A little musical guest post to get you in the mood, for fall.

Aug 30, 2013

Hello there, friends! I'm Michelle and I live over at On The Adventure. I'm pretty stoked to be here this week and even more so to share this fall playlist with you. If you're anything like me then you change your playlist with each season. I mean thats not crazy, right?

Anybody? Am I alone here?

Whew. That being said, a new season is upon us, and one of my favorites at that. Fall is coming and I am already listening to a few new tracks, and some old friends that remind me of how much I love these upcoming months. Ah, fall is coming, and so very soon. So here are a few tracks to help you welcome the cool breezes, changing leaves, and mornings filled with hot coffee. Its going to be new, freeing, and oh so very exciting.

And get ready for that last one - its a soul shaker! 



We survived the 30 day challenge! (Kinda)

Aug 29, 2013

30 days.
24 days.
No beer, no wheat, no fried foods, no soda, no sweets.
It happened.
Kinda.
The only thing I truly went 30 full days without was beer.
I may have had a piece of wedding cake at Josh's sister's wedding.
Josh may have had bread with some hummus (he swears he didn't know naan was bread?)
Last weekend we stuffed our faces with donuts and beer.
You can't really go to a soccer game and sit in the beer garden for $7 and not drink a beer.
Who cares.
At work, I passed up on more cookies and cupcakes and brownies than you can imagine, which is pretty mind-blowing for a sweet addict like myself.
We feel better than ever and even managed to lose a few of those lbs.
(I started back running also, which probably contributed to the weight loss)
I have a major sweet tooth and an addiction to crunchy things, and after some heavy googling and many trails in the kitchen I found the secret:
Toasted coconut chips.
Toast them in a skillet over medium to low heat until they start to brown, and then dust them with stevia and cinnamon. 
I made an entire jarful and find myself constantly using the chips on evvvvverything (and even to help cure that midday snack craving) 
Our go-to meal was often tacos.
Corn tortillas were key to curing that carb craving. 
Another staple was fruits (my nightly kiwi kept me sane)
Even though we cut out the beer, we also still divulged in some wine here and there (and even some liquor)
Speaking of liquor, I may have finally perfected the fudgesicle.
. . . more on that coming soon!
One of my favorite recipes of the "challenge" was these little banana coconut breakfast cupcakes.
Even though it included chocolate chips, we used Enjoy Life chocolate chips (dairy free, soy free, blah blah blah)
The original recipe can be found here  and the only changes I made was that I used half the amount of oats and substituted that for toasted coconut.

. . . but enough of all this healthy nonsense, I need Chick-fil-a.
 We are off to Seattle for a little weekend camping at The Gorge, only to survive on granola bars and PBR.
I think we'll manage.

Tunesday: The Head & The Heart "Shake"

Aug 28, 2013

This song can best be described with one word:
Addicting.
If this song sets the tone for their new album, then it's gonna be mind blowingly good.
Hopefully we'll get to hear more new tunes by Charity and the gang at The Gorge!
SO pumped for three entire magical nights of The Head and The Heart, Lord Huron, and Dave Matthews.
I can hardly stand my excitement. 

A rather enlightening weekend

Aug 26, 2013

This weekend I learned a lot.
I got educated in the worlds of donuts and soccer.
Oh donuts? Yea we cheated on our 30 day challenge, more on that later
I witnessed my first soccer game ever.
What? Am I even American?
Well if I wasn't american then I would call it futbol, so yes I'm an American who doesn't know crap about soccer. 
I'm ok with that.
It was awesome.
I paid $7 to go see a professional soccer game 
That $7 included tickets to the game and a round trip shuttle ride from a bar at our apartment complex.
. . . plus some $4 beers 
Yes, $4 beers a professional sporting event.
That was real life.
Suck it, Rangers two million dollar beers.
The next morning I found this on my phone.
Still not sure why it happened, or what the circumstance, but I feel like that is probably due to that mighty tall stack of empty cups.
The game ended in a tie.
Which led to another educating moment of the weekend.
I had no idea soccer games could end in a tie.
Please judge me.

. . . on to the more important topic at hand.
The donuts.
We went back to Dallas's Hypnotic Donuts this weekend.
They are pretty well known for their chicken biscuits, and their chicken biscuit of the month was quite the cat's pajamas, bees knees, tits.
Josh bet me I wouldn't say that.
Anyways, it was dang good.
Their instagram and description of the donut is way better than anything I could provide:
P.S. Follow Hypnotic Donuts on Instagram @KingDonut for some major donut porn. 
Our taste buds, and minds, and stomachs were all blown.
. . . then I followed it up with coconut cream filled donut with vanilla bean icing (breakfast dessert, duh) and then an Adam Bomb from White Rock Coffee
These three things right here and hands down the best three things in Dallas.
. . . other than the Whiskey Cake at Whiskey Cake (but that's in Plano, and some people get rather hot and bothered when you consider the burbs as Dallas)
Add all of the above to your Dallas to-do list immediately, or I will feel like I have served a major injustice.

. . . that time we went overboard for a dog's birthday

Aug 23, 2013

Last year I was out of town for Charlie's birthday because of a stupid PA board review course.
I remember thinking "This is really weird that I'm sad about missing a dog's birthday"
Well, after living with Charlie for nearly a year since then, I kinda see him as our child.
Ew, gross, I just said that.
 I'm that girl.

Some embarrassing things we did for Charlie on his birthday:
Josh brought Charlie with him on all of his errands, and he sat very humanlike in the passenger seat.
(Onlyyyyy because our air conditioner went out and Charlie is really rude to repair men)
Josh sang him Happy Birthday yesterday morning, filmed it, and sent it to me at work.
Charlie's awkward eye contact and random yawn halfway through the video was hilarious (to me) but I don't think I'll bore the world with the video.
Who are we and what is wrong with us?


Yesterday afternoon we took him to a dog bakery (why do these exist?!?) and let him pick out some treats bought the cutest, most photogenic treats they had.
At one point, I actually caught myself saying "Charlie would probably rather have peanut butter than strawberry flavored icing, right?"
What the heck, Emily?
Get with it.
We also took him to Petco and literally let him choose his own toy.
. . . because he probably really wanted that one obnoxiously squeaky lion toy way more than every other obnoxiously squeaky toy there.
We let him freak out the big cage of birds.
. . . and everyone else in the store once they heard Charlie's intimidating yelps.
Then we got him an entire box of Greenies
. . . just the most overpriced dog treat of all time.

. . . but the award for the most overboard moment of yesterday goes to:
The fact that I actually made Charlie a cupcake topper.
In my defense, it was a really cute idea I saw on Pinterest that I've been looking for any excuse to try.
Inexcusable.
Does anyone know a child turning three? 
I'll mail you the topper.
Charlie obviously loved it.

Happy Third Birthday Charlie!

Aug 22, 2013

We are lucky to say we have had three pretty darn fantastic years with this pup of ours.
Today Charles turns 3, or 21 in dog years.
The terrible twos are over.
Is it a tad ridiculous how we treat this dog like he is a human?
Sometimes it's hard to believe he's not.
In this last year, he has endured yet another new home (the 4th I believe), adapted to a new roommate, withstood tons of torture (dry ice, ponytails, and pantyhose?), experienced his first Dallas snow, had his poop swabbed for DNA, and learned how to do yoga.

Some highlights of Charlie's third year:
He truly has been the greatest pup of all time!
To catch up on previous recaps of Charlie's first and second years of life go here . . . 

Swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman

Aug 21, 2013

While we were in Grand Cayman for Jenna's wedding (see more about that here, in case you missed it) we had some spare time to swim with the stingrays at Stingray City!
Josh and I went to Grand Cayman a few years ago, and because we spent most of the time scuba diving we were unable to go to the infamous stingray city. 
We booked our tour through the company Captain Marvin's Stingray City tours, which included three stops, one at Stingray City and then two at various snorkel locations around some reefs. 
It only cost around $40 (which was way cheaper than most other stingray city tours on the island) 
My mom and I went with my friend Emily and her dad.
I truly didn't think I would be scared at all, until I got in the water and realized how big (and friendly) those suckers are.
They would ride straight up your back if you let them! 
They were slippery and slimy, and would come up and eat (or suck) the squid straight from your hand if you let them.
That also caused them to be a bit aggressive, which makes you extra jumpy when you are constantly picture Steve Erwin in the back of your mind.
Just saying.
The snorkeling was awesome.
We saw so many gorgeous coral and fish, but this picture of Emily's dad was probably my favorite from the snorkel stops.

Of course, we got suckered in to buying the professional photos (only because they were hilarious and way better quality than my iphone pics)

If you are ever in Grand Cayman, swimming with the stingrays is a must!
We would highly recommend using Captain Marvin's tours too.
The guides were absolutely great, so entertaining and friendly!

We got a new brother-in-law!

Aug 20, 2013

This past weekend, Josh and I headed east to celebrate his sister's marriage. 
Excuse the heavy amount of iPhone photos.
One day I will be better about using my DSLR, I promise. 
I had a blast helping prepare for the wedding with his mom and my sister-in-law (who is pregnant, btw, even though her husband likes to refer to her bump as a beer belly)
How cute is my little politician wedding date? 
Is it still a selfie if you don't show your face?
Regardless, I needed to share with the world the fact that this is the only statement necklace I own.
(If it even counts as a statement necklace)
Obviously, I like to make bold statements. 
Here's a little peek into their precious wedding: 
The groom has a slight addiction to Rockstar energy drinks, so he just had to have a Rockstar cake! 
I kept getting Game of Thrones vibes from the main table.
A little brother sister slideshow love.
Josh and his grandmother (the one who left me the sweet note about getting new tennis shoes)
This weekend she watched another grandchild get married and also became a great-great grandmother for the third time! 
The newlyweds! 
A wedding wouldn't be complete without a grand exit and sparklers are my favorite! 
We are so thrilled to gain a new brother-in-law, and we are also thrilled that they are going to be moving to Dallas! 
Yay for having family close to home! 

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