Photo booth fun!

If you've read my wedding reception recap, you know how much fun we had with the photo booth at our wedding! I originally fell in love with this idea when my company had one at our annual holiday party and I knew I had to have one when I got married! 

Our best friends, Justin and Leah, got married Memorial Day weekend and we had an absolute blast in the photo booth. There were dozens of props which made things verrrry interesting (check out the creepy mask the girls traded off in the bottom pic). I was so pumped a mustache was in the mix of props because I forgot the fake mustaches in the car (I wanted to surprise the bridegroom with a few pics with the staches!).

I think I was in there about 15 times the entire night so with strips from our wedding and from this one, our fridge is COVERED in photo booth pics! If you are getting married anytime soon....a photo booth is a must. It is pretty much the only way you are going to get pictures of all of your guests. Oh and it is fun. Duh.

Top Notch Burger

Ever seen the movie Dazed and Confused? Matthew McConaughey circa 1993? Well if you haven't, put it in your Netflix queue because it is a classic. The coolest part is that it was filmed in Austin! If you are a Saved By The Bell Fan, the movie's "The Maxx" is Top Notch Burgers located about a mile from our house! Famous for their greasy burgers, fried chicken and of course the movie Dazed and Confused, this place has not changed since 1970. Funky light fixtures, rickety tables and tiny bathrooms make the experience feel like you are literally in 1970. Jon and I ventured to Top Notch for date night and are now each growing a fried food baby in our bellies.

I ordered fried okra and chicken tenders that came with fries, Texas toast and white gravy

Jon ordered a double cheeseburger with their "special" sauce, tater tots and potato salad

This was one of the best burgers I've ever eaten (I could TASTE the grease muhaha)

Our fave was definitely the burger but anything dipped in white gravy makes my mouth water. I think we got our monies worth

Mmm Mmm Good.

Plato's Closet

If you've never been to a Plato's Closet then stop reading this post, check their website for the nearest location and get your booty there! I first discovered Plato's Closet in College Station while I was in college and lo and behold, they have made their way to Austin. For those of you unfamiliar, Plato's Closet is a consignment store that sells everything from BCBG, J Crew, Forever 21, American Eagle to Target for pennies on their original dollar price. Check out their website here. Oh and if you're an entrepreneur, turns out you can franchise your own Plato's closet, who knew.

So on to the good stuff. This past Saturday I had plans to try on a couple bridesmaid's dresses at Alfred Angelo for my bestie's wedding in January (might I add I am SO excited to be her MOH....and no I will not use the phrase matron of honor...that makes me sound like a shriveled up raisin face). Anyway, I had NO idea there was a Plato's Closet in the same shopping center and only heard about the Austin locations on the radio. I thought I'd pop in just to check it out and an hour later, I left with deals of a lifetime...

I am in no way a "fashionista" but I love love love clothes. I have too many pair of jeans (and wear the same one all the time) and could wear a different sundress every single day of the year. Here's the catch, our house was built in the 50's and the closet is microscopic. My precious clothes are hidden in dressers (which is why I tend to repeatedly wear the same clothes) and the closet houses some of my dresses and shoes. It's really sad if you think about it. I constantly tell myself I don't need more clothes but when you score deals like I did, how can you resist? Up front there was a sign telling me that tags with a red star were an additional 50% off so where did I spend my time? Sale rack duh!

They practically paid me to take this stuff out of the store!! I am the biggest deal chaser and I am lucky that my hubby also refuses to buy clothes/shoes if they are NOT on sale. I love sharing money saving tips with my pals and knew I had to share my Plato's Closet finds and thanks to my photog hubby, here they are. You will die...

I love this adorable top! I despise wearing pants and much prefer dresses and skirts which gets tough in the winter. I figured this would look so cute with leggings (pictured) or skinny jeans (I was way too lazy to go put on jeans). Same with the top below.

Notice the hairstyle change...I was trying to mix up my look to keep my hubby engaged (not really, I was getting fed up with my thin ass hair, this weather does nothing for me!)

Jagermeister? Yeah baby! If you're friends with me on FB then you have seen multiple random mobile uploads of my husband wearing his favorite Jagermeister cut off T so this was a MUST have. 

You stay classy Jon Hart

For $2.50 this will make a perfect summer date night food baby shirt!

I've never been a tube top person but how cute is this one? Oh and the brand is Southpole...gangsta

 

Probably my favorite buy! Originally from Old Navy, the peace sign is beaded and bedazzled, just what every grown up needs! This is so going to be a work shirt with a cute skirt and flats.

A winter dress!! Like I said above, I am not a big fan of wearing pants/jeans which is tough in the winter. I have the perfect Steve Madden boots to go with this XXI dress.

Another winter dress and I am absolutely in love with it. It actually turns out that it is a maternity dress (go ahead and laugh) but holy hell it is super comfortable and come on, who doesn't gain a few L-Bs during the winter. I have to admit this is not my 1st maternity dress lol! I bought one on accident from Target and I wear it all the time.

This dress is kind of hard to figure out but it is super cute and almost punk-like. The original tag was still attached and for those of you fashion forward people, it was made by Ted Baker and priced at $175!! Sorry Mr. Baker but I've spent more on a sandwich then what I paid for this dress. 

Here is my $5 sex pot dress. I am so in love with this thing so someone please invite me to their fancy wedding or cocktail party so I can wear this. The back is adorable too!

$2 can barely buy you a double cheeseburger or it can buy you this cutie shirt. I was too lazy to put on an undershirt and take a pic (it is sheer and I didn't want to give a peep show). I have a similar shirt I got from Target a couple months ago and I love how comfortable it is!

Last but not least, I bought this lovely shirt for my fashionable mom (sorry I only spent $3.50 on ya ma but I had to share). Since my mom wasn't around to take a pic, Ernie was my stand in model. My mom looks so great in tops like this.

So there ya have it. $50 at Plato's Closet can buy you more clothes than you know what to do with. My purchases are currently in the dirty clothes bin and I plan on keeping them there a while until I figure out how I will fit one more thing into my closet. 

Oh and men! Plato's Closet has guys stuff too! I felt bad because I didn't buy Jon anything (after combing through the sale rack for a good half hour, my arms were tired) but I did buy him a pair of cool swim trunks for $15 from Marshalls....another great store for amazing deals!

Cars

What an original title huh? Thanks to my hubby, I now have a love for old cars. No I can't look at a car and tell you the make, model and year but I like looking at them and I think that is enough for my antique, hot rod, rat rod loving husband. My first car show was about a year and a half ago and seeing Jon's face light up makes me love his hobby even more. His dad was a "car man" and turned Jon onto his obsession at a young age. Jon will constantly tell me stories of having the time of his life while his dad drove his mustang at lightening speeds (safe huh?). We went to a car show this past weekend and I think I enjoyed it just as much as Jon! We are really looking forward to owning a house with a huge garage so we can start our car collection.

There were a few Marilyn Monroe mannequins and honestly all they did was creep me out!

This looks like a total gangster car! It had to be as long as a bus!

This car reminded me of Titanic so I just had to get a pic

Antique Rolls Royce (with my reflection in the grill...fail!)

My first car show I kept telling Jon I loved the cars with "wings" like below. I think I loved them because they reminded me of Flo from the movie Cars. I am a total sucker for these 1950's rides. Couldn't you see me in one of these??

And saving the best for last...a Shelby Cobra kit car. I think I posted before that Jon's plan is to take his dad's old mustang (that currently resides at his Grandpa's in Ohio) and build a Shelby Cobra kit car himself.  Original Shelby's sell for ungodly amounts and people don't even drive them! 

We weren't diggin the color on this one but the car is just so awesome!

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

You heard that right! Maple bacon cupcakes. I came across this recipe weeks ago and knew I had to make it for my bacon lovin' daddy on Father's Day. The cupcakes were interesting and I thought very delicious. The only thing I wish I would have done different is use pork bacon rather than turkey bacon (I am no bacon connoisseur so I had no idea the texture was different). The cupcakes tasted like sweet cornbread and the icing was out of this world. The recipe was VERY involved so I didn't take many pictures of their creation.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

4 1/2 tbsp butte

1/2 tbsp bacon drippings (left in the refrigerator to solidify)

1 egg

5 tbsp brown sugar

4 tbsp maple syrup

1 1/4 cup self-rising flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Small pinch of salt

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup of cooked and crumbled bacon

Maple Frosting

4 tbsp butter 

2 tbsp maple syrup 

1 cup powdered sugar

Salt

NOTE: I recommend using pork bacon

Cupcakes

1. Cream the butter and bacon drippings together
2. Add brown sugar and maple syrup and mix until creamy
3. Add egg and stir to combine
4. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
5. Add milk and stir to combine
6. Pour in 1/2 of the crumbled bacon and stir until fully mixed
7. Spoon the batter evenly into 12 baking cups
8. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 15 minutes
9. Let cool

Frosting
1. Mix together the butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar and salt until the frosting is formed
2. Place in fridge to help the frosting solidify
3. Frost the cupcakes and top with the remaining bacon crumbles


I picked up this cake decorating set for $10 at Bed Bath and Beyond to test out. There were much cooler more expensive sets and since I am just starting out, I got the cheapest and it is pretty darn neat. 

Here are the finished products...

Ernie's olfactory senses were going crazy and this little guy wouldn't leave my side. I think he was hoping for some bacon drippings to land on the floor.  Once again, he is a total ham. Anytime I bust out the camera, he sits and poses perfectly. I can only hope my human kiddos are the same way!

So if you follow any crafting/mommy blogs, you know that printables are the new thing. I scored some adorable (and FREE) father's day printables, glued them onto popsicle sticks and stuck them into the cupcakes.

Our Engagement Pictures

If you've checked out any of my wedding recaps, you got a peek at our awesome wedding pictures. I know I've said it before and I will continue to say it but we had the best photographer on this planet! Travis Tank (and his beautiful wife) are such talented photographers so be sure to check out his website!

Jon and I got engaged on July 15th, 2010 and took our engagement pictures soon after (since we only had a 6.5 month engagement). We took pictures at Mayfield Park and Mount Bonnell, 2 beautiful places in Austin.They were so much fun to take and we couldn't be more pleased with the results. Travis let us be ourselves and captured some really intimate moments. We ended up using 4 of the pictures for our save-the-date postcard.

I love remembering how excited we were when we took these pictures and thinking how far off our wedding was. And now we have been married for almost 5 months! As I've said before, memories will fade and we are so lucky to have pictures to help keep those special moments alive.