to-do list: fall version

i've made a fall to-do list for myself, and i'm really excited about it!

i made a summer to-do list, so i figured, why not just keep this up? sometimes we don't technically get anything close to "fall" here in texas, but it's looking like we'll actually get a season this year. and it started early!

so here we go.

-have fun with pumpkins.

i'm not really a pumpkin carver per se, but i'm all about some paint and decorating. here are some ideas/inspiration:

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-make s'mores in the backyard.
there's really no excuse not to do this. everyone loves s'mores.

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-go back to our urban drive in movie theater here in austin.
have you guys been to a drive-in? i had never gone before last year, when they opened up this cute little urban drive-in, and now i'm obsessed. especially when the weather is perfect! it's byob (or bring your own wine, or liquor, or...whatever!), and you can even pack your own snacks or enjoy a handful of food trucks parked right behind it.

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-bake/make something pumpkiny.
both the husband & i love anything that involves pumpkin. are we alone here? i'm sure we're not.

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-try to pull off scarves in a cute way.

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what's on your fall to-do list?

(see my full 30before30 list here)

weekends were made for...

intensely watching longhorns games from 3 hours away,

getting to snuggle with these two,

green tea + stripes + leopard,

enjoying the last of our summer-like flowers in the backyard,

and really taking in this weather. love, love, loving it.

as i mentioned on friday, we spent the weekend in dallas with my family - it was great! we got in some movie time, lots of foodie-time and planning time. i've noticed that when my family gets together, the only solid plans we have are those that revolve around food. 

anyone else find that to be the case with their family? we'll have no idea what we're doing for 3 days, but we know exactly what we're going to be eating.

 the fact that it was in the 70's this weekend...in texas...in september...kind of blew my mind, and i'm pretty much in heaven. i really didn't want to go for a run last night because i was feeling lazy, but the weather gave me no excuse. and i was damn glad i went, because it felt great!

i hope your weekend was just as good - i'll be back in a day or two.

on spending time together.

i mentioned a few posts back that my 1:00-10:00pm schedule started back up at work. this is always a little hard to get used to, especially because i really only work that schedule on mondays, tuesdays and every other friday. so it doesn't give my body time to adjust to normal sleeping hours, normal eating hours, normal socializing hours, and so on. but even worse - it makes it difficult to hang out with my husband. he's extremely busy at work and is part of a project that takes him out of town pretty often. which means that there's really not that much time for us to do things we get used to doing when i'm not training a new hire class - things like going for evening runs or bike rides together, spur of the moment indian food dinner dates, catching a concert together during the week here & there.
by the time i get home at 10:30, all wound up from the day, he's tired from working 10+ hours and somehow fitting in a work out or two (i'm telling you, he's a superhero).

so, we're making it a point to enjoy the little things & making sure that we can still set aside at least one date night per week, like we do when i'm not working this schedule. when i tell people we have a "date night" they usually say, isn't every night a date night? since we don't have kids, i guess that's the assumption. but really, we often do things separately during the week - he'll be at the gym late, i'll go have happy hour with some lady friends, he'll have a work dinner, you get the jist. we're not one of those couples who has to do every single activity together. so for us, it's always been really fun to designate our date nights at the beginning of the week and make sure that we make time to have drinks and cook a meal together, watch trash tv, or go to one of "our" restaurants, etc.

do you set aside a designated date night?

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we're heading to dallas this weekend to see my family + celebrate my mom's birthday. i'm really excited to spend time with them since it seems like forever since i last saw everyone! i'm also hoping to see some long lost friends that i left back in dallas, so i'll report back on monday with some pictures.
i hope you all have a great weekend!

images that inspire: sunday {night} supper

goal #14 on my 30before30 list is to start a sunday night supper tradition. i've posted some ideas before here and here, so i'll share with you some more images that have me inspired to reach this goal soon...

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and some yummy, group-friendly recipes i've been eyeing as of late:

slow baked mac n cheese,

lemon cake,



roasted potato + goat cheese pizza,



mini banana bread muffins,

& corn and goat cheese stuffed peppers.

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i think fall is the perfect time to host a small dinner party, so i need to get to planning this and stop just talking about it! it'd be really nice to have the windows open and be able to roam back and forth from our backyard to the kitchen for refills and not have to worry about letting the heat (or mosquitoes!) in.
i'm hoping this will turn in to a tradition with our friends where one sunday a month, a different person hosts at their house. maybe they make the food if the guests bring the wine? i like the sound of that.

(see my full 30before30 list here)

weekends were made for...

okay, yes. i know it's wednesday and this post is way delayed. but i have a really good excuse, i promise. my 1:00-10:00 schedule started back up at work, since i have a new hire class to train. and that always kind of turns my life upside down for the first few weeks while i get used to it. that's a good excuse, right? right.

so, here is what my weekend looked like + some scenes from the last few days. promise i'll be back tomorrow with a real post.

the 5k that i ran on saturday (this is post-race, hence the sweatiness),

patio time + mimosas with my man of honor,

dates with my man (first up - fried chicken, next up - trivia challenge...he won 2 games, i won 2 games),

and some scenes from my backyard,

as soon as i hit "publish", i'm working on tomorrow's post to make up for my lack of posting!

hope you guys have a great wednesday.

{running} & ale

at the beginning of august, i mentioned that i signed up for my first ever half marathon (since it is #8 on my 30before30 list), and talked about how training for it was not going quiiite as well as i had hoped. and, well....i just hated running.

but you guys...we're starting to become friends, running & i. 

i'm supposed to be training 5 times a week, and i won't lie by saying that that's always the case. there have definitely been a few times that the extra vodka + soda from the night before kept me in bed instead of getting up for a run. but for the most part, i'm actually enjoying it now and i've noticed a huge, huge difference in my endurance level. it's also helped me stick to eating healthier (again - this is not always the case. i definitely have days where i eat berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream, or several slices of pizza. i will never turn those down!)...i've started to realize that there's truth behind those super fit people who say, "one should eat to live, not live to eat" - it makes such a huge difference for me to go run after several days of healthy, clean eating versus a day of say, tailgating at a longhorns game!

and although i always plan to have those days of mini-indulgences and late night desserts, by reminding myself how i feel on my runs after healthy eating, i hope to minimize those and make sure they're rare enough to be counted as treats.

and with it still being in the 90's here in texas, it's a tad bit miserable to go for a run anytime after 8:30am and any time before 7:30pm, so i keep day dreaming of cooler weather and being able to take off whenever i feel like it. i still have about 3 months until the marathon, which means at least 2 of those months should be in cool and cold weather. (cold weather according to texas standards, anyway)

but until then, i'll "cheers" to running, since we're getting along marvelously for right now and i'd love to keep it that way.

ps. i'm running a little 5k with a friend tomorrow morning. hoping for nice weather and not too many hills!

(see my full 30before30 list here)

just some things to love.

i'm feeling like posting all the random, pretty things i've been coveting or staring at lately.

so, happy tuesday. here are some things to love.

for the home.

gold zag tray

for the closet.

francesca tote

for the sake of being crafty.

spray paint doilies

for the husband.

stay classic

for the belly.

bourbon chocolate milkshake

for the lens.

amazing mother/daughter photos

for the sake of having a party.

rum & coke float

for the passport.

andalusia, spain

ps. it's my one year blogiversary today!

see my full 30before30 list here