Have you ever been so excited about two things and you can’t decide which to be excited about more? That’s me. I want to share this entire taco bar and how I made it and all the ingredients (and how you can make it gluten-free). And then? I want to share with you all how I conquered my fear of meat. Seriously. I think that’s where all my entire non-cooking thing started all those years ago. Remember the roast? Remember the chicken fiasco? Remember my macaroni and cheese kitchen? I think everything started because literally cannot figure out meat. How to prepare it? How to fix it? What type o ..read more

Random thoughts on a rainy Saturday: 1. I am so happy right now because the Dipladenias are blooming and blooming. I wait all year for the Dipladenias to arrive. We buy them every April and they bloom(with proper watering) through September. Dipladenia and Mandevilla are cousins (except I think Dipladenia is cuter). 2. It has been storming here in Texas–thunderstorms and lightning and rain and more rain. I LOVE thunderstorms. I lay in the upstairs room sometimes and just watch the skies dance. 3. I just got a brand new tool that finds my top 10 sellers each week. I was so surprised at number ..read more

You all loved my “things I wish I would have bought sooner” post so much last month (it was my top post of March). So I thought I would make it a regular feature. I love it when I discover products that I never heard of. Products that make my life easier. Products that solve problems. Products that amaze me every time I use them. There’s no gatekeeping around here. Friends tell friends when they’ve discovered something amazing. So just in case you haven’t heard about these products? I had to share. Here are 11 products I wish I had known about sooner. // battery-operated picture light // 1 ..read more

This past weekend was full of joy and laughter and celebrating and chips and queso and school ring shopping. I can’t believe I just typed that. Yes. It’s true. The twins will be SENIORS at Baylor next year so it was time to go and pick out their class rings. I hadn’t ever been school ring shopping in very long time so I was completely unaware of all the weighty decisions that were involved in the process. What type of seal? What type of gold? What type of stones are around the seal? What type of setting? What type of band? What type of bucket? I brought along my Baylor ring to help. I laid i ..read more

Random thoughts on a brilliantly sunny Saturday: 1. I went to the BEST estate sale this week. It was kind of fancy. You had to put your name on a list and they only let in a certain number of people at a time. But it was worth every minute of the wait. I found a treasure trove of vintage jewelry from the 50’s and 60’s. 2. My hydrangea bush is looking amazing. There are little tiny leaves on the old stems everywhere and the leaves are getting bigger and bigger. Fingers crossed we get hydrangeas this year. Growing hydrangeas in Texas is no joke. 3. I wore black and white linen polka-dotted pant ..read more

Wondering how to create an outdoor pea gravel patio in the yard? Here’s how we added a patio to a corner of our yard. I’m not sure which I’m more excited about. The fact that we are in the path of totality for the eclipse today? Or that we finished the front yard this weekend (and created the CUTEST pea gravel patio for al fresco dining). (total aside: someone just told me that the song “Total Eclipse Of the Heart” is the EXACT length of the solar eclipse today. I have it cued up for when it goes dark.) It’s a true toss-up. I mean…solar eclipses are amazing and a natural phenomenon that’s ..read more

Random thoughts on a flower planting Saturday: 1. If you’ve ever wondered if you should move to Texas? You should SEE our yard sales. Y’all. I found THE CUTEST lamp for the new office. It looks like something right out of a Brady Bunch episode. 2. I wore a high pony last week. It was amazing. If you aren’t already, you need to add a high pony to your hair rotation. A quick high pony tip? I actually make two ponytails. One on the top and one underneath. Then I pull the bottom pony through the top pony (is this sounding as confusing as it sounds to me when I type it). I also use this hair text ..read more

Random thoughts on a sunny Saturday morning: 1. Happy Easter. Everyone is in town and we are having a party tonight and church and a celebration tomorrow. 2. The set of cooling hotel pillows that I have on every bed in this house is back on sale for 73% off right now. You can see them here. 2. Guess what? My beloved Dipladenias are back in town. We went to Lowe’s last night and there were rows and rows of them so we bought them and loaded them into the car to fill the planters again. I almost did a cartwheel right there in the center aisle. 3. What is your favorite thing to buy at Trader Joe ..read more

// blue and white striped chair // Wednesday was the most wonderful day. It’s the day where I can see Friday in the distance. The twins called me to tell me they were coming home a day early for Easter. The plant delivery called me to tell me all those wonderful plants I talked about here. Those plants? They were arriving the next day. I went to brunch with a brilliant, special, wonderful friend that I’ve been friends with for years. She’s witty and funny and gives book reviews and she’s the person you want to invite to a party so no one ever runs out of conversation. We talked about books ..read more

Random thoughts on a chilly foggy spring morning: 1. Are you watching March Madness? You know we are all in around here. Fingers crossed Baylor and Texas both make it tomorrow at Selection Sunday. I think Baylor can win it all. Please act surprised. 2. My number one seller from last week is on sale today. You can see it here. 3. Have you tried Connections through the NYT games? It’s SO GOOD. We also play the daily mini NYT crossword as a family and all report our scores. Yesterday’s took me 10 minutes. Yikes. It is not for the faint of heart. 4. It was an amazing week on the blog. We talked ..read more