My Birthday in Tulsa!

I was so excited when I found out that Blake has called Emily to set up a birthday party for me in Tulsa!  I had a lot of fun at the Dallas party, but it wasn't the same without all my best friends!  We went to dinner at Yokozuna in Tulsa, then followed with bowling at Dust Bowl.  I'll let the pictures show how much fun we all had!

THANK YOU all so much for coming and making my day so special!  I love you all and miss you more than you know!!!

P.S. Isn't my boyfriend cute?

Christmas Decorations

Thought you all would like a little view of my Christmas decorations!

Here's my Christmas Tree for the year:

Every year, I pick a wrapping paper theme... and yes, every present under my tree has to match (no, I'm not crazy).  : )  Here's a close up of the presents:

I just used brown postal wrapping paper, then used cranberry tulle for my bows... it was super easy and way cute!  I bought way too much wrapping paper, so the good thing is I can use it year-round for presents with different colors of tulle!  The thing I love about tulle is it makes it SUPER easy to make a cute bow, as that's not my specialty.  : )
Here's some more pics around the house:

My cute little table:

There's some I took pictures of... I lost a lot of my Christmas decorations in the move- tear!  So, I need to get more while they're on sale now that the big holiday is over!

Dallas Birthday Celebration/ Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

This past weekend was a fun weekend in Dallas!  Blake took me out for my birthday dinner at The Grape. It is a fun restaurant with a great atmosphere.  When we finished up there, we went and met Taylor and Grayson for a drink...

It was a fun night!

The next night, Blake had a fun party planned for me!  We started at my apartment, where people came over, wore ugly sweaters, played games, did high kicks, walked like penguins and listened to Christmas music (my request, of course).

After our penguin walk, we decided to head to The Penguin Bar, which is a fun piano bar in town.  Little did I know, I was going to have to sit on the piano and get harassed/ embarrassed.  When I came off the stage, a surprise was waiting for me:

As you can tell, I was quite excited.  Poor Blake a.k.a. "Kristin's Little Helper" got to take that for me.

Fun times were had by all!  So excited to head to Tulsa and celebrate more!

Chicken Taco Soup

I made Chicken Taco Soup last night and it is to die for (and it's a crock pot recipe)!!!  Of course, I forgot to take a picture... oops!

I made a different recipe a couple of weeks ago and Blake politely told me his sisters was better... after the bruise my ego took healed, I contacted her to get the recipe.  Blake was right... don't tell him I said so.

Anyway, here is the easiest, most delicious recipe EVER:

2-3 raw chicken breasts
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can of 8 oz tomato sauce
1 package of dry taco seasoning
1 package of dry ranch dressing
1 can of chicken broth (you can add more if needed, but I didn't have to)
1 can of Rotel (I used mild because Blake is a baby- ha)

Put everything in a crock pot on high for 4-6 hours.

After cooked, shred chicken and stir.

You can add cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips to garnish.

You can thank me later!  :)

50 Randoms

So, I secretly love filling these things out, even though I always feel way too much like a high schooler to send them on.  So, since I've really been slacking in the blogging department lately... I figured what else would be better to do?!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:00!  I was actually on time for work once...

2. How do you like your steak? Medium please

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema: "The Descendants" with George Clooney... I highly recommend it! 

4. What is your favorite TV show? Oh my goodness.  Way too many to name... but Modern Family, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Top Chef, American Idol, The Bachelor... I seriously could go on and on.  Oh, and now I'm starting to dig American Horror Story, although I can't watch it alone.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I'm pretty happy where I am right now, although I wouldn't mind going back to Tulsa.  : )

 

6. What did you have for breakfast? Chocolate Chip Granola Bar

7. What is your favorite food? Italian or the Volcano Roll from In the Raw

8. Foods you dislike? Hmmm... oysters gross me out.

9. Favorite place to eat? Yokozuna... I'm still working on finding my favorite place in Dallas.

10. Favorite dressing? Ranch!

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? IS250

12. What are your favorite clothes? dresses!  I'm ready for it to be warm again!

 

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Italy!

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full always, with a dash of realist

15. Where would you want to retire?  I have a feeling I might be retiring in Norman, OK.

16. Favorite time of day?  5:00 on Friday- 10:00 Sunday night.  : )

17. Where were you born?  Sapulpa, OK

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?  College football, although I'm trying to pretend I enjoy the NFL.  : )

19. What is your favorite fragrance?  Victor Rolf Flowerbomb!

20. What is your favorite face cream?  I'm actually looking for a new one.  Any recommendations would be appreciated.

21. Favorite baby/kids products?  I'm too young to answer this question.  : ) 

 

22. People watcher?  Always.

23. Are you a morning or night person?  I'm a morning person once I get up and going... Does that count?

24. Do you have any pets?   Just the cutest dog in the world.  No big deal.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? It's almost my birthday!!!  Yay!  : )

26. What did you want to be when you were little?  A kindergarten teacher or a super model.

27. What is your favorite memory?  When my brother convinced me that he shrunk our cat... it wasn't funny at the time, but I can laugh about it twenty years later. 

28. Are you a cat or dog person?  Dog. I'm allergic to cats (or I tell people that)

29. Are you married?  Can't say that I am.

30. Always wear your seat belt?  Always.

31. Been in a car accident?  I think I was in four the first year I had my driver's license... kinda got off to a rough start...

32. Any pet peeves?  Bad grammar (excuse me if I've made any errors)

33. Favorite pizza toppings?  Cheese please.

34. Favorite flower?  I kinda like them all!

35. Favorite ice cream?  Vanilla ice cream with M&Ms or heath bar in it.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?  Bueno!  I just found out we have them in Dallas (for some reason, I thought we didn't) and I've already had it twice this week.  I kinda wish I didn't know about it... 

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Passed it on the first time... the guy that passed me should be fired.

38. From whom did you get your last email?  My boss.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?  Nordstroms or Neimans (if I didn't have to pay the bill).  : )

40. Favorite book?  "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue"... I literally could read these over and over again.

41. Like your job?  Love my job!

42. Broccoli?  With ranch please.

43. What was your favorite vacation?  Mexico.  : )

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Blake.

45. What are you listening to right now?  Top Chef.

46. What is your favorite color?  It goes through stages, but possibly light blue right now.

47. How many tattoos do you have?  Zero

48. Coffee drinker?  As long as there is a lot of cream!

49. Favorite drink?  Coke. 

 

50. What word best describes you? Thankful.

OK,  I promise I will never do another one of these again... but I applaud you for making it to the bottom.  : )  Next week I promise to post about fun stuff again!!!  xoxo

Proverbs 31 Woman

I ran across this and couldn't resist sharing it:

Wow!  What a wise college kid... hope this speaks to you has much as it did to me.  Have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I got to make my first trip back to T-Town and it was so much fun, but went by way too quick!  I got in town Wednesday and started running around like a crazy person.  I had my hair appointment (thank goodness because pretty sure I was starting to look like a crack-whore), then ran by to see Emily's new house which I LOVE!  After that I ran by and saw Amy and Jared before they left town.  It was so good to see friends, but there wasn't near enough time to spend with everyone!

Then came Turkey Day... it was so much fun to spend with my family!

Yup... they're still just as cute as when I left them.  :)

Here's a recap of the food... it was delicious!

We started with this great appetizer that I found the recipe on for Pinterest:

You can find the recipe here.

Now, my grandmother insists on making the turkey every year.  Every year, we beg her not to because it always ends up looking like the turkey from Christmas Vacation.  : )  This year was no different...

Luckily, we made a ham just in case!  I decided to pass on the turkey, but my dad said it wasn't too dry once you got past the looks of it!  ; )

Of course, Thanksgiving can't be complete without Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes.  I forgot to take a picture, but these literally are the best potatoes to ever exist- once you see the ingredients, you'll know why.  We also had Pioneer Woman's Whiskey Glazed Carrots.  I've made these a few times and they never disappoint!

I tried out a new recipe I found on Pinterest (of course) for Creamed Corn.  It was really good and VERY easy... just throw it in the Crockpot and let it do the work!  This mad a TON of corn...

Paigey made some delicious green beans... I'll have to get the recipe for them later!

Dessert was great as well!  My grandmother brought over a pie and Paige and I made some cookies- Reese's Cup Cookies and The World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies.

All in all, it wasa  great day with great food!

Wow... It's already been a MONTH???

As of yesterday, I have officially been a resident of Dallas for a month!  After a tough couple of weeks, I am really starting to LOVE my new city!

Here are my favorite things:
- Work is really starting to take off!  It's fun getting out and marketing like crazy again.  I believe (fingers crossed) that I've secured a relationship with the #1 Realtor team in Dallas (my dad paying for friends with Pi Phi has officially paid off!) and another top 5 team at Keller Williams thanks to one of my Realtors in Tulsa.
- The shopping.  Holy Moly.  Keel me away from all these fun places.
- The restaurants.  I don't think I've been to the same restaurant twice since I've been here.  If you know anything about me, this is a miracle.  I'm pretty sure I tried to go to In the Raw twice a day while in Tulsa.
- Blake.  He's pretty cute.  :)

Here are the things that make me miss home:
- My sweet nieces.  I have never gone half this long without seeing them.  I hope they remember me when I come home next week.  : (
- My family.
- My friends.  I heard about some of them having a Pinterest party this week and wanted to jump in the car and drive home.  I also need my Twilight nerd friend to go to the movies here.  I feel like it's too soon to dork out with the people here... I'm still trying to convince them that I'm cool.
- Work.  Not going to lie, it was nice when Realtors actually knew who I was and actually answered the phone when I called.  Soon enough, I hope.  : )

Praise the Lord for life in Dallas getting easier!  Although, I can't wait to come home three times in the next month and spend time with my friends and family!!!!

The FOOD...

As I've said before, I have become obsessed with cooking and baking over the past year or so.  Pinterest has fueled my addiction even more.  Here's what was on the menu for Blake's party (p.s. pretty sure someone asked me to cater their wedding- ha):

These are the Mini Spinach Dip Bread Bowls which were pretty good (top and bottom_.  I would recommend buying more of the bread than the recipe states because I had TONS of leftover dip!  In the middle are the Chicken Enchilada Roll-ups- I made these for one of my friends and my Pinterest parties... they were a hit then and just as good this time!

I, of course, had to make old faithful again: Feta Dip.  I did learn that when there are a lot of other options around, people didn't flock to this.  Once I told them how good it was, they started eating more of it.  : )

Then, the company started showing up and I got distracted and forgot to take pictures.  Blake's three favorite things were: Pepperoni Pizza Bites, Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Jalapeno Bites (pretty sure my hands burned for two days after dealing with so many jalapenos... I would recommend wearing gloves), and Oven Baked Ham and Cheese Sliders (you need to make these for dinner this week).

I also added in the The Greatest Queso That Ever Lived and some cupcakes.

I highly recommend making ALL of this (maybe not at once... it took about six hours of cooking and there were tons of leftovers).

But... Blake deserved it.  : )

Blake is Thir-TEE!

Blake had his big 30th birthday on Saturday and it was a BLAST!  We went with the Pub Golf theme, which I stole from my friend Amy, who did this for her husband.  That party was so fun, I just had to re-create it!  : )

We started at my house, which we called "The Club House".  I slaved in the kitchen all day and everyone showed up to this great arrangement of food (thanks, Pinterest!):

I was a bit nervous how the food was going to turn out, as I hadn't made almost any of it before.  I'll follow up with another post with the links to the recipe... you have to make every.single.thing!

I tried to throw some golf decorations in to make it feel like a Club House:

Everyone dressed up, which I was a bit nervous about... Blake's group has never had a theme party before.  I don't know how Dallas has survived so long without me here.  : )  Everyone ended up having a BLAST and we already have a few more theme parties planned- I'm so excited!  We have everything planned from a "Fat Tuesday" party to a Dinosaur theme partied (don't ask...).

Here are a few pics from the Clubhouse:

Love him.  : )  P.S. Thanks Em for the cute sign you made!!!

Rylee didn't dress up again... she's starting to become a party pooper.

This is one of Blake's friend's girlfriends... LOVE her!  She actually lives in my apartment complex and has been great to me since I've been here!

My apartment is in walking distance from a TON of bars and restaurants, so we were able to walk down the street and go to all the "holes".  Here are a few more pics from the night:

This might be my favorite picture of the night... one of the rules on the "Scorecard" was that you couldn't go to the bathroom until after the 4th hole... well, Blake thought he was being sneaky and tried to get away with it.  I happened to notice and sent in his friend to get evidence.  Too funny!!!

I would say the night was a huge SUCCESS!!!  Happy 30th, Blake!!!

Halloween

A quick joke for you (it's an oldie, but goodie):
Q.  How do you scare a bee?
A.  Boo, bee!

Anyway, I got to celebrate my first Halloween in the Big D.  It was pretty fun!

We had the pre-party at my apartment.  Everyone showed up in the Halloween finest:

Blake and his friend Scott went as characters from the movie "Major League".  I had never seen this movie, so really didn't get it, but the boys seemed to enjoy it.  : )

We had to have some "Office Space" characters as well- always funny.

I ended up with a last minute outfit change and went as Rachel Zoe.  My Dorothy costume was a bit more revealing than I wanted to be- ha.  Blake told me I looked like a normal girl going out in Dallas.  FAIL.

They Angry Birds were pretty funny too!

Rylee didn't feel like dressing up, but how much does our friend Jon look like Pit Bull?  Hysterical!

Throw in Kim Kardashian and a few flappers, and it was a fun pre-party!

We went to this place called the Candle Room after my house, where we got to people-watch some of the finest in Dallas- ha!  This isn't a place we would go on a typical basis (or at least I hope not).  I was able to capture some good shots though:

Hope you had a great Halloween!  And yay for November... time to get the scarecrows out!!!

xoxo