Full transparency: I started a reading challenge in January and got about halfway through it (mostly because I lost the paper and then forgot about it). I am determined to complete this reading challenge in 2016 (starting completely over, no carry-overs from 2015). I love reading challenges because they force you outside of your comfort zone and enable you to fall in love with different genres, authors and time periods you never thought you would have been interested in befor

I was really looking forward to Christmas this year, more so than normal. This is the first time I've lived extremely far from home around the holidays, and this was also the first time I had to travel by plane to be with my family for Christmas. It felt strange getting on a flight on Christmas Eve and missing the last-minute scurrying with my mom (Target, the mall, baking, you know how that goes), but thankfully, and despite El Niño's threats, we got to Sugar Land, Texas, my

This was one of my favorite experiences in 2015 -- my first professional photo shoot for HerStory! Get the deets on this outfit here. I'm positive I say this at the end of every year, but 2015 felt like the fastest year of my life. From raising a puppy, to teaching, to moving to California, to launching this blog, it feels as though 2015 brought a whirlwind of change, opportunity, challenges and excitement. While there may have been hard times for all of us, I hope we can all

I am pretty sure my husband thinks I'm absolutely crazy because I am always thinking on new ways to transform our San Francisco apartment, from new wall decor, to floral, to throw pillows. Ever since we moved to San Francisco and had to downsize from a house to an apartment, I've realized how much I love decorating smaller spaces (although I do miss the closet space we had in Dallas). I decided to share some tips and tricks from my own apartment, as well as from two of my sty

Whoever said there is a "wedding season" was wrong. Every season is wedding season, at least in my life, and I absolutely love it! I am obsessed with weddings, from witnessing the couple's vows, to tearing up the dance floor, to looking through my friends' wedding photos when they come in. I also really love bachelorette parties. Last weekend I got to go back to Texas for the second time since we moved to California. Both Texas visits have been for wedding festitivies, and it

The other night while I was walking home from work, I was racking my brain for upcoming blog content. I have a whole spreadsheet of content ideas, but none of it felt right that week. Before I knew it, I was home and in front of my computer, trying to figure out what to write about. After staring at my computer for a solid five minutes, I stopped. I gave up for the night. I turned off my computer, took a look at one of my bookshelves, and changed the course of my evening. Oft

It is officially my favorite month of the year. It doesn't matter how old I am; I will always love Christmastime and the aura it brings. Cooler temps, warmer homes, tons of lights and an array of Christmas treats--I just LOVE it. I'm going to be completely transparent here: I am a sucker for the convenience of peel-apart and bake cookies, but this year I wanted to try my hand at baking cookies from scratch, and I am SO glad I did. My husband and I made these amazing sugar coo

Here's the deal: if you're going to spend the money on coloring your hair, you need to be prepared to take care of it. Just like using heat on your hair, color does serious damage, but the damage can be controlled if you use products that are designed to protect against said damage. Think about it the same way we think about skincare: you may not see the effects of disregarding your skin right now, but in 10 plus years, you definitely will. The same thing goes for your hair.