Dallas Home Tour

Greetings from Texas! I’ve officially been here for a month and half and feeling rather settled for a somewhat short time frame. People couldn’t believe how quickly I got things unpacked and organized, but that’s just how I roll. I’m the kind of person who gets home from vacation and unpacks my suitcase and starts laundry the second I walk in the door.

My Dallas apartment is a little 650 square foot one-bedroom that I couldn’t love more. I love the white walls, marble countertops and windows. I’ve become my mother’s child and only rely on lamp light, so the natural light is incredible.

I’m oddly lucky to have had almost everything I needed for my new space. I bought one rug and that is it. Being the baby of the family has huge perks, and in this case, years of furniture falling into my lap. Almost all of the pieces you see have been with me from college, to my first house post-grad, and then my second house, and now my apartment.

Majority of my furniture is years, even decade old hand-me-downs. My navy velvet chair? It used to be a silk chartreuse toile fabric and I’ve known it to be in my parents formal living room since I was born. My mom recovered and gifted it to me a few years ago. I love how most pieces have a little story and memory attached to them. See my coffee table? It’s from the OU Kappa house.

My dining room table is older than me. I spent all my years growing up eating dinner at that table and it continues to serve me the same in my own place. As for the chairs, they are new, and cheap! My artwork ranges from HomeGoods finds, to Gray Malin, to Craig Tucker (my dad) originals!! I have a large canvas above my couch - painted by dad! As for the few new pieces, most of my homewares are from HomeGoods, Amazon, RugsUSA, and Ikea. I’ve linked as much as I can in my ‘Home Sweet Home’ list on Amazon and at the bottom of this post.

I got this acrylic bar cart for Christmas last year. It’s from HomeGoods, but I found a similar one here. Due to space issues we piled up all of my cookbooks on the bottom shelf, but I actually love all the pops of color they give off.

Many o’ Perfect CCCs have already been baked in this oven. The kitchen space is limited, but just right for one! If you are looking for the perfect housewarming gift, please check out my friend Kate at Kate & Co. She monograms the cutest towels, cocktail napkins and more. My best friends sent me off with this pink turkish towel before I left and I love having it prominently displayed on my oven.

Kudos to my incredible parents for assisting with the move and being the ultimate coffee table stylers and shelf hanging folks I know.

My home is where my heart is (and where Southern Charm is always on loop).

Annie

I’ve linked as many pieces as I can in my ‘Home Sweet Home’ list on Amazon as well as individual links below. If you have questions about a specific piece, feel free to ask in the comments or email me!

Bedroom Rug
Ikea Leirvik Bed Frame
Gray Malin Waikiki Print
West Elm Bedding
The Best Amazon Sheets
Beige Pom Pom Throw (similar)
Ikea Floating Shelves
Mini Light Box
Acrylic Picture Frames
Acrylic Chair
Acrylic Bar Cart (similar)
Eames Chairs, set of 4
Coffee Table Books
Nest ‘Bamboo’ 3-wick candle
Living Room Rug
Navy Throw Pillows
Pink Monogrammed Turkish Towel
Pink KitchenAid Mixer
Wooden Salt Container
Williams Sonoma Monogrammed Marble Cutting Board

If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission.

Bites of My Life

I always write the photo descriptions first when I sit down to write my bites post. I didn’t even realize until I was typing out all of lasts weeks happenings based on the photos I shared, but man, last week was full of so many connections. With two friends from home in town at two different times, one of my best college friends who lives in London home, coffee with an internet friend, dinner with newish friends, drinks with good friends and more. Even in a new city, my roots are feeling strong and connected.

-New workout and a new job! I’m now working two early mornings a week at Pilates/Tread Barre in Dallas. Praise be to extra cash and free classes!
-After years of connecting on instagram, I loved getting to meet my friend Maegan aka The Baker Mama in real life!
-I’ve wanted to do this since I first read Bread & Wine, but finally found the group to host a dinner party inspired by my favorite book.
-On the menu was Shauna Niequist’s watermelon feta salad, sweet potato fries and mar-a-lago turkey burgers all from her book Bread and Wine.
-Sleepover with MK at The Joule! She was here for work and I gladly took her up on the invite for a GNO in a fancy hotel room.
-Downtown Dallas was quiet and so pretty early Friday morning when I checked out.
-Early drive to Fort Worth to make a visit with my Londoner Meg work with our schedules.
-Pineapple on your pizza. For or against? I’m for it and for a second trip to Louie’s! Quickly becoming my favorite place in Dallas.
-After a slow start to Monday, a few girl friends and I did ranch waters and Mexican food in Deep Ellum then came up north for live music and rounds and rounds of kings on the corner at Henry’s Majestic Saturday night.
-Posted my Trader Joe’s grocery haul on instagram stories yesterday and got a wildly positive response. I love that people love groceries as much as me.
-Explored the Bishop Arts district for the first time this week and I’m anxious to go back. It’s southwest of downtown Dallas and off the beaten path, but full of the quaintest shops and restaurants.
-Loved having Trinian in from OKC! She said yes to the dress with her mom in Dallas and we said yes to meeting up for happy hour and shopping the next day!

Annie

2 Ingredient Shakshuka: MY Go-To Clean Out The Fridge Meal

I pride myself on clean out the fridge meals. It’s honestly shocking what I can do with a near empty fridge. My mom can attest to this. Anytime I’m over she’ll say “oh we have nothing to eat!,” but a few minutes later and I have some kind of loaded salad situation or a plate of nachos. My past roommates could say the same.

Today’s meal is exhibit A of me having nothing but a few eggs in the fridge and no effort to go to the store. I first started making this meal a couple years ago when I lived with my roommate at the time, Kenzie. She had a half empty bottle of marinara, I had two eggs, and we had an abundance of basil growing in the backyard. Enter: shakshuka.

Shakshuka originates from North Africa, made often with tomato sauce seasoned with cumin, paprika, chilis, garlic, and nutmeg. My version lends itself more Italian thanks to a jar of pre-made marinara and some basil. I call it 2-ingredient because all you need are eggs and sauce, but if you have some basil and red pepper flakes your dish will have a little more pizzazz. Oh, and salt and pepper don’t count in the number of ingredients, don’t @ me.

2 Ingredient Shakshuka
yields 1 serving (can easily be doubled to serve 2, see not below)*

Ingredients:
1 cup marinara sauce
2 eggs
salt and pepper
optional: fresh basil and red pepper flakes

Directions:
In an 8-inch or omelet size pan, heat your marinara over medium heat for 1 minute. Using a small spatula, create 2 wells in the sauce that you can crack the eggs into. Crack and carefully lower egg into each well. Continue to cook over medium for 5 minutes. Then cover with a lid and cook for one minute to finish cooking the whites. Immediately remove from heat to avoid over cooking the yolks.

Sprinkle the top with a little salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and fresh basil if you have it. Grab a fork and a placemat or towel to set your hot pan on, and enjoy straight from the dish!

*If you are making for 2, I find a cast iron skillet to be the perfect size pan for twice the sauce and 4 eggs. Once cooked, scoop into shallow bowls and serve with crusty bread and a green salad for a complete meal.

**Disclosure, you do not need to reserve this meal for simply cleaning out the fridge. It’s perfectly acceptable to buy a new jar of marinara and a new carton of eggs just for this recipe!

Annie

Bites of My Life

After being home in OKC for 5 days I was craving to get back on schedule and in the swing of things in Dallas. Last week consisted of catching up on shows (Big Little Lies, The Bachelorette, The Hills: New Beginnings (anyone else?) and Southern Charm), dinner with a good friend, happy hour, workouts at one of my favorite spots (including their pop-up at Hotel Zaza), a pool day and back to back weekend nights out with friends. TBH I’m exhausted, but here’s to another week and the last week of July (wahhhhhhh)!

-Back on eggs around here, but only if they are pasture raised. My friend Libby wrote this post a while ago where she goes over which eggs are best.
-Remade my 2 ingredient shakshuka and shot it to put into a recipe post! Stay tuned for the details this week!
-Obsessing over this healthy and easy week night meal. Posted the recipe for this Verde Chicken + Black Bean Cauliflower Rice Bowl!
-New RX Bar alert! Chocolate Banana Walnut is like banana bread in protein bar form. I found it at my local Sprouts and need to go back to stock up.
-Steered away from food for Thursday’s post and it got an overwhelming response! Are y’all telling me something??
-Happy Hour with two friends from two different walks of life at a neighborhood spot I’d been dying to try. The $6 HH cocktail special will bring me back soon.
-A slow start to Friday morning with a DIY matcha (I’m loving this kind right now), 1/2 avo, rainier cherries and the new issue of Bon App.
-Dinner Friday with old friends at a Dallas hole-in-the-wall pizza spot. Louie’s has been featured on Diner’s Drive-Ins and Dives (yes I searched for and watched the episode before we went to dinner) and known for their thin cracker crust pizza and martinis!
-A neon spotted at a new bar on Greenville that was too perfect not to get a picture of.

Annie

2 Easy Hair Tricks I Learned From My Stylist

Keep reading for how to get instant volume and wave.

I have always had straight (pretty flat) blonde hair. I’m terrible and only get my hair cut about once a year. And I’ve mentioned it here before, but outside of one other time getting it professionally done, my sister has always highlighted my hair…from a box.

My color was starting to get drab and muted and the box wasn’t cutting it anymore. Right after I moved to Dallas I was on a walk with a friend who lives down here and her color honestly just looked really good. I got her hair stylist’s number and immediately booked an appointment. Three days later I was sitting in her kitchen on a Sunday night (pretty sweet deal) getting my hair balayaged. I went with the balayage instead of highlights because it is more of a subtle ombré. It grows out with your hair so you only have to color about 1-2 times a year. Music to my annual haircut ears!

Not only did I love my color, but I walked away with two tips from my new stylist that are too easy and good not to share.

I use Shimmer Lights purple shampoo 1-2 times a week to keep my blonde hair it’s brightest shade.

1. Use a purple shampoo

   Blonde colored treated hair can often take on a gold/yellow hue after time. To keep your blonde color a bright and more silver/white hue, incorporate a purple shampoo into your routine. I use Shimmer Lights purple shampoo, per my stylists recommendation. Use it once a week or as needed. My stylist also suggested using it on a Friday or Saturday night before an event or going out. It gives you hair and your confidence an instant boost!

2. Wear your hair in a bun with bobby pins after blowdrying

   For instant volume and wave, twist your hair into a high bun after you blow dry it. Using just three bobby pins, I twist my bone straight hair up into a bun loosely secured. Then let it sit while you finish getting ready. When you let the pins down, your hair will have a subtle wave and some extra volume without a crease. I also do this while I sleep. I used to use a silk scrunchy, but the bobby pins leave my hair up out of my face without creasing it.

Do you have any quick tips you swear by?

Annie