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!

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

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!

 

Fashion Friday featuring Queen of Heartz

Hello my loves and Happy Fashion Friday! This week I will be featuring one of my all time favorite pinup brands Queen of Heartz Apparel. 

Pearl Earring and Necklace set: Gift/Similar

Dress: Queen of Heartz Now I have a few dresses from QoH but I have to say this might be my most favorite. The 60’s silhouette is incredibly flattering and immediately evokes a seriously Joan Holloway vibe, and the bengaline material is both comfortable and supportive so hooray for smooth lines! Normally I end up ordering a Medium in most of Letty’s  pieces (my measurements are 36″ 27.5″ 36″) but I do find sometimes they can be just ever so slightly loose, so I opted to size down to a small since this dress is rather stretchy and I am glad I did because this little diddy fits like a glove! I also happen to think this dress would be the perfect holiday season dress, its sexy enough for glitzy parties but the higher neckline and beautiful navy blue color makes it appropriate enough for family gatherings, and who doesn’t like duel duty pieces?

Shoes: Gift from Miss Amy May (Tutorial) or Similar

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you check out Queen of Heartz for all your holiday party dress needs! Cheers!

Olan Rogers Feature Pt 1

Okay so its been MONTHS since Ive done a post and I am sorry for being lazy. How are we all doing? A lot has happened in the last three months, I’ve been super busy with work which is nothing new, I managed to finally spend time with my beautiful pinup buddy solemate Miss Amy May, fought off some awful colds and a stomach bug which wasn’t fun, oh and ya I finally snagged myself a boyfriend…he’s pretty wonderful, but if you guys are sore about my lack of posting blame it on my boyfriend for eating up my freetime 😉

Anyway enough of my excuses this weeks’s feature is highlighting the always hilarious and ever soft apparel from Olan Rogers Supply. I’ve featured this rad company a few times on the blog already, but I tell ya I never get tired of doing so. The shirts are so stinking comfortable and as I said before the designs are just too fantastic. I love the “Inside Joke” like aspect of the designs too, its another way of spotting other Olan Rogers fans, its like people and their obscure band t-shirts 😉

Except I’m going to be nice and share why this shirt in particular is so fantastic…You just have to watch this video.

Outfit No. 1

MAGIC!!!!!!

Hat: Olan Rogers Supply

Jacket: Forever 21/Similar

Shirt: Olan Rogers Supply

Jeans: Old Navy

Boots: Target/Similar

 

Outfit No. 2

Jacket: H&M/Similar

Hoodie: Olan Rogers Supply

Jeans: Old Navy

Boots: Target/Similar

 

As I said before Olan Rogers Supply has some of the softest articles of clothing to ever grace your skin and well who doesn’t want to wrap themselves in soft essentially inside jokes? So if you’re on the hunt for some new winter gear or better yet stumped on what to get your friends and family for Christmas check out Olan Rogers Supply and if you order before the 15th your parcels should arrive before Christmas! So no braving the shopping malls for you, you can kick back watch some hilarious videos on youtube and wait for the postman. I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you grab some awesome Olan Rogers gear. Happy Saturday!

Fashion Friday Featuring Apostolic Clothing Pt 2.

Hello my beauties! So I missed posting last week because I caught a rather gnarly cold ugh, but I’m back to the land of living and hopefully you find that the wait for the new post was worth it because I certainly do. If you missed Pt 1 you can read that here and learn a little more about the lovely company Apostolic Clothing.

For this look I really wanted to draw inspiration from the gorgeous chocolate brown tulle skirt and pretend for a moment that it actually felt like fall here in Texas 😉

Necklace: Charming Charlies/Similar

Scarf: Borrowed from my mom/Similar

Jacket: H&M

Top: Forever 21/Similar

Skirt: Apostolic Clothing well hello new favorite fall skirt! I have owned tulle skirts before and I usually find them to be a hit or miss item, either they look too ballerina-ish for everyday wear, or they can look a tad…witchy for lack of a better adjective. However this beautiful tulle skirt from AC is perfectly wearable, distinctively feminine, and delightfully flattering with its wide elastic waistband that cinches in at the smallest portion of my waist and length wise hits me mid shin so my legs don’t look to short. I am so excited to get lots of wear out of this skirt, I have a feeling a future blog post with different styling methods is probably going to make an appearance. Would you guys like that? Basically I am just looking for more excuses to wear this little number.

Shoes: Miz Mooz/Similar

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you check out Apostolic Clothing. Happy Friday!

Fashion Friday Get’s White Hot With Unique Vintage

Bonjour! How are you all doing? Thankfully it hasn’t been as long since we’ve spoken last, I really am going to try and keep with my posting schedule, but I can’t make any promises 😉

This week I am featuring Unique Vintage yet again… Yes I know I do a lot of features of UV clothes but I haven’t heard any complaints, and if I do…well I can’t say I’d care. I adore my UV Darlings!

Just casually doing The Can Can during my shoot.

Hair Flower: A lovely handmade gift from Miss Amy May

Dress: Unique Vintage God bless the person who constructed this white cotton masterpiece. I can’t recall the last time I wore a dress that has made me as happy as this one. I can honestly say that I would be more than happy to get married in this dress (of course that’s not happening anytime soon haha) but seriously that’s just how beautiful I feel in this number. The bodice is slightly structured so no weird lumps and bumps from floppy fabric, and of course since its haltered you can adjust to your specification, The fit is so spot on, it basically feels like I custom fit. I think this might be one of the most flattering silhouettes I’ve ever worn, even with my less than average proportions the size chart was incredibly accurate. Now talking about sizing here comes the sad news, I snagged this number during a sale and as everyone knows dresses that go on sale always run out of sizes so right now they only have medium 😦 but the good news is its still on sale for $50 so if medium is your size by all means snatch this dress while you still can! Also you ladies who are not medium don’t think for one second I’m neglecting you, I think this dress could make an excellent substitution.

Shoes: Miz Mooz/Similar

I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you check out Unique Vintage. Happy Friday my loves!

The Brit and The Belle: Hawaiian Hideaway

Sarah Forshaw (@Forshawsarah) and Miss Amy May  (@miss_amy_may) are southern belle and southern brit pinups, respectively, who found one another on Instagram part way through their pinup transformations in mid 2013, at which point they tentatively, then all of a sudden, become devoted and divine friends. Bonding over their urge to bring full on glamour to their every day lives, their shared opinions on cake, and their fierce nerd hearts, the two quickly began to look upon one another as fabulous sisters–who simply hadn’t met yet outside the confines of the interwebs. Due to finally meet IRL to share many squishy hugs and swing-skirted spins in fall 2015, they’re opening up their friendship and their closets to you in this shared blog post while they eagerly await their meeting. It’s been quite a while since my darling Sarah and I have been able to join forces for another installment in our The Brit & The Belle series, but finally we’re ready to share another joint post with you. Sarah and I are alike on many different levels, too many to list. Two of the easiest to focus on is our shared belief that a good dress is a terrible thing to waste by waiting for a good excuse to wear it, and our love for Pinup Girl Clothing. The combination of those two things means we both happen to own the same fabulous dress in the same colourway, the orange and purple Pinup Girl Clothing Hawaiian Hideaway dress. We don’t want to taunt you too much with this dress because unfortunately it’s now out of stock after going on super sale at $60 down from $160–yeah, no wonder that bad girl sold out, and fast. (Such a sale is part of the Pinup Girl Clothing Online Yard Sale, where no item is over $60 and the sale section is updated regularly.) So while we’d like to focus a little on the dress and it’s fit to give you PUG newbies an idea of the brand’s quality, we want to focus as well on the parts of us that aren’t so similar; our differing sizes, shapes, colouring and styles. I, Amy, am pale and red-headed compared to Sarah’s olive skin and rich brown hair. I’m an L/XL in most reproduction style clothing, curvy, modest of bust and generally quite soft around all my edges, while Sarah is, despite being my same height and curvy herself, much more slender, toned, and a touch broader of shoulder, a dainty size S-M. We admire each other’s styles but don’t often find our wardrobes overlap–in part, though, possibly due more to Sarah’s admirable shopping restraint and my lack thereof. To us, this dress is fun, classic, summery and stylish. In the L it fits me snugly without being uncomfortable, the pockets are handy (no pun intended,) and I feel a bit like a tropical princess despite the fact that where I live in England we have probably never had even a second’s worth of weather that can be deemed tropical. As my lovely counterpart stated it is not often she and I have the same pieces, because I tend to be more restrained in my spending (buyer’s remorse is a beast) and Amy is far bolder than me and is more likely to snap up what she wants. I feel the same could be said of our styling, I tend to be a bit more reserved and Amy lives by the motto “Go Big or Go Home…and then relax in your curlers and yoga pants.” To be completely honest she’s my hero. Despite these difference in our style and shopping habits neither one of us could resist the charms of the Hawaiian Hideaway.  I found the fit of this gem to be comparable to the fit of PUG’s Ella, decent room for the girls but not baggy, cinched waist but not suffocating, and the skirt is what dreams are made of. The Hawaiian Hideaway made me feel as lovely and as exotic as Dorothy Lamour. The cut of this dress is not only flattering on both of us, but the bold colouring works on both of us and our differing colourings; the bolero can be used as a safety blanket for ladies who are perhaps less happy with their arms, like Amy is, or simply for the killer style bonus that it is, while I’m happy to rock the dress bolero free and bare shouldered. In our differing sizes of S and L it looks just as lovely, and can be worn with petticoat and without. It’s an easy dress to save for vacations and tropical themed events, parties or restaurants, but we think it’s important that no woman stares at a dress in her closet and repeatedly pushes it aside because she doesn’t want people to stare, to think she’s tried too hard, to ponder where she’s going or to scoff and deign it ‘too much.’ None of that matters. If we give in to the notion that clothes are nothing more than a way to cover up our socially-deemed-unviewable body parts then we lose a rich, fun and wonderful way to express ourselves, not only our personalities but also our views on life. Wearing a dress you like when you like for no reason other than wanting to express that you like it is a tiny, unimportant, joyful act of rebellion, of stylish stubbornness, of expression and chicness and certainty. And we Brit and Belle both fully support all of those things.