New Life in Austin

Hi! It’s been a little while since I’ve done an update in any category. I’ve been semi-MIA for the past few months, but now I’m back! There have been a lot of things going on in my life, so I wanted to give you an update and start sharing a little bit more about my personal life.

I’ve always only shared personal style and travel on this blog. I never wanted to share anything personal because I didn’t believe it was needed and to be honest I was a little scared to do so, and I still am. But I do so many things in my life that I think would be fun to share and hopefully, it can be helpful to some of you.

2017 is a big year for me, and I’m very excited to see this year will unfold. We’re almost a quarter into the year, and we’ve already started to cross off some goals from our list.

Here’s what I’ve been up to lately!

We Moved from California to Austin, Texas!

At the beginning of December, we did the big move from California to Texas! Peter and I knew we wanted to move, but we didn’t know where.

In April of last year, we did a quick trip to Austin, and we fell in love with the city! We said this is it, we’re moving to Austin. All it took was one visit. We’ve been to other major cities in the US but never had we felt like we could move there. Austin has everything we want, and we’re discovering something new every weekend.

We don’t know how long we’ll be here. We planned to live here for only a year. After a year we’ll decide if we want to stay in Austin or go back to California. But we’ll make that decision after we get married, which brings me to my next topic. Our wedding!

We’re Getting Married! & Planning Our Wedding!

Peter and I decided a couple of years ago that 2017 was going to be the year we got married. We’re not traditional in the sense that I wanted it to be a surprise or anything, he didn’t “propose” and we shopped for the ring together. We share everything and our wedding is definitely something we’re planning together.

We’re having a destination wedding! We’re getting married just outside of Paris in a chateau the beginning of October. Before the wedding ceremony and celebration in France we’re having a civil ceremony in San Francisco for our friends and family that can’t make it to Paris.

We decide on San Francisco and Paris because it’s our two favorite cities in the world (currently). I’ll share more details on our wedding in a separate post.

I Went Wedding Dress Shopping in San Francisco

At the end of January, I went wedding dress shopping in San Francisco with my Maid of Honor and my family! It was soo soo much fun! I tried on a ton of dresses, a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles. It was my first time trying on a wedding dress, so I wanted to see which style was my favorite.

I already had an idea of what I wanted before I went shopping. I always loved elegant, long sleeve, lace dresses and lucky for me every store we went to had many that fit that description.

I found two that I absolutely loved; they were completely different styles, so I needed to think about it. I left SF without purchasing a dress because I wanted to think longer about it and do a little more research before the big decision.

On Valentine’s Day, I decided and ordered the dress!!! The wedding dress is something I’m not sharing with Peter; I want it to be a surprise for our wedding day 3.

We Ran Our First Half Marathon

A goal that Peter set for us last year was to run a half marathon. And it was perfect timing because we were able to take part in the half marathon here in Austin in February, two months after moving here.

I don’t love running, I find it very difficult, not at all therapeutic, and a challenge. But I wanted to see if it’s something I would be able to achieve. So I said, yes, let’s do it! I like taking on challenges. We trained for about two months, every week we added a mile, a week before the marathon I was running 9 miles without a break! Yay!

On February 19 we ran in the Austin Half Marathon with two of our friends and completed it! It was soo soo hard, my legs were burning, and the hills didn’t help. Every time I mentioned to someone that I was running in the Austin marathon every person always said, “I heard it’s one of the hardest to run in” and they were right. The hills were grueling!!

I’m happy to say we’re still running a couple of times a week.

I Started Doing Yoga!

I needed to add something to my daily routine that lowered my stress and gave me the opportunity to take a breather. I joined a yoga studio on March 1st and started going every day.

I started off doing a personal 30-day yoga challenge to see what difference it would make in my life. So far so good, I like the break that I get in the middle of the day and it’s helping manage my stress.

I’m bummed because the yoga studio is closed for a whole week during SXSW. Since it’s downtown, it’s too crazy with the happens during the conference. I’ll be doing yoga at home for a week.

We Held Our Annual Team Retreat

My companies leadership team joined us in Austin at the end of February for some team building, strategic work and of course lots of fun!

We went to iFly! So much fun!!

We went indoor bouldering at one of the largest bouldering facilities. This was pretty difficult and a little scary at first. It was my first time doing this and I really enjoyed it, will do it again soon!

We enjoyed dinner in the dark at a Blind Cafe pop-up event. This dinner was so interesting! We ate a vegetarian dinner and enjoyed music in pitch black darkness.

I’m Learning About Skin Care

I’ve never had the most gorgeous skin, and I didn’t pay much attention to skin care, until recently. About two years + ago I decided to do something about my skin and went to a dermatologist. I started taking some medication and also used some creams, January of this year my skin is much better, and I’m working on developing a skincare routine.

I’m learning so much about face washes, toners, serums, face masks, etc. I started using many products from the brand Caudalie, and so far I really like them.

I’ve seen almost all of the Sephora skin care videos and I’m slowly starting to build my beauty products.

If you want to know more specifically about what I’m using and my reviews on each, just let me know in the comments!

I’m Drinking One Green Smoothie a Day

To be honest, I just started this March 1st so I can’t tell you if I’m feeling a huge difference. They are yummy, easy to make, and I get another serving of fruit and vegetables in my day.

I get the recipes from, Simple Green Smoothies and I usually use spinach for my veggie base. I was using the Magic Bullet as my smoothie maker, but it broke yesterday! We’re going to have to make a trip to Target to get a new blender.

So that’s what I’ve been up to! I will be incorporating more of these personal posts throughout the year, especially with our wedding, new city, and huge travel plans we have next year!

If you would like to know more about a something I mentioned like planning a destination wedding, my daily routine, or stuff about Austin just let me know in the comments below!

Stay Stylish,
-V