brooklyn, brooklyn take me in...

We had such a fantastic time at Renegade Brooklyn! Although hauling all my stuff there was a little stressful at times, and our little girl had some troubles on the plane ride, and it rained the first day, it ended up being a fantastic weekend. We stayed within walking distance of McCarren Park, where the fair is located, so we got to explore a lot around Williamsburg. We then moved into Manhattan after the fair for a few days to do a little sightseeing and show our girl the big city (which she loved).

Here are a few of the places we went in Williamsburg, which I would highly recommend:
Dumont for a nice dinner. I consider myself a mac and cheese expert, and this one did not disappoint.
Kellogg's Diner for an easy dinner. And it's right on the Lorimer L train stop (the train into Manhattan), so there is great people watching to be had.
Urban Rustic for morning coffee and tea, and yummy sandwiches at lunch.
Sunac for groceries. Since we stayed in an apartment, we had a kitchen, which was so convenient.

And in Manhattan, we've been many times before and done most of the tourist things, so we mostly just ate and walked around! Here are some of the places we went:
Shake Shack in Madison Square Park for burgers and shakes and outdoor seating.
Bouchon Bakery near Central Park for a nice but not too nice dinner (we were after all kicking it with an 11-month-old who sometimes throws her food on the ground.)
Moomah in Tribeca for a kid-friendly lunch.
Shoofly in Tribeca for Violet's first pair of shoes! Fantastic customer service!

And coming home, Little V slept the whole way, so it was awesome. We're always sad to leave NY, but were happy to be home.

PS: I didn't even mention my celebrity customer! I hope he's happy with his L+L purchases! :-)

i'll take brooklyn...

I haven't even had time to update this blog on the Renegade Austin show, and already it's time for us to head to Brooklyn!

Details here.

Off to sew...

renegades...

One of my booth helpers and I took a break from helping customers to sport some ironic mustaches at the Magnolia Photo Booth at Renegade Austin. It was a fantastic show, and I really hope they decide to do it again next year. Besides having a great time at the actual show, I was also able to work in visits to one of my favorite Austin patios! I can't go to Austin without taking in at least one meal there.

I'm now t-minus 35 days until the arrival of our little one, so updates could be sparse, or could be plentiful, we'll just have to see!

deep in the heart...

We're in the final stages of preparing to head down I-35 to Austin for the first ever Texas edition of the Renegade Craft Fair. We've had a fantastic time in Los Angeles and Chicago doing the Renegade shows, and are super happy we've just got a 3 hour drive to this one, especially with the little one on the way and me as big as a house!

I am hoping we'll have time to grab some breakfast tacos from here, our absolute favorite taco place in Austin.

We'll be at Booth #24 for the show (near the entrance it looks like), and would love for you to stop by!

holiday road...

It's here! We're getting ready to head way north for Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago at Pulaski Park Fieldhouse this Saturday and Sunday. We'll be at booth #97 (near where the food is!) so stop by and see our new designs (cute new tees) and Christmas goodies!

Our last Renegade was such a blast, and we're so excited to return to Chicago, even if we're a little nervous about braving the cold. See you there!

fun in the city...

I'm back from Renegade Chicago, and I can't even describe what a great time I had! Met super nice people, ate lots of good food, and the weather was perfect! 

We were in a great location, next to Caitlin from Nice. She and her family couldn't have been "nicer" (I know, I know) and I love her sweet prints. I'm mad at myself that I didn't pick one up before we packed up! Hopefully I'll see her soon enough at another show!

We were really busy in the booth most of the time, but he did manage to sneak away for a minute to pick up one of these from abbeychristine. There were so many talented artists there, and I was so honored to be included!

After the long weekend and drive, I'm trying to get reorganized and then start preparing for a few shows here in Dallas in the coming weeks. Looks like it's going to be a busy fall!

there goes the neighborhood...

While I was in Los Angeles for Renegade, I met Joshua from Neighborhood Venice in Venice Beach. And I'm excited to let you know that you can now pick up one of our Sea Creature tees there, as well as lots of other super unique stuff for kids and adults. 

Neighborhood Venice

1644 Abbot Kinney Blvd

Venice, CA 90291

that toddlin' town...

It's super busy around the studio, getting ready for Renegade Chicago. I'll be in Booth #28 close to Division and Damen. Stop by!

on my nightstand: access chicago

I just found out that I'll be heading to Chicago in early September for Renegade Handmade Chicago, so I stopped by the library to check out this book to get some tips for the trip. Like I've told you before, I stop by the library every time we go on a trip to pick up a guide book. It's much better than shelling out the money for a book when the info becomes outdated so quickly. Every little bit helps, right?

renegade recap...

Wish the image was a little brighter, but here's a shot of my booth on the second day at Renegade before the doors opened. I had a great time, and it was a great event. I wish I had taken more pics, but it was so busy I didn't even have the opportunity to see even half the artists there. 

Our booth was next to kg + ab, and I was super excited to walk away with one of her fantastic porcelain owls, and she walked away with some L+L gear for her little one. We were also just one booth over from Harrilu, also from Dallas, so it was nice to have someone from home to borrow hole punches from, eat dinner with, etc.! 

I'm getting back into the swing of things here now, and am ready to take some time to do a big organization of the studio. 

hooray for hollywood!

Hope you had a great weekend – I'm in the home stretch and getting ready to head to sunny Southern California for Renegade Los Angeles. I'll be taking time off from the blog to do my final preparation and travel out there. Stop by Booth #203 if you happen to live in California! And check back next week for my recap of the show and the trip. I'll also be stocking up my Etsy shop after I return with lots of new items. See you next week!

on my nightstand: los angeles 2009

On my nightstand this week is this book, which I picked up in preparation for my trip west. 

Here's a budget friendly tip that I use: The library has guide books for any city you might be planning a trip to, and I think it's better to check them out rather than buy them, as the information becomes out of date rather quickly. I'm glad I picked up this book ahead of time, because I've learned that there's a better airport for me to fly into than I had originally planned. That info alone will save me around $30 each way on cab fares - not bad for a book that didn't cost me a penny!

the doctor is in...

Well, Dr. Beach has come out with his annual Memorial Day ratings of beaches around the country, and Hamoa Beach, which we frequented during our vacation, was ranked #5!

Hamoa Beach is a tiny beach – there are no real markings outside of the beach to direct you there. It's so secluded that we drove by 3 times without seeing where the beach and entry were located. It's set at the bottom of a stone stairway, and it sits crescent-shaped in a small cove, surrounded by lush vegetation, with sand they call "salt and pepper" because of its mixture of white and black grains. And because of its remote location, it isn't overrun with tourists. The days we were there, less than 20 people were on the beach at any one time, giving us the feeling it was our own personal oasis! 

It's on Dr. Beach's list, and it should be on yours as well! If you're lucky, you can hang out on one of the beaches on his list this weekend! Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

back to reality...

Aloha! I'm still alive - trying to get back in the swing of things after 8 days in paradise!

He and I had a great time on Maui, spending the first 5 days in Ka'anapali, then heading over to east Maui to Hotel Hana for the remainder of the trip. (My favorite part.) We learned to surf, ate great food, and spent a lot of time just laying around. I'll go into more detail in future posts. 

And I came back to great news – L+L has been accepted to Renegade Los Angeles! We'll be taking the show on the road, and hitting the City of Angels in July. I've never been to LA, so food recommendations are needed! And I'll keep you posted here of everything I'm doing to get ready for the show! 

gone surfin'

New posts will be non-existent for the next week and a half, as we're headed off for an island vacation!

Aloha!

tulsa time...

The camera cable has been located!!!

We had a great time in Tulsa – we stayed downtown, and were able to walk around the Brady Arts District before the show. We had a drink at Caz's Pub (with delicious fried pickles), and also checked out the legendary Cain's Ballroom before heading to the show. And Bruce played our favorite song and made all the travel worthwhile.

After the Easter Bunny comes tomorrow, I'm locking myself in my studio to get ready for Funky Finds Spring Fling!

Hoppy Easter!

cupcakes, pizza and rock n' roll...

I've talked before about some of our culinary favorites in Austin, (the city we should live in but don't) that's right down the road from us (well, maybe a little more than right down the road, but I'm usually asleep while he drives, so the journey doesn't seem too long!). 

We made that short drive this weekend for a little rockandroll show, and went down a bit early so we would have time to do some window shopping and grab a bite to eat. We ended up doing one of the healthier things you can do – eat dessert before dinner – at Hey Cupcake! It's set up in an Airstream trailer parked along South Congress, and combines two of my favorite things: (a) sweets and (b) foods purchased from a trailer. We then proceeded to purchase our dinner from another window, with two slices from Home Slice. After stuffing our faces, we went down to the show where the E Street Band knocked our socks off!

Cupcakes, then pizza, then the Boss. Could a day be more perfect?

UPDATE: I almost forgot to mention - we're headed to Tulsa tomorrow for another show with Bruce. Road updates forthcoming....

have yourself a merry little christmas...

Last weekend, we hit the highways and celebrated Christmas twice, with my husband's family in Waco, then with my brother's family just a little north of us. And the holiday Texas road show continues this week, with a trip to my parents for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'll be signing off from posting until after the holiday! 

Merry Christmas!

Image from All the Luck in the World, via Apartment Therapy LA.

and, we're back.....

Returned from Austin yesterday, and tried to recover from the very long weekend.

For a recap of Sunday, see this. He does a better job of covering what happened anyway.

Today, I do laundry, get my life back together, and start getting ready for this!

overload...

Music is a very big part of my life, and my husband's life. Seeing live music is one of my favorite pastimes, so from time to time, I'll probably be posting things about the bands we see. Here's a rundown so far of who we've seen at the festival:

Friday was great. Saw Jamie Lidell, M. Ward, Mates of State, The Swell Season, and Alejandro Escovedo. Swell Season were my favorites of the day. If you haven't ever seen Once, I highly recommend it. Trivia fact: Swell Season are the only Oscar winners we've ever seen at ACL.

Saturday was a long one. I don't think I've mentioned it on this blog before, but I'm in the process of training for the White Rock Marathon. I ran the Half Marathon last year, and had such a great time, decided to do the full one this year. Well, Saturday happened to be a 10 mile training day on my schedule, so I woke up early, then ran for approximately 2 hours on the hotel treadmill. What a way to start the day! After my run, we got ready and headed over to Zilker Park, where we saw the Old 97s, Jose Gonzalez, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Earl Keen, Spiritualized (my favorite of the day), John Fogerty, Iron & Wine, and Beck.

By the end of the day, my legs were locking up and I was sunburnt and covered with dust from head to toe. But I couldn't have had a better day.