tour of texas // san antonio

A couple weeks ago my husband and I were lucky enough to do a little tour of Texas. We started in San Antonio, spent a day in Austin, than finished our trip in Dallas, which happens to be one of my favorite cities in the US. I never really had any desire to go to Dallas, but then one of my best friends moved there and I visited and have been in love ever since. I'm really trying to take advantage of the time that she's living there to visit often, without annoying her and her (new!) hubby too much! 

San Antonio was so neat. We stayed at the historic Crockett Hotel, which was right behind The Alamo and literally footsteps away from the Riverwalk, plus tons of shopping and restaurants on the street level. The first day, we decided to go check out the Riverwalk, and as we were going down the stairs we ran right into the Bier Garten that had a chalkboard sign saying "to-go margaritas". MY. PERSONAL. HEAVEN. I grabbed a marg and the hubs grabbed a beer and we walked around checking out all the cool places along the Riverwalk. We were very fortunate - it was a gorgeous day - and we need to go back just because of all the restaurants we didn't have time to go to! And the architecture and everything was so cool. We had lunch at a place called Iron Cactus - highly recommended. The Pineapple-Jalapeño Mule is a must have!

 

see this post here for outfit deets!

#bacheLOrette weekend // our girl's trip in miami

My friend's parents are such great hosts, not only when we stay at their home in Wisconsin, but also by allowing us to use their timeshare when we go on girl's trips. They've provided a place to stay in Marco Island, Vegas, and now, Miami. This time we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club Resort at McAlpin - Ocean Plaza and the accommodations were beyond amazing. Not to mention, it was the perfect location. Here's a guide to how we celebrated three days of bachelorette mayhem in Miami - also known as #bacheLOrette weekend.

cocktail hour // miami style

I'm wishing I could rewind to a week ago when I was having cocktails on a rooftop in 75 degree weather! Miami was amazing and I'm very much missing the warmth. It's windy and cold here in Missouri, and I'm definitely over winter. So I tried my best to take advantage of being outside as much as possible in Miami, and this rooftop at our hotel was the perfect place to enjoy a cocktail. Vodka Press - my cocktail of choice!

fall in iowa // amana colonies

I absolutely love this time of year. When summer turns into fall and all the cute clothes and accessories that come along with it. Usually around this time, my sister and mom and I take a trip to the Amana Colonies in Amana, Iowa. They have a couple restaurants with delicious food, and the most adorable little shops with all sorts of clothing and wine and cheese and amazing Christmas decorations. This year we got an early snowfall, so it didn't feel as fall-y as normal, but there are still bright yellow and orange leaves on the trees - kind of strange. But it was still fun nonetheless. This weekend there are tons of Christmas events starting - check it out at www.festivalsinamana.com.

first of the month faves // november

Happy November! I cannot believe October is over and the holidays are almost upon us. I have so much to look forward to in the coming months; my best friend is driving up from Dallas to stay with me, I'm heading back to Iowa to spend a lot of time with my family, my sister and I are going to take our annual Christmas trip to Chicago and we are also going to have all of our friends in town for our Friendsmas party. This time of year makes me so happy, so I figure this is a good time to share with you all a new series of blog posts I like to call First of the Month Faves. Here's the November edition!

dominican republic // saona island

As most of you know, my husband and I took a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic last week, so if I have been MIA, that's why. We thought we'd at least get wi-fi in our hotel room, but we did not so we were completely unplugged. Which in some ways, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. We spent most our hours in the pool with this gorgeous view: