My Life Lately in Pictures

Hey guys, I haven't been updating you on what's been going on lately, so here's a recap of the last two weekends through pictures.

 

Over Labor Day weekend, my husband went to his parent's house for a big gathering for the opening day of dove season.  It's a pretty big deal to them, and while that's all great, it's not necessarily my cup of tea.  So I chose to stay at my house and invited the girls to join me while our husbands did their hunting and gathering.  

 

My girl's weekend started off with a happy hour at a friend's house.  It was kind of a last minute thing, but we ended up having so much fun.  We had some great snacks to munch on and did a little wine tasting.  One of my friends is much more sophisticated in her wine than I am, but she brought the Cyrus wine, which is in the $40 per bottle range I believe and then the Alexander Valley Vineyards wine, which is the more affordable bottle at $15-20 range.  They are made by the same winery, and while we did like both, we all agreed the Cyrus was better and delicious, hence the higher dollar amount.  It was such a nice treat!  I would recommend both depending on how much you are wanting to spend.

 

{side note: We are going to Sonoma/Napa at the end of this month, and I'm so excited to be exploring the wineries in this area.  So, I feel like this was a nice kickoff!}

 

 

 

 

When I got home that Friday evening after happy hour, my husband had left a note with flowers and a bottle of nice champs.  He can be sweet like that sometimes! :) 

 

 

The flowers lasted for almost two weeks.  They got even prettier as they all bloomed.

 

 

So the girls that came for the weekend were my sister and two nieces, my sister-in-law and mother-in-law.  While we were playing games, my youngest niece and mother-in-law did some finger painting.  My MIL was drawing a stick figure here of my father-in-law and it really tickled my niece.  This was such a cute moment to witness.

 

The we had a pool day.  Yes, a huge dolphin is necessary in the pool in case you didn't know that.  They actually find it challenging to stay on, so it keeps them busy for a while.  Good for us! ;)

 



 

What is a girl's pool day without Cupcake prosecco and gossip magazines?!

 

 

This past weekend we attended my cousin's wedding. 

This is my mother and grandmother in the picture with me.  Aren't they beautiful?

 

So that's what's been going on around here. 

This weekend we are gearing up for the BIG A&M vs. ALABAMA game.  Go Aggies!  WHOOP!  My husband is just beside himself about this game.  You should see how intense he gets when they even mention it on ESPN.  :)

 

Then Saturday night, we'll be hitting the town to celebrate a friend's birthday.   On Sunday, we'll be visiting some friends that just had their baby, and we can't wait to meet her. 

Hope all of you lovelies have a wonderful weekend.

 

XO,

Tara

 

Living Room Plans

If you can believe it, we moved into our new house almost a year ago.  The beginning of November will mark the one year anniversary.  It definitely feels like home, and we've greatly enjoyed our backyard this summer!  I know everyone has been posting about fall, and yes, I guess I'll finally say that it will be nice to have cooler weather, and I am excited about all of the fun things ahead - football (only because we did our fantasy football draft Monday night!), tailgating, Halloween and the holiday season that follows.  I'm really excited to be in our home for trick-or-treaters this year to see all of the kids in our neighborhood decked out in their costumes and to also maybe have the opportunity to meet and chat with some of our neighbors. 

However, I now have to admit that I've really neglected decorating our new home.  I've had picture frames leaned up against the wall for months without hanging them.  Some decor accessories are just lined up as I haven't placed them into vignettes or found a place for them.  We still have an assortment of mismatched furniture in our living room as I haven't bought some of the new pieces I've had my eye on.  But with fall/winter approaching, we'll be spending less time out in the pool on weekends, and we'll want to get cozy in our living room, so I figured it was about time to get my living room plan together and actually make it look more inviting.  To help kick start this process, we just purchased a new TV and mounted it above the fireplace.  Now we've actually been spending time in our living room when we have company over and when we are hanging out on weeknights.  Yes, we are THAT couple that eats in front of the TV...almost every night.  I know it's embarrassing to confess.  And if you want to know the whole truth, we had been taking our plates into the bedroom and eating on the bed to watch TV while we ate dinner.  It had to STOP!  Yes, we do have another very large TV upstairs in the game room, but we are so lazy that we didn't go upstairs for that.  Nope, we just strolled right into our bedroom.  (I hang my head in shame.)  Well, now that we have a TV in the living room, that problem is fixed, and we no longer have to completely lower our heads in shame, just a little now.

So now that we are actually spending time in our living room, it is forcing me to face what the room actually looks like and what I want it to look like.  Here is my plan of how I'd like it to look!  I'm thinking tufted chairs, a grey slipcover for the neutral couch we already own, a new rug, a rustic coffee table (although I'd like a big square version of the table below), mercury glass accents and mirrored frames for a touch of glam. 

 

 

 

Oh, and this table below is the newest addition to the space.  It's the Everett Foyer Table from World Market.  We tested it out in the entryway, but it's currently residing behind the sofa, and I think it might just stay there.  It covers the back of the sofa and adds interest to the room with the accessories on it.  Much better already!

 

 

 

I will for sure keep you posted on how the room turns out after we make some purchases and well maybe even hang some frames and art on the walls.

 

XO,

Tara

Houston Talk - OKRA

I've decided to start a new series called "Houston Talk" where I'll share about local restaurants, bars, hang-out spots and things to do in the area.  I feel like we eat and drink quite a bit around the city, so why not share it with you guys in case you are local and want to compare notes or in case you are ever visiting and looking for places to go?!

 

Last night, I met up with my sister in law for dinner and drinks at The Original OKRA Charity Saloon.  The concept of this place is so cool!  The proceeds go to a different charity each month, which is decided on by the patrons.  Every time you buy a drink, you receive a ticket to vote on the charity of your choice between the four nominees for the following month. 

 

As you can see, the interior of the building is awesome - arched exposed beams, distressed brick walls with flickering gas lit lanterns and then to top it off an open skylight at the back of the bar that reveals a bricked building with ivy covering it.  All very simple yet charming!  The red curtains cover the voting box.

 

 

We ordered these drinks below that I don't know the name of, but it was champagne, ginger and grapefruit juice.  Delicious!  We also shared a panini with parmesan waffle fries and fried OKRA!  No, no we didn't eat all of that!  A to go box packed up the remaining items to send home to my brother in law.  The panini we had was made with tomatoes, avocado and arugula.  It didn't disappoint.

 

I would like to say that my SIL and I thought that each of the four charities were all equally deserving and that we just couldn't possibly pick one.....but that's not totally true. After a couple of these delicious drinks and lots of chatting, we got side-tracked and walked out without voting. But most likely, all of the charities are truly wonderful, and I'm sure the proceeds will be put to great use at any of them!

 

I will be adding this place to our list of favorite happy hour spots.  It's located in downtown Houston, which makes it easy for my husband and a lot of our mutual friends to meet up at after work.  The food was on par with other bar food, but the drinks were amazing, and hey, you're drinking for a great cause!  Who can argue with that?

 

XO,

Tara