Its odd to celebrate spring in Austin when in reality, we have like 8 weeks of "cold" weather and those cold days alternate with pleasantness. By February, we are on our way to 70 degree days and by the time March 20th rolls around, its basically what the North East would call Summer here. At this time of year, I forget what time of year it is and continuously think its May, its all kind of confusing to my brain still. I therefore have to pay special attention to the earlier blossoming of trees and flowers than I'm used to and realized today that now my favorite time of year coincides with my birthday (tomorrow!).
While checking out what I thought was a Magnolia tree the other day, I noticed little citrus fruits had appeared and thought we perhaps had lemon trees all over our back yard. I however was corrected yesterday by my neighbor and was delighted to hear that they were kumquat trees! I actually love kumquats and am now obsessed with figuring out the correct time for harvest...I'm assuming it will be over the next 4 days while we're in Florida.
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)
At the flates on South Padre this past Thanksgiving**
I keep talking about how much change happened in 2011 but this being only the 2nd day of 2012, I already have to declare that 2011 had NOTHING on 2012! The wedding planning is starting to move full speed ahead and today we...ready for it...looked at the first two houses in our quest for a home!! I'm kind of terrified, I'll admit it...so much change...and soooo much commitment...but I'm dealing rather well with it all.
Speaking of commitment, Adam and I finally started our blog, . It has opened to rave reviews and if you want to know what all the fuss is about, you'll just have to yourself!
**One of my goals for the year is to use my own photos (or photos taken for me) in the blog, except for of course the daily inspiration...so you get look forward to many random shots...ha!
I have had to resist the urge to curl up in a ball and go to sleep for about every second of the past few days. Before I moved to Austin I kept telling people that I would have a day job again because when I don't I tend to spiral into pits of depression when I hole up in my studio alone for too many days on end and I need to force myself to get out and do things. But then I got here and had a chance to really focus on Manic Trout and taking it to the next level. Which is awesome...until I start to spiral. Ugh. I have a ton to do though to get ready for the holiday season...do you realize how close Christmas is??? Yeah, we won't go there right now.
Right now I am focusing on getting inventory to at least a normal level and making sure all my ducks are in a row. And Advertising. I hate creating Ads. In the past, I have had others do a few for me...but I have a bit of an advertising background and the skills to do it...and all the stuff is right in front of me...so I'm doing it. But I don't like it. This may be some of the spiral inducing matter in my life right now. Must. Resist. Curling. Into. Ball.
On a random side note...I have the heat on, in TEXAS! It feels so indulgent! It also was about 55 in my apartment when I got up this morning and that is no bueno! Its kind of amusing how heat works here in the south...it comes out of the ceiling vents...which are put there to make cooling the place down a quick task, but let me tell you, I am so happy that I ignored the scoffs and brought my ll bean sheep skin "wicked good slippers" with me, because the bare floors are FREEZING here when its cold (ahem, under 65 out)! Brrrrrrr.
The last two days have been finally feeling like fall here in Austin...I am wearing a SWEATER!! I was a bit sad when we came back from the cool temps of Colorado last week and it was down right hot here. I also got sick...which is now not so bad as the weather plummeted to 50 and I'm sure I would have ended up sick anyway. At least this way I'm already halfway over it. and rambling. So anyway...I'm all excited about fall and sweaters, slippers...blankets on the couch and Thea texts me a photo of her front yard covered in snow. Which was when I realized that I never get to see the first snow of the year fall on the leaves and all of that magical and beautiful stuff anymore. I was sad. However, this morning I woke up to a text from my mom. It snowed in Millbrook last night. A month earlier then normal. They are expecting an ice storm this weekend...
Wow, its amazing how quickly you can get over missing something! AND I can run around outside nice in toasty in a sweater.
I figure if I can't experience fall, I will at least live it though the blog...because I can.
I have a crazy busy next few days ahead of me, but filled with so many fun things that I'm all antsy with anticipation. Tomorrow I am participating in Austins First Thursday, which I think is basically a bug party on South Congress where all the restaurants, shops, and locals pour out into the streets the first Thursday of each month and hang out. If you're in the area, I have been approved to be in the Gibson Street Artists Market (by the dogs) so come by and visit!!
Friday I have a lunch meeting for a new project I am working on and then coffee with a new friend, squee!!
Saturday, Adam and I are off to South Padre to visit his parents and on Sunday, my sister Gillian arrives in South Padre too!!! I'm so excited to see her, it's such a change to go from seeing family all the time to only every few months, if that. I can't wait!!!
After living in the Hudson Valley of NY for most of my life I have been very spoiled by vibrant changes in the scenery with the seasons. I loved every Spring and Fall and couldn't wait for their arrival. And now I live in Central Texas. Fall doesn't have quite the same effect here...its 95 degrees out right now. No sweaters, no red orange yellow green leaves. Sad. Have the leaves started changing yet in the North East?
Ok, I cheated...there's a photo from last week too...but I thought it important to include Fashion Week and I think I missed a week? Well, with Adams move this past weekend things were a bit wonky. On a related note, one week from tomorrow and my apartment will finally be ready!! It was HOT this week...over 110 on more than one day, a few days we gave up by mid afternoon and headed off to watering holes...it seemed the only sane thing to do!
Setting up for the Austin Fashion Week Jewelry Showcase at the Driskill
The most magical place on earth...it houses beer, wine, liquor AND cheese!!!
with Tati at the Secret Beach
Arghhhhhh...the gnats have arrived!!!
The guys do the cooking...good thing, or I'd starve
Finally able to sit down each day and get to work again. Oh how I missed it! I'm sure chaos will ensue once again when I move into the apartment on the 10th, but until then it feels great to be back on some sort of work schedule. The rest of my life...upside down. But as I learned this year in yoga, sometimes going upside down it the best thing I can do to clear my head.
I am finally getting the recap together from Fashion Week. As my apartment will not be ready until September 10th, I have been staying with Adam...and he moved this past weekend. Chaos is beyond what my life has been.
I however am finally enjoying a few quiet hours of solitude and catching up as much as I can. So I can now share how the Jewelry Showcase went! Note that I sadly took very few photos that night as it was crazy busy...I'm pretty bummed about that...but what can you do.
I was invited about a month ago to be part of the Jewelry Showcase during Austin Fashion Week, the showcase is a curated event of the best 16 or so designers from around the country. I was BEYOND nervous leading up to the event and to make my stress levels soar, my moving pod had not arrived and I had no display. I spent the few days before scrambling around at Ikea, Home Depot and Michaels trying to gather materials to build a new presentation. I had no idea how it would look or if it would even work when set up. Without the pod, I also had nothing to wear. Adam being the awesome boyfriend that he is, declared that he wanted to buy me a new dress for that night so Holly and I set off on a mission that morning which took us to 7 stores before we found a dress that fit right, but we did it!
The event was at the in Austin, a historic and gorgeous back drop for the show. We had the second floor, the center of which was the runway and podium and then there were two rooms off of it where the jewelry designers were all set up. When you walked into the room I was in, Manic Trout was the first thing you saw...I thought that was pretty awesome.
As you can see, I was pretty happy with how the display turned out...not bad for starting from scratch...I did miss my glass blocks though.
Those images are Manic Trout in the press...it looked impressive shown all at once and I think a better display than the usual binders that I had been using. The whole night was a whirlwind of new faces and the fashion elite of Austin. Business cards were changing hands in a blur and the swarm of press and the fashion elite was intoxicating. At one point during the evening I was even interviewed for the CW Austin!
Being set up around the room was only the tip of the iceberg though...the highlight of the event (and the part that made me want to throw up when I thought about it) was the presentation part of the evening. Each designer had 3-5 minutes to give a speech and 4 models to show jewelry on. I was editing my speech and trying to mentally slow myself down up until the last second I got up on that stage.
It went well...although the lights went off in the middle for no reason and it caused me to stumble over my words for a second, but both the lights and my speaking ability quickly recovered! I finished up with..."I am excited to share that even though at the moment my life is trapped somewhere in transit inside of a moving container, as of this week, Manic Trout officially calls Austin, Texas home!" which received such a loud applause and shouts from the audience that the co-coordinator asked me when I stepped down and returned back stage what I said to receive the loudest applause of the night. It felt good.
