abby try again

Soon...

I'll be back in this space soon, I promise-well, I hope.

In the meantime I've been posting over at my side project: FELIZ.

Isn't the Texas sky just gorgeous?

Hope you are well, my friends.

busy byrd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Watching The Byrd Collective work the other day.

Hope you enjoy!

Happy Monday.

 

Contigo by iphone

 

My birthday dinner at Contigo Austin, shot on my iphone.

I highly reccommend this kid friendly (and dog friendly) place! There is a gorgeous park across the street complete with a waterfall and blooming wildflowers. You should make a whole afternoon/evening of it.

We had ox tongue sliders (that were much more delicious than I'd thought they'd be), mussels in a green garlic sauce (amazing), and a cold potato, beet and arugula salad (better than it sounds). We skipped dessert as we had a cake waiting at home but the local strawberry shortcake sounded pretty incredible.

I had a sort of revelation that evening, as we walked among the flowers in the park. I'm actually really sort of starting to love Texas. It feels good.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Happy weekend, folks.

thirty before thirty one

Yesterday was my 30th birthday.

It felt special but not, big and little, insignificant and significant. 

I'm a believer in recognizing the power of each day-not just focusing on milestones...but I couldn't help but be reflective.

It was all in all a pretty wonderful day actually.

I thank Andrea for the idea of doing these types of lists, it's been years since I've done one, so why not now?

Thirty things to do before turning thirty one

1. make three new friends

2. finish my portfolio site (that I started years ago)

3. go on our first family vacation (no, visiting our hometown does not count)

4. sew something

5. start a garden, however small that may be

6. can something (as in preserves)

7. loose 10 lbs

8. take a class with Asa

9. shoot some rolls with my holga

10. visit the gulf

11. eat oysters (I haven't since I was pregnant, wth life)

12. read a novel just for fun

13. finish knitting Asa's baby blanket

14. write letters once a month

15. really save money for a house down payment

16. cut our food budget in half (it's ridic)

17. go rollerskating

18. see some live music

19. visit enchanted rock

20. take a week long computer break

21. update all of the about info on my blogs/sites

22. finish Asa's baby book

23. learn a new skill

24. volunteer for something

25. write thank you cards that are long overdue

26. make fresh pasta

27. do something completely out of my comfort zone

28. swim in Hamilton Pool

29. be happier

30. be less shy

We'll see how it goes.

trying it out

 

Yesterday I came home from some errands to a presnt from James. The present was a new Canon DSLR. I am super bummed that my trusty Yashica film camera is no longer with me, but I'm thrilled to jump into a digital world. I do love film but with a baby it is a lot of trouble.

These shots are from a little walk we took around sun up this morning. Some are very blurry and not quite right, but all together I'm pretty happy. I can't wait to learn more about this camera and get shooting again.

* * * * *

Thanks for the kind words about Feliz. Feels good to be up and running again.

Happy weekend to you.

Feliz

Hello again!

I have some fun news. Natalie and I have been working on a project for months now (gosh actually talking about it for over a year) and it's finally ready. We happily present to you: Feliz.

Feliz will be a whole weekend full of activities. We're having a meet and greet party at our sponsor store, West Elm (and maybe another fun get together but that's hush hush for now), workshops on Saturday and a holiday sale on Sunday. We're already working with about a dozen artists but we're taking applications for more!

If you've followed this blog you know I've done some events in the past. Those events usually featured artists that were chosen before announcing the event itself. This time around we wanted to open it up to others to try and find some new great talent (or maybe some old great talent we just didn't think to ask;). We are so excited to share the details with you over the next few months.

We are thrilled to be hosting this here in Austin. This whole planning process has been such a great way for me to get to know this city better and I can't wait to share more about that.

A huge thanks to Natalie for bearing with my new Mom brain and for being a super inspirational partner.

Thank you for reading, following and commenting. It may sound a little cheesy but you all have helped me through this transition into motherhood and a new life more than you'll ever know.

Thanks for taking the time to check out Feliz!

funny story

So if you read the last post (and thank you to those who did, especially those who left encouraging comments) you might expect to see some real film photos up here again, right?

Well, I did start shooting again and more than ever! But...guess what? My beloved Yashica-the one I've shot with all these years-is broken. A few blank rolls of film and a completely locked up body are signs telling me that it's time to give it up.

So above are shots from my phone. In the meantime, I post several times a day on Instagram-under the user name "abbytryagain". You can find me there.

Now it's time for me to unearth my other cameras out of storage and start experimenting again. Actually, I think this is the perfect time.

(p.s. I'm changing the comments so they should appear automatically! Sorry for all the trouble with them.)

(p.p.s. I'm posting daily at baby t blog if you're interested)

on my sense of self

 

 

 

 

* * * * * * * *

To say I lost my sense of self last year would be an understatement.

To be fair, I cannot blame it on having a child though that life change was incredible to say the least.

Moving to Texas really threw me for a loop. I didn't anticipate a period almost void of inspiration.

I never realized how much friends, family and place influenced my photography.Here in Austin,  I didn't push myself to find new inspiration-I made excuses instead. I wallowed in my sadness-longed for rain and familiar faces. Once pregnant I decided to give myself "a break" and let inspiration come on its own.

I was taking the easy way out of things.

I'm ready to search for that magic again, to push myself-to be in new situations and find that beauty.

If you have a bit of time, listen to this podcast. Elizabeth Gilbert talks about inspiration-and I found it just the kick in the pants I needed. Maybe you'll enjoy it, too.

long time coming

This post has been a long time coming.

As they say it really DOES take a village...

Our little family has been on the receiving end of so many little and big acts of kindness these past five months and it's time I FINALLY give a proper thank you for them.

So THANK YOU, thank you to all of you out there who sent emails, comments, letters and little gifts to us. Since Asa's birth (actually since pregnancy) I've had a fog over me that is slowly, slowly starting to lift. I hope you can forgive this belated gratitude.

A huge thank you to Margaret of Paper Pastries. I met her during Renegade and she is just tops! She takes great pride in her work and you can tell she has a lot of fun with it. She made us the most lovely birth announcements. The photos above do not do them justice. I need to do a proper shoot with them. They are so fun and we love them!  She even sent along a custom address stamp that is adorable and super handy. You can visit Margaret at her blog or shop and even get your own announcements here. We are so lucky to have these for Asa.

Another huge thank you to my sister's friend, Sarah, who sent us a bunch of custom burp cloths (you can see one of our favorites above there). These have been a serious God send! They are super thick and great for so many things. She even sent us one that has Asa's name in glow in the dark thread. This has proved to be the most useful-perfect for messy night feedings. You can visit Sarah's shop here. I would've never thought to buy these for myself but honestly-they are probably our most used items.

And a last gigantic thank you to my sister Lindee. She flew out not once, but twice to help us. We could not have survived that first week without her. And now she's expecting herself! We are so thrilled. 

Oh and of course...James. James has stood by me for nine (9!) years now and this past while is no different. During labor he literally did not leave my side once. You are amazing, my dear.

I know there are many more out there to thank-and I'm so grateful for you all.

ok...more soon.

(and it's almost time to reveal a secret little project eeeep!)

my one resolution

I'd like to be able to say that I fell gracefully into motherhood.

That things come naturally for me; that this is what I was meant to do. That each day is better than the next-that this is what we've been waiting for.

Truth be told, it's been a hard transition. That does not mean bad-it just means that dang MOTHERHOOD is TOUGH. It's good, lovely, joyous and pretty much mind blowing.

I'd like to say that I have all of these grand plans for my blog, my photography this space-and yes, there are ideas and dreams. And hopefully, I can pop in here and share some of them with you all this next new year. But I've decided that this is the year to drop expectations and just be. That if we are happy as a family that that is good enough. 

I hope you'll come visit here from time to time and I hope I'll have some new things to share with you all soon. For now though, we're busy just "being". Happy new year to you all, thanks for reading. 

(card shown above made by Shanna Murray, Asa's first ornament made by Paloma's Nest)