Garage sale season is upon us! Every Saturday morning I wake up before anyone in the house, sneak my way downstairs, grab a cup of coffee and head out the door. I am ready for the world.

I spend the morning sorting through other people’s trash and treasures. The early bird gets the worm, you have to be there around 7 to get the good stuff. Oh, and what good stuff it is.

This weekend, my loot included a vintage Samsonite train case. Not the usual hard case variety, but the older versions with the stitching around the edges. Six years of Martha Stewart Living Magazines. A couple of vintage straw Acapulco bags, which will be added to the shop this week.

This dresser, which is oh so cute and has a new home in my entry way. Should I paint it? And what type of knobs should I put on it?

And this chair, which I painted red. He’s the ‘merchandising’ part of my shop. He’ll hold all of the dresses and such.

A few weeks ago, my friend Ruth tagged me for a four things meme. Here goes…

4 Movies

• Amelie- I heart French films and Audrey Tautou is one of my favorite actresses.
• Chocolat- Two words, Johnny Depp. Oh how I dream of moving to Europe and opening my own little shop.
• Under the Tuscan Sun- Can you tell I love to travel? There are so many villas all over Tuscany, abandoned. The thoughts of what it would be like to move there and just live. Beautiful.
• A Good Year- Europe. A house. Amazing.
• Xanadu- I know this is 5, but come on. It’s Xanadu!!!

4 Places I Have Lived

• Key West, Florida- Parents moved there when I was a baby. Loads of baby pics on the beach. I’m a beach baby.
• San Antonio, Texas- Where we got married and lived right out of college.
• Arlington, Texas- Where I grew up.
• Stephenville, Texas- Dairy capital of the world. HUGE Rodeo town. Where I went to college and played basketball.

4 TV Shows I Watch

• So You Think You Can Dance- Guilty pleasure.
• The Amazing Race- A race around the world. Sounds like my kind of race.
• Grey’s Anatomy- The characters, the plot, the humor, the timing. It’s all too good.
• Project Runway- It amazes me how they create such fabulous clothes.

4 Places I Have Been

• Australia- Went once with my dad. He sells opals and we went to Sydney and the Outback on a buying trip and to stay with his friends. Got to raise kangaroos while I was there. Went a second time with high school students. I was a leader for a student travel program and we spent three weeks in Australia, traveling up the coast from Sydney to Cairns. Amazing.
• Europe- There are just too many amazing places to leave one out so here’s my list. Most of these places I visited as a travel leader. I did spend some time in Italy with Miles before we had Makena. England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. I can not wait for the kids to be old enough to travel and we can all go! A few of my favorite places: Salzburg, Austria - Cinque Terre, Italy - Paris, France.
• Vancouver/Whistler, B.C., Canada- Our number one favorite place to ski. We like to fly into Vancouver, spend a couple of days then head up to the mountains in Whistler to ski. There is so much snow there it will blow your mind.
• Belize- We went with my dad on a diving trip to the islands in Belize. It’s so pure and natural. My dad says that is the way Cozumel was thirty years ago.

4 Things to Eat

• Chocolate
• Fish Tacos
• My family’s recipe for spaghetti and eggplant parmesan.
• Sushi

4 Things to Look Forward To

• Disney World- We leave on Saturday for a week at Disney World!!! The kids are going to go crazy. Ah, who am I kidding… we are going to go crazy! I promise to come back with lots of cheesy ear pictures of the four of us.
• Summer days spent at the lake.
• Oliver being house trained.
• Getting ALL of the laundry done.

4 Favorite Places

• Home
• The lake- floating on a raft.
• Granville Island Public Market (Vancouver, B.C.)- A mind blowing market place. I usually stand there with my jaw dropped to the ground, overwhelmed with the choices.
• Savannah, Georgia- We went in the fall for our ten year anniversary. The quaint little shops, coffee shops, parks… it’s all too much!

Okay friends, it’s your turn: Chris, Ellie, Sarah, Misty.

Today is moving day! I’ve got my bags all packed and we’re moving on. So long Blogger, chikaustin’s got some new digs. Check out my pad, take a look around. You can even peek in the cabinets and closets. What do you think? I was feeling limited in Blogger, a little cramped so it was time to spread my wings and find a new home.

So, do you like it? I’m thinking about changing a few things and WordPress allows me to do so much more. I’m thinking about paint colors, art for the walls, some landscaping. Maybe it’s time for new furniture. Oh, the opportunities are limitless. Have I told you about the view? You can see for miles.

Speaking of being able to see for miles, this weekend we took the kids to Enchanted Rock State Park. We stopped in Fredericksburg, a German settlement, and picked up lunch - bratwurst. Then we made our way to the state park to complain (ahem) I mean to have a lovely hike up to 1,600 feet above sea level. From Makena, there was the occasional ‘I can’t do it’ whine which was always followed by my ‘yes you can, God gave you long legs now use them.’ Because I’m supportive like that.

We hiked all the way to the top. Miles had Keegan on his back and some of the time I gave Makena a boost. I do have to say that our kids were definitely the youngest that we saw out there so a little complaining was justified by a three year old. On the way down, we focused on the snow cones being sold at the base of the mountain. You’ve got to stay focused.

Snow cones in hand, we made our way to the car with a trail of bees following us. The day ended with Makena running to the car yelling ‘there’s a bee-hind me.’