So here’s the truth – I haven’t gone missing.  I’ve literally just dived into life and a lot has happen in the last 6 months, making life much too fun to break for anything – including this blog!

But now that 2014 has rolled into town, life has slowed a tad, at least momentarily.  And to bring you up to speed, here’s the cliff notes version of what I’ve been up to the past 6 months!

July

I got engaged! There were cupcakes, champagne AND a ring!

August

I took a trip to New York, vacationed in Montauk (the Hamptons people, yeah, I’m that girl) and watched my best friend & college roommate marry her prince charming – also another great friend from college.

September

Autumn rolled into town, the Texas heat became moderately tolerable and people actually wanted to visit us! This month, M<3 and I had a few New Yorkers visit and we played tour guides as we toted them around the great ATX.

We had to hit up obvious Austin activities – hanging on Town Lake and drinking Mexican Martinis.

October

This month I pushed wedding planning into high gear  –

• Venue – CHECK
• Cater – CHECK
• DJ – CHECK
• Photographer – CHECK

Basically, I’ve been knocking this wedding planning thing outta the park.

BTW –  did I mention, I’m having two weddings.  One in India and one in Austin.

The one in India is thankfully being planned by my future in-laws, whom I met for the first time, along with the rest of my soon-to-be-family, during our October trip to India!  This trip was to not only meet the family and celebrate our engagement but to also honor M<3’s parents’ 30th wedding anniversary!

November

It’s 2 months until the close of 2013 and M<3 & I believe we need to up our karma for the before twenty-thirteen becomes a thing of the past, so we decide to take in a foster dog from Austin Boxer Rescue.  Meet Jack (aka Sean in the ABR world). He was a rock star and luckily we found him his forever home after just 3 short weeks.

This month also marked my first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  Since we’re not avid turkey fans, we went the non-traditional route and I roasted a whole chicken instead.  I also made a delicious homemade spread of cornbread stuffing, roasted brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce (NOT from a can, thank you very much). And you can bet these were all healtified but delicious none the less.

December

Winter came into full swing and I went on a baking spree – gingerbread cutouts [and houses], a plethora of cupcakes, donuts, muffins, and a dozen different flavors of cookies.

Thank goodness I have a slew of coworkers and friends whom are more than delighted to indulge in my baking obsession!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December also brought my parents to town! For the first time they took the trip South to visit M<3 and I in Austin. We were also able to celebrate Christmas together for the first time in 3 years, they met Stella, checked out some Austin wedding related items [I bought THE
dress] and of course, they enjoyed some BBQ and tacos.

January

As midnight struck on January 1st, 2014, M<3 and I welcomed in the new year with a group of amazing friends, champagne, and of course – more cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

M<3 and I have also taken on another foster dog from ABR [whom sadly just gnawed on one of the dining room chair seats as I was writing this post].  Other than that little issue, Jefferson has been great so far and Stella enjoys have a friend around to beat up.

This month I’ve also continued rocking the wedding planning thing and we’re gearing up for our next trip to India at the end of February for our first wedding on February 28th.

—–

So that about sums up my past 6 months – which you can see has been a whirlwind of fun, excitement, and filled with amazing memories.

I’m looking forward to the next 6 months and hope to once again begin posting regularly.  Except, with the encouragement of my friends & family, this blog will be changing a tad.

Content here will have  less of an emphasis on my daily life and a little heavier emphasis on recipes that showcase how I balance my enjoyment for food with my obsession for health aka Healthified Recipes!

But no worries, some daily shenanigans and of course wedding related items will be sprinkled about when it feels right – because let’s face it, it’s hard not to talk about wedding planning and life here in Austin is just too amazing to not share with you all!

What all have you been up to while I was MIA?

Any recipes you want me to healthify? Just leave a link here and I’ll get to work recreating a healthier, tastier version!