2 Days of Summer

Fun with glass crayons

I realized last night that the reason I couldn't fall asleep until around 3 in the morning for the last two weeks (no matter how early I went to bed) was because Evan wasn't next to me. In the middle of a game of 'Pandemic!' I nearly allowed the entire population of Ho Chi Minh City to be eradicated by the black plague because my eyes refused to stay open. AT 11PM. I left Evan and the health of the world in the capable hands of Steve the engineer and slept like a drugged baby.

One of the things Evan brought back from Europe besides dirty clothes and a beard was a box of oil crayons especially made for drawing on glass. Ruby and I explored their possibilities while Jesse napped (without the aid of substances)

Thanks to Kathleen and Emma for the fresh eggs and fresh company, we are hoping to supplement their diminished flock of biddies with some of our own soon, keep your fingers crossed!

Girls and Cats

I think I found a new blog feature, Girls and Cats! Two of my favorite things, pretty females and their pretty felines. The idea was planted by Erin at calivintage, who also has a penchant for fashion and miao miaos. The photos are of my lovely sisters Amber and Brooke, which I dug out of the archives. Too good to stay in the dark.

Throw me a Treasure

Ruby has this strange and endearing bedtime tradition in which she insists on giving us pretend treasure as we are closing the door to her room. I have no idea how she came up with it, but I usually can't get out of there without "catching" at least three, thrown from her pajama'd arm.

I took some photos of her real treasure shelf because it looked so pretty in the morning light, and it made me thankful for my own sweet valuables.

Ruby's Treasures/Mommy's Treasures:

No beef, Beef. No Fortune, Cookie.

Evan came home today!!! Finally. I don't know how single moms do it. I only once wanted to cry, then realized I hadn't eaten all day, and I only once thought about selling the children to the gypsies. Glad he was only gone two weeks! It is so good to have that scruffy smile back in the house, though he did fall asleep almost immediately. Now he's snoring and I'm blogging. Thanks for my romantic reunion, JETLAG.

My beef vermicelli for dinner arrived with no beef. My fortune cookie contained no fortune. What can it mean!??

Last night at work it was a hip hop show, and I was privileged to tend bar with our beloved Heidi (see teaching Ruby to fish picture) who has been filling in for her boyfriend, who of course, plays trumpet for My Jerusalem. We've been having a girls club pretty much every day since they left and I'm a little sad to break it up.

I have no love for rap music, the lyrics are crass and destructive to the poor kids who idolize the "artists" and it pretty much just sounds like barking dogs to me. That being said, I love me some good hip hop. Hip hop is less about image and money and more about dancing. You have a higher chance of finding a melody in hip hop and it definitely spans a much wider variety of fans with the foot stomping beats and chant worthy lyrics. A Tribe Called Quest is still my all time favorite, but the guys who played last night, SKP (SubKulture Patriots), besides calling me Sweetheart all night were pretty fun. "My name is Shayla." "What?" "Shayla!"

Did I mention it was 110 degrees in Austin today? Note our golden scorched lawn.
I hope you enjoy these very silly pictures of Ruby and I wearing matching outfits. She picked hers all by herself and it was so close to something I had worn to work last week I thought it should be documented. Besides, it is my God-given right as a mommy to be totally ridiculous. You would do it if you were me.

Habitat of a Feral White Ruby

So many pictures. It was fun though. I was inspired to do a room tour of Ruby's world by another mommy blogger, but also because it happens to be clean today, a phenomenon which occurs very seldom around these parts. The pictures of the other little girl's room can be found here. Miss James is a seasoned blogger, incorporating fashion, vintage and mommying with breathtaking photography (my favorite things!). My friends have been telling me for awhile that I should start a blog, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon Bleubirdvintage and also my sister in law, Jennifer's "documenting adventures abroad" that I really got the bug. I highly recommend reading both.

• black monster (Pancho) by shayla
• sock elephant (Gwalfo) by shayla
• Owly friend by shayla
• twin collages by shayla
• photo baby ruby and daddo storms
  
• hand painted tea set (inside cupboard) by shayla
• crepe poppies by shayla
• Koko bunny by shayla
  
• mermaid doll (Emerald) by jennifer
  
• vintage sock monkey by evan's grandma
• framed cross stitch by my grammy
• dolly ribboned quilt by grambie
• vintage pooh lamp from my childhood
• all other vintage thrifted