Bites of My Life

This post combines the past two weeks into one big bite. I got home from vacation late last Wednesday and quickly had to jump right back in to work and social life as I knew it. A big work event, busy playing catch up, a besties birthday and a personal to-go list that is becoming miles long has me typing as fast as I can to get through this post to continue tackling the others. A full round up of our trip to Aspen is in the works! It was too good of a trip not to devote a post to. Catch a glimpse in the snapshots below and stay tuned for the whole shebang!

-Channeling “back to school” vibes with my new work bag/backpack - that I can’t get enough of!
-Aunts do Aspen! And Elle does Aspen really well. #gimmethosemoccasins
-We were lucky to get to stay in a big house on our trip. We played to our strengths and cooked a few meals at home. After some delicious nights out, we all agreed our dinners at home were the best!
-The reason that brought us to Aspen, Pop’s 60th birthday! His birthday was actually in June, but there are many reasons to celebrate 3 months later!
-The whole fam damily! Not often does the whole crew get to be together, but I sure love when we do!
-I went on a kale salad kick while in Aspen. It seemed that just about every menu had their own rendition, so I took it upon myself to test them out. Like this kale caesar from Ajax Tavern
-I’ll follow up my kale salad note by mentioning that I washed down my healthy salad with fries at pretty much every meal. It’s called vacation! The infamous truffle fries from Ajax Tavern could not go without ordering.
-Just like one of the beautiful trees around me! We had a successful hike through the Maroon Bells.
-Book 12 out of my 12 in a year goal. Went out with a bang with this one. Can’t recommend it enough.
-The best breakfast casserole returns. Might I add, this is always a crowd pleaser. I brought it to a morning tailgate were it was aside donuts and bagels and many people reached for the casserole over the other options.
-Played cowgirl for the day to celebrate our favorite OSU Cowboy’s birthday in Stillwater!
-After a the kale salad craze on vacation, I knew I was inspired to recreate one at home. This kale quinoa goodness is coming your way later this week.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Labor Day huh? Isn't that the day you are supposed to uh, not, labor. Ya I've been up since 7:30am. I worked out, worked Gospel Brunch brunch at The Jones Assembly, meal prepped, created content for Made By Maddie, posted social media for work, updated the fall newsletter and website for OKC Kappa alum and now I'm typing as fast as a I can to get this post done so I can go to bed. No complaints, just using this as my place to hash out my day. I don't really love doing nothing, so looking back on this productive day has me pretty happy actually. Life is a labor of love I guess. 

In less than a week I'll be Colorado bound with my whole family for some serious R&R. Let's see if I can actually relax...stay tuned.

-Daily nighttime routine of Arbonne detox tea and digestion plus (pre and probiotic). Just keeping things regular, ya know. 
-This meal WINS. After a stronnnnggg craving for Chinese I cured it with The Defined Dish's Whole30 Orange Chicken recipe. The whole house loved it. Can't wait to try this and this too! 
-Post-dinner snack/dessert/sweet tooth hack = snack size pack of Lesser Evil popcorn, melted cashew butter to dip popcorn into and detox tea.
-Incredibly ideal Thursday night. Favorite new jeans, furry slippers, great dinner, great wine and 27 Dresses.
-Taqueria Tour with Dad stop 2 at Tacos Don Nacho!
-First OU gameday at Seven47 with no one other than.
-Was craving a green smoothie bowl after a gameday full of Frozen Red Bull Vodkas, nachos, chips and queso, chinese takeout and a cinnamon roll. Oh gosh, I'm craving another one just reading all of that...
-Summer feast with mom and dad to send summer out the door. Cajun Roasted Okra from The Defined Dish, skirt steak (not pictured) and chimichurri, roasted tomato caprese, fruit salad.
-Behind the scenes with Made by Maddie. You are looking at MBM's newest social media consultant, so do us a favor and give us a follow. 

Annie

Did you catch My Top 5 post last week?

My Top 5

The go-to conversation starter in my inner circle as of late is what are your top 5. Top 5 movies first, which then leads into TV Shows. But, I also love to find out peoples generic top 5 things in life.  Here are mine.

image via

Movies: 
1.  Father of the Bride Part II (The part 2 part is very important. I love the first one but the second one reigns supreme)
2.  It’s Complicated
3.  You’ve Got Mail
4.  That Thing You Do
5.  Remember the Titans

10 important life lessons from laguna beach and the hills

TV Shows:
1.  Gilmore Girls
2.  Barefoot Contessa
3.  The Hills/Laguna Beach
4.  Parenthood
5.  Friday Night Lights

In General: 
1.  Mornings (I sleep with my blinds open because I love being woken up by the sun. I’ve been an early riser my whole life. I used to get annoyed I couldn’t sleep in and now I love it. I love mornings so much I even wrote whole posts on them you can read here and here.
2.  Washington D.C.  My love for this city will never die. 
3.  Watching Food Network (especially on Saturday mornings in bed with a cup of coffee or tea)
4.  Cooking/Baking (duh)
5.  That feeling when you slip between the covers and lay your head on your pillow after a long day. 

Your turn. Let me here it in the comments below! 

Annie

Bites of My Life

August 2018: fasted month ever? Y or N? Anyone else feel like we hopped, skipped and jumped right over August. I can't believe September starts this weekend. In preparation for a very busy fall, I spent this weekend laying low aka in bed by 9pm Friday and Saturday night. Despite the early bed times, I didn't skip on the eeeeeats. Take a bite below. 

-Crock-pot dinner win! I put 2 chicken thighs with seasonings and 3/4 cup water in my crock-pot Monday morning. Wrapped 3 sweet potatoes in foil and placed them right on top of the chicken. Put it on low while I was at work all day. Came home and shredded the chicken then topped it with guac, salsa, red onion, jalapeño all on the perfectly cooked sweet potatoes. A similar meal found here.
-Breakfast for dinner! The go-to when I don't have any other food in the fridge.
-Blender Bombs, who's heard of them? Excited to start using them today!
-May the #TacoTour commence! Dad and I have instilled a new Friday lunch tradition scoping out all the best taqueria's in OKC. Full round up to come after we add more to our list. First stop was at Taco San Pedro.
-Popcorn dipped in sriracha/mustard. A snack hack that started because of my roommates senior year of college. I still love this odd combination.
-Pool party board! All goods are from TJ's and were eaten at our Saturday pool party in less than 5 minutes. Along with all the other dips, hot dogs, etc. #FriendsWhoEat.
-Post photoshoot at our restaurant on OU's Campus Corner, pre Arbonne Healthy Happy in Norman, had me caught enjoying lunch on campus! 
-Healthy Happy with two girls I'm lucky I get to work alongside.
-Taste testing macarons Sunday night. See why in my post here.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Back to school for some, back to the same for me. Adult life is slightly depressing this time of year without the excitement of back to school shopping, new teachers and the first day of school. But them I'm reminded that summer doesn't end so abruptly, I'm getting paid for how I spend my day instead of having to study and I love what I do, and let's be honest, I didn't love school. So all is still right in the world. 

Bites last week consisted of chili, a steak (YUM <--especially from this veggie loving gal), toast ;), salmon, breakfast foods, a grill out and ice cream! Non edible bites included finishing another book and starting a new one (follow me on goodreads!!), rain, and more rain and one last pool day of the season.

-It's been raining cats and dogs in Oklahoma (which I've been loooooving). It's giving us a taste of fall and cooler wedding, which quickly meant chili night in our house! P.S. top your chili with a dollop of guacamole instead of sour cream and thank me later. 
-Morning mirror selfie to show off my new Made By Maddie earrings. Loving this red and turquoise combo! 
-If you follow @themorningtoast on instagram, this was my picture they reposted. If you know you know, if you don't, don't worry. 
-Spent too much on this salmon. Baked it, made a mustard sauce, roasted asparagus, got real excited... only to be let down real quick. It tasted fishy and gross and now I probably won't eat salmon for at least 3 months. Let alone buy it. 
-Book 11 out of my 12 in a year goal! I'm crazy! PSA: this book will make some heads turn if you read in public. I had too many people comment on it while I was reading on the elliptical. All boys too on that note. Just beware you will have to explain yourself if caught in public reading Lauren Weisberger's new book aka the author of The Devil Wears Prada.
-This mix >>>> almonds, pistachios and dark chocolate covered espresso beans. Killer afternoon slump snack. 
-This muffin mix has been sitting in my pantry for too long. Woke up Saturday morning with an itch to bake and I was very pleased with how these Gluten Free Blueberry muffins from Brandless turned out. I'm also nostalgic to muffins from a box. That's how it was done when I was little, and sometimes food from a box just needs to happen.
-My first attempt at protein pancakes. Look amaze tasted ehhhh. I got some tips after sharing this photo on social media, so another go will be happening soon.
-A ice cream craving cured with the OG. Frozen yogurt twist on a cone from Braum's. My order since I was little. 

Annie