Austin calls my name...

I've really enjoyed the opportunity to take a quick 3 hour drive to Austin every few weeks! I love being in Austin, it's such a different scene from Dallas. There are really fun people and new experiences that I find there.

This past weekend was pretty awesome, just like always. My friend and I went for a quick run around the neighborhood which always feels great! I love getting up early in the morning and start my workout in the dark, then finish with the sun rising. It makes me feel so accomplished. Seeing the sunrise is truly one of life's most breath taking experiences. :)

After our workout, we went and volunteered at a community garden. We made soil chocked full of peet, dirt, compost, and minerals. Grow little seeds, grow!! I helped to plant broccoli, leeks, pingting eggplant, and Bibb lettuce. It was really fun! More fun than I expected...and I didn't get too muddy! The group of volunteers from the previous built this greenhouse...it is pretty awesome! It makes me want to follow through with starting a garden and building a chicken coop. (Did I just say that?)

This greenhouse is holding18 flats of baby seeds! I hope all of them get a chance to grow! :)

If I remember the leader's name...I'll update this post! She was so sweet and encouraged me to come back again. Thank you...I will be back!

Interjection:

Can I just take a quick second to say that the divisional games were such an upset to me. Good thing I didn't bet on any of my teams! I knew that Denver didn't have a chance, but I like Tebow..so I was rooting for them. So girly of a way to pick a team...I know!!! I'm going to have to choose a team that I want to go to the Super Bowl, any suggestions?

OK, so back on topic. One of the nights we decided to do a progressive dinner. We started at a co-op brewery with some really tasty beer and a yummy cheese plate.

Brie, Manchego, Blue...and 2 others.

Second, we went to a sushi restaurant called Uchicko. We were sat at the sushi bar, which is my favorite place. It's a great place to sit and watch all of the sushi chefs make the different types of cuisine. For Dallasites, this place was like TeiTei Robata Bar! We started with tempura nasu which is tempura eggplant, which was pretty good. my favorite part of the meal was the Roasted Golden Beets....

The beets were so tender resting over a bed of sykr yogurt (kinda like Greek yogurt, to me) topped with bitter greens, honey, and fresh cracked black pepper. HEAVEN!!

Let me introduce you to the SHAG roll: tempura fried salmon roll, sun dried tomato, sumiso, spicy sauce. yummmm...

Well I hope that you're hungry now!! More about my trip to Austin in the next post! I'm really trying to be better.

XO from the Big Little City in Texas,

Laura

First post in 2012...alrighty then!

Hey y'all!!

Before you say it or think it...I know I said I wasn't going to take such a long break between posts. I didn't really lie, but I didn't hold up my end of the bargain. I will get better! I already have 3 new posts in the works. Be proud of me...please! :)

I'm going to be a little scattered here, there is a lot to cover!

I want to start be telling my 2012 resolutions, I feel that these are pretty good and I can't wait to put them into action.

• My first one is the most exciting to me! I'm going to run at least one 5K a month, which totals up to 12 5K races. I posted on Facebook that I wanted to do this and got really great feedback from it, so I'm excited to have friends that want to do this with me. I'm hoping that I can work up to a 13.1 or even a 26.2....woo-hoo! In due time, Laura...don't get ahead of yourself!
• Just like every year I say that I'm going to grow in my faith and this year is the year for me to do so. I have already attended a few services at this amazing church in Mansfield, TX. I'm really liking the message that I hear and it motivates me to go and spread the word. I feel great at this new church!! Wow, God is amazing!
• Here is the BIG one...I'm going to let my light SHINE! If I want to see something happen...it will happen. Very vague...I know, but I have a ton of goals to reach and I want to see all of them happen! I will be strong and powerful this year. Each morning I read "Our Deepest Fear..." by Marianne Williamson. (not sure if I have referred to this in the past, but I love it!)
• Along with all of the other top ten popular resolutions...I will make this year an amazing one.

PICTURE TIME!

I felt that I needed to get away from it all one day and booked a hotel room for myself at the W in Victory Park. I ordered very expensive room service, and loved every minute. It felt good just to pamper myself. I intend to do this for myself every so often!

In my last post I talked about how my sister and I started an event planning company...well here are a few photos from the event! It turned out so fabulous! For this Holiday party, we went with a funky, trendy color scheme.

Our client was so blown-away and we hope to plan more events with this company in Austin!

The food table! It turned out so amazing...everything was delicious!



The client provided all of the beer and wine...we took care of making it look pretty! :) There was Champagne, wine, craft beers...a ton of delectable beverages to choose from. The partygoers has a pretty good time depleting the goods! I'd like to add that it was all purchased from The Wine Therapist here in Dallas, and shipped down to Austin. (Plug for Phillip!)



This is just a better view of the colors that we chose. Gold was the main accent color with pops of hot pink, lime green, purple, and aqua.



This is always my favorite display of flowers! I love using white and letting the beauty of the flowers shine.


One of my greatest friends, Dawn, was the one who made all of this happen! I'm SO blessed to have her in my life! She is truly an amazing person. We met in Culinary School back in summer 2004...my life was forever changed. :)


On a side note: I had a vivid dream of creating this Antipasto platter...I went out and bought the rustic cutting board, and went to town. I marinated my own cheeses, baby bellas, grilled asparagus and even stuffed the olives myself! I think that this turned out so amazing...I hate to say it, but I impressed myself. Food is my artwork!  

Also...I renamed my blog! I hope you like the new name. Dallas truly is the big, little city in Texas. I see familiar faces around every corner and embrace the charisma that Dallas has. I'm glad to be back in the "Heart of Texas". Also, I have started to settle back into my Southern girl charm and let my accent slip out a little more. So...

Bless your heart!

XO,
Laura