Dating in Dallas. Oddfellows

Hey everybody! How are you doing? Sad that its Monday? I know those feels. But you know what makes Mondays bearable? The weekend, and what makes weekends so spectacular is the queen of all meals, brunch! Brunch is everything we love about breakfast except you get to sleep in and then day drink, I mean who isn’t about that life?

Dallas is basically (and I mean in the most basic b kind of way) famous for #brunchingsohard but with that being said brunch choices can get a little congested, and if you’re anything like me, too many options is overwhelming. So here I am to help cut through the fog of bottomless mimosas and avocado toast to throw my advice your way and suggest you check out Oddfellows.

Oddfellows will always hold a dear place in mine and Dane’s heart because we had brunch here on the day we got engaged. But let’s get real that’s not a good enough reason for you to go here. The real reason you should go here is because the food is phenomenal! Plus they serve their breakfast items (which make up a good portion of the menu) all day! Now of course like any brunch place worth its salt its busy on weekends 😦 but since Oddfellows is located in the bishop arts district you can walk around and check out the shops while you wait on your text informing you your table’s ready! One of my husband’s favorite stores is the cigar shop, I don’t smoke but even I say its worth checking out while waiting for your table.

Cheers! Oddfellows makes a pretty delicious mix of cocktails!

Look how excited he is for pancakes!

Oddfellows does a pancake of the day so there’s always something new for Dane to try, the boy freaking loves pancakes, this was a coconut walnut pancake and it was so decadent but perfectly fluffy! I’ll be honest I’ve not had better pancakes at any other restaurant. Whether its a lemon blueberry pancake or a chocolate banana its always “the best pancake I’ve ever had” haha.

One of my all time favorites!!! You guys, their pork belly eggs benedict is other wordly! The flavors are so well balanced, I cannot help but do a happy dance anytime the meal is brought to the table…which is almost every time we go. I’m someone who will keep ordering something til I hate it…and you guys its been a while since eating this masterpiece and we are still very much in the honeymoon phase of our affection haha. Seriously just promise me at least one person orders this dish when you go to oddfellows so you can all try it and know what I mean.

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you get to #brunchsohard this weekend! Happy Monday!

 

 

Dating in Dallas. Toulouse

Guys I am back with another post for my Dating in Dallas series! This week the hubs and I decided to check out a place I had been eyeballing for a while but never actually got around to trying. We all have those restaurants right? Like you notice it, think it’d be fun to give it a try and then forget about it the moment you’re asked the dreaded question… “where do we want to go to dinner?” is there any other question that deletes the contents of your brain that quickly? Really hoping its not just me who feels this way haha.

Well all that being said Dane and I finally decided to try out the adorable French Bistro Toulouse. Like any reputable bistro there is patio seating but since its Texas there is still air conditioning Hallelujah! The interior is definitely Parisian inspired without looking gimmicky, and they play soft French music in the background which I was a massive fan of. All in the all the ambience was very romantic without being intimidatingly upscale. So if you’re looking to knock the socks off of your date without having to worry about which fork to use this is the place. My scrunched faced cutie.

Like any date we started off with drinks, Dane got an old fashioned which according to him was good but nothing to write home about, I tried it but since I don’ t like whiskey my opinion means nothing. I ordered the Chanel No. 6 which was a nice light champagne cocktail that I’d 100% order again.

Then for a few small bites we ordered their Petite Gougere (cheese puffs with truffle oil) each bite was fluffy and beyond flavorful. The perfect balance of delicate texture and sinfully rich flavours.

You guys *contented sigh* Toulouse makes some of the best escargot I’ve ever had! I was honestly worried that I’d be disappointed. One of my favorite restaurants in Austin makes delish escargot and I was afraid toulouse would let me down…but they’ve actually dethroned my beloved Austin spot. Toulouse makes some of the most garlicky, decadent, and tender escargot this girl has ever had! If you’re weirded out by the idea of eating snails, don’t be. Please be adventurous and just give it a try, you will not regret it!

 The perfect ending to our meal of appetizers haha (you wanna try a little bit of everything am I right?) Beignets with cappucino pot de creme! If any desert could turn me into a non food sharer this would be it. I decided to be a good person and share but goodness me I could’ve polished this dish off myself. 10/10 perfect dessert!

Dane and I loved our experience at Toulouse and would definitely recommend you check it out, the ambience was romantic, the food delicious, and the waitstaff was super friendly but didn’t overwhelm by coming by every 5 minutes. Toulouse is the perfect little date spot for changing up the everyday pace of dinner and movie. Try something out of your food comfort zone, sip a cocktail, and pretend you’re in Paris with your gorgeous date!

Dating in Dallas

Hello my lovely followers, I want to thank you for sticking with me even though I rarely post these days. Life has been a whirlwind, after getting married, moving, and other life realness blogging got pushed to the back burner.

I have to admit I’ve missed blogging terribly, I’ve missed the routine and creativity and the ability to interact with all of you fine folk. So in an attempt to be more diligent about posting I figured I would start blogging about date days/nights. Since those are my favorite days. Dane and I share quite a love for food and drink, so I have a feeling this blog will pretty much write itself.

To start off the series I figured we’d start with the most important meal of the day: Breakfast! In order to break up routine the hubs and I have decided to try one new restaurant every other date. We decided to do a breakfast date at Yolk.  We’d been eyeballing this place for a while and finally took the plunge today. my handsome husband’s second love is coffee and yolk got this snob’s slurp of approval

I’m boring so it was just water for me. But how cute is that carafe?Dane’s meal was The Yolk All Star Combo that he upgraded the pancakes to have the Nutty Monkey Pancakes. The eggs were cooked exactly how Dane likes them, bacon was crisp, the sausage was well seasoned and didnt look like a skimpy dog treat (a common occurrence at many a breakfast joints) the maple syrup had been warmed which is always a nice bonus and the pancakes were fluffy and packed full of peanut butter, banana, and chocolatey goodness. No complaints to be had here.

The Yolk’s Chicken and waffles. A bacon waffle, fried chicken, and sausage gravy…Does it get any more southern than this? Well if the chicken had been better yes. Now I thought the waffle was perfect, crispy outside and cloud like fluffiness inside, the sausage gravy was good, but my biggest complaint was against the chicken, the breading wasn’t quite crispy enough to hold up to gravy (a true southern sin) and the seasoning fell a little bit flat. As a Texan I can be bit snooty when it comes to southern staples like fried chicken. All in all I enjoyed my meal, but next time I’d probably just order the waffle sans chicken.

Dane and I certainly enjoyed Yolk, the waitstaff is friendly and attentive, but doesn’t come by your table every two seconds, the interior was fun and hip, and the servings are large so if you wanted to split an entree it could easily be done. I would say Yolk would be an excellent casual breakfast date spot. You don’t feel the need to get too dressed up but if you want to impress your date and wear something a little nicer you absolutely could. The environment isn’t romantic so its very much a no pressure date. Which can be needed sometimes.

So will Dane and I be going back? Yes we will. We enjoyed our time there and the food was pretty good, we’re excited to explore the rest of the menu and see how that stacks up against what we ordered originally.

Again thank you guys for sticking it out and bearing with my dry blogging spell. Let me know if this is a series you’d like to keep seeing. If you’re familiar with the Dallas region be sure to share what recommendations you might have. We’re always looking for more Date night ideas. Cheers!

 

So I got married…

Well I have finally gotten around to posting a blog about mine and Dane’s wedding hooray!

Guys having a wedding is no joke, Dane and I had 8 months to plan this event, which wasn’t a massive wedding but good lord it was a lot of work. Lot’s of late night crafting, amazon prime ordering, stressing, crying, shouting “let’s just elope” during every planning session, and dealing with everyone’s unwanted opinions and prying questions during that time is something I am thankful I’ll never have to endure again. But even with all the drama and stress the day was so worth it. Because it was more beautiful and special than I could’ve imagined, and for every troublesome person that caused strife there was a whole group of friends and family who reminded Dane and I that at the end of the day all that matters is we get to marry the loves of our life.

So many people helped make our wedding possible, friends let us use their property for our venue, the bridesmaids put together my bouquet, my brother and his wife bought my headwreath when a previous vendor had flaked on me, and friends helped my mother set up all the decor, gosh we were truly surrounded by some amazing people! You all made our Peter Pan themed wedding better than Disney could’ve managed, and we cannot thank you enough.

My sweet nephew always the ladies man 😉

Beautiful Bridesmaids

Hubba Hubba hubby.

Mom’s always got my back.

Having family and friends pray for us right before the ceremony was so special and resulted in some serious ugly cry face from me…yikes!

Gotta get back to being presentable 😉

This is precisely why I wanted first look photos.

Our awesome bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Barely keeping it together.

Finally!!!

My bestest friend through life, my baby sister.

Family.

Our chosen family.

Bliss

My beautiful baby sang for our first dance.

Mom and Dad.

My brothers and their beautiful ladies!

Welcome to the rest of our lives.

A ridiculously massive shout-out to our phenomenal photographer Cody Kurtz! I honestly cannot recommend this guy enough, he met with Dane and I to fully get to know us as a couple and find out what kind of shots were important to us, and dude he knocked it out of the park.

Flowers were bought from Trader Joes gotta represent our workplace somehow 😉 also I spent less than $100 on our flowers holla!

Groomsmen tuxes from Menguin which I highly recommend, super easy, great customer service, and a heck of a lot cheaper than its competitors.

Bridesmaids dresses were from Unique Vintage, Mod Cloth, and JJ’s House.

My perfectly grey/blue dress was from MilaMira bridal. I will suggest when ordering from them order a size up, my dress was a tad too snug for me, thankfully my mom knew a tailor who was able to change the structure to a corset so I could wear my dress comfortably. But other than the sizing thing I have no complaints, they were wonderfully helpful answering questions, offering suggestions on fabric, and the dress came in a timely manner, which is amazing since their dresses are handmade!

I hope you all enjoyed a look at our wedding, and for those of you currently planning a wedding I will offer this little bit of advice. You do You! This day is about you guys as a couple, all the silly traditions, pushy relatives, pricey vendors etc can shush. I can happily look back on my wedding day with no regrets because Dane and I stayed true to ourselves.

Happy Saturday my loves.

 

 

Keith Harkin 2017.

So its been a hot minute since I’ve done any sort of blog post…I am sorry. Weddings, travel, back injuries galore, ya its been a tad hectic around here. But for those of you who have stuck with me I have one seriously fun post!

I had the pleasure of getting to see Keith Harkin in concert yet again. Basically if the guy is in town I am trying my darnedest to go see him. Essentially the only time I’m not there in the audience blown away by his talent is if I absolutely could not miss work. That’s just about the only thing that’ll keep me away.

I never tire of seeing Keith, because he is the musical equivalent of fine wine, he gets better with age. I had a particularly wonderful time at his last concert in Dallas at the historic Poor David’s Pub. Keith has really honed his style and is uniquely himself, a true artist’s artist. He cares about his music, he’s not out to please people and do what’s popular at the moment. His evolution of art is not to keep up with others but to nurture his own individual voice both literally and figuratively.

Please tell me I’m not the only one getting serious Stevie Ray Vaughn vibes here.

I cannot encourage you enough to check out this class act. Keith is by far one of my favorite artists out there. He manages to bring all demographics together with his art, music that everyone from the grandest babies to the greatest grandparents can enjoy. True art is timeless and knows no boundaries, this is something Mr Harkin truly exhibits. You can find more info, buy merch, etc through his website and be sure to follow him through his twitter and instagram

A Very Unique Fashion Friday

Well hello my lovely readers. How have you been? Well I hope. I must say things with me have been pretty wonderful, lots of life changes seem to be happening all at once. Since we’ve last spoken I’ve moved into an apartment closer to work and my fella, I’ve had a birthday (24 now) got a raise at work whoop whoop, oh and ya…I GOT FREAKING ENGAGED! On February 12th I celebrated my birthday with my *then boyfriend* now fiance, we went to breakfast and he gave me the sweetest necklace of an acorn and thimble, if you’re a weirdo like me then you know the wonderful peter pan story that accompanies such a gift. Well after breakfast we went to work…sexy stuff I know. But it was the next day that made my birthday gift all the more special. I knew my sweet fella had a day long date planned and he seemed particularly excited about it so I thought I best dress the part, and I could think of no better company than Unique Vintage for my special birthday dress. I’ve always been a sucker for retro clothing and vintage dresses and particularly anything with a plentiful skirt, and if it just happens to be pale blue I have to have it. So it was a no brainer for me to pick the High Society Swing Dress… but oh man I could not have predicted how perfectly that dress would suit the day. Cause you see, my love had planned a peter pan themed scavenger hunt of sorts, and my dress is very reminiscent of Wendy.

In each little numbered box was a peter pan figurine and had a corresponding envelope with some sort of punny peter pan joke and instructions for which destinations to go to. The day started at my favorite coffee shop, then to one of my fave brunch spots, then we got pie cause anyone can do cake for a birthday but we all know pies really where its at, we then went to the butterfly gardens in Dallas which was beautiful, and then the last box and letter came for that one we were instructed to go to a park in downtown Plano. This park has always been dear to me, I celebrated my 8th birthday there and I remember seeing a couple get married in the gazebo and I think about them every birthday and how theyre doing…well it has now become a great deal nearer and dearer to me because this is where the love of my life asked me to marry him. The last box  had a single red feather in it

me looking way too focused about putting a red feather in my babes beanie.

and the letter was the most beautiful heartfelt speech/proposal in the world…its just a shame I was too swept up in emotion to remember a word of what was said after the fact…sorry babe.

Someone was having a little trouble opening the treasure chest that had the ring in it…and someone else had a terrible case of the giggles

after a very teary yes and a kiss he told me to turn around cause he had another surpriseMy face at seeing my dearest Amanda who lives all the way in Maryland taking pictures.

needless to say I was happy about that surprise…but he also made sure my family was there and even his parents my soon to be in laws flew out for the big event too!

I was all giggles and Dane was all types of smug 😉

couldn’t quite believe what had happened

and then of course we proceeded to act like weirdosI certainly have found my match

Cardigan: Doll Me Up Darling

Necklace: Hooligan Alley

Dress: Unique Vintage Thank you thank you a million times over for making me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world on the happiest day of my life! It never ceases to amaze me how accurate UV’s size chart is and how flattering their cuts and choices of fabric are. I always feel like a princess in their pieces and I would imagine anyone else would too!

Shoes: Miz Mooz/Similar

Photography: The incredible Amanda of Gilded Isle Photography I just wanted to say thank you again to my love for knowing how important it was for this moment to be captured and for knowing no one could do a better job than Amanda. Girl these pictures my frosty personality melt into a puddle of feels! You’re the greatest!

So basically I’ve been living in a state of I cannot believe this is my life…and how does one even plan a wedding? Haha so forgive me for the lack of posting consistency and the abundance of mushy pictures and posts but hey I’m in love and I’m not the least bit sorry about that. Happy Friday my dears and I hope you all have a beautiful weekend and that you buy yourself that Unique Vintage outfit you’ve been eyeing…because hey ya never know when the love of your life could propose and your best friend could be hiding behind a tree documenting it all so you want to look your best 😉

Music Monday: Keith Harkin Band

So it took me absolute ages to post this feature…I’m sorry but vacations, sickness, and just the fact that I took a ton of pictures meant I had my work cut out for me. I swear all of my posts these day’s begin with an excuse…shame on me. Anyway back in December I had the great pleasure of attending a Keith Harkin Band gig, yep that’s right a Keith Harking BAND! I’ve seen Keith perform many a times and I am always blown away by his artistry and musicality, but oh my goodness to experience the kind of energy that is brought to the stage when there is a full band is nothing short of AMAZING! I had such an incredible time and I’m sure you can tell from the pictures everyone else was too! 

If you weren’t fortunate enough to catch Keith at Poor Davids back in December fret not because he’s coming back March 18th and you can reserve your tickets here if you’re not able to make the gig might I suggest purchasing Keith’s LONG AWAITED SECOND ALBUM: On Mercy Street Here. Every song is so raw and honest you feel as if you have your own private show with Keith right there. I hope that you all enjoyed the pictures and that you all continue to support true artists like these lads here! Cheers!

 

Keith Harkin at Poor Davids

Hello all! Today’s post is all about my fabulous Saturday night. I was fortunate to attend/handle merch at Poor Davids Pub for the Keith Harkin gig, and man it just never gets old…I look forward to every gig of Keith’s like its the first time, and when its all over I leave even happier than the last.

Fortunately this go around I was actually able to step away from the merch table for a bit and snap a couple of pics of the opening act, Phoebe Hunt and Connor Forsyth. All I can say is wow! The amount of style and artistry they brought to each song was astounding. Both are phenomenal writers Connor is master of the keys and Phoebe’s voice is the kind of voice that you would want to have singing the soundtrack of your life. The depth, soul, and incredible variety this lady displays is absolutely mind blowing, not only does she have the voice of an Americana bluesy gypsy angel she can tear it up on the fiddle as well as the guitar. Can you tell I have a bit of a girl crush working? This duo is musical perfection and I implore you to see them live. Keep up to date with Phoebe and Connor through http://phoebehuntmusic.com/home 

Odds are if you’re a regular here on my blog you know my love for Keith Harkin’s music. If this guy is in town I go to his show, simple as that. Keith is not to be missed. I am constantly in awe of this gentleman, his vocals are so strong and invoke so much emotion, his skills as a song writer are incomparable, and his ability to merely play the guitar in such a way you’d swear he was playing with a full band is just outstanding.  I’ve been pretty blessed in my concert outings and have see many a highly skilled artists, but I can truly say Keith still stands out as one of the most talented acts I’ve ever seen. The man doesn’t hold back, he pours his heart and soul into everything he does and it so evident in his music. The crowd, setting, and how tired this weary traveler is have no bearing on his performance he truly lays it all out there and its pretty magical to experience firsthand. If you’re fortunate enough to live somewhere Keith has a gig you really HAVE TO GO! Keep up to date with this phenomenal guy through his website and his various social media platforms (facebook, twitter, and instagram )

As always Keith absolutely killed it, and was kind enough to play several of his new songs. Just when I think this guy cannot get any better he does, the new songs are just out of this world amazing and have me chomping at the bit for his next album…which according to Keith shouldn’t be too far off now. YAY! So now more than ever is the time to hop onto the Harkin bandwagon because I know he’s only going to continue to grow stronger and stronger as an artist, which is really saying something because this guy has Herculean musical strengths 😉
describing his parents’ “domestic bliss” 😉
Everytime this guy plays he shares his soul and its just beautiful.

This guy is the best and that’s all there is to it.

Now here are some pics my sister snapped of me working the merch table…and amazingly I don’t look as lazy as last time 😉
See I’m even grabbing shirts here!Of course it wasn’t all hard work though haha 😉

I had such a wonderful time and want to thank everyone of you who came out to show your support, and an extra thank you to those of you who had to put up with me selling merch again. I really hope you all enjoyed this post and that you show these multi-talented musicians your love because they really deserve it. Happy Wednesday.

Forshaw Family Shoot

*Caution this blog post contains pictures of the cutest little family ever*

Sometimes I just really really love my job! Taking portraits of my beautiful family would be one of those times. I know I am biased but even if I didn’t know these people from adam I would have to admit that they are undoubtedly one of the most beautiful families I have ever seen.

Good job big bro you picked yourself an incredible wife and you guys brought the sweetest, smartest, most wonderful little boy into the world! It was my absolute pleasure to capture these special moments.

Overdosing on the preciousnessOh that nose wrinkle

I love you guys so much!

I hope you all enjoyed my gushing and photography. Happy Wednesday everyone!

An Evening with Keith Harkin

Last Thursday I was fortunate enough to attend/work the merch table for the Keith Harkin gig at Poor Davids Pub.

The night started off with a stellar performance from The O’s (sorry I didn’t take any pictures I was manning the merch table at that time). I must say Poor David’s certainly knows how to pick talent, not once has there been an opener that I was unimpressed with. But I have to admit The O’s particularly blew my mind. They are true performers, their music is absolutely spectacular, and their between song banters are priceless. Lucky for me The O’s are a Dallas based band so they have lots of local gigs coming up, but they also do quite a bit of expansive touring so if you’re not a local fret not. Check out their site http://wearetheos.com/ listen to their music, go to a gig, and have a blast!

Now for everyone who bought merch thanks for being so sweet and patient with me, I’ve never worked in any form of retail (I’ve always been on the creative side of work) so this was quite a new experience for me. Despite being “out of my element” I had an absolute blast, interacting with everyone was quite a fun experience, and I hope I get to go it again soon! I think I met just about everyone who came out that night, you all are excellent shoppers 😉

Here are some pictures my sis took of me looking like the least helpful merch worker in the world. To be fair though these were taken after the show when less shopping took place.

I swear I did more than just stand around with my hands on my hips. 

Keith you sir are a joy to work with.

After the O’s Keith took the stage and delivered an incredible performance as per usual. After seeing an artist perform live several times suddenly their shows can seem a little less exciting, but I’ve seen Keith on multiple occasions and I still walk away saying “That was the best show yet”. I think its because Keith has found the perfect balance to his gigs. By playing his own original songs, Celtic Thunder favorites, and classical covers like End of Innocence and Heart of Saturday Night Harkin has insured that no matter your musical taste there will be something that you will absolutely love. You can check out his site here http://www.keithharkin.com/ and keep up to date on touring and find all the links to his other social media platforms that are full of good craic!

Now Thursday was a good night, but it was a very emotional one too. Just the night before, fellow Celtic Thunder performer George Donaldson passed away. One particularly touching moment of the night was when Keith performed Caledonia as a beautiful tribute to his dear friend. George is a great man and will be sorely missed.

As you can imagine everyone who knew George is incredibly shaken, and his friends and family would really appreciate that you respect their privacy as they go through the difficult grieving process. Should you wish to make a gesture to George’s family you can make a donation to help further his daughter’s education through the Celtic Thunder site https://www.celticthunder.ie/content/george-donaldson-0

Let us remember to tell those in our life how much we love them, we never know long we have on this earth. God bless you all and Rest in Peace George.