{T.I.L #9}

This one needs no introduction...

I know saying 'in love' makes me sound like an alcoholic, but I promise I'm not. I'm just an exaggerator. I also grew up with people who showed me that alcohol addiction can be no joke. So, I'm pretty careful with rules around my drinking:

1. No drinking alone--there's a reason for this one!

2. Only drink when I'm happy--not using alcohol to 'take the edge off' of a tough day

3. Do not drink 2 days in a row--within reason, this keeps it a 'few and far between' thing instead of 'why not finish this bottle I started yesterday?' thing.

4. Pretty strictly stay within 1-2 drinks in one session

Those rules are there for a reason and most are there because I pushed past a boundary and knew it wasn't good. I'm fairly relaxed about it all and don't expect others to follow these rules, just me. Alcoholism runs in my family and I've already got a Starbucks addiction...I don't need another expensive addiction to add to the list! At least Starbucks won't ruin my life.

With that said, I love a good glass of whiskey. Mostly, I like my whiskey like I like my men: strong, high-quality, and neat. Just kidding, I've never said that in my life. Though I do like my whiskey neat. No fuss. {I mean, I won't say no to a whiskey on the rocks but I kinda want the flavor to take my breath away}

Yummers.

Fun story: Rule #1 came about the night I thought it'd be super cool to have a quiet time with Jesus while drinking Revel Stoke spiced whiskey (my fave) from a mustached glass tumbler.

Cuteness, huh?

Then, I got the bright idea to take all that fun into the bath tub to relax by candlelight. Can you see where this is going? Jesus. Prayer. Spiced whiskey. Hot water.

I didn't even give it a second thought as I prayed and sipped my whiskey. It wasn't until I got up that I realized I could barely stand. Not only was my face hot from the bath, it was also hot from embarrassment as I realized I had accidentally gotten drunk before the Lord. Oooooops.

So now, I don't really drink alone & definitely not while sitting in hot water--it saves me from drunken quiet times and drowning my sorrows all in one fell swoop!

My friend, Chrissy, recently posted this article about whiskey girls and it fit me to a T. I joked that I should use it as my dating profile because it is a pretty accurate description. 

Now, don't get the erroneous idea that I like to booze it up. But a good whiskey on a random weekend is all right by me. In fact, I had one this past weekend at Cottonwood in Houston. Dee-lish.

Peach + whiskey = yes!

{T.I.L. #8}

I'm a big traveler and I love taking trips to see people I care about (that's another TIL post though!) or to do something fun. Last weekend, I flew to LA for family and this weekend I drove to Houston for a woodworking class (aha! another TIL post for later this month...man, I'm full of these things.) No trip of mine is complete without a great book and good music.

In honor of my travels, I thought I'd share that...

I kinda hate driving {though my car has helped that tremendously} but I find it tolerable when I can jam out to a variety of bands on my old school iPod. When the screen on my iPod broke a few years back, I thought it was useless. But being able to hook it up to my car's USB port has been nothing short of amazing. And also have it all on my iPhone? Thanks, Apple. I love that I can pick from my entire music collection as I'm cruising through the air at 35,000 feet or about to nod off during the flat stretches of the Texas highways. We may have great sunsets, but a pink sky doesn't stop my eyelids from drooping...Arcade Fire's Reflektor album does.

I wrote about liking good music in my first round of Things I Love, but that was more about loving live music (which I deffo do!) Rather than do a re-hash, I thought I'd give you a few links to new music I'm currently loving. This is soooo the tip of my music iceberg, but I could honestly make a whole month of music posts (March Music Madness? Many Musics March?) I'll just give ya my top three as of February 8:

--Taylor Swift's 1989

I took the pic of Shake it Off but my current fave on this album is the song 'Wildest Dreams'. Can't get enough of it. 

Some people dog on Tay-Tay but honestly, someone that can write so many hits, play their own instruments, put on a stellar performance, and keep cranking it out album after album...and you think they are a hack? That's just silly talk. I don't care if you don't like the style of her music. Hell, I loathe opera music but that doesn't mean they aren't mad-talented musicians. So, I gotta plug my Taylor when I can because I really do love her style, music, and confidence.

--Max Frost 

I really didn't have to include a picture but I have to. Don't let his handsome face and well-dressed exterior distract you from the fact that this fool has soul. 

I love when great music comes from unexpected people. This dude is suuuuuper young (don't ask me why I checked his age) but he sounds like he's been making music forever. His voice has experience if that makes sense.

I'll link his more popular song but check out his website and follow him for reals.

My favorite song of his is 'Nice and Slow'. Weird vid but the song is so so good:

 --Rhodes

Oh, Rhodes. Speaking of music coming from unexpected people, Rhodes is the epitome of this. 

Rhodes on left with Sam Smith--from Rhodes' Facebook

He looks like a Freshman in high school sometimes, but wowee. My mom actually introduced me to Rhodes (the music, not the guy...I'd probably fangirl up and ramble if given the chance) and I've been hooked ever since. I honestly can't pick a favorite but I'll link the first song I ever heard of his:

My mom is ob.sessed. with this next song (and made me and my sister happily watch the video more than once, no lie):

So, there ya go...a peek into my current iPod re-plays. 

Taylor is already coming to Dallas this year and I'm-a-goin'. Max Frost came to Dallas last weekend but I was out of town. Big boo. Let's start a campaign to get both Max Frost & Rhodes to come to Dallas. Together.

My mind would explode.

{T.I.L. #7}

Since it is the weekend, I thought I'd slip in some of the Things I Love that don't need a whole post of their own. I mean, it is pretty self-explanatory to know that I love Starbucks no-water chai tea lattes. What else can I really say about it? {Other than the fact that it is completely true.}

So, here we go: 

I had wanted to watch this show from the beginning but never made the time to get into it. And, as you know, I have great friends who suggest great shows to me so I finally took the plunge and started at Season 1. Oh.em.gee. Not only is Amy Poehler one of my favorite comediennes, the whole cast is just so great together. My favorite scenes are Leslie's "I'm just a girl" rant, Tom Haverford's food language, and Jean-Ralphio and Mona-Lisa harmonizing their point. You probably gotta watch it to appreciate it, but there ya go.

Also, 

I never realized quite how sedentary some of my days can be until I got my Fitbit flex. Highly recommend it to anyone who wants to increase their health. 

 Speaking of stuff to buy, Amazon Prime has been amazing as I've had to purchase things for my new house. I love that you can get things quickly or you can choose the 'slow route' and get credits toward digital purchases. If anyone is debating about it being worth it, it is. Plus, I like the video streaming and Seasons of Fixer Upper and Rehab Addict on there (its Rehab for houses, not people. Ain't nobody got time to watch real addicts go to rehab. That's called 'my childhood.')

That's pretty much it for now. I'm sure next weekend I'll find a couple more things I can clump together. I know it looks like I'm materialistic after all these posts, so I'll throw in a few that should be obvious. Just in case...

{T.I.L. #6}

Yesterday I talked about art prints from a blogger I really love. Well, that's not the only talented blogger I buy stuff from. My other favorite blogger, Elise Blaha Cripe at Enjoy It Blog is super-talented and somehow manages to be Type-A with a chillax personality. She's kinda the best of both worlds in my opinion. 

Her designs are super simplified (it's obvi that I like simple at this point) but they all have a sort of thematic element that I'm drawn to. I'm so drawn to it that I pretty much own her entire rubber stamp collection.

But that's not the point of this post. 'It's nooooot?' you cry. No it isn't. The thing I really love right now that she just churned out is like having her art prints & stamps at your own fingertips. So:

Digital stamps are one of those "I didn't realize those existed and yet why didn't I think of that?" things. 

I can make my own personalized versions of her work and use it for framing, scrapbooking, screensavers, whatev.

I'm just learning tricks to make it fun and she has some videos on her site to give you ideas. Gosh, I love this girl and all her craftiness she puts out into the world (I actually have another post about her coming up this month.) So, I'll use her favorite word to describe these digital stamps...Rad.

And since it is Friday, I'll leave you with one of the pics I created from her digital stamp set:

{T.I.L. #5}

I feel like I've exhausted the house news for this week, so I'll take a wee break from that arena to tell you that:

I have a specific style artistically and I have searched for bloggers & designers who stand out to me. 

One of my very favorite bloggers is Emily from Jones Design Company. Her art prints are easily my go-to prints and I feel like everything she creates is clean, classic, and beautiful. 

In fact, I love her style so much that when she started offering her Simplified Graphic Design Class, I jumped on it. I am still making my way through the lessons (it is self-paced, which is the devil for me) and I still need to buy Photoshop/Illustrator to practice (um, remember those fridges I spoke of? Photoshop. Fridge. Photoshop? Fridge? Sorry Photoshop. I'm busy saving right now.)

Someday, maybe I'll finally make my way through the self-paced class & start creating art prints for myself. Until then, I always have Emily and her darn cute art prints...