It’s finally starting to feel like fall in Houston with the temperatures falling under 80 degrees! The last quarter of the year, Q4 as us accountants say, is my favorite time of year. We have three major holidays month-after-month: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/New Years. This year looks a little different. We aren’t able to enjoy the outdoors as much as we normally would, but I still have a bucket list of things to do this year. 1. Set-up Halloween decorations (this year we’re doing a Halloween village). Halloween is arguably the most important holiday of the year in our household. We usually have a Halloween party with our family and…
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My 7 Favorite Places to DoorDash
When stay-at-home first started, we ate at home for every meal. Drew’s survivalist instincts kicked in and we were those people who stashed canned goods and frozen meals. We aren’t normally the cook-at-home type but it was a welcome change because we saved money and ate healthier (aka less fried foods). Six months and 49172 home-cooked meals later, I am tired of home-cooked meals and can’t wait to get back into restaurants. Luckily, I got DashPass with DoorDash* earlier this year as part of my Chase credit card (shout out to Chase Sapphire Reserve). I can now order a meal, snack, or drink without leaving my house. * This is…
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How Quarantine Has Changed Us
We are going on month six of quarantine and we, along with many others, have had to adjust to our new normal. It has really forced and yet allowed, us to re-think how we live our lives. I started working from home mid-busy season. In fact, I had only been back at work for two weeks before the stay-at-home order was put into place. At first, working from home was exciting and gave me a boost in energy. I didn’t mind working late as long as I could be in pajamas. After two months I missed having a routine. Now that we have officially been working from home for five…
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What I Packed for 9 Days in Paris
We visited Paris back in February for 9-days – see the details of our trip here! Before each trip, I do a ton of research on the weather to get an idea of what I should pack. For this trip, there wasn’t going to be snow but I definitely needed to pack for weather colder than February in Texas. In my experience, the key to packing for international trips is (1) layers and (2) mix-and-match. I try to pack items that can go well with different outfits and will keep me warm (at least in cold weather climates). Here is what I packed (and used) for 9 days in Paris.…
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23 Movies and Shows We Watched During Quarantine
One thing we have made progress on during quarantine is our movie and show watching. My natural habitat is on the couch with something good, or just entertaining, on the TV. Everyone has been asking for recommendations so here are the movies and shows we have watched so far during quarantine and my ratings! Movies The Wrong Missy (Netflix) 2/5 If you want a background movie, this is the one. It’s about a guy (David Spade) who texts the wrong girl (Lauren Lapkus) to go on a weekend trip with his company. It’s vulgar and raunchy but had its funny moments. I’m not the biggest David Spade fan but Lauren…
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101 in 1001 Update #1
In January, I started a list of 101 things I wanted to do in 1001 days. Obviously 2020 has been a terrible year but it’s nice to reflect back on that list to see how much I have done in only 7 months. Personal 1. Read at least 10 books (Making progress – 4 out of 10) As I said in my post, I’m not a big reader. I am lucky to finish even one book in a year, at yet, the first place I want to go to relax in a bookstore. This year, I have tried to challenge myself to pick up a book instead of my phone.…
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9-Day Trip to Paris
Drew had the opportunity to go to Paris for work and luckily for me, the timing worked out for me to go with him! We spent 9-days there in total – all vacation for me with a mix of work/play for Drew. This was my second time visiting Paris, my first being in college while I was studying abroad. This was Drew’s first time so we visited all of the major sites! Here is the itinerary for our 9-day trip to Paris. Travel Accommodations Airfare: Round-trip, non-stop flight with Delta Airlines operated by Air France from Houston (IAH) to Paris (CGD) Hotel: Le Relais Saint Honore, 308 rue Saint-Honore 75001…
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Teaching Myself How To Code
I’m finally teaching myself how to code! I have wanted to (and talked about) doing this for years and decided that I’m just going to jump right into it. I am in the corporate accounting world for for my 8-6 job (let’s be real, who works a true 9-5 anymore) but wanted to do something more creative. Considering this is a huge difference from my day-to-day job, I want to document the entire process! Middle School “Mini-Courses” My interest for coding/computers/design started in middle school. I was in a gifted and talented program in middle school (shout-out to WAVE!). As part of our curriculum, we had “mini-courses” every Monday, Wednesday…
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DIY Kitchen Renovation
Painting our kitchen cabinets has been on our to-do list since the day we moved in. Our house is from the early 2000s (which I have to remind myself is almost 20 years ago) and came with the standard “turn of the century” glossy-oak cabinets. Having been in quarantine for over two months, we were itching for a home project – so, operation DIY kitchen renovation began! Before This is a stock photo from our home listing before we bought it (because I forgot to take a real “before” photo). It was a perfectly fine kitchen, just not the look we were going for. Supplies We went to Lowe’s and…
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2020 House To-Do List!
It has been almost two years since we purchased our first home and we absolutely love it! We have grown into this home and have slowly been making it our own. When we first moved into our house, Drew and I made an “ultimate house to-do list”. This list includes quick-fixes to “dream home” type renovations that we would like to complete during our lifetime. Each year, we like to make a short list of items to complete before our annual Halloween party. We use the party as our motivation to get items on our list checked-off! This past year, we completed our backyard oasis and bought a new couch.…
