A and T’s pre wedding event

July 29, 2014

Yeah, yeah I’m talking about Austin again. I can’t help it. I’ve always been a stickler for chronology. Even when I was young and kept a journal I couldn’t write anything until I was caught up with my dates. It was frustrating and is a habit I still can’t shake. So here we are headed back to May and those 3 weeks I was in Austin.

My last week in town was basically a wedding week extravaganza. Our good friends Tom and Allyson flew in a week early to start wedding prep and to visit some of their favorite places. Early in the week I helped them with centerpieces (the adorable dinosaur planter below) and we got some tasty burgers while braving the torrential rain that was happening. The downpour lasted a couple of days and one night I actually had to check the backyard and make sure it wasn’t flooding. Here in Seattle I’m not used to such heavy rains. tom and allyson pre wedding centerpieces tom and allyson prewedding downpour
A couple of days before the wedding we did a bar/brewery hop around Austin. Second on the tour (I can’t remember the first) was The Draught House Pub and Brewery, one of my favorite places for pints with a really great beer garden. Then we headed to Austin Beerworks which has quickly become one of my favorite Austin breweries (also I know the owner). They open the tasting room Thurs-Sun and you can buy a glass and get 3 pints for $10. That’s a pretty good deal.
tom and allyson prewedding beergarden ladies tom and allyson prewedding bride tom and allyson prewedding friends tom and allyson prewedding skirts
tom and allyson prewedding jessica 2
We ended our night with some tex-mex at Maudies because when you’re in Austin you need to eat lots of chips and salsa and drink a really big margarita (although perhaps this time I should have gotten a smaller one).
tom and allyson prewedding cheers

Cheers everybody!

Finally an Alt summer recap

July 16, 2014

It’s about time I post this. It’s been nearly a month since ALT summer and I’m finally getting around to sharing and reconnecting with the wonderful women I met. This was my third ALT event and yet again I was blown away at all the details and parties but most importantly the quality of people I met. It’s so great to know that when you put yourself out there and get out of your comfort zone that you will be rewarded with meaningful conversations and the beginnings of new friendships and partnerships. It’s really pretty great.

alt summer dinner 1 alt summer wednesday dinner group alt summer wednesday dinner jessica
The event started on Wednesday night with dinners around town. I attended the Search For Your Awesome party hosted by Alison of The Alison show. We had signature cocktails, a food truck dinner, nail art, a makeup artist, and lots and lots of fun props. It was really fun and when it was time to go I wasn’t quite ready which is always the sign of a good party!
alt summer picnic 1 alt summer picnic 2 alt summit picnic 3 alt summur dance 3 park
alt summer dance party 2 park alt summer dance party park
^The 3 photos above Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit
The next day we had classes all day followed by a party in the park that evening. The weather was a bit on the cool side but everyone just bundled up and made the most of it. There were a few food trucks to choose from and once I got my food I sat down and watched the break dancers doing their thing. I love to dance regardless of how good or bad I look so when the opportunity arose to get on the “dance floor” I took it along with a few other dance crazy attendees. It was so fun!
alt summer garden party big smiles alt summer garden party bikes and friend alt summer garden party alt summer tmc ladies
^2 photos above Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summitalt summer tmc group

After a final day of classes we ended the event with a garden party complete with beautiful flowers, tasty bites, bikes to ride, and lots of other wonderful details. It was a great chance to get a few lovely pictures with friends. The ladies above I met online before the event and 4 of us shared a room. It was great to come back at the end of the day and share our stories and get to know each other a little more. The last night was by far the best. Two of us went out for a drink and when we got back we thought the other two would be sleeping but they were still up and we were all overtired and a lot of giggles were had. I had a 6 am flight but I figured I could sleep when I got home so I enjoyed myself and the time left with my new friends.

I had a pretty great time overall. I will say though that two ALTs in the same year was a tad overwhelming so I may need to decide which event I’d rather go to in the future. Hmm…decision, decisions. For now I’ll do my best to stay connected with my new friends and hope to see them again in the future.

Now I’m off to the beach!

World Map necklace

July 11, 2014

I have no idea why I didn’t make this necklace sooner. I guess I thought it would be too hard or I wasn’t sure it would look right in the size I wanted to make it. Luckily I got a push to try it recently. I was contacted by a woman who wanted one for her daughter that was good quality and on a much smaller scale than she had seen. After scaling it down to about a 1 1/2″ size I was pretty confident but knew I couldn’t be sure until it was cut out.

After I cut out the 3 pieces (I also wanted to keep it somewhat simple) I knew I was going to really like it. I got super excited once they were all connected and I included the chain. I may even have to make one for myself.

world map 1 world map 3