San Antonio Trip :: Part 2!

After a lovely lunch at McAllister's Deli and a spur of the moment shopping trip to this sweet modern furniture/decor store "Motif Studio," Scott and I jumped in the truck and headed homeward.

On the way home from San Antonio, we most definitely made a stop in Fredericksburg to do a little walkin' and shoppin'...not that we could actually buy anything...or at least not anything I wanted! :) I fell in love with this little antique side table/mini dresser, but check out the price. It was also pretty much the least expensive item in the store, so just imagine the price of the other lovely things.
We also stepped into this anthropologie-like store called "Root." It was so inspiring and fun (and girly...Scott was a good sport), but alas, expensive.Then we got photo happy and started snapping away. I personally love this one. You can see in the lower right hand corner the date the building was built. 1889. Cool!I wanted to do a little photo collection, but couldn't figure out what to do...until we had passed store after store with adorable "Open" signs! So here you have it, a sampling of the "Open" collection. So as not to wear you out with too many photos, I've hand selected my favorites. :)

When people say they "hand selected" something, you know it's going to be good. :)

This trip was just what I needed. Fun and relaxing, with the most awesome family ever!

Have a lovely day!

San Antonio Trip!

Hi friends! Last Thursday I headed out of town with Scott to visit his oldest brother's family+his twin brother in San Antonio. What fun we had!! We spent Thursday swimming with all the family at the neighborhood "Rec Center" (It was gigantic! Even had a lazy river...and we took full advantage of that!). Since Scott's oldest brother has 2 kiddos, we played pool games that I haven't played in years! Diving for sticks, the color-dunking game, handstand contests, Marco Polo, racing, tag, and general horseplay :) It was a bbbblast! Swimming has got to be one of my favorite activities ever! We loved it so much that we actually all went to the pool every day of our visit!! Anyway, after being thoroughly waterlogged, we headed back to their lovely house and cooked out for dinner.

I had my two cameras with me, so Scott and I each had our fill of photo-taking...thus the extravagantly long photo post :) Here we are just lounging around at the house.

This is Scott's nephew, Heston, playing Playstation!


Here's Noah, Scott's other nephew.

Friday, we all went to the Alamo and Riverwalk (and we got to do the fun boat tour!). Check out how cool the Alamo is!!

Kidding! :) Here's a real one...

We wanted a cool jumping picture, but it took a few tries.

We finally got one!

This is Scott's twin brother and his wife. I got a little hungry on the Riverwalk... Noah was contemplating. That green grass was just so inviting! How could anyone say no?!

Saturday night, Scott and I went to the Riverwalk again, but this time it was just the two of us. It's such a different experience at night! Gorgeous! All the lights reflecting off the water were mesmerizing. We found a sweet little table at a deck restaurant upstairs (so there weren't tons of people walking around) and enjoyed the night talking, laughing, and taking photos. I was amazed at how well my camera did in such poor lighting conditions! My favorite story of the night though, was how we got shivved at this one restaurant. We put our name on the list, waited and waited, watched people walk up and get tables, and finally left, moving on to a restaurant where they really care about people.

:)

By the way, "shivved" as defined by the urban dictionary means "to be stabbed with a piercing instrument, like a screwdriver." :) What an amazing word.

We wandered into this hotel lobby with the COOLEST furniture around!
What a great night!! But wait! There's more. Watch for Part two, coming just as soon as I can get the photos loaded :)

Things that make a Life good...

Things that make a Summer good...

• 1. Fourth of July plans: Plan a little trip to float a river with friends the weekend before. The day of, head to the pool and then cook out on the back porch. Have a contest to see who can jump into the pool the craziest or who can get the most dive sticks. Take pictures!


• 2. A concert: Buy tickets in advance to someone you're dying to see. Bring snacks and a camera.


• 3. Potted plants: Have at least one potted plant to take care of and to make your porch happy.


• 4. Re-arranged bedroom: Freshen up your bedroom by re-arranging! New is good!


• 5. New Movies: Plan on going to see all the big summer blockbusters.


• 6. Weddings: Take advantage of the opportunity to dress up, dance, and see old friends!


• 7. Walking at dusk: It's the best part of a summer day, so make sure you are not to be found indoors! Go walk through ACU. Who knows? You might even find a sprinkler or two to run through.

Things that make an Autumn good...

• 1. Office Marathon: Host a party on a business casual Friday to watch the new season of the Office, out on DVD.


• 2. The Balloon Fest: Head over to Rose Park and enjoy the sounds, sights, and eats.


• 3. A Photo Day Trip: Travel a little bit to get photos of the gorgeous trees changing colors.


• 4. School/Church activities: Everything is back in session, so take advantage of them!


• 5. Local Music: All the locals are back so keep your eyes out for their upcoming shows.

Things that make a Tuesday morning good...

...a starbucks date at 8:09 AM. :) Happy Tuesday!

P.S. Some of you may know that my car (new 4runner, named Simon!) was acting funny for a little bit. Well, I dropped him off at "Car Camp" on last wednesday...aka the Toyota Repair Shop, and he got a brand new transmission. What!? Yes, you read that right. Three month old car...brand new transmission. So weird! But it was under warranty and all, so I didn't have to pay for it. Anyway, he's doing fine now!

P.S.S. I have a trip to San Antonio to blog next! Lots of photos! Be excited! :)

Can't Leave It Behind!

Well, hi friends! Long story short: I tried to ditch this blog to move on to bigger and better (and more professional) things, but I'm back! I've missed having a personal blog...so here it is again! Now that I have friends moving off and doing great things in the world, I want to keep up with them, and let them keep up with me! I'll still have my photography blog but this will be my personal, friends & family only blog! :)


**So since I've been gone for sooo long, I figured I'd do a little update for ya:**


Wearing: My navy "boat shoes"
Listening to: This new song by Fridge that I put on my blog. I love it!
Eating: A Jolly Rancher...haven't had one of these since 4th grade.
Photoshopping: Abigail's shoot
Loving: The summer sun.
Excited About: Going to Hobby Lobby in an hour.
Reading: my eMail :)
Feeling: Happy that I started my personal blog up again (Nerd? Yes.)
New Hot Spot: Um...does San Antonio count? I was there Thursday-Sunday and just really want to go back.
Laughing at: www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com Go there and be amazed at the satirical wit :)
Feeling thankful for: The Lord putting amazing friends and family in my life. Seriously, these friends of mine...incredible people.

Update your bookmarks...I've got a new blog! www.carolinejoyphoto.blogspot.com

Man, well, wow...several big things have been happening in my life!

First of all, I am officially finished with school this semester! YAY! Well, until Summer school starts that is. :)

Second of all, my car engine blew up on Thursday...not pleasant, but my lil car had seen it's day. Want to know some Caroline trivia? I've had that car since a few days after I turned 16. I just loved it! Wanna know more? I named it Waldo so that I could go out into a parking lot and say, "Where's Waldo?!" Cheesy, I know. Come on, I was in High School :)

So, as unexpected and stressful as the car blow-up was the day it happened (last Thursday), I've been excited because I've been getting ready to get another vehicle. And actually...I BOUGHT IT TODAY! But I can't tell you what it is yet because I have to surprise some particular friends and family members in person. But I'm EXCITED! Once everyone knows, I'll let you know!

And here's the final bit of exciting news (as the post title suggests)! It is just like the last bit of news--a lot of excitement, but with a bit of loss too. I am proud to announce the launch of my NEW BLOG! I'll miss this blog dearly, but this NEW blog is my official CarolineJoy Photography blog! Oh boy! Now, honestly, I'm not finalized on the design yet, so let me know what you think. I may be changing the look around a bit in the next few days so leave me comments to let me know which one you like best! And update your bookmarks! :)

www.carolinejoyphoto.blogspot.com

So here's to the last post on this dear wonderful blog. I've loved every minute of it! Cheers!

Secondhand Style

I had a bit of free time yesterday and, as a vintage junkie, I couldn't resist doing a little thrift store shopping. I found a retro-licious 4 dollar lamp that had tons of potential! It just needed a little love. Check out it's poor condition before...

The word "hideous" comes to mind. :)
But look at it now! Chic, Posh, Elegant. All it needed was a little white spray paint lovin'!

Ahhh-mazing! :)