If you ever decide to get engaged, and want to plan a beautiful, small, inexpensive wedding, head straight to the Chapel Dulcinea bookings page and get on their calendar. The romantic chapel has seating for 12, and the little reception area holds up to 30. I went there recently for the Monday night (I TOLD you it books up fast) wedding of my dear friend Brooke and her husband of a little over one month, Dave. Check out these pics and tell me you wouldn’t love to get married there:

The …

I’ve been wanting to do Snap Kitchen’s Snap Commit program ever since my friend Jessica did a similar 21-day challenge in 2010. She was able to turn the habits she learned in those 21 days into a lifestyle that she has continued over a year later. With my wedding planned for October 2012, and some family gatherings coming up in the next few months, I wanted to jump-start my pre-wedding weight loss program, and now felt like the perfect time to commit.
Full Disclosure: I approached Snap Kitchen and offered to …

Thanks to a gift certificate provided to me by the marketing team at the Lakeway Resort and Spa, I was able to treat two of my girlfriends to an overnight getaway on a recent Saturday night. The resort is about 40 minutes from downtown Austin, but when you’re there, you feel like you’re really on vacation.
When we arrived, the folks at the front desk invited us to head down to the Back Porch for a complimentary happy hour of wine or beer. We felt like we won the lottery, especially …

I’ve always wanted to visit Montesino Farm in Wimberley, and this weekend had three great reasons to make the hour trek. One: You can rent it for events. Two: Slow Food Austin was hosting a tour of the farm. Three: There was a barn dance.
These are really nice farm apartments (with full kitchen) that you can rent for the weekend.
I was hanging out in their outdoor kitchen/bar area when the Montesino herd of Miniature Herefords came by for a snack. They looked huge to me. I later learned that while …

I wrote two blog posts for Whole Food’s Whole Story blog — one on a vineyard tour and tasting, and this one, on our extensive cheese tour in Paris. Click here or the image below to check it out.

Special thanks to Antoine Marsot of Interval Export for planning a wonderful day for us. We are also so grateful to Sebastien, the manager of one of the Paris locations of Beillevaire, for opening the store for us during his lunch break and gracefully letting us taste anything in the store.