Texan-izing Ourselves

Well, after five years in the Big Apple, we have, as Tom likes to say, "Hung up our party boots" and moved back South for some long overdue family time mixed with great friends and lots of college football. This part of our journey began about 5 months ago -- I heard the faint sound of Texas calling in the distance, and when Texas calls, you answer. In response to Texas calling, I began subtly (or not so subtly) hinting to Tom that I was ready to head home. The subtle hints turned into a quick change of job hunting direction and here we are 5 months, a house, a car, 2 dogs and a lot more furniture later settled into our first (and most adorable) home. Peace at last. Here are our two bundles of entertainment...Cletus Wray and Winston Bowen Wright...

You may be asking yourself, why am I here? Well, today it's because I sent this to you and the nice thing would be to read it, but in the future, hopefully you will like what I have to say and come back on your own free will for little Wrays of inspiration. As for me, I started this blog as more of a way to keep me focused than for any other reason. I wanted to be sure to take in this whole experience of starting our lives together, in a new city, with old friends, new and old pets and endless opportunities before us. I hope to write in it every day -- about the little things in life that capture me.

On October 22, 2010, Tom and I moved into what we have both dubbed our "perfect" home. Perfect in the sense that it's got a beautiful garden (or 'backyard' for the Texans reading this), it is big but not huge (the perfect transition from a 600 square foot apartment in NYC), it is a maximum of 15 minutes from all our dearest friends (i.e. dinner parties!), it's got charm -- the house was built in 1935 by a former Dallas mayor (back before the Super Homes started taking over) and coolest of all, it came with a doggy door already installed (making Cletus our min pin and Winston our King Charles Spaniel very, very happy.) We've packed the house full of things we love and the welcome mat from Grananan went out just the other day -- ready to welcome you on your next visit!

Something I've learned about myself during this whole home settling in process is that I'm a hunter, not a wild game hunter (sorry dad), but a hunter of treasures. A little well kept secret in Dallas is a store by the name of The White Elephant, it is an antique store to beat all antique stores. It is a treasure trove of peoples past lives, histories, memories and passions and I cannot think of a better way to spend a Friday afternoon than rummaging through someone else's old stuff! Another secret I'm going to let you in on is a place called the Vogt Auction in San Antonio -- Tom and I have lit-tra-ly furnished our entire home from the goodies we found at this auction house. Some of the most exquisite antiques I have ever seen make their way through this door and go for 80-95% off what you would buy them for in stores! They send out pics every Thursday for the following weeks auction and you can bid online and they'll ship to you if you're the winning offer! Holy cowballs! Amazing! here's the link http://www.vogtauction.com/   and here's some pics of the goodness we found at that very auction!

That's all the time I've got for today, off to get ready for my first duty as VP of the Wives Committee at Tommy's new job!! Mi Cocina margaritas anyone??

Love to all and come back for more if ya know what's good for ya!

xxx