My Favorite Things: Back to School (for the teacher)

Well, the countdown is on... 24 days until schools starts! Linking up with Halle for more favorite things!

In preparation for going back to school this year, I have done (or have planned) a few of my verrry favorite things:

waaay too much shopping. When I was on my extended vacay in civilization last month, I spent lots of time at JCrew (hello teacher discount!), Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy. 

clean house. All summer, we've been moving in and moving piles around and putting furniture up in our little red house. The time has come for a deep clean. There is nothing worse than a tough day at school, followed by coming home to an icky casa.

a good pedicure/manicure. Apparently I have been missing out on the local nail salon that serves wine. I will be high tailing it there ASAP. I'm thinking of doing something tacky cute like this for the first week of school... I mean, you only get one first day of teacher ever, right?! Might as well do it big!

pre-packed lunches and snacks. As I mentioned last week, I try to eat kinda healthy, and pre-packing and planning all of my meals while I'm at school is my saving grace. If I know what I have to eat, I am less tempted to run get fast food (hahaha, don't worry though, the only "fast food" in my tiny teaching town of 1200 is Subway).

a good coffee cup and water bottle. To avoid snacking all day, I drink coffee in the morning and guzzle water all day. I have an insane amount of water cups/jugs/buckets/tervises, but am on the hunt for a good no-spill coffee cup. I'm thinking an Autoseal is going to be my jam this year, because if I spill coffee on my 45 min drive to school there is no way I can turn back to change!

My Favorite Things: Foodies

Y'all. There is no other way to say this...

I love to eat.

I am a mediocre chef at best and I try to eat fairly healthily... but sometimes a little of my sweet southern grandma gets into me and I smother my one slice of 100% whole-wheat toast in Mayhaw jelly.

My favorite go-to foods: 

Chiobani and/or egg whites with turkey bacon

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Turkey, swiss, and avocados sandwhiches (or really anything with avocado!)

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Grilled chicken & veggies (our HEB has delish sweet chile marinated chicken breasts, so you best believe we eat them at least once a week)

I often get bored with eating the same things over and over, so I rely on my BFF, Pinterest, for most of my kitchen-inspiration. I spend lots of time drooling over my boards, but I occasionally actually make something!

My favorite recipes that I've actually tried:

And finally, my all time favorite places to eat:

1. Trudy's is a delicious Austin restaurant. I love their migas & fajitas, stuffed avocado, and Mexican Martinis. Do not go to Austin without stopping by one of their locations!

2. Chick Fil A. And my closest one is two hours away now. It has been a really tough adjustment for me (...and I'm sure equally as tough for the Georgetown location. I mean, I probably dropped by for 5+ visits a week)

3. Nothing Bundt Cakes. Awwww yeah. Red Velvet Cake.

I'm still on the hunt for a favorite place in my current home. We have shockingly low quality Mexican food considering that we are literally right on the border with that foreign nation...

Shoutout again to Halle for hosting such a fun summer linkup- could not have come up with a better way to introduce myself to the blogging world!

My Favorite Things: Feels Like Home

linking up with Halle again this week!

This past November, my then-fiancé and I officially found out where we'd be living for the next 3+ years. Though we had some other options, we decided that buying a house would be a great option because [insert financial wisdom from the husband here]. I was all on board! We did a quick search, toured some homes, and officially purchased this little beauty in January.

(this is not her most flattering angle, so I tried to jazz it up with my new A Beautiful Mess app!)

R signed the dotted line and then skiddadled off to five months of training elsewhere, so the red house was inhabited by a few of his sweet friends (I promise it was a far less sketchy deal than it sounds... more of an extended house sitter situation!), and then we FINALLY officially moved in two weeks after we got married. 

...of course, two weeks after that, he promptly left for another month of training, and I decided to go on a month-long road trip/vacation, soooo the moving in process is happening slowly, but surely. If you're interested, you'll probably see more about the red house on my personal blog, A Couple of Beans.

Things that are making me love my house currently are:

Magnolia Scented Candles- I love these by Circle C (which are thankfully sold at our local Ace Hardware), but my mama also found some at Wally World recently for a steal!

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Yellow Kitchen Aid- Christmas present from Santa this year. He knows me too well. (:

My lovely Kuerig- a morning just isn't the same without a cup of coffee!

My great-grandparents' dining room set that my sweet dad drove to Florida and back in 3 days to get

And, inspired by my Red House pin board, these are some purchases/projects I want to get on ASAP:

Our new leather couches feel like buttah, but are a little boring...

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Our entry way is literally just a big blank wall. I think something like this would be delightful!

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Truth: I'm not really in love with the whole "home is where the air force sends you" decor... but I think this expresses how I feel quite nicely!

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Favorite Things: Vacation Essentials

Linking up again with Halle to share some of my vacation essentials!

I definitely need a good carry-on bag. The sweet girls on my swim team got me this Vera for my bridal shower. I try to always carry-on when we fly and this is the PERFECT size for a couple of outfits, shoes, and a makeup bag. Love it!

I have recently discovered the joys of a wristlet. No need for my giant purse, AND the strap means I have a lower chance of sitting it down and leaving it (let's not ask R how many times I've left my wallet sitting in a restaurant)

Because I try to pack light, I also like to bring versatile items. I have 40-50 pairs of shoes at home (don't tell R!), but when I travel I like to bring a good pair of sandals I can wear with just about anything. For some reason I could only find these boys on eBay...

A comfy black dress. It can basically be worn anywhere, so if we spend the day walking around or go out for a nice dinner, I can dress it up or down. I have one similar to this:

A water cup. I have an embarrassing amount of drinking vessels. I love to bring my big Starbucks tumbler or my Tervis in my carry-on, and my Bubba is the bomb.com for beach/river float trips. 

I love to read, and vacations are always an awesome time to catch up on the long list of books I keep. So far on this trip, I've read Summer Sisters, Freakanomics, and some Miss Julia books I snagged from my grandma's library. While in Nashville, I picked up Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not? I chose it more for sentimental reasons, but I'm planning on reading it anyway! (:

I like to always have my iPhone for maps, restaurant suggestions, quick hotel bookings, etc. As my precious lil grandma Ada would say, "Technology these days is just amazing!"

P.S. I'm currently on vacation and my ipad is not the best blogger tool, so I apologize for the horrid post layout and potential crazy links. A sista can only do so much from the hotel! ;)

My Favorite Things: Beauty Basics

Though I appear to be a sassy fool in almost all realms of life, I have to admit that I am not very sassy about my arsenal of beauty products. I use whatever is easy to find or has a cute package or is on sale (bonus points if it fits into more than one of those categories). A couple of my favorites are below, though!

I am kind of sweaty lady, especially now that I live in an area that boasts even more oppressive heat than the typical Texas town. So, I always like to start my little make-up routine with primer! Right now I'm using one from Ulta, but have y'all seen this article that says you can use Monistat Chafing Gel in place of Primer? I'm skeptical, but since I'm removed from civilization (aka there is not even a Target here), I'm sure times could get desperate.

I follow my primarily Mary-Kay face of make-up (a little foundation, powder, blush, and mascara on a school morning) with some Burt's Bees or Eos lip balm. I pretty much talk a mile a minute at school, so I like to have those nuggets on hand there, too. 

I also like to throw a little anti-frizz in my luscious locks. I've been using this stuff since I was in about 10th grade. I think it does a pretty good job of keeping my hair from looking like I was electrocuted.

Final beauty basic: A nice hot cup of coffee and my morning devotional. I know these really fit into the morning must haves favorites, but a) I missed that one and b) they makes me more beautiful instantly because I start responding to conversation attempts and start my day with a positive outlook!

My Favorite Things: Fitness Edition

In Februrary, I "retired" from swimming after my very last college conference meet.For 12 years of my life, I was a competitive swimmer. I started when my family lived in Australia, and fell in love with the sport! I swam both short and long course seasons with my club team and spend most of my summers (and school years, actually...) doing two-a-day practices once I moved to Texas.

For some reason there are tons of horror stories of ex-swimmers who gain tons of weight. Maybe it's because they've never seen going to practice as a "workout" and don't see a need to schedule time to exercise, maybe it's because they don't adjust their eating habits (which is crazy hard- when you go from burning 1200+ cals a day in the pool to a measly 300 on the elliptical, a BIG adjustment has to take place)... Regardless of whether or not the rumors were true, I was absolutely certain those stories weren't going to include me! 

So, 6 days after my last swim meet, I joined a local gym and started taking their classes. I knew that I couldn't work out on my own- for 12 years I'd been told what to do! So, my first favorite thing is: group fitness classes. I've taken yoga, spin, Pilates, YogaFit, step, and cardio circuit classes. I like to switch it up so I don't get bored. ;)

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If I can't make a class, I get on the elliptical. My second favorite thing, my iPhone, is essential because I get bored easily on that machine, so I listen to music, watch Netflix, read blogs...  Basically anything to distract me from stopping.

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My last favorite thing is this guy:

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I looooove my water bottle. I found it on Pinterest and actually bought it on Amazon. It hold so much water AND my keys and ID/gym card, and it was pretty inexpensive (*edit- looks like the price has gone up. It was only $12 when I got it!). Getchya one. You will thank me.