san antonio

Today is a big day... the NFL lockout ended! That is obviously a big deal for me. This means its time for the players to get back to work, and start training. It's time to head down to San Antonio for training camp. I'm leaving with some of my co-workers tomorrow for a week in the hot, hot Texas heat to help sell and distribute merchandise to our loyal fans. I got to go to training camp last year, but I only made it for the second half in Oxnard, CA. I've only heard stories about SA, and the stories sound like I'm in for a real good time.

In the midst of all the hard work, and long hours I assume we'll be working, I hope I get to explore a little bit of the city. Like, maybe catch dinner somewhere on the Riverwalk.


Or maybe do a little sightseeing, and take in some history at the Alamo.


But, I'm sure most of my time will be spent right here, at the Alamodome.

Either way, I'm super happy that the lockout has ended, and we can start TALKING FOOTBALL!

So, I'll be on a little bit of a hiatus while I'm in SA. If I can figure out how to blog from my phone, I'll keep you up to speed on my trip. Have a great week, yall!

40 days...

Until Razorback football! I'm starting to get really anxious and excited about the upcoming season. Since I graduated, we've been donating money to the Razorback Foundation, Arkansas' booster club. Not only is this supporting our Razorbacks, but also setting us up to get season tickets. We decided to take the plunge this year, and we are officially Big Red members and the proud owners of 2011 Razorback season tickets! Home opener is over Labor Day weekend, and I can already feel the fresh mountain air of the Ozarks, smell the grills firing up for the tailgates, picked out my outfit, and ordered my Razorback tattoos.

Tusk 'Em!

Hit that line! Hit that line! Keep on going!

Take that ball right down the field!

Give a cheer. Rah! Rah!

Never fear. Rah! Rah!

Arkansas will never yield!

On your toes, Razorbacks, to the finish,

Carry on with all your might!

For it’s A-A-A-R-K-A-N-S-A-S for Arkansas!

Fight! Fight! Fi-i-i-ight!

Woo Pig Sooie!

its what's for dinner

HOT DOGS!

Who doesn't love a hot dog? A tasty treat all wrapped up in a bun. Have yall had the new hot dogs at Sonic? YUM-O. My favorite is the Chicago Dog. A hot dog with a pickle on it. Enough said.

Well, we didn't have Sonic hot dogs tonight, but we did have homemade chili dogs. Such an easy, and inexpensive way to feed a lot (or a little) crowd. Tonight it was just me, the hubs, and my dad. But, my dad can eat about 6 hot dogs himself, so I was pretty excited when I found the 2 for $6 at Kroger tonight. I prefer the Hebrew National 100% beef hot dogs.

Sonic Hot dogs

Hope everyone has a hot dog of a weekend! :)

belated what i'm loving wednesday

So I'm a little behind on my Wednesday loves post. We went to dinner with some friends last night, and I did that whole I'm getting old thing again, and fell asleep on the couch at 9:30. So here's what I'm loving this week...

Taco Diner! It is actually where we met our friends last night for dinner. Its always been one of my favorite places since we moved here. Anytime we have family or friends come into town, Taco Diner is one of the first places I want to take them.



One of the main reasons I love Taco Diner is the Mambo Taxi's. This is one of their specialty drinks. Its a margarita with sangria and brandy swirled in. DEEE-LISH! Try it once and you'll be hooked!



There are 2 dishes that are my favorites at Taco Diner. One is the brisket tacos. Who can pass up tiny tacos with brisket and cheese in them? Not this girl! But when I'm feeling a little more on the "healthy" side, I get the Los Cabos Salad. It is their version of a cob salad. Basically its guacamole mixed with lettuce, bacon, and blue cheese (sounds weird, but its not), then they put grilled chicken on top. It comes nicely presented like the picture below, then you get to mash it all together. OMG best thing you've ever eaten!

Come and visit me and I'll take you to Taco Diner!

Happy belated Wednesday!

tasty tuesday: parmesan polenta & spicy sausage sauce

Today I'm sharing a recipe I made a couple weeks ago. Parmesan Polenta & Spicy Sausage Sauce. I had never made polenta, and pretty sure I had never even tasted it. So, I thought I would give it a try. Result: super yummy! The polenta was creamy and paired well with the spicy sauce. This recipe calls for chicken sausage. I have never been a big fan of Italian sausage or bratwurst types of sausage, but I found Johnsonville chicken sausage and it is pretty delish. Plus, its like 50% less fat than regular sausage! This is a tasty, easy dish to throw together for a weeknight. Make some cornbread biscuits to go with it and you've got a meal.

Parmesan Polenta & Spicy Sausage Sauce

While I was making this dish, I realized this spicy sauce would make a really good spaghetti sauce. Yesterday I made spaghetti, and instead of using the diced tomatoes, I had a jar of regular spaghetti sauce in the pantry. You could still use the tomatoes if you just had that. I don't know about yall, but my spaghetti always comes out sorta watery, like the sauce doesn't stick to the noodles. This sauce was perfect! You could also substitute ground turkey or beef instead of the chicken sausage. I don't think I'll ever use plain spaghetti sauce anymore, that is how much I love this spicy tomato sauce.

Happy Tuesday!

weekend in rock town

Hey y'all! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I had a great time in Little Rock with my family and friends. I pulled into my house around 10pm on Thursday night. As I was unpacking my things, I realized that I had forgotten my hanging bag with ALL my clothes for the weekend! I had a tiny panic attack! The hubs seems to think I did all this on purpose, so I could go shopping. I truly didn't mean to forget them, I was actually really proud I had packed so light and was looking forward to NOT spending much money over the weekend. Oh well. I didn't let it ruin my weekend. I got up early on Friday morning and headed to Target to find some inexpensive options. On my way, I passed Kohl's, so I pulled in. I'll be completely honest, I don't think I've ever bought a single thing at Kohl's. I never go there! I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. Lauren Conrad has a clothing line there, and there are some really cute things! Here are a few of my picks...

This is a really cute ruffled blouse. It has cute cap-like sleeves and a tie waste. I found a pair of cuffed jean shorts to wear it with. I was super excited to find jean shorts that I like. I plan on wearing those a lot the rest of this long, hot summer!

I also got this really cute striped maxi dress. This might be my new favorite dress for the summer! I was super thrilled that it was long enough for me. The only bad thing is that this dress doesn't come in multiple colors!

I also got one more sun dress to wear out Saturday night. I couldn't find a picture of that one, but it was super cute! Looks like I have a new place to shop... watch out Bill!

Ok, so after my clothing fiasco my mom and I enjoyed spending the day with a friend, who is also an interior decorator in LR. She gave me some really good advice on options for our living room. She also complemented me on my bookshelf accessorizing. I haven't lost it yet! We had a nice lunch at a place called YaYa's, then we did a little shopping around for furniture ideas. I am completely ready to tackle this room now! Now, I just need to win the lottery so I can buy all the things I want.

Friday night, we had dinner at an Italian place called Bravo. This place is really good, but we did not have a good experience. My food was very tasteless, and Mom got the completely wrong meal. Luckily we had $75 worth of coupons, so it wasn't like we had to pay full price for something not good. It was a bummer.

On Saturday, Mom and I went for a walk together. It was already super humid and hot at 9am, so we didn't last long. You know, Southern ladies don't like to sweat. :) We got ready, then headed out for a day full of shopping. I needed to exchange a gift I had gotten, and then we just walked around to all the different shops. It was a fun day together. That night we grilled salmon, and had asparagus and sauteed veggies. It was super yummy! Then I met up with my BFF Lori, and her hubby to go watch her brother in-laws band at a place called Cajuns. We had a great time listening to the band and dancing!

Sunday, I woke up and watched the golf tournament with my step-dad, then got ready to go over to see my in-laws. After lunch and visiting with them, I headed out. I made it back to Big D in time for dinner with Bill, and I made him help me move around the furniture so I could see which layout I liked best.

While I was in LR, Bill stayed in Dallas with the pup. He had fun completing all the honey-do's I left him, and hanging out with my dad. They watched baseball one night. Then Saturday they picked up our new bed and put it together. It looks awesome, BTW. Sunday, Bill power washed our back patio and front sidewalk. It's the little things...

It was a great weekend for both of us. This week is already shaping up to be a busy one. Talks are very promising that the NFL will come to an agreement to end the lockout, so we are prepping for training camp. Keep your fingers crossed that we will know something in the next few days. WE. NEED. FOOTBALL.

what i'm loving wednesdays

Another fun thing popping up on blogs lately is Wednesday loves. Basically how it works is, every Wednesday I let you in on what I'm loving that week. Easy peasy. (PS: not trying to copy other peoples blogs, but its just a fun idea, so I'm only doing it because I think you're awesome!)

So, here we go! What I'm loving this Wednesday is...

WATCHES: In particular, Fossil watches. It doesn't help that today at work we had a meeting with our Fossil reps, and got to see some fun, awesome new product for 4th quarter and next season. I've been looking at one particular watch for several months. I thought maybe I'd be lucky enough to get it for my birthday, but it looks like I'll have to save up my spending money for this one. This is the Fossil Riley Ceramic w/Rose Gold watch. I actually tried in on in the Fossil store several months back. I'm not really sure how I resisted the temptation to buy it right on the spot, I'm such an impulse buyer. I fell in love, been coveting ever since then.



Here is another fav. This is the Fossil woven leather watch. I spotted this one a couple weeks back when I was browsing their site at work. I was, uh, doing trend research, of course. :) Anyways, this one comes in this tan color, dark chocolate, a fun green color, classic white, and red. I love all the colors it comes in. So cute for summer, yet goes right into fall.

BIG BROTHER: I heart Big Brother! I remember watching one of the first seasons while visiting my dad and step mom. My step mom LOVES this show! I did not get truly hooked until 3 seasons ago. I know its a reality show, and full of trashy romance/bromances, drama, and craziness, but its so easy to get addicted. This season is already proving to be a good one! My favorites so far are Jeff and Jordan. Now, if you watch Big Brother you know they have been on the show before, and Jordan actually won. They brought several duos from seasons past back, and they are by far my favorite. I'm sure this won't be the last you hear about Big Brother on this blog.

LITTLE ROCK: I always love LR, but I'm really excited this week because I'm making a little visit this weekend! I'm leaving tomorrow after work. I'm not going for any particular reason really. I just wanted to make one long weekend before football season gets into high gear. I am planning on getting together with my mom's friend and decorator to get some advice on how to decorate one of the rooms in our house. Everyone that has seen this room knows its a tough one to figure out. I'm hoping she can give me some good advice. We're also going to search around for possible furniture ideas. On Saturday night, I have plans to hang out with my BFF, Lori and her husband Trevor. Her bro-in-law's band is playing at a popular bar in LR, and we're going to hang out. I'm so excited! Hopefully I'll get to eat at some of my favorite restaurants too!

That's it for this week. I'll be gone all weekend, so see ya next week!

tasty tuesday: tex-mex lasagna

Alright peeps, I'm going to try something new on here. Its nothing original, really. Lot's of people do the same thing on their blogs. I tried to be creative, but this will do for now. I really do admire people, like the Pioneer Woman, who blog step-by-step instructions to recipes. I always think, "I'm going to start doing that." Then I get halfway through making dinner, or whatever, and I've got dirty dishes everywhere, and its too late. So, don't expect that from me. I just want to share meals I've made, that me and the hubs have enjoyed. You can thank me later. :)

I'll start with what I made for dinner tonight. I've had this one in the recipe file for a couple months. I'm glad I made it tonight! Lasagna seems like a hearty meal for summer time, but this lasagna doesn't have any meat and very little tomato sauce, so it's not quite so heavy. Super easy to make, and pretty quick. The recipe calls for you to cook your lasagna noodles, but I used the no boil kind and it came out just fine. The hubs, who is a meat & 3 type of guy, didn't seem to miss the ground beef in his usual lasagna. Happy Mexitalian!

Tex-Mex Lasagna

Recipe from Cooking Light

home improvements

Home improvements... every married couples idea of a fantastic weekend! Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. Either way, that is what Bill and I did this weekend. Let's start with the new bed.

Last fall (yep almost a year ago) my dad & step mom decided they did not want their Sleep Number bed anymore, and offered to give it to us. Bill and I had a queen bed that was mine growing up. A very nice bed, nothing wrong with it, but as yall know we are sorta big (tall) people. We just needed more space. So, saying yes to the king size Sleep Number was a no brainer. Plus, who passes up on FREE Sleep Number bed? Exactly. So, for the past 9-10 months we've been enjoying our new mattress sitting on one of those metal bed frames. We decided that our Christmas present for ourselves would be to buy a new bed. We set a budget for ourselves, but Christmas came and went, and we just couldn't find one that we both agreed on, liked, or that was in our price range. Then, there was tax season, a new roof, life that went on and the idea got pushed to the backburner. We didn't have much going on this weekend, so we decided to go "look" at the new outlet store for a really nice furniture place here in town. Immediately when we walked in, I had a good feeling. We found TWO that we both liked, and way under our budget! After talking it over, we decided that the deal was too good to pass up and we walked out new king bed owners. We were thrilled. Unfortunately, we won't actually get the bed until August, but here is a picture of it in the showroom. Home Improvement: New furniture. Check.

New bed for the tall couple. Yeah!

"Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."-Frank from the movie Old School

Married couples-if you don't live this quote at least once a month, you are not a true married couple. :) Bill loves to throw this one around just about anytime we run an errand. So, that leads me to the next project, re-painting the front door. This is something I've been thinking about doing since we moved in, but after we got our new roof, it seemed like a must-do project. When we bought our house, it had a brown roof, brown trim, brown door, and yellow toned brick. Lots of brown. Here is a picture of our house on closing day.

A couple months ago, we had a really bad hail storm, and it cracked a hole in one of our skylights. After the roofer came out to inspect, it was determined that we needed a whole new roof. So, a couple weeks ago, that project took place. We decided to go with a grey, stone color roof, instead of brown. We knew then, that the door needed to be re-painted to go with the new roof. So, Saturday I went to Home Depot to pick up some paint samples. Then on Sunday we painted the door, and put new hardware on it to match the new light fixture. Here is a pic of the new door, roof, & light. Home Improvement: Re-Painted front door. Check.

Now all I need to do is find a cute new wreath. Where do you find those? All the ones I find are either too expensive, or too Memaw looking. I'll gladly take suggestions.

Next project: lawn and landscape. That ones all on Bill.

happy birthday me, happy birthday america

I never really thought about the fact that my birthday is so close to Independence Day until this year. You know when you were little and you would have joint birthday parties? Well me and the land of the free, home of the brave had a party this weekend! Friday after work, we joined some friends at the Katy Trail Icehouse. This place is super cool! They have a huge outdoor patio with misters that is right along the Katy Trail, where people run or walk their dogs. Then we enjoyed dinner at Taco Diner in West Villiage and Lemon Bar after that.

Lori and I at Lemon Bar

The whole group at Lemon Bar.

Mark, Jose, Me, Bill, Lori

On Saturday, me, Lori, and Jose went to Nail Bar in Uptown to get pedicures. Such a fun place! We brought stuff to make mimosas and enjoyed a relaxing morning getting pedis. After that we went to Lori and Aarons apartment to grill and relax by the pool. That night we went to another favorite spot, Victor Tangos. Here you can order a bunch of small, sharing dishes, or just make it your meal. I had to order my favorite thing there, the Chicken and Waffles. YUM! We also had some amazing crab mac & cheese.

*I don't know how to rotate the picture...

Lori, Me, and Mayra at Victor Tangos. Love that big chair!

After dinner we went to a favorite dancing spot, J Blacks Feel Good Lounge. We all were pretty tired from being at the pool and in the sun all day. So, we didn't last long.

All my Dallas favs at JBlacks!

On Sunday Bill and I went to our neighbors friends pool for a going away party. Brian, our neighbor for the past 2 years, is moving tomorrow! He's moving back to his hometown of Amarillo. Bill and I are super sad he's leaving. Lucy will miss Bella dog too! I can hear him loading up the big UHAUL now. :( Anyways, we enjoyed playing water volleyball and hanging out with all of his closest friends. That night, we met back up with the gang and went to watch the fireworks at Kaboom Town in Addison.

Monday we enjoyed a lazy day at home. I did some cleaning and organizing around the house. I got some kabobs to grill, as well as some veggies and corn. I also made a strawberry pie! It was a good way to end the 4th.

I was lucky enough to be off today as well. So, I'm just being lazy and enjoying my last day off. I might get out later to go to the Post Office.... may not have time. :)

Happy 4th, yall!