Life with Leila Bee

etsy: smartgirlsattheparty: Remember, Smarties: Strong women...

Mon, 14 Mar 2016 19:56:02 -0500

smartgirlsattheparty:

Remember, Smarties: Strong women lift each other up!

Illustrated by the ultra-talented Libby VanderPloeg (http://www.libbyvanderploeg.com)

We’re head over heels for this illustration by Etsy seller Libby VanderPloeg. Buy her prints here!

Photo

Thu, 01 Jan 2015 19:42:09 -0600

My First Month as a Hunter * I have still not legally changed my...

Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:57:20 -0600

My First Month as a Hunter
* I have still not legally changed my last name to Hunter, but I made the “real official” change on Facebook and am easing my work community in with Hunter in my signature
* We have completely recouped from all the planning, stress, adrenaline rush with our honeymoon in Cabo, followed by marathons of Downton Abbey & Damages and catching up on all the movies we have wanted to see. Next up … A House of Cards tv session
* We have written 90% of our thank you cards!
* I’m noticing the use of “we” a whole lot more than “I”
* Ray’s name was added to a checking acct I had that will now be our joint account
* We’ve grocery shopped, cooked, tried new restaurants in our new-to-us neighborhood
* I’m feeling the team work in our house to get things done
* We’ve had countless afternoon tea sessions with my parents at our apartment, had Ray’s mom and sister over for dinner and finally got a coffee table and side table for our living room
* Work/life balance is back since I have my best friend in the apartment with me
* I can no longer sleep any which way I want in the bed. Thank God I got my diagonal sleeping in over the past couple of years.
* We have laughed together, effectively communicated with each other, comforted each other when sad news came our way, prayed together and talked about what we are believing for in 2014.

At the start of this 1 month anniversary date I’m feeling blessed with this new life of mine. Thankful for the days we’ve had, loved by my husband, family and friends and looking forward to the future.

Ps. Ray is hoping to get “started working out together” in month 2 as “The Hunters”. Lofty goals.

"Wait wait — put your hands down. Listen: I know you have a thousand ideas for all the cool features..."

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:03:16 -0600

““Wait wait — put your hands down. Listen: I know you have a thousand ideas for all the cool features iTunes could have. So do we. But we don’t want a thousand features. That would be ugly. Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. It’s about saying NO to all but the most crucial features.””

- Steve Jobs

My future office space.

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 18:42:05 -0500

My future office space.

Dear Random Guy Who Moved a Table for Me at Starbucks Without Being Asked to Do So, THANK YOU!!! You...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:08:17 -0500

Dear Random Guy Who Moved a Table for Me at Starbucks Without Being Asked to Do So,

THANK YOU!!!

You made an awkward exchange with girls who stole an extra table less awkward and made it possible for me to have a table and a seat available for my potential wedding photographer when she arrives for our 7 PM meeting.

I hope your kindness is paid back 100 fold.

Love,

Leila B.

Photo

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:19:52 -0500

Photo

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:05:16 -0500

"I swallow my words about how I, too, am nauseated by that fake niceness. My heart burns with the..."

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:47:51 -0500

“I swallow my words about how I, too, am nauseated by that fake niceness. My heart burns with the truth that hypocrisy is unacceptable. And I wish she could taste in my words the delicious flavor of authentic community, the kind where people completely unlike *you* come to feel like family. It’s the place where a college student, a dreamer, a homeless woman, a tired mother, a broken family, an artist, a man who has lost hope, and a brilliant intellectual with a PhD and a life plan are all on equal ground: sinners saved by grace through faith.”

- “What I Want to Say About Church” - Carrie Stephens

Can I just take a second to comment on email backgrounds? Why...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:03:33 -0600

Can I just take a second to comment on email backgrounds? Why are these still being used? More than 50% of the time I have to copy & paste the text into a word doc just so I can read the email and not be distracted by the background graphics. #businessproblems #itsbeenthatkindofday

mrsgrundy: Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:28:06 -0600

mrsgrundy:

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Enjoying the heck out of this beautiful Saturday in Austin. Can...

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:11:23 -0600

Enjoying the heck out of this beautiful Saturday in Austin. Can I live here forever?

The last 12 hours.

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 09:33:30 -0600

After a series of ridiculous things that have happened to me in the last 12 hours all I’m left thinking is “how do mom’s do this?”

Google maps for iOS is back! I’m certainly in the crew...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:06:55 -0600

Google maps for iOS is back! I’m certainly in the crew that will be ditching Apple Maps and going back to Google.

It’s the little joys in life that keep us going.

fastcodesign: Did you eat a Pop Tart this morning? This is what...

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 17:42:15 -0600

fastcodesign:

Did you eat a Pop Tart this morning? This is what it looks like under an electron microscope. Still hungry?

Gross and shocking.

On Working From Home

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:15:29 -0500

You may not like working from home if you don’t like doing dishes….

Since I started working from home about 2 months ago, I can’t believe the number of times that I’ve run the dishwasher and I don’t even have a family or kids! Think about it. Dishes dirty from every meal, instead of maybe just dinner when working in an office.

Thankfully dishes are one of the chores that I actually don’t mind doing.

Vacuuming on the other hand, that chore is at the bottom of the list. Hate it.

I know you’re supposed to look back on your year in...

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:16:35 -0500

I know you’re supposed to look back on your year in December and reflect on all that’s happened. Buttt… I was looking back at photos on my computer yesterday and realized that 2012 has already been an over the top great year for me – full of milestones and celebrations. So what if I want to reflect in September? :)

One: Completed my first solo sewing project, with the guidance of Sweet Verbena! It was my mom’s birthday gift; only fitting because she is the one that taught me how to sew and bought me my first sewing machine (along with Dad).

Two: My childhood BFF gave birth to her third child! Sweet sweet Silas.

Three: My roommate of 6 years and best friend got married and I was honored to be her maid of honor! We had mini panic attacks along the way knowing that we wouldn’t be living together after February 2012. I can’t deny that I stayed with her on her first night at her new apartment (what are best friends for, right?). Needless to say, I couldn’t have been more excited to stand by her and watch her marry her love.

Four: The original four childhood ~~enemies~~ friends were reunited in Atlanta when my BFF’s sister, Joon, married her soulmate, Ordy.

Five: Reunited with my childhood best friend after 13 years in San Antonio! She came to Texas for a mini vacation with her boyfriend (now fiance) and I couldn’t miss her being in Texas. I made the hour drive to San Antonio and we picked up right where we left off when we were kids. Loved meeting her man and catching up with her!

Six: Celebrated my golden birthday! I celebrated with a handful of my closest friends at Second Bar + Kitchen in Austin. Friends were asked to dress in gold and the table was decked in (tastefully done) gold table cloth and gold vases. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better (amazing company and food), the bf surprised me at the end of the night with a carriage ride around downtown Austin. My heart was full!

Seven: This one might actually need to be filed under “mom’s prayers that were finally answered 20+ years later.” I stopped biting my nails!! No idea what happened but I quit cold turkey and for the first time in my life got a french manicure with my own nails!

Eight: Said goodbye to my old faithful tea maker. It had been a long ride … since freshman year of college. This tea maker was a gift from my uncle and had fond memories with my cousin.

Nine: In May, I took a business trip to China!! I fell in love with Shanghai and the people. My co-workers were amazing hosts and I was literally blown away with the hospitality that they showed me while I was there. It really made me think differently about hosting friends when they come for a visit. I hope to go back as soon as possible to visit Beijing.

Ten: Celebrated my man turning a quarter of a century with dinner at Ruth’s Chris and a to-die-for bread pudding for dessert.

Eleven: In June I said goodbye to our beloved “Walsh house.” 5 years. 5 years we lived in that house and it will always hold a little special place in my heart. It was the first place I lived in after college, the place that saw tears, celebrations, late night movie nights and chats, many bachelor/bachelorette viewing parties and so much more. 3 of us lived in that house for 5 years and we grew into women there. Unfortunately since we had drug dealers living next door (another story for another time) we decided to finally move on and into an apartment in June.

Twelve: My brother and I surprised my dad for Father’s Day with tickets to see his favorite singer, Joe Cocker, live! It was the most special night. My dad was smiling ear to ear. The weather was amazing and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate the greatness that is my dad.

Thirteen: OBSESSED over the Olympics! I seriously love the Olympics; swimming, gymnastics and track & field blow me away every time. This year’s Olympics brought Michael Phelps to an all time record of medals, the woman’s gymnastics team to it’s second team gold in history and countless other accomplishments. My roommate and I are still reliving the moments. :)

Fourteen: Decided to get serious about running shoes and purchased my first pair that weren’t selected just because I liked the look. Luke’s Locker is now my favorite athletic store. Couch to 5K is calling my name (currently on week 4) and hopefully I’ll run my first 5K in October.

Fifteen: After a little over 5 years, I decided to say goodbye to my first job. This job. This job came through an internship that I almost didn’t apply for. If it wasn’t for an ice storm in Austin that kept me in the house for a couple of days, I don’t know if I would have applied, gotten the internship and subsequently had the best first job ever. I traveled the world, made business impact alongside some of the smartest people I know and made friends (actually practically family) along the way. I was blessed beyond words there and left with a full heart when they blessed me with countless kind words and an iPad as my going away gift! Truly great people.

Sixteen: Last, but not least, I started a new job! It’s only 2 weeks in, but I’m excited about the opportunities that are in front of me and this next phase in my career.

Wow, even typing that out leaves me smiling. It’s already been an amazing year and I am reflecting in September and feeling so grateful for all of these big milestones and celebrations and all the little ones in between.

Finally, a headboard!

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 23:14:43 -0500

I’ve been wanting a headboard for the longest time and have been on and off looking at Craigslist and Pinterest to find the perfect one. I decided to take the DIY route and am so happy with how my headboard turned out (and for just around $50)!

The Materials:

- Foam Insulation Board ($13, Home Depot)

- Batting ($20, Hancock Fabrics - 50% Off!)

- Fabric ($20, fabric.com, Suzani Slub Yellow/White)

- Staple Gun

The Process:

When I purchased the foam insulation board from Home Depot I had them cut it to 63" in length. I knew I wanted a taller headboard, so I kept the width as it was (4").

After I patiently waited for my fabric to come in from fabric.com, I started making the headboard! The whole thing took about 1.5 hours; I’d guess that 30 minutes of the time was actually just ironing the fabric.

After ironing the fabric, I started by staple gunning (is that a word?) the batting to the foam insulation board. I probably could have done a cleaner job on having batting even all the way around … but what can you do! It’s hidden anyway :) It was a little tough to get the staple in on the corners where the layered batting was, but I just did extra stapling there to hold everything in place.

Next up was the fabric! “Staple gunning” all the way around.

The finished product! This was such a simple DIY project and I feel like it adds so much to my room.

I currently have it sitting on about an inch of space on my bedframe and snug up against the wall. That’s holding it in place for now. I need to experiment with securely having it up, either by hanging it or sticking it to the wall with velcro (or other contraption).

Next up … oh, only just a million DIY projects that I’ve posted on Pinterest.

"Google AdWords = Math + Human Psychology. It’s money and emotions–wrapped up together in..."

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:59:30 -0500

“Google AdWords = Math + Human Psychology. It’s money and emotions–wrapped up together in every single click.”

- Get A Grasp on Google’s Content Network

"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we..."

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:58:17 -0500

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

- Hebrews 4:16