Ren Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask - A potent blend that claims to reduces fine lines and dramatically improves tone, firmness, and radiance. Hoping this will give my skin that "Nooooo, I don't sit behind a computer 18 hours a day" glow.

Ciate Caviar Mini Mani Month - Everything is cuter when mini, right? These baby polishes in a colorful, crave-worthy set are right up my alley. I have one thing to say: get on my digits, pronto.

YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch Concealer - My anxiety levels are on the up and up, so that means one thing: I can say adios to sleep. Seriously, I am beginning to worry that the airlines are going to count the bags under my eyes as one of my "personal items" when I carry my luggage on. Coveting this YSL concealer because I was watching this really depressing movie about an unhappily married couple with roving eyes and roving private parts (eww...) with Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington, and she used this stuff in one of the scenes...gotta give it to her, girl looked gorgeous in the whole movie. Sooooo, naturally, I have to have it. 

Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Valparaiso - I love wearing lipstick like a fat kid loves cake, but I don't go outside my 4 go-to shades very often. Most of them are obnoxiously bright, and I have been thinking about adding a rich and dark burgundy shade into the mix. Can't decide if it looks different but chic, or like I am an extra from the Beetlejuice set.

The park works like so: drive in, roll your windows down, get up close and personal with a bunch of animals found on the African savannah, and have the time of your life.

With our entrance fee came a baggie full of nasty smelling vitamin pellets to feed the animals. Bon appetit!

We were greeted by one of my most favorite animals in the entire universe, a family of adorable giraffes. I think the crush was mutual, because the second I walked up to fence (pretty much the only part of the park that is fenced in), one walked right over to me to say hi. I nearly died of happiness. She's so fabulous.

Speaking of fabulous, this Formosan Sika worked the runway like Naomi Campbell. The supermodel of the savannah, without a question...except for the fact that she eats. A lot.

Then we spotted one of the more unfortunate faces in the park. These guys are what I refer to as "lion food," but more commonly known as the Wildebeest. Talk about giving new meaning to the saying "Why the long face?" - pretty sure it originated with these fellas since they are worried about becoming somebody's dinner 24/7.

This is a kudu. Kudus are big. And hungry. This beauty walked right up to the car and tried sticking her whole head in, so she got the window roll-up treatment at first since well...that freaked me the heck out. It's not everyday you have a kudu drooling in your lap, you know. She batted those pretty eyelashes at us, and John ended up HAND FEEDING her. I was manning the camera and managed to nab a vid of it...think we've watched John's reaction about 4 or 5 times now. Still hilarious, still awesome.

I was super stoked to see the zebras. Since these guys are known to pack a mean bite, we kept our windows half rolled up but that didn't stop them from coming right up to the car. One of them even gave me a smile while getting his portrait done. Say "Gingivitis Is The Leading Cause of All Tooth Decay!!!"....or "Cheese!", whichever you prefer.

Crazy ostrich man got the 3/4 window roll-up treatment because he was pecking the crap out of our car (and everyone else's for that matter). He showed us who's boss....and there really isn't an argument about that. Not interested in getting in a tussle with a 7 foot bird with a super sassy attitude...

....and a gnarly case of ugly butt.

We played eye spy with a lovely little llama.

Watched King Julian move it, move it on his mini Madagascar Island.

Swooned over the most precious baby goat with the stumpiest little legs ever, and filled his belly with plenty of snacks. Wanted to take this little guy home with me. Perhaps we need to rethink this puppy love thing, and opt for a pet goat? ;)

When I came across the In Haus Press shop on Etsy, I was convinced they were located in the good ol' ATX...but NOPE! West coasters all the way, and HQ'd in one of my most favorite cities in the entire world, San Francisco. These hand-fed letterpress connoisseurs make all sorts of paper goodies that are feature a mix of original hand-drawn typography and historic wood type with a rustic, vintage vibe that I really dig. I wholeheartedly approve...and also really want those coasters.

PS Subscribers who get my posts delivered to your inboxes....I've got a happy little update for you! I got to work this weekend on creating a lovely little template on Mailchimp and migrating the list over from Feedburner. Expect to see a much prettier newsletter from here on out! If you spy any problemos, glitches or bad links in the template, please do let me know!

Photo of the adorable Pedro from Emerson Fry

Pepsi, the beloved and belated German Shepherd/Beagle mix we adopted from the pound when I was in high school, was the absolute sweetest dog who could give Woody Allen a run for his money in the neuroses department. She refused to walk to the park (she demanded a chauffeur), would purse her lips together and partake in the family sing-alongs, was only happy if she was surrounded by her family, had a total lap dog complex (she never came to terms with the fact that she was, indeed, a big dog), and I am almost 100% positive she learned how to say "I love you." 

My sister and her family just got a dog named Daisy, and WOWZAS....Daisy makes Pepsi look like a pet rock. She was bouncing all over the place, flying over the sofa and darting around the garden outside. Had no idea English Springer Spaniels were such intense breeds - high energy, high demand, and very high levels of sweetness. John grew up with an English Springer Spaniel named Mickey, who he would ride around the house and feed peanut butter. Clearly, with that mutually beneficial relationship, they were BFFs. Seeing Daisy had him majorly waxing nostalgic.

So, now John and I have a serious case of puppy love. Not only for each other, but for a little fur baby of our own. It's an idea we've tossed around for a while, and now is coming to a mini fever pitch. My parents shriek at the idea whenever I ask them what they think, but I think they just might be overreacting because Pepsi was....well.....a particularly rare case of dog-meets-diva, to put it lightly. 


PS: Anthropologie is hosting a slew of Sit.Stay.Love pet adoption events throughout September. The Austin adoptions are taking place at the Lamar location on 9/21 from 6-8pm and at the Domain location on 9/22 from 10am-2pm.

PS II: More adorable fur babies here....and the most hilarious video ever. GUILTYYYYY!!!

Well, look what I have gone and done....TOTALLY stolen Nabisco's swagger. Yep, I hijacked the Oreo's recipe this past Labor Day weekend and managed to make a batch of these ass expanders at home. I always feel so guilty buying Oreos (and desserts in general), so it's a very rare purchase in my neck of the woods...but making them from scratch certainly makes it a little more justifiable. I burned some calories whipping that frosting, riiiiiiight??? Fib alert.....all I did was flip on the power switch and lick the bowl. *Insert sheepish look here.*