Isabella's first wedding

Isabella was in a wedding a couple of weekends ago. It was in Tulsa with the rehearsal and wedding on the same day. But we had hotel points and decided to go up the night before so we didn't have to be as rushed in the morning. I'd been wanting to try Andolini's since my sister had gone and told me about it. It was everything I'd hoped it would be!

It's a small, local place. The waiting area is by the kitchen that has a glass window so you can see the whole cooking process.

The guys tossed the pizza dough high in the air and once back and forth to each other.  It was really fun to watch and Isabella thought it was really cool. They handed over a plate of garlic knot bread for us to have while we waited, and also gave Isabella a dough ball to play with. She made all kinds of things and tried to toss it in the air just like they did. All of this made our wait time go by really easily.

It was a really fun night. Some times with little kids things can be stressful and even disastrous at times, but we laughed a lot at dinner and it was one of those times I kept thinking how grateful I am for my little family and how this is the good life.
We went back to the hotel and Michael took Iz swimming while I got Benjamin down for bed. And he thankfully slept better than he ever has at a hotel in a packnplay!
The next morning we had to grab some fruit loops from the hotel buffet, as those are Isabella's favorite hotel treat, and then headed to the wedding venue for the breakfast and rehearsal.
I wasn't sure how she would do at the wedding with all people she didn't know, and I wasn't sure what the expectations were for her as far as what she was supposed to do, how long she would be up front, and so on.

But she was just fine. Friendly and happy to do what they asked of her. They practiced the whole ceremony a few times, going in and standing, and dancing on the way out.
We had quite a bit of time til the wedding, so we went to a mall with a play area for the kids to play and eat lunch.

We rode the carousel but of course, had to be on the non-moving bench. :) 

 

Then we went back to the wedding location to get Isabella dressed. Benjamin stayed in the car and took a nap while Michael watched the OU/Texas game on his phone. I got her ready, then it was time for some of the pictures. After her part in those were done we had a while to hang out and entertain ourselves til it was time.

Heading down the aisle. 

She did so great. Stood still up at the front for the whole ceremony, which thankfully was only about 18 minutes. 

And then danced her way out with the wedding party. 

She loved the reception and was the life of the party! Haha! Dancing in a circle of all the college kids and loved the candy bar they had.

We took some photo booth pictures:

Which Benjamin was a little confused by! :)

Then we headed back to OKC! As I was buckling her in the car she said- "Oh mom! I never knew a wedding party would be so fun!"

Girls Weekend

I had a quick girls getaway to Dallas with Mom and Heather in June. We wanted to go before Heather gets too close to her due date. We headed south Saturday morning and ate lunch at La Madeline before going to a cooking class at Sur la table that afternoon.

Mom making pesto

 The class was "fast and delicious on a budget". We made a citrus marinated chicken with a salad, angel hair pesto pasta with broccoli and tuna, pork chops with cider pan sauce, and farro risotto with kale and goat cheese. We had a great time at the class and shopping in the store afterward. I had never made pesto so that was fun to learn!

 After the class we went and checked out Emporium pies . Which was awesome! We got a few pieces to share but hands down we all loved the Ebony and Ivory best!

We browsed around the stores in the area of emporium pies. Its in an interesting location with several other fun restaurants and shops to check out. 

 We went to North park mall after that and then picked up a pizza at Fireside Pies and took it back to the hotel. The pizza was great and I'd totally recommend trying it out! Sunday morning we went to church and then lunch at Pappasitos, then World Market, Ikea, and then home. WHEW! We've done Dallas trips together several times, but it was fun to try to out some new places and do some new things we haven't done before. Thanks so much Mom for spoiling us with a weekend of shopping, good food, and fun times together!(And to Michael for being happy for me to go and having fun with the kids on his own while I was gone!)

NYC Favorites: Where to eat

1. The burger joint. The burger joint is a little burger place tucked behind a curtain in the lobby of the Le Parker Meridien hotel. Great burgers, great fries, with an insider feel to it. It was packed both times we've been there.

2. The tuck shop.

What is this a picture of? An authentic Australian meat pie- just like I remember from childhood, made by real Australians. (Don't knock it until you try it). There are three locations in NYC, this time we went to one in the Chelsea Markets. (I loved the Chelsea Markets, its totally worth checking out). The Tuck Shop also has a variety of pies, sausage rolls, AND lamingtons!

3. Jacques Torres. This is a chocolate shop that sells chocolates (obviously), hot drinks, and cookies. Their chocolate chip cookie was featured in the NY Times a few years ago and is acclaimed on blogs to be "the best in NYC". While I did not get to try every chocolate chip cookie in NYC, it was pretty amazing. There is a store in Rockefeller Center and also at the Chelsea Market.

I will be trying the recipe!

4. John's Pizzeria. Awesome NY style pizza in Times Square. So good!


5. 5 Napkin Burger. We went to 5 Napkin Burger in Hell's Kitchen. It was loud and busy with a fun atmosphere. Michael got a lamb burger, that surprisingly to me, was really good.

I was going to have a burger, but saw someone else's mac and cheese, and decided to go for it. It was delicious with macaroni, cheddar, gruyere, parmesan cream, and crispy croutons. So good, but I couldn't finish it.

6. Serendipity 3. Depending on who helps you here, you may get the feel that they are doing you a favor by letting you be there. But, it is worth the visit for the frozen hot chocolate and their carrot cake is also amazing. We ate dinner there this time. I wasn't sure if their food would be good or if they were just well known for their desserts. But our dinner was good and everyone else at our table really liked theirs also.

We got the frozen mint hot chocolate.
Isabella loved it. :)


7. The lobster place. Also in the Chelsea Markets, Michael had a lobster roll from here and I had their lobster bisque. Both were excellent.

8. Bouchon Bakery. This place has taken over the Dean and Deluca store in Rockefeller Center. We didn't try any of their baked goods, which looked amazing, but their Mocha was one of the best we have ever had.

That's it for the places I would want to return to. Obviously we need to track down where the best salads are in NYC and track those down for some veggies to add to the mix. If you know of a good place let me know!

Book and Restaurant reviews

Books I read in May:

Perks of being a wallflower - We read this book for book club. I thought it was very similar to Catcher in the Rye. I didn't love it, but I also kept reading to see what would happen. It was a quick read. I felt very differently about the main character after everything that is revealed by the end of the book.

The Skinny: How to fit in your little black dress forever- My sister was reading this on vacation and loaned it to me. I really liked it! It was a super fast read full of realistic ways to be healthy, while still enjoying food. The main take away I got was to plan what you will eat based on what you have already eaten that day or what you know you are going to eat. For example, if you know you have a big dinner out, have a healthy breakfast and vegetables and salad for lunch. If you have a brunch to go to, plan to eat light healthy things the rest of the day. Not rocket science, but being mindful and purposeful of the choices you make.

A thousand gifts: I read Ann Voskamp's blog and had been wanting to read her book for a while. It is beautifully written and inspiring. That said, I did struggle with the writing style some, and got lost in the wording at times. Overall though, I enjoy reading her blog and her book that inspires me to grow as a Christian, wife, and mother.

Hunger Games: I've heard on and on the legend of this series and so vacation was a great chance to give it a try. This young adult book is dramatically written, with a cliff hanger at the end of each chapter. Almost to a ridiculous point. But I loved it! :) Finished it in less than 24 hours and can't wait to read the second book in the series.


I finished up my "10 new restaurants" with these two:

Kamps 1910 Cafe: I have been there twice now, and tried two different sandwiches, a salad, and two different desserts. Everything was great! I would definitely go back!

Nhinja sushi and wok: We tried this place on our last date night. I am not huge into sushi, but Michael really likes it. We had California rolls, a spider roll, and a dragon roll. It was all really good, and I would actually like going again.



Even though I completed my 10 new restaurants, I plan to continue trying new places. It keeps life interesting!

And just for fun:

A blurry pic of my sweet girl in what we call "her big girl jammies". :)

Weekend Delights and Progress toward 30 B4 30

I spent a good part of Saturday working around the house and on my 30 before 30 goal of purging our home of stuff we don't need.


Here is round one of "the purge". I would say I made good progress! We got rid of shoes, clothes, blankets, towels, some decor we don't use anymore, purses, and lots more! We took a load to Goodwill and the rest to our church for the garage sale we're having for Mexico missions.


My sister dropped by with this happy present for me. (Happy present is what my mom calls unexpected fun gifts at times that are not birthdays, Christmas, etc. The phrase "I've got a happy present for you" is always a good one in our family!) Cozy socks packaged like a cupcake! So cute! I hated to open them, but it would be silly not to.

Our friends asked us to trade a date night with them and we had ours this weekend.

Here we are: A couple of young, crazy kids; Me looking tired as usual...
We wanted to try a place we haven't been before. So we headed over to Big Truck Tacos.


Michael had the Thunder burrito and I had the chicken burrito and we ordered a side of queso. THE GOOD: The queso and chips were INCREDIBLE... some of the best we've had in long time. Both of our burritos were good, but the chicken in mine was a bit spicy for my taste. Michael's had ground bison meat in it which was a bit different, but he said the taste was good. It also had fried potatoes and he is a huge fan of potatoes in burritos so that was great for him. Michael, who is our resident salsa expert, also said the regular red salsa and the tomatillo salsa were both amazingly delicious. THE BAD: Portion sizes. Our burritos were WAY TOO BIG. Next time, we will probably try their tacos. Although the regular red salsa and the tomatillo were great, Michael tried a healthy glob of each of the other four salsas and we are lucky he has his taste buds today. I thought I was going to have to use a fire extinguisher at one point. THE CONCLUSION: The chips and queso were great. The burritos were good, though a bit big. The two milder salsas were legit and flavorful. Next time we'll get tacos or share a burrito and do not... I repeat DO NOT try the other salsas in large amounts... a single dab will do just fine for each.
YAY for our 2nd of 10 new restaurants!


Next on to Pinkitzel for dessert and good conversation.

Sunday was busy with church, naps, a men's ministry meeting for Michael, more church, grocery shopping...the usual. We capped off our night with trying this Frozen hot chocolate mix I got at Christmas.

It was delicious and tasted just like I remember at Serendipity.

I love a weekend full of productivity, relaxation, family time, staying in pajamas all day, and yummy food!

New to us

We have tried two new places in the last week that have been around, but are new to us.


My parents kept Isabella one night and we ran over to Cafe 7 for dinner. Their concept is open 7 days, 7 items in each category, food ready in 7 minutes, and everything is $7. We both got pizzas. They also have salads, sandwiches, and pasta. Our food was great and the food we saw other people eating looked great also. They also have a drive through if you want to order ahead and pick up. Very good! We will be back!

Next we tried Pinkitzel

They have cupcakes, candy, and some gifts. This is a perfect place for us as Michael would rather have candy and I would rather have a cupcake!

Beautiful presentation! The cupcakes are wrapped in bella cupcake couture wrappers- a blog I have been reading for a while. But a con for this place is the cupcakes are the size of a cuppies and joe cupcake but at 3.50 each cost more than the price a Sara Sara cupcake. I got the peanut butter cup cupcake. It was DELICIOUS! Light, fresh cake with excellent frosting. They also have party areas to have parties. You should check out the pictures on their website. I would definitely go back!

Today's highlight

I have friends that rave about the pumpkin cream cheese muffin at Starbucks that they have during the fall. It has sounded good, but is also 9 WW points! Now that it is September they have their fall items back, and being 9 months pregnant I am not counting points. I went by on my way to work this morning and picked one up. It was really good! Now I will need to refrain from going by every morning on my way to work!

Even though the heat index was near 100 today I felt the promise of fall coming. We had a crazy rain tonight and big drop in temperature. So now I sit by a breezy open window hearing the sounds of the high school football game at Cassady. Life is good.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 22

When we moved my sister gave me a jar of the tomato basil soup from La Madeline as a house warming gift. I'm not sure how to describe this soup...it is nothing like regular tomato soup. It is wonderful! Michael does not like tomato soup, but loved this soup. We ate the soup for dinner tonight and enjoyed it thoroughly. I am thankful for the thoughtfulness of the housewarming gift and deliciousness of the soup! If you are ever by a La Madeline you should try it!

A few March highlights...

I spent a weekend in Dallas with my mom and sister. On the way home we ate at Victoria's pasta shop in Norman. It is SO good!! They make all of their pasta from scratch.


My nephews spent the night with us one weekend. We had lots of fun. This is Isaac playing at the Full Circle Book Store. They have a children's book reading every Saturday morning at 10:15. The lady that read the books did a great job keeping the kids interested, it was really fun.


Our niece Ryan turned 8!


We went to OC's associate dinner. Michael got to pick up Archie Manning from the airport and transport him around. Heather came with me, which I was very grateful for!


This past weekend- when we were supposed to have a foot of snow- we went to try out the new Chipotle. It was alright, but I would rather go to Moe's for that kind of food. After dinner we went to see the movie Slum Dog Millionaire- finally to see what all of the hype was about. It had some pretty sad parts, but it was good. I can't believe it will be April this week!

Up for something new

Last night Michael and I went to two new places. For dinner we went to Mama Rojo. It is the new restaurant on Lake Hefner where Bahama Breeze used to be. We ordered queso and shared the chicken and steak fajitas. The service was good and super fast. The chips and salsa were excellent. All in all, it was a high quality Tex-Mex dining experience. I think the highlight for Michael was the big bowl of hot tamales (complete with a self-serve scoop) that was at the hostess stand on the way out. We sat in the area that used to be where they had live music when it was Bahama Breeze. They have converted that room into a really cool area overlooking Lake Hefner. All of the walls are glass panels and they can be raised up creating a neat open-air atmosphere. We'll have to go back in the spring or early fall when the weather is nicer and check it out.

For dessert we went to Sara Sara... the other cupcake place in town. I will give it another shot, but for now I would say Cuppies and Joe is the way to go. The cupcakes at Sara Sara are bigger than C&J, but also $1.50 more, and not as good. Sara Sara is also in an old converted house (like C&J) but Sara Sara definitely wins the prize for having the coolest atmosphere. They've got a chic "everything is completely white" motif going on. I think the only actual color in the place is the hot pink gerbera daisies. While the cupcakes are probably better at C&J, the atmosphere alone at Sara Sara makes it worth checking out.