The Search for a Christmas Party Outfit

I'm looking for a Christmas party outfit and I can't get a "long sleeved dress with a skinny belt and boots" out of my head! Here's what's going through my head... any good ideas where to find the perfect dress?!

Found most of these from pinterest... help me find my dream Christmas outfit! Happy Monday, people!

Best Wine Bar in Dallas

I've had a much needed week of relaxation and I am quite sad to see it come to an end tomorrow. Traveling every week really takes it out of you so I can't describe how amazing it was just to visit with family and friends, with no worries of getting home to do laundry and pack. 

However, before I came home to Tennessee, I visited a place where everything is bigger. And better! TEXASSS!!!

I made the trip to see my best friend [and former roomie] Ali! She made the big move a little over a month ago and I spent last weekend with her exploring her new city, Dallas!

The first thing I want to blog about is this place that we passed a few times and wondered out loud about. It was called Vino 100 and it looked semi abandoned during the day. 

Finally, Saturday evening rolled around and Ali and I were shooting around ideas about what we wanted to do for the night. She really wanted to take me to a Japanese restaurant by her house and I was pumped. But we both really wanted to do something before that... have a drink, an appetizer, sit on a porch with a glass of wine... SOMETHING!

I decided to google Vino 100 and boy was I PUMPED when the search results said that Vino 100 was a wine store during the day and a wine bar at night! With over 100 bottles of wine that are all UNDER $25, this was a clear case of fate. Also, you can buy a bottle, sit outside on the patio, listen to music and then take whatever wine is left home with you. It's amazing. Not that we'd ever have left over wine, but it's nice... just in case ;)

If all of this information wasn't amazing enough, I found out that all appetizers were 50% using my handy Scout Mob app!

It turned our $25 apps into $12.50! And they were incredible!

We had the most amazing cheese plate with goat cheese, havarti, and manchego. Also, we had yummy bread, crackers, and fruit :)

I loved the crab cakes but Ali wasn't a huge fan... more for meeee!

Ali wasn't a fan but she was a perv...

Nice one, T-bone.

The cool thing [well, one of the many cool things] about Vino 100 was the way the wine is set up. From left to right, it is set up to have the fruitier, lighter bodied wines to the left and they get heavier and more bitter to the right. The reds are on the left side of the store and the whites are on the right!

Also, they had certain wines that would be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner!

Some of the wines had a Turkey Tag. Niiice.

Don't judge the picture. It was a long day with a lot-o-shopping :)

Stay tuned for more entries from our Dallas/Uptown adventures!

A Whole Foods Thanksgiving!

This year, we went suuuuper simple for Thanksgiving. We ordered everything from Whole Foods and it was fantastic! We had turkey, squash casserole, corn pudding, stuffing, gravy and apple pie. It was the easiest Thanksgiving meal EVER!

Look at this bird! Amazing! Also, I made the sweet potato casserole and it was a huge hit!! Hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving!

So What the Hell do I do in Bowling Green, Ohio?

There's not much to do in the Bowling Green/Toledo/Perrysburg area. It's cold, rainy, and it's an industrial town that makes you want to die (okay.. a bit dramatic).

However, there is a place that makes me haaaaaapppy!!!! And I've actually blogged about it before!

It's Levis Commons and it's amaaaaahhzing. What does Levis Commons have to offer? Welllllll let me show you :)

Starbucks? 

CHECK. Already a winner. I could stop the blog here but then that would be weird.

Bar Louie is a super cool restaurant with an awesome happy hour. 

They have tons of fun shops including Loft, New York & Company and...

Francesca's!!! Love this place! 

They also have Holiday fun including carriage rides, a tree lighting ceremony and breakfast with SANTAAAA!!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you find yourself stuck in the Toledo/Perrysburg/BG area, don't fret. Head to Levis Commons, have a drink and go shopping. Works every time.

A Weekend in the Bus

My trip to "The Bus" to see Saucy was awesome! I'm still a little exhausted but in some ways, I feel exhilarated! I didn't get as many pictures as I'd hoped but I'll try to break down my weekend for my lovely followers :)

On Friday, Saucy and I caught up over a glass or three of red wine. It's my absolute favorite thing to do with friends I haven't seen in a while! Also, it's my favorite thing to do alone in my hotel room..

Saucy lives in Downtown Columbus so we stopped for lunch at Betty's. We split the veggie melt and the pumpkin chili and it was amaaaazing! I love anything pumpkin. 

We stopped by this place called Jeni's and ohhmaaahgaaahhh.

This ice cream is amazing and there is a Jeni's in Nashville! Do yourself a favor and click on this to see all of the awesome and unique flavors they have. Including "Salty Caramel" and "Whiskey and Pecans". SO GOOD!

After we successfully stuffed our faces, we finally started shopping! I ended up with my new favorite comfy sweater, much like Cameron's below:

Yeah and my legs are long and lean like hers too..... not.

And I finally got a leopard scarf...

 

My scarf is sheer and faaabulous!

We started our night off with maaargs :)

 

Daaaance party!

 

You had to be there for this haha

 

Saucy and Leigh.. miss you friend!

Who knows?! Such a fun weekend :)

A Saucy Weekend

Cheeeers to the freakin' weekendddd. I can't get that song out of head. 

I am so excited to see one of my very dear friends this weekend! Ms. Sarah "Saucy" Morgan!

 

This is jazzy shot of when I visited Saucy in Charleston.

And now I'm visiting her in Columbus.

It's your turn next, Sauce ;)

'Tis the Season

Hello, people! After a whirlwind weekend of catching up with old friends and moving back in with my parents, I am back [and very exhausted]. I'm here in Bowling Green, OH and it's just like Portland. Except it's a tiny town and there's nothing to do. Okay so the only similarity to Portland is that it's cold and rainy.

 

I realize that it's over a month away but I'm all for getting geared up for Christmas! I'm already looking for presents for my family, friends and the bf's family!

 

Thanks to Pinterest, I'm thinking I want to make some homemade gifts this year! I know I will at the very least be making homemade treats. Anybody have any good gift ideas? I'm going to get everything taken care of early this year. I am NOT going to be doing this at the last minute this year. Swear ;)

WILW: Friends in Portland!

What am I loving today? Glad you asked!

I love catching up with friends while I'm far away from home.. in person.. AT LUNCH!

Benitez is a great friend from college and he is traveling the country and setting up for a few touring bands!

Austin is another good friend college

These KA boys and this KA Southern Belle had delicious pizza at Hot Lips Pizza. Love that place!

These boys contributed to my good time at Western and then we all moved the good times to Nashville! It's a shame that to see each other we have to meet up 3,000 miles from home! Still, good to see you boys :)