southern weddings | Coffee & Tacos

Happy Saturday, all! How is your weekend going so far? The weather is so blissful here, which means we’re spending lots of time outside. We’re taking our highly anticipated coffee brewing class this afternoon (so excited!) and then meeting friends for Dallas’s best barbecue and, for dessert, ice-cold beers. Tomorrow I’m having brunch with girlfriends and trying this recipe. So much loveliness!

Have a great weekend, and enjoy some fun links from around the web!

I think these produce tips for storing, cleaning and using fruits & vegetables are super helpful! I need to print out this list and keep it handy in my pantry.

It’s that time of year: Christmas gift-hunting season! I love, love, love buying gifts for my favorite people – I like dreaming up perfect present ideas, hunting down deals, writing cards, the whole she-bang. But sometimes less is more (and by that, I mean spending less = more), so this recipe for homemade cookie butter looks like the perfect and cost-effective addition to my holiday gift list. Wouldn’t it be a great treat for loved ones, hostesses, and coworkers alike?

This has been all over the world wide web this week so it’s probably not news, but I am obsessed with the Madewell x Sézane collaboration that debuted on Tuesday. I want every single piece in the collection, especially this, this, this, and these.

In case you missed it, our wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty on Wednesday and our favorite date nights were featured on Southern Weddings yesterday! I’m so very thankful for these fun opportunities to share the photos that we’ll cherish forever.

Okay, this 1-minute coffee cake in a mug looks like the coziest (and easiest!) way to indulge in a fall breakfast. I plan to make both the regular and pumpkin versions of this treat soon and very soon.

Image via Silver blonde

While reading some posts on my favorite sites and blogs last month, I stumbled upon the opportunity to write a date night submission for Southern Weddings. I loved that the site was launching a series to feature newlywed couples and the dates they enjoy, and I admit that I was selfishly drawn in by the promise that, if selected, we would get to participate in a photo shoot while on a date with the photographer of our choice (how fun is that?!). On a whim, I gathered up photos from our favorite activities and whipped up some responses to the date night questionnaire. After letting the submission marinate for a few days, I made tweaks here and there and finally sent it to the editor in charge of the column.

On October 1st, the very same day that I blogged about how much I loved shooting our engagement photos with Heather, I got an e-mail from Southern Weddings saying that our date night submission had been selected! They liked all of the date night options we wrote about but they were particularly smitten with the idea of photographing a night spent enjoying tacos and margaritas. Really, could that be any more perfect?! I was thrilled at the news!

So last Tuesday, James, Callie, and I met Heather at Taqueria La Ventana, a restaurant in downtown Dallas that I had been dying to check out. La Ventana is the epitome of taco stand chic – there’s no interior, just a fabulously decorated patio, and there’s a great view of the skyline in the background. The menu, as you’d expect, is perfect – lots of varieties of street tacos, corn elotes, frozen margaritas, Mexican beer, Topo Chico, and the very best churros we’ve ever had (stuffed with warm caramel sauce!). The night would have been blissful enough had we just been enjoying an al fresco taco dinner together but throw in the fact that we got to have it all documented by the amazingly talented Heather, too, and it was enough to make me pass out with joy.

Our date night feature is live on Southern Weddings today – I’m so grateful for this fun opportunity, and I’d love for you to hop over to the site to check it out! A huge thank you has to go out to Heather, of course – I wish I could carry her around in my pocket so she could document every aspect of my life on the regular. These photos are going to make for such an amazing keepsake – I love them more than I can say!