Why I'm Done Blogging

So, it's been quite a while since my last blog post.  Just over a month, really.  And so today I'm just going to stop by here and say "bye" and give you my thoughts on why I'm done, at least for now.

1.  The time and upkeep and the guilt and being present.

I work 8 to somewhere between 4:30 and 6 every day, and tack on 2 hours of commuting.  And then a few nights a week I work at home too.  And I'm also taking on more at working and getting some new responsibilities.  We have our delightful puppy who needs lots of time and love and attention, and deserves to have that.  And of course I have my supportive and wonderful husband, who also deserves time and love and attention.

So when I get home at night, I want to be able to maybe take a quick run, or start dinner and have a glass of wine and relax with my boys.  Not feel guilty about not wanting to find clever gifs or not wanting to write up a good recipe, etc.  I want to be present and focused on our little family.

2.  I made a REAL friend.

I never planned on blogging to meet any friends, online or in real life.  But guess what?  I did it!  Lauren at Eat, Drink and Be Lauren (f/k/a Method to My Madness) and I hang out on the regular, and our e-mail strings and texts could fool anyone into thinking we've been friends for WAY longer than a couple of months.

So basically, it's way more fulfilling for me to spend a Saturday out shopping with her and having prosecco and pizza IRL for three hours than to spend that time locked in front of my computer.

3.  I didn't miss it.

I didn't write a "goodbye" post right away, because what if I wanted to come back a week later?  So I deleted Bloglovin', HootSuite, and the Facebook Pages app from my phone. And I removed my blog email from my phone.  I cut it all off cold, and guess what?

I didn't miss it at. all.  For the most part, I found that my life was better because I was enjoying what I was actually doing a lot more.  Not worrying about taking photos, or thinking of a clever post based off of Barley's latest quirk.  I also didn't miss feeling that I needed to be keeping up with other people's posts in order to garner attention to my own blog...which goes back to the time.

So today, I feel confident in saying "bye" to this blog for a while.  Who knows, maybe in six months or a year or in two years it will all change and I'll be back.  I didn't delete any of my social media accounts, so there's always that possibility.

Finally, if you're reading this now or you took the time to ever read my blog, thank you.  It's flattering that anyone would read anything I have to say, and it's extra-nice that so many of you did.  I hope that some of you will continue to follow my Instagram and we can stay "internet friends" in that way, and if you're interested in following along on Twitter, you can find me here.

See ya later alligators!

"You're Awesome!" {half marathon training}

Hm.  So where do I begin with this post?  I feel like I am just bad at training.  I am finding it really hard to stick to a training plan right now, and I'm disappointed in myself.

However, as the title of this post suggests, I was actually running recently, and a guy who was running by my gave me a thumbs-up and said, "You're awesome!"

I didn't think it was that big of a deal until I realized that it made me feel a little bit better about the fact that I was running an 11:30 mile, and I was tired, and I just wanted to stop.  It's awesome when you have anyone cheering you on or even just giving you "the nod".

Over the weekend, I did two days of running inside and doing HIIT and it worked me over.  My legs were good and sore, and I could really tell the difference between doing just a run and doing the HIIT.  I think I needed to feel a little extra "ouch" there to get my leg muscles working and feeling it again.  The last few runs I had outside in September, I was not feeling any residuals the next day, and to me that is the mark of having pushed myself a little extra on that workout, so I'm excited to integrate some new stuff into the mix.

Another huge issue for me has been my shoes.  They are old and they suck.  No way around that.  So for my birthday Bryan got me new running shoes.  I NEVER thought I would be the person who would ask for running shoes as a gift, but here we are.  

So that's where I'm at, and I'm slow, but I'm happy that I'm realizing what I need to adjust and where to make changes.  For me, upping my overall cardio tolerance has been my biggest challenge so far, so I think that will continue for a while.

Happy Birthday to Me! {27 woo!}

Happy birthday to me!  

Today I'm hitting 27, so I thought I would throw together a bunch of old birthday photos

So it's my birthday everyone!  Turning 27 and feeling pumped about it.  27 is going to be a great year I think.  I am mostly hoping for stability, happiness, and letting the good times continue to roll.  So today I'm going to take a walk down memory lane and look at some other birthdays from my 20s...brace thy-selves.

2007, turning 21.  It was a Tuesday and we went to a bar called Joe's on Weed St.  that had $2 pitchers and 25-cent beers.  #collegelife Also, this is when Sparks were big and there is a sparks hiding in this pic.  

2008, turning 22...eating chili cheese fries at Portillo's, duh.  After that I ate a huge Italian meal at a place called Quartino's in Chicago too....damn I want that metabolism back.

2010, turning 24....also celebrated our first dating anniversary!  We went to the Signature Room at the Hancock building that year.

2011, turning 25!  My mom makes the most legit birthday cakes ever.  I mean you can see that here...three layers, whatever kind you want.  Because it's your day.

Ok, so I don't have that many pics of my adult birthdays, woops. Last year we went out to the Original Carrabba's on my birthday, so delicious and legit.  We are going out to a casual, more chill dinner tonight and then plan to have a few friends over Saturday and go out to some bars.  Who's bringing the Sparks?! :)

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

Today, I'm excited to share this very easy and very delicious soup that is perfect for the "chilly" temps that are coming, or if you live in the plains, will warm you up after you dig out of 3 feet of snow.

It was a perfectly fall day here in Texas on Sunday, so we "celebrated" by wearing sweatshirts, and eating a yummy potato soup, which I promise you will love.  

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen hash brown potatoes (cubed)

20 oz. (or so) of low-sodium chicken broth

1 block of neufchatel (could use cream cheese too, but I like to cut corners)

1 can of cream of chicken soup

6 or so strips of bacon, fried, dried and crumbled

1 tsp. cajun seasoning (Or be scientific like me and do a few shakes in)

3 green onions, chopped for garnish

Shredded cheddar cheese for garnish/stirring in to make it even better

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Get that crockpot out and put the hash browns, chicken broth, cream cheese, and cream of chicken soup in and give it a stir.  Add in the bacon crumbles and cajun seasoning and stir again.  Let is go on low for about 6 hours or so, stirring occasionally if you can.  If not, just stir it when you get home and let it go again for the cream cheese to blend in.  

2.  When it's ready, spoon into bowls and garnish with green onion and cheese, then stir in that goodness and enjoy!

Boom. Done.  So easy and delicious.  What's your go-to crock pot fall soup or recipe?

Rebooting {weekend recap}

I had big plans last week to give you a five on Friday recap, but last week things went a little awry.  Wednesday night my car stopped working as I was going up a freeway on-ramp.  Yup, just wouldn't accelerate, so we had to have it towed and turned out a connection between my gas pedal and fuel injection needed to be replaced, FUN!   

Then, Thursday afternoon, I went to get a sandwich at lunch and while I was backing out of my parking spot in the downpour, got into a fender bender, very minor.  No one was hurt, but it was just a huge pain.  So basically I was all out of sorts.  Hence, the title of this post:  Reboot.

Friday night we had a birthday party for the CEO of my company, it was so much fun!  Delicious fajitas, open bar, and Bryan finally got to meet most of my co-workers, which was great.

Here you see me sketchily wandering through Wal-Mart pre-party because on our way out the door, I noticed there was a 1-inch tear in the side of my dress by the zipper!  Sweet.  Nothing like power-walking through a Wal-Mart in 4 inch heels to get a sewing kit.

And here we are at the party!

Pretty good looking couple I'd say! My eyes are a little squinty from the flash but oh well.

Post-party we made a late night Whataburger stop because, you know, sometimes you need some onion rings and a cheeseburger and Diet Coke before you can fall asleep on your couch watching Too Cute! on Animal Planet.  Also, the party favors included full-size Hershey's and Hershey's with Almonds bars and so now we have about six candy bars in our freezer. Dangerous.

Barley had quite the weekend--Saturday morning we went to the dog park where he promptly got filthy dirty and totally exhausted.  He got totally mauled by some tiny corgis and chased around with an Aussie mix.  Then he resisted every second of Bryan hosing him off.  In the lower right pic you can see the tired in his eyes.  Also doesn't my little boy look so handsome in his Packers bandanna?!

Since little buddy was so tired on Saturday, we snuck out in the afternoon to go see Gravity. It was really good, but also kind of anxiety-producing for both of us, this isn't a movie you can totally relax in because you're pretty caught up in whether or not she's going to be stuck in space or not.  The whole concept is really kind of terrifying, and will make you feel really small.  Plus we saw it in 3D so maybe that was part of it.  We both enjoyed it, but maybe would have rather seen Captain Philips.    So we'll save that one for another time!  

Sunday meant breakfast out, grocery shopping, and football.  Plus, it was legitimately COOL here in Houston, which felt like the ultimate win.  Since it felt like fall, I made a delish crockpot soup that I will be sharing tomorrow.  Behold, Baked Potato Soup:

And of course, I painted my nails again.  Guys, I'm getting kind of good at it so maybe I can cross this off of my 30 for 30 list soon.

Hope you had an equally great weekend!! And apologies for dropping out of life and the blog world last week, it was a total mess, and I owe a lot of you e-mails! :)

Awards on Awards {what what}

Kate at Another Clean Slate nominated all the blogs on her Let's Be Friends page to have a Sunshine Award, and since I'm one of those ladies, yeahh it's Q&A time!  ALSO to double your fun, Amy at The Crazy Wise Woman nominated me for my fourth ever Liebster!  So I'm also going to answer those questions.  Enjoy learning more weird facts about me everyone!  

The rules are pretty simple....answer the questions and pass the love on for others to answer.  I'm answering the same ones Kate answered since that keeps it easy and I will also just pass the same ones along to anyone who is reading this and thinks it would be fun to do! 

Where were you born? 

I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  
Do you prefer romantic comedies or suspense thrillers? 

I think I like both, but it depends on my mood.  I probably like dramas more than either of the above categories.
What is your favorite sport (to watch or to participate 

Football to watch, always.  I don't know there is another sport I will watch as intently as football.
What is your favorite sound? 

I love the sound of a wine cork coming out of the bottle, or when I hear Barley's tags jingling towards me when I come in the door after a long day of work.

Coke or Pepsi? 

HA.  Up until September 26th, 2013, I had never had a real Coca-Cola.  At least that I can remember.  So maybe when I was a kid I probably did, but Coke and/or Pepsi are not something that have been a part of my "adult" life.  In fact, Bryan gives me crap a lot for not being able to finish those 8 oz. cans of Diet Coke.  So yeah..um Diet Coke is my answer.

Do you have a special talent? 

I don't know...I think I am good at being a puppy mom and wife.  And I'm also very detail-oriented, so that makes me good at reviewing documents and finding small details others might overlook, which also makes me well-suited for my job, weird.

PC or Mac?  

PC now, but I don't totally detest Mac like I used to.  I still have a rough time using them though.  Wow, just aged myself about 20 years.  Cool.

What is your favorite vacation spot?  

We don't really go anywhere regularly, but I always loved going to northern Wisconsin and spending a week at a cabin, just relaxing in the summer by the lake.  So probably at a lake.  OR let's go big and go to Italy.

Do you collect anything? 

I collect Christmas ornaments!  Well, I buy one every time I go somewhere new or we go somewhere new together.  My goal is to have a tree dedicated to our travels and memories one day.  

If you could instantly be an expert in any field, what would it be? I would LOVE to be an epidemiologist.  I think studying how a disease spreads, originates, etc.  would be amazing and fascinating and wonderful.  I love reading books that trace the history of diseases (And the Band Played On..., The Great Influenza, seriously I've read a bunch.

And here are Amy's questions, I removed some duplicates that were repeats or similar to the ones that Kate had, etc.  No one cares enough to read twice where I grew up/am from, haha.

What do you do for a living and is it what you thought you would be doing?  

I work in an industry I didn't picture for myself, but I really love it.

Who inspires you the most?  

Gosh, cliche maybe, but my mom.  She is gracious and kind and tough and thoughtful and remarkable.

Describe your perfect Friday night?  

It's two scenarios:  Dinner and drinks after work with friends OR at home, in pj's ordering Chinese and watching Netflix by 7 PM.  We do both regularly and I truly love them both equally.

What is your favorite holiday and why?  

Christmas because it's so many of my favorite things:  food, family, Christmas music, a real reason for celebration (yes, we're talking about the birth of Jesus here), and just relaxing and enjoying the company of those your with.  So in that vein, Thanksgiving is a close second for me.   

What is your favorite family recipe? And please share it with us!  

Ohh wow.  My mom has passed so many along.  Her recipe for Slow Cooker Swiss Steak is the best though. I don't know that it's a "family" recipe, but it's become a favorite in recent years.

Ingredients:  

1 1/2 lbs. of round steak or whatever beef cut into 1'' chunks/pieces/slices (you could get stir fry beef, etc.)

8 oz. of sliced mushrooms

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1 Tablespoon of minced garlic

1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes

1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce

1/2 c. of water

1 package of brown gravy mix.  

1/2 tsp. each of salt and pepper.

Directions: 

1.  Combine steak, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and pepper into slow cooker.

2.  Combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, gravy packet, water and salt and pepper, then pour over steak and veggies.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

3.  Serve over mashed potatoes.

Your tummy will thank you! I plan on sharing our recipe for Caramel Pecan Rolls this holiday season so stay tuned for that because it's ridiculous.

Give me one guilty pleasure...

Anything that includes both peanut butter and chocolate.  My husband does not buy me valentine's boxes of heart chocolates, he just gets a bag of reese's hearts and puts them in the freezer.  The man knows me, what can I say?

Describe yourself in 5 words.

hard-working, spirited, tough, sarcastic, and loving

Post me a great selfie or one that you think just sums you up!

If you could sit down with anyone for an hour and talk... living or dead... who would it be?

Former First Ladies, especially Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush.

How do you like your eggs?

Scrambled or in an omelette. 

Ok so now it's your turn, if you are one of my readers then I already adore you so I pass any and all of these questions along to you! Find my other Libester answers here!

The Grinch Who Stole Fall {aka me}

Oh hey there everyone loving fall and posting the million awesome fall things you're going to do...let's talk about why I'm over fall before it's even hit Texas, and despite the fact that it's only October 1st.

FYI everyone, it will not be "fall" by weather definition until like, December here.  All other Texan readers feel free to correct me, but last year on Thanksgiving I remember it being in the 70s.  So maybe that's considered Texas fall?!

So maybe it is the weather, maybe it's jealousy, I have no idea, but I am so tired of reading about fall bucket lists.  This might be unpopular of me to say but it's too late now, and no, I am not sorry.  So I am a little bit like the Grinch who stole fall now, and I shall embrace that title!

Proof that at least one other person agrees with me and this is what inspired my post today.

Although I *do* genuinely enjoy fall things and pumpkins and halloween candy, here are three things I won't be doing this fall and three things that I will get past my grinch-ness to do. 

1.  Making pumpkin s'mores while crafting a pumpkin garland while wearing pajamas made of pumpkin while drinking liquefied pumpkin infused with cinnamon pumpkin vodka while watching a show about how to integrate pumpkin into 100% of your life all the time always.

I love pumpkin in bread, pie, and cake form. But I seriously feel like the envelope is being pushed withe the pumpkin stuff on Pinterest lately.  Roasting pumpkin seeds is also totally acceptable!

2.  Being murdered or worse, just touched by a character at a haunted house/forest/corn maze/basement.

I hate haunted houses so much.  Along the same premise of the scary movie, WHY would I pay anyone to scare me?! One time in high school I faked puking at a haunted house so I didn't have to go in. I get anxiety even thinking about it now.

3.  Wearing awesome boots, sweaters and leggings combos.

So this one is just pure jealousy!  Not gonna lie, I miss the fall wardrobe options I used to have in the Midwest...sweaters, boots, scarves, cute hats and coats.  Yes, this one is all jealousy.  Sunday I tried this..I got leggings, and a slouchy striped sweatshirt out which was warm enough, so I ended up with sandals on.  That's literally as close as I will get to a fall outfit and I just need to accept it and move on.

Ok, so here are three fall bucket-list things I will  happily do!  This is the portion of the list where I prove I do not hate all things fall.

1.  Baking a pie.  

I will not bake it until Thanksgiving, but I will bake at least one or two pies for Turkey day.  I made my very first pumpkin pie last year, and also made an apple crisp we loved.  So I'm all about the warm fall desserts.

2.  Eating lots of Honeycrisp apples.

Weirrrrddd (heavy dose of sarcasm here), but I haven't seen this on a lot of bucket lists despite the fact that HC apples are only available in fall.  Truly, HCs are one of my favorite things about the fall season, so I definitely look forward to this every year.

3.  Decorating for fall.

I kind of want to shun this, but I was out at Target and saw lots of nice decorative items, and I'm thinking of taking a lunch-hour detour to Kirkland's this week at work. I am actually planning on making cheesecloth ghosts for us; here is the pin I will be working from, hopefully get this done during the week or over next weekend!


I am also going to haul out some of the other fall decorations we have.  I usually put a strand of pumpkin lights into a big glass bowl or vase thingy and have mostly neutral fall decs, not huge into having to do Halloween AND Thanksgiving, so I stick to pumpkins and things of that nature for the most part.  Honestly I think a nicely scented fall candle just about does the trick for me now, and is pretty low-maintenance.

What will you be passing on and going for this fall season?!  Do you ever feel like the holiday/seasons get totally over-done online?

Bye September! {weekend recap}

So this was totally one of those weekends where you thought you were relaxing the whole time but it turns out you were just making yourself tired most of the time, which you find out Sunday night when you're utterly exhausted.  We were supposed to have our anniversary pics taken, but the good old Texas weather put a stop to that.  It rained on and off ALL DAY here on Saturday, so we deemed it too unpredictable.

Anyways, Friday night we went out to El Tiempo with some friends--we had never been to an El Tiempo and I gotta say, I was impressed, really good food!  I had fajita chicken tacos and was pleasantly surprised at how fresh they tasted.  Also, I maybe had like four margaritas.  They were well-deserved, don't worry.

Most of these pics are from Saturday I think.  Bryan and I en route to our friend's house to watch the A&M and Badger games and the delicious chili they made in a HUGE enormous giant pot.  I've only seen that stuff out at crawfish boils...actually maybe that's why they have it.

ANYWAYS, down in the corner we have one of their dogs, Penny, who is a delightful little wiener dog.  The guys rag on her for being annoying but I think she's cute.  Barley had quite the weekend...he had two mornings at the dog park, and this resulted in a nice long nap with his dad on the couch Sunday afternoon.

Yay for new nail polish!  I picked up the dark blue/teal-ish one a week or two ago, it's called "go overboard" and I kinda love it.  I was being against dark polish since it's still so nice out here, but it feels right.  Then I went to Target on Sunday and found the other new one, "the lace is on", which I'm super excited to try out. 

And I think we all know this wouldn't be a weekend recap without me mentioning food, so I will just share that Sunday night I grilled up a bunch of jalapeno spiced chicken breasts, veggie kabobs and some brown rice and put together my lunches for the whole week.  I am pretty proud of this!  I did the same thing last week minus the chicken, and I felt really good about what I was eating, but I needed some mid-day protein.  Little wins make a big difference, right?! 

I also need to mention all of the TV from Sunday night.  No, I don't watch Breaking Bad, but I was anxiously awaiting the return of Homeland.  I won't spoil it for anyone, but it was kinda meh in my opinion.  It will be interesting to see where they take this season since right now I feel like it could go a million ways. Also watched Betrayal on ABC last night and I'm semi-intrigued.  Everyone loves a good (fictional) affair and legal drama, right?! We also DVR'd Masters of Sex, the new Showtime series, so more to come on that.

Overall, a great weekend, and this upcoming week is chock full of plans and things to do!  Wednesday early evening is a reception for work, Thursday is BINGO with other lovely Houston bloggers, and Friday night it's party time again for the owner of my company's birthday!  So mostly just need to break through the first couple days of the week.    

Happy Monday everyone!

Four Pics, Friday Five {hello weekend}

K, no one smack me but this is the first Friday I have worked all of September, and fittingly, it is the last Friday of September!  This week kinda flew by, I was busy in a good way at work, we potty-trained puppy to about an 80% success rate, and I got my first blow-out.  Next week is also jam-packed with activities, so I'm happy to have a pretty low-key weekend planned.

1.  I made this recipe for Thai Noodles and Chicken this week.  It was awesome and easy and delicious.  Total keeper. 

2.  Puppy had a winning week prancing around in his new Packers bandanna.  He got a full day of Dad time when Bryan had off on Monday, and as I mentioned earlier, he is about 80% there with being fully potty-trained to go outside.  We are still working on the "holding it" concept...like you can't just go potty in the corner because you feel like it and you just polished off your water.  So win for us!

3.  A few things here--it was 91 degrees out at 6:30 pm on Monday.  So I'm kinda done with hearing about everyone's awesome fall weather and their awesome fall outfits and their super fun fall bucket lists.  We don't get fall here, it's not a thing.  I am probably having a little trouble accepting this as it's only my second "fall" in Texas.  Post next week to follow on this.  Also point two here, 4,000 miles on the Jetta!  Seems like just yesterday she was coming home with us and we had 25 miles.  Womp womp. 

4.  I got my first blow-out.  Didn't love it.  I am a far bigger fan of my hair when it's curled the way I usually do it with my curling wand.  I ended up straightening it for work on Thursday, oh well.  It was a Groupon so no one's mad about it, and I think I would do it again, just at a different place! 

5.  No photo in sight to share of this, but tomorrow we are getting our one year anniversary pics taken, and I am so excited.  I don't think we are bringing Barley because he would probably freak out a little and not be so great at sitting or posing.  Maybe next time, buddy!  Fun fact:  I will be wearing some of my wedding jewelry and jewelry that Bryan bought me for my wedding gift for the photos.  Cannot wait to share these bad boys when we get them back from Meg! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend, cheers!

  

Dear Future Baby {your name isn't Grape.}

Last week, Lauren posted a letter to her future child as a part of a link-up.  Well I'm a little late to the link-up party, but I wanted to join the fun of writing a letter to our one-day baby.

You will look like a combination of us...so if you're a boy you will wear a bowtie (dad genes) and yell at people on the phone (like your mom did), and if you're a girl, you will look angry (me again) and have elaborate costuming (me again), but also be amazingly photogenic as a child (your dad's good genes)

Hi Baby M.,

Welcome to the world!  Mom and Dad are thrilled to have you here, and Barley is probably a little jealous, and so is the other dog we probably got before we had you!  But we are so excited, and happy to share with our families that your name wasn't chosen after a weird TV character, selection from the produce aisle, or random map point.  In fact, your name is probably Elizabeth if you are a girl or Cole if you are a boy because those are the only two names we like.  So, there's that...your parents are picky, yay!

Some things you should know--your nursery isn't all blue or all pink, because I think that kind of thing is overkill.  And if you are a girl, you will wear real Packers jerseys, not pink ones, because football fans are fans, no gender discrimination necessary.  If you're a boy, your dad is already teaching you how to grip a football so you can be a state champion like him.  (This will be hard because we live in Texas now...he had it easier because he was in Wisconsin, but shhh, I didn't say that.)

Truth be told, we will support any path you decide to take as long as you are following your passion.  After all, I got a degree in political science and government, which most people would tell you are dead subject matter areas!! Your dad is a scientific rockstar, and I imagine you will probably have a healthy appetite for beer one day if he's still working for the same company.  If you get some of my reading and writing skills and his math and science skills, well, you will probably go to MIT.  No pressure though.

You will love watching TV, especially shows like 30 Rock & The Office re-runs, Parks and Rec, Mad Men, Homeland, The Wire, Band of Brothers, and The Soup....mostly because those are the only things we watch!  You will probably love dogs as much as we do, and I pray that you try to ride Barley one day like he's your personal pony.  I'm not going to lie, I bet one year you actually do get a puppy for Christmas...because secretly, we will want another one too.

Even though life with us will be lots of fun and include vacations and certain privileges like having a TV in your room one day, probably getting a crappy car when you turn 16, and Oreos (dang we are going out on a limb here), we hope that you will work hard and be nice.  That's sort of the family motto.  Do your best at whatever you do, work hard to achieve your goals while following your passion, and always be nice.  You don't always have to agree with popular opinion or kiss everyone's butt, but be nice and respectful to those around you.  Life is more fulfilling as a nice person, and if you can, go the extra mile and volunteer once in a while.  We love you.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Weekend Recap {anniversary in NOLA}

So we have officially been married for a year as of yesterday!  I must say, I can't believe a year has flown by since we started out on this journey together.  We have had ups and downs this year; Bryan's dad passing away, my mom being sick, settling into a new life in Houston, starting exciting new jobs, and adopting Barley!  Without Bryan in my life as my husband and most importantly, my best friend, we wouldn't have gotten through the rough times and been able to celebrate and enjoy the best times!

*ahem sappy part over*  So we went to New Orleans for the weekend, left Friday morning and came back last night (one more day would have been ideal), and we had an AMAZING time.  Neither of us had ever been and now I think we can't wait to go back.  So here, to summarize, are multiple photo collages:

Cafe du Monde beignets & coffee (excellent.), anniversary glitter on our table at Arnaud's Saturday night, walking Bourbon Friday afternoon & evening.  Dinner at Arnaud's Saturday to properly celebrate.  

(don't worry guys...food pics are below!)

Bryan had gumbo, shrimp and grits, and creme brulee.  I had the Arnaud's salad, pork tenderloin with truffle mashed potatoes (duhh when don't I try and eat truffled things?), and pecan pie.  Um I had never had pecan pie before guys....what's wrong with me? It's delicious and perfect and I want more.

Because we are us, we obviously had lots of drinks too:  Ketel & soda (my go-to), a nice red blend, a grenade (because you have to, right?), and a beer sampling at a local brewery.  

So the upper right is the restaurant we ate at Saturday evening, and the other three are of the outside courtyard/building of the apartment we stayed in.  Let me say that Airbnb did NOT disappoint!  The place we stayed at was super cute, very charming, and gave us a really awesome local experience for half the price of a hotel.  We were walking distance (5 minutes) to Bourbon, 10 minutes to Cafe du Monde, and 10 minutes to the streetcar stops near Canal.  Amazing.

This is my "sightseeing" collage.  Streetcar we took the the WWII museum (oh yes, btw it POURED rain all day Saturday so we couldn't do the cemetery tour we wanted to do.), a beautiful and wonderful second line wedding parade!  It was so fun to see, and seriously I almost cried it was so great to see the bride and groom's family ready to celebrate with them!  And everyone had the great umbrellas you see to beat the rain!  

Ok so there I am doing my creep face in front of Marie LaVeau's voodoo house....excuse the red wine teeth. Our place was next to a voodoo temple, I'll be honest I was a little sketched, but we bought glass rings at Marie LaVeau's because we are tourists and they're a cute and cheap reminder of our trip.

There is a copy of FDR's speech the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked.  The WWII museum was incredibly powerful and moving, I would recommend it to anyone who even remotely enjoys history. Very informative and lots of amazing pieces on display to see.  Really gave you an accurate feel for what an undertaking the war was. 

Finally, Jackson Square and the Saint Louis cathedral.  Gorgeous.

 So a final few pics--Bryan's alligator burger with slaw, me unlocking the Historian Level 5 badge because I'm a history badass and there's no debating that now....internet agrees, y'all!  

My peanut butter-bacon-green tomato double cheeseburger.  Everyone go put peanut butter on your burger now!  This stuff is made for being on burgers.  This is the second time I've had one so yes, I'm also an expert on this, and foursquare would badge me if they could.

Bryan & I at Cafe du Monde on our rainy Saturday morning, and finally, the perfectly cork wine menu at Patrick's Bar Vin, where we spent a couple hours post-dinner Saturday enjoying some delightful reds.

So there it is y'all....we also bought souvenir for our niece and nephew (alligator jerky, a mardi gras mask, pralines, and voodoo dolls), got ourselves an original photograph by a local artist to frame to remember our trip, and just basically had a great weekend enjoying ourselves and celebrating one year of marriage and great things!

Partyyy Peopleee {Nashville recap}

Airport-Vanity Fair and a surprise appearance by DD and the infamous pumpkin muffin. So good.

Woo we made it, didn't the MOH make the cutest gift bags?! We got snacks and bachelorette essentials. 

I contributed hangover kits with our bride's beautiful face on them.  Included was some alka seltzer, emergen-c, a wisp toothbrush, granola bar, tums, and mints. We definitely used them!

The trio of doom is reunited!!  Fireball commenced.  Don't worry, she is wearing a fanny pack boom box! Yes.

Loving life on the pedal tavern.  i was showing how easy it would be to fall off and then maybe one girl from our trio of doom (not me or the bride) did slip off and knock her head on the curb a little, but otherwise I highly recommend pedal taverns, especially if your city is flat. We got quite the workout going up some of those Nashville hills!

Sent this scary gem to Bryan the next morning as proof I was alive...but really though, we went to breakfast and a bar about an hour after this, so win! 

Saturday night we had our "nice" dinner out at a place called Cabana. It was amazing. 

Sweet potato biscuits and peach jelly. These were probably my favorite part of the meal! I already started pinning recipes to duplicate.

Fried green tomatoes with goat cheese and chow chow. AMAZING as well. 

And for the finale:

Sweet tea roasted half chicken. Scalloped potatoes. Southern green beans. This was pretty damn good, and I don't even like sweet tea. So if I did, I would have LOVED this. 

After dinner it was back to the downtown bar scene. We had gone up and down most of Broadway the first night, so we went over to the bars on Second Ave...including Coyote Ugly:

I hate CU, but wanted to share this pic as its the only one of me in my dress where you can also see my boots, haha. 

And the bride and I got some nice pics in too...not just hugging statues.  These are just of few photos that are shareable, because after CU, things got reallyyyy ugly.  We went home around 1:30 and the night commenced with our bride calling her mom a liar, jokingly of course, but it was hilarious.

Sunday we got ourselves together for brunch at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant where a few of us had these Tennessee Painkillers.  

Whiskey, pineapple juice, coconut something..all you need to know is that they are delicious and hopefully I can find a full recipe for it eventually!  Highly recommend this place for breakfast...very reasonably priced and just what we needed to re-charge.

You know we hadn't had enough bar time yet, so we went back to Second Ave for more drinks before our flights...aren't these signs great?

Seriously nothing good besides weight loss has anything to do with salads.

One last lemon drop before we left! Oops.

And finally, my sad face photo when I was at the airport all alone, and everyone else got to go back to Chicago. My flight got delayed repeatedly so I didn't get home until 11 Sunday night, blerg!

Guys, I would go back in a heartbeat!  Nashville trumps Vegas for me as far asbachelorette party time goes--I loved being able to wear my boots and feel casual without judgment. Perfect for a crazy bachelorette weekend! 

Off to Nashville! {bachelorette party time}

Woo so today at noon I'm flying off to Nashville for one of my besties' bachelorette parties!  She is getting married in November in Chicago and I absolutely can't wait!

I am a little sad to be gone from Bryan and Barley, I always worry about my boys when I'm not around.  But, it will be so great to see a few girlfriends this weekend!

Here are some photos of my prep for the weekend, as well as memories of bachelorette parties past to tide y'all over while I live it up this weekend! If you have any tips for fun in Nashville, leave it in the comments! We are doing a pedal tavern tonight, and then bars on Broadway after and on Saturday night.

Clearly our priorities are in line.  

Mmm this is probs what I'm wearing Saturday night! Boots & dresses.

Torn to-do list of dreams, a fishbowl of racy questions, a BUCKET because, yes. And of course my mom and I last August at my bachelorette.  If you're from Chicago, we are at the one and only Big City Tap.  Yeah, oh boy. 

That was before I drank the vodka-soaked gummy bear juice and leaned out the trolley window telling everyone I liked their dresses....

See what I mean? We know this weekend is gonna be classic. 

Have a great one y'all!