The Obvious Hiatus

In 2015 (over a year ago!!!!) I contemplated the decision to put this blog on a hiatus, but I just didn't have the heart to do it. We had moved into a new house and had so many fun, exciting things going on that I wanted to be able to share all about it. But the reality was that my side gig, Kitsy Co, was sucking up all my free time and something just had to give. So rather than give an official goodbye, this poor blog has just sat update-less for over a year. I'm not here to say it's revived, but I'm also not here to say I'm taking it down permanently. I still go back and reference posts all the time (like seriously, why don't I just write some of my own recipes down). But, I am excited to announce that I'll be contributing to Austin Moms Blog in 2017, getting in my blogging fix, and that Kitsy Co has reached new heights, with a website and all.

Stay cool, my friends!

XOXO
Kendra

Minimalist Christmas Decor

We put our tree up for the first time in THREE years. Woot. And the $30 spent in college on this Black Friday tree has clearly been well worth that full hosting shift I probably had to work to buy it. Have come along way.





The tree that has been dragged from storage unit to storage unit to attic to attic finally made its reappearance with a few other pieces of decor that have also been dragged through a similar tumultuous journey. Dubbed for this post - minimalist decor.

House Projects Update

Warning! Our house is currently chaos. We're talking cabinet doors and drawers everywhere, content of those drawers everywhere, tools everywhere, furniture everywhere, half painted things everywhere, paint spills on old carpet, miscellaneous holes in the walls and ceiling, missing baseboards, missing vents and outlets, ripped out things, half finished things, you get the gist. We've currently banned people from coming over, and according to the reactions of a couple of people that have stopped by, that seems to have been a good decision.

Are you cringing? It's gotten arguably better and worse.

But I promise we can see the light, the vision, an end result that is fabulous. And it's going to happen fast. We spent nearly four months on the go this summer, every week, every weekend, shortly after we moved in, so having a "break" to focus on remodeling is nearly therapeutic (well, for me anyway).

Are the Walls Gray, Purple or Blue and Black?

***Disclaimer: This blog post was written in April. We've come a long way, but I'm still a little bit scarred by the color of our walls, no matter how gray, purple or black and blue they are.

Ahhhhhhh, my paint savvy self (or so I thought) is totally dying about our wall colors, and not necessarily in a good way. I wanted greige walls - gray + beige mixed. Aka, a warm gray, not with blue, or purple, undertones. So we have this.

Not so bad, right? Well the color might as well be labeled blue and black because in our lovely lighting the Easter bunny came and laid lilac toned walls everywhere. Purple, y'all!!!

We Bought a House... Again

Surprise! We bought a house... like 6 months ago... in the land we love, Austin. That may be a partial reason why I have really fallen off the radar this time. And as I've debated announcing an official blogging hiatus (just too many irons in the fire), I realized I'd at least like to share our decision to buy a house... again.

10 Tips to Surviving SXSW Interactive as a Newbie

SXSW Interactive is coming up again…. next year. But by the time next year rolls around, I’ll have forgotten the survival tips I learned this year. Oh, did you miss it? I attended SXSW Interactive for the first time and had a blast, an exhausting blast.

Yeah, those two words – exhausting and blast. They come hand in hand for SXSW. And they’ll get ya really good if you aren’t prepared. You’ll have a blast on day 1, day 2 and maybe even day 3, and by day 4 you’re either sick, blistered, bloated, brain dead, bags under your eyes, living on energy drinks, pushing through as though you’re still 21 years old and can work hard and play hard all at the same time, or if none of the above, just crazy. But there’s hope! There is too much to do and see and learn at SXSW to miss out due to bad preparation.

Here are my 10 tips to surviving SXSW as a newbie. Some I followed, some I figured out, and some I learned ahead of time but completely ignored (my bad).

Rookie Recap: SXSW Interactive 2015

If you live in Austin, South by Southwest (SXSW) is a big deal, which can mean anything from you hate it to you love it to you can’t live without it. I’ve always been a bit indifferent. Yes, it brings THOUSANDS of people to Austin, all the hotels are booked and you can’t seem to go anywhere downtown without waiting in line, but it brings in hundreds (thousands) of amazing artists each year, and the free events around town - which often include free music, food and booze - are endless. And if you really aren’t in the mood for it, it’s not really that hard to avoid.

This year I got to attend as a badge holder for the very first time.

What does that mean? It means I’ve participated in some free events around town (minimally) in the past but have never attended the festival as an official registrant. Let me also clarify, SXSW is not just music. It consists of 3 main parts: Interactive, Film and Music. I only attended Interactive.

PYRC #59: Creamy Cajun Crawfish Pasta

Get ready. One of the best times of the year is coming upon us - crawfish season.

For us, when we end up with too much crawfish at a boil (sounds crazy, right?), we all sit around the table, peel the leftovers until our fingers hurt and one lucky person gets to stow away a crawfish-filled ziploc in the freezer for later use.

Now what to use those leftover crawfish tails for if you're looking for something beyond the traditional etouffee, creole, etc.? Well I've personally tried crawfish enchiladas and then discovered something even better, Creamy Cajun Crawfish Pasta.

30 Reasons Why I Love Austin

I don't have to say much for you to know how much I love Austin. And as I creep up on my 1 year returniversary (next week), here's 30 starter reasons as to why I'm forever grateful to be back.

PYRC #58: Four Super Bowl Snack Ideas

If you haven't already sourced the web for a new calorie-filled snack to serve on Super Bowl Sunday, then maybe I can help you out with a few ideas.

Sweet Onion Pizza Sliders

PYRC #57: Dijon Roasted Cabbage

So, I really do adore cabbage in all sorts of shapes and forms, and that includes Brussels sprouts, cabbage's younger, smaller, better looking sibling (or so how I perceive them).

Anyway, I can whip up some mean sauteed cabbage, cabbage soup or slaw, healthy or not, but beyond that, my cabbage creativity is a bit weak. Fortunately my fab friend Pinterest has lent some recent inspiration. Thus I present....

Dijon Roasted Cabbage

Weaver Firm Video

I have a lot of hobbies, and one those hobbies is called work. And though work may be more of a required hobby in my life than a volunteer one, at least it can be fun... most of the time.

For two years straight I've been assigned to manage what I think might be one of the most fun things we do at our firm - the annual Weaver "fun" video - a corporate culture video entirely devoted to being silly and letting folks know that these straight-laced accountants actually can loosen up their ties.

Canadian Tuxedos, Mullets and 30

Ahhhh, my husband turned 30 this month. He had just turned 23 when I met him. How are we already at 30?!? Ok, I'm not 30, but Jeff is, and him turning 30 means that I'm even closer to turning 30, which I'm not really interested in. We do get to stay in our 20's forever if we'd like to, right? Because most days I feel like I still am 20. Pity party now over.

Actually, Jeff turning 30 was really just a great excuse to have the best birthday yet. And that, my friends, is exactly what happened. The guy who typically could care less about his birthday, who won't even dress up for Halloween, and who is never interested in going to 6th Street requested this....

A Canadian tuxedo pub crawl. Better yet, denim and mullet wigs.

Tour de Tiny Rent House

Can you believe we've been back in Austin for almost an entire year already?!? And that means that we've lived in our little rent house for half the time that we lived in our first home in DFW. Time flies. Crazy.

We significantly reduced our living space when we moved to Austin (I think by about half or more when counting garage and shed space), so arranging furniture and decor was a little bit of a challenge, but alas, we did it, and if we're going to be living here, we're going to call it home. And thank goodness for some art to help us with that. Here's a mini, not all-inclusive tour of the house.

2015, We’ve Made It!

Welcome, 2015. I’m digging you already. And I’m more than happy to look back at 2014 and forward to this year. This will be my third annual recap, and though last year was a big jumble (a good one), I’m not giving up on holding myself accountable and continuing to set some annual goals. Except I’m skipping my top 5 favorite recipes (I really did cook) and my top 5 most popular blog posts BECAUSE I haven’t been blogging about much, whoops. Here goes nothing.

Top 5 Accomplishments  

ACL Festival 2014 Recap

It's almost Christmas, so I should post about ACL (Austin City Limits) Festival that happened at the beginning of October, right? Y'all I had a blast. It was so great to be back.

The first time I went was 2008 when dust filled our lungs and our hearts swayed to Foo Fighters. The second time (aka last time) I went was 2009, year of the mud fest and glorious VIP status. We didn't attend while living in Dallas, so returning this year was almost no question.

Birthday Beers and One Big Bicycle

Turning 30. That's kind of a big deal - maybe one of those birthdays you want to celebrate in a unique way, like with a... PUBCRAWLER.

Oh yes, we're talking "a pedal-powered beer bike pub crawl" in downtown Austin for our friend's 30th birthday. All I need to tell you is that it's a big bicycle that seats a bunch of your friends, you can drink while pedaling, and you get to go to several bars. (I'll let you visit the PubCrawler of Austin website to "learn more.")

Labor Day Weekend at Inks Lake

We spent Labor Day weekend with my husband's family at Inks Lake State Park outside of Austin.

Both Jeff's parents and now his brother have RVs, so camping is definitely something close to heart with the Germenis family. I think this trip in particular, of all of them, has been my favorite... and it was right in Austin's backyard.

Wood Texas Art Piece #2

My favorite art piece ever is the reclaimed Texas piece I created last summer using only scraps from our house remodel. It was mixed media heaven for me - wood scraps, paint, drawing, imagination, power tools, etc. And ever since I made that piece (of course to keep for our own house), I've been itching to make more. Well, this past year has been a whirlwind, but #benefitnate was the perfect excuse to amp up again. Low and behold my most recent baby - Texas art piece #2.

DIY Pallet Wine Rack

Back in June I made Jeff take me to pick up a stack of pallets, seemingly against his will. I was determined to make a bulk quantity of Texas art pieces. Well, then we had my cousin's benefit coming up, and Jeff volunteered the idea to make pallet wine racks for the silent auction. "Ooooooo, new DIY project," I gleamed inside. I was pretty excited, especially considering it was his idea. And I didn't forget! Sure enough, after lots of "reminding," the week of the benefit, Jeff completed what I considered was two perfect pallet wine racks.