October 2017 Adventures

Happy Friday, guys! I thought I’d share a bit more of my personal life by recapping my October adventures! Today’s post will consist of food, friends, food, family, food, awesome entrepreneurs, random shenanigans and more food! Here we go!

I kicked off the month with a delicious Sunday lunch with my mom! I don’t remember what she ordered for me, but I was very leery as I usually stick to my usual bowl of pho. However, whatever this bowl of soup is was amazing! And what is a meal without some spring rolls?! Here is a great traditional Vietnamese spring rolls recipe if you want to make some at home! 

My best friend was in town and stayed at her sister’s house so we checked out the soft opening of George Coffee + Provisions. 

This coffee shop has a great atmosphere, cool vibes, amazing coffee (I got the iced mocha) and is very Instagrammable! More on coffee shops soon! 

Sunsets are so gorgeous! I remember chasing sunsets when I was in high school and college. I even chased a Florida sunset with my bestie years ago! Well, this shot was one of many beautiful #unfiltered sunsets Dallas saw this October. 

A week or so into the month, I stopped in Mod Market for some dinner after I went grocery shopping. I had forgotten how much I love dining in with them and their food. My friend and I split their Flatiron salad and their cheese pizza.

I also got my hair cut by the amazing Adam. He recommended me some amazing hair products and let me tell y’all, he ain’t lying. Review to come soon on these products for sure! 

My church friends and I also went to a Dallas Art Show in October. The flower art installation above, tigers photo below and abstract paintings were my absolute favorite of what we saw that night. My favorite artist? JD Miller and his Absence of Color series was hands down my style when it comes to art. I vlogged part of his show too so stay tuned!

After the art shows, we went to an awesome hole in-the-wall Mexican food place and shared so many laughs!!! 

Some of the girls then went to karaoke after dinner. I was scheduled to volunteer for church the next morning so I left early. Aren’t my church friends gorgeous?! Love these ladies! 

A few days before my birthday, I took the day off of work and went to the mall to pick up my favorite nail polish and a spiralizer for myself. As I was walking by, I noticed a huge event outside of Neiman Marcus and asked someone about it. They told me that it was a beauty expo with new and upcoming beauty brands and that the founders were there and we could meet and talk to them about their products. 

I ended up meeting the gorgeous Dana, founder/creator of Beneath Your Mask. If you or someone you know has lupus, please check out her story. I also wrote about her in my recent Transformation post! 

On my way out, I spotted the Armani boutique and had to stop in and finally smell this Armani Pivoine Suzhou fragrance Lydia has been talking about for awhile. Oh. My. Goodness. I died and went to Heaven! 

This is also birthday bouquet one of two I bought for myself. Trader Joe’s is THE best for flowers! 

After the beauty expo and grocery shopping, Rachel and I headed out to Southlake for an ID Seminar at King’s University with our church friends. We learned so much about our identity and how who we are is tied to our calling in life.

Somewhere in October, I also went to visit my brother and his family and FINALLY met their pups Louis (after Vuitton, haha) and Leo! Aren’t they adorable?!

I ended the month joining a private gym, Body Mountain, my (new) friend, Reidland owns. It was funny how it all happened. Rachel and I met Reidland on a Sunday after church service and he invited us to a class that Monday. We took him up on his offer, showed up and he was floored we came, lol!

I guess as a personal trainer, not many people do what they say. Well, I ended up joining his gym a week later because it’s close to where I live, work and pretty much do life. That and it’s nice to have accountability. You know, when I show up to church, he’s bound to be there and go, “Um, where you been?” haha!

Reidland took us through a hot iron class (weighted cardio) and I LOVED it! I hate cardio, but aside from dance, this kind of cardio I can do and like. I plan on going to his classes twice a week! 

For my work life, we celebrated the best of the best at our company! I finally got to meet one of my co-workers, Annie after working with her long-distance (she’s out in LA) for awhile! We celebrated her and many others with a LOT of confetti, haha!

Yep, this is Rachel and I getting ready for Christmas, haha! Just kidding!

Rachie’s dad wanted to take us out for our birthdays so we went to Cracker Barrel and had a nice family dinner. As you can see, we had a little too much fun in the shop area of the restaurant, lol!

On Rachie’s birthday, Jon Acuff was in town for his #FinishBook Tour so I was happy to see him again. His book, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done is SO good. To EVERYONE who has a hard time hitting their goals, I highly recommend reading this book, adjusting your plan of action and go for it!

I told you there was going to be more food! I ended the month with my brother and his family taking Rachel and I out for lunch for our birthdays. We tried out Malai Kitchen (wasn’t too bad, it isn’t authentic Vietnamese). I got my Vietnamese coffee with my pho (as usual). 

We ended lunch with some dessert. Jen ordered us mango sticky rice smash and coconut creme pie to share and it was good!

Yours truly and the kiddos! Love them! 

After lunch with the family, I needed to go to Sephora to pick up eyeliner. And if you’re a true beauty lover, you just don’t go to Sephora. You play in Sephora, haha! I played with a LOT of Huda lip colors! I ended up getting this liquid eyeliner (after swatching a few) instead and replacing my beauty blender.

After we left Sephora, I stopped in Anthropologie to see if I could use my birthday coupon. When I spotted this cookbook, I knew I had to get it after seeing my friend, Jenna post about it. It’s beautiful yet educational at the same time! I can’t wait to make recipes from it and learn about ingredients as a whole! 

Yep. Another bowl of pho. What? It’s my go-to on a cold day. And yes, it was a cold day when my mom and I went out to another Sunday lunch! 

October ended beautifully with another gorgeous sunset on Halloween night. For this one, I put a filter on to reduce the “greenness” of the building in the photo as I felt it was taking away from the actual sunset.

Lewis Howe’s book, Mask of Masculinity also launched and our book launch team has been having SO much fun helping Lewis get it to the top 50 on Amazon! Last time I checked, it’s at #38! Whoop! Whoop!

And that’s it for one of my favorite months of the year! I had so much fun and I can’t wait to see what Turkey month holds for me! 

What did you do for October?

If you want, feel free to shop some of the products I mentioned in this post:

Any highlights for October or did you take it easy? How about this weekend?

I’m scheduled for a dinner with my friend Debra and her sister, Christine, along with a gym session and church this weekend!

Happy Friday!