A Few Spring Goodies

Hello all! I'm still trying to get back into the swing of blogging after Spring Break. Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on my last post. My son and his friends were so grateful to get to experience SXSW and I was just happy to go along for the ride. :) 

I already shared THESE fun tops and Vans I recently bought. But I didn't want to let these others slip by without telling you about them as well. They're just too cute (and inexpensive) not to share. 

I found this fringe cardi in the Juniors Department at Walmart for about $15. I was holding it up, admiring it, and a sweet lady walked by and commented on how cute it was. That sold me. I put it into my cart immediately. :) It also comes in a navy color. You can click HERE to order it on Walmart.com

I wore it all around Austin and got lots of compliments on it. I just love the fun fringe on the bottom and it also has a little hoodie in back.

Okay y'all, I've been looking for a light pink cardi for about a year now. I wanted a specific shade of pink (kind of a blush color) and it had to be very lightweight and a little long in the back so I could wear it with leggings and Pixies. I finally found this one below...

I pulled that pic from my last post because I was too lazy to take a new one. :) Anyway, this one definitely fit the bill and was so inexpensive at about $15. I found it at...you guessed it...the Juniors section at Walmart. 

You can click HERE to order it from the Walmart website. It also comes in navy, black, and olive. It's unbelievably soft too. This one also has a little hoodie. 

Next up is this cute pair of slip-ons from Target...

The laces are just for looks. You don't have to actually lace them up or anything. These are so comfy, y'all! Like, REALLY comfy. And look how cute the back is...

I couldn't find them online, but they're by 'Mad Love' and were about $20 in store. 

One more thing. I've been hearing about this Bio Oil for a long time. They talked about it on The Today Show this week and it was one of  22 award winning beauty products. (Click HERE to see the rest of the list) I've heard it's the best moisturizer for hands, feet, legs, etc. Have you tried it? I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know how I like it. 

I picked it up at my local HEB store for about $12.

I guess that's all for now. I'll be back to share some changes we made to the backyard and an update on how well our $18 DIY Pergola Cover has held up. 

~Lisa

Our SXSW Experience

Oh my goodness, y'all...we're back from SXSW and we had the best time!!! As you probably remember, my son and his friends made a movie and it was accepted into the SXSW film festival lineup! They wrote, produced, directed and shot a film called "Stripped" and it was such a huge deal for it to get its premiere at SXSW in Austin, Tx. You can click HERE to read my big announcement. 

SXSW receives about 6000 high school film entries each year and only 22 make the cut. We were so excited when we found out their film was one of the 22!!!

So, my son and his friends traveled to Austin for the premiere and stayed for 10 days to enjoy all the film festival has to offer. (I just flew up with my mom and older son for four days) They got to attend tons of screenings, premieres, panels, etc. They saw Ryan Gosling at the premiere of his film "Song To Song" and they got to attend the premiere of "The Disaster Artist" alongside Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Dave Franco. Like, they literally sat in the same theater with them for the premiere! 

Here's my son Logan (in the middle) along with his fellow filmmakers Kendra and Hector at the red carpet premiere of their film "Stripped!"

They had another screening at the Alamo Drafthouse later in the week. Here are some pics from that...

Here I am with my son Logan. I was one proud Mama. :) 

It was so thrilling to sit in a packed theater with them to watch the premiere! And so fun to see their film up on the big screen! After the screening, they brought them on stage for a Q&A with the audience...

Here's Logan in front of their film poster displayed in the Austin Convention Center...

Kendra's family also came up for the screening and afterwards, we all enjoyed a fun meal at The Oasis on Lake Travis...

The Oasis is known for its sunset views. (click HERE to see more pics of the restaurant) They even post what time the sunset will be each day on their website. 

The restaurant has multiple decks for your viewing pleasure. :) 

This was the sunset view from our table. Just gorgeous! 

Here's another neat thing. They made up shirts with all the films that premiered at SXSW. The convention center was selling them and we were lucky to snag the last three! They sold out very quickly!

The front of the shirt...

And the back with all the films at SXSW 2017...

There's their film, "Stripped!"

Of course, I couldn't resist buying a few other shirts too...

My son was very lucky to meet some YouTube stars too. Here he is with Jenna Marbles...

And Julien Solomita...

And here's Ryan Gosling at the premiere of "Song To Song"...

They got to hear Rainn Wilson speak...

And here they are at the premiere of "The Disaster Artist" with Seth Rogen, Dave Franco, and James Franco...

Here are a couple of random pics from our trip...

This is the view of the infamous 6th street from our hotel room. This pic was taken very early in the morning, as it was a TOTALLY different story at night. ;) (think packed streets, loud music, and general craziness ~ ha!)

We had to visit VooDoo doughnut...

That's my cotton candy one on top and Dylan's maple bacon on the bottom. Yum!

Ran into these three cuties one night, took a quick trip to the capitol building (with my mom and son Dylan in their St. Paddy's day finest), saw the bluebonnets and of course had to partake in P.Terry's burgers. :) 

A silly pic of me enjoying one of several orange mochas I had at Caffe Aragona! So yummy!

You can't really see it, but that's Grumpy Cat flying over the Capitol. No idea what that was about. Lol.

Had to bring home some Stumptown coffee and Stroop Waffles from Royal Blue Grocery...

My cute mom enjoying her quiche at The Driskill Hotel...

I can't tell you how many times we frequented Royal Blue Grocery during our SXSW visit. They had everything you could need and they're all over the Austin area. We enjoyed their sandwiches for a quick lunch several times and they make a great cortado. Everything was pretty reasonably priced too. I think our ready made sandwiches were around $7.

Just noticed that's my mom going into the store. Ha! They were really good at having a strong police presence during the festival too, especially at night. We felt safe the whole time, which was nice. 

Since we flew in, we needed a car for transportation, but didn't want to drive ourselves. We were a little disappointed to learn Austin doesn't have Uber, but thankfully we found that out before we left, and we all got the "Fasten" app instead. It works the same as Uber. I actually liked it better than some other ride sharing services because you can tip your driver within the app. Some others don't have that convenience, so you still need to carry cash for the tip. That defeats the whole purpose of a cashless ride to me. With Fasten, as soon as your ride is over, they send you a notification so you can rate your driver and add a tip. Very convenient. 

We never had to wait more than a few minutes for a car and I love that they send you a picture of the driver, a picture of their car, and the license plate number so you know you're getting into the correct car. I always took a screen shot of this pic to send to my hubby or someone else, just so they would know which car/driver picked us up. You can never be too careful. :) 

And here's something some people don't know...you as a rider get rated by your drivers as well. Yes, indeedy. :) They rate you on whether you're out there and ready or they had to wait on you, if you tip, if you're loud, spill food in their car, etc. 

My son also used Ride Austin and had good luck with them as well. He also got to use the SXSW shuttle service for free since he had a filmmaker badge. That would take them from venue to venue and was convenient. 

We had such a good time and it was thrilling for all of us to see them rewarded for all their hard work. :) Thanks for all your congrats here and on IG. I really appreciate y'all following along! 

I know the kids had a hard time with re-entry into the real world after all that fun. :) The festival was held during their Spring Break and they went non stop the whole time. They're exhausted, but happy, so that's always a good thing. 

I know I've been absent from the blog scene for awhile, but now that we're back, I'm doing my best to get caught up with all of you.

P.S. I'm about to get a new iPhone (with a much better camera) so hopefully my pics will improve on here soon. :) Y'all know I'm not known for my photography skills. Ha!

~Lisa

This and That

How is everyone? It's been super busy here while we get ready to attend SXSW. We're over the moon excited, to say the least. :)  

Speaking of SXSW, I was perusing my closet the other day trying to decide what to wear to the premiere of my son's movie, as well as what else to pack for our fun days in Austin.

And surprise...I came to the conclusion that I needed a few new things. I wanted a few hippie-inspired shirts (or do you call them blouses?) I had no idea if I could find what I was picturing in my mind, so in true Lisa fashion (see what I did there? "Fashion" lol!) I made Walmart my first stop. I know, I know...you're thinking Walmart??? Yep. Remember my friends at Whoa Wait Walmart? They're always telling us about the fun, cute clothing they carry and of course it's very affordable.

I found exactly what I was looking for...

P.S. Those Joy Mangano huggable hangers are on sale right now at Target. I stocked up yesterday. Your clothes won't ever slip off and since I don't put hardly anything in the dryer, I even use them to hang up my shirts to dry with no problem. 

Don't they look a bit hippy-ish with the patterns, tie dye, and little tassel things? No? Maybe? Well I'm choosing to call them "just hippie enough for me." Ha!

What I love (besides the price of $14.46) is that they're a little longer in the back which makes them perfect for wearing with my Old Navy Pixie Pants or leggings. They cover just enough of your bum so you don't feel like you're putting on a show, if you know what I mean. Lol!

Here's a closer look at the neck line with the tassels...

Next up, I found these cute striped numbers...

They're a little plain, but that's okay in my book. And they're very comfy, which is always a good thing. Oh, and with the longer back, they're also great for wearing with leggings/Pixies.

Would you believe these were on clearance for $7? What a deal! At first, I only put two in my cart, but then I had a talk with myself and "we" decided I should definitely go back and get the other two colors they came in. I knew I would regret it if I didn't and then I'd just be making yet another trip to Walmart in the near future AND I would be stressed the whole ride there worried that they would be gone. Isn't it fun to get inside my head like that? Hee hee! 

Now I will say that they are VERY thin, which is why I personally bought them. It's so hot here, but since they're so thin, I can wear them year round. I'll definitely have to wear my favorite cami with them, which is fine with me. If you missed my post on my favorite cami, you can click HERE. I love these camisoles. I had a hard time finding something that wasn't clingy or made of microfiber or Spanx-like. I just wanted an old school camisole that was loose fitting, AND was comfy AND didn't have a lot of embellishments. Oh, AND that was cheap. :) I found it all with these and they're only about $8. Oh, and that same link above also has info on my favorite Old Navy Pixie pants I talk about all the time on Instagram. 

The pic below shows just how thin they are, just so you know...

I was holding it up in front of a window, just for y'all. :)

Another thing I needed was a new pair of Vans. I LOVE Vans! I prefer the classic slip on and have worn them for years. Just when I was thinking of ordering another pair from Zappos, I got an email from them offering me a discount. I'm totally not kidding...like the morning I was going to order them, I got an email from Zappos offering me a $30 coupon just for signing up for their Zappos rewards program, which is free. This was definitely a sign that I needed these shoes...

The classic canvas slip on.

So instead of $50, they only cost me $20! Zappos always offers free shipping and free return shipping. Such a nice perk!

One more thing...when I was at Walmart buying my new shirts, I browsed the Easter aisle and came across these cute initial basket charms for your Easter baskets...

They're kind of like the monograms you can purchase to hang on Christmas stockings, only these would work for Easter with the cute plaid design.

They also had these cute tulle skirts for your Easter basket...

Oh my goodness...aren't they darling? I just had to share. 

I might be a little absent from the blog scene during the next week or so while we're traveling to SXSW, but I'm sure I'll share pics on Instagram. 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa