Bites of My Life

A few travel delays, but made it home late last night after celebrating my oldest friend on her bachelorette party. It’s so wild living out moments that you only imagined as a kid. Getting old is w e i r d, but I wouldn’t change it! I got to spend about 24 hours in D.C (!!!!!) before heading down to Charlottesville for the scene of the crime (party)! I loved getting to explore this Virginia town that means so much to Anna.

-Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Brownie mix is unmatched compared to most grocery store brownie mixes. My friend Reid brought a batch to our Bach finale watch party last week. And thank goodness she did because sustenance was necessary during that episode…
-Flower Child chicken plate w/ yuzu brussels and currently the green goddess asparagus is my go-to pick-up order when I have a short week and don’t want to buy a bunch of groceries.
-Made it to D.C. to kick off Anna’s bachelorette party and got the party started with homemade Jungle Birds made by her fiance, who doubles as my old high school friend!
-Followed by dinner at one of all of our D.C. favorites, Lapis. It is an authentic family-owned afghan restaurant that I highly recommend.
-Drove down to Charlottesville to really get the party started. A walk around campus and a morning run for the infamous Bodo’s bagels was necessary.
-My Bodo’s order - whole wheat bagel, feta spread, tomato, and sprouts. Excellent!
-We spent Saturday doing a wine tour, making stops at Pippin Hill, King Family and Veritas Vineyards. I’m not a huge wine drinker, but I loved have sips at each stop and indulging in the bread and cheese :)
-Anna reigned in such a good crew to be a part of her bridal party, and I had the best time with them all weekend.
-#SeeYaSearcey! Time for Martins in the Mountains next month!

Annie

Bites of My Life

So many great moments over the last week. There was the big monumental thing, like turning 23, but my favorite moments from the past few days are all "little things." Small simple pleasures such as the getting to fill my house Monday night to welcome the return of The Bachelorette, having my first s'more of the season, giving my house a good deep clean (it really is the little things), finding my fitbit after it's two month hiatus, and being gifted the most thoughtful cookies decorated to look like some of my favorite things!

I spent my Memorial Day weekend getting in a few birthday celebrations, spending a couple days at the lake with friends and family, stuffing my face with two many chips and crackers and handfuls of snack mix to even count, a swell little dinner with mom and dad, taking a swing at my golf game and some more Monday night Bachelorette (Thunder games need not be mentioned).

-My green tea latte obsession is getting extreme, yet I have no problem with it whatsoever.
-The Bachelorette is back and we are more than ready. Brackets and boy board in tow. 
-Wine down Wednesday.
-Hushpuppies and seafood to celebrate 23.
-Kathleen tried to tell me the cake she made me turned out ugly...I'm still trying to figure that one out too. 
-It was even better on the inside-lavender and blueberry with buttercream!
-A special birthday lunch with my girl Lindz at one of my favorite spots!
-The mix got gobbled up in less than 12 hours at the lake. Catch the recipe from last week's post.
-If only our pregame juju helped the Thunder win Saturday night.
-Doing our best to make it to the lake as many times possible this summer.
-Complete amateurs, but at least we're trying!
-The sweetest and tastiest final birthday surprise! Gingersnaps kills the cookie game! 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Adult spring break: it is not a thing, and that is a hard reality. My social media feeds this past week were full of friends who are still in school seen hitting the ski slopes, sunbathing in Mexico, galavanting through Europe and sightseeing in big cities. All while I was stuck behind a desk doing as the other adults do. 

Work hard, play hard though. This week wasn't too shabby. Our last Bachelor Monday for a while #teamjojo4bachelorette, a little casual 5 course cajun dinner with my foodie fam, some St. Patrick's day celebrash, and the opening of one of my new favorite restaurants. 

-Bachelor finale calls for chocolate covered strawberries.
-Finale also called for greek yogurt bark which was an extreme fail. Don't try it. Greek yogurt does not stay frozen...
-Since I was having to be adult this week, grown up cereal and milk seemed appropriate. 
-A chocolate coconut blueberry smoothie bowl inspired by Bailey's using Arbonne's chocolate protein powder. 
-Cafe 501's chef inspired dinner has become a monthly tradition! This month's cajun theme included a course of  oysters, gumbo, shrimp po boy, filet and table side bananas foster.
-As expected, some puppy brother time! 
-A little Irish Soda Bread for all the leprechauns out there.
-St. Patricks day calls for green beer which means washing it down with loaded jalapeno fries. 
-Cultivar Mexican Kitchen opened it's doors last week in OKC. Do yourself a favor and go ASAP. #tacos
-OATastic.
-So I went to Cultivar two days in a row, so be it. 
-Some call it Mississippi Mud, some call it Methodist Cake and the correct ones call it Better Than Sex Cake. I call it the latter because I love watching mom squirm. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

I started re-watching Gossip Girl last week so it's been a pretty good week. Bachelorette, new recipes, a new roommate, wedding pictures, and yoga, filled the days too. The fact that it's August though pretty much has my mind blown. I'm still denying the fact the summer has to end, so I'm not letting it. I have so many things to check off my to-do list still! 

This week is off to the perfect start this morning. A start to sister's birthday week includes breakfast and The Today Show at my house! I hope to keep the days slow and intentional this week. I want to savor every last bit of the carefree summer days before they get replaced with busy autumn months. 

-I can't stand you Kaitlyn, but at least you made the right decision. 

-I had quinoa fried rice running through my blood last week!

-Sister's wedding pictures came in on Thursday and I'm mildly obsessed. The funnest way to relive the best day. Only problem is how obnoxious I realized I can be. I'm talking mouth open, hands in the air, trying to get in every picture taken, kind of obnoxious. 

-Roommate Lindsay finally got moved in last week. We had the best time showing her OKC's best spots this weekend. I actually played tourist with her at our city's food truck festival, first time for both of us. 

-Made a b-line for the Mediterranean food truck. Got this incredible oregano chicken over rice with falafel.

-Not even two minutes after ordering it got completely knocked out of my hand...I was on the verge of tears. Don't mess with me and food. Bit my lip and went back to order it again, the truck threw in a free baklava because they felt bad for me!

-Pulled myself out of bed Saturday morning to celebrate our Lululemon's 2nd birthday at #SweatstockOKC! A full day of free classes out in front of the shop. Photo creds.

-An amazing yoga class by our favorite teacher with my day one yogi!

-Post sweat sesh refueling at The Red Cup. 

-A sea of S'well.

-Cookie butter rice krispies for friends and co-workers because I have to get this jar out of my pantry before I gorge the whole thing.

-Sunday night carbs during the premiere of Bachelor in Paradise. When one bachelor door closes, another opens. This show never ends. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

After making it through the tornadoes at the beginning of the week, the first days at my internship, and fun times with friends at the lake, I closed up the weekend eating dinner on the couch and watching the premiere of The Bachelorette.

The beginning of last week was heavy. The tornadoes that hit my state caused chaos and sadness. I sat with my eyes glued to the TV as the storms stirred up around us. I'm lucky to have been safe throughout the storms, but not everyone was as lucky. After they passed, I then had to watch the footage of the damage they caused in Moore. Tuesday morning, as I was driving to my first day of interning, I saw first hand the damage the tornado left behind. The scene was hard to look at. Everything in the tornadoes path is now just a pile of debris. I can't even imagine how those directly affected are coping.

Oklahoma has a heavy heart for all those who lost so much from the storm. It is amazing to see how our state has come together to help and benefit our neighbors. Beside the sadness the storm caused, there has been so much hope from the generosity of our state.

I started my internship last week and I am loving every bit of it. I only work two days a week, but I wish I worked more! Everything I have already had the opportunity to do has been a blast. It is exciting to be doing work in my major and actually enjoy it. I know I am going to continue to benefit and learn so much throughout the rest of the summer.

Wednesday after interning, I met a new friend in the city for a fun girl dinner. We met through a mutual friend and instantly hit it off with everything we had in common; blogging being one of them. Check her out here. I think our waiter came by about five times to see if we were ready to order, but we hadn't even looked at the menu because we were too busy chatting!

Friday, I headed up to the lake to meet a big group of friends for Memorial Day Weekend. A big thanks to my sweet friend and her family for hosting all of us all weekend. We spent most of our days sleeping in, eating a big breakfast then spending all day out in the sun on the boat! It was the perfect way to kick off summer. Unfortunately the weekend had to end and we packed up to come home yesterday; not leaving before my friends surprised me with cookie cake and a singing of "Happy Birthday" for the big
2-0! With it being my birthday I came home and treated myself to a mani/pedi and a home cooked meal. My roommate and I then watched The Bachelorette and went to bed early. A big birthday dinner with the fam is on the agenda for tonight!

Now can we just talk about The Bachelorette really quick. Did they purposely pick the weirdest guys for Des to choose from or did they just lower their standards this season? I'm sorry guys but don't try to win your way to your potential future wife's heart by giving her hashtags you made up, make her do dance moves that almost make her dress rip, or by showing up in a suit of armor. I can say, I'm on team Ben! He won me over when he had his cutie son jump out of the limo with him. This will yet again be another interesting season.

-homemade shrimp and grits for a dinner with good friends

-Lily Pulitzer showing their love for us in Oklahoma. #prayformoore

-view at my weekend getaway

-Memorial Weekend at the lake!

xo annie