Foodies at Heart

Okay I'm not afraid to admit it... sometimes I think our lives revolve around food! I'm sure it's a life stage though, so I'm not going to feel guilty about it.

After traveling to Austin and Vancouver the past 2 weekends and with another fun trip planned next weekend, we took this weekend to really relax and do nothing except catch up on house stuff and prepare for India.

Today we didn't do much except eat! Other than church, working out and a relaxing swim we just indulged. This morning Dana made my favorite challah bread french toast - even though we still had these delicious raspberry almond muffins that he made yesterday. Later we had watermelon/ricotta salada/mint salad and a portabella/goat cheese/roasted red pepper burger - paired with champagne of course! We don't cook as often as I'd like, but it's so fun when we do. We also signed up for a Viking cooking class in a few weeks. It's always good to learn new tricks : )

What do you wish for?

We'd love to hear from the people who read our blog. So our question for you today is... If a genie granted you three wishes, what would you ask for?

A Girlfriend Getaway

This weekend while Dana golfed and caught up on work, I enjoyed a super relaxing, very fun girls weekend outside Austin. It was a few friends through work and then some of their friends from the neighborhood. We had the best time just lounging by the pool drinking margaritas, making smores around the fire pit at night and playing "questions" games... which you know I love! The Austin hills are just beautiful and it was so nice to get out of Dallas and enjoy nature, although not so fun to go for a run on them in the Texas heat - yikes! Time with girl friends can just be so reenergizing. I'm very grateful for all of my blessings this weekend - and our amazing husbands that took care of our households (and everyone else's kids) so that we could enjoy this time together.

Movies, Music and Missions

This weekend was packed! Friday I rewatched "Fireproof": a must-see movie for anyone who is married. It's such a great reminder on how to maintain a solid marriage. I had such a good cry (most movies make me cry - even Disney) and it felt great. Dana golfed with buddies with work so we both had good "me time".

Saturday I did the "Race for the Cure" with a bunch of girls from work. It was an absolutely beautiful day and it was fun to see Smartfood being sampled to a lot of eager women!

After brunch at my favorite brunch spot (Breadwinners), I took an awesome nap (my favorite activity really) and then did a dance class with more girlfriends from work. I'm using the term "dance class" here loosely.... It was fun, but really tough!

Saturday night the Hottingers invited us to the George Strait concert with a bunch of other friends from work. So fun! It was the first event at the new Cowboys Stadium, which is the largest domed structure in the world and totally amazing. The HD screen in the middle was pretty much the size of the football field! We were lucky to have seats in a super nice box as part of a Mercedes event. Go Mercedes! For those of you we don't work with, this might sounds like a lot of "work" events, but really it's a testimony of how much people from FL are a part of our lives.

Sunday the founder of the International Justice Mission (IJM) spoke at our church. Gary Haugen changed my life when I heard him speak a year ago at a Leadership Conference. His organization fights to save children who are victims of slavery or the sex trafficking industry. It was a dream come true to meet someone who I admire so much in person! Everytime I hear someone like him speak I feel like God is hitting me over the head telling me to go do something important with my life and not get caught up in the small details of life that just distract us from being his agents of change on earth. Luckily, I'll actually be partnering with IJM a bit in India on rescuing minors from brothels and rehabilitating them.

Afterwards I had another Swap party where I traded clothes and home decor with friends. Everyone ended up with so much great stuff! I'm really becoming addicted to these exchanges now. They are the essence of guilt-free shopping.

Filled to the brim with Happiness

Dana read that the key to happiness is meals spent with friends and family. In that case, I'd say we had a pretty happy anniversary weekend in California! Here are the highlights:

- A swanky dinner with Caroline & Justin at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica (undergrad friends)
- An amazing brunch at Huckleberry
- Walking around the Farmers Market and shopping at the Promenade
- Dinner & dancing at Ma'Kai Lounge with Tom, his girlfriend Missy, Doug & Kailyn (b-school friends we haven't seen in forever!)
- A homemade Brunch at Neerav's place (peanut butter pancakes - I'm hooked)
- Wine tasting outdoors on a beautiful day in Malibu
- BBQing with Travis, Kara and their 3 sweet little girls

Celebrating 5 years!!!

Last Friday we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and I just feel incredibly blessed to have found such a perfect partner for me. The time has really flown by. Before we got married, the whole idea of marriage really scared me. I had no idea of what it would be like and how challenging it would be to really make it work. Thankfully, marriage is so much more fun than I could have ever dreamed. I'm very grateful to God for bringing us together!

MTV Movie Awards

Dana and I went out to LA this week to sample Smartfood (the new brand I recently launched) at the MTV Movie Awards celebrity gift house. We handed out our snacks at a mansion in Hollywood Hills and met a lot of celebrities from popular shows like 90210 (new and old), Melrose Place, the Office, Heroes, Gossip Girl, Lost, High School Musical, etc. It felt like there were a lot more "B" list celebs than the "A" list stars that we were anxious to see, but it was still fun to see people we recognized.

I was interviewed by the local news and we did a drawing for some clothes from FORM - an amazing NY designer (and a college buddy of Dana's!). We weren't able to go to the actual event, but the experience was pretty cool. I was a bit sad that no one from the show "The Hills" showed up (a picture with Spencer and Heidi would have been fun), but everyone raved about our new nutritious and indulgent-tasting sweet popcorn. This week was one of the reasons we really love working together - joint work trips!