New home: Mom Jeans & Dad Jokes

Hi! I no longer write here, but did want to leave the site up so my Pinterest referrals aren't dead links.

As of September 2015, my family and I have relocated to Atlanta, Georgia. Chris and I started a podcast and blog ("blogcast!") called Mom Jeans & Dad Jokes. Since our launch, we've landed in iTunes' New & Noteworthy section. Woot! We would love to reconnect with you over there at our new home on the web.

If you're so inclined, we would love it if you could update your subscription and bookmark links accordingly. Also! I need a huge favor: if you happened to link Adored Austin on your sidebar or recommended links list, we would be so appreciative if you could now link Mom Jeans & Dad Jokes. It helps search engines find us. 

Big Texas love from the heart of Georgia,

Indiana

TODAY // Free Ice Cream courtesy of 4Moms at Lick in Austin

Come out to Lick Ice Cream any time between 2pm- 4pm to enter to win an origami stroller from 4moms. (P.S. If you haven't seen that stroller in action, you really should. Every time I take it in and out of my car, people stop and run over to ask me about it. It's that amazing!)

Also... FREE ice cream! The first 100 people will get two scoops of their favorite sweet treat. Lucy and I will be there, and we'd love to meet you. We'll be moving to Atlanta by September first, and I'd love to meet as many of y'all as I can before we go!

RSVP on Facebook or just show up. And be sure to invite your friends! Because free ice cream, a chance to win an awesome stroller (ARV $849), and the opportunity to squeeze this munchkin. I fully expect there to be a happy line around the block, people.

ATX Bucket List: Austin Steam Train

Now that our impending move date is drawing closer, I've been itching to get things crossed off my family's Texas bucket list. At the tippy top of that list was the Austin Steam Train.

We had been meaning to do this for a long time since Jude (like most little boys) is all about trains. It's just hard for us to make plans to do fun, all night things because of Noodles.

Poor Noodles. She's always the foil to our adventures, as we always forget to make plans for her when we're planning a night out or a vacation. I love her, but I'd have a lot more checked off our Texas bucket list by now if it weren't for her.

Enter: DogVacay. From their site:

DogVacay is a website and app that makes finding great pet sitters simpler than ever. Pet owners can search for pet sitters nearby, book stays and pay online, all with a couple clicks. Our hosts watch your pup in their own home and treat him like a member of the family while you're gone, so you can finally have peace of mind while you travel!

So, it's kind of like Airbnb, but for dogs. And it's great! DogVacay made it possible for me to have a nice, sit down dinner with my family at Blue Corn Harvest and take a three hour train ride through hill country afterwards.
After we dropped Noodles off with host Melissa R for a last minute booking, we high tailed it up to Cedar Park. (This above photo, incidentally, is one of the photos Melissa snapped of Noodles enjoying her backyard while we were away).




Caroline was so happy and Jude is jumping for joy.


I think Lucy was just pleased to be out of her car seat.



Mesmerized by the passing scenery.

  But they were perhaps more so impressed by the snack car and using their Austin Steam Train Association dollars to buy M&M's and rootbeer.

  Our train car was the very last one and although the snack car was perfectly delightful, my favorite part was standing out on the back breezeway. The fact that you're allowed to stand back there must be a very well kept secret because only one other family joined us.



At the half way point, there's a little layover at a train depot built in 1912 in Bertram, Texas. While stopped, Jude wanted to take a closer look at the locomotive engine. It really was majestic!

I love that this may end up being one of Jude's earliest childhood memories.

It was so nice to not have to rush back to let Noodles out or worry if she had an accident in our house while we were away for so long. With Noodles well taken care of, I was able to relax, take in the scenery, and watch the Texas sunset from the back of a moving train: 

All this fun is thanks in part to DogVacay who made this minivacay possible for me and my family. If you have a summer bucket list you're trying to complete and there's a dog preventing this, check out DogVacay. New customers can enjoy $10 off their first booking with code ADOREDAUSTIN. Go here to get more info and check them out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, too. For more info the train ride, check out AustinSteamTrain.org.

Farewell Adored Austin party!

This Friday, come by the new Langford Market store and bid me adieu (or good riddance). There will be wine and sweets and I'll try really hard not to cry on your nice shirt. Whether we're meeting for the first time or saying goodbye, I'd love to see you! Come out for this fun ladies night. Everyone is invited, it's come and go from 6-9pm, so go ahead and RSVP here. Maybe we can brainstorm and see what we should do about TxSC, too.

Review: Sleep Number x12 Bed with Sleep IQ Technology

I'm on a little house hunting trip here in Atlanta, and you know what? I miss my bed.

Don't get me wrong, I love staying at my mother-in-law's, but I, literally, have the best bed in the world back home in Austin.

Something that I don't think I've mentioned here is the fact that I don't sleep well. If you've ever gotten an email or Facebook message from me at 2 a.m. you'll know it's because I have trouble sleeping. I've talked a little about my struggle with sleeplessness at church and with my girlfriends before, but not much on here because honestly, it's sad! It's sad that I had just resigned myself to living a life with very little rest. But all that's starting to change!

Do you follow the Consumer Electronics Show news at all? I do, because I'm a nerd like that. I always get excited to see what debuts, and this year, CES was all abuzz with the introduction of the Sleep Number x12 Bed. I saw it, and I, too, was mesmerized. I wanted that bed! I needed that bed!

So when the chance to try the Sleep Number x12 Bed with Sleep IQ Technology became available to me, I leapt at the chance. It sounded too good to be true: a bed that tracks how well you sleep, gives you suggestions on how to improve, and even gets your partner to stop snoring? No freaking way.

I was skeptical, so I kept my old bed unsure that I would like the new one (not that I loved my old bed, but I was hesitant, you know?). Long story short: I slept that very first night. I really could not believe it. We got the bed at the beginning of March, before I had Lucy, so I've had over three months with this thing, and I'm still gaga for it. Our old bed will be banished to the guest room forever now!

Sleep Number came out to my house last month to ask me what I thought about the x12 and the Sleep IQ Technology, and I was able to share just why it is so special (featuring cameos of my kids and husband and our colorful house!):

I know this all reads and sounds like a commercial, but y'all, it's really that brilliant. I recognize that the x12 is a bit of a stretch cost-wise, but what's really great is that the Sleep IQ Technology is available for Sleep Number beds starting at $999.00. No matter if you're pregnant, an insomniac, nursing, married to a snorer or not, it's not a bad investment at all. I mean, seriously, this bed has a stop partner from snoring feature, has in-bed massage, and turns on your nightstand lights all by remote or voice command. On top of that it tracks your sleep quality and makes suggestions for better sleep? Man, it's like we're living in Jetsons time, right?

This is not recommended or suggested, but I half wonder if I could plug a coffee maker into the nightstand light outlet and my bed could even make me a cup of coffee in the morning, too...

The future! We have arrived! Now goodnight!

Disclosure: My family received the Sleep Number x12 bed for review. This is not a sponsored post nor we were compensated beyond the bed. Honest, unscripted opinions on the product were given with permission to be featured.