A Latte Lipstick

Archives for September 2015

Best 5 Coffee Shops in OKC

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Oh coffee shops, how I love you. Warning tea lovers, this post is solely dedicated to Coffee…

Thank you for those all-nighters, early morning and sleepy afternoons. 

For waking me up every morning and encouraging me to get going. 

For conversations that bring people together and special delicious moments. 

Thank you for being there no matter what. Love you, my dear coffee.

Considering it’s National Coffee Day I wanted to give a shout out to some of my favorite OKC coffee shops! I’d be lost without you and your decorative lattes, it really is an art. The perfect coffee shop must have the magical combination of delicious coffee, comfortable seating, friendly baristas and just the right amount of “coffee house chatter.” These coffee shops are rare to find and these are my 5 favorites…

5 Favorite Coffee Shops in Oklahoma City

Kitchen 324 – Their soy lattes are truly mouth-watering on a early Sunday morning. I can almost smell the coffee beans from my apartment.

Nourished Food Co – If you are into love-filled coffee, this is the place. Coffee making is an art here and they do cold brews and steeping.

All About Cha – If only I had this back in college, ultimate study area dream come true. They also have amazing desserts, if you’re feeling frisky.

Elemental – Great place to blog. Love the added art elements from local artists around the place.

Cafe Evoke – Technically this is in Edmond, but who is holding me to it?
This is the cutest shop with light blue chairs and pastels.

As a continued shout out to coffee — a photo montage of sweet sweet memories with you.

coffee shops

coffee shops

coffee shops

coffee shops

coffee shops

coffee shops

Where do you like to drink coffee? Are you a take it black, or with cream and sugar type of person? I love to hear new places that I haven’t tried before so let me know your favorite coffee shops!

Fall Festivities to Enjoy Immediately

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fall festivities

So happy that fall has arrived…in one more day to be specific. Summer is nice, until it’s not. The heat has a way of slowly creeping up on you until you go CRAZY! I’m ready to trade out my shorts and pull on those fleece lined leggings and switch my iced coffees for steamy lattes.

More reasons to be excited for fall’s arrival and fun ways to increase the fall festivities’ enjoyment IMMEDIATELY–>

Fall Festivities

Crackling Fireplaces
Nothing quite beats the smell and sound of crackling firewood. Not to mention if you add to the fun and roast a marshmallow over it. Smores, anyone?

Or, have you ever tried making a colored fire? If you have a sweet little one, try it, they will be amazed. Oh don’t kid yourself, you will be too.

fall festivities

Warm Delicious Drinks
Nothing quite like a warm drink to welcome fall. Simply seeing steam rising off a delicious coffee or cocoa makes me happy. To bring in the season make some frothy milk, add an espresso shot, teaspoon of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Or, spice it up and make some delicious wassail! Wassail has been a lovely tradition at our Family and Friends November Fall Picnic for years. My mother and aunt started the Annual Picnic years ago, 38 to be exact, with a group of their sweet Pi Phi friends and wassail has remained one of the best traditions. Traditions never get old, especially when wassail is involved.

fall festivities
Crisp Colorful Leaves
Who doesn’t enjoy those festive leaves and the crunch when you step on them during your walk breathing in the signature fall crisp air? Not to mention getting in a good workout by raking them and then falling into the large pile like a kid.

fall festivities
Sweaters & Fur
And finally, one of the best changes that fall brings…so many more clothing options in fall than in
the hotter seasons. I love to curl up in dramatic furs, plaid scarves, wool socks and cute hats, pom poms and all.

I may or may not have gotten a little carried away in my purchasing of fur vests last year. They’re just so snugly and lovely for fall and winter. Plus, these are pieces I can keep forever! Or so I tell myself to make the price a little easier to cope with… Black shearling vests are timeless!

fall festivities

Which fall festivities are you most excited for celebrating?

Time to Plan a Wedding!

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So excited to now be Colton’s fiance! It’s been a little over two weeks and I’m still on a high! The proposal was perfect and exactly what I wanted. I’m not one for an audience in this type of monumental moment so it was a perfect, private proposal. While the proposal was intimate, once it happened… I wanted to tell EVERYONE and plan my wedding! Even those that didn’t particularly care heard about it, every waiter, every guide, every passerby. Hey, a girl has a right when she has just got a ring on that finger!

Here are some photos from the proposal, clearly already daydreaming about the wedding…

wedding

wedding

Next day we celebrated in the sand and sunshine! Couldn’t help but keep putting my hand in the air and watching the gorgeous ring catch rays, he did such an amazing job on picking out my ring! I had next to no idea of the specifics of my ring and he picked it out all by himself! He’s a keeper 🙂

wedding

My nails are hardly ever painted and in an okay condition so I was very pleased that I had decided to do my nails for vacation. However, I would have preferred not to have my pronounced “purple vacation nails” but better than chipped stubs. I’ll have to actually get them done before the wedding. 🙂

wedding

To make it even better, my bestie and fellow blogger on Acres and Richmond got engaged the next day! She also happens to be the best DIY-er, and planner so I’ll definitely be able to benefit from this group planning!

wedding

How cute are they?! I just love their photos from his pop the question! She looks so perfectly happy and surprised!

wedding

Love is in the air! Anyone have any helpful planning tips for me? I could use all the help I could get!

1 List to Make You Happier

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What makes you happy? How do you define your happiness? Sometimes it can be easy to push your happiness aside and focus on other more pressing matters, however nothing is as important as finding your happy. Sure, days will be more difficult than others but make sure you are doing at least one thing a day to bring you that bliss. Whether that is turning to Pharrell’s song, or snuggling with your wet nosed pup.

 My Happy List:

Coffee dates with my sweet friends, because there’s just nothing quite like talking it out over a steaming mug. Even the smell of coffee in the air floods my soul with happiness.

Buying and admiring beautiful flowers that leave a lovely scent in the air. Flowers are just so happy and perky, making it nearly impossible to feel sad when looking at them.

Watching a beautiful Oklahoma sunset. Sunsets are famous around here and us Okies love to capture the perfect sunset, yet none of these photos can quite give them the justice they deserve.

A great sweat session! Nothing can quite beat the feeling after a great workout. Letting your mind clear and focusing on the challenging moves at hand is a healthy mental break and definitely a physical one.

Reading has always been one of my favorite things to do! It’s amazing how sucked into someone’s world you can get from written letters on pages. Always a perfect activity to do, no matter if you have 5, 10 or 60 minutes to get away.

What would you add to your day when you make that list? Try it out and let’s have a great week!

Exploring California from LA to San Francisco

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What a whirlwind, beautiful vacation Colton and I had exploring California. Started from LA and worked our way up to San Francisco. Nothing quite like the sun constantly shining and the crashing sounds of waves against the rocks. Was full of anxiety leaving on vacation but luckily my nerves and worries washed away and sweet relaxation came once I was by that beautiful blue water. Nothing quite like a vacation. Take one!

California

We arrived in LA and definitely did some hard core brunchin’, snackin’ and happy hourin’

San Francisco

San Francisco

California

Notice anything sparkly? Yes, I got engaged!!
And definitely got my lattein’ on…

California

We also enjoyed hiking, shopping, and exploring! It was a whirlwind vacation and one that I will always remember! The drive up the coast was absolutely breathtaking.

Sometimes when I go out of town to somewhere so gorgeous I question why I live in Oklahoma. But then right when I get home, I remember. Love to vacation, but also love this super friendly state! 🙂

Recommends in California <3

San Francisco Food

San Francisco Food

San Francisco Food

Favorite Places in LA:

Berry Que – Most delicious protein balls and smoothies, reasonable pricing and right in the action!
Rodeo Drive – So amazed at how interesting and different each store was in Rodeo. Champagne was passed out like water. There was also a tiny dog being served water from a very nice glass dish. Casual, you know?
Il Pastaio – Delicious restaurant by Rodeo Drive. I just knew I was going to see someone famous there..but sadly didn’t.
Original Room at Comedy Store in Hollywood – We got to see Bill Burr again! We were also literally front and center, luckily we weren’t picked on too bad. One girl did amazing impressions and made me really want to be able to do them too. I’ll work on it.
Griffith Park Trails – Perfect mixture of easy/challenging hiking trails. Breathtaking views and right by the Hollywood sign.

Favorite places in San Francisco:

Golden Gate Bridge – Fabulous as I imagined but couldn’t stay there long – heights, sheesh!
Ghirardelli Chocolate Museum –  Took a lot of self control not to just stick my hand into the melted chocolate being stirred round and round. There were also awesome old advertisements hanging up in the store. Amazing what you used to get away with saying!
Napa – duh! We went on an awesome wine tasting tour! Our guide was so fun and definitely was living the good life…wine tours in Cali during the summer and hiking guide in Colo during the winter.
Hotel Nikko – Such a nice hotel! We were nearly killed trying to find where you went to park but besides that, beautiful! They have taxi/bus lanes that normal cars cannot drive on in San Francisco, just FYI.
Trattoria Contadina – Delicious Italian food in North Beach. Had that authentic unbeatable Italian taste. Also delicious bread, oops!
Eight am – Would say this was my favorite brunch place we went to, it was low key but so tasty. Had 3 types of avocado toast that I first drooled over and then gobbled up quickly.
Dirty Habit – Edgy bar that had the most interesting cocktails! Their bathrooms were really cool too. When bathrooms are cool, you know it’s got to be a good experience.
Pier 39 – So amazed by the sea lions, they literally just lay on each other for hours and there are thousands of them! Whoever planned that as the “spot” must have been really organized and influential because they have been going there since 1989.

Favorite Stops on the road:

Nick’s – Laguna Beach
Hula’s – Santa Barbara
Big Sky Cafe – San Luis Obispo
Julia Pfeiffer State Park – Big Sur
Hawthorne Gallery – Big Sur

Do you have any other favorites to add to my list that I should make next time?