If you follow me on Instagram stories, you know I spent this past weekend in Austin with my bridesmaids for my bachelorette weekend! We stayed in this cute little Airbnb on the south side of town, and I enjoyed having all my favorite people together for three days. We kicked off the bachelorette weekend with dinner at the Airbnb thanks to Jessica of Feast & Dwell. She prepared the most delicious buddha bowl with chickpeas, kale, quinoa, sweet potato, chicken and topped off with a homemade hummus sauce (perfect for the wedding diet). After dinner I dawned my “Future Mrs. Phillips” sash, and we headed to the Garage Cocktail Bar downtown. The Garage Cocktail Bar is in the middle of a parking garage and can only hold 88 people at a time. Since it is a smaller setting, it is the perfect spot to sit and have a conversation with friends, while getting the Austin experience.

Saturday mainly consisted of a wine tour through hill country with Discover Texas Wine. They picked us up in party bus, and we filed in wearing our matching Mexican embroidered dresses that I gifted to each bridesmaid. Cathy, our bus driver, took us from our Airbnb to three vineyards for wine tastings and back at the end of the day, which was so convenient. We started with Bell Springs Winery, followed by Salt Lick Cellars, and ended at my favorite of the three, Duchman Winery. My favorite wines on the tour were the Salt Lick Cellars Tempranillo and the Duchman Family Aglianico. After our busy day, we had dinner at Guero’s on South Congress for some authentic Tex-Mex. Finally, at the end of the day, we were all excited to get back to the Airbnb and put on our PJs and play some bachelorette games.

Before my bachelorette weekend came to an end, we stopped by Josephine House for brunch on Sunday. If you have not been to Josephine House, their brunch menu is all so delicious, and it is the cutest little spot (you might remember it from my ACL weekend this past fall). I was so sad for the weekend to end and for everyone to head back home. Austin was the perfect spot for a bachelorette weekend, and I hope to have many more girls trips to ATX soon! Shop all my bachelorette looks below! xoxo

Top: Outdoor Voices // Leggings: Outdoor Voices // Jacket: Anthropologie (similar) // Sneakers: Nike // Sunnies: Karen Walker

It’s crunch time. No seriously, I should probably be doing crunches right now. Our wedding is just 80 days away, so it is time to get real serious about this #weddingbod. It might sound silly, but #weddingbod is a real goal for me. It is not that I want to lose weight, but that I want to be confident in myself on my big day. I am not saying I won’t eat until the wedding, I get too hangry for that, but I am more aware of what I eat. We just won’t count the Easter candy I am finishing off as I write this… holiday calories don’t count, right?

My Fitness Pal has quickly become one of my favorite apps. I use it daily to keep track of what I am eating, and to see how active I am staying. The app has nutritional information for most restaurants and anything with a barcode. It makes it so much easier to determine what is actually healthy on a menu, and it keeps me from over indulging in sugar or carbs. If you have an Apple Watch or FitBit, My Fitness Pal will gather much more accurate data, but I am having to estimate for my workouts. Even on days when I do not have time to go to the gym, I make more of an effort to go for a walk or bike ride, so I can add some activity to my daily log. The app encourages you to take progress photos, which is so not my thing, but it has actually been helpful to see real progress towards my #weddingbod.

ClassPass is one of my favorite ways to stay active and on that “I am in the process of buying a house” budget. I have shared my experience with ClassPass in a previous blog post, and I still think it is one of the easiest ways to stay active. I have discovered so many new classes, but my current favorite is easily any reformer pilates (BodyBar in Plano is my favorite studio for reformer). I like reformer pilates because the classes are only an hour, and it focuses on whole body toning, which is my primary focuses. After just a few months of attending reformer pilates about once a week, I can already tell a huge difference in muscle mass and endurance. The classes also help relieve stress from work and increase my mood. An added bonus for my readers, receive $30 off your first month with ClassPass when you sign up here!

I am wearing my new favorite workout set from Outdoor Voices. Now, these lululemon leggings are still my favorite because they have pockets, but these Outdoor Voices leggings are a very close second. Since I do not have much of a torso, these leggings are more high waisted on me than intended, but the sports bra does fit longer. I added an old white bomber jacket (similar) to my look since it was a little windy in Dallas, as well as my favorite white Nike sneakers. Shop my entire workout look below! xoxo

Images via Alex Phillips.

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Our wedding is less than 100 days away, so naturally I am freaking out over here! We have made major progress on planning the past few weeks, and we just have smaller things to cross off our list now (like buying a house ha). The wedding shoes I designed with Shoes of Prey came in yesterday, and they are perfect (check out my “Wedding” highlight on Instagram stories to see the final product)! We have selected all of the music with our DJ, passed off the envelopes to the calligrapher, booked my bridal luncheon, and will have my first bridal shower this weekend! With so many things going on, I have hardly thought about what I am going to wear to all the upcoming events. Bridal showers, bachelorette party (less than a month away!), bridal luncheon and rehearsal dinner will all need white outfits. Since the vast majority of my closet is black, finding white outfits has been a little difficult for me. Most white dresses, tops, and skirts are a little see through, and most white accessories are slightly off white. A few white pieces I have found and love include this adorable white lace dress from Anthropologie. It fits perfectly, and the tea length is great for luncheons and showers (full post coming soon). I also found this fun Rag and Bone dress at Neiman Marcus Last Call and love the small cutout in the back. I will have it slightly altered to fit just right through the waist  though. Of course I had to order my favorite Marc Fisher pumps in white, but I am also majorly crushing on these white Marc Fisher wedges for a more casual look. I have linked all of my favorite white pieces for future brides or to add to your spring wardrobe below! xoxo

Deciding on a wedding dress was hard enough, but now I have to find shoes to go with it! I have received all kinds of advice and opinions about what color my shoes should be and what they should look like. It was all very overwhelming. After searching at just about every department store and boutique with no luck, I decided that I wanted to design my own wedding shoes. A few years ago my grandmother was on the hunt for a pair of forest green shoes, but we could not find what she was looking for anywhere. I stumbled across Shoes of Prey and was able to design a pair of green shoes that would match her new skirt perfectly. I was very pleased with the quality of my custom green shoes, and my grandmother has enjoyed wearing them since. It was comforting to know that they import most of their materials from Italy, and are backed by a 365 full refund or re-make if you are not satisfied. When I thought about designing my own wedding shoes, Shoes of Prey came to mind first. Since I wanted to be sure that my shoes did not clash with my dress, I was able to order up to five fabric samples from them to compare to my dress. After deciding on a fabric, I went online and designed every detail of my shoes to make them my own. I cannot wait for them to arrive and share the final product with you. They are going to go perfectly with my dress! Shoes of Prey is very reasonably priced, and I probably spent less than I would have in a department store. They are great for so many different needs. Whether you need a specific color shoe to match a skirt or you want to design your own wedding shoes, Shoes of Prey is my favorite custom shoe source! xoxo

Images via Alex Phillips.

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Since getting engaged and registering for all these kitchen gadgets, I’ve felt compelled to improve my cooking skills just a little. Alex and I both enjoy cooking, but despite all our efforts some things just don’t taste as good when we cook at home. My friend Mel told me about a new cooking school and restaurant in Dallas called Garnish Kitchen. Next thing Alex knew, I had us signed up for their Date Night class to see what it was all about. We have taken cooking classes before and always enjoyed them, but this class was completely different. Instead of learning how to make a specific recipe, we learned the why behind every step in a dish, and left feeling like we had a bit of a chemistry lesson.

After learning to properly cook tenderloin, fingerling potatoes, and asparagus in the Date Night class, my friend Mel and I were quick to sign up for the Tapas and Sangria night. We felt like pros creating dishes of lamb, shrimp, mussels, and empanadas which were all absolutely delicious. The classes at Garnish Kitchen are different because you don’t just follow a recipe, but rather receive a lesson and demonstration from Chef Aaron Hubbard. The classes start with Chef Aaron demonstrating each step of the dish as he explains why we use certain ingredients and follow a specific order. Then you take your tray of ingredients and create the dish on your own sans a recipe to follow (so pay attention!). Chef Aaron and another chef from the restaurant walk around the room and help anyone who needs it, teaching valuable lessons along the way. When your dish is complete and plated (another great lesson we learned), everyone in the class sits down to enjoy their creations together. Since taking the two classes at Garnish Kitchen, I already feel more comfortable in the kitchen and I do not rely so heavily on a recipe as much as the technique. Knowing little things like when to use different types of oil, knife skills, and tricks to cooking a perfect tenderloin are, in my option, valuable life skills. I have already signed up to take the Red Meat class with my dad this weekend and cannot wait to learn about meat from such an experienced chef. If you are ever near Oak Cliff in Dallas, be sure to stop by Garnish Kitchen and say hello to Chef Arron and his wife Tiffany. They are open Tuesday-Saturday for lunch and dinner, and everything on the menu is delicious! Visit garnishkitchen.com to view all of their classes and sign up! xoxo

“The cook knows how, but the chef knows why.” – Chef Aaron

I have said it before and i’ll say it again. Planning a wedding is so much harder than I imagined. There are a billion little things you have to do to prepare, and about a billion more that I want to do to make our day extra special. Since my mom and I are doing this without the help of a wedding planner, I am sharing 3 great wedding planning tools.

Online Resources: The Knot, Style Me Pretty, the Wedding Wire, and even Pinterest are all great online resources for wedding planning. The first thing I did after we got engaged was set up our Knot website, and started reading through the Knot’s checklist. I have found some great vendors and tips through Style Me Pretty and the Wedding Wire as well. I live by online reviews, and it has been so helpful to read reviews and experiences from past brides as I am making my own decisions. Pinterest has been a great tool for inspiration and building mood boards.

Magazines: I have always been a magazine person, and have especially enjoyed flipping through bridal magazines. In the same way that Pinterest is great for inspiration and mood boards, magazines are too and have some insightful articles. D Weddings has been my favorite bridal magazine because of the Dallas specific information. Emily Post has a few wedding etiquette books to help you learn the “rules” of a wedding (I have disregarded a few “rules”). 

Word of Mouth: Everyone and their mom (literally) will have wedding advice for you. Take it all with a grain of salt, but just as you might trust online reviews, personal reviews can be very helpful. It has been great to hear stories from other brides who have had their reception at the same place as us or used the same florist. It has been helpful to think back on weddings we have attended and specific things we enjoyed about each one, and then ask the bride which vendor they used. You will get some kooky advice and a lot of personal options, but some brides will share lessons learned that you can avoid. We have found our florist, makeup artist, bakery and reception venue all through word of mouth.

Good luck planning! xoxo

Photos via Alex Phillips.

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