telluride

At the end of last week, headed out to Telluride, Colorado for a few days of hiking, perfecting my book-to-scenery-line-of-vision equation, and dog cuddles. I hadn't been to that part of the country at all, but some family moved there a while back and I finally made it out there. It was one of those situations where I wouldn’t have visited this very beautiful place if they weren’t living there and I would have visited them if they didn’t live in a very beautiful place.

It turns out that I picked the perfect weekend - the aspen trees were at their brightest goldenrod and I got to skip out on the Texas heat for a bit and break out my ankle boots and a light jacket.

Telluride has a fairly tiny year-round population, but there's usually a festival in town (the film festival and Blues & Brews are the biggest, but there are so many more) and, of course, ski season is a big deal, but I'm not one for winter sports so I'm happy to have missed those crowds.

The town itself is supercute.  They don't allow franchises, so it's all local businesses and there were plenty of fresh flowers everywhere.  I set up a bit of a residency at a coffee shop that generously rewards patrons with free pastries and refills, because life requires caffeine and family visits require a safe space to duck off to.  

I also stopped in a string of smaller Colorado towns in between mountain passes - all equally adorable and full of the particular brand of rugged whimsy that relatively isolated locales breed, like a jail converted into a thrift store.

Pretty much everyone has a dog and you can take them everywhere. It's great.  This is Loki, who is massive but still a puppy on the inside.

My family legitimately lives in the mountains.  This is a a picture I took from the gondola that takes you from the town of Telluride to their neighborhood. Yeah, man, their public transit is a fucking gondola.

I have long maintained that being on mountains with dogs is an important activity to participate in as frequently as possible, and I've gotta say, I had some of the best dog/mountain time of my life on this trip.  You can't tell here, but I was actually very high up a few feet away from a pretty intense drop, so if Loki had decided to misbehave, he could have sent me flying off a cliff as he is much stronger than I am.  It was cool, though - we just played! Good dog.

Super into the black and white patterns on the trunks of the aspens.  

summertime sadness

Earlier this month, I snuck away to visit Boston & New York for the first time since moving back to Texas for a much needed visit with everyone I've been missing too much.  I feel like to adequately describe how important it was to me would inevitably end up in mega cheesball territory, so I'll just say this - nothing quite like staying up 'til dawn with people who know and love you right down to your rotten core to peel a few layers of cynicism right off of you!

I also got to spend time with folks I don't know nearly well enough and meet a slew of good new ones!  However, one downside of going above and beyond my normal level of social interaction was that I went through spells of complete brain death. To the lovely people who I could only respond to with blank stares and jumbled thoughts that sounded bad in my head and worse when said aloud, my apologies.  Here's to a next time if you'll have me?

Anyway, here are my disposable camera pix!   Initially I wanted to have an entire roll of sad faces, but I slipped up and got some smiles.  Angst typically is not a challenge for me, but I guess having fun sometimes gets in the way.  I'll let it slide.

Life is pain. The beach is pain.

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Time spent with Noelle and Alanna is like having a devil on top of each of your shoulders and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Wistful porch culture forever.

Squeezing fresh lime juice onto flaming hot Cheetos before checking out some art, obviously.

Michelle, Pam, and Venice are not pleased. 

Pam, Matt, and I all desperately need to live in cities so we can spend all our time talking about how great nature is and venture out into nature-y settings in clothing that is not appropriate for outdoor activity, so we're a natural team.  

Pam and Dana slurpin' slurpees.  Dana is one of those people who I had only met once before moving, but became tight with after we lived very far away from each other and now I feel very comfortable reaching out to her if I need fashion advice or someone to text about my feelings (important things.)  Getting to bring our friendship's newfound slumber party vibes to real life was a treat!  

Noelle, Anna, and Alanna being treated to my professional portraiture skills.  

 Finally, a person I am not friends with being angsty without my explicit direction!  The last night of my trip, Noelle, Alanna, and I saw Dirty Beaches & Ice Age and it was excellent and the events that followed turned into quite the send off.  Noelle and I initially met when she recognized me from the internet at a Best Coast show, which I maintain is the most hilarious and stereotypically me way I have ever met any of my friends.  She became one of my very favorite people quite quickly and music has been a big part of that, so going to a show together again was exactly what my nostalgic heart needed.

I'm (slowly getting around to) putting up the last of my phone shots from the trip on my Instagram, too, so let's be friends there! 

everything goes wrong

I had hoped for a super chill birthday last month, but even simple things always get stressful and I ended having to postpone plans so I could search desperately for my cat for two hours because he thought it would be cute to go missing.  

I still think it was a birthday success once it got started, though!  Nature + people I like + a dog I love + Bouldin Creek with their heavenly chipotle pecan pesto and $2 glasses of flavored champagne is kinda foolproof.  

little snippets!

After going back through our blog over the past few weeks, I realized I haven't updated in forever. I blame my hectic schedule over the past few months and general apathy with just about everything - working 60+ hours a week and having two jobs will do that to you! Luckily, I just started a *new* job about 3 weeks ago that I already love. Never say never but I never want to have to work retail again, I honestly felt like my soul was being sucked out of me every morning I had to wake up at 4 am (did I mention that before? 4 AM!) and then spend the day being nice to strangers even though it's the last thing I felt like doing. I'm not allowed to go into too many specifics about my new job (they told me I wasn't allowed to! Specifically "don't take pictures in your office and post them on Facebook. Just don't mention ANYTHING on Facebook") but it's definitely a more ~adventurous office job with benefits and PTO. Finally a grown up job!

Basically what all this rambling means is that I will now have time to start blogging again! Tricia and I already have a few ideas for new paper-based projects and blog features.

In the mean time, here's a few photos from my Instagram. Sorry not sorry they're all mostly cats.

Super casual office attire - beige cardigan, J.Crew chambray puff sleeve top and a necklace I made during my jewelry making phase

Little Beaker's new favorite nap time spot

Saturday morning's strawberry pancakes with cool whip

Xylophone aka one of "God's Girls", a kitten a friend is fostering 

Mociun tee I scored on eBay

ELLIE! We'll be roommates in August. 

My "work" mug that I ran out and bought my first day so I could join the coffee crowd. I went back the next week and bought 4 more to keep at home ($4 at Target!)

Best kitty paws!

Madewell boots I treated myself to a while back 

myth & symbol preview

Not trying to insult the intelligence of any readers here, but I feel the need to remind you Texas is really big. So big that I'm not even close to seeing a fraction of everything worth seeing here despite having spent most of my life living here.  With that in mind, I figured it's long overdue for us to start featuring nice places for local readers to check out and maybe even tempt out-of-staters to visit if we do a good enough job! Texas love forever.

Wren, Samatha Pleet, and Ace & Jig dresses.  

First up is a preview of Myth & Symbol, a shop which will be opening very soon in Houston and stocking clothing and accessories from emerging designers such as Feral Childe, Uzi, and Dusen Dusen as well as printed, home, and beauty goods.  It's not hard to imagine that the future customers are a lot like me when it comes to buying clothes...girls who focus on a wardrobe consisting of a small rotation of pieces truly special to them from sources they feel good about supporting.  

The obvious benefit of the shop stocking plenty of designers whose work hasn't yet be sold in Houston (and in some cases, all of Texas) is that it will give customers the opportunity to check out the fit and feel of pieces they might have only admired online or possibly never would have been familiar with otherwise. I think the appeal of Myth & Symbol goes beyond that, though. When I stopped by to check out the shop while they prepare for their launch, Trang and Chau Nguyen (2/4 of the Myth + Symbol team) were equal parts enthusiastic and informed as they showed me pieces from the store, sharing tidbits they had learned from their Brooklyn studio visits such as which designers share space and the inspiration behind certain prints.  Eventually, they plan to use the space to host events such as jewelry making workshops to foster Houston's own creative community.  

Be sure to check out the shop for yourself when it opens if you're in town, and until then, enjoy my preview shots and read what Trang had to say about how it came together and some of her favorite pieces.

The fitting rooms feature an impressive amount of yardage of hand-dyed rope.  

Your store is being created by a group of people with a diverse group of talents.  What made opening a retail store seem like the best idea to combine your interests?  

There are many aspects to operating a boutique so it's really beneficial having a team with diverse backgrounds. You need someone who knows the business and the creative side. All four of us (Ameet, BJ, Chau and myself) contribute our own unique talents and each bring different skills to the table. Chau is actually my sister. BJ is my brother-in-law and I've known Ameet since high school.

Some of the accessories in stock by designers including Alyson Fox, Rennes, Fay Andrada, and Baggu.

What about opening a store with your vision has been the most surprising?

The response from other local retailers... especially from other boutiques who also are focused on independent designers. Everyone wants each other to succeed.

Houston tends to be overlooked, from a national and even specifically Texan level, in terms of creative ventures, despite having a really impressive museum district and artistic community.  What made you want to stay in Houston instead of setting up shop in a city where the brands you’re carrying might have more recognition?

Houston has definitely been overlooked. I think this outlook is slowly changing though since there's been an "Austin-effect" emerging in this oil city. Houstonians are becoming more conscious and aware of the way they consume and buy. I can't completely knock down Houstonians though. We've always appreciated fashion, it just isn't easily accessible. The idea of Myth + Symbol came about because my sister and I knew we weren't the only ones frustrated that we couldn't find our favorite designers in our very own city. There's a big demographic that has yet to be tapped into here.

In my perfect world, every retail location (book stores! clothing stores! grocery stores!) would have a section devoted to aesthetically pleasing, independently published printed material.

Are there any specific pieces you’re stoked to have in stock? Tell us about them!

Fay Andrada's Elli Necklace has been on my personal wish list for months. It's kinda pathetic of me but sometimes I would just go online and swoon over the necklace.  Samantha Pleet's Cosmo Dress is one of those dresses that just make you wanna swirl and twirl. I'm also a proud Texan so I can't wait to feature a local designer, Myan from Hidden Vices. 

Dusen Dusen prints.

Odette New York jewelry.

kitten around

I had a very stupid day yesterday, so I'm glad that I already had some kitten/friend time scheduled to take the edge off. Melissa, who is actually helping out on the new cat zine (forever making cat zines), is fostering a mom and her kittens for Austin Pets Alive right now!  I love APA - I've had a few friends foster with them and I adopted my little love Beaker from them last year and they were the best, so if you're in Austin, I definitely recommend supporting them in any way you can! Of course, these guys will be up for adoption eventually, too, and I plead for you all to snatch them up before I do something irresponsible, like adopt all three.

I initially met these tiny, tiny creatures last weekend when they were even tinier, but got a lot more quality time with them today and had my camera handy, so naturally I snapped away furiously.  Xylophone, the littlest kitten with the pink nose, took a particular liking to my hair, and when it was time to leave, she would not let go of me and I obviously wasn't feeling too good about leaving her, either. 

Overall, a pretty great Caturday.