Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope you are showered with love and appreciation not just today, but every day! We usually go out to dinner or drinks and drunken kareoke, but it's going to be packed probably everywhere in Austin tonight. We're most likely going to stay in, watch movies, drink, and make each other dinner.
I cannot wait!

Here is to the 6th Valentine's day that I'm spending with my boo Scottie, and the 3rd we are spending with our little Huxley. We love him so much!

Will you be my Valentine?

Leaving you with my linkup for #backthatazzupfriday with Whitney with one of my favorite love songs by Usher! If you don't know this song, I don't think we can be friends. ;-)

XOXO

Amanda, Scottie, & Huxley

Five Things on Friday

1. After years of getting maybe a trim every 9-12 months, I finally took the plunge and got a hurr cut shorter than usual. I had ombre hair done in June 2013 and it was time for a change! I know it's not a huge change and to some of you it is probably still long, but I am used to Rapunzel hair. I even got side bangs that I'm still not so sure about. I usually just pin them up, gonna have to get that fixed. I miss my long hair some days, but holy moly it's so quick doing my hair in the mornings now! Loving that.

2. I am realizing more and more how much I want need to travel. I've literally only vacationed to these spots my entire life: Disney World at 15 in Orlando. NYC in 2012 with my sister Maddie, and LA in 2013 also with Maddie. We finally got a Southwest CC and have been racking up points and I want to fly away somewhere!!! Any suggestions for a reeeally fun getaway??

NYC 2012

LA 2013

3. Hi my name is Amanda (Hi, Amandaaaa), and I am addicted to Snapchat. I literally send snaps in the morning, throughout the day, sometimes I even have texting conversations via snapchat with my sister. Who am I!? My friends now know my deepest darkest secret.... I rap pretty well. ;) I don't know what it is... when I'm in my car on the way to work, the first thing I want to do is turn up some gangsta beats. Lil Wayne is my fav to rap to. Also, Snoop Dogg and I go wayyyy back.

{add me on snapchizzle: amandamarie61}

BIFFLE <3
 Don't mind that my head is three times the size of his.
He has a tiny head! Also, he was wearing a trenchcoat in 100 degree weather. 

4. Pretty sure you need to check out what Scottie sent to our niece the other night. Huxley seriously is the coolest dog ever, but I had no idea he was an asian boston terrier! Haha I have probably watched this a hundred times and it is still hilarious. #YouBeGoodGirl!




 5. Lately I've come to realize that I am the worst Italian girl ever. I hate olives, eggplant, mushrooms, not the biggest fan of pasta... who am I? Even weirder? I am obsessed with dirty martinis, and I love me some mexi-marts, but I always give away my olives because I hate them. I feel like I make up for it though with my passion for all things wine. Wino for life.

And that, my friends, is five totally random things. I figured this would be fun to do for my linkup today with Casey  for fresh face Friday since I'm "new" in the blogging world again, and of course can't forget to linkup for #backthatazzupfriday with Whitney!! Since we've been on the subject of Lil Wayne, here's one of my favs by him. Enjoy and have a fabulous #turntup weekend y'all! 

Photo An Hour Link Up

As I have been slowly getting back into the swing of all things blogging, I have been looking for some fun linkups to participate in so that I can meet new bloggers and reconnect with old blogfriends. I was so excited hearing that Steph and Meg were launching a "Photo An Hour" linkup, so I decided to recap this past Tuesday... one of our "Snowpocalypse" days.

7:30am: Morning cuddles with Huxley, believe it or not he is ALWAYS the last one out of bed.
8:30am: Email from the boss saying "come in when you can" so I light a fire, make coffee, and watch fresh prince. I love ice days!
9:30am: Snoozing with Huxley on the couch by the fire. Still in PJs. Working-ish from home for the morning. Still too icey to get out on the roads.
11:30am: Attempting to make it to work alive. No really. Look at all that ice on my house!
12:30pm: Made it to work in one piece. This is my usual morning ritual. Check emails, drink iced coffee, and eat a banana.
1:30pm: Since Jan 1, been trying to get into the habit of drinking way more water. I got myself a bubba keg that holds 64oz and it really helps! I haven't been able to finish it in a day, but getting closer!
2:30pm: Because everyone takes selfies in the work bathroom, right? Wearing my cute scarf Helen got me for Christmas from Tarjay. So warm and pretty!
3:30pm: Checking up on the blogpost I wrote earlier in the day about Surviving the Austin Snowpocalypse.
4:30pm: Looking at all the hilarious posts on FB of all the people making fun of Austin because one drop of ice and the whole city shuts down. Hey I wasn't complaining, I had a 4 hour workday.
5:30pm: Gym time at Suzy's Apt. Leg day after 30 minutes cardio. We did this workout for legs and I am still so sore today.
6:30pm: Wine at Suzy's, perfect for post workout. ;-) Just waiting for our show to come on.
7:30pm: Enjoying our guilty pleasure, Pretty Little Liars. I am so addicted to this show, anyone else?
8:30pm: Dinner at home. Scottie made us blackened tilapia with black beans topped with Avocado. DELISH.
9:30pm: Watching TV with Huxley and Scottie, my favorite part of my nights. Love my boys.
10:00pm: Ridiculous re-runs. I like this show WAY better than Tosh.O. I think the videos are much funnier, too.
10:30pm: In bed, of course Huxley sleeps like a human in between us, under covers, head on pillow even sometimes. Usually sprawled out by middle of the night. Spoiled rotten brat! We are usually in bed/passed out by 10:30-11:00pm most nights.

My life isn't all that exciting, but the best part about lately is that I've gotten into a great routine of eating healthier, drinking more water, and working out 3-5 times a week. Let's hope it does something by this summer!!

I love this linkup because if you're like me, I love knowing what's going on in other peoples lives and it is a great way to connect and find people that you have things in common with! Here is the link again for the Photo An Hour LinkUp  and I encourage you to check out and see what other people have written about!

Have a great Thursday, friends!

Surviving the Austin Snowpocalypse

As many of you may know, Austin has survived the Polar Vortex that struck last night. Woooo! Can't say that I wasn't terrified like a child this morning trying to back out of my driveway thinking my jeep was just going to slide right into the neighbors house across the street, but thankfully I did make it to work okay. Phew! ;-)

Today has been quite hilarious and I thought I might share some of the horror stories I've been seeing float around facebook throughout the day regarding how awful our experience with this "snowpocalypse" has been.

Just piles and piles of ice and snow...

This article about the 8 Horrifying Photos of the Austin Snowpocalypse 2014: Perfection. So funny!

Well this weekend is going to be a fun one! We have family coming in town and we are getting to meet baby Rylee (Scott's sister's newborn) for the first time!! We cannot wait to love on her and Raelyn and have our little Christmas one month late. Will be taking tons of pictures. (( #RyleeandRaelyn ))

For today's #backthatazzupfriday, we are jamming to  #TURNDOWNFORWHAT by Lil Jon cause if you know me, you know we always gettin #turntup on Friday night. Link up with Whitney from IWYP to get your weekend started right. Make it a great one friends!!

Life Lately

Life has been quite the whirlwind, lately... but so fun and such a blessing. This will be week 2 that ,my best friend/sister Suzy is living with us, while searching for a job/place. It's still kind of surreal that she is finally in Austin for good! We spent this weekend packing up the rest of her things in Conroe, and also visiting Scott's family in Colmesneil, TX and enjoying the cooler and beautiful weather.

It has also encouraged me to keep things a little nicer at home aka clean more hah, and making tons of new recipes that I can blog about! Seeing my little niece Raelyn was one of the major highlights this weekend. She is now talking SO much and I am now "Aunt Minnie" since she can't say Amanda just yet. I like Minnie and I think it's here to stay :-). Also another highlight - Target has Boston Terrier Onesies!!! WHAT!? For this obsessed furmom, it was only right that I buy it........right?

one | The Shine Project Threads Shop sent me this cute little fall inspired bracelet with a gold leaf on it. I am in love and have been able to wear it with several outfits. 

two | We usually leave Huxley outside to do his business and I'll always look out the window at him to see if he's standing at the door or what. Now that it has been cool outside, I've been finding him sitting like this in the chair at our patio table. Hilarious! He is so cute.

three | Scott got a surprise bonus gift card at work and while he did go get himself a new Polo Shirt or two, he also brought him this little gem. I barely wear perfume but OMG Chanel Chance is the best I've ever smelled. And I used to be pretty obsessed with Michael Kors. It was so sweet of him. :-)

four | Road trippin' it ALL weekend. Friday night = 4.5 hour drive to Colmesneil. Saturday = 2 hour drive to Conroe. Sunday = 3 hour drive home. PHEW! It was so worth it though. Loved seeing Scott's family and being able to have some girl time with Suzy in Conroe. 

five | Seeing Scott "Bubba" with his niece, Raelyn, is one of the sweetest things. He is her favorite and just lights up with joy when he is around. They played on that swing all weekend. I also love that we are "Minnie and Bubba" now.. haha feels so country. 

six | Just as I was about to buy this adorable penguin blue onesie at Target, I browsed just a few more colors and BAM! There was a Boston Terrier onesie right in front of my eyes. I just about went nuts. Needless to say, I've already worn it three times and it is SO cozy. Don't judge.... I know that I'm the obsessed fur mom already haha. 

seven | Upon Suzy's arrival last week, I not only put up all my fall decor, lit all my mulled cider candles, but I also made a new recipe - Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin bread. Recipe to come this week! It was insanely delicious.

eight | Cuddles with my sweet Huxley. He is never really around kids but I was just in awe how he played with Raelyn this weekend. She adores him and would pretty much dive into him on the couch for hugs and kisses and he just licked her and loved all the attention but never was too rough. So proud!

nine | Last night I was wanting to use up some green bell peppers before they started to go bad since we were out of town all weekend and hadn't used them, so I whipped up a random recipe and have decided to call it my "Green Chicken Chile Casserole" and cannot wait to post the recipe! This meal was incredible and so many servings! We have half the casserole left and already fed 3 people (with some second helpings!). 

How was your weekend?

The Last Weekend

This weekend was officially the last weekend for the next few weeks that we have the place to ourselves.... and I am so excited to announce that after 10 years of living apart with my best friend of 12 years, she is taking the plunge and {finally} moving here to Austin!! My heart was overjoyed to hear this news and Suzy will be staying with us while she gets a job and apartment. I couldn't be more excited!

So we took advantage of having the house to ourselves this weekend and did some great cooking, some fall decorating, moving things around, and some outdoor fun since the weather was SO beautiful!!

one| friday was super rough and the bf treated me to a delicious rooftop steak dinner at Bob's in downtown Austin.. have I mentioned how much I love this man? so sweet.

two| after dinner we went back south in search of some good live music near the casa

three| feeling pretty toasty after some drinks and music so we decided to go get some redboxes and popcorn

four| movie date night!! redemption SUCKS. World War Z, SO so good.

five| Saturday. lots of driving, errands, moving, Huxley tagged along for some good breezy weather 

six| worked on the guest room some more, love the color scheme and how its coming together for Suzy

seven| fall decorating and picture printing, making the house look so much more homey! currently working on doing a frame wall going up the stairs.

eight| Sunday had a craving for *almost* burnt hot dogs on the grill. SO GOOD! & I spot a creeper

nine| lots and lots of playtime for little man. open windows and doors. he just ran inside and out all weekend

What did you do this weekend? Link up with Sami with your weekend shenanigans!

Weekend Things

So glad to have had such a relaxing and laid back weekend. Seems like the last several weeks we've either been out of town or had guests stay with us. So this weekend we took advantage and lounged around, did yard work, did house work, cooked amazing meals, and lounged around again. Lots of football included.

Loving the cooler weather and starting to decorate a little for fall :-) Including the yard!!

And some of the cooking we did this weekend... recipes to come later this week!

What did you do this weekend?????

Suzy's Birthday, Treat Yo-self Weekend

Last weekend, Scott and I took a trip to "Whatchu talkin' bout Willis, TX" to go see my BFF of 12 years, Suzy! Her 25th birthday was Friday and we had a WHOLE weekend full of plans so naturally I was ready to take lots of pics so I could link up with SHAY for Treat Yo-self Day... or in my case Treat yo-self and yo friends weekend.

I prepared all day Friday by going and grabbing a gift basket kit from World Market (hello, $4.99!!) and filled it with all of Suzy's favorite things. Not pictured: Cheese-its, the Cheesy BFF birthday card inside, bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey (her fave), two toys for Dexter her pup, and two candles. 

I loved making a mix-tape that took me back to 2002-2004 featuring all the songs I can't believe I listened to at 13 years old haha.... like Limp Bizkit's "Eat you Alive", Three Six Mafia's "Dis Bitch Dat Ho" <-- which started my ghetto rap lovin' days... and of course others like Stacy's Mom, Tainted Love by Marilyn Manson, Finger Eleven and Cold, and had to throw in my current favorite hip hop jam, "Wild For the Night" by Rocky feat. Skrillex. It will get you pumped up for just about anything.

I also finally bought Cards Against Humanity which of course was a huge hit all weekend. So hilarious and easy to turn into a very drunktastic drinking game.

When we arrived, we introduced Huxley to his new fur-cousin, Dexter - who Suzy and her bf saved off the streets at only 3 months old... we think he's a lab/pit mix and he is the softest, sweetest, and mis-behaved little rascal but Huxley and him had the best time playing.... We then headed out for the bar to do some birthday shots and went back to the house to play some CAH and Beer Pong. Which the girls dominated, woot woot!

Huxley's deer in headlights face just cracks me up. They were hysterical together.

Saturday we continued our treat yourself weekend by getting massages and pedicures. I was so nervous going in because it was my second massage ever, and my luck the lady didn't speak English so I couldn't tell her that I'm extremely ticklish and squirmy, so it started off super awkward haha... Why am I so weird!? I was so happy to be getting a pedicure after going a year without having one... my poor feet desperately needed it!

What is even better than getting pampered all day? Dressing up and going to the cutest little Italian Cuisine and Wine Lounge on Lake Conroe where you induldge in the best food you've had in a while and some Pomegranate Martinis! Our waiter even had an Italian accent and delivered the best experience for us.... So pleased.

Look how stinkin cute they are!  

Gorgeous sky right?

Love love love this group picture of us.

Quite possibly the best salmon I've ever had. Topped with an Italian Dill Sauce and some sauteed veggies. So so good. 

Scott obviously enjoyed his Lobster Cappellini.

Insanely delicious Cherry and Pistachio Spimone for dessert... hit.the.spot.

Reunited at last with my other half! I couldn't find it but we have a 9th grade Homecoming pic just like this. 

Finished off the weekend with some more beer pong and watching Whose Line is it Anyway relaxing on the couch. One of the most fun and relaxing weekends we have had in a long time, wish we didn't have to leave!!

Sunday we sadly had to go and drove home in time for football and cleaning/getting ready for the week, and Huxley decided to keep on treatin' himself with lots of lounging, destroyin' his brand new toy, and not getting out of bed in the morning. :-) Ah, to be a dog. 

I can completely agree with Shay that we ALL need Treat Yo Self Days/Weekends once in a while to relax and enjoy life without worrying about the every day things we all get consumed in and stressed about whether its job related, finances, big decisions, stress in relationships, anything. It totally makes all the difference in the world when you give that important and precious time to yourself. I'm so glad I got the chance to spend that quality time with my BFF that I only get to see a few times a year and feel better than ever now! Link up with Shay and treat yourself because YOU DESERVE IT!