This is my Manic Trout booth...aka my home for most of this week.
WORKING ON: Inventory for my holiday sale on which starts tomorrow and lasts one week. (and yes purchases will arrive in time for Christmas), the plethora of shows this week and getting orders out!
THINKING ABOUT: January...ahhhhh, January.
ANTICIPATING: The which I am doing this weekend, and the great press coming in Jan/Feb. I want to share more about the press, but I don't want to jinx it!
LISTENING TO: Still hooked on the Bird and The Bee station on Pandora.
EATING: A lot of mini cupcakes from Hey Cupcake (Adam has been bringing them to me instead of flowers) and waaaaaaaaay too much candy.
THANKFUL FOR: My family coming to me for Christmas this year so I don't have to travel at the end of this crazy month.
PLANNING FOR: Our cookie/ugly sweater party next weekend and my family coming the week after.
READING: Lucky Everyday by Bapsy Jaine...completely absorbing and perfect for my current state of mind.
WATCHING: In Plain Sight on Netflix. Sadly only 3 seasons and I'm almost done. It's gotten me through a whole lot of production this week.
It's been so log since I did a Sum it post! It's about time, but I feel pretty confident in stating that I am getting back into a schedule after the wedding/moving chaos...even in the midst of holiday madness, I'm in a groove. Hooray for that...I love a good schedule. So now that lifes back to "normal", here's what I've been up this week...
WORKING ON: Stock for Holiday shows and markets and my sneakpeeq holiday sale, which debuts on Dec 8th!
THINKING ABOUT: The upcoming year and what my business and personal goals are. I'm excited about plans that will have me paying extra attention to the blog and am preparing for it by setting up a fb page for Her Daily Muse. If you'd care to "like" it, you may do so !
ANTICIPATING: The spring line coming together...I'm starting to get really excited about it! I even met with my fav photographer today to plan the product shots, which is giving me an extra push of motivation.
LISTENING TO: A Pandora station based on The Bird and The Bee, it's pretty amazing and great to work to.
EATING: Too much. Dinners out, breakfast out, mini cupcakes from Hey Cupcake and those amazingly soft cookies from the bakery section of the grocery store that I (very late to the game)I discovered last spring (yes, thats one in the photo above), beware...they're highly addictive!
THANKFUL FOR: So many wonderful friends whom I've met in Austin...I love you guys!
PLANNING FOR: My mom and three sisters spending Christmas with me here in Austin, squeeeeeee!!!!
READING: The House of Peine by Sarah-Kate Lynch, oddly the second book in a row about France.
WATCHING: Breaking Bad on Netflix in my studio and when I catch it, Duck Dynasty because it reminds me of hanging out in the guides room at Tamarack.
WORKING ON: Getting ready for another sneakpeeq sale on Oct 3rd. Its a great motivator as I do them every 6-8 weeks and I have a very short lead time before each sale. Which means I work like a maniac to prep and that mania usually sticks with me for a week or so after.
THINKING ABOUT: How much I miss the colors of Autumn in the Hudson Valley. *Sigh* the only thing I miss about the North East.
ANTICIPATING: Um yeah, still dreading moving....still have not found a place...still have not begun packing.
LISTENING TO: The same mix of 30 songs in iTunes over and over again. I think I listing to .00002% of the music I have in there.
EATING: Trying to figure out how to prepare oatmeal and not be hungry 5 minutes after I'm finished. Adding, chopped almonds, honey and a chopped apple seemed to work...although as you can see above, I should have used a bigger bowl.
THANKFUL FOR: Adam coming back home on Monday after a loooooong summer apart.
PLANNING FOR: Tomorrow's market was cancelled due to the crazy forecast, so I have been given the gift of time...many ideas on how to use it...all of them involve the studio.
READING: My Life in France by Julia Child, with Alex Prud'Homme. I'm really enjoying it, if you're a fan of hers I highly recommend it.
WATCHING: Last night I watched the season premier of Grey's Anatomy, which is extra special this season as the wardrobe stylist bought 4 critters from Manic Trout this summer for the show!! I however think they had started filming when she did, so I doubt they will appear for awhile.
WORKING ON: Both the Spring 2013 and Holiday Collections...it's BUSY here in the studio! Also getting ready to launch a new secret project that I'm doing with .
THINKING ABOUT: How I will juggle a crazy amount of work, Adam coming back home, moving and a wedding over the next three months.
ANTICIPATING: The craziness of the upcoming holiday season and the results of having signed a new publicist, after a year of not having one since I left NY.
LISTENING TO: At this very moment...How Do You Like Me Know by The Heavy.
EATING: My consumption of apples has gotten out of control...as in at least two a day. Only Fuji's...they're my all time fav.
THANKFUL FOR: Being able to work full time on Manic Trout.
PLANNING FOR: You would be overwhelmed if I shared the list.
READING: , which if you know me you'd understand that it is both perfect and dangerous for me to read such a book as the author has managed to eat candy every single of his life. Jealous.
WATCHING: Grey's Anatomy season 8 on Netflix and getting ready to watch season 9 on TV at the end of the month because Manic Trout jewelry will be on it....woo hoo!! ps...how is possible that each season makes me cry harder than the last???
Dinner out with friends...we were waiting for them and decided to have a photo shoot
We tried the Bone Marrow at dinner
Who says Fruit By The Foot is for kids? (or that Adam isn't a kid?)
One of my favorite Manic Trout Necklaces...The Little Secrets Necklace
I started creating Adams "Man Space" as he has moved in with me
To deal with insane population growth, Austin keeps building the roads up higher and higher
It's so easy to get cupcakes in this town that I had time to walk up to the Hey Cupcake trailor and score this beauty while Adam was at the bank
I realized this week that I am walking distance from both Hey Cupcake and Big Top Candy Shop. Kinda scary as I ordered my wedding gown already and have to fit into that size. No yummies unless I walk there!
(want to follow me on instagram? I'm: @manictrout)
I'm not really a breakfast person. I would prefer to just have a cup of coffee, which I do usually have first...but I need to eat something within the first hour I'm awake or I get all shaky. The dilemma is what can I eat that's small, gives me energy and is quick to make? For years I would make the same breakfast everyday for a few months and then get bored and move on the the next. I however read recently that it's better for you to mix it up and not repeat the same food multiple days in a row. So recently I have been alternating a Wasa cracker with natural chunky peanut butter and local honey with a small bowl of cereal of almond milk. Then this week I was craving egg salad so I hard boiled a bunch off eggs and kept a few in the fridge. Now my new favorite thing is 2 hard boiled eggs with a sprinkle of Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt (the BEST stuff on earth!) So yummy! But I 'm feeling like I want a new mini meal to throw in the mix...any suggestions?
It has been months and months since I have enjoyed scrumptiously yummy Macarons. That is just cruel to treat myself that way! I did a bit of sleuthing of where to find the best Macarons in Austin and have narrowed in down to two places: on South Lamar and on South Congress (I live in South Austin, 78704 so my search was a bit location biased for that reason.)
Have any of you been to either eatery or have any other recommendations of where to get the yummiest Macarons? I think tomorrow afternoon I'll take a field trip and fill my craving...I can't wait!
The round up is not as adventurous this time...November and December are my biggest months of the year for Manic Trout, so I work 15 hour days almost entirely from November 1st until December 22nd. I try to take breaks for a fun things, but it happens infrequently, so most of my photos will most likely be in the studio for the next two months...or of food...as its one of the few things I break for....well if that's not the worst into ever, I don't know what is!
A few minutes of sky gazing at the October sky.
From our special "hair cut edition/new outfits that we bought together" date night at . We absolutely do not look like the normal versions of Adam & Sierra here. What is up with Adam's hair? Speaking of hair, I look like a completely different person with straight hair. Truth be told, with the sequined dress, gold shoes and straight hair, I look more like my sister Gillian then like me...as she said...weird.
I am OBSESSED with this dish at I have no exactly what it is...but I love it and always get it amped up to spice level 3...although I feel 4 coming along soon.
I wish more then anything that I could wear my Wonder Woman costume every single day of the year. If you missed it, I did a whole post on Halloween and one on just the costumes...hmm, obsessed much?? Oh and ps...we own these bad ass costumes, so if you think our super powers are needed on a random day, just give the word!
I was a bit lazy when I made the samples for the new and only sewed two each of the scarves for each Which meant I had a daunting pile of cut up silk glaring at me in the studio for about month before I finally spent two days machine sewing the tubes, flipping them inside out and hand sewing the ends. It was not a task I looked forward to, but one that I am SO HAPPY is done. Here they are waiting to be hand sewn.
I collect random pretty bowls and eat almost everything out us usually 3 at a time. This one is my current favorite. Let me share that even after the move where I got rid of boxes full of dishes, I still have three full sets and countless random others. I have a problem with dishware. The contents are my all time favorite snack. My mom asked yesterday on FB what it was. I almost fell out of my chair when I read it as its been my favorite snack for oh, I'd say 33 years and she was the one who introduced it to me at the tender age of 1 (is that when kids eat solids?). In my world apples and peanut butter = awesome.
New earrings! I have been obsessed with Wonder Woman my entire life. Big shocker there. My sister Holly has given me WW gifts over the years for Christmas, and I have quite the collection! This beauty is a Burger King cup from the 80's and I received it just last year. WW has quite the sassy booty here, doesn't she?
ok, that was all much wordier then intended...see, I knew I should be writing in the evenings!
