Austin treasures: The Hill-Side striped scarf from Stag for BJ, a beautiful vintage book and horn from Off The Wall, and something I’ve been coveting- a necklace from Alyson Fox’s A Small Collection at Spartan (I had a hard time choosing one piece from the store. It’s beautifully curated)
Teaching has been interesting. The first two years are a blur, and I was too busy and excited to get burnt out. It has definitely tested my patience, made me a little more organized, and kept me on my toes. I still tend to allow the one bad incident to taint the day versus all the good things that happen, but I’m starting to see how everyday is a fresh start even with the ones that try me the most.
This year I could no longer do the 4-5 hours of sleep and bringing home work every single day including weekends. I’ve given myself more breaks- sometimes not doing work after dinner, sleeping in on weekends, and taking naps. It allows me to spend more time with my family, friends, and personal work and I really think it has made a huge difference in my overall moral. In the back of my mind, I am a little nervous about what next year brings with the budget cuts and increase in enrollments looming ahead, but I’m crossing my fingers that there won’t be too many changes.
Few things that have distracted me from work stress:
One of the perks of not living in a major city or a living on the outskirts of Houston is the fact that I don’t have wrestle other people or wait in long lines for Target collaborations. Of course I’ll take less sprawling strip malls and driving any day, but today I’m focusing on the positive 
Ta-da! Look what got from Liberty of London for Target. Most of the pieces are gifts, but the tiered platters is going to make it into our reception somehow. My favorite print is on the ceramic jar. I got a little print happy and had to put a few items back like a floral silk tie for BJ. We’ll just have to go back and let him decide (and maybe pick up one or two more things!)
*mmk BJ’s not so much of a fan. Only in moderation then.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the wedding, not much doing unfortunately. But really, I’ll get it together. Here are some ideas floating around my head. See, I have a plan.
Sources (that I can remember. left to right zig zag): Spool birds, leptitpapillon cloud mobile, desert fete polaroid, Cy Twombly, Confetti System garlands, my fabric boutonnieres, once wed diy flowers, most beautiful cake by nikole herriott, scout-holiday place holders, photobooth pics from Chicago, fireworks via dominic winsor, save the date watercolors.
I LOVE office supplies. A few of my favorites from Uguisu Shoten, an online shop for Japanese goods. The prices aren’t bad either. They have the lowest prices for Japanese masking tape that I’ve seen so far.
(Top to bottom: 1. clock stamp 2. graph masking tape 3. tape dispenser 4. grid tracing paper envelopes)
Today, I went to an all day ceramics workshop for teachers. I feel more confident about running the kiln and how to use glazes. Whew. Say goodbye to fears of burning down our building. I also discovered watercolor glazes!!! I’ll take pictures of them tomorrow.
Jil Sander