The Ivrester, or I'm Good at Drinking Award!

On behalf of me, again, I accept this award, for myself.

So, Sarah, a/k/a this amazing, sassy broad behind Venus Trapped in Mars (which I say with lots of love, obvi), created a new blog award.....

Tis not the Liebster, but better.  It is the Ivrester, which in French means drunk + ster.  I was nominated by Beth at Hang On, Honey, and Rita Marie at Champagne and Pizza!  Thanks, girls! This post is EXTRA appropriate because I'm guest-posting about over at Adriana's blog today--check out my summer essentials post, which naturally includes summer drinking essentials!  You will love some of the steals I found on shorts, hats to hide your shame/drunk face, party tanks, sandals, etc.

Le Rules (since we're being so fancy & Frenchie) ::

• Acknowledge who nominated you
• Answer the 10 questions listed below 
• Nominate 10 bloggers you think are excellent drinkers
• You can't nominate the blog that nominated you (But why would you? They clearly just answered the questions already)
• Don't make any more questions, everyone just answer these questions below... why are we making so many questions for this Leibster guy?
• If you are nominated, just answer the questions and nominate 10 more people. That is it.
• Why are there rules for this? Q&A. That is all.

Questions:

1. What is your favorite drinking game, and why?

Probably the "finger game"...I have no idea what else it might be called, but it's fun and can be played anywhere you have alcohol!  So you basically put a cup of whatever you're drinking in the center...a full beer, a mixed drink, half a solo cup of beer, whatever you want.  

Then you can have as many people around it as you want.  Each person puts a finger on the lip of the cup (so sometimes use an extra in case you have dirty friends).  Say you have 7 people playing.  One person starts and says, "1, 2, xxxx number".  Then on that last number, everyone either pulls their finger off, or leaves it on.  

So if you guess correctly the number of fingers left on the last number, you are "out" and thus immune from drinking the center drink.  I.e. If you say, "1, 2, 4" and there are four fingers left, you are out and safe from chugging the center cup.  As people go out, the last number you can call decreases with who is left in the game, so if there are five people left, you could only say, "1, 2, 5!"  By the time you get to two people, it's better to put two fingers on and make it a little more exciting!  Loser (winner?) has to drink the center drink!

2. It's your birthday, what is your idea of a perfect evening? 

Wow this has changed a lot...umm my last birthday we went out to a really nice dinner with lots of wine for me.  Probably ideally, dinner and drinks with friends and then more drinks on drinks.  Vodka!

3. Money is no object, what is your go to drink at a bar? 

Top shelf vodka and club soda with a lime.  Simple.  I will also sometimes try a cocktail off of a list, but usually they are too sweet for me!

4. How many times have you played "Edward 40 Hands"?

ONCE.  That is all I ever needed, but I hear people love it.

5. Take this alcohol screening quiz here, what score did you receive? 

20%, so not very exciting, but I think we should all be glad I basically failed the alcoholism test!

6. What is your favorite memory with alcohol?

K I will share two memories associated with pictures that I'm not totally ashamed of.

Post sailboat-rental on Lake Michigan, we had a sailboat rental, and this Italian named Captain Lorenzo sailed us around on his boat while we drank all day!  We went through about a case of beer, a bottle of champs (I think?), a bottle of Skinnygirl Marg that turned into shots? Basically it ended with this...that's me in the hat..doing "crank that" by Soulja Boy.  See? I'm wearing my shame covering fedora.  Summer essentials, people, summer essentials. 

Wino photo booth pics at our wedding with my bridesmaids.  Told you I loved a good photo booth op, our wedding was no different! 

7. What is your favorite song about drinking? Or song to drink to? 

Hm probably "Drink on It" by Blake Shelton.  Also, as Bryan just pointed out, "Whatever You Like" by T.I. It's mah jam. 

8. What is your favorite activity to do while drinking (i.e. boating, bowling, golf, trivia, etc.)

Being with good friends at the pool or lake or whatever water we're by! 

Lots of boozy summer pool days in Chciago full of beer, tequila, Greek wine my friend's dad made, basically whatever isn't in a glass container! 

9. In your opinion, which is the number one party school in the country and why?

Wisconsin, duh.  I didn't go there, but had plenty of friends who did, and even my mom has taught me ridiculous drinking games that she learned there at my dad's fraternity house in the 60s.  Game day there in particular is a sight to behold...magical.  

10. When do you know you've had too much to drink? What are your signals? 

I get a little sassier and deeper....not at the same time, and depends on the crowd!  One of my girlfriends in Chicago and I used to have epic wine nights on her balcony where we would go through maybe 3-4 bottles, ok sometimes like 6 I bet, and nights where we were up til 3 with work or school in the morning. 

Also, my nose gets red!  You could call me Rudolph when I've had a little too much!

I will now nominate...

ANYONE reading this who wants to answer this fun set of questions!  I feel like most of my bloggy drinker friends have already been nominated, so go nuts guys!

Sweet Home Chicago...And Wisconsin

So many things have happened since this trip back to the land of the middle, but I wanted to share some of my highlights with y'all anyways!  I had so much fun seeing everyone, being a part of shenanigans and celebrating one of my bff's graduation from law school.  Good luck on the bar now, Nippy!

 

A few photo ops: 

• Top left, me and my mom 
• Top right, me and the law school grad! a/k/a we are the four horsemen of the apocalypse but there are two horsemen in each of us 
• Bottom left, my favorite ladies and myself
• Bottom right, me and my soon to be wed bff, Nisa

Here are some "things" that happened:

• The graduates opened up a Cornoa pinata (didn't want to smash it for re-use purposes!) full of SkinnyGirl margs, Copa de Vinos, and candy
• My niece did my hair for me :)
• Got to visit with my mother-in-law and her adorable pup, Finley!  He was a surprise dog almost  3 years ago now from my father-in-law, and he's the sweetest guy around

Quicky show-off of my fav things in Chicago that I got to experience while there....

1.  I've never been to the top of the Sears Tower...7 years there, and no?  Fail.  But honestly I don't think I'm missing much--just seeing it though, seriously makes my heart stop and brings me back to when I moved downtown.

2.  Italian beef.  This is a dietary staple as far as I'm concerned.  I miss this stuff so much, and yet we only ever ate is a "treat" in Chicago.  This particular one is from Ricobenes on the south side and it was damn good.

3.  This bar..Dugan's.  It's an Irish bar in Greektown, that I used to frequent with one of my very best friends, Ian, all the time in college.  He lived down the street and they had $1 beers on Mondays.  So we would go out there after class, etc. and then eat a gyro and crash at his apartment.  And then wake up at 9 am for our 9 am media law class and scramble for cash and a cab!  I literally can't say enough about the good things and conversations that have happened at this place.

4.  This soup.  It is cream of chicken soup from a diner called Huck Finn's also on the south side.  We were introduced to this by our friends...and legit can't get enough.  We *dream* about soup like this and crave it.  We don't know why or how it gets so yellow, and don't care.

I know, guys, none of these are the traditional "Chicago" things you see or hear about...Michigan Ave., the lake, people being shot at 24/7, but this is "my" Chicago, and after living downtown for so many years, you realize the best thing about Chicago is all of the places you haven't been yet that are far, far away from the center of it all.

Cooking Lighter :: Cheesy Chicken & Pepper Casserole

This is such a good recipe, and not to mention, a serving of it is only 357calories!

No lie, it's from Cooking Light Magazine, one of my true favorites even though we've only had it once now, I can see it becoming a part of our rotation quickly.

I searched high and low on the website for a link to this recipe, but couldn't find one!  It wasn't a featured recipe, but a part of a "swap" issue, where if you like "x" ingredient, then you'll love this dish-type article.

So, this one was, "if you love Velveeta..", ok so we don't love Velveeta, at all.  

And it actually freaks me out because it's so shelf-stable, but whatever, this is delicious, and can't be worse than any of the queso junk we ingest! Plus, at 357 cals for 1 1/2 cups, you can't go wrong (based on six servings).

Lots of veggies, brown rice and chicken makes this very filling.  Mine is adapted slightly because the original called for diced onions which we didn't have (bc of course i have to forget something at the store every time) so I used 3 types of peppers instead.

Ingredients list:

2 cups of cooked brown rice
1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
Olive oil, about 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3/4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
8 oz. of Velveeta Mexican queso or pepperjack (I got the queso b/c it's what the store had.)
About 1 1/2 cups of shredded chicken or diced, cooked chicken (We had leftover rotisserie chicken from my lunch chicken so we used that!)

2 oz. shredded cheese of choice

How to make it:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Make your brown rice however you prefer to prepare it-stove top/microwave, just so it's ready.
2.  In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  I just used our Misto oil sprayer for this part.  Once the peppers are just slightly crunchy still, add in your flour, cumin, and chicken broth:

3.  Let this go with the broth for about a minute, and then add in your cubed Velveeta.  If you have a personal issue with processed cheese, take it up with Cooking Light please lol. Stir the cheese until the whole mixture is smooth.

5.  Take the pepper mixture off of the heat, and add in the chicken and brown rice, mixing it well.  Once you've mixed it, smooth the mixture evenly into a casserole dish of your choice.  The one below is from Ikea, I think it's about 10x6 or something.  Pretty small.

6.  Top with some cheese-we had some shredded Mexican cheese in the fridge so I added that on.  

7.  Cover with foil and bake for about 25 minutes or until the cheese on top is to your liking and the whole dish is hot! 

Enjoy it in your lap while still wearing your under armour workout gear! :) so tasty and reheats like a boss.

Linking with Taste of Tuesday!

The Weekender :: Vol. 6

Because I am a lazy, lazy, lazy blogger, and because I'm starting my new job today, I'm keeping my Sunday night short and entertaining you with photos of our weekend.  Which are mostly food pictures actually.  Oops.  We did a lot of eating.

Luckily, for all of you, they have been put through the wringer of the beautiful mess app, which I'm currently still obsessed with!

Picked up the new ride on Friday after Bryan was done with work!  He loves his new car, and I drove it a little too and had fun..so different from driving the Escapes we both had before (well that I still drive.)



Saturday took us on an adventure to Best Buy to pick up my old iPhone so we could re-sell it right back to them after they fixed it. Well, turns out Best Buy makes you have an appointment to pick up your phone, even it's just a simple pick up and no pay, etc.  How ridic.


So after I angry tweeted at them:

@bestbuy I shouldn't have to schedule an appointment to pick up a phone with a fixed screen. #inconvenient #ridiculous
— Sara in Texas (@SarainTexasBlog) June 1, 2013

We went to World Market (yay) to kill some time.  And I found some awesome wino treats:



Like these gummies and this insulated plastic-type bag that will keep your vinos cold even when you are sitting in a hot park this summer at a drunken picnic or playdate with friends.  I am thinking of adding this into an upcoming giveaway...ohh that's to come soon too :)



Then, to celebrate le job, we went out Saturday night to one of our favorite restaurants in Houston, the original Carrabba's on Kirby.  You may have heard of the chain Carrabba's, but this one is the family-owned original, and it's soooo good.  We came here for mah birthday too last October.  We eat so much Italian it's gross but delicious at the same time.

Here is there website if you're interested in having some amazing Italian food sometime :: Carrabba's the Original

We got drinks at the bar thinking our wait would be longer, it wasn't, and then ordered a bottle of red at dinner...so oops we had two drinks each for a bit.  Lushes.




We got this ridiculous Bruschette "Scotty Thompson", that's what it's called, for real, to start with.  Basically it's goat cheese all warmed up in delicious marinara-y tomato sauce and then you spread it on this fresh warm bread with oil and spices.

Love. Goat cheese.



Well, I had a filet for dinner, and Bryan had veal, and oops, no pics.

Then I got on my high horse and thought we could handle dessert.  So we got this Italian cream cake (probably my favorite cake ever) and took about 3 bites and quit....that's still in the fridge.



Sunday dinner...chicken soup with spaetzle.  If you've never had spaetzle you're missing out big time.  It's a delicious German dumpling/noodle type sitch.  So good.



K, so that's all folks, and if you missed it yesterday, check out my Liebster Parts 3&4 post!  You may have gotten nominated :) Have a great Monday, I'll be sweating it out at my new job being super nervous about the big "first day".

On Behalf of Me, I Accept These Liebsters

Oh I think they like me, yeah I think they like me!  Memba that song?  Well you do if you like early 2000s rap :)  My BFF Adriana at Dog Hair is An Accessory has nominated me for the Liebstah!  And then, days later, Heather at Pretty Strong Medicine also nominated me!  

Thanks so much guys, it's always an honor to be recognized as a fun blog to read and follow :)   

My first couple Liebsters can be found here and here.

A recap of the rules:

1. Each blogger should answer the questions the tagger has set for you.

2. Choose a few new bloggers to pass the award on to and link them in your post.

3. Create 11 new questions for the chosen bloggers.

4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.

5. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.

6. No tag backs!

Flattered, grateful, and happy to be here again!  Today, I'm going to answer both of their questions and send the love on to some other bloggers. 

1. Who's been your biggest bloggy help?  Hm, I would give this back to Adriana.  Although we aren't really great at helping each other with the technical aspects of blogging, it is so nice to have a bloggy bff you can count on for advice on postings, drawing a personal line for your blog, etc.  Also, we are pretty ace at bitching about blog stuff via text too! :) Her posts are legitimately WAY more creative than mine, so follow her!  She does awesome pinned it and made it posts and is way more likely to have cool things to do than I am! 

2. What "Most Likely To..." superlative would you get now? (doesn't have to be traditional)  Most Likely To stay at home drinking wine or brandy and watching reality tv on a Saturday night because she wants to save money for clothes, a dog, or a house.

Things have changed.

3. What's your favorite movie to quote?  Bridesmaids, for sure.

And for good measure, my favorite TV show right meow, The Mindy Project.  Technically off for summer, but please watch this! Mindy Kaling nails it with everything she says on this show:

4. What's one thing that surprised you about blogging?  That I would enjoy it as much as I do.  

There are times when I've considered pulling back or stopping altogether because I'd like to see more growth, but I love my audience, and consider it a compliment now that anyone wants to read the stuff I put out here. 

5. What's the first thing you do when you get home from work?   Um it's to take off restricting business casual clothes and get into my VS boyfriend sweatpants as soon as humanly possible.

6. What's your favorite social media outlet?  I love the ease of Twitter, and the peek into people's daily life on Instagram.  Because I'm a creep.

Follow me on Twitter @SaraInTexasBlog and on Instagram @Grendella.

7. What's your go to/signature drink at the bar?  Vodka soda water or just vodka and still water with lime.  Gross?  Only if you HATE saving tonic calories, ladies. I love it.  Funnily enough, I rarely drink this at home.  It's truly my bar drink.

8. What's your dream career?  I really thought I knew what I wanted to do...but now I'm working in an industry I would never have imagined. So I will say that I'd like to be able to advance through in what I'm going to be doing now--working with the government in a certain capacity and providing services.

9. How many times do you snooze your alarm in the morning?  Two usually.

10. What's your favorite summer activity?  Having a meal and drink drinks outside, which mostly you can't even do in the summer here because your ice will melt immediately. 

11. Flats or heels? BOTH.  Shitty answer, I know.  Heels for dinner/drinks/weekends, wedges, flats, and kitten heels for work.  Being 5'8'' automatically makes me taller than most, and at at new job, I really don't like to be "the super tall new girl".  

And now, Heather's questions :: 

1. If you could be a Disney Princess, which one would you be?  Well my niece always assigns me to be Belle I think.  Or Snow White.  So one of those because I have dark-ish hair.  Although when I saw her a couple weeks ago, she was like, "Why is your hair black on top and white on the bottom?" Ombre is a hard concept for five year olds!

2. What is one food you could survive on the rest of your life?  Honestly? Cereal.  I love cereal.  Like I eat it as a snack.  Special K with anything in it, honey nut Cheerios, Puffins, etc.

3. Describe yourself in three words.   Personable, motivated, funny.

4. What's your favorite summer activity?  Having a meal and drink drinks outside, which mostly you can't even do in the summer here because your ice will melt immediately. (Same answer for Adriana's similar question!)

5. If you were famous, what would you be famous for?  My amazing ability to watch endless reality TV shows on Bravo!!

6. What's your biggest pet peeve?  The same as everyone else's -- the confusion of their, they're, and there.  And two, too, and to.

7. What would you do if you were invisible? Probably be a total creep and spy on people all the time.

8. What was your favorite class in school?  Well I mostly loved all of my classes in grad school, but my favorite was probably one I had that cross-sectioned with the College of Real Estate and was about planning and public policy.  I also liked my Capstone ((Thesis-ish)) class too, because I got to design my own research project and implement it.

9. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?  Back to Europe, ideally Italy again and Germany for the first time.  We are hoping to do a big trip before we have kids!

10. What's at the top of your bucket list?  Well, probably something from my 30x30 list for now. I would really like to do the half-marathon in January, so at this point just waiting to sign up. So watch out for that on here, because the lottery opening starts June 5th, and by the end of June I will know if I'm in it or not.  My left foot has been really sore along the outside, so it would be great for that to heal up so I could run longer!

Also, Europe.

11. What's your biggest fear? Snakes. ALWAYS snakes.

::

I nominate these blogs that always make me smile, I based the <200 followers count off of your Bloglovin', so if you have more on GFC, that's why you've been nominated!

1. Kari @ Cupcakes and Bling

2.  Emily @ Sassy in Sequins

3.  Candice @ Just Stay Lovely

4.  Ashley @ Downsizing

5.  Rita Marie @ Champagne N Pizza

6.  Niquelle @ Paper Plane

7.  Meredith @ Belle in Boots

8.  Aleshea @ GlitzNGrits

9.  Alison @ Life a Little Brighter
10. Brooke @ Babbling Brookelyn

I know, I'm short on this, but a lot of the blogs I follow seem to have BIG followings!

11 facts about me:  

1.  If there is a photo booth at wedding, I will probably be there all night.

2.  I read a minimum of two books at a time.  In high school, it was more like four at a time.  My brain was stronger then!

3.  Hi, I'm Sara and I love making mug brownies.

4.  My favorite home stores are Pottery Barn, Home Goods, Crate and Barrel, and Target.

5.  Pretty sure I'm the only person in Texas who drinks unsweetened iced tea.

6.  You will never convince me to back an NFL team besides the Packers.  SORRY I'm not, Texans & Cowboys fans.

7.  Idk how, but I def saw the movie Pretty Woman when I was like 10.  Probably the one movie I would watch forever if I could only pick one.

8.  I made seven types of Christmas cookies this last year.  My mom made like 25 though, no big deal.

9.  I also made the best Thanksgiving turkey ever, probably.  Just saying.  And it was our first time making one.

10.  We are going meatless at least once a week now for dinners.

11.  I only met with one reception venue, one florist, one photographer, one linen company, one hair and makeup stylist, and one bakery for our wedding.  One and done'd all that nonsense.

Here are my questions:

1.  What's your favorite summer outfit?

2.  If you have a typical day, what is it like?

3.  What type of posts would you like to write more of?

4.  Where's your favorite vacation spot? 

5.  How many times a day do you check social media sites?

6.  What's the best book you've read lately?

7.  Favorite website besides your own blog :)?

8.  If you could only watch one movie for the rest of you life, what would it be?

9.  What's a DIY project you're hankering to do?

10.  What relaxes you the most?

11.  What's you go-to easy meal for a busy night?  Take-out, recipe, whatever!

Have fun everyone, can't wait to read the replies! :)