My mother and stepdad came to visit me this weekend. The first thing they asked to do when they got here was eat at the Salt Lick. If you don't know what the Salt Lick is, I would highly recommend looking it up and/or coming to Austin and trying it--especially if you're a carnivore. It was featured on the Food Network's Man vs. Food. 

The Salt Lick is known for their meat and the giant pits they cook them in. It's located about 20 minutes from my apartment, in Driftwood, Tx. Since they were my visitors, I had to oblige. 

There was an hour and a half wait for a table, but there were picnic tables, strings of lights, shady trees, popcorn and fresh squeezed lemonade to enjoy while we waited. The lemonade was absolutely delicious, and made the lovely summer breeze even better. It had to be the easiest wait for food that I've had to endure.  

Our number was finally called and we were taken to one of the three building that housed the meat pits. Phil and Max were quick to order the all you can eat meat--sausage, pork ribs and brisket. Mom was a little more modest with the choice of three meats. My sister and I were probably the only vegetarians there. We ordered the vegetable plate. 

I don't remember the last time I ate so much food. I literally ate from everyone's plate--had some of my sister'a beans, mom's potato salad, Phil's pickles and Max's coleslaw. 

The coleslaw had to be my favorite. It was very light and super tasty. I ended up drizzling their spicy bar-b-que on pretty much everything. I was surprised at how addictive it was! It was different from other bbqs I've had. And the potato salad was unlike any I've had. It was more like mashed/scalloped potatoes, but awesome nonetheless. 

I'm sure we all ate several pounds worth of food that night. We were miserable...miserably happy. 

Love and light.

Adrienne

May's making me smile

So far, May has proven to be a great month. The third week has brought a ton of smiles to my face. Here's a look at what my week was filled with:

Typically, I don't work Sundays, but on the 15th, we had inventory at the store. I went into work at 3pm. After setting up the stockroom for the inventory all the employees began standing around waiting for their next task. That's when we all realized we were in the same shirt! We had to pose for a photo.

Since I worked till 2am, I had the rest of Monday off. I was feeling super healthy after spending a few hours at the gym, and stopped at the grocery store and bought all my favorite vegetables. I chopped them all up when I got home, and made a super tasty jasmine rice and veggie stir fry. I love colorful meals.

Last week, when Jesse stayed over, we bought tickets to a concert in San Antonio to one of our favorite bands, Jack's Mannequin. I got the tickets in the the mail on Tuesday. I'm super excited for the show, but it's not until July.

I had Wednesday the 18th off. It was a relaxing day, and I had things to do. Next week, we're going to Phil's brother's wedding in Houston and I needed a dress. My dress go to shop is Forever21. I tried on several dresses, and found the perfect dress. I also got a super cute mint green necklace and the adorable ring that caught my eye last week.

On Thursday, after work, I cleaned my apartment in preparation for my sister and mother coming to visit for the weekend. I decided to clear out our second room to give some personal space for my mom and stepdad to stay in. I ended up moving my bookcase into the bedroom. I loved the decision! It made the room so cozy.

My sister got to Austin Friday morning. She got here early so that she and I could fit in a photo shoot before I had to go to work. Lis needed photos of me for her blog. She's doing a series of inspiring women. She sent me a look at what the posting will look like. I'm excited!

Mom and Max got to Austin on the 21st shortly after I got out of work. We all sat and watched tv to unwind for a couple hours. For dinner, everyone wanted to eat at Salt Lick, a well known restaurant famous for their meat. Luckily they had a veggie plate that was equally as delicious. We all ate till we could eat no more--but somehow we managed to fit ice cream in our bellies too before heading home.

It's been a really great week. I'm also really looking forward for the week to come. Mom and Max are staying till Friday and next weekend is Phil's brother's wedding. Tons of photo ops!

Hope you're all having a great week too!
Love and light.
Adrienne

Things that caught my eye

Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy pretty things that make me smile. Here are a few things that I could live without, but wouldn't mind owning.

I found this beautiful ring at Forever21. It's called Love of Nature ring. I'm not a big fan of gold, but how could you not love it--and nature for that matter?

I don't know if you know this, but I am crazy about Scrabble. I found these awesome Scrabble letter pillows on Etsy. They're by bambina, and I'd probably hug them every time I sat on the couch.

I'm a huge fan of Toms and everything that company represents. I own a couple pairs already, but think the University Rope Sole Classic would look adorable on my feet.

I found this super cute Fossil messenger bag at Dillard's the last time I was there. I couldn't find this floral print online, but I found some similar to it on Fossil's website. 

It's fun to peruse pretty things on the internet. Have you found any cute finds lately?

Love and light.

Adrienne

What I Ate

There are so many bloggers out there that focus on how fashionable they are on a daily basis. Sadly I wasn't born with that fashionista gene. I was, however, born with a love for food. And, I'm pretty good at feeding myself.

I've decided to start a series called "What I ate," focusing on just that. Enjoy!

Tonight for dinner I went to the plaza down the street. I'd heard there was a really tasty Vietnamese restaurant, and I was craving Pho big time. When I got to T&N, I was the only person there, but that didn't stop me from getting cozy.



I ordered a mango bubble tea smoothy first. It was delish and really fresh. I heard them blending the mango in the back. The tapioca was a little soggy, but I can't complain.

I ordered vegetarian pho for dinner. I'm a huge fan of pho, and I'd always eat it with my friend, Oscar, but haven't had it in at least a year.

I love it because it's always served in such a giant bowl, and since I love food, I make it my mission to try to finish it all. I have only succeeded on a few occasions--tonight was not one of those nights. Needless to say the pho was awesome. It was filled with snow peas, mushrooms, bean sprouts, tofu, broccoli  and basil leaves. Yummy!

That was my meal. It made me smile and truly filled my belly.

Love and light.
Adrienne

May week 2--Project 334

May 8th wasn't just mother's day, it was my good friend, Kyle's, bday. Kyle's roommate, my mr, and I took him to Cheddar's for a tasty meal and giant texas sweet teas. After an hour of napping and a couple hours at the gym, I bought cupcakes to celebrate. It was a big hit! Who knew boys liked cupcakes so much.

Monday the 9th I got home from work to a pleasant surprise. The mr got a 30 gallon terrarium from a friend and bought tank gravel and a fish tank rock for Tibbers. We noticed he really liked swimming, so we got him more room. I'm pretty sure Tibs is happy with all his extra space.


At work, we have live shots of the north and south view of Huntington beach pier. I've always wanted to have someone I know go to the pier and wave hi to the cameras. One of the other stores beat me to it. A couple of employees from store #640 held up a sign that said "what's up." It was fun to see it!

Wednesday was the start of my 4 day vacation. The 11th was girls day. My bff Jesse came to visit from Killeen. First thing on our list was to get Jesse a tattoo. Not "girly," but awesome nonetheless. We made stuffed bell peppers for dinner, had fondue for dessert, painted our nails, went to the spa, and watched chick flicks. Super awesome day!

Before Jesse left on Thursday, we went to Mozart's for a coffee by the lake. We could spend hours hanging out at Mozart's, but we only chatted for an hour before she headed back to Killeen. I spent the rest of the day laying out and being lazy. Day well spent.

I spent Friday the 13th with my mr. We hadn't had a date night in so long. We switched it up and spent the whole day together. We had happy hour at Serrano's. Being the nice guy he is, Phil came with me to the mall to buy some makeup--granted he did stay in the car while I shopped. Afterwards we did a double feature at the movies. We watched Priest 3D (pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it) and wrapped up the night with Bridesmaids (I'm still laughing at how hilarious that movie was). Such a great night!

On Saturday the 14th my friends, Oscar, who I hadn't seen in a year and a half called me up letting me know he moved back to Austin. I was on my way to the gym so he and his roomie joined in an intense workout. I'm still sore from the weight lifting, but it felt good. We went to Wahoo's for lunch on Congress. I made the suggestion of walking to get ice cream a couple blocks down. It was delicious but after an intense workout, a big meal and in the blazing sun, it was rough on the belly. As we strolled with our cones in hand we came across a sight only seen in Austin. A lady playing her harp. Keepin Austin weird.

How was your second week of May? Have you had a chance to relax and get some sun?

Love and light.
Adrienne

Jesse's Tat

When my friend Jesse came to visit from Killeen, the first thing on her to do list was to get a tattoo. Like most people that get tattoos, after her first one (a 4 inch pretty cross on her lower left back), she was jonesing to get another one. It took a few years, but she finally figured out what she wanted.

I took her to the place I got my second tattoo, Rock of Ages. They drew up her little design in a few minutes, but first had her sign a ton of papers. That's about the point she started getting freaked out.

She did awesome though. I took one last photo of what her wrist looked like naked and sat her down to get it permanently inked.

It only took about 10 minutes from start to finish. The tattoo artist was great.

After watching her get a tattoo, I'm really itching to get another one too. Not sure exactly what, or when, but it'll happen...one day. Till then it was fun watching my friend get hers.

Love and light.
Adrienne

Falling for Furla

Ever since I got my first designer bag in March, I've taken a huge interest in purse window shopping. Although I got a Coach bag, I've branched out into new and exciting territories.

I was at Dillards recently and discovered Furla. I couldn't help but fall for the playful summer colors of their rubber Candy satchels. It was too pretty to not stop me in my tracks. Dillards sold the pink, blue and yellow ones, but I have my eye on the green one. What do you think? Which is your favorite color?

I had to look more into the other bags that Furla has to offer. I'm in love now! They have such a large array of satchels, leather purses, jewelry, sunglasses and shoes. Though I love a good pair of sunglasses, I couldn't pull myself away from the bags.

Laila is one that I could definitely see decorating my arm on a daily basis. It's supposedly a "medium" bag, but I'm sure I could tote around my cat (if I wanted to) in it. I love the boxy shape and the sweet combination of glazed and natural leather. 

Oh goodness! The Bahia M Bandoliera. It's smaller than what I carry, but the rich colors and details are a definite head-turner. It's sporty yet classy.

The Camargue Bauletto is so up my ally. I could easily fall in love with this bag and treat it like a small child. The best part about this bag--aside from being all leather--is that the zipper goes down the sides, allowing for quick and easy cell phone and car key finding.

One day when I have money to burn, Furla will be a part of my bag collection. Till then, they do such a good job at being my eye candy. 

Love and light.

Adrienne

Hola Mayo ;)

It's May! And we all know May brings flowers (since April brought showers). The month is off to a good start too. Here's my first week of May for Project 334.

Sunday the 1st was my day off. The mr and I slept in as usual. We finally got up around 12, and lounged around the living room for another hour or so. The only reason we started getting ready was because we were hungry and had no food in the fridge to eat. We chose Kerby Lane for some breakfast food, and I found my new favorite meal. Tofu scrambler with soy-sage and apple wheat pancakes. It was a party in my mouth.

Monday's weather came out of nowhere. It was 40 degrees in Austin! While I made a very cold drive to work, the mr got to snuggle with the cats. In an attempt to make me jealous, he sent me this sweet photo of Reni curled up under a blanket. And yes, it did make me very jealous.

On Tuesday, as usual, I brought my lunch to work. I brought hummus and a box of Triscuits. Much to my surprise, I noticed they now give dill seeds in each box of Triscuits! I love plants, and growing plants. Plus, dill is yummy and can be used when cooking delicious dishes. It was a pleasant pick me up to my day.

I had to work Wednesday afternoon because one of my assistants needed the day off, but before I went into work, the mr and I made super tasty banana pancakes for breakfast. With my belly full of pancakes, I was able to work diligently throughout my would be day off. It was an awesome start to my day!

Cinco de Mayo--or May 5th to some of you, was a pleasant day. I had the day off and was a lazy bum most of the day. Half way through the day, I finally got ready, and made a quick stop to the mall. I was in a shopping mood. I bought some pretty smelling body sprays at Bath and Body and also got some mother's day cards. In celebration of Mexico dominating France, the mr and our friends had dinner at Maudie's and indulged in jumbo sized margaritas. Sleeping, shopping and margaritas: my kind of day off.

On friday the 6th, I worked 1-10pm. What should've been a morning of me sleeping in ended very abruptly when a moving van woke me up at 8am when it got stuck on the curb right outside my bedroom window. Thanks new neighbors.

Saturday was lovely. It was a busy day at work and business was great. To kind of celebrate a week of great work and great business, I spoiled myself with a little shopping. I meant to just get some lipgloss, but left with a beautiful new Fossil wallet! I L-O-V-E Fossil! I have a soft spot for their gorgeous leather. The cherry on the top is that the wallet is a pretty Tiffany's blue. It's fun being a girl.

How was your first week of May? Do anything awesome to celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Let me know!

Love and light.
Adrienne

Adios April!

Here's to the end of April. It came and left in the blink of an eye. Here's a look at my last week of April for my Project 334.

April 24th was Easter Sunday. It was a beautiful day filled with tons of joy and happiness. I went to church with the lovely Jesse. Service was held at the Frank Erwin Center, and boy did the Austin Stone pack the house. As always, Matt Carter, wowed me with an awesome sermon. It was titled 'Breakfast on the beach with Jesus.' I loved that he gave the typical easter sunday resurrection sermon, and on top of that reminded us of God's unbelievable love for us, even when we betray him--like Paul did the day Jesus was crucified. After Jesus was resurrected he went to Paul, and rather than being upset that Paul denied knowing him, Jesus cooked him and the other apostles breakfast. Such an awesome display of God's love.

Monday the 25th was just another day at work, but the coolest thing ever happened: our store stereo system stopped working. We were unable to listen to the store's season soundtrack--the same 12-15 songs every hour. Instead we got to pick from a variety of great cds we sell at the store. Mumford & Sons, Ke$ha, Jack Johnson and Florence and the Machine were on our new playlist for that day. Everyone had a super enjoyable day.

Tuesday's Glee night! Ugh, and how I love Glee. The mr and I vegged out after work. We ordered pizza and a personal pasta bowl each {and of course, no dinner can be complete without a glass/bottle of wine}.

Wednesday the 27th was my day off. I had an urge to be super girly. After having slept in and busting my rear at the gym, I stopped off at Walgreens to look at nail polish. I think I spent at least 30 minutes debating on a color. I settled on Revlon's 'mad about mango' scented polish and Sally Hansen's 'bubblegum pink' polish. I also rented a sappy chick flick.

Back to work on Thursday, but right off the bat I had a sweet little surprise--actually rather large surprise. My assistant told me about these giant mangos that she bought at the store. I love fruits and since she was going on vacation she brought me a mango to enjoy while she was gone. I didn't believe they were as big as she said, but she obviously wasn't fibbing.

On Friday the 29th, my older brother found a new app on his iPhone. He kept sending the cutest arrangement of photos to me while I was at work. It made my night go by quicker. There was one with him as a little boy, another of my sweet grandmother who he got to visit that weekend and my favorite was of my beautiful momma and her cute little puppy, Molly Anne. They look so fancy!

The last day of April has to be one of my favorites now. Saturday was the Spring Fest at the mall I work at. It's an outdoor mall and they're always doing fun Austiny things to bring people in. There were tons of kiosks in the middle of our street, selling everything from clothes to lawn chairs. During my break I saw several people with tiny baby turtles. After much discussing with my associates, I decided I needed to have one of my own. I found the kiosk after work and bought my very own asian red eared turtle. Since I wasn't entirely sure if it was a boy or a girl, I chose to make it a boy. His name is Tiberious, or Tibs or Tibbers for short. He's adorable!! You'll definitely being seeing more of him soon.

April was fun, but I'm way more excited for what May has in store. Summer weather is on it's way which means summer activities are just as close. Hope your April was beautiful and full of fun stories!

Love and light.
Adrienne