It’s good to be home (I think)

Hey, remember me? I’m just now starting to catch my breath after being gone for (basically) two weeks straight!

I went to a meeting in Kerrville, TX for my company (I LOVE the Kerrville area) – then, the day after that I headed to our Pinterest Party, and THEN I was asked to go to St. Louis to help out in another store for a few days. As you can imagine, I’m exhausted, but I did manage to have some fun, shop, eat good food, and maybe do a little work too while I was gone.

Of course we had to stop and eat/shop/play on our way from Fort Worth to Kerrville, so (of course) I took some pictures! Looking at these, I guess I was having a “let’s check out light fixtures” kind of day…

We ate at Tea-Licious in Burnet, Texas for lunch. It was (obviously) a tea room, and there was a little gift shop there too. My favorite part about Tea-Licious? The pickles. I would have gladly eaten three jars of them.

Our next stop was Fredericksburg (yes, we skipped Pie Happy Hour at Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls – I know, it’s a sin).

We picked up our friends at the Peach Tree Tea Room (great food, great cookbooks, cute little gift shop! I always try to eat there when I go to Fredericksburg), and did a little Main Street shopping.

My favorite store (also fairly new, or new to me!) was Red. It is kind of at the end of Main Street and is unlike any other store I’ve seen in Fredericksburg. Very modern, very trendy, not country at all 🙂

They had a ton of other cool things too, but the employees were very… vigilant, and I wasn’t sure about taking pictures (that also explains the blurriness of some of these). See what I do for you guys? One thing that I wish I had gotten a picture of was a tufted bench that had been reupholstered – but each button was a different color or pattern. I LOVED it.

If you ever make your way down to Fredericksburg, be sure and stop at Red. It’s a fun little store 🙂

Stay tuned for the St. Louis part of my trip!

100 by 100 Challenge

What’s 100 by 100 Challenge? Well, its very simple. Michelle over at Life on the Horizon is hosting this personal challenge to walk, jog, swim, cycling 100 miles in 100 days.

This will be the 3rd challenge Michelle has facilitated. With each challenge, she has learned more about herself but also about helping and motivating others. The main thing she has learned through these challenges: Just because you don’t meet a goal DOES NOT mean you have failed! She has yet to meet the 100 miles in 100 days, but has become stronger mentally and physically with each one. Michelle has also met some incredible individuals with amazing stories and is so blessed and humbled by their determination!

And y’all, another cool thing about Michelle? She’s a Texas girl!

Why am I posting about this challenge? Well, it’s simple. I’m participating in this challenge and it starts today, May 1. I’ll be walking/jogging/running for this challenge in addition to all the gym time I’ve been putting in. Remember that 50 Days of Fitness challenge we had back in the day? Yeah, I’m still working on it. Maybe I’ll be nice and update my picture because apparently I look much different now according to a lot of people. I love running even though I’m not the greatest at it. I always get some teasing at Pinterest Parties or last year at Haven Conference when I’ve taken the time to go for a run or workout. (And for Haven this year, I’ve already looked online at the gym facilities in the gym. It’s an addiction.)

If you like to walk/jog/run/swim/cycle, you should consider joining in the challenge here. It’s just something to help be encouraged and encourage others.

Spiked pulled pork

I bet you’re asking me why it’s called “Spiked pulled pork”? Last weekend, while I was at Pinterest Party I sent my husband a text asking him to put the roast in the slow cooker at noon so we could have it for dinner when I got home on Sunday. I sent him the very simple directions to follow. He okayed and did it.

Fast forward to Sunday night when I arrived home, after the Pin Party and going grocery shopping. We get everything all together for dinner and to the table. I’m pulling the pork apart, commenting on how tender it was. Literally falling apart as I touch it with the fork. He makes no comments, we sit down to eat, I take a bite. It might be the best pulled pork we’ve had in a while.

He happily announces “Oh I added a little to it. It didn’t look like it was going to cook well with just the BBQ sauce so I looked up and saw the vodka on the fridge.”

At least he didn’t make it spicy. And … he did cook.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:23]

 

And I’m really not kidding when I say its probably the most tender, fall apart pork I’ve had.

A self-interview {Tarah}

The wonderful ladies at Texas Women Bloggers are kindly holding a “self-interview” link party. Since it’s the middle of Thursday, and I’m not being crafty or domestically active, I thought I’d jump on the wagon.

1. What part of the state do you call home?  The FW of DFW – we all know it is the better part of the DFW anyway. 😉

2. How long have you been blogging? Really actively blogging since July 2012

3. Why did you start blogging? What had happened was …A DIY conference attended by friends turned into THIS very blog.

4. What do you hope to get out of the Texas Women Bloggers community? Its always fun to have more friends, and even better if they’re Texas friends!

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 5 years, we may or may not still have this blog. BUT I will still have 3 children (they’ll be 10, 8 and 7 – holy cow.) and maybe my husband will make it another 5 years (I kid. maybe.)

6. If you could choose an actress to play you in your life, who would you choose and why? Well, honestly? Melissa McCarthy. I’m not even joking. If you guys have ever seen her show, Mike and Molly, that’s totally me and my husband. TO a T.

7. Name 5 things on your Bucket List that you hope you’ll check off before you die? I’m simple – travel to NYC and Chicago, run a marathon, visit all 50 states at least once, learn to swim like a pro (okay, not a pro, but decent), and keep my house clean (haha!)

8. If you could be known for one thing, what would it be and why? I have a huge passion for children who are placed in foster care. I also have a huge passion for drug exposed/addicted newborns/children and preemie babies. I have no doubt most of my friends know this. It all holds a special place in my heart and I like to help others who need someone with that experience.

9. Describe one “wow” moment in your life. When a judge gave my husband and I a seal of approval for our first child. I looked at him, then Jody and then realized that I was then a “mommy” permanently and no longer “pretending” to be a mommy to children who needed one for a certain amount of time.

10. If you could “be” anything (no consequences, no fear), what would you “be”? I would love to be someone that has no worries, whether it be money worries, family worries, etc. But alas, that will never happen. 🙂

DIY wedding invitation design

I spent the most of January through March helping plan my BFF’s wedding. Remember that pallet project? Well, we did a whole lot more.

Lindsay, the BFF, admits to not being crafty. I can attest that she is good at a lot of things, and crafts are most definitely not her “thing”. When we sat down on the Saturday before her wedding, I worked on a few projects. She sat, cut fabric squares for her guestbook project and her hair piece for hours.

Before all that, we had to decide on herDIY wedding invitation design. I told her I’d design them and we could make them for much cheaper than buying them. We did a 3 piece set – the invitation, RSVP card and map card.

She found a design that she liked, but we altered it. Her “theme” (if that’s what we call it) was burlap and lace with purple. I had this awesome idea to take lace and use it as a stencil on the back layer of the invite. I should have taken a picture of that FAIL. It was awful.

THIS is the layer that was to have the stenciled on lace. It was a great idea …in my head.

The design of the typography 

I think they turned out quite nice. We found some 1″ burlap ribbon online at Save on Crafts, the purple ribbon and paper came from HobLob when it was on sale, of course. Everyone knows that you NEVER pay full price at HobLob.

The complete set

This wedding was most definitely a huge DIY project. I have a few more projects to share from the wedding. Also, here’s a few projects around the house I’m about to get started on as well. Now that it’s FINALLY spring in Texas, it’s more comfortable to go outside. So some painting can be done. I don’t paint in the house unlike other people *coughWHITNEYHEATHERcough* I’m far too messy for that.

Etsy Roundup {Opening Day!}

Y’all, I’m a huge baseball fan. HUGE! My husband’s friend (the one in the videos) told him yesterday, “I’m sorry you’re about to lose your wife. Baseball season starts tomorrow.” I was also told I need to get a small TV for my craft room. I’m taking donations for that now so that I can watch baseball AND blog/craft/design. Let me know if you want my Paypal address to donate money to the fund.

In honor of this obsession/addiction I have with baseball, here is a fun little Etsy Roundup!

Shawn St. Peter Photography – Vintage Baseballs, $30.00

Source: etsy.com via Tarah @ on Pinterest

 

Rock-N-Mama Designs – Baseball Junkie, $28.00

Source: etsy.com via Tarah @ on Pinterest

 

Polkadot Apple – Vintage Baseball Burlap Pillow, $22.95

Source: etsy.com via Tarah @ on Pinterest

 

Appalachian Primitive, Marriage Baseball Season sign, $15.00
I most definitely need this sign. It fits for this household. I was actually asked if I wouldn’t watch EVERY.SINGLE.GAME this season. Who does he think he is?

Source: etsy.com via Tarah @ on Pinterest

 

Vinyl Wall Accents – 4 Baseball silhouettes, $38.00

Source: etsy.com via Tarah @ on Pinterest

 

And of course, in honor of my beloved Texas Rangers (and yes, they did lose tonight *sad frowny face*) …

Jill Be Nimble – Texas Rangers tank top, $26.00

Source: etsy.com via Tarah @ on Pinterest

 

Pinkie Toes Boutique – Shabby Chic Texas Rangers headband, $9.95

Source: etsy.com via Tarah @ on Pinterest

 

 

 

Fort Worth Food Park

A week and half ago, Heather, Kevin and I went to Fort Worth’s awesome Food Park. This particular weekend they were having a dog food drive for Homeward Bound. I, personally, forgot the dog food, but Heather, as always, is on top of it and brought some.

Our first truck to stop at was Red Jett Sweets to make sure we got our dessert. Heather had a Red Jett Velvet cupcake, while Kevin and I chose to be more adventurous, trying The B.M.T (bacon + maple together!). Next, it was to decide what to eat. The trucks for the night definitely gave us a range of food choices – Simply Dosa, salsa limon, Gepetto’s Pizza and Easy Slider Truck.

Kevin decided on pizza as his dinner choice.

“First time I had Gepetto’s Pizza. The crust was the best part. Perfectly cooked. The onions were awesome. I normally don’t like onions but theirs were great. Perfect amount of cheese, pepperoni, and sausage. It was probably eight to ten inches around, cut into four pieces.” -Kevin

I’ve had Gepetto’s Pizza prior to this outing and I thought it was great then. Glad to hear from Kevin his thoughts are similar. It’s really a good pizza, and he’s so right about the crust. It was my favorite part as well.

Heather and I, so much alike in so many ways, both wound up at Easy Slider. We each got 3 sliders for $10. Not so shockingly, each got 2 that were the same – Sweet & Lowdown and The Roadside. I also tried the French Revolution and Heather’s 3rd one was the Nutty Pig, which I must say is completely NOT something she’d normally order, but I don’t think the Sweet & Lowdown would be something she’d order either.

 

 

 

 

 

The French Revolution does not have a picture as it’s a specialty. It was my second favorite. Heather and I both really liked the Sweet & Lowdown. There’s something about the strawberry jam and goat cheese that just made that burger. It was so good, that I can still taste it and now, I want one. We all tried the Nutty Pig, and surprisingly, a burger with peanut butter on it, not too bad. NOT too bad. My least favorite was most definitely The Roadside. I didn’t even finish it.

I don’t eat beef very often anymore so eating these were a bit of a risk for me. I’m glad I took the risk. I’m definitely going to get some more of that Sweet & Lowdown, maybe even my own Nutty Pig.

Now for the cupcakes, you remember, the ones we bought first. We didn’t eat them first though. We were at least adult about that decision.

The Red Jett Velvet was just that – red velvet.

The B.M.T, however, oh my goodness. I’m beginning to think that bacon should just be in EVERY.MEAL.FROM.NOW.ON. Seriously. The bacon was in the actual cupcake and the maple icing on top. YUM! It worked so well together.

“Cupcake. The icing looked like dog crap but obviously (I guess) tasted better. Bacon was an unexpected flavor but I thought it was perfect with the maple flavor. A breakfast cupcake, for sure.” – Kevin

**In Kevin’s defense, the way cupcake shops “present” the icing is a bit on the “dog crap pile” side. We both really loved the cupcake as a whole though. 🙂

Sadly, there is no picture of said awesome cupcake because we were clearly eager to stuff our faces with them. Next time, maybe.

What did Heather think of The B.M.T?

 She messaged me WHILE I was typing this to say she didn’t like it. Hmph.

If you haven’t been to a food truck park, or even had food from a food truck, you are truly missing out. I’ve had grilled cheese from one of the trucks, and you know what — BEST grilled cheese I’ve ever had. Not even kidding. Find out if you have in food trucks in your area and try it out. The trucks here in the DFW travel back and forth between Dallas and Fort Worth. That’s pretty nice because you have the opportunity to try new ones occasionally.

Speaking of the DFW area — moms, moms-to-be, dads, grandmas and pas, there’s a new consignment sale happening in Grapevine in April. These consignment sales are awesome and Growing Growing Gone is sure to be a hit just like others. If you’re in need of new baby/kids items (clothes, toys, just about anything you can think of), plan to attend April 19-21 at the Grapevine Convention Center. See, it’s even located right in the middle.

The things my husband talks me into | Two Dudes on a Bicycle

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HILARIOUS VIDEOS

Hey y’all, my husband, Jody, and his friend David are looking to raise funds so they can purchase this bicycle off of craigslist. Seriously, what could be funnier than Jody, the bigger of the two, riding up front and David right behind him. Poor David’s hands will be in an unfortunate place. 

They will be doing bike “tours” on this bike, which apparently are different than races, and have already thought of a name, “Team Sausage”. Jody has even threatened to train to ride the Hotter Than Hell in 2014 on this bike with David.  That’s a 100 mile (century as my hubby says) ride. These two started riding their bicycles to work about a year and half ago. They ride together and work together. Ain’t it cute?!?!

Let’s help these two goof balls out and have some fun laughing once the videos are made. I will share links of their video’s from time to time, because let’s be honest — seeing two men who are 6’4 and 6’6 riding a tandem bicycle makes me roll over with laughter. I mean the conversations that have taken place of discussing the bike have been hilarious. What kind of conversations you ask?

Jody: “we will have to be really in sync to ride that bike. That’s why it’s normally a man and woman.”
Me: “y’all are pretty in sync. If you and David were women, your periods would be in sync”

And there ya go, folks. I’m clearly the comedian in the house.

Two dudes on a bicycle is their fundraising page. And seriously, they’ve already raised $100 and they started this quest about 7 hours ago.

Pin there. Done that. {1 + 1}

Y’all, Pin there. Done that. is BACK this week! I don’t remember why I didn’t do it last week. My house has been full of sick people, me included. I think we’ve all bounced back. There’s a pretty ugly stomach bug going around. I would avoid it if you can.

I decided to combine two pins that I’ve pinned in the past.

Source: copious.com via Tarah on Pinterest

Source: ny-image3.etsy.com via Tarah on Pinterest

 

Obviously I didn’t use the state of California, because who would want to use that? I’m totally kidding, if you WANT use a shape of California, go for it. Bless your heart. 😉 I recently found on my Cricut SCAL program that it has the shapes of the states. I was so excited, I knew exactly what I was going to do with the state of Texas.

SUPPLIES:

• canvas
• 2 shades of brown paint
• cardstock
• heart shape from a previous project
• Cricut
• modge podge

I painted the canvas to start. While the canvas dried I went through the tedious process of finding the “right” cardstock. Since I knew where I was going to put this project, it was easier to pick out my paper. Then I put my Cricut to work.

THIS is what it looks like for this bad boy to work. 

I really thought the shape of the Texas would take a lot longer. I loaded the paper, hit CUT on the program and went to work on something else. I didn’t even get situated in my chair and the box saying the cutting was done came up and the Cricut had stopped. I was impressed by that! Next was the job of finding the perfect font that looks similar to the one in the pin. It didn’t have to be, but I liked the BOLDNESS of the font.

Letters cut and ready to start but … 

not before I do something inappropriate with the letters. 

Yeah, I know the modge podge is still wet. Instead of doing it in my craft room, I ran into the living room to catch an episode of my “favorite” show, House Hunters (and maybe an episode of Moonshiners). I did the letters a tad too big, but I’m okay with that. I managed to work with it. I’m sure if Heather had made it, her heart would be south for Austin.

What do y’all think?? Did I pull off combining the two pins?

Total time from start to finish – about 35 minutes

Shared at My Repurposed Life

My favorite place in the world – Austin, Texas

Whenever I get to feeling uneasy about things (there’s a lot going on behind the scenes in my life right now!), I get restless. I want to run away. That’s normal for a 35 year old, right? Probably not. I’m just talking about running away for a few days – I’d miss the puppies too much to be gone much longer than that!

Any time my husband and I talk about going somewhere, we both automatically say, “Austin”. That’s our favorite place. Ever. Seriously. I’m pretty sure I was born to live there, but I haven’t made it that far yet. Someday I will, though. Mark my words!

Now, to be fair, when I say Austin, I mean Austin and the surrounding areas – not just Austin proper (although we love Austin proper too). Since I can’t drop everything and go right now, here are some of our favorite things about Austin.

Absolute best place we have ever stayed in the fifteen years we have been together – hands down, the Inn Above Onion Creek in Kyle, Texas. It’s about 15 minutes south of Austin, a ways off of I-35.

My dad gave us 2 nights here and 2 nights at Inn On Pearl Street (IN Austin, near the UT campus) for our honeymoon. Yeah, that was over 8 years ago and I’m still itching to go back! The cool thing about this place is that they serve breakfast AND dinner for the guests. I had the best meal of my life (thus far) here – I don’t know if that means I need to get out more or not, but it was excellent. I’m pretty sure my husband would agree!

I recommend it to everyone I know that is going to Austin. If that’s not enough, here’s a picture of the view from the back porch of our beautiful suite.

Our favorite place to visit is Mt. Bonnell. I know, I know, it’s a tourist trap, whatever. It’s beautiful and totally worth climbing the 100 stairs to get to the top. We go every time we manage to make it to Austin – it’s tradition with us.

That’s 2000 and 2004 right there, folks. I can’t find our more recent pictures from Mt. Bonnell, and honestly, they may not exist! Whoops. Mt. Bonnell is the highest point in Austin, and the views are amazing.

Our favorite thing to do is get lost. Yes, you read that correctly. We spend most of our time exploring Austin and the surrounding areas! Back in the day before GPS, we had a crappy atlas and that was it. When we saw something cool, we stopped and got out of the car. We still have our old atlas, even though it is completely obsolete at this point, with all of our writing in it about what we discovered. I should probably find that and put the Austin page in a frame!

The last time we went – it’s been a few years – if I am remembering correctly, we put about  700 miles on the rental car (not including driving there and back). When I say we explore, I mean WE EXPLORE. Neither one of us are scared of getting lost, thank heavens! We took a really exciting (well, exciting for us) drive last time and afterwards found out it is one of the more popular roads for motorcyclists and is all over the internets as such. Ha! Needless to say, we know our way around Austin pretty well.

Knowing where you are comes in handy. For example, on our quick little honeymoon, the transmission in our rental car went out. Yes. WENT OUT. I was driving, and we were on a 2 lane road on a hill. Luckily, I found a spot to pull over, and we called the rental car company, who then called a cab and a tow truck. An hour passed, and still no cab OR tow truck. Finally, the tow truck showed up, and the cab driver called us. How is it that *I* don’t live there, yet *I* had to tell him how to get to where we were?! Long story short, I begged the tow truck driver to take us to the nearest gas station and we waited for the cab there, because he still couldn’t find us. Now we drive by the spot where we were stranded and laugh. I wasn’t laughing on the day it happened, though! And that’s my honeymoon disaster story. {Takes a bow}

Okay, I’ll get to it. If we are in Austin, we will most likely be at one of these places:

Threadgill’s (preferably the Lamar location). The veggies are to die for. All of them.

Donn’s Texas BBQ (my great uncle used to own this, now his daughter does) I grew up on this barbecue, and I still have to stop every time and get a pint of potato salad. It is the best potato salad on the planet, and we can’t be friends if you don’t agree with me on that.

Kerbey Lane Cafe (preferably the Kerbey Lane location, but if we’re being honest it’s usually the north Austin location in a strip mall – BOO!) Gingerbread pancakes and awesome queso. Not together. Enough said.

Magnolia Cafe (South Congress location only!) Cheap, good food. Excellent people watching potential here. Cute gift shop next door too – it always gets me in trouble!

Amy’s Ice Cream (doesn’t matter which location – I’m equal opportunity Amy’s) We love going to Amy’s. They are just fun. One time we were at the Arboretum location, and an employee offered a free ice cream to anyone who jumped into the fountain. Yes, they gave out several free ice creams that cool evening (not to me!). You never know what you’re walking into at that place. My favorite? Sweet Cream and coconut.

Chuy’s (Barton Springs location) How could I NOT eat at my favorite Mexican food restaurant every time I go to Austin? It doesn’t matter that we have them up here in D/FW now. It’s just different in Austin. Besides, their Elvis is the coolest one.

You must think all we do is eat! Not true.

Waterloo Records – My Dad used to force me to go to Waterloo for hours on end growing up. I hated it then. I’ll be honest, I still don’t like hanging out there for too long, but luckily my husband doesn’t make me. Not to mention, I usually have the keys, so I could technically leave him there if I wanted to. He wouldn’t mind.

BookPeople – Only the coolest bookstore I’ve ever been in. I would hate to be a Barnes & Noble in Austin, is all I’m saying.

Central Market (38th Street/Lamar) – This is the original Central Market. That store is like a Heather magnet. I will go and just walk around for hours. This is my Waterloo.

Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum – this museum should be required for any visitor who passes through Austin (or Texas, for that matter!) It is SO much fun!

Wimberley, TX – cute little town not far from Austin (really close to the Inn Above Onion Creek, actually!). We usually spend a day there, shopping and eating and walking.

San Marcos, TX – my only advice is to SKIP the outlet malls. There is so much more in San Marcos! It’s a neat little area.

Gruene, TX – yet another small town. It is basically one main street, so it’s easy to do in a few hours.

There is so much that we have NOT explored in and around Austin. These are just some of the places that are “regulars” for us, and our visits just aren’t the same if we don’t go to all of them.

Have you been to Austin? What are some of your favorite places?