us. I can't imagine having to leave Lilly behind because she didn't fit our current lifestyle. poor Lucas and bobo. But that little monster will be in Dallas soon enough!