election night!

Tuesday was a big day in the ol' US of A.  To mark the occasion, Austin and I hosted an election party with a handful of our closest friends.

The original idea was thought up by our friend Ashley.  She is really good at coming up with fun things for us to do, so when she emailed us with the idea of turning the election into a party, I was totally on board.  We decided to make it a pot luck, so I came up with a very American menu: chili dogs with potato chips and sugar cookies.  Everyone was given their food and/or drink assignments, and we kicked off the party around 7:00.

Here is a picture of our decor for the evening:

Reppin' the stars and stripes

I was in charge of the chili.  I found a recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, and because we were having a slew of people over, I doubled it.  I used the biggest pot I own, but that was not big enough...womp.  I hadn't even finished putting in all of the ingredients, and my pot was overflowing.  Ahhh! 


I was in a chili-induced freak out.  I was barking at Austin that I didn't know what to do and that our entire night would be ruined because the chili didn't have all of the ingredients that the recipe called for.  I was also babbling on and on about how we needed to put some of those restaurant-sized pots and pans on our wedding registry.  All the while, the chili was beginning to boil and bubble up over the edge of the pot and splash all over my stove.  I was in shambles.   

Enter my glorious crock pot!

All of the chili fit, and I was even able to add my last couple of ingredients.  The chili was a success!  Hip hip hooray!  Everyone also said it tasted really good.  Double success!

After I cleaned up all of the chili that had bubbled over and the dilemma was resolved, we started grillin' up some dogs...

Love my grill pan!

I also set up a little buffet thing:

cups, silverware, cheese, hot doggies, and chips!

 The chili dogs were deeeelish...

What is more American than this?

We also had some yummy sugar cookies:

Can you tell what party we were all rooting for?

Ok, enough about the food.  Let's talk about one of my favorite parts of the evening: the dranks!  Our friend Lauren brought over the ingredients to make some adult root beer floats.  The cocktail includes whipped cream vodka, root beer, whipped cream, and a cherry to top it all off!

My cherry had already sank at this point.  Boo.

Because we are all recent college grads and we try to relive our glory days as often as possible, we decided to turn the election coverage into a drinking game.  Ashley even wrote all of the rules down for us on a tri-fold science fair project board:

I told you Ashley was great at this whole party planning stuff...

 The evening was really fun...until we realized that our guy was going to lose.  That one kiiiiiiind of put a damper on things.  It's always good to hang out with friends for a mid-week pick me up though, and I know I had a lot of fun (after that whole chili debacle).

Did everyone else have fun watching the results roll in??  I think we'll make this election fiesta a tradition. 

a girly, gabey, weekend

One of my best frans came to visit me this weekend!  Meet Gabe:

Gabe and I in high school at a dance team banquet.

Gabe's real name is Rebecca.  I call her Gabe or Gabey though.  We met in high school because we were both on the good ol' Clements Stars dance team.  She is one year younger than I am.  She went to A&M with me, and we were roomies during my Junior year.  She is the bee's knees, and I love hangin' with her.

Gabe got into town on Friday evening, and we immediately headed to Kona Grill for happy hour drinks and sushi.  Here's the thing about Kona Grill happy hour...it is delicious, super cheap, and they have yummy drinks.  However, it gets PACKED on Fridays during happy hour.  Why, you ask?  Because they only offer HH prices if you sit in the bar or outside.  What?!  There is a TON of room inside to sit, but no one wants to sit in there because you have to shell out the big bucks.  So, Gabe and I waited in this stupid line to get a table outside.  We got to order drinks while we waited (awesome), but we had to stand there for-ev-er.  Oh, and this is great: we got a table at 7:04, and happy hour ends at 7:00.  That was a spectacular feeling.  So, we paid HH prices for dranks, but had to pay the whole enchilada for some suhsi.  Oh well.  It was still yummy, and I got to hang with my pal.   



Happy becuase we FINALLY got a seat.

After dinner, we headed over to a friend's house and played this awesome game called "Cards Against Humanity".  It's basically an "adult" version of "Apples to Apples".  Hilarious.  We also drank some cider that tasted like pumpkins.  Scrumptious.

We woke up relatively early on Saturday, I went to dance to teach little ballerinas, and then we headed out on the town.  We ate at one of my favorite places, Torchy's Tacos:  

Fajita Steak on the left, Baja Shrimp on the right.

After Torchy's, we drove to one of the best places on Earth, The Allen Outlet Mall:
 

Heaven on Earth

I bought quite a few things.  I was really trying to limit my purchases since the holidays and my birthday are coming up, but there were just so many items that I needed.  Oops.

Pink Toms that look like pointe shoes, a definite need.

We walked away with a ton of great stuff. Here's Gabe-o with her loot:

The mall really took it out of us, so we swung by Chipotle on our way home, sat on the couch, and watched old dance DVDs while we stuffed our faces.  Good times all around.  I love watching old dance recitals, and I'm sure that Austin is grateful to Gabe that I got it out of my system for awhile.  

On Sunday we went to brunch.  Duh.  Austin and I took Gabe to our my favorite spot, Breadwinner's.  They have, in my opinion, one of the best brunches in Dallas.  I got this chicken casserole that was served over seasoned potatoes with asparagus and plenty of cheese.  Divine.  Gabe got the banana's foster waffles.  I drank the sauce that she had leftover. 

My casserole...YUM.

We spent the afternoon cutting the tags off of our new purchases, and come nightfall, we went over to our friend's apartment to grill some duck.  SIDENOTE: Austin did not partake in the majority of our activities over the weekend due to the high levels of girliness.  Instead, he did manly things like hunt, gather, and golf (that's why we had duck to grill).

Here are the guys tending to the grill...

And here are Gabe and I waiting for dinner...

Dinner is served!

Duck wraps with beans and corn...yes please!

I had a great weekend with a great gal.  Hopefully you guys had a good one too!

Oh, and happy election day!  We are having a little get together at our apartment tonight to watch the results come in.  More on that, plus another double edition of project 365 later this week!

halloween with the (soon to be) harmons

Happy November everybody!  I can't believe the holiday season is almost upon us...it's nuts!  Before I start talking about turkeys and singing about reindeer though, let's chat about Halloween...  

I came home from work yesterday afternoon and immediately got to work on dinner:

White Bean Turkey Chili for two!  

I love this recipe.  It's so easy, and the chili is yum yum in the tum tum for sure (here's a link).  My plan was to eat this with Austin while we watched Hocus Pocus on ABC family.  However, it turns out that Austin doesn't like Hocus Pocus OR ABC family.  I thought I could lure him into the best Halloween movie of all time with some chili, but he could not be tempted!  So, we watched Wheel of Fortune and a documentary about how racist Ole Miss used to be instead.  Close enough :)  All I really cared about was eating the chili.  

Couples Chili

YUM!

After diner, we headed to the softball fields.  Austin's team was supposed to have a game, but when we got to the park, all of the lights were off and no one was there.  It turns out that the league moved the games to next week without telling anyone.  Cool!

I was expecting to see this...instead I just saw a field fulla nothin'.

Instead of letting the cancelled game spoil our spirit, we headed over to a friend's house to hang out, watch basketball, and eat the treats I brought.  

I made some Oreo cheesecake cookies that turned out to be really good.  Plus, there were a bunch of Oreos leftover after I finished making the cookies.  Extra Oreos are always a good thing.

Here's the cookie recipe!

I also brought a big bucket of candy.  I tried to get our friend's cat, Mowgli, to pose with the bucket, but it was hard to get a good picture. 

blurry...

"talk to the tail"...

I told Mowgli that he did not have a future in any cat Halloween ads, and that he should not ask me to be a reference should he ever enter the feline modeling industry.   

That'll show him.

Anyway, our Halloween was definitely not as crazy as Halloween's past, but I still had fun.  Oh, and if you're wondering about my costume....

I dressed up as a newly engaged, 7th grade English teacher who teaches dance on the side.  

It was a pretty complicated costume.

I hope everyone had a great holiday yesterday!  In the mean time, I'm officially starting my countdown to Thanksgiving.  Uncle Scott: I hope you've got your deep fryer warming up!!  I'm already craving your famous fried turkey!

a BIG announcement & project 365 vol. 41

Attention blog readers:
I have a BIG announcement!  Some of you might already know what I'm going to say.  That's because some of you live with me, or talk to me every couple of days, or maybe it's just because I have a big mouth.  Anyway, here it is:

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....................................

I have a brand new job!

I know, I know.  I'm a teacher, right?  Aren't teachers supposed to stay at the same place for an entire school year?  Well, yes.  Theoretically.  The bottom line is that a really great position opened up a few weeks ago at the wonderful school where I did my student teaching last year, and I couldn't help but jump on it.  I get to work with ladies that I worked with for a good part of last year, and it's in a much nicer school/district than where I was working before.  I love my new school already, and I'm so glad that I was presented with this opportunity!  

Without further ado, here is P365 vol. 41:

Sunday October 14, 2012

To end anniversary weekend, Austin and I went to brunch!  I had the above bananas foster waffles.  Deeeeeee-lish.  I ate until I could barely move.

Monday October 15, 2012

I got Austin a boot coupon for our anniversary.  He's gotten pretty into hunting recently, and he needed a good ol' pair of huntin' boots.  I didn't really know what kind he wanted/needed, so I figured a coupon was the way to go.  So, off to Cavender's we went.  He had a lot to choose from!

Tuesday October 16, 2012

I've started watching the newest season of New Girl recently.  It's been a good decision.  I love me some Zoey.

Wednesday October 17, 2012

This is a sneak peek into my new classroom!  It's cool to be in this room because I know the teacher who used to be in here.  She was the team leader last year, and now she lives in Germany with her Army hubby.  She is an awesome teacher, and I like to think that she left some of her good teaching skillz in there for me!

Thursday October 18, 2012

I also started watching old episodes of One Tree Hill recently.  I LOVED this show when I was in high school, and re-watching it now makes me feel nostalgic.  Brooke just makes me so mad in this first season though!

Friday October 19, 2012

We went to College Station last weekend!  When we arrived on Friday, we headed to the only place to head on a Friday night: good ol' Northgate.  Fun times :)

Saturday October 20, 2012

There was a big game in the station this past Saturday.  My beloved Aggies played the stinky kitty cats from LSU.  We had fun before, during, and after the game.  We won't talk about the final score...

project 365 vol. 40

Sunday October 7, 2012

Last Sunday was the great bridal expo!!  Upon our arrival, Austin and I were both given stickers to wear.  His said "VIG: Very Important Groom".  Mine said "VIB: Very Important Bride".  I think our facial expressions say it all...

Monday October 8, 2012

I went to the grocery store last Monday to get food for the week.  I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who tries to carry in all of the bags from car to kitchen in one trip.  This involves quite a lot of pain for my wrists.  On this particular Monday my groceries were heavier than usual, so the bags left a big red mark.  Ouchie :(


I

Tuesday October 9, 2012

When we went to the bridal show on Sunday, we entered a lot of contests at the individual booths.  On Sunday evening I received a call saying that we actually WON one of the drawings!!  Austin and I were going to get either free wedding bands or a 3 day 2 night trip to an all inclusive resort!  All we had to do to claim our winnings was watch a short cooking demonstration on Tuesday night.

Does this sound like it's too good to be true?  Well it is.  The picture above was the set-up for the cooking demo...we sat here listening to an insane person pushing his pots and pans on us, and then at the end he told us that there were all these stipulations to win the prizes (plane tickets, shipping costs, etc.).  It was a bust.  We did get to sample some broccoli though!   


Wednesday October 10, 2012

I got to watch my man play some softball last Wednesday!  I love going to his games to cheer him on and hang out with the boys (and their significant others) on the team.


Thursday October 11, 2012

Last week my school was gearing up for a big potluck lunch on Friday afternoon.  Apparently this year we are going to have a bunch of "Iron Chef battles" where all of the different teams (English, Science, Office Staff, etc.) create a table full of goodies that fit the theme of the contest.  After the lunch, we all get to vote on the winner, and the 1st place team gets the above trophy!  How fun!  I love the knives and the original Japanese chairman on the trophy.  Hilarious. 


Friday October 12, 2012

Friday was a fun day!  We had our big "tailgating" themed potluck at school, and then a bunch of our friends were in town for the weekend.  We all met for lunch at Blue Goose Cantina.  Yummy yummy! 

Saturday October 13, 2012

Last Saturday Austin and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary!  I've already posted about it, but here's another shot of our delicious dessert.  We looooove us some creme brule! <3

3 cheers for 3 years!

This past Sunday, Austin and I celebrated 3 whole years of being a couple!  I thought I'd write a quick post to take us down memory lane...

The two of us started "officially" dating around Halloween in 2009.  We met each other in February of '09 at A&M through a wonderful organization called Fish Camp, became actual "friends" over that summer, and finally started calling each other "boyfriend/girlfriend" on October 14th.  It was a happy day :)

Here is a pumpkin we carved together at the verrryyyyy beginning of our relationship:

Benjamin the Pumpkin Monster

On our first anniversary, Austin took me to Fogo de Chao for a delicious dinner, and then we headed out with some of our friends to celebrate.

October 2010

Celebratory Dessert 

For anniversary numero dos, Austin treated me to Texas de Brazil (a Brazilian steakhouse similar to Fogo).  At this point in our relationship, we had been living together for about 4 months, and we were as happy as a couple of clams.

October 2011 in our first apartment

This past Saturday, Austin kept the tradition of wonderful anniversaries alive.  I taught at the studio for a few hours, and when I came home, Austin had these waiting for me:

Pretty Flowers!

Once we were all showered up and lookin' pretty, we went to Fogo de Chao!  What can I say...in our opinion, a true celebration calls for mountains of meat!

October 2012

The meal was fabulous (duh), and the cherry on top of our night was watching the Aggies (barely haha) pull out a victory over Louisiana Tech.  Whoop for Johnny Manziel, and Whoop for all of our anniversaries to come!

project 365 vol. 39

Sunday September 30, 2012

Two Sundays ago, we had brunch at a friend's house.  Our good friend/groomsman Caesar's mom was in town, and she cooked us an amazing meal.  We brought stuff for mimosas in exchange for their hospitality.  Yum.

Monday October 1, 2012

I got stopped by a train on the way to work on Monday.  While I was waiting, I gave thanks to instagram for giving me something to do to pass the time.  If I wasn't able to take and post a pic, I might have gotten irritated by that choo choo.

Tuesday October 2, 2012

Look who made it on the "wall of instructors" at Dallas Powerhouse of Dance!  What's up short hair!

Wednesday October 3, 2012

I made one of the easiest/yummiest/healthiest meals in my culinary repertoire a couple of Wednesdays ago--Ina Garten's Lemon Basil Chicken.  I paired it with some green beans which I cooked in chicken broth instead of water (it makes a big difference!) and a big pile of mashed taters.  

Thursday October 4, 2012

I know I've posted a lot about our new dance studio on here, but I seriously just love it so much!  This is one of the studios where we teach High Kick classes.  The studio is HUGE, so the girls get to kick for miles.  They really enjoy it when I make them do that :)

Friday October 5, 2012

I want an iPhone 5.  I am having problems getting one though.  Yes, I am aware that I can order one online and they will mail it to me (I found this out last Friday), but there's a problemo with that.  It wouldn't come to my house in Dallas, it would go to Austin's mom's house in Houston, and we are not planning to go to Houston until like Thanksgiving.  I want to go into an Apple store and just get one.  Why is this so difficult?!

Saturday October 6, 2012

There was a bridal show in Dallas last weekend!  These are our tickets for the show on Sunday.  Austin was very excited to go...not.  I promised him that there would be lots of giveaways and cake samples though, so he grinned and bared it.  More on the show in my next 365 post!