p bar farm

last weekend, on a gorgeous clear-skied saturday, T, m+j, and i drove out to p bar farms to see if we could best their corn maze. neither of us had been before so we were all pretty excited to check out a new (to us) farm...especially since this one had a mini petting zoo!

[michael leading the way]

[pretending they're on the moon]

once we finished the difficult side of the maze, we ventured to the easy part where the larger clearings looked very moon-like. so, of course, the guys did their best moon walk. 

[my gang]

after finishing both mazes, we checked out the farm's sunflower field. that's right, a field of gorgeous sunflowers just because. 

[the wings]

[the webbs]

after getting our fill of sunflower fields, we said hello to the goats, donkey, and zebu. 

[ready for their closeup]

to finish up our visit, we took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick this year's pumpkins for carving. 

thanks again p bar farms for treating us to such a fun afternoon and happy halloween everyone!

cositas

[ice cream dates with my fellow ice cream lover - congrats again on your sweet babe!]

this weekend is looking like it will be filled with all of the spook-tacularly themed fun. we are set to go to a couple of halloween fiestas, sip on themed cocktails, explore a new (to us) corn maze, and hang with our friend gang. it's going to be such a blast and i already can't wait for it to begin! 

i hope your weekend shapes up to be a hauntingly good time :)

[visiting the newly opened space of my favorite local shop]

[these two goofs and their bromance]

[stocking up on cozy candles]

[stepping up my plating game]

[a very prideful street]

awesome & awkward

[studying with the last supper]

awesome:

• with season two starting up this weekend, i have to give a shout out to red table talk. for those who don't know, it's jada pinkett smith, willow smith, and jada's mom, adrienne banfield-norris, who get together and talk about anything and everything. there are so many real, raw moments that have made me reflect on my experiences and how they have impacted who i am. plus, seeing the connection and open communication with each other in talking about such vulnerable subjects is impressive.
• my favorite podcast right now? the black girl bravado. it's like listening to two of my friends talk in my living room about real issues that impact women. they talk about a lot of topics that are relevant like the glo' up, taking care of your mental health, enjoying the journey, self-worth and enforcing boundaries, the difference between being lonely and enjoying solitude, and overcoming imposter syndrome. 
• those days that make you feel full and happy. my most recent one was: rescuing an adorable kitten trapped on our shed, a soulful conversation over ice cream with one of my absolute favorites, taking a walk with T and the pups to the fish market, enjoying mojitos in the sunshine, an impromptu shrimp boil, and finishing up with baking a banana cream pie.   

awkward:

• to stop solo from chewing on couch pillows, we have gotten him multiple plush bb-8s to play with. they are a similar texture as the pillow so it seemed like a win. not too long ago, solo gave me a heart attack after work because i opened the door to see stuffing all over the place in our house. i nearly lost it thinking he tore up all the pillows and/or couch until i saw a very deflated bb-8 laying on the floor next to him. phew!

[a delicious new find]

[happy hour]

[shrimp boil]

pizza crawl

last weekend, T and i embarked on a new ride okc tour of pizza! you heard me right, a tour based on tasty, mouth-watering pizza from six pizzerias. normally, i wouldn't be able to finish six slices, but the biking in between helped us to work off some of it before we were set to try another one. plus, how awesome of a way to get to know more about our city. 

[ready for pizza!]

stop #1: the wedge

slice: the italian stallion - port wine sundried tomato sauce, house made italian sausage, fresh mozzarella, and fennel

[pizzas waiting to be eaten...mmm]

verdict: tasty, and the perfect start to our pizza tour. 

[bike tour knowledge being dropped]

stop #2: hideaway pizza

slice(s): pizza of the gods - olive oil and garlic glaze, mozzarella, provolone, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and roma tomato; the bratza - garlic glaze, bavarian mustard, mozzarella, sauerkraut, bratwurst, red onion, cheddar, jalapeños, and parmesan-herb shake

[pizza tossing demonstration]

verdict: surprisingly my favorite pizza had all day and i say surprisingly because the bratza completely caught me off guard. it tasted like having a bratwurst with spicy mustard and sauerkraut aka octoberfest. had i gone in outside of the tour and the waiter told me about this pizza, i would have politely declined thinking it couldn't work. but, i was floored to find that it was so well paired and crafted. so, this slice gets the gold star for the tour!

stop #3: pizzeria gusto

slice: the margherita - tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, parmesan, basil, and evoo

[perfect way to quench our thirst]

verdict: classic. you really cannot go wrong with a crisp, fresh margherita. also, the co-owner of this restaurant, who runs the kitchen, came out to speak with us. after hearing her talk about their wood-fire oven (which is always burning, regardless of if they are open or not), her ideas about pizza, and her overall demeanor, i was impressed. so much so that it completely changed our thoughts about the restaurant!

stop #4: empire pizza

slice: foghorn leghorn - sweet marinara, roasted chicken, bacon, jalapeño, and sriracha drizzle

verdict: a great by the slice pizza, but not sure i could do a whole pizza. not that it wasn't tasty, which it was, but a little went a long way. 

[biking to the next stop]

stop #5: hall's pizza

slice: saturday night - pepperoni, sausage, housemade sauce, fresh basil, whole milk mozzarella, and parmigiano reggiano

[cheers-ing to our city]

verdict: hot, steamy (which i loved during a cool bike ride) and delicious. plus, hall's is a personal favorite for T and i so it would be hard to not love everything they do. also, hall's uses a wood-fire pizza oven too and are one of two pizzerias (with pizzeria gusto) that does not use gas. aka, all that heat is coming from the classic wood-fire oven which takes some finesse to get the temperature just right.

stop #6: joey's pizzeria

slice: bianca neve - fresh chopped baby spinach, fresh garlic, smoked bacon, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese on our signature alfredo sauce

verdict: delicious, and the perfect way to close out the pizza tour, especially since it had started to rain on our way to the last stop. 

we learned so much about our pizza community and have so much more appreciation for the work and creativity that goes into each slice. added bonus was that i found new favorites to order when we go back to visit. 

thanks ride okc for putting together such a great day!

autumn

[german comfort food]

typically at this time of year, i would post a photo of changing leaves aka a quintessentially fall moment. and while our temperatures are signalling fall, oddly enough, our trees haven't turned yet! so, my next best bet was schnitzel and spatzel enjoyed not too long ago. for whatever reason, i just love enjoying german food when the weather is cooling down and sunlight hours are getting shorter. mmm! here's what else i'm looking forward to this season:

• reenact what it'd be like to make the amazing bakes on the great british baking show by trying out a recipe a month from mary berry's baking bible
• sip hot spiked apple cider on chilly fall days
• sport my favorite color of burgundy nail polish
• check out another bike tour in classically fall weather
• enjoy hilariously terrible b-rate horror films with T
• celebrate día de los muertos while visiting my grandparents in mexico 
• up my bartending game with my autumn/winter themed cocktail book 
• make up for missing out on last year's halloween costume fun with a themed costume for this year's fiesta
• bake an apple-themed treat like a crisp, crumble, or hassleback
• take regular walks through the neighborhood with T and the pups to enjoy the changing trees

three

not too long ago, T and i had an amazingly friend-filled weekend getting to see some of our most favorite friends. the weekend kicked off with a wine dinner with cat who was briefly in town for a visit. it was the perfect opportunity to try out another recipe in my french cookbook, sample armagnac (which is similar to cognac or brandy), taste wines, and catch up...aka a friyay night done right. 

[m. jacques' armagnac chicken aka the most heavenly and comforting dish]

[a cozy meal and loads of wine]

saturday night we celebrated candace and alysha's birthdays at some of our favorite okc spots. and while we love getting to see our tulsa friend gang in my hometown, it was so much fun showing them our local watering holes. there were loads of laughs, great cocktails, and funky locations to visit. 

[late night happy hour]

[hanging with my favorite redheads aka the birthday gals]

sunday we closed the weekend out with a bang at a gospel blues brunch with m+j. the music and vocals were amazing, the food and cocktails were dynamite, and we of course love any chance to hang with our couple bffs. 

[loved their singing]

[one of the tastiest crab cake benedicts]