what carries me

November 30, 2013

his, hers, & mine: a holiday gift guide

Christmas is my most favorite time of year. The twinkle-y lights, snuggling, eating, and best of all: giving.

This is my first installment of the 4-part series of my gift guide. First up: the girlfriends. Some of these gifts I've used and LOVED (Darsee & David's Midnight candle, NYX Butter Gloss), some remind me of someone special (Mignon Kitchen Co. fruit cards, IMORIAH infinity scarf), and some are just fabulous and deserve to be gifted to someone (Anthropologie decanters, Nate Berkus wooden tray). These will definitely be under my Christmas tree.

Hers - gift guide by jenmarshall featuring Crate and Barrel

November 16, 2013

diy manicure

Recently one of my favorite bloggers posted a Q&A on At-Home Manicure Tips. Being an avid at-home manicurist, I was excited to see if she had any cool tips. I was disappointed when her tips included: push back your cuticles, 2 layers of color, and be patient while drying. Seemed like pretty obvious steps to me. Not to toot my own hown, but I give myself pretty good manicures. I've invested in the gel system - light and all. But the removal process makes me shy away from gel manis. The steps below are ones I follow weekly, and they work every time. And I side note about the Sinful Colors Sinful Shine - I can't say enough good stuff about this polish. It's $2.99, and it's got better shine than ANY of the fancy brands I've tried. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible to find them online (so I wasn't able to show off some of their awesome colors), but rest assured that you can find them at Walgreens.

DIY Manicure by jenmarshall featuring a bubble bath

August 05, 2013

style: caught on camera

This is the special Birthday Girl edition! This weekend we celebrated a friend's birthday, and she was nice enough to allow me to publish her look. Jennifer loves anything ikat or Aztec, so this skirt was perfect for her. It was a hot evening, and we did a lot of walking, so the booties were also an awesome choice.

where to find it
AE Embroidered Mini Skirt
AE Hi-lo Crop Tank
AEO Fringed Suede Bootie

August 02, 2013

Friday's peek through the week

Chipotle now serves Patron Margaritas. Whaaaat.

Chocolate-covered strawberries are my favorite sweet treat. I have never passed on one. Ever.

Scoring a neutral cross-body tote that fits what I need for a daytime adventure.

The longest baseball game I haver ever attended - 5 hours. In the sweltering Texas heat, no less. And I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

Brainstorming blog ideas.

My mom sends me cards every so often. And if I'm really lucky, it will include a Starbucks gift card. This one came on a day where I was overcome with homesickness. It was perfect timeing. Thanks, mom!

August 01, 2013

eating my way through Austin

A couple of months ago I took a trip to Austin. Being a fairly new resident of Texas, Austin is thrilling to me. There is so much to do, so many interesting people, and so much food to eat. So I threw my "healthy eating" aside and dove in. I had Austin's best brunch, Austin's best pizza, Austin's best BBQ, and Austin's best doughnut. Top that off with a desert tour. Needless to say, I came back to Dallas fat and happy.

(editor's note: these may not be "officially" the Best of Austin, but they should be.

Kerbey Lane Cafe : Eggs Fransisco - scrambled egg atop an english muffin. Then add bacon, tomato, avocado and queso (that's right - queso). I got a side of fruit and a side of blackbeans. All for $8.95. Hands down, best brunch of my life.

Austin Eats Dessert Tour : hosted by Madame Cocoa - I'm glad I got to do this. I've always wanted to take a dessert tour. However, it was much different than I expected. Madame Cocoa is a chocolate guru, and most of the tour consisted of education rather than tastings.

Home Slice Pizza - The atmosphere was awesome here. The wait was long, but we didn't mind because the people-watching was also great. And that's the case pretty much anywhere you go in Austin. The pizza was good, as well. Probably not the best pizza I've ever had, but it was darn good.

La Barbecue - This was some of the best barbecue I've ever eaten. Granted, it wasn't cheap ($50+). But there was enough to last at least 3 meals. And, the guys were pretty cool. We stopped by Saturday early-evening and they had already sold out. I gave them my super sad face, and he said I could come mark a brisket for the next day. So, I climbed up into his smoker trailer and picked out a brisket. I wrote my name on it. Sure enough, as soon as we got to the front of the line the following day, the guy went back and found the one with my name on it. On top of THAT, they give you free Lone Star beer and live music while you wait in line.

Gourdoughs : Dirty Berry - Their slogan, "Big. Fat. Doughnuts." is not a lie. These things are massive. At about $4 a pop, these donuts are made to order. They have some crazy combinations, but the Dirty Berry is my favorite by far.

So, needless to say, I had to be rolled out of Austin. But it was worth every calorie.

January 27, 2013

peek into the week

standing on the star on the Dallas Coyboys field

This past weekend I had friends in town. It was such an amazing weekend. Not only did I get to spend time with my oldest friend and her husband, but I also got to have a little staycation of my own. I feel like I saw more Dallas/Fort Worth in that one weekend than I have seen since I moved out here 9 months ago. We took a VIP tour of the Cowboys Stadium, got lost in Fort Work (where we wound up at the opening weekend of the Fort Worth Stock Yards), ate at my favorite restaurants, toured downtown Dallas, and more. James got to play golf, I got to teach my BFF what a kolache is (think pig in a blanket, but a million times better). Needless to say, it was a fun-filled weekend. That meant that this weekend, my only mission was to sleep in and relax. Mission accomplished. Bring on Monday!