I’m ready for you.
I’m ready to drink this.
I’m ready to see this.
I’m ready to watch this.
I’m ready to decorate like this.
I’m ready to eat this.
[pumpkin smore cupcake … and everything pumpkin for that matter]
I’m ready to wear scarves and boots and hats like this.
I’m ready to cozy up by this.
Fall, I’m ready for you.
xo xo
See more Fall posts here.
For some reason I’ve been reminiscing about college lately. Maybe it’s because school is starting soon, or because I’ve now been out of college for 4 years now and it seems like it was so long ago.
A couple years ago I wrote about my 10 Favorite High School Memories after attending my sister-in-law’s high school graduation. It was fun to go back and look at the pictures and pull it together, so I decided to do the same for college. As they say, it was truly one of the best times in my life and I’ll never forget the all the wonderful people I met and the relationships I made.
1. My first pep rally and Razorback game as a student. Go Hogs!
2. My first camping trip in probably 10 years and the boys tricked us into an unexpected river crossing to get to our campsite. Thank goodness for those headlamps.
3. Standing outside in the freezing cold all night for Foo Fighters tickets. (Okay, I didn’t stay ALL night, but some other kind people did for me.) And of course, Dave Grohl was AWESOME.
4. Living life with this amazing group of girls in our community group for 3 years.
5. The Ice Storm of 2009. All I’ll say is, 10 people stayed in our little apartment for 1 week. There was a lot of Super Mario and a lot of cabin fever.
6. Studying abroad was one of the best college decisions I ever made for so many reasons. My only regret is that I only did it once in my 4 years.
7. These people. My time writing for the UA newspaper, The Traveler, was so much more than a job. We were a family and had so much fun together in the newsroom and out.
8. My 21st birthday – so much snow, so much dancing, so much drama, so much of a typical 21st birthday party. Thank you to my amazing bestie and roommate Kira for doing it all!!
9. Traveling to NOLA (for the first time) for the Sugar Bowl with these two. I’ll never forget husband’s late night binge on beignets after we lost the game.
10. And of course, the dearest memory of all, was the night we got engaged in Gulley Park. ❤
xo xo
Confession: I ate Cool Ranch Doritos last night. And they were soooo good. And they were soooo not Whole30 compliant.
Okay, I feel so much better with that off my chest now! I’m halfway through the program and that was the first non-compliant thing I’ve had (excluding alcohol, which I’m giving myself a cheat day for 1 day/week) and I felt so guilty!
Honestly, the second week was harder than the first. I started craving things more, like sweets and a really good cappuccino. Oh what I wouldn’t do for a macaroon (or 5) and a skinny cap! And cooking every single night is really hard and time-consuming and draining, and sometimes all I want is just to order a pizza.
However, I can feel a huge difference in my body. I’m on track with my weight goal, I have more energy and just overall feel better.
We are also getting into a good rhythm with the food. My latest favorite thing to eat for breakfast is canadian bacon with some fig on top – yum! Lunches have still been salads. And for dinner we’ve been trying some new recipes for dinner (thank you, Pinterest). I’ve been specifically looking for things other than chicken to eat, which can get so boring so fast. Unfortunately we don’t eat seafood, so I think it makes it a little harder for us, but last week we cooked some delicious steaks and made bun-less bacon burgers and tonight I have some pork chops in the crockpot that already smell amaaazing! (I’ll share that recipe in next week’s recap)
This week I want to share this amazing one-pan chicken dish. It was seriously so easy and so good that I’ll probably make it once a week from now on. It says it yields 3-4 servings, so I was hoping we would have some leftover for lunches, but nope. We ate it all up!
O N E – P A N B A L S A M I C C H I C K E N
Ingredients
Directions
xo xo
You might also enjoy: Whole30: Week 1 Recap, One-Pot Chicken Lo Mein Recipe
{loving this || wonderful friend time at sassafrass}
{starting this || read about my first week here}
{changing this || my hair color, and LOVING it}
{listening to this || on a beautiful saturday morning}
{celebrating this || these cute siblings’ birthdays}
{watching this || day date with the sistahs to see magic mike xxl}
xo xo
Whole30: a month-long clean eating program similar to Paleo diet (low carb, high protein), stripping away hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups, considered to be grains, sugar, dairy, alcohol, and legumes.
Last night I was tempted by Mellow Mushroom Pizza and two different kinds of homemade cake, and I did not give in! I’ll take a pat on the back now, please.
That being said, this has definitely been the easiest diet I’ve ever done. I’m 7 days in and can honestly say I haven’t been hungry once. I’m eating enough to satisfy my body, but not overindulging which is so easy to do with unhealthy foods. It’s a lot easier to not indulge when your only options to eat are meat, veggies and fruit. They taste great, but I’m not going to eat 3 bowls of salad.
Let me back up for a second – why am I doing this? Husband and I have been talking a lot lately about doing some sort of healthy eating re-start. We are only 2 months out from our European vacation, and I wanted to lose some weight and eat better, so that I can indulge on the trip and feel less guilty about it!
Mom gave me the book It Starts With Food and it was fascinating. After the first chapter I was convinced this is what we needed to do instead of some ridiculous juice cleanse. The program touts higher energy, better sleep, reduction of cravings and even helping with some chronic issues, which for me is headaches, and you’re eating REAL FOOD.
My thoughts so far …
PROS:
– Since it’s super strict, you know what you can and can’t eat. There’s no guessing, which makes it easier.
– The food is delicious! There are some amazing recipes on Pinterest.
– I can honestly say I’m already starting to feel better, and eating healthier makes me want to exercise more, which gives me more energy.
– It’s harder to eat out, so we’re saving money by staying in.
CONS:
– You have to plan, and cook a LOT, so it’s very time-consuming.
– You don’t get any cheat days. It’s only 30 days so you shouldn’t need to cheat. (I AM allowing myself alcohol once/week, but no cheating on the food – see first sentence about what I didn’t eat last night!!)
– Did I mention you have to really plan? And cook every night?
What I’ve been eating so far …
Breakfast: I’ve been eating fruit and almond butter, Husband’s been eating eggs and sometimes canadian bacon, and we’re drinking (black) coffee. There’s no way I could give that up. Saturday we tried a new recipe with this Breakfast Pizza Quiche I found on Pinterest. The site claimed it would take away your pizza cravings – HA, not exactly, but it was pretty good. We’ll definitely make it again with a few ingredient changes.
Lunch: I pretty much eat salad every day, which gets kind of boring, but it’s not bad. My mason jar salads make it a little more fun.
Dinner: Dinner is the hardest since by the end of the day the last thing I want to do is to cook. We’re still building up our easy Whole30 compliant recipe collection. My favorite thing we made this week was these lettuce wraps with ground turkey, spices, and salsa. Also, huge shoutout to our friends the Hotarys who had us over for dinner and made an amazing Whole30 meal!
Well onward we go into the second week! Keep us in your thoughts, share your recipes and pleeease don’t offer me any chocolate.
xo xo
Well, it happened. I finished Friday Night Lights. And I’m still crying about it.
If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, or if you are a huge fan of FNL, then you must pause and read this Buzzfeed: What It’s Like Watching Friday Night Lights for the First Time. It captures all my feels perfectly. PERFECTLY. Thank you, Buzzfeed.
I’ve blogged about FNL here along with several other TV shows about why I want to live in a small town, and here when I talked about my real Saturday, but this show deserves it’s own blog post.
10 Reasons Why I Need Another Season of FNL
[SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FULL SERIES – AND IF YOU HAVEN’T, THEN STOP READING AND START WATCHING RIGHT NOW!]
1. Y’all, I need to see Tami Taylor doin’ her thing in the big leagues. You know she is totally rocking Dean of Admissions.
2. Speaking of, what is high school football like in Philadelphia?! Does it have as much heart as in the South? Probably not, but I’m sure Coach Taylor can change all of that.
3. Where is Landry?!! I’m glad we saw (two seconds) of him in the finale, but I need to know more, and does Crucifictorious have an album out yet??
4. Is Tim just sitting on his land drinking beer in his new house from now on? I need to see that he got a good job and has a life outside of Lyla Garrity.
5. Speaking of Lyla, wait, nevermind. I couldn’t really care less what she’s up to.
6. Did Vince lead the Panthers to another state championship? And where did he end up going to school? And is his sweet mom still doing okay?
7. How are Billy and Mindy handling TWINS? Does she now keep all 3 kids backstage at the Landing Strip during her shifts?
8. Did Matt and Julie really ever get married? Did he at least propose again in a more romantic place than the Alamo Freeze?
9. Just because I can’t even fathom that it’s over. I just need one more season, just one more … I’m not addicted, I swear.
10. Most importantly, I just need more Tim Riggins in my life. Period.
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.
xo xo
[Read more pop culture posts here.]
Y’all, trip planning is hard, and I love it.
In 60 days, husband and I will be embarking on our first European adventure together and I could not be more excited. [London, Paris, Munich + a spontaneous night in Salzburg] (Side note: is it really spontaneous if I’ve already planned it? But I hadn’t originally planned it, so it feels spontaneous!!)
But it’s hard.
If you didn’t know, I’m super planner, especially when it comes to trips. My favorite thing is to find the amazing local restaurants. Food is too good to skimp on when traveling!! But it can get overwhelming fast when planning for a two week vacation in several cities. I’m starting my itinerary spreadsheets now (go ahead, judge) and I’ve taken a lot of recommendations (go ahead, send me more). I’m already thinking about packing, and the shoes I need to buy, and my passport that still has to come in, and the train tickets I need to purchase, and the adapter I can’t forget, and the budget that needs to be solidified, etc. etc.
Like I said, a girl can get overwhelmed.
But I love it.
And like they say, anticipation is half the fun. I’m already learning new things about the cities and their cultures just from reading up on what to do. I seriously get giddy if I think about how much we are going to get to experience together.
When I realize we will land in London on the anniversary of our engagement.
When I realize I will get to eat macaroons at Lauduree.
(and also at home, in my bath, just like Blair Waldorf)
When I realize we will be in Munich for Oktoberfest. OKTOBERFEST!
When I realize our last night will be in this adorable lakeside hotel.
When I realize I’ll get to go to Platform 9 3/4 and take a cliche picture, all the while praying I will somehow end up at Hogwarts.
When I realize I will get to stroll hand-in-hand with my love beneath the glittering Eiffel Tower.
It all sounds magical. And it will be here before we know it. 60 days.
“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”
xo xo
Ever since I heard about stand up paddle boarding a few years ago, it’s been on my bucket list. I have never been into water sports, but I love being in or near the water. I’ve tried surfing several times (fun fact: I went to surf camp in Santa Barbara for a week when I was in middle school) and enjoy it, but it’s still pretty hard. I thought this would be the perfect solution to be on the water, but not too strenuous.
When SUP first became popular it was only on the coast or in bigger cities. I knew it would take a while to come to NWA. I thought I would get an opportunity to try it before it did, but unfortunately did not. Today, husband and I tried it for the first time, and we are HOOKED. It was exactly like I imagined. I felt so at peace on the water, and just fell in love. Don’t get me wrong – it was hard at first. I was so unsure of myself and my “sea-legs” standing up on the board for the first time, but once you get it, you get it, and it’s like you’re walking on water.
We got up early (6am on a Sunday!) and drove about an hour to a section of Beaver Lake near Eureka Springs. We rented the boards through SUP Outfitters. It was the perfect time to be on the lake – there were no boats out yet, it was about 80 degrees and the water was so calm. It was absolutely beautiful. We had so much fun together exploring the lake. There was only one problem … it was too short! We went for an hour and time seemed to run out just as we were getting the hang of it. Next time, we’re planning to go for 2-3 hours and take a little cooler out with us. Who’s ready?!
After our morning on the lake, we headed to Eureka Springs for brunch at Local Flavor Cafe.
[the best appetizer: baked brie + blood orange mimosas]
[huevos rancheros – mine and husband’s favorite]
[cheers to all of our sides of the best cheese grits]
[love these beautiful ladies and all of the adventures we get to go on together! and love that we all wore the same hat!]
xo xo
Read all my Discover Arkansas posts here.
an unvarnished look at my lazy saturday
[no judgment please – you know you have these days too]
8:30am
rolled out of bed, learned how to make aeropress coffee + spent an hour and a half leisurely talking to an old friend about life
10:30am
ZUMBA [the one non-lazy thing I’ve done today]
12pm
showered [only because I was soaked in sweat from zumba], didn’t put makeup on + and put my PJs back on
12:30pm
watched 3 episodes of friday night lights [bawled my eyes out at one episode, The Son], ate some ice cream to console myself
3pm
tried to take a nap, didn’t work out, so turned FNL back on
4pm
decided to get some sunshine, sat on the front porch + read 2 magazines
5:30pm
turned on FNL again for a final episode of the day + some blogging [okay, this might have turned into 2 more episodes]
next up: cooking dinner with the husband, backyard fetch with the pup + ending the lazy, hazy summer day with a movie and wine
xo xo
{loving this || a wonderful weekend spending time with an old friend}
{drinking this || a sidecar after running 3 miles in a beer run}
{team building like this || from top to bottom: modern mission laser tag with digital media team; aerial yoga with regine’s rangers; lip sync battle at marketing summer outing}
{snuggling with this || adorable six-week old baby everett} 
{celebrating this || 4th of july with my love and family}
xo xo
m.davis xoxo 