Life Lately, According to Instagram

1. Mexican food cures all after a bad day // 2. Hanging out in parking lots

3. Cajun gets in the bed when I get out // 4. Snocones discovered on Fort Campbell (!!)

5. Lazy Sunday // 6. Afternoon by the Cumberland River

(You can follow along on Instagram if you like - username charisseadams)

Festival Weekend

Happy Monday! This weekend was a super lazy one. The weather was terrible (rain + freezing cold), but we braved it for the Rivers & Spires Festival and stuffed ourselves with fried catfish, funnel cake and fried Oreos - and boy, was it all delish! Then we hurried back home to get cozy and warm and spent the rest of the weekend lounging around the house and catching up on some TV shows (one of my favorite ways to spend a weekend).

Starting tomorrow and for the rest of this week, I'll be participating in Week In The Life 2012, which I'm super excited about. I won't be making all of my photos into a scrapbook, though - just documenting on the blog with a few words as a way of getting back into the habit of taking photos daily. (I feel like I've been slacking on documenting the little details of my days.) So, wish me luck!

New Year Update

First off, I'd like to wish you all a happy, happy new year! (Sorry that was so late. I really hope your 2012 is off to a great start.) As you've probably guessed by my absence in this space, I am going through some not-so-fun stuff right now. I wish I could tell you more than that, but I don't feel comfortable sharing more just yet. I appreciate your support as I get things sorted out. I miss being here and promise to be back as soon as everything is a little more settled.

In the meantime, if you're missing me terribly, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter (charisseadams on both). I've been participating in the January Photo a Day Challenge (a few photos from January above), and I'm looking forward to the February Photo a Day Challenge coming up. If you're on Instagram, you should join in - it's FUN.

Merry Christmas!

I'm running around crazy today getting ready for our trip to Washington in the early morning. We'll be there tomorrow through Wednesday of next week, and with all of the family time, Christmas parties, present opening and cookie eating, I'm not sure how much time will be left for checking in here - so, I thought I'd go ahead and wish you all a very, very merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays, from me, Mason and Cajun - to YOU!

(In case you're interested in the card details, I found the art as a free printable on a blog that I can't seem to find anymore for the life of me, then uploaded it to Vistaprint and added our signature. I'm so happy with the way they turned out. We would've loved to do a photo card again this year, but with the craziness of the move, there just wasn't time, so I figured fun typeface + cute colors was a pretty great second choice. What do you think?)

*In case you missed last year's card!

Life Lately

A few photos of life lately - which has been ca-razy! The holidays are always a busy time of year, but with the move, I'm pretty sure the craziness has been doubled - maybe tripled. However, I am happy to announce that I got our Christmas cards sent (with five days until Christmas!), our shopping done (what did we do before Amazon??) and everything washed, packed and ready to head to Washington for the holiday (thank you, thank you, my very own washer and dryer - I love you).

So, all in all, I'm calling this holiday season + relocation a huge success (and I'm choosing not to focus on the fact that our tree only has one ornament on it - it is a really great ornament, after all).

Now the only thing left to do is wait.... for Santa!

What a Beauty

I was driving around downtown the other day, completely lost (as is usually the case here in Austin) and listening to my navigation as it brought me in circles, when I rounded a corner and saw this. Isn't it just beautiful? I certainly think so.

Apartment Peeks

The apartment is finished! Can you even believe it? In my last apartment, I left rooms undecorated for years, so this is a BIG accomplishment for me. It was really fun repurposing items from our old apartment and rearranging things to fit into the new space, and I have to say, I really, really love the finished product.

(The bookshelves you see in the top left photo are pretty much the only new thing we bought, and they're definitely my favorite piece in the apartment. I've always wanted a wall of bookshelves, and I love the way it looks in our living room.)

Now that we're all set up, we're ready for visitors! So, if you're reading this and you're itching for a trip to Austin, TX - come on over. We've got a super cute guest bedroom with your name on it!

*I promise a more thorough photo tour when the light is better - it's been a gloomy week here. Also, you can see our Santa Monica apartment here.

Roadtrip Snapshots

These snapshots from the road are my absolute favorites. Good people, good cats, good food and good books on tape truly are the perfect recipe for a great roadtrip. (If you've never roadtripped with a cat, I highly recommend it. It adds just the right amount of hilarity and weirdness to it all.)

Now that the weekend is finally here, I'm headed to Houston for some sister time (LOVE that she's only a three hour drive away now). We've got hair appointments and Christmas shopping on the agenda, and Mason will be spending his first solo weekend in Austin, exploring the city a little bit more. Have a great one!

P.S. - That "Watch for Snakes" sign was posted at the entrance to the restrooms at a rest stop somewhere in west Texas. Scary!

CA to TX: Roadtrippin'

Wow - It feels like it's been a million years since I've been here (which it kind of has). My apologies for being gone so long (and thanks to those of you who've stuck around!). Moving is ca-razy. Seriously. But we're all settled in Austin now, and besides a few small details, our apartment is pretty much complete and already feeling like home. I'm finally getting back into a regular schedule after a couple weeks of weirdness, and all in all, we're loving it.

Above are a few photos from our Santa Monica to Austin roadtrip, the best roadtrip I've ever been on. You might think two people + one cat in a truck for two days wouldn't be fun, but it was perfect. We drove a lot (and stopped for snacks a lot), and listened to the first of The Hunger Games books on tape (which we loved and made the miles go by so fast). It's definitely a trip I'll remember forever.

I'll be back tomorrow with a few more snapshots from the road, and I promise to catch you up on even more things next week - like Thanksgiving! And the new apartment! And all the fun we've been up to in Austin so far! (Aren't you so excited??)

Ahhh, it feels good to be back here. (I missed you guys!)

Halloween Adventures

A few more photos of our Halloween adventures above. We met up with some friends for a Halloween pub crawl and ended the night with pizza at one of our favorite late-night spots. It was pretty low key, but perfectly fun. The best part of the night was checking out everyone's costumes. My favorites were Al Davis (aka our friend Moses - seen above), Dexter and the kid from ET.

November Welcome

November is here (which means turkey and sweet potatoes are just around the corner)! I'm celebrating its arrival by wearing flannel and sipping hot tea. It's been awfully chilly in LA lately, and it's only going to get chillier as the week goes on. I hope you're staying warm - wherever you are - and welcoming November with something cozy and fun.

*The photos above are two of my favorites from our Seattle weekend: leaves downtown and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Paul Bunyan and the cat twins! I hope your day has been filled with too much candy, a carved pumpkin or two and at least one really good scare!

More photos from our Halloween weekend coming up tomorrow...

Weekend in Seattle

Photos above from our weekend get-a-way to Seattle. Don't they all look so fall-like and fun? That's because the weather was perfect, and it didn't rain the whole time (can you believe it?!). In just two short days, we managed to fit in live Irish music, crab scrambles and salmon omelets, coffee, coffee and more coffee, walks around Pike Place, hang time with old friends, the football game, a movie (The Ides of March - Ryan Gosling - need I say more?), too many hotdogs and a long run.

All in all, it was a great little mini vacation, and a great way to kick off fall - for real.

Week in Pictures

I have no idea where this week has gone - all I know is it was Sunday night and now it's Friday afternoon. (Craziness!) Mason and I are hopping on a plane in a few hours and heading to Seattle for a weekend of Cougar football fun with old friends. I'm excited to chill out for a couple days (and soak up some real fall weather), but before I go, below are a few photos from last weekend since I never got around to the Weekend Photo Love post. There was more fall shopping, new JA-esque apartment decor, a baby shower and some cozy-on-the-couch family time. (Don't worry - that's not real poop - it's the infamous diaper game.)



And a few photos from this week, which was packed full of work seminars, Halloween costume shopping, more fall decorating and a Pat Green concert that was truly AMAZING (as they always are).



Again, so sorry for being away for so long! I promise next week won't be nearly as crazy. (Or at least I really, really hope it isn't.) Have a great weekend!

Weekend Photo Love: 10/8

I kind of think this past weekend was the perfect fall weekend. The weather was amazing, the tailgating was good, there was plenty of snuggling on the couch and I even broke out my cozy boot slippers. (Too bad we didn't win the football game - that would've just been the cherry on the top.)

Weekend Photo Love: 10/1

It feels like it should be Thursday - that's how long the past two days have felt - but then again, tomorrow is Wednesday so that really is almost Thursday. Oh my, how time flies.

A few photos above from our weekend. It's starting to look and feel a lot like fall around here!

Week in Pictures

A few photos from the week, which included a brand new baby(!!), too many Salted Caramel Mochas (I have an addiction), cute bow ties (and cute husbands), cozy sweaters (with chi chi balls!) and one or two cat wake-up calls (my favorite kind, actually).

Even though it was a good week, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't so ready for a couple days of football, fall decorating, pumpkin Nutella bread, the season premiere of Dexter (eeek!) and a few glasses of wine. How about you?

Here's to Friday - make it a fun one!

Handsomest

That is one handsome fella' right there.

(Photos from a little project Mason and I are working on.)

Weekend Photo Love: 9/24

This weekend was nice and low key, full of movies (Moneyball!), lazy Starbucks breakfasts (I'm in love with the new Salted Caramel Mocha), sweater shopping, windowsill sitting (this one was mostly Cajun), a 30th birthday party and a little apartment clean-up (and nail polish clean-out).

It was nice to have Mason all to myself (there was no WSU football game this weekend - hooray), and to soak up all of the little things that are making it feel a lot like fall around here. Hard to believe there are only 5 days left in the count down to boot-wearing weather (and October)!

Follow Me!

If my blog posts are just not enough for you these days, never fear - Instagram and Twitter are here! Follow charisseadams on Instagram to see all of my photos (mostly of Cajun and food), and follow @charisseadams on Twitter to catch all of my tweets (mostly about what I'm watching and what I'm eating). (Have we covered the fact that I heart food? Because I so do.)

Also, if you're on Instagram or Twitter, leave your deets in the comments, and I'll follow you back. That way we can all be best online buds. Awwww. Makes me warm and fuzzy just thinking about it....