what a DAY you guys. 

N and I decided to get up early and take the train downtown and go to the museum of nature & science, but since we're dummies and didn't get tickets before going, we weren't able to get in. 

HOWEVER, we did have a blast walking around in the freezing weather. there's something so energizing about downtown areas - I mean, nature is great and all, but high rises and endless concrete makes it feel so *purposeful. I could walk for hours and never get tired. 

after our first failure, we tried to go to the dallas museum of art, but they wouldn't let us in with our leftover pizza (BUMMER). we weren't about to chuck the leftover 2/3 of a pizza we were toting around, so we decided to pass it up. it's always a good choice, btw, if you're ever in the area. in the end, I followed N around while he played with his Ingress game thing.

so we're thinking of making a trek to downtown a weekly ritual of sorts. I'm really digging the idea. 

1. on the train. fancy coffee!

2. the perot museum of nature and science. according to this scathing google user review, it's all about (gasp) SCIENCE (go figure). 

3. icky pigeons warming their naughty bits on the vents. seriously -they wouldn't move. I tried to mess with them, but no go. they were hunkered down for the long haul.

4. dallas' version of the high rise: an overpass-turned-park with newsstands, food trucks, grassy areas, and little cafe tables. quite awesome.

5. heading home - sun flares.

6. our reflections in the tunnel. I'm ARTSY.

Oy, you guys.... shiz has been cray-zay around here! I'm so sorry for the absence! We had a big family visit, where my mom, dad, aunt, sister, and brother-in-law all came for a long weekend. It was super great... and super exhausting. We did the State Fair, ate TONS of amazing food, and had a wonderful time. It was just what I needed. 

1. A genetic predisposition for ridiculousness (the pictured auntie shall remain nameless).
2. On our way to the Fried Food Fiesta (aka, Texas State Fair).
3. Fried cookie dough. Otherwise known as the best damn cookie I've ever eaten. SO GOOEY. 
4. Boyfriend, Tex, and me.  

5. Sister (!!), Tex, and me. Tex gets around. Also: sister visits are the best. Seriously.
6. Emo Alpaca in the petting zoo. 
7. The Texas Star. It was too freakishly cold and the line was ridonk, so we didn't ride it. But they released birds from it, which was pretty cool. 
8. Jazz hands photo bomb on the train, courtesy of above auntie. 

Highlights: 
1. Hibiscus. Holy yum, you guys. We shared a bunch of appetizers (grilled figs + burrata, anyone?), had amazing drinks, and were probably the most obnoxious table in the entire restaurant. 
2. Thrifting with my sister and close friend. Some great deals were had. 
3. Village Burger Bar. There were 9 of us, so we sat outside in 40 degree weather, pulling the heaters closer to the table. The restaurant people yelled at us. It was still cold, but delicious. We then peaced out to a bar and had a great time with lots of family and lots of friends (ain't it great when they blend so well?). 
4. The State Fair. It was all of our first times out there, and it was crazy cold, but a lot of fun. However, it was A LOT bigger than any of us planned, so about halfway through, we felt like we were pretty much done. 
Whew. 

In addition, I've been working on the shop. I've hit a couple of road blocks, but other than that, things are chugging along steadily. I've added some amazing new vintage items (including my favorite item so far: a vintage woven leather Cole Haan bag... it has a strap that's the perfect length for both cross-body and shoulder wearing, and is the perfect size. sigh). I'm also working on some new baby items! They should be up later this week. Get excited!

So anywho, that's what's up. I'll try to keep posting more regularly, particularly with stuff other than the shop. I know it can get a bit wearing to hear about that kind of stuff all the time! 

xo

So I bet you're DYING to know what a day in my life is like. I lead a glamorous life, and really, it's expected that people should be curious. So, without further ado, I present: 

A Day in the Life of a Franny* (Friend + Nanny = Franny) The Abridged Version
8:00 am N leaves for work and throws open the curtains because, let's face it, I can't wake up without someone forcing me to. Mumbling incoherently, I tell him to have a good day and that I love him (*cue sappy music*). I sound more like a stoned Jar Jar Binks than a human, but he gets the point. I think.
I try my best to be speedy about at least brushing my teeth before making my way into the living room, where little E is hanging out with her parents before they go to work. We hang out and chat for a while, I ask when she was last fed. E is on a schedule where she eats every three hours without fail (which sounds psychotic but is actually amazing and makes her day predictable), so this information is important. They've made me a morning smoothie, which I gratefully guzzle. 
8:30 am J & J leave for work, and I'm left alone with E. We hang out. She's a cool kid. 
9:00 am Grumpypants McGee arrives, so I restrain swaddle her and put her down for a nap. Then I check my Google Reader, Twitter, e-mail. I may also be able to squeeze in a quick cleaning session episode of "Friends" in our room.
10:00 am It's time for E to wake up and eat. I change her and strip her down to her diaper because she's started solids and rice cereal is like glue when it dries. I'd rather stick her in the sink to rinse her off than deal with gross clothes. We sit down at the kitchen table, and she eats. And farts. When she's done, I put her in her bouncer and change into my workout clothes. 
10:30 am I do my P90X for the day. Former office life and an enchilada addiction have left me with excess junk in my trunk. She watches, amused. At some point during the hour to hour and a half, she gets grumpy, so I swaddle her again and keep working out until she passes out. I move her to her bed. 
11:30 am E is napping and I'm finally done with the workout, so I shower, get dressed, and consider blogging. Of course, I don't, so I watch some more TV and maybe wash some dishes. Lunch is an Amy's bean + cheese burrito with a dollop of Greek yogurt and salsa on top. YUM. 
1:00 pm It's time for E to eat again. I prep a bottle, and she kicks me in the boobs with the expertise of a Thai kickboxer while I feed her on the couch. When she's done, we hang out for a bit, I read to her, and we get ready to run errands leave the house for a bit.
1:30 pm Do random stuff. Sometimes we run errands, sometimes we just leave the house for the sake of leaving the house. 
2:30 pm E falls asleep sometime around now. If we're at home, I put her in her room. If we're out, I just let her sleep. 
4:00 pm E eats. Again. 
4:30 pm I put her down to play on the mat so she can work on her fitness. Girl is getting close to crawling now. 
5:30 pm E falls asleep around now and adults start getting home - hooray!! We all hang out. I'm off the clock. Cocktail hour is usually around this time. We're fancy like that. 
7:00 pm E eats, but this time her parents feed her. I'm off the clock. So we start talking about dinner. If we don't cook, we walk a couple of blocks to a pretty good Mexican food joint. 
After that, it's kind of a crapshoot. Lots of talking, lots of hanging out. We've got a nice little commune-style situation** going, and it's pretty great. 

*I wear sequins a lot, not unlike Fran Fine. Frannies are fancy. **I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but the current situation is that we're staying with friends until we get settled here in DFW. So far, so good. I'll probably do a post on being married with roommates at some point, but if you'd like others' perspective on the (really awesome) situation, check out this one on A Practical Wedding. 

GIF image found on Tumblr (otherwise known as "the black hole into which all proper crediting goes to die"). If you know who made it, let me know. 

I'm writing this post at 1 am on a Sunday night. Not because I'm super productive and my days are so crammed that I have no time to blog, but because I drank way too much Coke Zero at N's birthday dinner. (I know. I'm disgusting for drinking diet sodas. I'm working on it.)
My brain thinks I'm currently on extended vacation. Moving up here has me in a "let's fuck around all day!" mentality, which can't be altogether healthy, seeing as that apparently means that I fill my days with as many episodes of "My Boys" as possible. (Again, I know I'm gross. But we can't all be responsible for what we watch on Netflix.) To top it off, the Verizon guy came by the house and worked some crazy voodoo magic and BOOM: we have a cable-type situation through our X-Box. We haven't had cable in YEARS. I never realized how much I missed marathons of "House Hunters" until today, when I discovered that I woke up at 11 am and my ass didn't leave a couch or a bed until 2:00, when we went to get burgers, and 7:30, when we went out to N's favorite local restaurant to get wings for his birthday. (Reason #3 on the "Kathleen is disgusting" list.)
Oh yeah - but I *am* technically working. That is, I'm watching an insanely cute (and I'm not going to lie, very easygoing) 4-month old. I know I will one day eat my words, because that's what kids do, but I really do have it so, so sweet right now. She's a wonderful kid. But I may be a little biased. (You know that thing where someone really close to you has a baby and you pretty much become super enamored and protective because hey, it's pretty much your baby, too, but not really? Yeah. That. Except add in that you're also the nanny which means you spend a good 9 hours per day with her just hanging out and making her laugh. It's crazy.)
So yeah. Life is pretty great right now.



(Pardon the lack of photo to accompany this post. I'm absolute shit at finding good ones that aren't incredibly obvious. Case in point: I just found myself searching "tunnel" photos on Flickr. You know, for "light at the end of the tunnel". I mean, seriously.)

So... we made it! We're now residents of the Dallas area. N is working and applying for more jobs; I'm watching a pretty damn cute kid. It's awesome. So awesome that I haven't really checked... well... anything in about a week (also: watching endless episodes of Futurama while babysitting will suck your attention like nobody's business. In the best possible way.) My twitter and reader are neglected, I have about 10 open windows for posts I would like to comment on, and I have probably 8 posts drafted in here to be published at a later date. So yeah. But I just wanted to check in and say a quick hello. I need to reply to a couple of comments you guys left, which I will do soon! Today in fact! (Now I'm committed - hold me to that.) 

Catch you on the flip side.

I owe you all an apology. I've been a mopey git.
For a while now I've been complaining about the hitch in my giddy-up. It's time for me to stop. Shit happens. What matters is how you cope with it.
So.N and I have decided to do something Big and Scary.No, not the other Big and Scary - that didn't work out. For all our efforts, Austin is just not going to happen right now. I'm taking it as a sign from the universe to try again another time.
But some incredibly lovely and beyond amazing bestest people in the world have offered us a haven for a time, until we get back into the swing of things. 
And best of all? It's not in our small town. It's in a rather large town, a METROPLEX even. 
And we'll have the flexibility and the option to pursue our dreams and our desires among friends. 

All we have to do is jump....and not fall flat on our faces.no big deal.


image by Olly Moss, via woolgathering & miscellany's tumblr