A datevitation

Valentines Day is looming, folks, and if you're anything like me, you love to give thoughtful gifts but suck at the execution part (i.e., you wait too long to think about the gift, then you don't have time to come up with anything thoughtful, so you wind up spending too much money under the assumption that, if you drop some serious dough on 'em, they can't complain... right?)

That logic won't work for me this year, thanks to law school and starting a business, which are both rather expensive endeavors that leave little left in one's pockets.  But THANK GOD for websites like Datevitation, where you can create your own cute little coupon book for your lovah, which is almost no work since you have over 200 date ideas to choose from... including naughty ones. :) This is the FIRST website of it's kind where you can choose all your own coupons, versus being stuck with a ready-made, lame gift book. Something sweet, thoughtful, AND custom, that you barely had to work for?! Right down my alley, folks, right down my alley. (Ask my husband... "gifts" are the last on my list of love languages. I suck at them.)

Today, Datevitation is giving one SOML reader a coupon code for a free 5 page gift book (enter in the Rafflecopter below!), but if you'd rather not wait and try your luck in the giveaway, you can use the code STORYOFMYLIFE for $10 off your purchase in JANUARY. That means you get your custom love coupon book starting at just 10 buckaroos. Quite the steal.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kiss Slavery Goodbye

The other day Matthew and I watched that movie Taken about the young (I think college age) girl who was abducted by human traffickers in Paris and sold into sex slavery (before her father, some secret agent guy, shot up half of Europe to get her back), and I couldn't help thinking about Radiant Cosmetics and the work they do to prevent and end the travesty of human trafficking (slavery) that truly does exist in our world today. January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and Radiant has a campaign going called "Kiss Slavery Goodbye." For every lipstick sold, Radiant will donate another lipstick for outreach programs to current victims as well as survivors (on top of the 20% of proceeds that they already donate to the cause).

I know it's hard for many of us to even fathom this atrocity, but it really does happen, and right in our own backyards. Read more about it here.

The shade I'm wearing above is called Moscow and it, along with many other lovely lip colors, can be found and purchased here. (this particular lip color is a matte, but I paired it with a bit of chapstick to combat dry winter lips.)

You can make a difference, just by buying a pretty new lipstick. Let's kiss slavery goodbye, shall we?

A salad dressing recipe that will make you want to eat salad.

I know this is sort of an odd topic for a blog post... I mean it IS a recipe, and that's been known to happen around here, but a salad dressing recipe? A little more unusual. So I hope you will assume that it's a damn good salad dressing recipe, or I wouldn't be sharing it.

For real though, I have been making this dressing for some time now, though for a spell there I went many months without making it (just forgot about it, really). Then I rediscovered it one day and was all like "where have you been all my life, or more specifically, the last 6 to 8 months?" We love it. It's so light, so fresh, so flavorful, and really makes a good salad great. Always makes me want to gobble up my greens, whereas before I'd eat them quite begrudgingly. Hope you'll try it!

*serving suggestion: mixed greens, tomato, avocado, fresh mandarin oranges, and candied nuts

Lemon and Shallot Vinaigrette
Serves two (about one cup of packed greens per serving)

Ingredients
3/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp (or so) minced shallots
1/8 tsp salt
Dash of sugar
* * * * *
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:
Combine juice, vinegar, shallots, salt, and sugar; let stand 15 minutes. (I always start the dressing before the rest of the dinner, then finish it after I'm done prepping the meal). After 15 minutes, add oil and pepper, stirring with a wisk. Poor over salad and toss well. Enjoy!

The Pink Pig and August E's

Well hello there! I have a tad bit more to say about Fredericksburg, if you don't mind. :) I won't drag our trip recap out forever, but I would like to tell you about a couple great restaurants we went to, in case any of you plan a trip to f-burg in the future!

It seems like the turnover rate of restaurants and businesses in Fredericksburg is fairly quick. There are several tried and true places that seem to really hold strong, but whenever we go out there, we find that some places we tried in the past have since closed down. Makes me sad... I know it's hard to get a business off the ground, especially in a tourist town where customers don't flow through at the same rate year-round.  But anyway, all that rambling to say that the two spots I'll mention today were SO yummy, and I hope they last! 

The Pink Pig is a new restaurant by pastry chef/cookbook author Rebecca Rather, and it. was. great. The restaurant itself was super cute, the pastries delicious, and the menu food SO good! So good, in fact, that I totally forgot to take pictures of our sandwiches. Oh well. You'll have to take my word for it! Definitely try this place if you're ever in town.

Our three year anniversary is in a few weeks, and this entire trip was kind of a mini-Anniversary-celebration/last hurrah before the spring semester of law school.  So we wanted to have one fancy dinner out while we were there, and August E's felt like the place to go for it. This seems to be one of the more tried and true spots around town (it was alive and kicking all three times we went to Fredericksburg), so we headed over there for our anniversary dinner, and we were not disappointed! Matthew hadn't had sushi (one of his absolute favorites) since moving to Texas from Cali three years ago, and he decided to give Texas sushi a try for the first time at August E's.  He loved it. I've also been wanting to try lobster tail (never had lobster before!), so I went all out and ordered me some lobster tail, dangit. And then we had creme brûlée. And then we went back to the cabin and enjoyed being fat and happy in our little spa tub out back. A good night. :)

We'd definitely recommend either of these places! Happy Tuesday. :)

Buckhorn Cabin

We arrived at Buckhorn Cabin in Fredericksburg, TX on a cold and rainy day... the perfect kind of day for cozying up in a cabin, actually, and I was fairly certain, upon stepping over the threshold, that I had died and gone to heaven. Matthew too. We took a little tour around the place, and he announced quite firmly that this was his favorite of the three bed and breakfasts we've stayed at in Fredericksburg so far, though personally, I don't know how I could ever choose between the three. All so uniquely wonderful.  (Last year, Amoroso Cottage. The year before that, Paradise Loft! We loved both).

But Buckhorn Cabin! In a word, fantastical. I made that up especially for this occasion.  Really, it was all kinds of wonderful, from THE most luxurious king sized bed (I must find and buy those sheets for our bed at home... how are they so soft?!), to the Keurig coffee maker (the likes of which I'd never experienced), to the copper sinks, to the jacuzzi hot tub out in the yard. This was my first time soaking in a hot tub on a truly cold night, complete with steam rising up around us as we sipped our red wine. It was an amazing experience.

Buckhorn Cabin was built in the 1790's in Kentucky and was transferred here where it was expanded upon and turned into the warm little B&B it is today.  I kept staring at the old wooden walls inside, wondering what they'd seen in their last 200 years. It's things like this that keep us going back to Fredericksburg. We love the history and the character, and really, after three getaways there, still feel we've barely scratched the surface of things to do!

I'll leave you with a little tour of the cabin. Hope you enjoy the peek inside...

A couple shots outside...

'Til next time, Buckhorn Cabin....

If you'd like more photos of the cabin or you'd like to book a Fredericksburg B&B, go here. They are the BEST!

OMG BOYBANDemia.

Oh my gosh you guys... have you heard of BOY BANDemia?  You simply must watch their videos.  These guys are Physician Assistant students at East Carolina University, and they created a healthcare promoting boy band to raise awareness on important health topics.  Their videos are HILARIOUS, these guys are HOT, and it's all about being healthy. Spread the word! These guys deserve the positive attention!!

This first video is about smoking, and it's a parody of Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way." You will die...

The second video is about the obesity epidemic in the U.S., and it's a parody of Backstreet Boys' "Incomplete." Too funny!

Head over to their Facebook page if you'd like a little more info or to follow along with their campaigns. These guys. are. great.

A getaway

Happy Friday, you guys! Matthew and I are on our way home from our third annual Fredericksburg trip, so I’m just dropping in to say hello. I can’t wait to tell you all about the coziest little cabin you ever did see and the sweetest little town we enjoy visiting oh so much. It’s the perfect getaway… just close enough to home, and just far enough away.  Here are all my posts from past trips, and below are a few snaps for a peek at what’s to come. :) Have a wonderful weekend!