SUNRISE BOARDWALK

Hey guys! I've been kept busy for ages, and oh man, have I been wanting to share how pretty Austin is in the midst of it all!

Take this mooring, for example. You can start your day before the sun rises and spend an hour or two exploring before hampering down to work. You're likely to see gorgeous sights! Here were a few of the views from this morning:

I leaned out the balcony and snapped the quiet view of the city...both Austin and I were waking up together for once! 

I went around the corner of our apartment and took photos of a pretty unwilling subject at a coffee shop (i.e. husband), but also took shots of the calm sky and lake, which were much more agreeable subjects, if you were wondering.

I took shots of another subject at the coffee shop (our dear friend who is also new to Austin--freshly transplanted from sunny Florida), and I caught the dynamic views of the lake as the sun was quickly rising (i.e. I was GALLOPING to get the photos)...

...and I saw vibrant bursts of pink along with swaying palm trees in the warm light. :) 

I tell friends (old and new) that my heart is breaking from loving Austin too much. Is this normal?? 

IN A GOOD WAY

Hello, and happy Friday! It's been a while yet again, hasn't it? As I was lying in bed last night, I thought how much I've missed our Friday Art + Story posts, and I decided to remedy the situation in the tangled sheets then and there.

So here you are, with the newest addition to the Art + Story bunch!

This particular illustration makes me laugh because a) it's supposed to be me, and b) that's probably what I look like when I have loads of exciting work ahead of me (minus the twitching right eye).

This one's titled In A Good Way, and I love to pair it with Les Yeux Ouverts by Emilie-Claire Barlow.

I sleepily rubbed my eyes, staring into the glowing screen filled with the illustrated artwork, calling out to be edited. The sun wasn't out quite yet, but I knew it would peek over the buildings any minute now.

"This is good...no huge deal," I consoled myself as the sun began creeping in through the windows a few moment later.  It was my first, real, all-night since college. In my post-college career, I had experienced the ultimate spoilage of blissful sleep for years on end, working in the daylight.

But what to do when you're faced with overflowing sketchbook paper, pencils and paintbrushes strewn over your work surface, explosions of watercolor, and tight deadlines?

You work through it, yo!! Somehow I had come to cling to this new mantra for the past month, all the while avoiding a strangled inner meltdown.

Suddenly, stress had become the anti-enemy after I had finally greeted her with a warm embrace and "how-do-you-do." HA!! I welcome you. We can share this blanket, sip some tea, listen to lulling French songs, and relaaaax. You're allowed in my space, but I'm referring to you as the good kind of stress.

Capiche?

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Here's to hoping you're experiencing stress in a good way, too! Happy weekend, pretties.