Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

I hope y’all had a great Independence Day! The majority of the day, I unpacked and organized my office. The office room is big so I’m using it as a craft room too. For dinner I went to my parent’s house for BBQ. My mom and I spent the evening working on a project for my bedroom. I’ll post about it this week, it’s cute! Don't forget to enter my summer giveaway!

I have several “Thank You” posts I need to catch up on. The Saturday before I left Houston, I had a “Going Away” dinner with Houston friends, Lindsay and Jana. They brought gifts; I was not expecting gifts! Thank you so much Lindsay and Jana. You didn’t need to bring gifts, just getting together is always perfect for me but I really appreciate it.

Gift from Jana~ A cute plate and cup with the perfect phrase! She also gave me a very generous gift card to Pottery Barn. Thank you!

Gift from Lindsay~ First season of Big Love, a picture frame with a Bible verse, and Cupcake Wine. She also gave me Alamo cookies and Margarita sours in honor of my move to San Antonio. I ate them so no photo available.

Angela at Sweet Tea Diaries surprised me this week with a little housewarming gift. I was shocked when I had a package in the mailbox. She also sent a Happy July 4th card. She's so sweet!

Pretty Packaging

A Strawberry Wall Flower from Bath and Body Works! Thank you so much, Miss Sweet Tea. I love it. I plugged it into the kitchen outlet. Every time I walk in the house I can smell it. Yumm... I love BBW, I used to work there. :)

John C. (Lindsay’s husband) helped me SO much during the moving process. Sometimes John C. leaves comments; I think he’s the only guy who reads my blog! Thanks, John. John C. has always been such a good friend and so helpful. Several years ago, I hosted a birthday party for Jana at my apt. John volunteered to be our personal chef for the evening (he’s really good). He brought every ingredient you can imagine for stir fry, even tofu. We each went into the kitchen and picked our ingredients. John C. made everyone their own dish and he washed the dishes. That night he cleaned my disgusting blender. I was so thankful; it was covered in sticky margarita yuck. He also made all the food for Jana’s lingerie shower last fall and he’s the guy who makes us the delicious Frozen Hot Chocolate! John C’s Frozen Hot Chocolate is much better than Serendipity in NYC, I promise.



John C. helped me take down thousands of curtain rods and 2 wall units used for clothes in my closet room. Oh and Lindsay helped too, thank you! John C. helped me paint my pink room to tan. He brought boxes from their attic, old sheets to wrap glass, a drill, and packing paper. John C. gave me good advice. For example I was going to wait to pack several things at the last minute. John told me, “That is going to take you longer than you think. You should do it tonight.” He was so right! Also, I was going to trash the wall unit I used in my closet room. John suggested I bring in San Antonio and told me I might end up needing it. Again, he was right. I desperately needed shelves in the closet in my office. The wall unit from Houston was perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you, John C. I’m sending you a little surprise this week. Don’t worry it’s not stationery, pink, or fluffy.

Shelves from HOU. I almost threw them out!

John C. and Lindsay dropped by on moving day to bring my brother and me kolaches (a HOU favorite). Thank you, again. That was so sweet and thoughtful. As I was leaving HOU that morning, I followed Lindsay and John to Katy (a burb on the way out of HOU to SAT). I had one last errand to run before I left town, drop off my DVR. Hmm... the DVR was the last thing to go, I must keep my priorities straight, right? Anyway, Lindsay and John C. stopped at the cable store to say goodbye. I cried! I really couldn’t have done everything without their help and support. Thank You!

Last but not least, I want to thank my brother Jarrett. (I feel like I’m giving an Oscar speech) I’ve said this before, Jarrett is an amazing person! He is the most unselfish guy I’ve ever met. Jarr will do anything to help anyone. He’s kind, he has a huge heart, he’s positive, he’s compassionate, and he’s wise. Jarr helped me find the loaders and un-loaders in HOU and in SAT. Jarr researched and found the best deal on a moving truck. He flew from Nebraska to HOU (after helping my sis and brother-in-law move). He drove the moving truck from HOU to SAT (he lives in Dallas). Our un-loaders in SAT weren’t as good as the HOU loaders. It was an extremely HOT day but Jarr was outside helping the movers, even though we were paying them a flat fee and not by the hour. Our family is so blessed to have such an amazing brother, son, and grandson. I’ve always said one of the reasons it’s hard for me to find a good guy is because I compare them to the men in my life. Thank you, Jarrett. I love you!

Jarrett sporting my Kodak hat. I'm not lying, I was given this hat to WEAR when I volunteered at our booth at the ABQ Balloon Fiesta. Didn't happen!

Summer Giveaway

Check out the adorable moving announcements Danielle at The Design Girl Studio custom designed for my big move to San Antonio. I absolutely LOVE them and the moving announcements are available for anyone to purchase at The Design Girl Studio.

I don't really live on Main Street :)

I ‘m a big fan of The Design Girl’s work... her blog designs, freebies, stationery, and most recently she’s added pre-made blog templates to her studio. The pre-made blog templates are a great way to have a cute blog design for a great price. Right now they’re on sale for $25 and The Design Girl is giving away 1 pre-made blog template every week in July.

In honor of my move to San Antonio and the many wonderful, supportive friends I’ve met through blogger, I’m hosting a giveaway. I’m teaming up with the Design Girl and and the winner will receive a personalized summer stationery set.

I’m changing the rules a bit. To enter you must be a follower of my blog. Leave one comment letting me know you're a follower or just became a follower and let me know which summer stationery design is your favorite. The winner will be announced on July 8th.

Aren't they cute?

The Nebraska Move

I moved to San Antonio because my sister and brother-in-law, Jenn and Ryan, moved to Omaha, Nebraska for a year. I'm renting their townhouse. I thought it would fitting to show photos from Jenn and Ryan's move too!

Jenn called to say they are loving Omaha. Who knew??? She said the weather is amazing. Saturday morning it was 67 degrees. What? That's December in Texas. They live in walking distance to many shops, restaurants, and a great farmer's market. I think I moved to the wrong city on Saturday. :)

Ryan and Jarrett on the way to Omaha

This is SO my family

They arrive in NE

Jenn and my Niece, Daisy

Their New Home

Daisy, chillin' in an HEB reusable bag (Republicans care about the environment too), at the Omaha Farmer's Market

I Made It to San Antonio

Margarita from La Fogata in San Antonio

We made it to San Antonio on Saturday. My Houston loaders were amazing. They were so fast! It made me realize the last time I moved, my hired help was terrible. It took them all day, morning until midnight. Jarrett and I left Houston at 10:15 AM. I cried. My San Antonio un-loaders weren't as good but it's done.

Oh my~ I'm sitting in the biggest mess of boxes right now. I'm overwhelmed. I have so many things I want to blog about right now but I need to unpack. Unpacking is definitely harder than packing.

I'll be back to myself soon and I'm still planning on a having giveaway at the end of week.

My Old Apt~ So empty!

Good-Bye

Today I'm moving from Houston to San Antonio.

New Day by Tamar

Before the light I found the dark
Before tonight I fell apart
Frozen up I´ve realized that something's gotta change

It took a crash to understand
Time kept slipping through my hands
I never used to know
The sun will shine after the rain

Say goodbye, say goodbye to the way I was before
Say hello, say hello to a new way
I was lost, but I found what I was looking for
Waking up, waking up to a new day
To a new day

I was sleeping in a twisted dream
Dying just to make believe
A pretty situation was far from where I was

But I´m not up for giving up
Lying down and out of luck
My mistakes are in the open and know
I´m finally coming clean

Say goodbye, say goodbye to the way I was before
Say hello, say hello to a new way
I was lost, but I found what I was looking for
Waking up, waking up to a new day

Cause everything, everything ends at the start
I´m healing and feeling all of my scars

Say goodbye, say goodbye to the way I was before
Say hello, say hello to a new way
I was lost, but I found what I was looking for
Waking up, waking up to a new day
To a new day [x2]

I was lost, but I found what I was looking for
Waking up, waking up to a new day
To a new day

Things I'll Miss About My Apt

I live in the top left apartment

Elberta? Have no idea what that's about but I think it's kinda cool.

I decided to take a short break from packing. I'm tired. I'm excited about moving and ready to get it over with. I'm going to miss many things about my current apartment.

I can't begin to tell you how many people have questioned where I live in Houston or made a comment about the safety of the area. I live (for one more day) in the Montrose area. I call it The Gayborhood. It's artsy, eclectic, old and I love it. Yes, I've seen homeless people digging through my trash can for diet coke cans but they're harmless. At least they're trying, right?

I love old buildings. They have so much character. Here's a few things I'll miss about my 1930's building...

Hotel Etiquette post coming next week and a possible giveaway.

Original Mailboxes

Hallway

Original Glass Door Knobs

Thick Crown Molding

I'm not sure what the orginal purpse of this cabinet was for in my kitchen. I've heard it was for the ironing board. I've used it for spices. I organized them in alphabetical order.

Dressing Room/Closet

Tall ceilings that require custom made curtains

Butler's Pantry

Fireplace

Odd~n~Ends

1. Who doesn't love a freebie? The Design Girl Studio is now offering freebies! Check out these cute desktop wallpapers and be sure to check The Design Girl Studio often. You never know what's coming next.

2. It’s miserably HOT. I’ll never understand why Texans complain about the 2 months of cold weather we get. How are y’all feeling now? :) Tuesday before I left Houston for Dallas, the temperature was supposed to hit 106 with the heat index. It cracks me up when people say Dallas is cooler than Houston. Today in Dallas the temp was supposed to hit 105 with the heat index. Whatever. The Houston news announced 8 “Cooling Centers” around the city. I think it’s a great idea for those who need to escape the heat and can’t afford to keep their homes cool. The extremely depressing part is the “Cooling Centers” will be open from June 22- Oct 2. Yes you heard it right, OCTOBER!

3. I thought of something funny today. In April I was visiting my parent’s church in San Antonio (San Antonio airport code=SAT). I told a few people I was 95% sure I was moving to SAT in June. One girl said, “Oh you’ll love it here. You don’t have to dress up.” Hmm…. Guess I’m not going to fit in. Here’s a little random fact, I have never owned a pair of sweatpants.