get your groupon...

so, I just heard about groupon at work today. Not sure if I'm just coming in late in the game or what, but this is such a fun idea. You go to the site here, pick your city and each day there is a featured deal. May be dance lessons, spa treatments, restaurant discounts, concerts, plays, etc... you only get the deal if enough people sign up for the day ie... good the the business because more people find out about them and good for us because we get good deals on goodies... anyways, check it out for yourself, i think you'll like it too.

Fanfarlo and Holiday joy...

i have the worse christmas decor envy right now. These pictures are from Katie (Katiedid) and her husband's adorable Brooklyn apartment. Such a beautiful simple idea, I'm going to steal it for next year shamelessly. I want to live at their house... seriously... be sure to also follow her link to see their decorations from last year, its actually inspiring me to tie branches to our walls and just leave them there forever.





I have been struggling to muster up some Christmas spirit this year because i'm working on Christmas day and all weekend. the joys of being the new kid at the office i guess. anyways, even though its been colder than usual for texas in december and we even had snow... i have not been feeling very festive, joyful or really excited about the big day. but I have found a few things so far this holiday season that are helping me to kick the "bah humbugs"...

1. New baby niece Reese... with middle name Anne... so of course i'm in love already...



2. Fanfarlo-not a holiday album, but lovely non the less
3. The occasional peppermint mocha
4. Being able to wear my new boots from Rome almost daily
5. Wrapping paper from mari-mi

Short update for now, hoping to get back into the swing of the blog for the new year... hopefully lots of change in store for the Booths in 2010... Happy Holidays! AB

Waiting for Corben...

Last weekend was spent in baby land with the girls as we helped Robin prepared for baby Corben's arrival, the first little bundle that we have will to our little group of women. We unpacked gifts, washed sheets and tiny outfits and tried to help put everything in its place before the big day. I loved getting to spend time with these girls that God has graciously put into my life. We have shared laughter and tears and have had our share of disagreements, but more than anything we have shared love, acceptance and encouragement. Now, we wait until the little man makes his debut and we rejoice in the gift and incredible miracle of making new life. Here's to a new chapter!

Treats from NYC!

Treats brought back from my sweet when he came home from this week's trip to the big apple! He also brought me a super cute top from H&M (he has way better style than me and attempts to keep me well dressed...). Anyways, I've been eyeing this adorable Oliver & S pattern called the Jump Rope dress for weeks now and ryan got me my very own copy from Purl in SoHo! Can't wait to try it out! Love love, AB

Phone blogging...

So I've been trying for maybe a year to wrap mind around blogging from my phone... How do I do it? Which app? Is there anything important enough to actually blog about from a phone? So, once again I'm giving it a go. If this little thing can't upload pictures that actually look like pictures then I'm finally calling it quits, but here goes one final test run...

Ps... Don't mind olive, she's pouting...

For Lauren...

This post is for Lauren... did you have a baby and not tell me? How could this child have not come from your womb?? love you.



P.S. For everyone else... this video nearly brought me to tears... yeah, the laughing kind... enjoy! AB

under the tuscan sun...

so if there is one thing that is good about my parents living abroad it is this... WE ARE GOING TO ITALY!!

We are going to see this...


and this...


and this...



all while carrying this and looking super cool and adventure-like...


In t-minus four week, ryan and I will fly from Houston to London to Rome to meet my parents for an Italian adventure through Tuscany, then back to Rome. Ryan has been traveling all over the world these past three years while I've been in graduate school, but most of the time, I have not been able to join. I'm super excited to get to travel together again, with the added bonus of getting to hang out with my Mom and Dad who are quite the adventurers themselves. My parents are actually totally showing us up because they are spending a week in Paris before we arrive to meet them in Rome. (I can feel the jealousy rising up... I miss my beloved Paris!) So until then, I'll be reading up on my Rick Steve's Europe through the Backdoor and Rome travel guides to wet my appetite for the things to come. If any of you have been to Italy and have any suggestions for "must-dos" or "must-see's" I'd love to hear them!

In other news, we had a whirlwind month in August with Mom being home for three weeks, baby showers, and work. We found out that Brian and Mary are having a little girl, to arrive in early December, and Ryan's sister Karla had a new baby boy named Charlie who we get to go meet in northern California this weekend! (he has red hair, and I'm already in love!) Both of these two new appearances plus a few friends with little ones of their own on the way, have given me a great excuse to attempt my first quilting projects. I'm starting slow, just small baby quilts with no piecing required, but I'm still completely intimidated by the whole process. Especially the binding of the edges. I'm now equipped with my very own self-healing OLFA cutting mat, rotary fabric cutter and ruler, but I'm not sure exactly how to use any of them. I've been completely inspired by Katie's go-to quilt featured on her blog KatieDid. Its simple, clean and looks comfy and worn in which I love. We'll see how my version turns out...

So, that's all for now, I've been bag about keeping up with blog land these past weeks, but until Italy I'll try my hardest to keep you posted. I think that soon I'll be combining this blog with my craft/sewing/knitting blog PurlGurl just to simplify life a bit. Love to you all, be back soon. AB

cartoons and forever plans...

so that has nothing to do with anything other than I can't get that Maria Taylor song out of my head these days... a good summer ditty literally "midomi'ed" (a term I used for when I find out the name of a song using midomi on my iphone ) from anthro earlier this summer. anywhoo... things have been good and busy lately (hence the total blog neglect) Mom came home from Africa two weeks early which was super super exciting, but a little sad too thinking about my Dad being over there by his lonesome. But I've loved having Mom close by and its been amazing how much more relaxed I feel in general just knowing that she is here. Isn't that amazing how Mom's can have that effect on us?? That's why they should not move to far away lands I think... yes yes yes

Work has been slightly less panicky lately. I'm slowly getting more independent feeding itties even the tough itty bitties who cry and vomit are becoming slightly less intimidating to me. I figure I'm bigger than them, so I should really learn to not be afraid of them right?? But seriously, you would be afraid too if you walked into a room and listened to this for an hour...



Okay, maybe not that last one... but you might think so with the wails that come out of these tiny bodies... But overall, I've had a good couple of weeks with no major disasters or panic attacks which is a major improvement in my mind. (Slight overexaggeration... it hasn't really been that bad :))

I've been also really craving some project time lately. I was able to sew Dylan the cutest tiny pair of big boy pj pants a few months ago, but since then haven't really had any time for sewing projects. I have several friends and two sisters in law about to have itties of their own this fall and I'm really wanting to make them something. I have this weird thing about homemade gifts, and also making homemade gifts that don't look homemade/ that you would want even if someone hadn't made it for you. Soooo, any ideas?? My friend Katrina just made a super cute baby blanket that I might try to copy... see it here I'd love any other thoughts from new Moms that have received something that they really liked, thought was cool, or have found to be invaluable. Love you guys... AB

... to you...

HIM'S IS THE BEST! Happy Birthday to the mountain taming, film making, life loving, adventure seeking, storm calming love of my life. Happy 28 RB.

regina spektor.

just found regina spektor... and LOVE her. Ryan and I have passes to go see the screening of 500 days of Summer tomorrow night, so I was watching the trailer and finally decided to do a little detective work to find out who the opening song was by. Lo and Behold... regina. So here's an awesome music video of her song "us" that is featured in the trailer. Enjoy.

P.S. I have this new growing love and facination with music videos lately... could this be a late response to growing up with no MTV?? Or maybe just the effect of living with a music recording, film making husband for almost five years... either way i'm intrigued.

happy birthday to me... from ryan

Anne from Ryan Booth on Vimeo.

Sooo... it just happens that my husband makes movies... and this year, in honor of my b-day, he made one for me. To read the incredibly sweet post he did for me, please read here... thanks for all the love today peeps. oh, and definitely watch this movie he made of us watching fireworks last weekend... incredible, and very beautiful, I couldn't tear my eyes away. He's pretty amazing...

Fireworks from Ryan Booth on Vimeo.

i went down to the burning ring of fire...

This is what our apartment feels like this morning... our A/C went out late last night so we awakened in a pool of sweat... the joys of a Texas summer...

skype = love

I heart skype right now... so much! having mom and dad leave for libya last week has been such a sad, stressful, overwhelming change. I haven't even really known what to think or feel about it. We have known for several months that it was a possibility that they would move and for several weeks that they were really going, but for some reason it just didn't sink in until they were on the plane and gone... I mean Africa??! Who's parents move to Africa? I'm finding out now, that more people than you would think have moved abroad especially recently when jobs in the U.S. have been few and far between. Anyways, skype has been giving me the precious and miraculous ability to "see" my mom and dad from so far away. Even though I can't pick up the phone to chat whenever I feel like , in some way, being able to see their faces and new guesthouse room while we're talking almost makes up for it. Whoever created this amazing program... THANK YOU! A million times! I want to give you a kiss on the face! Now if only I could figure out a way to find a job in Africa or Southern Italy so that the miles between would be a little less... love love, ab

Mom & Dad

Hey lovelies... for any of who are waiting on word about my Mom & Dad's arrival in Africa here's a little update...

They left on Monday afternoon and headed to London for a short layover before their flight to Tripoli Libya.
We have heard that they arrived safety, but their luggage has not appeared yet. It probably did not make it through customs in London fast enough to get aboard their next flight, so hopefully it will be arriving sometime today. My Dad now has a company computer that they will be able to use for checking and sending emails and hopefully talking via Skype for now. So go ahead and email them if you get a chance, I know they'd love to hear from you. You can email me too, if you need more info. Love to you all! AB

"away we go"

this movie is killing me... ryan sent me a text to the trailer last week and we've been dying to see it. It seems like a tribute to our lives right now in some way. Hopefully it will live up to my hopes. Ryan is away, backpacking in Colorado this week and low and behold, I got tickets to the free screening for last night... ah! I almost, almost went without him, but being the sweet wife that I am (wink) I'm waiting for him to get home... I'm not really the patient type, so i feel fairly sacrificial about it... hehehe... anyways, it looks lovely, I can't wait to see it. Enjoy... amb

p.s. don't you just LOVE jim from the office?? I heart him a lot...

Fifi Lapin...

Right now I'm completely loving the sweet drawings by fifi lapin! I discovered them through the Kindred website which has great free wallpaper downloads for your desktop. Its a great project in and of itself, but after downloading the wallpaper by Fifi Lapin, I just had to go take a peek at her blog! I am mesmerized by this collection of cool, sweet sketches of fifi and her crew. Take a looksie for yourself! Here are a few for your viewing pleasure!

picnik...

Just tried out this totally fun photo editing site called picnik as recommended by EZ from creaturecomforts... Its a great, and super easy way to edit pictures, crop corners, and "cutsy-fy" then for blog presentation. I've really been wanting to update the blog with a new header, new layout, and possibly switch over to wordpress finally so that I can upload larger images and collage type files. This program may be just what I need to push me over the edge. I'll upload a cute pic of Dylan I took with my phone at the grocery store a few months back... would you ever think this came off of a phone? I didn't think so! I think you should give it a try yourself for free here.

a little laugh for you...

... this is my mom at age 2 maybe??... poor kitty

seriously, my mom is the biggest animal lover I know and wouldn't hurt a fly, but this is too funny!

Process

Saw this great behind the scenes video on EZ's blog Creature Comforts... once again a daily source of inspiration and loveliness! Its about Kim Westad and her beautiful ceramic pottery. It made me think of Mel who has recently started a ceramics class of her own and I know will soon be creating beautiful handmade things! Now that I spend most of my days getting up early and staying indoors with a fairly strict routine, I long for the quiet of a potter's wheel, soft knitting in my lap, a great book, or the rhythm of my sewing machine. For five minutes I felt calm and happy watching Kim's "process". I hope you all take a little break from the day and enjoy! luv, ab

cute as a button...

these are inspiring me to bake! And eat of course! Cutest cookies of all time as seen on the blahblahblagh ... and you can find the recipe here!

YAY for Giveaways... hehe that rhymes...

Creature Comforts is hosting another great giveaway! So be sure to go over to her blog and enter to win this super cute necklace by Annie and Imogene! Or you can blog about it yourself for a double change to win! Even though it would be a tad late, this necklace would make a perfect mother's day gift for my mom this year. She is moving to northern Africa next month and I could just see her wearing this as she walked along the coast of the Mediterranean sea! Plus it would be something meaningful that she could bring from home that would remind her of us kids and that wouldn't take up much room in her moving suitcases! Thanks EZ for another great contest! You're the best!

cooper in love...

i love this... i wish someone would bend my antennae into a heart... delightful.
In other news... apparently my hospital has become the center of attention this week thanks to piggie flu...
Mom and Dad are still moving to Lybia in June and I've decided that we must plan our first family rendeveux in Italy, possibly Greece for mid fall... Anyone been to either one of these places and have any suggestions for places to stay/things to see??
Does it really look like this??






Lastly, but not leastly...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my big brother B... I LOVE YOU & I'm glad that you were borned!
HAPPY almost BIRTHDAY to my baby brother J... I LOVE YOU & I'm glad that you were borned too!

pretty imac

this pretty iMac is now sitting in our living room... yay for finally having a "family" computer! I'm excited too for video chatting now that mom and dad are moving to Libya this summer. Most days I find myself wishing I was born in the days wear women still wore only dresses and knit socks... but today I'm happy to be in the 21st century... thank you mac... i heart you. ab

mel + etsy goodness

completely stole this from mel's blog, but I agree that they are the cutest slippers I've seen in a long time! Please go visit Elephant & Chickpea's etsy shop and browse all of the styles for endless fun. At Mel's suggestion, I'm seriously considering these for mother's day gifts this year... so fun. xoxo ab

life is for sharing...enjoy

yum yum food is good...

Sooo, now that I'm working i have about zero energy for cooking, grocery shopping and other domestic like tasks that used to be so much fun for me. But I've been blog surfing today (my day off, YAY!) and came across this lovely little blog with great shared recipes called Denise's kitchen. I don't know Denise, but found this site linked from Katrina and Brad's blog, GO TRINA! Anyways, I've been reading the recipes and they sound not only amazingly tasty, but also pretty quick and easy which is essential around the Booth house. I wanted to pass in along to you my friends because I know all of us can get stuck in a rut when it comes to cooking so that I thought that we could all use some inspiration! Enjoy and THANK YOU DENISE & CO for the yummy recipe collection!

In other news, we have been doing well. Easter was especially fun because John and Susie have been in town from San Francisco this week. Its been so good to hang out with the whole fam and catch up with our California crew. I'm so jealous hearing all of their amazing west coast city life stories!! I'm anxious to visit soon so they can show us all of their favorite restaurants, shops, sites etc... They are so fun and cute and California like, I love it!

I have been so bad about taking pictures lately. I think I have some new ones of my phone of Olive, but seriously, I have this great new camera and its just sitting on the counter in its cute purple case... I promise to be better soon, until then I'll leave you with this great tip for all of you iphone users... download the "toy camera" app. It takes the coolest, sort of vintage looking pics on your phone. (i'll upload a few below) The effect changes on a cycle, so its pretty fun to see how the picture will turn out. If you decide to give it a try, send me your cute creations! love for now, ab

week six...

work is killing my blog life!... i promise to soon try to catch you up with my current crazy life and think of something witty or cute to talk about on this bloggety mcblog, but until then much love to all my blog peeps... I'm still here, just worked to the bone, xoxo ab

it has arrived!

ryanbooth.net is up and running... check out this beautiful site! love, ab

date night date night

off to my very first date night with hubs... yes after four years we've finally going to give this a try... working completely takes the spontaneity out of life... but alas! date night is born! xoxox abn

weekend laughs!

hahaha... a few laughs for you this weekend... enjoy!

Week two!

So far, week two has been off to a pretty good start, well I guess more than a start because today is thursday, but you know what i mean.... I'm remembering where things are and starting to feel more like a "real" employee rather than feeling like I'm still in student mode. I've been with mostly itty bittys for the past few days, but today I got to see some of the older rehab kids which i love doing. As much as I am completely happy feeding a baby, I really really love working with teenagers. I love being able to ask them how they are feeling, joke around with them, make them laugh. Its so fun and I feel like when I help them out of bed, or teach them a new way to do something it really matters and makes their life easier amongst so much stress and suckiness of being sick. Anyways, it was a fun day which is pretty great to get to say about working. I'm starting to feel like I'm really going to enjoy my work most days which is such a good feeling. Oh! And I found out that one day per week I'll be doing therapy in the pool which I'm excited about! I've never done this before, so I have a lot to learn, but I think that it will be a great way to break up the week and try something different. I'm all set with my new navy and red one piece TYR swimsuit and I start next wednesday with training... I'll let you know how it goes.

In other news, Ryan and I have been busily seeing free movie screenings lately. We have a system down and its amazingly efficient. In fact, we usually have free tickets to 2-3 movies per week if we would like, its just a matter of choosing which ones to go to! This week we have seen "The Watchmen" which was LONG!!! Super LONG!!! And sort of comic bookie with a weak plot, but lots of blowing people up and pouring hot oil on their faces sort of stuff (I was not a fan... ryan and pat enjoyed it i think, maybe its a guy thing), but last night we went to see "Sunshine Cleaning" with Amy Adams (who I love!) and Emily Blunt (who I also love!), and I LOVED it! Cute indy movie about two sisters down on their luck and their biohazard/crime scene cleaning business... oh yes, it is good, definitely go see it when its out in theaters! We have tickets to a third screening tonight, but I think we may have had enough for one week.

Sooo... i'm settling into this new pace and schedule and doing pretty well for the most part. I'm missing my morning walk with the doggers and ryan to the bagel shop, followed by leisurely days of reading, movies, blogging and fun, but I'm happy to finally join the world of working adults. More to come... love amb

week one...

So... i made it through week one of work! YAY! After feeling slightly overwhelmed, tired and unsure of myself, i've maybe moved over into the "i think i'm going to be okay" zone. Today I'm actually remembering my way around a little, remembering the computer system... a little, and feeling fairly positive about working life in general (this is probably because i don't have to go for the next few days but what can i say?)

I still think that TCH is an absolutely awesome hospital with awesome kids and I'm excited to be starting out in such a fast-paced, world renown environment. I know that I am going to (and already have ) learn so much that I would never be exposed to in other facilities and I'm really thankful for that!! I'm excited to see what will happen along the way.

So, to celebrate week one, Ryan and I are going with friends to Fuzzy's Pizza (a fav of ole' George and Babs Bush around Houston)! I'll eat a slice of delicious cheesy goodness for you! AB

I'm official!

Just got my official Texas OT license in the mail today! YAY! I guess that means I officially have to start Monday, although i'm actually getting pretty excited about being a "real" adult now with a "real" job for the first time in my life. I know this feeling will probably wear off way too quickly, but for today I'm thankful to have work during a time where so many people don't. And to all my friends that have been steadily working their bums off since college... hats off to you! You are my heros! love love, amb

P.S. Got a haircut today, still evaluating the outcome... pics to come.

Tuesday...Wednesday...on to Thursday...

So... my daily blogging hasn't really worked out has it?? Whoops! Anyways, I did want to report that I've still been trying to have the maximum amount of fun this week even though Houston has been dishing out a huge portion of gross, gray dismal weather for the past few days! We decided to ignore the weather and take Olive on several long walks in the drizzle. I think that she actually really likes it (everything must smell like mud, which she likes to eat if allowed... double gross). We've also been searching hard for a little house or duplex to rent in the heights but up to this point have not been super successful. We decided that this is why people just stay where they are for better or worse, because house hunting is such a totally pain in the butt. So our little cramped apartment is starting to look better and better, but we'll see what happens.

As far as my list goes, I have accomplished a few things... I bought a cute pair of gray/hot pink tennis shoes to go with the two ugly pairs of green scrub pants I had to buy for next week. I think they might be a little "scary" bright, but Ryan said they are fun, so what the hey, its a children's hospital right?? Where else can you wear hot pink shoes! And while we were at the shoe store, I found the cutest tiny pair of New Balance on sale for Dylan! Seriously, they are so cute, I wish I could fit my giant foot into them! I LOVE nieces and nephews! The perfect excuse to buy tiny baby things! I put up a picture next to my new shoes so that you can see how itty they are.




Oh, and Ryan and i went to a movie on Tuesday night, one of our favorite things to do. We saw the International at the Angelica downtown. I LOVE this movie theater, even on a friday night, its possible to be two of only about 20 or so people in the audience which makes the show much more enjoyable in my opinion. On Tues. Ryan and I were the only ones in the theater until about ten minutes into the show when two other couples showed up. I was bummed because we've never actually pulled off being the only ones in the theater for a whole show and i was getting excited about it. The movie was okay, Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 50% I think and that was about right. Entertaining, but not at all unique or surprising... still fun, especially when eating 10,000 lbs of popcorn and gigantic cherry coke with cute hubs.



We also celebrated my Dad's birthday last night (Happy Birthday Dad!). We went out for barbecue with the fam and had a great time. I even made red velvet cupcakes (Dad's fav) from a kit I found at William Sonoma. Apparently Sprinkles cupcakes are a big deal in L.A. (I had no idea), but the little kit was super easy to make and tasted yum, so I would definitely use it again...






I should have blogged this stuff right afterwards, because I know that I'm leaving out so much, but what can I say, I'm a lazy blog girl. Today its actually beautiful and sunny outside, so I'm going to go sit in the sunshine and read, then possibly sew something small and easy to finish later. Three days and counting...

love, amb

On to Spring!

A lovely little picture for you today (found on weheartit via ohhellofriend)

Monday Funday...

Today we...
1. Took a bike ride to Rice Village to Einstein Bagel shop for a bagel and coffee



2. Drove around the Heights searching for rent houses, finding a few possibilities, viewing a few cute ones...
3. Stopped at Dry Creek Cafe, sister shop of Onion Creek one of our favorite local places to eat (sooo Texas cute)
4. Shared a "West Coast" burger and fries (delicioso!) and hand squeezed lemonade (a whole carafe fun!!)



5. Spotted the first blue bonnet of spring!
6. Visited the Heights Public Library and checked out two books: Lovely Bones and 3 Willows in order to finish # 3 below...
7. Home to settle in for the night with O-dog... more to come tomorrow!