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