Back home

I am back in Austin and life has resumed normality. Dallas was a nice little vacation from daily life but I was very ready to come home. I do miss my fancy rented Camry though, that thing had some get up and go. Plus after driving that car for a week and going back to my big go-cart, I've decided I'm pretty sure my Xterra doesn't have power steering.

Tonight was a refreshingly quiet and routine evening, something that I missed so much in Dallas. Being at home with Brendon is my happy place. Hanging out on the couch, cooking dinner, giggling about silly things when someone should be studying; life is good here at the Hogan home.

Tonight we made pretty legit easy meal, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen. Spaghetti with Broccoli Cream Sauce. It's tasty, y'all. AND you get your veggies in. You could even make it with whole wheat pasta and be extra healthy. We haven't really gotten on board with the whole wheat pasta thing. It's just such so... gritty.

Scenes from the kitchen:

Not much smells better than sauteed butter, onions, and garlic. Okay maybe cookies in the oven.

Look at the mop on this boys head! He had been growing his hair out for his Ace Ventura costume and it has gotten slightly out of control. He needs a hair cut REAL bad. He is also now growing his "beard" out for "no shave November". We'll see how long that lasts.

It is good to be home. Make that recipe, y'all!

Birthday time for Kristy!

On Tuesday it was my best friends birthday. This was pretty awesome because not only is it a day celebrating her birth, but I just so happened to be in Dallas do so with her! Hurray for good timing!

To start the day off we went to this place called Jump It Up, which is basically a giant building full of inflatable bounce houses, slides, and obstacle courses. It was free for us and only $7 for Kennedy and we were the only people there. We had the whole place to ourselves. It was pretty awesome. We jumped around like we were 8 and loved it. Although it quickly sapped our energy, as we are not actually 8.

Look at this picture. Pretty awesome right? Let's discuss. Kristy is one of those people who are ridiculously photogenic no matter what their doing. Girlfriend does not take a bad picture. I mean, LOOK AT HER HAIR. Not fair. Also check out Kennedy in the corner. Looks like she is either hating or loving life A LOT.

Now lets look at my attempt to be cute while jumping:

MASSIVE FAIL. Why does my hair not cooperate? Why do I look so foolish? Why did I wear those grandma socks? 

MY HAIR HAS A MIND OF IT'S OWN. And, without further ado, the most ridiculous picture, ever:

Yep. That's pretty rough, eh? So to boost my ego, here's a decent picture of me, to prove I am capable of looking normal:

 After jumping around like kids, that night we had dinner at this little Italian place with her family and it was delicious. I ate a lot of bread.

Tiara for the birthday girl! And this next photo is pretty terrible as far as quality goes, but look how cute Greg and Roxanne are!

Of course there was a homemade card with a creepy ass party cat on the front. That's how I roll.

I hope Kristy had a wonderful birthday. I'm so happy I was here to celebrate with her and I'm so glad she was born 26 years (and a few days) ago! She is my bestest friend and I have had so much fun all week hanging out with her. I seriously dislike that this is not a normal thing. It was like a week of, "hey this is what it would be like if you lived remotely close to your best friend". Not fair.

And thank you, thank you, thank you Kristy, Ryan, Kennedy, and the kitties for being generally awesome, entertaining me all week, and treating me like family. You guys made this trip so much fun. Move to Austin, y'all!

And on that note, I must say that both Brendon and I are both very very lucky when it comes to friends. We have managed to find wonderful friends that not only welcome us into their lives, but into the lives of their families. Is it normal to be friends with your friends' parents and extended family members? If it's not, I don't care because it's great. I love that we have "friend-families". Kristy's family is so kind to us. Ryan's family is the same way! I feel welcomed into my best friend's and her husband's extended family. That's so awesome. And we have other friends with awesome families that spoil us. We won the friendship lotto I guess. Thank you friends for introducing us to your families, and thank you families for welcoming us into your lives when you totally didn't have to. You are all too dang sweet.

Happy Halloween from Snow White

 

Surprise y'all, I was Snow White for Halloween! Didn't that blue velvet make a pretty addition to the dress? I think I made a fairly decent Snow. I am pale as heck, dark haired, and can fake red lips like a champ. It has been a good year for Snow White, homegirl had two movies come out this year and is a star in our favorite TV show.

I will probably take better photos of the costume later, since I am stranded in Dallas without my photographer/husband. But here's a quick run down of the sewing deets: I used this Simplicity pattern and only altered it slightly. It was a pretty perfect Snow White pattern as it was and I'm really happy with my version. I lowered the neckline a tad and ditched the suggestions of using cotton/broadcloth for everything. I used a stretch velvet for the bodice and satin for the sleeves. Had to make it fancy! Although that velvet was a bee-otch to sew. It slid and stretched everywhere and it was terrible. I also ditched the cape because, um, no. I'm not trying to wear a cape.

I worked up at the store in Dallas today and in true Coffee Bean style (almost) everyone dressed up! It was a blast! I had so much fun seeing what everyone was dressed up as (and getting text updates from my store in Austin!). Halloween is the best.

Recognize the girl in that big ol' photo on the wall above my head?

Tomorrow is my last day with the Dallas team and although I am very ready to get home to my husband, my home, and my store, I am sad to be leaving! This is a great group and they have been so welcoming. Coffee Bean seriously knows how to pick them, everyone was so nice! 

Me and the extremely awesome Darrius, who is just slightly taller than me. He gave me the best compliment on my costume, he said, "if anyone could have just popped out of that cartoon, it would be you. You are Snow White." So sweet! The second best compliment came from a toddler who screamed from the back seat of a car in drive thru, "THAT'S MY FAVORITE PRINCESS!".

So a huuuuge thanks to the wonderful Dallas team for being so awesome, fun, and making me feel so at home. You guys are going to rock the DFW coffee world. And thanks for making one of my favorite days of the year so much fun y'all! Come visit me in Austin!!

Happy Halloween from Ace Ventura!

Happy Halloween internet! Unfortunately I am still in the far off land of Dallas for work. There will, of course, be pictures of my costume soon, but until then, here is my sweet husband's. We snapped this pictures last week when he was dressed up for a costume contest at work. He's sporting it today too of course!

Yes, he is Ace Ventura. And a damn good one I think. This boy has loved the Ace Ventura movies since they came out. Brendon knows pretty much every line and does a real good Jim Carrey. When we first started dating I declared that from what I could remember from my young years the movies were stupid and I was not a fan. And I refused to watch them. But of course, somehow I was coerced into watching them sometime in the last couple years by you know who. Not Voldemort, but my husband. I think I lost a bet or something. Regardless, turns out the movies are hilarious and I beg Brendon to say "liiiike a glove!" all the time. So when Brendon told me he wanted to be Ace Ventura for Halloween, I was on board.

The costume was super easy. He had pretty much everything but the pants, boots, and shades. I whipped up the pants one night from some random pattern I had laying around and we found those crazy boots for a steal at our favorite thrift store. He picked up the shades one day at work for a few bucks. The whole costume probably cost $10-$20.

An important element of course, was the hair. He's been growing it out for a couple of months. We (I) gelled and hair sprayed the crap out of it, and I think it looks pretty good! Unfortunately you can't see a whole lot of it because his hair is naturally black as night. Just take my word for it, it's legit.

 

ALLLLRIGHTY THEN, happy Halloween, y'all! I hope you're dressed up and having a grand old time doing so! I'm very sad that I am not down in Austin celebrating with my husband and friends, but I am also very excited to be in Dallas.

And because I miss them dearly, here are our cats, confused as to why we would ever want to be outside instead of indoors with them:

Big D

Sorry for my absence! I swear I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I am in Dallas for a week, on my first ever "business trip"! Fun stuff. While not working, I have been enjoying the wonderful company of my favorite Dallas residents, the Chasaks! And I'm getting spoiled since I just saw Kristy and Kennedy a couple weeks ago. This needs to continue to occur frequently!

They've been sooooo nice and have been entertaining me in my off time for the past couple days. Today I accompanied (and documented) them while they ran a 5k at the Hexter Howl Halloween festival. It was a lot of fun, although very cold! I also got to hang out with Kristy's dad Greg and step momma Roxanne, who I think of as family as well and always love to see!

It was just a little chilly.

 Congrats Kristy, you are the next "ridiculously photogenic running girl", so not fair. I'm sure you'll have a meme soon.

Kennedy was not sure about that crazy owl.

Ryan was 2nd in his age group and Kristy was 3rd in hers, while pushing a stroller! I was originally going to try to run it with them but I assumed I would be working during the morning so I left my running gear at home. Whomp, whomp bad idea. But I made an excellent spectator and even walked the kids 1k and received a ribbon. Booya.

Kennedy was hilarious, she was wrapped up like a burrito to stay warm but she really wanted access to her chocolate croissant. So Kristy propped it up by her face. She was a happy camper, but I don't think she ate any. She just wanted to smell it.

After the 5k we headed over to the little festival they were holding at the local school and Kennedy competed in a costume contest! She won it last year, so she was defending her title. She was an extra cute little sailor, and even had her granddaddy's dog tags and a couple of his medals on.

Alas, the baby in the dalmatian costume stole first (cheaters, babies always win) but she rocked the pants off of 2nd place! Which is saying something because that is an extraordinarily cute group of kids.

It was a super fun morning, even if it was a little chilly, and it had me ready to go run! Brendon and I are running an obstacle course again in November, and I need to whoop my butt into shape a little before then. Also, we are probably going to freeze to death.

I am so glad to have so much time with these wonderful people, but I am a little home (husband) sick. We haven't been apart for this long since like... 5+ years ago. It's no bueno being away from Brendon, but I've been keeping busy and time is flying. I've had tons of fun so far and I'm excited to see what the rest of the week brings!