SO GROWN.

My brother graduated last Saturday, and tonight he's goin' to tha PROM. I can't even. This kid has grown up so quickly, it melts my heart. I'm just so proud of everything he's accomplished and so excited for the things ahead of him. He's one of my best friends, and now I know there's a reason I've been living here for the past two years... to laugh with him and watch him become a man. Like dang. 

Love ya bro! 

xo

Since they made me be serious, I demanded an obligatory YMCA photo. I love my siblings. Christmas spirit, ladies and gents. 

xo

Family Tree.

Birthday painting for my Abuelita. She loves frogs so I had to sneak one in there somehwere (:

Orgullosa.

Blurry photos because my mom didn't realize the camera was set on manual focus...those have to be my favorite. Glitter candles on an AMAZING three tier cake my grandmother made for the festivities (she made all of those flower by HAND), and party favors celebrating their own 100th: Whitman's chocolate! Founded in 1912, y'all. They sent a massive commemorative tin (filled with all kinds of delicious, of course!) for my Abuelita on her special day. Magic.  

100 Years.

Though it technically falls on Nov. 19th, we celebrated my great-grandmother's 100th birthday yesterday with a full-on family reunion. These are some of my absolute favorite photos of her before all the grand-kids and great-grandkids and great-great-grandkids (but those are all really great too!). There's something about old photographs (most of these were taken in Cuba) that get me...but even more than that, the thought of seeing 100 years' worth of LIFE. The hardships and cross-cultural flux and the joy and the beauty and the absolute strength that it takes to endure all of these things with grace, a smile, a tender hug. To see a century and still have your health and mind. I am amazed, and completely and utterly thankful to be related to this woman. 

For Ted.

Once upon a time my sister and I started calling each other Teddy and Jamaal (that's me)...and yeah. That's the story. Thursday she left for South Carolina, taking this bad boy with her. She picked the verse, color scheme, and style (the last two are direct copies of a painting I made for myself not to long ago, except mine has one of my All Time Favorite Soon To Be Tattoo Life Quotes). She loved it, I was happy because she was happy, and now she has a cool painting for her apartment. Win-win sisterlove. 

Hers.

It's your party, you can watch season two of Downton Abbey if you want to, watch if you want to, waaatch if you want to! Happy birthday mommabear, I love you! 

This guy.

This is one of my favorite photos of me and my dad, taken at the Houston Zoo in July of '91. I mean, what's NOT to love? The pleated acid-washed shorts, the tucked in United Way tee, that serious early 90s 'stache, me hanging over the side of his neck like a baby monkey...I mean really. 


But seriously, I love this guy so much. I can honestly say he's one of my best friends (and also the best at giving directions/navigating in general. Guy's got it DOWN, which is good, because I'm clueless) and the most honest, hard-working man I've ever met. Sure, I'm biased. That's allowed.  

Happy Father's Day to all the dads and dads-to-be! I hope you guys are celebrating in style. 

This lady.

I want to take a second to talk about the main lady in my life, the woman who you know, brought me into this crazy world, and raised me plus three other now not-so-little ones. 

She's kind of important. 

We've had our fights, sure, but at the end of the day she's supported me in everything* I've ever done. She's the glue of the family, meticulous researcher/planner of goings-on (I get this from her), reader of labels, sibling taxi, and health conscious like no one I know (except maybe those in the dietetic profession). We share clothes, stories, physical features (people still ask if she's my sister), and personality traits. But those are all just THINGS. They only skim the surface of this woman who is My Mother. 

She's one of the few people I know who lives and loves whole-heartedly, and fights and sacrifices for her family with some passionate strength I wish I could borrow. Sometimes I wonder how she has enough space in there for all of us, Husband and Children Four/Friends/Extended Family/Co-Workers/Everyone She Meets. And yet, she does. And she does so with grace, confidence, courage, and compassion.

Note: My mother sounds super-human; she's not. She's just like the rest of us. But her perspective and work ethic is something to be admired (I've been taking notes for the past 22 years). I can only hope that my life reflects that same whole-heartedness. Big shoes to fill, I'll tell ya (ok not really, her feet are a half-size smaller than mine, but whatever). 

Sending light and love to all of the awesome moms and moms-to-be; let's celebrate them like the queens they are, and celebrate the lives of those who are no longer with us. 

Happy Mother's Day momma! I love you! 

* save tattoos/piercings/moving out on a whim, but we're past that now 

I Saw the Sign.

I left my house around 9 this morning, cruisin for garage sales like I do, when all of a sudden I saw ESTATE SALE in bold sharpie on neon pink posterboard. That was probably the sharpest u-turn I've ever made. When I got to the house I realized it was one street over from my grandma's (I call her Lela PS), so I sped over there and jumped up and down like a lunatic on the front porch til she opened the door.  She grabbed her purse. "But I can't go looking like THIS," she said, referencing her faded Astros tee and cotton cut-off shorts. "This is what I CLEAN in." (She was saying all of this in Spanish, mind you). I just laughed, gesturing to my wild morning hair and sloppy tank/shorts ensemble. And off we went, around the corner to a boarded up house with more pink neon signs (at least 6 of them, swear) screaming ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK... I've never seen that at an estate sale before? Or anywhere really, save a haunted house ads (because I don't actually GO to those...anyway). The house itself wasn't particularly daunting, just...there. On the street. In a decent neighborhood with semi-manicured lawns. I had momentary visions of quarantine plastic set up inside...but why would they be having an esta... ? Ahem. After perusing the driveway's offerings we ventured inside.  

Not exactly Pyrex, but still fun florally metal containers that stack inside of themselves like Matryoshka dolls!

I felt pretty courageous stepping through that door, I won't lie. Enter at my own risk? YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE. Estate sales are my heaven aka totally worth the risk. 

What risk, exactly? Could've fooled me. Just a house of people haggling over things with pricetags. So much vintage though! I could've died. Lela commented that house smelled really nice, and only then did I realize that she was, in fact, right! No weird antique-y/moldy/dusty/awkward/gloomy/second-hand smell. Just… air (that we were breathing at our own risk, apparently. I'm sorry, it just cracks me up). As a frequenter of these sales, garage, thrift, and otherwise, you come to expect/build an immunity to ‘the smell’. So the lack of one was a nice change of pace, I guess? I was too busy scanning each table, shelf, and counter to notice.

APRONS!

And so we browsed. We ooh-ed and aah-ed. Our eyes darted every which way in search of all things floral and Pyrex (we’re on a level, she and I). We watched a woman escort her children out of the house after one of the sale hosts yelled, “NO KIDS ALLOWED INSIDE!” (um, why so serious?). People fought over items, who saw it first, complaints of “I left my items RIGHT HERE and now they are GONE” were frequently heard upstairs and down.

SMILING ORANGES APRON! A few of them wink. This is my favorite. 

Oh honey, should’ve read the sign. Or the ten of them posted haphazardly around the house. NO ITEM IS YOURS UNTIL YOU HAVE PAID FOR IT. Is that the adult version of finders keepers?

Always with the floral bedsheets. This is my version of going to the fabric store when I'm broke (which is most of the time)

I have to say this is the most lively/interesting estate sale I’ve ever been to. Probably the most fun as well, because of the spontaneity of it all with my Lela by my side. Fearless thrifters, braving big houses and the obnoxious cashier who basically spent the whole time yelling about things.

Haha.

The good news: we scored pretty big today, despite being short on cash.

Even better news: the sale continues tomorrow at 8am and everything left is HALF OFF. I had my eye on a certain Pyrex dish, a set of vintage Good Housekeeping books (I think it was GH? Something like that. They were so cool), and the mess of overpriced jewelry on the driveway. Here’s hoping at least one of the three is still there tomorrow! Lela and Jska, GOIN TO THA ‘STATE SALE: ROUND II.

Napkins with colorful prints...dreaming up all of their crafty uses as I type!

How’s your weekend going? Did you score big at a sale today? After this morning’s thrills and an afternoon of erranding and chore catchup, I’m ready for a self-care Saturday night. Movies, painting, maybe crochet a stitch or two. Tonight is mine, and I am happy. What creative projects are you working on?

Dresses about 5x my size but beautifully printed and begging to be altered. Hello lovelies! 

PS tomorrow I have some pretty exciting news to share, sooo…you know. Be there or be square….AT YOUR OWN RISK! (I really wish I would’ve had a camera so I could show you how ridiculous those posters looked. Maybe I can sneak a few tomorrow!)

Scenes from the weekend.

Headed to see Zeds Dead with The Brother, The Boyfriend, & The Best Friend.

Yes I am wearing shorts in the first photo & yes that is a peter pan collar...am I taking it too far? Haha. 

Siblings minus one

Sleuthing

What did you do for Easter weekend?

Wear Yer Green.

Happy St. Patrick's Day darlings! Here are some photos from the anniversary dinner, lalala...

Wineglass symphony

Last minute bunting - silver for 25 years, leftover blue from mom's bridesmaid dresses

Banana-creme-coconut pie upon request

Many thanks to my grandma for hosting and cooking an incredible meal! We had a great time sitting around after pie, chatting away. I love my family. 

Hope you have a great weekend! My universal rule is be safe/no dying. So do that and you're good, haha. Also, wear green. Just in case. 

dress - closét, cardigan - f21 c/o plato's closet, leggings - target?, flats- gap, necklace - thrifted, headband - strip of t-shirt sleeve