The Lauren Style: Travel

it feels weird writing a post after months of not doing it.
it feels a little like going to the gym after taking months or years off and your body is like this is weird but i like it and i need it.

life has been cray to the cray.
i've had 0 time for documenting, journaling, or photographing.

with working full time, buying a house, moving, renovating a house AND starting/rebranding/tweaking/ nurturing my own business all in the last 6 months i've barely survived.
blogging seemed like the first thing to go, then the gym, then cooking, then ya know the list goes on about the things you have to let go of during those storms.

i'm so grateful for my break from blogging.
i realized how nice it is for people not to judge the little glimpse of your life.
i realized how nice it is to not feel like you have to constantly be taking pictures.
then i also realized that if i'm not blogging then i'm not journaling and then i'll forget.
and forgetting is a scary thought.
there has been so many moments these last 6 months where i would think oh man that's hilar i need to remember that. anddddd then i forget.

all this being said i'm back.
don't know for how long.
but i'm back for now and happy about it.

okayyyyyy soooooo i best start from where i left off.

California Work Trip/Fun Trip:

i landed and headed to...cafe rio, duh.
where would you go?
right when i landed my cousin hannah said shayla (other cousin) had her baby!
so that was fun getting some great snaps of the babe.

the kids were hilarious ya know not eating their food, not wanting their food made like that, ya know just being kids.

we woke up and went to the happiest place on earth.
it was even happier cause it was FREE ...
thanks to the best disney employee to walk Main Street USA!!!

then the cousin told me she was prego cause there was no hiding it anymore.
i of course was like ummmmm IG prego announcement at princess beauty castle? i think so lol
we cracked up and no surprise that wasn't the one posted.

asher was so freakin cute, i wanted to burst when we road dumbo together.

cute disney family. can't wait till we take our kids all together...oh yikes that might be a bad idea.

this was probs the most hilarious ride with HB.
she was so spooked she cried well we both cried. i was laughing so hard the entire time.
such a mean cousin.

yo get out of our pic minnie

the next day i woke up and shot my gorg friend's wedding in newport!
luckily i talked my other cousin, alta, into coming with me and helping me shoot!
couldn't have done it without her.
it's just so nice having a second shooter to eat cake with be awk with getting those up close and personal shots of the first dance.

after working you crave...sprinkles ice cream?>
we drove down to get ourselves something fattening the whipple way is always the ice cream way.

we met our other cousins down at the beach for a bonfire.
it was priceless and gorgeous day.
ugh i sorta held back the tears knowing it would all be over and i would be going back to houston ...and packing boxes and moving and painting and and and all that crap.

the selfies of the evening.

the next day i drove down to my old homeland of palm desert.
i drove down our old street and it was EXACTLY the same.
i'm so glad i went because i was reminded that our decision to move was okay maybe even good. i got closure. the move to houston was so quick and rushed. i got nervous during the whole process that we were making a mistake because we were finally getting settled in the desert. and then BAM. houston.
i was reminded of the slowness and quietness of palm springs, it's nice, but i remembered how bored i got and how we were always having to leave on weekend to get out.
it's the best place to vacation cause it's ALWAYS sunny.

the next day we drove to beach or hike and balboa island.

california you will always have my heart.

my sister & her husband went on a vaca and sent me up to help babysit with gigi (grandma).

i took so many pictures, but let's first start off with the iphone pics:

so basically i hate united. let's just say i was at the LAX airport for 9.5 hours!
i ate a cronut for the first time...$6!!!!!! i was in total shock when i was rung up. it wasn't even that good. guess i'll have to wait to try what NYC has to offer in the cronut department.

i got to my parent's house around 1:30am (i left 7:30am...long day of traveling)
the kids woke up and started them off with a foot massage...you can't teach work ethic young enough.

penny loves taking pictures.
she would say "wait, lor lor, take another one, lor lor!!"

how pretty is my parent's backyard?

gigi cuts cash's hair before i arrived.
apparently it was bugging her cause it was getting in his eyes + food was getting in his hair. (lol)
however, the cut was a little lloyd christmas.
cash hated getting his hair cut! gigi got him a popsicle, it sounded like a good idea until all the hair being cut got allover his sticky popsicle and he kept getting hair in his mouth and would cry "icky" "down" down" "icky" !!!

after his hair cut i put him in the bath and then started cutting penny's hair.
after penny's cut i went up stairs to see how cash's bath was going...well he was out and so was something else. homeboy pooped in the tub. i got penny to help me (what a good little helper she is) the poop got stuck in the drain...i told her to get a spoon and that's the end of that story about poop.

after cleaning the poop i'm greeted by a 7 month old sucking on a sucker given to her by her 2 year old brother. whoa. grabbed that chocking trap out of those chubby hands. (after a picture of course)

after the sucker incident it was nap time.
penny helped hold the bottle. ha ruby had two milk maids.

we went to the park & enjoyed Eugene at 82 degrees. (never heard of the 80's on may 1st!)
i miss cafe yumm so much i bought the sauce in the LARGE size.

after the park the kids were like vampires and melting in the sun so a shiver at TCBY was in the cards.
cash happened to spill the melted shiver all over himself and the car seat.

the nights penny was able to sleep through the whole night without having to get in someone else's bed (she gets scared) she got to light a sparkler!! celebrate the small battles!

one morning i took these two to get some donuts!
note to self: don't bring a toddler to the store or anywhere without hand cuffs.

took some mother's day photos for their mommy!
penny was really into this idea until she realized it was the type of photos she wanted..."what i have to smile normal" she wanted crazy pics.

i put ruby in this adorbs outfit that i use to wear...
see:

little "library" on the side of the road. as i drove around they were popping up all over.

buffalo had some great finds & free totes for the store's 40th birthday.

stylin penny's hair 24/7
wishing i was eating papa's 24/7

snap chats from mr. (pretty tender)

we got out of the house with the farmer's market for breakfast.

penny's birthday was on May 3rd (her parent's were waiting to celebrate when they got back from their vacation) BUT i'm kinda a sucker for birthday's so we had a mini party "lor lor birthday" we got a special cupcake from the bakery that she picked out and put on a tiara and gave her her special present all the way from Texas. a little penny for little penny.

my snap chats to mr ^^

every time i come home i'm always amazed by the green lush woods making it feel like your in a tree fort.

penny loves to think her outfits are best. (#mickeysocks)

i got to fit in some voodoo just don't know if my skinny jeans fit now.

okay peeps have you ever had the mafia donut? holy delish...banana inside the fritter topped peanut butter chocolate chips and nuts.

we did our fair share of face-timing. introducing the girls to each other.

i took mom out for her mother's day date.
we went to divergent/dinner...it was my second time seeing divergent & i was A-OKay with that...can anyone say HELLO FOUR!

i took the girls on a walk. an hour long and i was reminded the whole time from some 5 year old that ("this is wayyyyy to long, where is the park?")

one afternoon while gigi was sleeping with ruby...
penny and i made her fav cookies (choc chip) dipped in milk cause penny said ("how awesome that would be") painted nails and watched frozen.