sarahsatterlee.com

my college roommate is such an incredible artist,

and now has a great site to showcase her beautiful work.

check it out!!

www.sarahsatterlee.com

p.s. this one was her wedding gift to us:

the light, colors, motion,

and quote from a favorite book (sex god by rob bell), 

brighten up our home like nothing else.

how to have a perfect day

step one: begin the day in your favorite city with some of your favorite people

step two: big brek. freshly brewed coffee, homemade crepes, fresh fruit, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and plenty of sunlight.

step three: go kayaking on town lake to burn off big brek and work on tan.

step four: afternoon snack. mighty cone & daily juice = perfect.

step five: walk around fun streets & stop in interesting shops.

step six: play with puppies.

start serious discussion of when you can adopt some puppies of your own.

step seven: watch your true love fall in love with puppies.

step eight: afternoon work out with jillian so you can better enjoy

step nine: enjoy incredible food with even better company.

step ten: finish the meal with some happy birthday creme brulee.

final step: go out. dance. listen to live music.

feel the fresh night air & be grateful to be alive and loved.

the architects house: austin, tx

ross & i love to get away and stay in a nice hotel on occasion as much as any couple. who doesn't love the tiny bath products, white robes, and fancy lobbies? but, for our most recent trip to austin we rented a house with some friends and were blown away by the experience. to all my friends that read this blog, i have to share this info with you!

this past week ross didn't have class, so we wanted to go on a fun trip with our good friends blake & stancy. we looked into everything from beach houses in galveston to lake houses on lake travis, but blake found the ultimate getaway house by simply googling "austin vacation home rentals." lots of options came up, but the architect's house was the winner.

the pictures don't really do the house justice, but they give you an idea:

we fell instantly in love with the house and had to pretend we lived there

every little detail was thought out and super cool

true life: i want these chairs

please note how intense this door is.

perfect balcony for good talks, wine & board games

...and here's my true love looking handsome & at home in the architects house in austin.

i love him. and austin. and adventures.

we feel so blessed that we got to spend time together during the week

with great friends in such a unique house.

next time you go to austin, you have to look into this house!

there and back again

{bread pudding @ gumbos}

{round rock express baseball game}

{our view from abel's on the lake}

dear round rock,

we love you & your little baseball stadium. thanks for providing such a great date night. you could be a really great home for us in a year, right?

dear gumbos, trudys, hula hut, abels on the lake, kerby lane, koriente,

yummmm. ross and i were good about rarely eating out this past year- but we made up for time fast because of you all. worth it though; no hard feelings. well, my waistline might feel differently.

dear garmen,

are you mad at us? why do you lead us astray? is it because we call you grimlen...

dear anthropologie,

thanks for the shockingly low sale find today! you might have won over my husband once and for all. but maybe your prices should always be just a little lower, true?

dear texas heat,

you seem different, out-of-control almost. i used to look forward to your arrival & love being outside with you, but you've changed. please, please, just take it easy. if you could stop making me feel menopausal that would be great.

dear allison, tyler & louise,

we had so much fun with yall this weekend!! thanks for hanging out with us.

dear austin,

can't wait to see you again tomorrow.

off to austin

ross finished his last week of class of his first year of med school!

to celebrate, we're throwing together a little overnight bag & heading off to our favorite city in texas (besides waco, of course)- Austin! even though i've been absolutely dying to add a puppy (or two) to our family, it's pretty great to just be able to pack up & peace out on a whim since it's just the two of us.

happy weekend!

lately

when ross & i stepped outside the morning i was absolutely filled with joy:

it finally really feels like summer. in the best way possible.

not the oppressive heat so familiar to us in texas,

but instead this morning offered up instead a refreshing warmth with crisp, cool air.

the kind of weather you only get to enjoy after a summertime rainstorm.

the kind of weather that whisked me through time...

seconds after my first breath of fresh air this morning i traveled back

to mornings at camp olympia, leading a whole cabin of silly little girls to the chow hall.

to the mornings that were a little too cool to go out on the boat,

but we couldn't resist jumping in the lake anyway.

i woke up in a morning after a sleepover with stephanie, where we would sit in her backyard

and plan out the next bike rides and pool parties.

i fell back into leisurely breakfasts at my old home in kingwood; the kind with lots of coffee, the houston chronicle comics section, and my dad's homemade pop-overs.

so excited for summer to be here again.

i feel like i dived into a pool of excitement & zeal for life!

here's a little list of what's been going on with the pinson family lately:

* lots of guitar playing & singing on the porch

* homemade southside burgers with l.beck & satt pack

* wine & pasta at cafe capri with melanie & alise

* planning upcoming mini vacations to austin with good friends

* finally watched an education with carrie

* playing photographer with stancy higley

* continually falling in love with glee & parenthood week after week

* waaaay too much ice cream: spoons, ben & jerrys, you name it...

oooo summer i love you so

happy day!

friends, thank you so much for your encouragement on the new site.

i appreciate it more than you know- but i am even more grateful for you.

maybe it's just the fact that it's summer time,

but i've been feeling so full & happy lately.

here's one of my all time favorite songs to get you in the same mood!

here's to a happy thursday!

blogging slump apology

ok, this blog has been a total failure lately

{insert lame excuses for blogging slump here}

but i promise to revive it, mostly because of my desire for my friends to snap out of their blogging slumps...so there's that whole 'practice what you preach' thing.

in the meantime, if you're interested,

i can share with you one of my excuses for failing to blog:

click here!

encouragement

happy mothers day!

dear mom,

thank you for always giving us a pretty home, food to eat,

overstuffed christmas stockings, perfect easter baskets, brown bag lunches,

and chocolate chip cookies on the first day of school.

thank you for always feeding & walking freckles,

even though we promised you would never have to.

thank you for providing such a great example for emily & i.

thank you for loving dad and being a faithful wife for over 25 years.

thank you for your paintings and sketches that now hang on the walls of my new home.

thank you for being the nicest & cutest mom in the whole world.

you are the best!

goodbye swoop

so for as long as i've know ross, he's had a certain signature look. his look includes polo shirts, sperrys, large aviator-style sunglasses, and his crowning glory- the 'frat swoop.'

it turns out that ross was rocking the frat swoop long before his days of kappa sigma. in fact, he had never had a buzz cut in his entire life. there was even a point in high school when all of his best friends agreed to shave their heads on a particular night. the next day everyone in the group came to school with freshly shaved heads...and ross showed up with a mere trim...and his vanity intact.

when ross found out he would for sure be going to officer training this summer, we decided that it might be the right time to get his first new hair style. so, without further ado, for anyone who is interested to see, may i present to you...the haircut of ross franklin:

just moments before the big hair cut. trying not to act nervous.

cutting the first snip.

a new man!

ross' first words when he saw himself in the mirror were, "i look...mean."

i think he looks like a g.i.joe, which will be perfect for when he heads off for the air force officer training this summer.

we both thought it would be way weirder than it actually was, and i actually really like it.

with that said, i'm still really looking forward to the swoop's return :)

fro yo

true love is

finding someone who can agree that frozen yogurt is a perfectly good dinner

and who couldn't be happier cuddling on the couch

with popcorn & a harry potter movie

on a saturday night.

i love you, ross franklin!