Dallas Blog

Swim Day with Dillards

May 13, 2016

It’s Mid-May, which means we are full swing into pool season, people!

This means it’s time to stock up on those bathing suits and kiss goodbye insecurities that might be keeping us from stepping a toe into the water this summer. I have teamed up with Dillards to show off four of their swimsuits available (among thousands of options!) and to promote their Swim Day TOMORROW, Saturday May 14th. Swim Day is THE day to go purchase swim wear in store, because you will get rewarded for doing so! Spend $100 or more (which is likely just one swim suit), and you will receive a gift from Dillards that could include a tote bag, hat, and so many other pool side necessities.

Rewarded for shopping? Sign me up!

I have FOUR completely different suits to show off that will appeal to different ladies looking for different kinds of styles + with different kinds of body types, and to cater to different personalities.

1. I have a high-waisted suit by Betsey Johnson that is PERFECT to cover up that tummy while still being in a true two piece. This one made someone from the balcony yell down during our shoot and ask where it was from. (That’s a good sign!) Basically, this one channels that inner Taylor Swift we all have a little (or a lot) of.

2. A fun white suit by Kate Spade with the most coverage on the bottoms (these are my favorite fit!) and a super stylish rosette top. The roses are 3D… I am obsessed. Great news, too, I tested out the bottoms in the water for you (it was 60 degrees!), and I can confirm that these white bottoms are not see-through!

3. A sultry one piece with cutouts. This one was surprisingly my FAVORITE. It will certainly be one I wear for romantic getaways like our staycation to Four Seasons this June for my birthday- it is the most flattering. I had no idea it would be my favorite. The cutouts rest right on the tummy lines where you SHOULD have abs… so it comes across as though you do. What could be better?

4. A fun + flirty bikini by Jessica Simpson. This one has great coverage on top that I really appreciated. I suggest going up a size in the bottoms, because they fit a little small. (Keep those cheeks covered!) I love the color of this one, too!

5. The perfect cover-up from Vince Camuto! If this wasn’t a swim suit cover up… I would be rocking this cute dress all the time, because I am OBSESSED with it. I love the way it lays over the swim suit underneath- it just barely shows off your top. SO CUTE.

Once you are equipped with the perfect suit, you have to get the perfect poolside reads and tunes for those summer days coming right around the corner.

My poolside reads?

Shauna Niequist– she is the BEST. I have read Bittersweet and Bread & Wine (both featured in this post) and I am working on finishing up the rest of hers before her new book comes out. Reading a Shauna Niequist book feels like chatting over a cup of coffee on the back porch with your best friends.

Harry Potter– Yes, I realize I am so behind the times it’s just not even funny. But, I wasn’t a reader as a child, I was more of the “play house” and have imaginary friends to play with outside kind of girl.

… I had three imaginary mice inspired by Cinderella that I carried around in a bird cage.

#IwishIwaskidding

So, yes. Now, I am diving into Harry Potter. I am on the second book and am obsessed.

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Poolside Soundtrack

Country. 100%

We are talking like Texas country, old school Garth, or dare I say the Dixie Chicks. (<<<<my first cd I ever bought with my own money at age 6).

Josh Abbott Band takes the gold for country summer soundtrack, though.

#OhTonight and #She’sLikeTexas speak to me.

I will say, though, aside from country, The 1975 are killing it and they have some great summer soundtracks that are just happy, feel good beats.

ALL OF THIS IS SECONDARY TO WHAT I AM ABOUT TO MAKE YOU PROMISE WITH ME TO YOURSELF. Something FAR MORE important than which swim suit you choose to purchase this Saturday.

Ready?

Vow With Me:

I, insert name here, promise I will not miss out on life by the pool this summer and all the fun things summer has to offer, because of the fear of being in a bathing suit. I promise to be proud of my body exactly as it is- every square inch of skin, every scar, every stretch mark, every pooch at the bottom of my tummy, every imperfection- because I am perfect EXACTLY AS I AM.

xoxo- Me

Got it? GOOD.

You are SO BEAUTIFUL… BELIEVE IT. Now go out, grab some of your best friends, and get to swim suit shopping tomorrow. Make a day of it! Go shopping and grab lunch afterwards with your besties. Dillards has so many choices (THOUSANDS) and you are sure to find a suit or two that you feel confident in and ready to rock.

Love y’all!

xoxo- Han

All photos provided for The Cake by Hannah by Cottonwood Road Photography

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Spring + Summer Travels With Sole Society

April 6, 2016

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I have been in search for the perfect weekender bag for months as my Vera Bradly bag from college is starting to wear out after years of use. With the summer months fast approaching and spring in full swing, my travel bug has bit me and the need for a good getaway bag has been more relevant than ever before.

I have been searching non-stop and asking all over for people’s favorite vacations spots. (Email me if you have any good suggestions!) I have been intrigued by Napa or Portland (in general, somewhere Northwest), as well as by Connecticut or Maine, and then I definitely have a bug for traveling somewhere tropical. (I have never been on a tropical getaway before!) I stumbled across a new Four Seasons Resort in Hawaii set to open this summer, and I am dying to get over there! (+ you’re welcome for sharing…ha.)

No matter where we end up traveling to this summer, depending on what our schedules allow for, I am going to have this awesome travel bag from Sole Society with me. I carried it around my whole shoot day with Hannah (Cottonwood Road Photography), stuffed full with three pairs of heels, a make-up bag, shorts, and a variety of other items, and it all fit perfectly. It’s the ideal size for a weekend getaway or for a carry-on bag for a flight- plus, the color is GORGEOUS.

Shop my whole look below! I am a sucker for simple, so although I love being “glammed up”- today’s outfit is 100% my favorite kind of outfit. If you haven’t signed up for Liketoknow.it, what are you waiting for? It’s the answer to all your “Where did you get that?” questions, and it’s such a helpful tool. It takes two minutes to sign up here (if even), and you will get emails sent to your inbox with direct links to every item I tag on my Instagram when you see a “liketoknow.it” link on my photo.

Love y’all so much.

xoxo- Han

All photos by Cottonwood Road Photography for The Cake by Hannah

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Greater Love

February 1, 2016

Ladies, let’s chat.

Can we do that?

It’s February, which is one of my favorite months of the whole entire year. Next to Christmastime, Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays. I love love. I have always loved it. I love giving gifts. I love pink. I love excuses to dress really girly. I love red roses. I love cookies. I even got married Valentines Day weekend. The holiday should just be named ‘All of Hannah’s Favorite Things.’

Listen to me, though. I know that with the month of February, like so many other holidays, there can also come feelings of unsettledness. Holidays are great until they bring up unwanted emotions we try to keep subdued throughout the year. There can come with it the baggage of past loves, painful breakups or the hatred of current circumstances. Singleness can be a hard time- I have talked about it before (here). You can begin to believe all these lies that you are unlovable, not pretty enough, daring enough, risky enough, or intriguing enough for someone to love. These are lies- NASTY lies. Terrible lies that are so untrue. Everybody’s seasons of singleness are different. I know that can be hard to hear from someone who got married at 21- I get it. I know I got married young, and I always feel silly saying to someone I know what it feels like to hate your singleness- but I swear I do. Read my story in the previous post I connected above, and I promise you will see I waited a long time.

Here’s where I want to speak to today- there is love to be found that is so much greater than our idea of cute, spunky, tangible love. Spunky love isn’t bad, it is fun! But, I promise that if you are in that season of singleness- be it by choice or maybe you’d rather not be- there is love to be found that beats every expectation and hope you have built up in your mind. Yes, I am talking about the love of God, which I am sure you may have seen coming knowing who I am and what I do. But, I want you to hear me when I say that I find so much more satisfaction and fulfillment in the love of my God than even my husband. Paul can’t meet every need I have, he is human and is going to fail me at times. But my God never will. He is who gives me the ability to extend grace when my husband does let me down, because, let’s face it, he is going to. I don’t say that as if my husband is a failure, no he isn’t at all. I say it because it’s just the truth. I will, likewise, let down Paul a lot. Forgiveness and grace isn’t something either of us can do on our own, it’s through the love of God who loves each of us individually first. It’s through our relationship with God that we can have healthy relationships with one another.

My husband is a youth pastor, and this week he is prepping for a sermon to kids about God’s love language. If you’ve never heard of the Five Love Languages, I encourage you to find out what yours are! Paul’s are quality time and words of affirmation where as mine are gifts and acts of service. Knowing how we receive love helps us understand each other so much better. Likewise, God’s love language is, really all of these, but I think his greatest one is relationship- quality time. To have a good, strong faith, you must pursue it. Until you pursue God above all other relationships, you will never feel “full.” Your relationship tank will always need something more, but not if you place God’s love first.

So as we enter into a new, fun holiday month, I encourage you to view Valentines Day different if it puts a little bit of an icky taste in your mouth. I encourage you to make it something more than just a romantic holiday. I encourage you to, first and foremost, seek love elsewhere if you’ve been looking for it in others. Take time this month to press into the love of God. Prayer time is so important, it’s what develops a relationship with God. He isn’t this God up high in the clouds, he is someone who wants to sit in your passenger’s seat in the car while you drive to work. (I am serious, my best prayer time even since high school has always been in my car.) Talk out loud to him, carry conversation with him throughout the day. It doesn’t always have to be this formal prayer time we all have an expectation for in our heads. He just wants to chat with you, hear your heart (even though he knows it), know what you’re angry about, know what you’re happy about. Also, take advantage of this month to love on your gal pals. Take the time to send letters to each of them thanking them for their friendship and what you love about them.

Love has the ability to run so much deeper than what a romantic kind of love tells us it does. Romance is great. I love my husband so much it’s painful, but there is love even GREATER than that, and the great news is that it is available immediately to you. It doesn’t need to wait around to see if they like you, too, or go on a first date to test out- it starts now. Plus, BONUS, this love is one you get to celebrate year round! You don’t just get flowers and chocolate on the 14th with this one, but you are lavished in love every single day. I can’t even say that about marriage, y’all. (Come on, if you’re married, you know there are days you just aren’t showering out every ounce of love you have for your spouse.)

I hope that you can view February as being so much more than romantic love, but as a time to focus on relationships as a whole.

You are loved! Happy February!

xoxoxox- Han

Back At The Barre

January 29, 2016

Hey hey, ladies!

We are just about one month into the new year, how is it going for you? Have you stuck to any of your resolutions for 2016? Thus far, we have done decently well in the Morrison household! One of my resolutions (you can read our whole list here) was to be intentional, and with that comes living fully in my city. Up until the past couple of months, I was driving and working between three different cities, grocery shopping still in Dallas, eating still in Dallas… meaning I was everywhere around the metroplex BUT my actual town. (And my poor car -RIP Angie- just paid for it.) With this came the feeling of unsettledness. To be frank, ever since moving to Dallas 5 years ago, I haven’t lived fully in my vicinity. Now that I am in McKinney, my hope is to do life as much as I possibly can in my new home. (Besides, of course, driving to Dallas for my CSF ladies a few times a week!)

I have been getting back to the barre this month, PURE BARRE, that is, at Pure Barre in McKinney right down the street from me! This time entering into the studio, I have a bit more (okay, a lot more) confidence in what I am doing than my first time ever walking into a Pure Barre. It is intimidating the first time you walk in and likely nothing like you have pictured in your head, but after your first class you start understanding and it is by far the best toning workout you will ever experience. I have never had quicker results for my arms or my tummy than what I do with Pure Barre. (We are talking, like, two weeks and you see significant changes if you go 3+ times a week!)

There are some things I didn’t know my first time at the barre that I wished I had, so for today’s post on Pure Barre I have a few quick tips for you before you walk up to the barre for the first time:

1. Come prepared to shake- This doesn’t mean you are weak or doing something wrong. If you are shaking then you are changing your muscles, this means you are doing the workout perfectly! In a barre workout, you are SUPPOSED to shake.

2. New Technique– I came into Pure Barre for my first class about 6 months ago thinking I would rock it. Then, when I was so lost, I felt like a complete failure. I thought I should have nailed my first class since I was a former dancer…. Wrong. Pure Barre is a workout of its own- there’s nothing to classify it with. Come ready to learn something new, which means you probably won’t be perfect at it at first.

3. Ask Questions– If you want to be good at Pure Barre, achieving maximum results, then stay after class and ask your PB instructor to help you out. I have never met a PB instructor I didn’t LOVE, they are so sweet and passionate about what they do! Ask questions!

4. Come with a friend- It can be intimidating to walk into a workout (or room in general) of entirely women. Let’s face it, girls are scary sometimes. Pure Barre is so fun to do with a best friend, though! You can giggle and wobble your way through your first class together.

(But, even if you cannot find someone to come with you, Pure Barre does an incredible job at cultivating a welcoming environment for women. It isn’t about competition or sizing up, it’s about finishing the class together. Don’t be afraid to go alone.)

5. Wear long pants- Pure Barre does have a dress code- you must wear yoga pants and socks for your class. The best tip: wear pants that fold over the heel of your sock- it keeps them on throughout the class! Plus, you will look like a PB Pro if you do this- it’s the Pure Barre trend. 😉

6. NO dance background necessary- You hear the word “barre” and immediately think ballerina- but that’s not Pure Barre at all. If you have a dance background like me, then you feel right at home in the studio, but you won’t hear a single dance word throughout the class- no first, second or third positions, no pirouettes. So, people who have never stepped on a dance floor in their life feel perfectly comfortable. Besides a barre and stretching, you are not doing dance methods of any kind. Being a former dancer might just give you a leg up (ha) on flexibility and balance.

I would LOVE for you to come try out a class with me. Working out is always better in pairs. If you live in south McKinney or Allen, you can go to Pure Barre Allen instead of Pure Barre McKinney, same owners and staff, located in Watters Creek! The best part is that you can try out a first class for just $10 on Thursdays at either location. Who is coming with me next week?!

Get up, get active, find things you are passionate about! Finding a workout you want to do can be tough, but that is what Pure Barre is to me. I get excited to go to class, and that is a fun relationship to have with working out.

Love y’all.

xoxo- Han

Happy Birthday, The Cake!

January 19, 2016

Holy Moly!

A year ago this month, I began this whole blogging thing. I started a blog my freshman year of college, but it was for when I felt like it. It was before I even knew people did this for a living. I didn’t have an Instagram and it was not even classifiable as a hobby, merely a space to sporadically write on when I needed to vent or a make a statement. We are talking maybe twice a month… maybe. It was called Mostly Because It’s True, a Blogspot (oh geez) really only known by my parents and DBU campus. After I got married, life sped up and I stopped writing entirely. For almost a year I did not write anything other than emails for work.

Today The Cake by Hannah is what it is. There is so much more I want to do, so many more ideas for my site and things to navigate, but I am stoked about where life has led me. Being real the last year of my life for all of you has been the most fun adventure I could ever dream up. Being real is why I chose to do my ‘blogiversarry’ (that’s embarrassing to say… but y’all get the gist) shoot in my pj’s at my little apartment. Rather than doing a super glam shoot with balloons, I wanted to show a peek into my little life on the daily. Reality is- I sit in my pjs until about 11 o’clock in the morning everyday curled up on the floor between the sofa and the coffee table before I head to Pure Barre or Zyn22 (it’s the perfect little nook for me to work in.) I didn’t want to show y’all something that isn’t me, I wanted to show y’all as me as it gets: coffee drinking (black), pajama wearing, live life by my planner, and golden doodle obsessed. Although, disclaimer, I obviously DON’T wake up like this. Ha. I put on some of my favorite BareMinerals nude pallet for this shoot. And, Hannah Hagaman makes everything look better.

Why The Cake?

I get asked this a lot, and the usual assumption is that I like to bake. This is hilarious because, although I can cook, I am a lousy baker. My sister got the baking gene in the family. (Emi is a professional baker for a restaurant in Durham.) So no, definitely not because I bake cakes. The Cake actually came from while I was an intern at D Magazine. See, I was the D Weddings and D Mom’s blogger (<<<That is also hilarious) all while being engaged myself. After months of writing about other couples’ love stories and extravagant nuptials, I decided to create a wedding blog within Mostly Because It’s True where I documented my wedding planning journey- much like what I was doing for other girls at D Weddings. This portion of Mostly Because It’s True was called “The Cake”. When I decided last christmas to start blogging for real, I chose to take The Cake and make it the title of my revamped blog.

It’s the idea that what is said here is sweet. It ‘takes the cake’, so to speak. Amidst all the messiness in the world, I hope when you come to The Cake you read something refreshing. I hope it brings joy, life, and satisfaction. When I take a bite into a good piece of cake, the world stops for just a second and I forget my worries. I go to cake when I am sad, I go to cake when I am happy. Cake is just good, you know what I mean?

Why Blog?

I blog not because I have a glamorous life worth a whole lot of money or full of adventures. I lead an extremely normal life. I am 23 and have a husband, we have to sit down and budget together, we live in an apartment in a suburb, eating out is a treat, and as of last week, we are a one car family until we figure out how to replace my old Escape, Angie. (RIP.) We are nothing special, BUT that is what pushed me to start writing for others to read. All over Instagram are these “insta famous” bloggers who live glamorous lives, documenting their trips and all their designer bags. (Now, I do want to establish this: Making a lot of money or having nice things is NOT bad, I repeat, those things are not bad! It’s just not the norm, and that is fact. People need to realize that.) At first, I felt like I couldn’t even be a blogger, because I don’t own designer things and I don’t hardly have enough gas money to get me from point A, B and C some weeks, let alone cool trips all over the world to write about. Truth is though, that is the case for like 90% of the world. What we see in social media isn’t real life for so many of us, but we allow ourselves to believe we aren’t normal. So in order to fit in we have to present to the world via social media a “better” self. We get sucked into believing we are a sub-par group of people because we don’t make massive salaries or have camera crews follow us around. We allow ourselves to feel embarrassment or shame if we have to budget our money or say no to eating out sometimes.

This is where I saw a need that I could help fill. I learned really quickly when I started writing that people just want to hear they are normal. I write about my life to shed light and reveal hope. The Lord gave me the gift of being unashamed, and if my shamelessness can help someone else find freedom, then I have done my job.

I put mine and Paul’s lives on display, honest and raw, for you to see a glimpse of reality in the midst of lies from the media or the 2% of people who actually do live glamorously plastered across T.V. and Instagram. I made a pact with myself that I would be shamelessly honest about myself, my marriage, and my struggles for the sake of even just ONE person feeling peace knowing other people struggle with the same things they do; for the sake of just one girl hearing my story, allowing her the confidence and freedom to talk about her own. It takes one person to start a wildfire, and I am willing to be that spark if it removes the hands that cover innocent mouths while the enemy whispers “hush” into your ears. I know what that feels like. You try to speak up, you try to say something, but it is the enemy who wraps his hands around your ability of speech. Sisters, all it takes is saying, “You are nothing compared to my God”, and the chains that have kept you stuck in silence will begin to fall. Satan wants you to be quiet.

If me sharing my life story on a normal basis gives you the confidence to speak up, to say “Hey, me too!”, then I have done my job. That is my mission. I am not hear to show off, I am not hear to brag: I am here to be real.

I love receiving emails from you, telling me your stories and asking me questions. My jaw still drops every single time one of you trusts me enough to share your story with. I want to know them. I want you to tell your story to everyone around you. Go speak. Remove the hands over your mouths and speak.

You are loved so deeply. I cannot say thank you enough for reading The Cake. However you found me, thank you. Cheers to one year, and here’s to many more. Who knows- maybe this time next year there will be a hard copy of things I have to say. My dreams are big, without limit, and I am ready to get after them in year two.

Love y’all.

xoxoxo- Han

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