Marriage

Date Nights At Our Favorite Spots

May 27, 2020

Heya family! How you doing these days? Oddly enough, I can say I am doing alright! We’ve been so intentional about getting out and doing things since all this Corona stuff, and it’s been so good for us. It’s honestly been neat that we are in a season of life and transition right now that has allowed us to truly be so present and all-in as a family through these last couple of months. With Paul in transition and home all day, we’ve had so much fun soaking in these final weeks as a family of three. He’s also been helping me run all things The Cake and managing clients, and he’s killing it at stocks which has been fun to learn.

As Texas is slowly re-opening, I am SO ready to get back to normalcy and am already planning our next date nights. This momma needs A DATE. We went a couple weeks ago when restaurants first re-opened to 25% capacity to our favorite spot, Sixty Vines, and it was so life giving. Not to mention, we were so impressed with their above and beyond service to protect guests and keep them comfortable in these odd times of transition. I wanted to share with y’all a couple of our favorite date night spots in the area + our favorite dishes we order. BUT, even if you aren’t local, I hope this encourages you to make intentional time with your special somebody EVEN when things are odd. this is applicable in the current state of circumstances… but also just LIFE in general. Whether you’re ready to start adventuring out or prefer to stay home a bit longer, I hope you are making date nights happen.

Our Favorite Dinner Spots

Sixty Vines: Y’all, this is for sure our favorite date night spot. Plano is closest, but we also love to adventure down to the Uptown location in Dallas from time to time. It’s the most beautiful restaurant and their menu is so dang good. They have WINE on tap (and other drinks). But, their specialty is wine, hence the name Sixty VINES. We always without a doubt order the Crispy Zucchini, and last time we were there the chef even printed off the recipe for us to make at home. WHAT?! I have ordered just about everything on this menu at this point. But, my favorite is the Fig & Prosciutto Pizza, Orecchiette Pasta, and Half Chicken. Any of these are GREAT choices. Pair with a red wine or the Vine Huggers Rose for a delicious dinner.
Fireside Pies: This is our go-to if we just really want pizza. They have multiple locations, too, but we love the Plano location at Legacy. I order their Burrata Pie and add Prosciutto with gf crust EVERY SINGLE TIME. Paul orders the Balsamic Chicken Pie.
Mesero’s: This is our favorite place to go to for Mexican lately. It’s yummy, not overpriced, and the environment is great. I often order their tacos! But, honestly, just usually eat too much of their variety of salsas and chips to finish my meal… hehe. They have fantastic margaritas, too, if you’re looking for something fresh and tasty to sip on!
Haywire: This restaurant is SO FUN. If you love environment, this place is lacking zero of it. It’s three stories of fun, delicious food, locally sourced food, and all the things. I highly suggest the pork chops or any of their steaks. Their house salad has goat cheese from heaven on it, and as silly as it sounds … their simple House Salad is one of my favorite salads I have ever tried!
Tupelo Honey: This place is delicious, cute inside, AND at a fun location in The Star by the Cowboy’s Practice Facility. There is just a fun environment all throughout this area, and the restaurant furthers the fun. We come here a lot… hehe. When in doubt, Tupelo Honey. Paul says they’re the best ribs he has ever had and he order them every single time. They do seasonal switch-ups, but the Blackberry Habanero are by far his favorite to date. I switch up my order often here, because I love trying new things! But, the Sweet Tea Brined Chicken with cheesy grits is a WINNER CHICKEN DINNER in my book. I have actually ONLY ever eaten grits here. Never had any other grits in my life, and I honestly don’t know if I want or need to. These are GOAT CHEESE GRITS, people. SO GOOD.

I rounded-up my top sellers and most asked about items lately for you, too, for a quick reference if you’ve asked for a link recently!

The Banking Hack That Changed Our Budget

March 5, 2020

Whoa, we are talking about money? … YEAH. We are. And I am so excited about it, because the system I have implemented over the last 6 weeks (3 paycheck rounds) has legit changed our entire banking system. We have actually hit our goals and gained more in our savings faster than ever before. Know why living in an open and honest community of friends is so important? You LEARN from each other! I am in a group text of like 13 girls from my church who are my closest gals. They encourage me when I need it, are my biggest cheerleaders, and are always the first people I go to for outside wisdom.

Somebody in our group asked for budgeting tips, and I loved reading everybody’s responses. While some had great systems others replied “FOLLOWING THESE ANSWERS!” We are all learning from one another and gaining wisdom, both in our walks alongside the Lord as well as how we parent, start companies, and *yes* budget/spend. I love my girls, and they are seriously so special to me. All this to say, two of our ladies both mentioned they have multiple accounts they transfer money to immediately upon getting paid. So, according to their budget, they allocate money to different bank accounts. It’s essentially the Dave Ramsey envelopes system… sans the envelopes. I had a hard time sticking to the envelope system with a kid in tow all the time. I can’t unbuckle my kid and go inside to pay cash for my gas all the time or bring in $60 for groceries but my bill is $62. This system is the best of both worlds and it’s truly rocked mine.

We have one bank account with 3 checking accounts and 3 savings accounts. This makes it really easy to transfer between the sub-accounts when they’re all under the same main bank account. We are members of a credit union that I have been part of for over 15 years, and I absolutely love them. Find a bank you can trust, ask questions, and that has great benefits for you. Our categories are as follows:

Main Account/Bills: This is where all payments go first and where we have automatic withdrawals setup from.
Main Savings: This is that emergency fund we should all have and the account we are chunking anything extra at the end of the month into! We also do an amount every month on the 15th directly into it, no questions asked. It is as though it never existed now.
Groceries: I send half our grocery budget on the 1st and the other half on the 15th to make CERTAIN I keep us on track. It’s so hard not to overspend on food, but this has helped me so much seeing a specific number allocated ONLY for groceries for two weeks. GAME CHANGER.
“Other” Savings (Currently our Babymoon): This is where we will put money aside for trips. Currently, we are putting money aside for a babymoon, which is looking like a staycation because of the coronavirus and overall sicknesses going around. If I weren’t pregnant I would not be NEAR as careful, but it’s just not worth risking it right now to travel with a babe in tow (at least as of now, this is the direction we are leaning).
Date Nights/Fun Money (This is technically in one of the “savings” accounts”): I put our whole month’s “fun” money in on the 1st. This is for date nights, lunch outings, etc. It’s helped me A LOT to see how much more we usually would spend on this category if I didn’t intentionally put a number in there to keep us on track with our budget. YIIIIKES.
Business Checking: This is my business account where I pay all employees from and have auto-payments from clients go to. It’s helped with our Quickbooks to track my income for The Cake!

On my app, I literally can just press “transfer money” in the top corner of my screen and move the money around immediately upon spending. So, we only have debit cards connected to our “Main Bills” account, but then immediately will transfer out of the proper category into our main account to replenish. I have ran into the issue ONCE where I did too many transfers in a certain timespan, and I could only transfer the rest of the month by going into my credit union. But, it wasn’t terrible and was still worth it!

I hope this helps you and inspires you to figure out how you want to budget better for your own family. This system has truly been a game changer and I legit get excited every payday to move money into the proper accounts. There truly is something significant about seeing, by category, the actual amount you have from your budget toward things. I took over our budget back in August and ran into the issue so many times that we had “x” amount of dollars in our account, but I didn’t realize that number was already allocated to so many other things. Now, that’s literally impossible to do. If I see for groceries on the 10th that we have $65 left for the next 5 days, then that is what I spend!

Loving Boys

February 11, 2020

This week is one of my favorites of the whole entire year! Valentine’s Day and our wedding anniversary are two very special holidays to me, and I can’t wait to spend time with my boys to celebrate how much I love them. Knox and I will go on a lunch date together, pending this awful sinus infection and remnants of RSV go away, to a very romantic… Chick Fil A date, most likely. 😉 And the entire weekend will be mommy and daddy time, baby-free! After the weeks of sickness we have had around here, we said all we wanted for our anniversary was sleep in our own bed without a baby for a couple days. Growing up, y’all. It changes everything. LOL.

As a boy mommy and a wife, I feel more than ever a weight to raise up and encourage men to be leaders. My husband is only as empowered to lead our family as I encourage and allow him to be. At his core, he is a great human with or without me. That’s not a question. But the cool part about marriage is that I get to be part of calling out in him an even greater version of himself, a closer version to the man designed him to be. It’s why the wife is called “helper.” I can’t do that by squashing his leadership in our home. We are equals, but he plays such an important role as the head of our household. The greatest lesson I have learned in six years is that I don’t have to be right. I really don’t. I want to be known in my marriage as an encourager, not a fighter. And as Knox grows into a little boy and Baby R’s arrival inches closer, I just want to be a mom who shows how much I love my boys by empowering them to be… themselves. To be boys. To lead. To jump. To play. To make messes. I have had to so intentionally lay down my need for a clean home, organization, and “routine” to allow my son to thrive most. Those things are all important to me, don’t get me wrong. But, they come second to my child’s need to explore. I want him to be curious and playful. My home can be “put together” all the time again one day. But that day is not now.

I never knew having so many men in my life could be so fun. 😉 But truly, it’s the best. I never thought I had space in my heart for so many, but here we are. God just keeps expanding my space for more love. I can’t wait for mommy son dates in a couple years where Knox picks where and “leads” the date. I can’t wait. I cannot wait to raise up young men who love women and value their worth. I am forever grateful that God chose me to be a boy mom, even in my ache to have a girl one day, too. I know he chose me for a time like this and for boys like these. I don’t take that lightly.

Today’s shoot was a sweet Mommy & Me mini session with Cottonwood Road Photography a couple weeks ago at the Lumen Room in Plano. It’s my easiest and best shoot with Knox to date. We shot in 25 minutes and he didn’t even have time to be “over it.” He loved the props and didn’t want to leave yet when it was time for the next person! If you want a shoot capturing your baby’s personality, this is the way to do it. A mini session was perfect! And, of course, with Hannah H. is the BEST of all. She is SO GOOD at getting your kid to smile and at capturing their personality. Knox is curious, fun, and independent. I love that these photos show that!

I am fully convinced a toddler in Ralph Lauren chinos is the most delicious thing in the world. Far surpassing cinnamon rolls and donuts. 😉 This is actually the exact same outfit Knoxy wore for our Christmas photos, but without a velvet jacket this time. I wanted it to seem simple and a little chill. He had suspenders on, which he insisted on, yet when we got to the shoot he took them off within minutes… lol.

My pants are from PinkBlush, and are featured both in the maternity and non-maternity section. They just picture them differently for the different sections, one with a bump and the other without. I linked my clips and make-up, too!

Date Nights Are EASY in 2020!

January 23, 2020

It’s the new year and we are rolling. How are you feeling so far? Whether you make resolutions, set goals, or -like us- start with a fast from something for 21 days, I hope you feel you are doing great at whatever it is you’ve set your heart and mind to. If you feel overwhelmed trying to figure out “How do I make my life more intentional or fuller or better?! I have too much to work on!” … Girl, slow down. We all do. Here’s the trick to ACTUALLY acheiving a goal you make at the start of the year: Pick one thing you want to get better at this year. Just one! And spend time every single day on it, and before you know it, you’ll no longer be saying you want to be better at “x.” You’ve just become great at it naturally by focusing a little on it with intentionality.

A goal of ours this year is to be more intentional with our time together at home. Less TV, more collaboration, more chatting, more discussion, more laughter, more of… the good stuff! We can get so wrapped up in our jobs and work, yes… even in the evenings after dinner, or scrolling on IG and spending more time vegging out with strangers on squares than one another simply because we are tired, and we want that to go. A way we can intentionally do that is having DATE NIGHTS at home as often as we want. A date night at home means turning off the TV, picking some music, playing a game, reading a book aloud together, making the dinner together… It can be just about anything as long as you both are in agreement this is intentional together time and it doesn’t matter what we are doing or the we are under our own roof. We are having a date night!

This is why I am so excited to introduce you to Datebox by Happily Co. This box delivers cute date nights AT HOME straight to your front door. We had a star gazing package, full with a fondue making kit, silly question cards, and a map for star gazing by the season! SO COOL! DateBox is a subscription service that you can take advantage of so that every month feels like Christmas when something fun for you and your spouse arrives! There are no excuses for not spending time together when a date is delivered straight to you. Dating your spouse can feel hard when life is tough or schedules are chaotic or you have kid(s)… but that’s the beauty of this subscription. Find recipes, games, projects… Every month is entirely different, but it’s something you get to do together and laugh through!

You can try out Datebox with my code: CAKEBYHANNAH for 50% off your first box!

I hope this encourages you to make intentional time with your special someone more important this year without having to spend tons of money on “Quality Time.” Date night doesn’t have to be an expensive dinner every week! It can be right at home in your living room for so much less (which also helps us achieve our goal for our finances this year!). It’s all a win-win for us, and I am so excited to explore fun, intentional date nights at home with my favorite guy in my favorite space we’ve created for us. Happy dating, y’all!

xoxo,

Hannah

Getting in the Kitchen with HelloFresh!

January 22, 2020

Phew, how has this month already come and gone so quickly? January is always so weird to me, because it feels like Christmas was ages ago… You know, like so last year… 😉 But in reality, it’s only been a few weeks. Anybody else feel so off the first couple weeks of a new year? To kick off our year right, we have made sure that our meal plans are back on track after all the craziness that ensues during the month of December. We ate out so much over the last 6 or so weeks that I am pretty sure it was more than the rest of the year combined.

I am so pumped to partner with HelloFresh to kick off 2020 and share why it’s so important to me to get into the kitchen this year! I believe so wholeheartedly in family time, cooking together, and eating at the dinner table together every night. I mean, truly, we eat at our table almost every single night, other than nights we have family or friend outings for church, etc. I grew up eating a home cooked meal at the table with all 5 of us every night, so I honestly don’t know any different. All I have ever known is you come home after work and start dinner so that your family can be together and eat well. It is just something of importance I carried into my own little family. But, whether you grew up that way or not, I really believe cooking together and eating healthy meals as a family is so important. Knox has also shown interest in the kitchen, too, which has made trying to include him in making the meal fun for us! He gets a kick out of just standing on a chair by the island and watching me, if anything.

I love HelloFresh, because their recipes are fool proof and also something I probably wouldn’t pick on my own. Not because it doesn’t sound good… but because if I was just scrolling through Pinterest, I would feel intimidated by ingredients in a lot of the recipes and just count it out. But, HelloFresh makes it so easy to try new recipes, challenging you to try something new with EASY to follow steps + ingredients all included so you don’t have to worry about a thing. After I finish a HelloFresh meal (in usually about 30 minutes, mind you!!!), I feel empowered and like I should earn a degree in cooking. I also have a stack of about 30 recipes now that I keep on-hand from HelloFresh for when I meal plan for those nights that we don’t have a HelloFresh meal to cook. So one way or another, we cook HelloFresh in our home a lot! Either their recipes or their full meal delivery. To date, our absolute favorite meal we’ve made was the Poblano Enchiladas… OH MY WORD. Y’all, it was so good. Paul took one bite and said, “Whoa, best one yet!”

With our food allergies (Paul is allergic to dairy and I am allergic to gluten/yeast), HelloFresh is really easy to navigate for us because every ingredient is individually wrapped with its own individual nutrition facts. I never have to guess what I can or can’t have! Plus, I like to feed Knox as “normal” of a diet as possible until we know otherwise. But I have been praying he has no food allergies, and so far so good! So, for example, our Poblano tacos required 3 different versions: Dairy-free with corn tortillas, dairy-filled with corn tortillas, and then the normal recipe as it was sent for Knox. The filling was the same for all of us as well as the red sauce they sent ingredients for! You can do this for pretty much any HelloFresh recipe, if you pick wisely. Obviously, you don’t want to pick a breaded chicken recipe if you have a gluten allergy. But for the most part, I would say 90% of the meals can be modified for people in your home with allergies. If you don’t have food allergies… GO HAM! They’re all so amazing. Each week has different options to pick from, so you never will grow tired of their meals!

If you want to challenge yourself to new recipes and family time in the kitchen in 2020, click here to get 10 free meals off your first month of HelloFresh! (Purchase Required)