Bites of My Life

Summer is on the downhill slope, and I am trying to pack it all in before I have to go back to school. This week included hot temperatures, home cooking, a best friend lunch, a store opening, and the John Mayer concert. Only two weeks left till it's back to the grind.

{Bites of My Life}

{lots of food pictures this week}

-Cupcakes, green tea and popsicles for a cool afternoon treat at my favorite bakery!

-In dire need of a trip to the grocery store, but managed to whip up this stir fry with the only things we had in the fridge! (brown rice, red onion, corn, spinach and broccoli)

-Smoked salmon sandwich for lunch at Kitchen No. 324. The perfect spot to dish about life with my two best friends! 

-My parents were in Seattle over the fourth where they got to eat some of the best seafood. Lucky for me they had some shipped home! Fresh scallops, shrimp and herb spaghetti all from Pikes Place Market.

-My best gal pals and I all in Dallas to see John Mayer. 

-Perfect night for an outdoor concert!

xo annie

On My Radar

Sharing a few things that are making me excited, curious and anxious.

I'm leaving tomorrow to see John Mayer. I can't wait. His new single "Paper Doll" has been on repeat all week. Getting anxious for his next album, coming out August 13!

I cut quite a bit of my hair off back in the spring, but I'm feeling the itch to go even shorter. My hairdresser laughed when I said I wanted to go short, meaning right above my shoulders. She sports an edgy almost pixy cut, so short to her means really short. I'm not that adventurous, but I think it's time for another chop! Gwyneth is my go to hair style icon.

Brace yourself. Word on the street is that overalls are coming back. Call me crazy, but I'm kind of excited about it. I'm interested to see if the trend will take off again. Overalls seem to have gotten a bad rep after they went out of style a while ago, but come on they are so practical! You don't need a belt, they usually have tons of pockets, and they are comfy! I wonder if Gap will recreate the purple corduroy pair I used to love when I was 5.

I found this picture last week on Pinterest. With the 100+ degree temps we are having, all I want is to throw my hair up. I'm getting a little tired of the fun buns, headbands and braids. On the hunt for some little silk scarves to tie my hair up with!

xo annie

No Plain Jane

all images via Sea of Shoes

Meet Jane Aldridge. Jane is the author of Sea of Shoes, has incredible style, a killer shoe collection and was the first blog I ever read. She started Sea of Shoes back in 2007 as a hobby and it has now grown into so much more. My sister showed me her blog back when I was probably a freshman or sophomore in high school. I spent about two hours reading through all of her archives, then proceeded to read it every day. I must admit it has been a while since I checked her blog, but when I saw a tweet the other day about her apartment tour being on Teen Vogue I was intrigued.

Jane is now 21, living in Dallas, working on fashion deals and recently moved into her own apartment.  Teen Vogue did a feature on her eclectic styled apartment. Jane's style is definitely more funky and indie than my style, but she pulls it off. Her house has lots of rich jewel tones, unique furniture and paintings etc. Her home style is very similar to her clothing style. She does interesting pairings of patterns and textures, but for some reason it works. 

this is the perfect example of Jane's eclectic mix of texture, colors and pattern.

You can view the whole apartment tour on Teen Vogue or part of it on Sea of Shoes.

Oh and did I mention her mom is equally as fashionable. Her blog is fabulous too. This mom daughter duo has it going on.

xo annie

Tomato Feta Salad aka the "Megan Salad"

This salad has quickly become a staple with my friends and family. My good friend Megan (hence the name) introduced us to this super easy and amazing salad. I eat this salad at least twice a week. As do my parents. After Megan made it for us when she stayed with my family over Easter, my parents love to text me when they make the "Megan salad."

It only calls for 4 ingrediants. These 4 ingredients are now always stocked in my fridge. This salad is the perfect side dish, great for a cookout or as fresh and healthy lunch! I had it yesterday with some grilled chicken added in, so yum!

You can see I eat this salad a lot, and like to take pictures of it. Pictured is the Megan salad on its own, as a side and which chicken for a more hearty main dish!

Megan Salad 

Ingredients:
cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
feta cheese, crumbled
a few leaves of basil, chopped
dressing of your choice*

Directions:
Slice tomatoes, chop basil, add in feta (i like a lot of feta). Toss with dressing and you're done! Like anything with dressing on it, it won't stay super fresh for long, but can stay in the fridge for a couple hours. 

*Sass' Sesame Garlic dressing is the preferred dressing but it can be hard to find. Check Whole Foods or other high end grocery stores. If you can't find the Sass, I've used Newman's Own Lite Sesame Ginger which is great as well. Even just plain balsamic vinegar works too!

Annie

Bites of My Life

I'm disappointed in myself with the lack of pictures from last week. After getting home from Fort Worth, it was go go go! It was a busy week, but only filled with fun things! 

Wednesday afternoon started the holiday weekend. I spent the evening at one of my favorite lakes right outside of town. I ate delicious barbecue and watched pre-fourth of July fireworks with good friends! 

Thursday, we had a fourth of July celebration at our place. We laid by the pool all day and cooked-out at night! It got thrown together at the last minute, but ended up being one of my more favorite fourths!

Friday was Beyonce. Queen B came in to town and it was without a doubt the best concert I've ever been to. Beyonce was incredible and sasha fierce as always. "Love on Top," has been playing on repeat since.

Early saturday morning a group of us packed up to head to the lake to round out the weekend. You can't beat summer weekends at the lake. 

-cookies to celebrate with!

-my favorite cast back on TV for the rest of the summer!

-can't have the fourth without fireworks

-Beyonce causally flying from one stage to the other

I may have been skeptical of July, but so far so good. This week is already off to a good start. My ultimate guilty pleasure, Laguna Beach and The Hills are being shown on MTV again. I then have the John Mayer concert to look forward to this weekend!

Have a great week!

xo annie