Bites of My Life

Coming off such a great week with family and friends. Claire had her sweet baby boy Jack Morgan prematurely two and half weeks ago. It was a shock and a very scary few days. While he’s growing and getting stronger in the nicu, Kathleen and I spent a few days in Austin last week, getting to hang with the new parents! I won’t get to meet my nephew for a couple of months, but what a day it will be when I finally get to! Unpacked from Austin to re-pack for the lake with my college besties. We’re on year 3 of our annual lake trip, and I’m so thankful for the dedicated time outside of weddings and bachelorette parties that we choose to spend together.

-What a week for television. Millionaires are going to space and the start of the summer Olympics. I’m a Today Show and NBC loyal fan and have always been. Catch me more excited about diving and gymnastics than The Bachelorette the next two weeks 🤣! Pictured here is me multi-tasking an Obé pilates class and watching Jeff Bezos go to space.
-Arrived in Austin on Wednesday and picked up lunch with Claire from Tiny Grocer to eat at home while working and waiting for Kathleen to get in.
-While Claire and Mike visited Jack in the NICU I got to meet up with Mads and baby Ralph for a walk near Lake Austin.
-I’ve coveted Elizabeth St. Cafe for years for their dishes and design. I flipped through their cookbook after spotting it at ByGeorge on South Congress last week
-We then decided to order in from Elizabeth Street that night. It is insanely good Vietnamese-style street food by the always good MML Hospitality.
-Besties unite!
-We rented the cutest lake house on Cedar Creek lake. Dallas is a central meeting spot for our crew, and Cedar Creek is only about an hour outside of DTX!
-I love this trip and these friends so much!

Annie

Bites of My Life

We were snow covered two weeks ago, had temperatures almost in the 80s last week, and today marks the first day of March. What??

Like most, I think I’m having an extended version of the “Sunday scaries,” when I think about us coming up on the year anniversary of the start of covid lockdown. A year. How has it been a year since this mess began? I remember every fine detail of the the week leading up to lockdown. I think I always will.

-My friend Lauren was gushing about how she had bought cereal at the store and couldn’t wait to have cereal for dinner. Being an adult is fun, how the smallest thing like cereal for dinner can sometimes seem so comforting and simple. I copied, obviously. Lauren made fun of me that my cereal looked like bird food. But I guess that’s the difference between cereal as a kid and cereal as an adult. I opt for Nature’s Path Smart Bran, almond milk, and blueberries.
-Dinner date at my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Alamo Club.
-Two basic blogger items made their way into my closet last week. This Amazon replica of the coveted Free People sweater and these Levi high-waisted skinnies make me feel far from original, but equally happy to own two basics I know I’ll wear the heck out of.
-A scrappy mini charcuterie board to kick off the weekend.
-Friday night was for ME! Post-mini cheeseboard and leftovers for dinner was a bubble bath and an early bedtime!
-Got hired to create this epic cheeseboard for a friend who was hosting a baby shower. I had way too much fun gathering ingredients and photos for inspiration. It turned out perfect and has me wanting to make more. Does anyone need to hire a charcuterie chef?
-Carly + Sam!! Congrats to two friends on the most special engagement.
-Too much fun, trouble, and karaoke when this OU crew is together. We can now officially thank the soon-to-be Cody’s for getting us all together and for the Sunday scaries.
-Sunday morning backing Perfect CCCs obviously. I always (and you should too) save a few balls of dough for the freezer. This way I’m never without cookies on a rainy day!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Last week was full of fun dinners, catching up with friends, and keeping cozy with all of the gray and rainy weather Dallas had. The weekend was bookmarked with a college friend reunion that still has me on a high. I don’t know what I did to get so lucky to have amazing friends in multiple sectors of my life, but there is something about the bond with your college friends that just takes the cake. Dallas is a central meeting spot for our crew, so we came together for a spontaneous weekend that was full of telling old stories, staying up later than any of us had in the past year, and drinking too many ranch waters to count. Hoping you all have a great week and use this as a reminder to phone a friend if you are feeling down. It always helps.

-Pantry pasta for Monday dinner since I hadn’t made it to the store yet. Cooked up the last bits of some red lentil pasta, then tossed with ghee, garlic, brussels sprouts, and a combo of parmesan and nutritional yeast for an extra cheesy flavor.
-I’m late to the game on this spot, but I was treated to dinner at Las Palmas, a vibey tex-mex spot in Uptown Dallas last week and I can confirm it is everything of the sort. The decor, mood, menu, and post-meal food baby are all worth you scheduling a visit immediately if you are in the area. Pictured is the drool-worthy Sopapilla Cheesecake.
-On that kale salad kind of a kick. Massaged the greens with TJ’s Carrot Ginger Miso dressing, added cooked lentils and quinoa for filling protein, sliced tomatoes, pickled red onions, sliced almonds, avocado, and lots of salt and pepper.
-My foodiest friend Ellie turned me on to Nounos yogurt and I can confirm it is as tasty as it is cute. Stirred a spoonful of almond butter, sliced almonds, and cinnamon into the original flavor. Found at Central Market.
-Starbucks announced their seasonal pistachio latte a couple of weeks ago. I’m a sucker for pistachio flavored things and had it on my list to try. I opted for just a decaf almond milk latter + a pump of pistachio syrup and I was a very sad at the outcome. Tasted like an overly sweet cinnamon dolce latte which transplanted me to overdoing it on them my freshman year of college. A taste I didn’t need to be reminded of.
-My house guests for the weekend arrived Friday late afternoon so my go-to snack board got whipped up quick for pre-dinner snacks. My snack setup of late: popcorn, Trader Joe’s Truffle Potato chips (iykyk), Trader Joe’s gluten-free pretzels (better than regular), and some kind of candy or chocolate.
-Not all pictured, but smiles ear to ear with my college besties.
-This pickle loving gal was in heaven at Dallas’ Pickletopia. Yes, a store dedicated to pickles. Left with bread & butters, pickled mushrooms, and giardiniera.
-Ended the weekend playing sous chef cooking burgers for friends with pickles from the Pickletopia loot, Elk meat, frozen french fries (honestly you cannot beat sometimes), and Perfect CCCs of course!

Annie

Pod bite: A friend turned me on to the Sunday Scaries podcast last week and I simply cannot get enough. It’s perfect for listening to while piddling around your house, working, or toting around town tuned into. Will DeFries the host, touches on three wildly relatable (IMO) topics in each ~30-minute episode. Give it a listen if you are looking for a new pod to add to your rotation.

Bites of My Life

My apartment feels like the loneliest place ever lately. Is anyone else feeling this? Even after back to back weekends away with friends, the week days are long, boring and isolating. There’s no way else to say it.

My mom and I were talking earlier this morning and the quote unquote good parts of quarantine and coronavirus, like the slow down, the quality time, etc. is fading and the loneliness is creeping back in fast. I’m lucky to be in Dallas which is decently reopened. This week I’m really really trying to plan more reasons to get out. I’m normally a stickler on money during the week but I don’t care if I have to spend $8 on a pricy coffee, I’m getting out and working from a coffee shop at some point everyday this week. Even if it’s still just me going to work alone, I need the social stimulation of other humans around me. If you are feeling the same, I challenge you to actively get out of the house this week. We need it.

-Prettiest spaghetti squash and meat sauce I ever did see.
-I saw Gaby’s customized spatula for the Williams Sonoma/No Kid Hungry campaign and had to have it. It’s covered in CCCs for goodness sake!
-Got to have lunch and tour the new Fuzzy’s Taco Shop corporate office with some friends from the company last week. If you are new here I work remotely for a restaurant group based in OKC, who owns the Oklahoma Fuzzy’s franchise along with a few other restaurants.
-WFH break by working from a favorite coffee shop and getting an afternoon turmeric latte.
-Banana bread baked up for the lake weekend. My tried and true recipe can be found here.
-The South Texas mecca that is H-E-B. We have Central Market in Dallas that is the upscale version, but it’s not the same supermarket goodness that is HEB.
-Got the gang all back together and out on Lake LBJ with thanks to Captain Kirby aka my friend Lauren’s husband!
-My KKG besties in one place is always a treat. We started this reunion trip last year and are hoping for longevity through the years.
-Haven’t had Chipotle in about a year, but the craving hit and needed to be fulfilled.

Annie

Bites of My Life

AUUUGGGUUUSSSTTT HOW? July you speed demon! Anyway, I’m fine with it, I guess…Perks of adult life is not having the return of the school year looming over you.

This past week was a standard week. Just working in anticipation of the first annual BBR (big blue reunion) with my college besties at Lake LBJ! It was a perfect weekend of junk food, time on the lake, girl talk, catching up and just getting to all be back together now that we are strewn across Oklahoma and Texas. The weekend came and went wayyyy to soon.

-With a lake trip in sight, Perfect CCCs and Banana Bread were my contributions. TBH I forget how good my banana bread is until I make it. It seriously is the best! I love making two loaves and freezing one for a rainy day.
-A very Dallas night out at the swanky Park House deserved to be documented. However their no social media ruled, resulted in a shameless bathroom selfie.
-Easily my favorite easy week night meal.
-I loved opening my door and sharing my apartment tour last week. Thank you for the overwhelming response to my little oasis.
-Big ups to Marge for the custom visors. Sucker for a party favor!
-Love being with my health food freak Claire! She served us Siete chips, cashew queso and gluten free waffles all weekend!
-First and not last Big Blue Reunion! Got all of our college best friends together for a lake weekend to reunite.
-Sun setting on Lake LBJ!
-Got home from the lake and needed some serious greens after all the tortilla chips and White Claws consumed. I tried the Mint Chip smoothie from Brewed + Pressed and now I have to figure out how I can budget an $11 smoothie because that will not be the last time I order it.

Annie

Bite of toast: A bop for your first full week of August!