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We visited Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose TX and had quite the adventure. It’s such an amazing and beautiful place to bring kids, explore outdoors, learn about dinosaur history, and have a picnic!

The park itself is over 1100 acres with abundant wildlife, trails, and a turquoise river. It surprises me how much natural beauty there is in Texas as you don’t often see it in your daily commute or surroundings. You have to go out and seek it.

We started our trek at the Main Track Site where you cross the shallow river stepping on large rocks as your path leading to the Ozark Site. Here you’ll find sauropod tracks that once roamed the earth.  Jonah was amazed by the size of these massive fossils. As we made our way across the river and over the rock formations, a short and relatively easy hiking trail awaits. The views of the river were a spectacular sight as I’ve never seen a river so turquoise before; beaches and oceans yes, but rivers no.

First sauropod tracks in the world discovered by R.T. Bird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trail leads up to an Overlook which was the perfect spot to stop for a picnic lunch and take in the valley views from the top.  The top of the Overlook can be a little dangerous if you have little ones full of energy as there are cliffs. But if you take caution and hang on to your wild ones, the views from the top are rewarding and worth the climb.

View of the Paluxy River Valley from the Overlook

 

After lunch, we made our way back down the trail and took the kids to the children’s play area. This was the perfect outlet to let the little ones run free and play without the dangers of high cliffs or falling.

Dinosaur Valley State Park has many points of interest and so many more trails. You can easily spend an entire day here exploring. For our first visit here, we spent the the right amount of time exploring to keep both kids’ interest and to tire them out before Baron’s nap time. We definitely plan to come back to explore the rest of the trails.

Travel Tips for visiting Dinosaur Valley State Park:

  • Come early in the morning as soon as the park opens and visit before March before the crowds come. Crowds start to visit later in the spring and the park gets busier.
  • Pack a lunch and enjoy a picnic at one of the many scenic areas.
  • Crossing the river is a highlight – be prepared to get your feet wet then explore where the first sauropod track was discovered.
  • Check out the larger than life size dinosaur models at the entrance or on your way out. Great for photo opps.
  • Visit the gift shop where you’ll find dinosaur-related gift items. All proceeds benefit the park and provide free educational programs.

 

 

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Sources: Blue flask: Hydroflask | Pink tumbler: YETI| Pencil cup: Threshold| iPhone case: Casemate  | Mousepad: Threshold | Table Lamp: Kate Spade

 

New year, new home office supplies!  I love nothing more than a fresh clean desk and workspace. Since I work from home, it’s important for me to have a clean and uncluttered workspace, and stylish desktop accessories to make the work day more fun.

These are my top 10 home office desktop essentials for a productive and stylish work day:

  1. Water: Keeping hydrated throughout the day is a must. I always keep a water jug within reach.
  2. Coffee: I can’t start my day without my cup o jo. I love my yeti tumbler as it keeps my coffee piping hot for hours and it’s pink!
  3. A fresh notepad – Call me old school, but I still love using a notepad to write down my to-do list and tasks for the day. I get satisfaction by marking off each task with a big checkmark!  Since I’m a lefty, I like using the spiral top bound notepads. Cambridge makes nice classic ones.
  4. A cute pen for writing down all those goals and checking off items on your list. Mara Mi makes some really cute and stylish pens.
  5. A pencil cup holder
  6. A beautiful lamp that doubles as an art object on your desk
  7. A planner – I love the Day Designer by Whitney English.
  8. A mousepad in a fun color or design
  9. A business card holder and/or pouch for stashing quick supplies like pens, your phone, a charger, post-it notes, and other small personal items for when you’re on the go or out and about in meetings. I just got this  Pouch pictured below from Mara Mi and it comes with a matching card holder. I’ve used them both every day!
  10. Something living such as a small plant or fresh flowers to add the finishing touch and they make you happy!

Sources: Planner: Day Designer for Blue Sky | Pen: Mara Mi | Pouch and Card Holder: Mara Mi similar here

What are some of your favorite or must-have desk accessories to help you stay organized?

 

jillivictorio@gmail.com /

 

There is just something about a clean slate. I love the idea of a whole new year waiting out there full of hope and possibility.  As we close the books on 2017, I want to take a little time to note and honor all that this past year has held, so I can begin to look towards 2018 and all it could be. I also spent New Year’s Day taking down all the Christmas decorations and the house feels so refreshing already. Here’s how the entryway looks now that the Christmas tree is down and the houseplants are back in their spot.

Sources: Planter: Planter: Target | Art: Homegoods | Rug: Similar here | Chandelier: Similar here  | Dining Table and Bench: Custom made

 

This year has held a lot of milestones for us. From selling our home in Washington and making the move to Texas, this year has felt like one adventure after another. In June we sold our beloved Issaquah home and two months later bought a new home in Texas and moved site unseen. I know sounds crazy, and it’s been crazy good.  We shifted gears and liked the idea of a new adventure with the kids, while the career and real estate opportunity was too good to pass up.  You can read about our moving story here.  We also hosted our first Christmas celebration in our new home with relatives visiting from the East coast and the NW. The kids loved having our family around.

The days after Christmas and before the New Year, I love sharing my goals with John and hearing his so we can encourage and motivate each other throughout the year and make any adjustments if we need to along the way. Needless to say, I accomplished most of, but not all of my goals in 2017 and that’s ok. It still is a good feeling. It’s funny how life events can sometimes change your plans, but can also unfold into new opportunities.

So here are my goals for 2018:

  • Home & Garden: Plant and grow new flowers, trees, and install a vegetable garden, change the front door
  • Travel: Save for our 10 year anniversary trip (Aulani, June 2018)
  • Invest in a new business
  • Get my real estate license!

My ongoing goals are to:

  • Continue to as eat healthy as possible
  • Commit to better self-care
  • Explore more of Texas as a family and discover new places (Waco, Austin, and Marfa are on our travel bucket list.)
  • Be better at blogging, consistently

As I sit here and reflect back on the last 12 months—the memories we’ve made while we were still in Washington, new memories in Texas, and the milestones we’ve tackled—all I feel is grateful for another year. I am also optimistic for the one ahead. We have big dreams and plans that we look forward to accomplishing together and sharing with our family and friends.  We are also praying that 2018 will be a year of peace and contentment.

Happy New Year everyone!

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It has been four months since we sold our house, left Washington and moved to Texas. I’ve been reluctant on writing this post because I just didn’t feel like I was ready to express all the emotions that come with a move/relocation, a new city, new state, new town, new life, new everything. As the end of 2017 nears, I’ve had a few months to reflect and am ready to share my thoughts on our recent move.  It has been both exciting, liberating and joyful, yet there are times I feel sad and miss the place I was so familiar and comfortable with. Being a Seattle native, I’ve only lived away from Seattle to go to college in Pullman and to study abroad in London England for a semester. At age 32, the biggest move for ME at the time was moving from Seattle to the Eastside (Issaquah to be exact).  It was the first time in my adult life that I’ve felt such passion and connection about a place and a home before.  I felt more content than I ever had before. It wasn’t until my husband, children and I did life there that I discovered a new found appreciation for everything about it. I loved the natural beauty surrounded by mountains and trees, the lake nearby, the landscape, the proximity to Seattle and Bellevue, the charming small town feel, the craftsman architecture, the neighborhoods and the excellent schools. I loved how we had access to everything outside our front door and could walk to the park, playground, community center, library, market, shops, and hiking trails.

 

 

With the real estate market up and more equity built up in our home, we knew we wanted to sell to buy and design/build our next dream home and stay in Issaquah.  What we didn’t know was how quickly our home would sell. We listed the last weekend of June and by the second week of July, we accepted an offer and went into contract.  This gave us very little time to go with the plan to build a new home in Issaquah and we hadn’t found any listings that we loved.  The same week that we accepted an offer on our house, John got a call from his employer about a position in Fort Worth and if he was interested, he could start in August.  As in next month August. Freaking out, with no plans or leads for any Issaquah homes, we jumped online to check out potential Dallas/Fort Worth real estate listings. We were surprised by what we saw, especially for the price point. You get a lot of house and land in Texas for half the price of what you would pay in the Seattle/Eastside areas, allowing us to increase and save our net proceeds, and invest in another project.

After discussing the opportunity and weighing our options, whether to stay or move, I wholeheartedly agreed and supported John’s decision to relocate our family for his job.  After all, John has supported my career choices during our entire relationship, going along with my career plans and changes.  It was time to return the favor and encourage his career decision.

As John and I began discussing and comparing our wish lists and requirements in a new home, we compromised and agreed on a ranch style home on half an acre in a country setting about 35 minutes outside of Fort Worth. We worked with a virtual agent who was so helpful in touring and video recording properties for us all over DFW. She wrote up the offer and within days we had mutual acceptance, an inspection date and tentative closing date.

Everything happened so fast that we didn’t have an opportunity to see all of our friends and family that we would have liked to or for a proper farewell. Packing seemed like it was never ending, but we managed to get it done in two weekends and all the hours during the week in between. The task of packing in such a short window gave us the opportunity to purge a lot of unnecessary “things and stuff” that we kept and collected for no reason over the years. I applied some elements of the KonMari Method during the purge and it felt so good to get rid of stuff that we didn’t need or that didn’t spark joy.  I also had fun selling a lot of stuff quickly on OfferUp, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace.

Moving day came and I found it feeling similar to how I felt first going off to college. There’s excitement and fear of the unknown. I remember those college days well… I was homesick at first, yet I knew it was time for that next chapter.  I had no choice but to go forward.  Looking back, those were some of the best years of my life. I never learned so about myself and what I was capable of doing.  It’s a different time now and it’s not just about me anymore – I have a husband and two children now.  I need to show them that life here can be and will be great. It already is great in many ways if we open our eyes and look for it.  It’s also an incredible opportunity, a chance to try new things, explore more of the world, make new traditions, celebrate life and grow.

No matter how much I miss my old life, there’s no better time to move forward – for my husband, our sons, and for myself.  The timing of it all just fell into place organically as if there was a bigger plan for us just waiting to unfold but it was up to us to put in the work and make it happen.  We feel truly blessed.

Closing Day August 28, 2017

So here we are, in our new home and new state. The boys have adjusted so well, better than I expected. I know it’s their age that has helped make the transition easier. Jonah at age 7 going on 8 at the time of our move, loves his new school and hasn’t looked back. Baron at age 2 during the move is just enjoying everyday. We like to look at photos together on fb and Instagram of our friends and relatives from back home and the kids do remember the fun memories we had.  We love our new home and are happy with our decision on where and what we purchased. I have plans to make some updates to the house in stages, but for now, I am finding joy in making this house our home through projects such as decorating, repurposing, and styling a whole new blank canvas. (House tour pics coming soon).  Frequent trips to Target (Super Targets in Texas) have been therapeutic and have helped me ease into my new environment here, while discovering new places to eat, shop, play and explore have made it an exciting adventure for the entire family.  There are also Drybar‘s here in Dallas and Fort Worth, hallelujah! I just need to find a new hairstylist and I’ll be good to go.  Speaking of shopping, Dallas is the place to be if you love to shop. John has found his outdoor gun range, and the kids have a cute little park, beach and lake nearby.  At the end of each day, we find tranquility in our new country surroundings.

We appreciate the close friends and relatives who have been supportive and those who have rooted for us (you know who you are) in our decision to move. It really means a lot to know that it is your true friends that have your back no matter what, and uplift and encourage you to live your best life. I’m all about #goodvibesonly. Designing the life you want involves risk, challenges, uncertainty and figuring some things out as you go. There will be voices and negative nellies that tell you “It’s too hard” or “It just doesn’t make sense.”  In fact, our brains are scientifically wired to prevent us from doing things that are uncomfortable, uncertain or scary in order to protect us and survive. But at the risk of sounding cliché, I believe sacrificing a life inside a comfort zone for the sake of living a better, richer and fuller story is the best kind of life worth living.

 

jillivictorio@gmail.com /

 

Outfit details: Glitter Blazer: H&M (on sale!) | Pants: A New Day for Target (similar here) | Boots: DV

John’s Outfit: Sport Coat: John Varvatos | Shirt H&M | Pants: Levis | Shoes: Clarks

Jonah and Baron’s Outfits: Blazers: Cat and Jack | Shirts  H&M Kids | Pants: Cat and Jack |

We attended Breakfast with Santa at Neiman Marcus Cafe and had a holly jolly fabulous time! We will be making this an annual holiday tradition to kick off the Christmas season. This was the first Breakfast with Santa event Neiman Marcus hosted at their new Shops At Clearfork location in Fort Worth. The morning started with champagne and pastries, followed by a full hearty breakfast plate with eggs, quiche, bacon, sausage, waffles, fruit and yogurt – yum!  Santa made his way around to each table making sure to see and greet each child. After breakfast, families were escorted to have their photos taken with Santa. There were no lines because the photo session was reserved for families attending the breakfast.  Reservations for Breakfast with Santa are required and include coffee, tea, juice, full breakfast, visits from Santa and his elf, and complimentary printed portraits with Santa.  This was the perfect way to get our kids’ photos with Santa without the hassle of lines and crowds at a mall and enjoy a special breakfast together!

Beautiful tables set for families of up to four. Larger groups can request to be seated next to each other.

 

 

A full hearty breakfast plate with the yummiest strawberry butter!

 

Baron loves his Belgium waffles dipped in real maple syrup.

 

A balloon maker elf to keep the kids entertained!

 

A souvenir print and folder to keep was ready immediately

 

We can’t wait to do this again next year!  What are some of your favorite holiday activities or events in the Dallas and Fort Worth?  Would love to hear them in the comments.