Going to Austin, TX

This weekend, Kevin and I are heading to Austin, Texas to see his Aunt and Uncle.  We have been looking forward to this trip for a long time!

We're sure they have a ton of great things planned for us to do but I wanted to hear from yall what your favorite place or thing to do in Austin is.  Any hot spots we must see or do? 

Thanks in advance for your advice!  :)

Fun weekend!

On Friday night, we went to Coco Osteria for Tara's birthday dinner!  Top row (l to r) - Emily, Crystal, Emily, me, Kim.  Bottom row (l to r) - Tara, Kristen, Lauren and Erin.  Such a fun group of girls!

Tara and Emily at Ri Ra.

Erin has many moves but this is her specialty!

The birthday girl and I!

On Saturday we had a pool party at the Avenue with a DJ then we had Lauren and Andrew over to grill out with some of our neighbors.  We fixed some dips and had burgers, slaw and watermelon for dinner.  It was also a Panthers pre-season game so uptown was busy for that.  We watched the game on TV (even though we could see the stadium from the building - ha)!  

Then we headed downstairs to Molly McPhersons - a fun new Scotish bar at the bottom of our building. 

A couple of Kevin's friends met us out and we were there way too late!!  Yesterday, we recovered from the weekend! 

Happy Monday!

Last Day in Florida

On Friday morning we got to play with Anna Kate and Amelia for a lil bit by ourselves.  We shared Amelia's swimmy and acted like a train going around the condo.  We had to since there was only one!!! 

Then double trouble got into Amelia's pack and play and Anna Kate took one of her paci's even though Anna Kate doesn't use paci's anymore (there is a 10 month age difference).  They switched pacis and giggled so hard!

Monkey see, monkey do!

Then Kevin and I went out to the beach with Clay, Emily and Uncle Mac.  Emily and I went out in their kayak.

It was one of my favorite parts of the trip - very fun riding the wave in too.  You'll see I look ginormous (I'm at the top of the wave) as we try very hard not to flip.  We didn't!

After leftover night, we just hung around.  Emily reading to the three lil girls!

Double trouble.

Ryan and Kit.  They live out in Boise and have two little ones Maeve and Finn.

My mom and Finn.  He was such a good boy all week!  So cute!

Miss Amelia - the queen!

My parents with Maeve.  She will be 4 next March!

And then came goodbye because everyone was leaving the next morning.  :(

Anna Kate picking up her toys.  I think she thought she was leaving that second.  I'm not sure she can get much cuter!

And that was the end of the trip.  We drove back on Saturday the 21st.  Kevin and I stopped in Jacksonville, FL and had lunch at River City Brewing Company thanks to a suggestion from my good friend Beverly (she grew up there).  It was tasty and nice to eat on the water. 

Do you all have any big vacation plans left for the year?

Florida - Day 3

Are yall over Florida pictures yet? Be excited, here is another day! 

On Thursday (while all the boys went fishing) I got to go to the beach with these two cuties and their mamas!  Amelia is in the yellow, Anna Kate in the blue.

Adorable, right?!

That afternoon while the girls took naps, Mom and I went to some shops in downtown New Symrna Beach.  We had a fun time checking things out and then we went to an old school drug store and got an ice cream cone (red velvet cake to be exact - never knew that was an ice cream flavor!).

Everyone met back at the condos to get ready to go out for dinner.  All 16 of us!  Thank you Dad for treating us!!! 

It cracked me up that Kevin and Clay dressed the same for my Mom's party (white shirts and blue shorts) then Kevin dressed the same as my Dad this night.  How does that happen?!   I guess good taste!

After dinner, Anna Kate said, "Let's play in Aunt Annie's car!!!"  Okay, sounds like a great idea to me (I let her do whatever she wants).  Sorry Emily and Clay!  Someone has to be the fun Aunt.

She pretended to drive then jumped to the back seat and we played with her from the outside (don't worry, we had the half of my key that would unlock it, just in case!). 

Soooooooo cute!!!!  Another great day at the beach with family!

Birthday!

Kevin's Dad's birthday was yesterday so we had dinner at The Palm to celebrate!  Whew it was tasty!  Brittany (Kevin's SIL) and I got the tuna - sooooo good (and for leftovers!).  Kev's parents and he got the steak and his brother Joe got the swordfish.  And of course wayyy too many side dishes! 

We had fun celebrating with you Mr. G!

Transition Pieces

What are your transition pieces from summer into fall?

I got this tank from J. Crew back in July and I'm wearing it today with a white skirt and navy cardigan.  The white skirt is very summer-ey (obviously) and this top just keeps reminding me of fall.  I think it will be easy to put together with a cooler weather outfit too.  What do you use as transition outfits and colors?

Chicken Fajitas

Wanted to interrupt some Florida pictures with a great recipe!

Baked Chicken Fajitas by Cooking This and That

Ingredients:
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained (I used rotel)

• 1 medium onion, cut into thin strips

• 1 medium green pepper, cut into thin strips

• 1 medium red pepper, cut into thin strips

• 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tsp chili powder*

• 1 tsp ground cumin*

• 1 tsp fajita seasoning*

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• tortillas


Directions:


• In a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray, combine the chicken, tomatoes, onion and peppers.


• Combine the oil, chili powder, cumin and salt. Drizzle over chicken mixture; toss to coat.


• Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and vegetables are tender.


• Spoon onto tortillas and top with salsa, sour cream, and whatever else you like!

*Instead of the cumin and fajitas seasoning above, I just used a whole packet of Fajita Seasoning.


These were easy and delicious. This is a perfect recipe if you don't feel like standing over the stove or grill to make your fajitas. And even better... you could prep your veggies and chicken in advance. All you would have to do when you get home is throw it into the oven! Dinner in a snap!

Day 2! Mom's 60th!

Mom's 60th birthday was on Wednesday!  Look how creative Emily is!

She awoke to gifts and a blueberry muffin "cake!"

Giving her lots of special gifts with the fam!  She got a watch and earrings from Dad, gold flop charm from Clay, Emily and Anna Kate, and peridot earrings (her birthstone) from me.  Kevin had sent her flowers the week before so she could enjoy them before they left for FL.

Then we went to the pool and watched Amelia and Anna Kate do LOTS of cannonballs.  It was so fun!

Clay, Emily, Kevin and I headed down to JB's for a couple beverages on the dock.

The infamous picture!

We had a good time!

Then we took a ride down the beach...here is Emily's car on the beach - pretty sweet looking!

We all went back and got ready for Mom's (Nannie's) 60th birthday get together.

The ladies at the bar!

Emily and Clay.

Family photo!  Representing Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Idaho.  As you can tell, we don't get together often due to the distance!

So this was a real treat!  Anna Kate, Mom and I.

The four cousins!  Clay and I on the left and Laura and Kit on the right!

Mom and Dad

Mom blowing out her candles!

She and her brother dancing to Mustang Sally!

Emily and I gettin' down.

Late night Karaoke!  My cousin Ryan and SIL Emily.

Kevin and I.

Yes we were the last ones standing - haha - the four of us - Ryan, Emily, Kevin and I.  We wanted to make sure we had a big time for the rest of the family too!

What a Trip!

This week I'm going to "scrapbook" our trip to Florida.  I'm going to do a day or two at a time.  Yall know this is primarily why I blog so hope you can hang in there with me! 

Warning - my nieces and nephew are so amazingly adorable and I may just have to tell you about 10 times a post!!!  ;)

We got to New Smyrna Beach, FL on Tuesday around 5pm = cocktail hour.  My Uncle Mac (my mom's brother) was serving margaritas so of course we had to have one! 

He and Aunt Susan live there year round in a condo complex so we rented two other condos in the same building. 

After taco night, we headed to the beach to play.  Look at these three!  Adorable, right?!  My cousin Kit's lil girl is on the left (Maeve), my cousin Laura's lil girl Amelia is in the middle, and Anna Kate (my bro and SIL's) is on the right in yellow.

Nothing better than ice cream sandwiches on the beach at sunset!

It was a gorgeous beach - very wide!

The girls just love Kevin.  "Where's Kevin, where's Kevin?"

Winding down before bed.  My parents, SIL Emily and Anna Kate.

My girl with Kevin and I.

Look at her singing - I think this was Josh Turner - All Over Me.

And that was it for Tuesday!!!