Lauren from Texas

Monday really snuck up on me. This weekend was spent tackling my to-do list (I crossed off all but 1 item! Next up: CONQUERING THE WORLD), & before I knew it I was all, “Hello Monday. So nice to see you again. NOT.” Because Monday morning Lauren is totally a Jr. Higher who needs an attitude adjustment.

Exciting things are happening over here, & I’m happy to share a few of them with you. Last week (aside from the blogiversary/giveaway goodness) was pretty stressful & I had a bit of a meltdown on Saturday, but I’m better now & have much higher hopes for the week/month ahead. Don’t cross me, May. Anyway, here are the high points (in bullet point form, of course):

• We have a contract on our house! As of April 28th, which means it took exactly one month from listing it on March 28th to get the contract. We didn’t expect this to be so quick! We’re set to close on May 28th (honestly, is 28 my new lucky number?), fingers crossed & lots of prayers that everything goes through.
• I got my KitchenAid mixer! I went over to Stephanie’s house yesterday & picked it up, and WOW is it beautiful. Love at first sight, I tell you. Here I am happily clutching my new toy. Isn’t Stephanie the prettiest? Hot mama! Thanks for the mixer Stephanie, I’ll be bringing some baked goods over to your house in the near future.

I’m already planning my next kitchen scheme around this lipstick red color.

• New blog design coming soon! Kapachino‘s brother David has been working to build the perfect little home for LFT. Shouldn’t be too much longer; stay tuned!
• We have some winners! I was happy to announce Katherine (not to be confused with my sister) as the winner for my first giveaway, and here are the other two winners:

For the Thirteenwinks print:

# 50 = rachelheather!

For the Hugs & Kisses Designs custom silhouette:

# 30 = Andee Nero!

Congratulations! I’ll be emailing y’all shortly to set you up with your loot.

Big thanks to everyone who entered & sent blogiversary wishes/comments/tweets. If you didn’t see me singing happy birthday to my blog whilst lighting a Cookie Monster cupcake on fire, you can watch it here.

Also, thanks again to the amazing crafty ladies who sponsored the giveaways:

Taryn @ Cinnaberry

Carla @ Thirteenwinks (Note: She just added new prints to her shop. SWOON!)

Rebecca @ Hugs & Kisses Designs

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to everyone for entering. Winner TBA soon!

I never really jumped on the whole “squee” bandwagon. Something about it is faintly reminiscent of the Woo Girls from How I Met Your Mother, and that just doesn’t sit well with me at all. However, if I were a Squee Girl, this would totally push my Squee Button:

Go ahead. Try. TRY TO TELL ME YOU DIDN’T SQUEE.

When Rebecca from Hugs & Kisses Designs contacted me about sponsoring a giveaway by donating a custom silhouette, I was thinking Cute, but I don’t have any kids! Would it be creepy to do one of my husband? And just as I was trying to picture where to hang an outline of my husband’s face, she said “I can do children, adults, and possibly pets.” OH REBECCA. You just said the MAGIC WORDS. So I sent her pictures of Pancho & Leia, and she managed to create these adorable pieces of artwork that I can’t wait to hang in our new place!

Perhaps if you’re not the crazy dog lady into dogs as much as I am, you’ll enjoy some of her other silhouettes:

How cute is Lexie?!

Or how about polka dot Lexie? Precious!

And for you crazy feline people… how sweet is Xedo? I want to snuggle him.

Rebecca has offered one lucky winner a custom silhouette of their choice. If you win, you send her a picture of your kid, your cat, or your great-aunt Matilda, & she turns it into art. ART, Y’ALL. Here are the rules, so play nice:

Leave ONE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY. An entry can only count if you leave a separate comment for it!

-Leave a comment telling me who you would choose to be the subject of your custom Hugs & Kisses Designs silhouette. For funsies, tell me which colors you’d choose. I love those color combos!

-Tweet this giveaway (and leave a link to your tweet in the comment). Here’s the URL to link back to: http://wp.me/pvDxV-Ml

-Blog this giveaway (and leave a link to your post in the comment). Here’s the URL to link back to: http://wp.me/pvDxV-Ml

This contest starts today & ends Sunday night at midnight, so enter to win now!

Also: Tonight at midnight the entries for my second giveaway of the week will close. Be sure to enter!

Here’s a vlog I made tonight for your viewing pleasure. Try not to judge me too much; it’s been a long week. PS: Remind me to COMB MY HAIR next time I place a video ON THE INTERNET FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE.

In other news, my first giveaway of the week has ended. I plugged the number of comments into the True Random Number Generator (I had to eliminate any comments received after midnight Wednesday, sorry y’all)… and the winner is…

#10 = Katherine (but not my sister)!

Katherine, I’ll be emailing you shortly to get you in touch with Taryn so you can claim your prize. Congratulations! And for the rest of you: thanks so much for playing, stay tuned for more goodies.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to everyone for entering. Winner TBA soon!

Today’s a big day. One year ago exactly, I started this blog. I wrote about a late period, goals for my 24th year, and Journey. Like, the band. Perhaps not my most shining moment, but it was a piece of the puzzle that brought me here. God blessed the broken road, y’all.

This last year, I’ve made HUGE progress. Through therapy, support from a few close loved ones, grace, & a ton of work on my part, I’ve moved forward leaps & bounds. The other day, when I posted about running (or maybe not), I was surprised at how joyful I felt. Not just at peace. Not just “under control.” Joyful. Strong. Victorious.

I owe much of this progress to this blog & my beautiful readers. Through the outlet I’ve found & the support I’ve been shown, I’ve felt myself being restored a little more each day. I went through a time of serious depression, but now that I’ve found all of you, even though you can’t be in my living room with me, I can feel your support through the computer screen. I don’t feel so alone anymore. And with the hurdle of moving to a new place (where I don’t know anyone) looming in front of me, I am no longer afraid of that overwhelming feeling of solitary taking over my life again. I know that at any given moment, I can reach out through here or here or any of the other outlets provided, and one or twenty of you will reach right back.

Anyway, thanks for reading & tweeting & just being there. It means more to me than ice cream & ruffled underwear on babies.

Now let’s giveaway!

We all have those corners of our home where we like to put things that add character & warmth. Things that exhibit our personality. I have a few of those corners, and when Carla from Thirteen Winks contacted me about sponsoring a giveaway, I was excited. I mean, the woman makes adorable prints of mustaches! I knew she was a match for LFT. Then she offered me 2 prints – one to keep & one to giveaway. So I set about making one of life’s most complicated decisions.

Should I choose “Luck in a Jar”?

How about the sweet “Poppy Love”?

Or the whimsical “Four fun mustaches”?

I ended up choosing the “Love Birds” print, which goes perfectly on the bookcase in our bedroom showcasing all the “lovey dovey” things we own. I adore the combination of birds, black & white, and a red heart – 3 of my favorite things! And see how cute it looks!

The packaging was precious & Carla has the loveliest handwriting… it’s so fun to get something pretty in the mail.

One lucky winner will win (1) print of their choice from Thirteen Winks, and here are the 3 ways to enter:

Leave ONE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY. An entry can only count if you leave a separate comment for it!

-Leave a comment telling me your favorite Thirteen Winks item. I know, it’s hard to choose!

-Tweet this giveaway (and leave a link to your tweet in the comment). Here’s the URL to link back to: http://wp.me/pvDxV-LZ

-Blog this giveaway (and leave a link to your post in the comment). Here’s the URL to link back to: http://wp.me/pvDxV-LZ

This contest starts today & ends Friday night at midnight, so enter to win now!

Also: Tonight at midnight the entries for my first giveaway of the week will close. Be sure to enter!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to everyone for entering. Winner TBA soon!

This weekend was a whirlwind. Friday I got a call from the realtor saying that our house was going to be shown… in 25 minutes. Oh, & I was in the midst of a cleaning frenzy & up to my elbows in Clorox wipes and dust bunnies. Oh, & I couldn’t get ahold of my husband. Oh, & I was unshowered & unpacked & we were leaving at 6 for the weekend & I had to find a place to take my dogs. Talk about a panic attack. Somehow I managed to talk the realtor into giving me an hour, my husband rushed to my rescue & ran the vacuum cleaner while I threw on a baseball cap, & we took the dogs for a long walk. My heart just slowed to its normal speed, thank you.

After they left, we got our stuff together & departed a little later than planned. We met up with Stephen & Chelsea in Brenham, had a fun dinner, and drove the rest of the way to Austin together. Saturday was spent meeting new friends (my new favorite Lyndsey – but don’t you dare call her “Lynds”), hanging out with my Blog Friend Forever (whose baby bump is SORT OF RIDICULOUS), going to a UT baseball game & eating too much kettle corn, & basically absorbing all the awesomeness (is that a word?) that Austin has to offer, including chocolate snow cones. So many laughs were had and a few new inside jokes were born (Well…). We headed back bright & (too) early this morning to get ready for an open house this afternoon. The verdict is in and we had some lookers, one of whom was the same woman who saw it on Friday. Apparently she loves the house & wants to make an offer tomorrow! I’m nervous & excited & all butterflies-and-bulldozers-in-my-tummy, but trying to remember that whatever will be, will be (probably only my sister will enjoy that link).

On another, blog-related note: Wednesday marks the ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY of Lauren From Texas! ::confetti:: So I’m celebrating with a week of giveaways! ::more confetti:: Y’all are going to want to check in this week, there are only good things ahead.

Our first giveaway starts today & ends Wednesday night at midnight, & is brought to you by the fabulous Taryn Peine of A Peine For Your Thoughts. I’ve met this lovely lady in real life and may I say, not only is she pretty AND funny, she’s also a talented crafter/seamstress. She has generously offered a $25 gift card to her Etsy store Cinnaberry to one lucky winner. You’d better hope it’s you!

I spent the weekend with someone who is growing a human inside of her, so the subject of baby clothes came up more than once. We all agree that nothing is cuter than a tiny sweater vest. Unless it’s a little girl cardigan. Or underwear with ruffles on the butt (BE STILL MY HEART). Or, or… this!

{Twirl Wrap Skirt – Bees and Blossoms}

Or this!

{Good Grief onesie}

Or maybe even these!

{Old Glory Seersucker Traveling Trousers}

Taryn’s work speaks for itself – adorable, practical, homemade, original. Whether you’re a mom, a soon-to-be pseudo-aunt, or you just want something for your “baby hope chest” (What? I’m the only one stashing away onesies?), this giveaway is for you.

Here’s how you enter:

Leave ONE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY. An entry can only count if you leave a separate comment for it!

-Leave a comment telling me your favorite Cinnaberry item. Or your top 5 favorites.

-Tweet this giveaway (and leave a link to your tweet in the comment).

-Blog this giveaway (and leave a link to your post in the comment).

Good luck! Can’t wait to show y’all what else I have up my sleeve. Stay tuned!

I sat down tonight to complete the final part of my giveaway, the drawing. I am sure there are much, much fancier ways to do this (Pioneer Woman doesn’t use scraps of paper for her giveaways, does she?), but I don’t know what they are. Maybe one of you should help me out for next time. Anyway, here’s the process I used tonight.

Step 1, write down everyone’s name – once if you commented, twice if you blogged/tweeted about the giveaway:

Mandy @ Just A Small Town Girl!

Of the adorable keys necklace…

Polly R @ Pretty Pollys’ Pretty Things!

& last but not least, of the TEXAS EARRINGS…

Kristin @ Jorden & Kristin!

Winners, please email me your addresses (laurenfromtexas(at)gmail(dot)com).

Thanks for playing! I loved reading everyone’s comments/blog posts/tweets. I’ll try to do another giveaway soon.

xo

Can you believe it? 6 months ago today I started this little blog. It blows my mind that anyone would want to read about a crazy girl from Texas, but here you are. Maybe it’s because my dogs are so cute. It’s gotta be the dogs. Anyway, I love y’all. Yeah, I took it there. L-O-V-E. Also, y’all. I know it may not be a word you use (or even hear) on a regular basis, but it encompasses ALL OF YOU PEOPLE, and therefore, I must use it. I love my readers. I feel like I have found a place, a momentum. I’d better be careful, lest I burst into Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.” Then the dogs would start howling.

I wish I could buy everyone something nice, but I’m afraid I’m not that rich. So, let’s settle for a giveaway!

I have a serious problem when it comes to leopard print. And makeup. I love both, perhaps to an unhealthy degree. So when I saw this adorable makeup bag, I had to snatch one up. It has a shimmery snakeskin finish – I really need to tone it down with the whole wild animal thing. Also, it has a mirror inside. Basically it’s taking everything in my power not to keep it for myself.

Hey, remember when I mentioned I currently don’t have a camera? Only an iPhone and a MacBook Pro? That’s why these pictures suck. Send donations to the Lauren From Texas Camera Fund.

I got so many compliments on my gold & silver key necklaces from Forever 21, that when I saw this necklace, I knew it had to be part of the giveaway. It’s like a miniature version, with two silver keys and one gold one. It’s so precious I want to blow raspberries on it, if that were possible. Which it’s not.

What would a Lauren From Texas giveaway be without something Texan?! These sterling silver earrings are in the shape of little Lone Star states, and they have tiny gold stars on each of them. Yeah, iPhone pictures aren’t good at portraying detail. I can GUARANTEE you that they are cute though – so cute, in fact, that I bought two pairs. One for my contest and one, you know, for a “friend.”

Now that you’ve seen the goods, here’s how you win:

1. Comment here = 1 entry

2. Link to this post on your blog/tweet about it (and leave a link to the post/tweet in the comments) = 1 entry

3. Cross your fingers!

That’s it! Contest will end October 31st @ midnight (Texas time, which is also known as CST). I will announce the winners either Sunday or Monday.

Best of luck and TONS of love.

xo