Daily dose of inspiration: Love

 daily muse, family, holiday, inspiration  No Responses »
Feb 142012
 

SilverMylarLoveI was a very lucky kid growing up in that my mom celebrated all holidays with extreme enthusiasm, including half birthdays.  Btw, I realized this year that no one else celebrated half birthdays.  When Adam and I set the date for the wedding we were back and forth between two dates, but the one we settled on and kept coming back happens to be my half birthday.  When I share this fun little fact with anyone, I just get a confused stare.  Sad for them, because half birthday rock.

Anyway...I had to smile this morning when I woke to both facebook and text messages from my mom wishing me a Happy Valentines Day and lots of love and it made me smile and reminded me that to me Valentines Day was never about showing one special person that you love them, but rather a day about celebrating love...or candy hearts...but whatever, I have a weird fixation on holiday specific candy.  Well, and about making cards, but I just realized that when I moved, I did not bring my glitter and how the heck am I supposed to make a Valentines Day card without glitter???

Anyway...I have more thoughts on the subject, but this week Adam and I are posting on She Says He Says today rather than Monday in honor of Valentines Day, and I don't want to step on my own toes.  So I'm signing off to go search for candy hearts, which I love, but only the Sweethearts Conversation Hearts...not the knock off brands.  Also not a fan of chocolate...ok this is becoming about candy, time to go...but wait...Happy Valentines Day!

 Posted by at 12:13 pm  Tagged with: ,

Recently in Instagram…

 holiday, life of a designer, OhThePlacesI'veBeen, wedding  6 Responses »
Jan 092012
 

I really need to remember to post my instagram posts on a more regular basis as its been over a month since the last post and there were just so many to choose from!  I had issues editing, so this post is a tad long, but its been such a busy month!!

Instagram_Jan2012_01A glimpse at the weekly market which I am a proud part of...all local artisans, all hand made.  On the corner of Gibson St and S Congress.  I'm there almost every Saturday (I occasionally have to switch to Sunday when I have scheduling conflicts).

Instagram_Jan2012_02They're baaaaack! Adam and I were equally excited to find these at Big Top Candy Shop.

Instagram_Jan2012_03Flowers "just because" are my favorite reason for flowers.

Instagram_Jan2012_04As you already may know, I said yes!

Instagram_Jan2012_05My "tree"...I love it!

Instagram_Jan2012_06I found the coolest wrapping paper, it was super thick, pretty and REVERSIBLE! That part was an awesome surprise, I picked it out for the white side with the fonts, but loved the red as well!

Instagram_Jan2012_07Merry Christmas wishes!

Instagram_Jan2012_08Thea snapped this of Gillian, Holly and I in the post Christmas clean up.  I love that we're in teh crowns from our crackers still...its perfect and the only photo I have from 5 days at my moms with all of us.  That's sad!

Instagram_Jan2012_09Wedding dress shopping before heading home to Texas.  ps...this is the dress I will be wearing in September!

Instagram_Jan2012_10A very quite New Years Eve with us both being sick.  We made it to Madam Mam's for dinner though and it was as awesome as always!

Instagram_Jan2012_11What I looked like in the last hours of 2011.

Instagram_Jan2012_12One of my moms delicious Apple Pies in progress...Yum!

Are you on Instagram?  I am @manictrout, look me up if you so desire!

 

 

 Posted by at 12:52 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Ringing in the New Year!

 holiday  Comments Off
Jan 012012
 

NYE2012_01
My New Years Eve was a bit dampened by Adam and I having nasty colds, but we managed to celebrate anyway...it just involved a lot of nose blowing.  I am a bit ahead in the symptom department and had to drag Adam to Madam Mam' s for our favorite Thai food, but once there he was glad we went...as it's awesome!

NYE2012_02

NYE2012_03

After dinner we really got exciting and rented a movie...hey, we're sick...getting off the couch for dinner was rough enough!

NYE2012_04I did get us a bottle of sparkling cider to ring in our first New Year's Eve together.

NYE2012_05Luckily we're both dorky enough that we had a great time celebrating low key...and my sequin dress will just have to come out to play at a later time.

How did you celebrate the New Year?

 Posted by at 3:55 pm  Tagged with: ,

Farewell to 2011

 Austin, daily muse, holiday, inspiration  Comments Off
Dec 302011
 

WhiteBalloons

What a year it's been.  What an unexpected year full of twists and turns and an unexpected outcome.  I was reminded while back in NY for the holidays that one year ago to the day I had told a friend of mine that I didn't really care about dating (although oddly I did have a bf when I said this...obvs on that relationship being doomed!) and was really just wanting to focus on work and growing Manic Trout.  And there we were, one year later.  Toasting my engagement.  I guess its true that you find love when you're not looking.

The year however was so much bigger then finding love and a big part of all that love discovery business was due to my cleaning out the clutter of my life...including a great deal of furniture and 1000's upon 1000's of books and moving 2000 miles across the country.  It was a huge change and scary one, but I survived and am loving living in Austin.

In addition to all this crazy change, I decided that after cutting so many costs to save money for the move, that I could keep it up in order to be able to focus on Manic Trout full time since moving to Austin in August.  While writing this I find myself amazed at how much has changed since April of last year and am even more shocked at how at this time last year, I had no clue of what was to come in the next 12 months.

Let's raise a glass to 2011 and I leave you with the words of Albert Einstein...

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow

Cheers to 2011 and see y'all in 2012!!!

 

 Posted by at 2:15 pm  Tagged with:

Magical silence

 family, holiday  Comments Off
Dec 282011
 

weheartitsnowyhouseWhew...what a week!  Every year I get a bit older and I crave longer and longer amounts of quite in my day.  When you don't have any of it for a week...my goodness it's wonderful when it occurs again.  After the final madness of shipping out holiday orders, traveling back to NY, being in a house with all of my sisters, friends and extended family and traveling back home to Texas, well lets just say that its lovely to be back in my studio tonight and I am immensely enjoying the silence.

I was hoping for a bit of a white Christmas while back in the Northeast, but it wasn't in the cards.  I did however, get to hang out with some of my favorite people, see a few new movies and even go wedding dress shopping on my last (more on that later!).

I hope your holidays have been just as wonderful...

 Posted by at 6:17 pm  Tagged with: , ,

That magical time of year…

 daily muse, holiday, inspiration  2 Responses »
Dec 192011
 

AmberLights
I am kind of in shock that Christmas is less than a week away.  Deep breaths.  We fly to NY on Thursday, so I have to be all set and packed by then.  The Christmas shopping is done (thank goodness!) accomplished in one crazy afternoon dashing in the rain to local shops, and the gifts have started to get packed up and shipped off to nieces nephews and other family.  Cookies have been made, and ahem...mostly eaten.  I even made a twinkle tree.  The last show of the year of the year is now behind me and the studio is calming down.  We're officially in the home stretch here people!

ps...Manic Trout is still shipping in time for Christmas!  Browse the Gift Guide for awesome ideas ;)

 Posted by at 12:00 pm  Tagged with: ,

How to find the perfect gift for your favorite ladies

 holiday, jewelry  Comments Off
Dec 062011
 

GiftGuide2011Are you struggling to figure out the perfect pretty for the favorite ladies in your life? Well the Manic Trout Gift Guide can help you find the gifts that every girl on your list will cherish.

Now I'm not saying that you should always generalize and compartmentalize your loved ones, but when trying to buy a gift that she will adore and actually wear, you may need to figure out what kind of style she has.

  • Does she always look timeless, is impeccably dressed and polished and her home full of furnishings that never go out of style? Check out gifts for The Classic Dresser.
  • Is chrome a staple of her home, does she prefer clean lines to chaos...is simple her style? You should check out gifts for The Minimalist.
  • Is she happiest outside, is always ready to wander through the woods and wears all eco friendly fashions?  You should check out gifts for The Outdoor Type
  • Does she spend her spare time in thrift stores, fill her home with found treasures from a bygone era and love the thrill of the find? Check out gifts for The Vintage Lover.
  • Was Punky Brewster her style icon, is her closet filled with color and chaos and does she have a habit of using things for the opposite of what they were intended?  Check out gifts for The Quirky Type.
  • Does she have subscriptions to Vogue in several languages, is her closet more up to date than her date book and can she name every model on the runway?  Check out gifts for a Fashionista.

Hope this helps with your Holiday Shopping...and ps...it's ok to buy for you too!

 Posted by at 2:58 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Recently in Instagram

 Austin, family, faye, holiday, life of a designer, OhThePlacesI'veBeen  Comments Off
Dec 032011
 

What a week.  I think my hard drive crashing was number three on my list of most stressful moments in the life of Manic Trout, coming in behind two floods...both causing my studio to be evacuated and one forcing me to move and the being a move of 2000 miles and having to keep my studio n a pod for a month.  Thankfully I now have a new hard drive and as I back up weekly, I only lost a small amount of work.

While transferring photos from my phone this morning, I realized it been quite some time since I posted instagram photos.  Speaking of instagram, have you seen followgram yet?  You can access your instagram account from your mac, its awesome!

Anyway, here is what I have been up to the past week or so...

InstagramDec03_2011_01On the boat in South Padre on the Thanksgiving Moring

InstagramDec03_2011_02Faye who is exhausted after her first walk on a beach.  There was a plethora of washed up jellyfish and fish carcasses that day to cause utter joy and excitement.  All in all, a successful adventure.

InstagramDec03_2011_03A kite boarder setting up on the flats.

InstagramDec03_2011_04We had to stop at the tourist trap on the way off the island to photo the dinosaurs and other creatures...I personally liked the shark the best.

InstagramDec03_2011_05A pit stop for a big bag of pineapple oranges on the road home...so happy we did, yummy!!

InstagramDec03_2011_06When it gets down into the low 40's in Austin, the outdoor bars are still open as usual, so everyone is out on 6th street in parkas and scarves...still hanging around outside...freezing cold but reluctant to go inside...me included!

InstagramDec03_2011_07Faye and I had a lot of cuddle time this week while my computer was gone.

InstagramDec03_2011_08Part of the Manic Trout tent at Austin's First Thursday this month, I love doing outdoor night shows in December...we're sure not in NY anymore!

InstagramDec03_2011_09Adam and I had date night last night...burgers at Docs on Congress, an unexpected stop at the Big Top Candy Shop and then we were off to see Jack and Jill (the new Adam Sandler flick)...it was the perfect date and so much fun!

ps...I am manictrout on instagram!

 Posted by at 4:13 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,

The shortest week of the year…

 daily muse, family, holiday, inspiration  2 Responses »
Nov 222011
 

BlossomsSnow
I am hoping I'll have a chance to pop back in here in the next few days, but there is a pretty big chance that I will be mia until next Monday.  Adam has been away for what seems like forever but had really only been a tad over three weeks.  Funny, when we lived 2000 miles apart that was the shortest we were ever apart, but now it feels like forever.  Well he finally will be coming home just in time to load up both of our cars with Faye and 5 of our friends for the 6 hour drive to Adam's parents home in South Padre.  You can image the scene the Holiday is going to be when there are 7 of us rolling up to an already full house.  Needless to say, I may be in the midst of family time and unable to work that much...then again it may be the perfect excuse for some alone time.

So just in case, have a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving!

 Posted by at 2:07 pm  Tagged with: ,

Two Super Heros are let loose on 6th Street

 Austin, holiday  Comments Off
Nov 012011
 

The costumes were a hit! We had a great time and it was INSANE on 6th street.  I thought as it was Monday it would be quieter then the weekend, but WOW.  The streets were packed, and it was fantastic eye candy!  We were asked to join in many photos, and I even managed to get one snapped myself.

Halloween2011_05

Ready to save the world!

Halloween2011_06

Spidey's getting frisky!

Halloween2011_07

Spiderman is ready for action!

Halloween2011_08

He even planks in costume

Halloween2011_09

Just a bunch of Super Heros on 6th Street

Halloween2011_10

Look, there's 2!!!

Halloween2011_11

Tati was the best Prince EVER and finished the night on the Jackalope!

How was your Halloween?

 Posted by at 2:42 pm  Tagged with: , ,
 Older Entries
© 2012 Manic Trout Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha