A Dreamy Little German Town

One day I'll drop the 'Dream' theme - but not yet . . . 

Magic Man, my parents and I took a spontaneous day trip to Fredericksburg, TX, a small, touristy German town about 70 miles from us in Austin.  We were en route to go hiking but changed our minds after we left home, just because.  But I will say both my mom and I felt mildly uncomfortable in our hiking garb all day.

We took our time driving out there, stopping in the town of Dripping Springs and the LBJ State Park.  We didn't even know about The Park but when we saw buffalos we knew we had to stop.

OK, technically you're not supposed to get as close to the buffalo as we did but my mom was insistent that we get closer and she doesn't have the nickname 'Cruise Director' for nothing.

The night before Hubbo and I had watched 'Staying Alive,' because, you know, it's genius, and we could not stop dancing or jumping around (it's a truly infectious movie).  

We came upon a darling deer family - so many babies. It was almost too charming.

We finally hit Fredericksburg, and like the deer - it was almost too charming.  

So many adorable shops, even the Chase bank had charm.

I could have spent all day in Red, but since we had the mens with us, I had to keep my perusing to a minimum. 
 

Again, I wanted to spend forever in Dooley's 5-10-25 Store, but the mens were not into.  Can't imagine why. . . 

But before we left I did buy a die-cast pencil sharpener.  

My parents used to buy me these when I was little (isn't this a perfect souvenir trinket from the '80s?) and they fill me with nostalgia when I see them.

 For dinner we were torn: do we head 30 minutes away to the Alamo Springs Cafe for what has been called the best burger in TX or go to a traditional German restaurant on Main St?  

We chose the latter because we were super hungry, so The Auslander won.    

Dad was especially excited (being German and all) for a big (heavy) German meal.  I was skeptical because I'm not in love with this genre of food, and it seemed so touristy but I loved my chicken fried chicken and the bread was amazing.  

It was such a dreamy mini adventure and I can't wait to go back - maybe with just my mom or other ladies who want to stroll and shop at a leisurely pace. 

I Dreamt I Did a DIY

I keep forgetting to write about the last DIY project I tackled.  

It all started in December.  I heard Riccardo Tisci had designed the t-shirts for the 'Ye/ 'Z Watch the Throne tour and I knew I had to have one.  

It would be my version of his barking dog 

or panther shirt, which were out of my budget.

And my dad needed one too.

I noticed the ones we bought did not have 

the monogrammed sleeves or the stars,

So my DIY project was born. 

  

After I cut an inch off the neck I slipped a thick piece of cardboard in the T to prevent bleeding to the other side.

My handy tools were a star stencil, white fabric paint and a small roller paint brush.

 I soon learned the best way to paint a star was to use masking tape (and the stencil as my guide) to create a star shape ready to color in and protect the fabric from the paint. 

After I peeled all the masking tape off (which was really satisfying) I saw that some white paint had bled onto the fabric making the stars looks fuzzy.  My mom suggested making the lines sharper by using a black sharpie and the stencil as my guide.  

I painted five stars on the front and four on the back because that's what 'Ye had.

For the initials on the sleeve I free handed them using a thin paint brush. They aren't perfect but I don't want people that close to my arms anyway.

All set to wear for the holiday parties.

I bought a concert t-shirt from a parking lot guy for my little sis (she went to the North Carolina show but didn't buy herself a shirt) for $5 because I am so generous.  Then I painted hers as well so it would be more presentable.  We loved being twins this year.