don't mess with texas!

Last week we got to spend some good ol' quality time with our amazing friends in Texas! Kellan and Shelby (or Shellan and Kelby if you've had a few drinks) moved out to Dallas last year and we were pretty bummed about it, but at least they live in a cool city that we can come visit and have a blast in.

First stop, the Stockyards in Fort Worth, to see the Cattle Drive. I loved the speckled ones!

Texas is all about the food, right? So we HAD to get a Whataburger. It was mandatory, and we were not let down. Damn, these things are good! 

One day, we ventured over to the Bishop Arts District and I was in love. Quaint little stores mixed in with local restaurants = heaven. I could have spent all 4 days here and been a happy camper!

Society was definitely my favorite shop. It was so tiny, but packed with so many goodies! I wanted everything. 

Back to more food! Kellan's favorite bbq restaurant in Grapevine was a hit. Their mac 'n' cheese wasn't even fair. Everything was perfect. And they had Cheerwine, in a glass bottle, so Bradley was happy! 

On Friday we drove to Austin. It's a great city to visit regardless, (my mom and I went in 2013 for Quiltcon!) but my brother just moved there 3 weeks ago, so I especially wanted to go! And this weekend happened to be SXSW, so it was perfect timing!

First Stop in Austin was Home Slice Pizza. So good! I need another bite of Shelby's eggplant pizza!

And then we got cupcakes, because they're my favorite, and who turns down a cupcake? We came across the cupcake truck that mom and I visited in 2013, Hey Cupcake. They were even better than I remember. I got lemon with strawberry frosting. Amazing.

And we crammed in some time at Room Service Vintage to see if we could find anything that we just had to have! Unfortunately all the stuff I loved was huge, and wouldn't fit in my carryon- like this couch! I was obsessed. 

Making this post showed me how much stuff I don't have pictures of! Shelby and Kellan kept us so busy the entire time! I guess it's good that I actually enjoyed the time there instead of worrying about a certain shot. We had so much fun and definitely want to come back. Thanks so much to my best friend for having us!!

what a weekend!

You know that feeling when you are so glad to be home? Yep, I had that this weekend. I had a great time weekend visiting my dad and then my best friend in Raleigh, but coming home Sunday ended up being such a long day.

An hour into my 6 hour drive home I got a flat tire. This lead to a very creepy old man hitting on me while he changed my tire. AAA should really screen these people. No female, driving alone, wants to feel like she is going to be raped. And then I couldn't drive home on the spare tire (or over 50 mph,) so that lead me to buying a new tire at walmart. Thankfully, this all happened about 30 min from my cousins, so they joined me at walmart and then fed me some good ol' chicken and pastry. Also nice was cooper keeping me occupied with his adorable sleeping positions.

Before Sunday's unforseen adventure, I did have a great weekend in Raleigh with my bestie. Of course the first night we had Cheesecake Factory. It's one of my favorites, solely on the fact that they have free bread. That's pretty much how I rate restaurants. 1. Do they have bread. 2. How good is the bread. And 3. Do you have to pay for the bread. It's safe to say that Cheesecake Factory is at the top of that list. Saturday was jammed packed with shopping, first hitting the sale section at Anthro, where we snagged some good markdowns and volcano candles for each of our birthdays. Then for dinner she took me to this yummy local Italian restaurant, Bella Monica.

Their bread is out of this world. We inhaled it so fast that I didn't get a picture, but trust me on this. It comes cut like a piece of cake, slathered with olive oil and topped with herbs and sauteed onion, and you eat it with a fork. Oh my god. Probably the best bread ever. Then we split their calamari, but it wasn't what you usually get. It had no breading and wasn't fried. It was seared in basil. Sounds kind of odd, but so. good. For my entree, I stuck to what I knew would be perfect, and got a margherita pizza. All in all, Bella Monica was such a win. I'll definitely be begging Mal to go back the next time I visit!

shelby + kellan

Alright! They are officially married! It actually happened like two weeks ago, but I have been forgetting to write on here! I thought their wedding would make for one beautiful post.

Shelby is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. No, really. She is. She genuinely cares. If she asks you how you are doing, she really wants to know. And if she hears of good news in your life, she is so happy for you, not jealous at all. And she is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. I mean, look at her! Kellan is definitely a lucky man.

I am so happy that I was there for their wedding. I'm glad that I was able to witness this great love. To watch them promise to love each other, no matter what. I know that they mean it. 50 years from now, we'll be celebrating their anniversary. They are definitely in it for the long haul.

Congrats, you two! Thank you for letting Bradley and I both be a part of your special day. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends.