John and I planned a little weekend getaway to Fredericksburglast weekend and so I thought I would share in case you are looking for a place to go for a getaway also. We absolutely LOVED it there. Fredericksburg is such a cute town in the Hill Country of Texasthat is known for it’s German heritage, cute shops, and amazing wineries!

Where We Stayed:

We stayed in the CUTEST little house less than a minute away from Main Street ( AKA where all the food/shops are!) It was the perfect location and size for John and I ( plus our two pups- they even have pet-friendly rentals!)

We booked Abigail’s cottage through Gastehaus Schmidt Lodging Service and couldn’t have been more pleased! They were SO easy to work with, super nice, and help you find a rental or bed and breakfast that fit your needs. Jessica, the owner, even gave us awesome recommendations on places to eat, what wineries to visit, and must see shops in the area!

How cute is this cottage?! This entire street was filled with adorable homes. The area felt super quaint and was such a relaxing place to be.Below is a quick tour of the rest of the house. It had an awesome living room to hang out in ( with a fireplace,) there was a full kitchen, dining area, and 2 bedrooms. Outside even had a hot tub!

John wanted me to tell you all that the bed and PILLOWS ( he is really big on pillows and has to sleep with four-five just for himself) were extremely comfortable. In this picture he actually stole my pillow!

Anyone else totally geek out when they get to sign the guest book? I LOVE doing that and totally over analyze what I should write each time. Plus I love reading what other people loved about the place too.

PS: How appropriate is this shirt? I totally have to make this vow every year in the fall. haha! I thought this shirt was too cute. It was one of the things I bought out shopping on Main Street.

Where We Ate:

The first morning we had breakfast at Sunset Grill and it was delish! This should be a must for breakfast on your visit! Another place we tried for Breakfast was the Old German Bakery ( it is over on main street.) It was super packed, and for good reason, the German pancakes are SO good and it was HUGE- it was literally draping over the sides of a very large plate.

We stumbled upon RathSkeller and decided to go there for lunch. It was not on any of the blogs I read or recommend by anyone, but man oh man it was so good. And to top it off I overheard the table next to us asking the server about how it was haunted, so of course I asked and she said that they had a long history of crazy things happening in the restaurant, because it used to be an old hospital for the town! Yep creepy, but in a cool way haha! We got the lunch special, which was a lavender and cheese ravioli. I wish I could eat that meal again, like right this very moment.

For dinner we went to The Auslander. This is basically the best place on main strip that offers the best German dinner experience and has been featured on a couple food/travel shows. There are several nicer restaurants along Main Street, but I was starving and didn’t feel like going home to change, so we opted for a more casual place. Other places that were recommended to us were Hondo’s, Otto’s and Vaudeville.

Wineries:

Several of my friends recommend the 290 Wine Shuttle. I am so glad we did this! They take you to all the wineries and you just hop on and off. They have shuttles every 15 minutes. You can see the full list of wineries they stop at on their website. The buses were very nice and were air conditioned, plus no drinking and driving!

Where we went:

1. Baron’s Creek Vineyards– this one was my absolute favorite! The grounds are so beautiful. This was our first stop and I wish we would have stayed their all day.
2. Becker Vineyards – Honestly, John and I were both super disappointed in this one. But that was mostly our fault, because we didn’t realize there is a beautiful outdoor patio with fields of beautiful flowers to see. Instead we did our wine tasting at a really crowded bar and it felt like was 5,000 degrees in there. So, if you go – make sure you sit outside! hah! There were a ton of people who were sitting outside having picnics and drinking wine!
3. Four Point Cellars – I really liked this winery. It has a really neat outdoor sitting area and there was live music playing.
4. Wedding Oak Winery – This winery was not whatI was expecting at all. When you pull up it says ” wild seed farm” and it was basically a nursery. There was a ton of flowers and pumpkins everywhere. You walked through the nursey and there were some shops, a general store, and a cute little winery in the back.

Next time we go, I definitely want to make it you to Grape Creek Vineyards. We drove through it, but the vineyard won’t allow the shuttles to drop off after 12:00, but the outside of the vineyard looked beautiful.

The only thing we didn’t have time for was to hike to enchanted rock, it’s only about 20 minutes outside of the city. On our next trip, I am definitely making time for this! I have heard it is beautiful. Everyone says to get there early if you plan on going.

I also want to thank Gastehaus Schmidt Lodging Service for partnering with us on this post and allowing us to stay in the cutest cottage ever! As always, John and I would never recommend a place to you that we didn’t absolutely love – and we seriously loved staying at Abigail’s cottage and working with Gastehaus Schmidt Lodging Service!

PS: Here is apicture John took of the town with his drone!

DIY Wine Journal & Recap of H-E-B Wine Walk

PS: how cool is this movie theater? Also- if you haven’t seen Wonder Woman yet, it was amazing!

Tents were set up all around market street with food and different wines to try. I am not a wine expert by any means, so this was super fun to try new types of wine that I would normally never try and to hear the experts explain the differences.

Met up with my sweet friend, Kelsey!

If you are not into wine, they also had a whole beer section too! This is where my hubs would have been ( but it was girl’s night – so he didn’t come haha!)

I made this little DIY Wine Journal to take with me to write down the different wines I sampled, so that next time I was shopping at H-E-B I would be able to remember which ones were my fav!

To create your own, just buy a little notebook of any kind ( I just made sure it was small enough to fit in my purse.)You can customize it however you like, I justwrote down the Type, Name, and then Rated it – to help me keep track!

When I got home, I printed a couple of the pictures out and used washi tape to tape them in the book. (Almost like a little scrapbook. ) I can’t wait to fill this book up with memories and photographs from different wineries!

Thank you so much for stopping by! Comment below and tell me what your favorite event is that your city does! I’d also love to know if any of my fellow scrapbooker’s or wine drinkers out there use a wine journal too?!

Thank you to Market Street – The Woodlands for sponsoring this post! Opinions are always 100% my own.

Summer is Here!

I love Summer time! Bring on the beach, fish tacos, snow cones, and in my case all the stripes! My go-to Summer trend is always stripes. It never fails, it is just what I gravitate towards in the Summer. This dress totally fits my Summer criteria. It has the cutest stripes and drawstring waist, which makes it super flattering! It is the perfect dress to just throw on and it instantly looks cute, but without having to put in a lot of effort (insert the praise hands emoji!) plus, I love that it can be worn with sandals or wedges!

I paired this dress with my favorite earrings – they go with everything and come in a ton of colors! For this look, I decided to keep the colors neutral, but it would also be really cute with a pop of color! ( I also bought these earrings in peach!)

For a more laid back summer accessory, how cute is this hat?!? Does it not just scream lazy summer afternoons? This is going to be part of my Summer uniform, that’s for sure. I think I am also going to need thisone and this onetoo!

Dress | Shoes | Earrings

To share a little back story with you, last year we went to Waco and made a stop into Spice Village. ( If you haven’t been, it is totally worth the trip!) I went in looking specifically for Plum Boutique. Spice Village is jam-packed with so many boutiques – as I was walking through, I was instantly drawn to this one area. They had adorable clothes, home decor, wall art, etc. it was totally my kinda store and then I see the sign that it was Plum Boutique -the boutique, I had been looking for! I have been a huge fan of their’s ever since that trip, so when they reached out to me to work with them, it totally made my day. I always only share things with you that I love and this case is no different. This is a shop that I shop at and absolutely love.

I’d love to hear what your go-to Summer staples are and also if you have any fish taco spot recs, send them my way!

Thank you so much to Plum Boutique for partnering with me on this post! As always, opinions are my own.

Lindsey saw the peaches right away and really wanted to do something on the blog with them and Irecently hadthese apple rose tarts at a local coffee shop that looked delicious. So, I thought how great would it be to do the same thing, but with peaches and bake these fluffy Summertime Peach Rose Tarts.

Summertime Peach Rose Tarts

The sweetness of the peaches and the soft flakiness from the puff pastry is a perfect combination. If you were to add some Blue Bell vanilla ice cream you would be in heaven! (sorry to all of you who live in places that don’t have Blue Bell).

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Peaches
• Puff Pastry
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/8 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Flour

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Sprinkle counter with flour and roll out puff pastry on flour until its about 1/4 inch thick.
• Cut the puff pastry into 3/4 inch strips
• Cut the peaches in half and thinly slice them
• Lay the peaches on half of the puff pastry, slightly overlaping them.
• Sprinkle the peaches with sugar and then brush butter on the puff pastry
• Fold the bottom of the puff pastry up to create a pocket for the peaches
• From one end, begin to tightly roll the peaches (sorry there isnt a picture for this but I couldn’t photograph and roll at the same time haha)
• Spray a muffin pan and place the tarts in the muffin slots
• Bake for 40 minutes or until the tart begins to brown.
• Let cool and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

If our summer is as good as this dessert tastes then we are in for one hell of a summer haha! Lindz and I have a few trips planned which we will be adding to the blog, but you can follow all our messy adventures on the gram, which we are going to try and do more insta stories and even add a live session each week!Thank you for stopping by, let us know what you think of these in the comments or if you have anything you would want us to talk about in the live sessions.

Mimosa Ice Pops

Ingredients:

• Orange Juice
• Champagne

Directions:

We found these little ice popsicle bagsthat were perfect! You literally just add the champagne and orange juice into a pitcher and pour in the bag. We use a little funnel, because I am super messy haha! It is as simple as that. The little bags even have a “fill to here line” on them, to prevent over filling.

There are SO many options and popsicle combos you can make with these! I’d love to hear if you try it and what flavors you come up with.

I had to include this pic just for John. He was super proud of this cute little popsicle guy! (Does this remind anyone else of the castaway volley ball?!?! or is it just me…)

If you are a mimosa fan, but wanna switch it up we made theseBeermosa’s last year and thisCaribbean Margarita!

Thanks so much for stopping by! John and I are working on some super fun ideas for Summer – can’t wait to share them with y’all!

Mini Donut Kabobs

Supplies:

Dry stuff:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Wet stuff:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp. butter

For the Icing:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp milk
• food coloring (coloring of your choice)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a large bowl mix all of the “dry stuff” together
• In a small sauce pan mix all of the “wet stuff” together and heat on low heat until all are combined and butter is melted
• Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix together
• Pour donut mix into a ziplock bag
• Spray your donut pan with cooking spray and then after cutting a corner off of the bag, squeeze the mix into the pan.
• Bake for 12 minutes, once done remove and let cool for 2-3 minutes.
• While the donuts are baking you can prepare the glaze.

Directions for the icing:

• In a bowl mix together all of the icing ingredients and mix well
• Add food coloring for desired colors (I just dipped a toothpick into the food coloring and then swirled it into my icing)
• Warm the icing in the microwave for about 8-10 seconds
• Dip the donut in the icing and add sprinkles immediatly after
• Repeat until done
• Using a kabob stick just add as many donuts to each stick. (I put my donuts in the fridge to let them cool and harden a bit to help them not fall apart on the stick)

The possiblities here are endless. These would be great a baby shower, wedding shower, Mother’s day brunch, normal brunch, a donut party… I think you get the idea, they are pretty much awesome for any occasion.They could also be for you to just make and stash and have to yourself in a closet while hiding from your kids like that Mom with the Twizzlers thatI saw on Ellen. (What? Yep, I’m cool enough to watch Ellen, stop distracting me here.)

After you make these let me know how it goes! We love toread comments like Katelyn’s. Shemade our sopapilla cheesecakefor her work Cinco De Mayo party and she said it was a big hit! Thanks for stopping by my friends and as always….keep it Messy.

Honey Glazed Carrots

See that towel. I got that just for Lindsey. When she is hungry, we call that version of Lindsey, “Wanda” and trust me, no body likes Wanda haha. Don’t worry mine hungry name is Cletus, don’t judge, we all have one.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of small baby carrots (1lb)
• 2 tbsp of honey
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp of nutmeg
• chopped parlsey (for garnish)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl then add carrots and mix together
• Pour mixture onto the baking sheet and spread evenly
• Roast for 15 minutes, or until you can see the carrots start to caramelize
• let sit for 2-3 minutes and add garnish

Change is good especially when it’s breaking free of the same old side dishes you eat with every meal. Break free and try these honey glazed carrots and don’t ever go back to those canned green beans that you add butter to and then microwave for 2 min, covered with a paper towel as not to splatter. I’m looking at you Mrs. Lyons…..jk. But really. If you give this recipe a try please comment below and let me know how they turned out or if you ever have a question feel free to leave those as well. Keep it messy friends.

Francesca’s Grand Re-Opening & Summer Must-Have’s

I have to say, John was a trooper! I am definitely lucky that he actually doesn’t mind shopping with me haha & that Francesca’s was having one of their amazing sales buy 1 get another item 50% off ! John of course spent a lot of time looking at the coffee mugs and ended up getting this one for his Mom for Mother’s Day! (Hopefully, she won’t read this haha!)

The store is seriously so gorgeous. The remodel looks amazing!I couldn’t get over how bright and open the space looked. Everything is organized and easy to find without having to dig! & they had beautiful displays that caught my eye immediately.

I think my favorite part was the accessories table. I’ll take one of each please! haha! These came home with me and I feel like I just NEED ( yes, need!) these and these for Summer!

Also, look at these coffee mugs! ahhh, I can’t take the cuteness. I have to admit, I am kinda loving all the cactus themed items for Summer. Look at this beach toteand little dish!

Beach bag heaven, that’s all I have to say! SOOOO many adorable options for Summer! My favs were the Mermaids are Real, Flamingos, and the pom-pom clutch! ( They are on sale BTW on the website)

The store manager was SO kind and helpful! I was also helped by Tatiana who started a fitting room for me. They even brought over colorful accessories to match the outfits I picked out to give me options. They were both so sweet and made my shopping experience so much fun!

Blue/White Dress | Top | White Dress | Maxi Dress| Pom-Pom Shoes|

For all my Houston ladies, if you get the chance go check out the new look of the store. I’d love to know what y’all think!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you so much Francesca’s for inviting us to the grand opening and for sponsoring this post! Opinions are 100% my own.

Spring Cleaning

Top (no longer available, but I love thisthis one too from Francescas!) |Lipstick | Necklace from Kendra Scott

Home:

• Start small. I tend to think about EVERY tiny little thing that needs to be done, but start small and think about one thing you can do this week. This week my goal is to clean out my nightstand. I don’t even understand where all the junk in there has come from!
• Move winter clothes out of your closet.I like to move my winter clothes into the spare bedroom closet and just see the clothes that are in season. This is a good time also, to take note of what you didn’t wear this year and decide if you still even want it! I do this twice a year and it helps me get rid of clothes I no longer wear. Totally Optional, but I also like to get matching plastic hangers. I can’t stand the wire ones! They drive me crazy. This small thing, just makes the closet feel more put together and organized!
• Fresh flowers and a new candle helps too!

Inbox:

• My inbox was stressing me out. I have had the same email for over 7 years and had subscribed to a crazy amount of junk. I found the unroll.me app (ps: it is free!) and have unsubscribed to 187 junk email subscriptions!

Photos:

• Y’all, I have an addiction. I have over 11,000 photos on my phone! ( Since I wrote this rough draft of this post last month, I somehow managed to add another 1,000. – told ya, I had a problem!) This is something that I have not actually fixed yet, but am working on it! I did take time to go in and create albums on my phone/ computer to help me organize them better. Do y’all have any solutions for this? I’d love some help!
• This is on my to-do list, but I do have a DIY in the works to actually make me display my pictures instead of keep them stored on my phone to hardly ever be looked at. Anyone else have this problem?

Take Better Care of Yourself:

I am sooo guilty of running myself into the ground. Overcommitting, staying up way too late, eating terribly, and then I end up so worn out that I literally waste an entire weekend on the couch which creates a cycle of feeling guilty etc. etc. repeat. repeat. I reached my breaking point around January and realized I needed to take time to slow down and take better care of myself. Here are just a couple things I have been trying and focusing on.

• Dance class – I started taking a jazz class once a week! It is so challenging and fun. It has been over 10 years since I last danced! Find something you love to do and block out an hour a week to do it. Taking this one hour a week for myself has seriously made me a happier person.
• Fill your well – I recently read a book that told you to take 5 minutes to write down a list of things that bring you joy. It can be literally be something bigger, like traveling, or even something smaller like enjoying your coffee on the patio in the mornings or going to the zoo. I wrote down around 10-12 things that truly bring me joy. The author of the book then asked, what would your life look like if you found a way to incorporate at least one of these things into your life each day, even if for just five minutes. Believe me, I totally get it! Some days I wish I had five minutes to spare, but I have really been trying lately to add little things here and there, because ultimately I have realized that these things bring me joy, which makes me happier.
• Try a new recipe – I have been perusing some of my favorite food bloggers blogs lately and picking at least one new recipe to try. I make it on Sundays, that way I can enjoy the process and not feel rushed during the week. This week I choose this Honey Garlic ChickenHoney Garlic Chickenrecipe. SOOOO GOOD. It was definitely a winner.
• Drinking more water
• What can you take off your to-do list that is taking up time, but doesn’t add value? – This was huge for me. I realized that I was setting unrealistic expectations of myself to accomplish SO MANY tasks that really didn’t NEED to be done right now/if at all. Once I took some of those off, delegated a few, and even though it was hard – I had to say no to some commitments that were just too much for me right now. It means that I don’t go to EVERY event and that I know that I need time to myself. Look over your calendar/ to-do list and if you are feeling overwhelmed, see what you can take a step back from.

Hope these help! These are just some things I have been doing and trying to keep focused on that I feel like have helped me the last couple months.

Thank y’all for stopping by!

Photography by: Diamond Oak PhotographyDiamond Oak Photography

Hey Y’all! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter! John and I went to Lafayette, Louisiana for Easter this year to spend time with his Aunt and cousins. We were only there for a couple days, but we had the BEST time. Our weekend consisted of a crawfish boil, the coolest coffee shop ever, shopping, exploring the cutest little neighborhood ( totally wish I lived in one of these adorable homes!) & we finished the weekend with dinner, live music, and drinks at Sugar Fest where I wore this super cute, flowy dress from Madewell in Market Street – The Woodlands. It was my favorite outfit from the entire weekend, so you know I had to share!

We had such a great time on our little mini vacation. Lafayette is a small town with so much character. We went into their ” down town” and had breakfast at The French Press ( PS: try the Praline bacon – it will change your life!) If you are from Texas though, be prepared for them to make fun of the way you say it haha!

My favorite place from the entire trip was The Lab Handcrafted Coffees & Comforts. They put soft serve ice cream in your coffeeeeee! I am still craving it. I feel bad for all my future cups of coffee that will never be able to live up to that one. If you try it, make sure to walk around the cute neighborhood while you enjoy it. You will find the cutest homes with SO MUCH CHARACTER and plenty of photo op’s. (PS: that is where all these pictures were taken. I kept hoping people wouldn’t walk out while I was awkwardlyposing on their front porches.)

I decided to wear some strappy sandals to make the dress more casual for drinks/dancing out on the patio, but it would also be really cute with wedges or heels. It was super comfortable ( literally, at 28, I now don’t buy anything that isn’t comfortable), lightweight, and I just adore the feminine floral pattern.

While we were there, we also did The Escape Room. Have y’all tried that? It is SO fun. Unfortunately, we figured out the code and were 15 seconds too late. Literally, she walked in as we were yelling out the code! It was so much harder than I thought it would be though. They put extra items in the room to distract you and it totally works.

Hope you are all having a great week! John will be making an appearance on the blog here in the next day or two sharing another delicious recipe. Woo Hoo!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you to Market Street – The Woodlands for sponsoring this post! Opinions are always 100% my own.