Calling All April Sponsors!

Can you'll believe that March is practically over?? I can't! But I do love April and May almost as equally as March, so I'm hanging in there. Who doesn't love April showers and May flowers? :)

The Hinton Hook-Up still has a few sponsorships available for the month of April and I would absolutely LOVE to have you sponsor my blog! As a blogger, it doesn't get much better than connecting with new bloggers and strengthening your relationships with current blogger friends. If you're interested in sponsoring The Hinton Hook-Up for the month of April, you can check out my current rates here or just shoot me an email at thehintonhookup@gmail.com. I would love to help get your blog out there and grow your readership!

I look forward to hearing from and working with you soon!!

XO, Sara

Sponsor Highlight: Lauren with Lemon Trees and Bumble Bees

Hello all! I have another sponsor highlight for you today and I cannot wait for you to meet Lauren. She is absolutely the cutest! Learn a little more about her on my blog today, make sure to go check out her blog, and don't forget to show some follow love. Hope you all are having a blessed Thursday!

Hi! My name is Lauren and I blog over at Lemon Trees and Bumble Bees. I started writing at the beginning of this year and am already obsessed! While I write about a whole whack of things, there are a few subjects that I tend to blab on about more than others – my husband D, my awesome orange cat Mikko, and our newlywed life (married 6 months ago!).  I love being married and had an amazing time at our wedding so I pretty much talk about it any chance I get.  You can check out my wedding A-Z recap here.

So the lovely Sara has also asked me to share 5 fun/interesting facts about myself.  Hmm..where to start? Well I guess number #1 would be that I’m from Toronto, Canada.  Yeah it’s not super interesting BUT apparently being a Canadian blogger seems to be fairly rare. If there are any fellow Canucks out there, hit me up peeps!  Fact number #2 would be that I’m a newlywed. See told ya I talk about it a lot ;) D and I got married 6 months ago and it was the perfect day.  Number #3, I’m a nursing student at a university here in Toronto.  It’s been crazy hard and I can’t wait to be done. Fact #4, I’m a new aunt! My gorgeous nephew Logan was born in October and I am completely wrapped around his tiny little finger already. And finally, fact #5 is that my honeymoon is less than 1 month away! D and I are headed to England & Germany on April 21st. It’s going to be amazing and I am so excited! If anyone has been to either place and has any tips, let me know!

Thanks again to the lovely Sara for having me here today! This was a tad long so if you’ve made it all the way threw, thank you and we should definitely be friends now!  I hope to see some of you over at my blog. I love making new friends :)

Sponsor Highlight: Happy in Life, Young in Love

Hello blog world, I'm back!! This country girl has returned from her birthday trip to NYC (I turned 25 yesterday!) and I'm so happy to be back in Texas! I love the city so much, but I can't lie; Texas holds my heart for too many reasons to list. I'm planning on a few posts to tell you all about my trip, but until then here is a sponsor highlight for this gorgeous Tuesday. I'd like to introduce you all to Clara from Happy In Life, Young In Love. She is precious and I just know you'll love her blog! Please stop by and show her some follow love. :)

Pre-NYC

Tonight, I'm laying in my sister's bed at my parents' house.
In 4 hours, my mom and I will drive to the airport.
By 10:30am tomorrow, I will be in New York City.
I'm so sleepy, but I'm restless like a child on Christmas Eve!

Keep an eye out for updates and many, many (did I mention many?) pictures of my favorite place in the world. :)

Start spreading the news...
-Sara

March Madness + Baylor Basketball

Have you been keeping up with March Madness?? If so, do you have a bracket? And how's that going for ya? I've heard there have been a few upsets and that brackets have been thrown off. If yours is still going strong, then way to go!

To be completely honest, I haven't been keeping up with March Madness, nor do I have a bracket. This last week was just too nuts for me to focus on much more than work. BUT NOW...it's the weekend! And I'm so excited to watch the Baylor Men's Basketball team (No. 3 seed) play Colorado tonight in the third round. If they win, this will secure the second Sweet 16 appearance in program history! I'm already all kinds of excited (I LOVE basketball!) and I'm rockin' my Baylor shirt. :)

 {After beating South Dakota St. in the 2nd round}

Also, the No. 1 Baylor Women's Basketball team is opening their tournament tomorrow afternoon against UC Santa Barbara. This round, I'm taking it easy. Our undefeated (yes, ALL season long!) ladies are going to add anther notch to their belts as we move toward that championship game. I am just loving my Bears! This year has been huge for Baylor (need I mention RG III, this year's Heisman award winner??) and I couldn't be more proud to be an alum of this amazing university!

 {Coach Mulkey cutting down the net after the Baylor Women won the Big 12 Championship}

Sic 'Em Bears!!!!!!

Friday Letters

For the last couple of weeks, I've been reading others' Friday Letters posts. Today, I'm finally joining in and posting my own. Happy weekend everyone!

1) Dear Luke, I love you. This weekend while you work, I will be spring cleaning. When you finally get home on Saturday evening, you will not recognize our house. In a good way, promise! And all that luandry that's been sitting on our kitchen table? It will be folded and hung up. Swear. :) And thanks for mowing our yard this week. It looks fabulous and the puppies love it. You're the best husband/fur-baby-daddy we could ask for!

2) Dear Jules (aka mom), I cannot wait to go to NYC with you in 6 days! We will have so much fun going to Broadway shows, seeing the World Trade Center Memorial, walking through Central Park, eating at fabulous restaurants, treking over to Brooklyn so that I can tear up as I reminisce, and shopping til we drop. 5th Avenue, beware!!

3) Dear Work, you have been stressful the last few days, but SO worth it! I have felt very accomplished and proud of how well everything is going with the two of us. We are kickin' butt and taking names!

4) Dear Aubrey, You are buying a house. You are such a big girl! I'm so proud of you and the way you've worked so hard to make this happen. You absolutely deserve your precious little blue house and I can't wait to watch you go crazy as you decorate. And we're having a house warming party, STAT!

5) Dear Brookley (Brooklyn + Bentley), Y'all are a mess! Last night, you woke your mom and dad up multiple times just wimpering and you drove us crazy! Dad even took you to the bathroom TWICE. What did y'all hear outside last night that were bothering you so much? But no matter how frustrated we get with you, we can't get over how cute you are. You are buds; best friends for life. And this is exactly how we hoped it would be. :)

{And for your viewing pleasure...a pic of me taken by a client at our coffee meeting this morning. He posted it to Facebook. We discussed blogging. We're social media savvy, what can I say?!}

Swooning over Spring.

1) I love when we "spring forward," because it means more daylight. Which means that I can now sit out on my back deck with the husband and pups in the evening enjoying life. And this is perfect.

2) Luke mowed the yard last night and everything is so green (thanks rain!). Bentley loves to play outside, so we hung out in the yard for a little while. Isn't he adorable? 

3) Spring has sprung and wildflowers are everywhere. These were picked for me by a sweet friend and are now brightening my kitchen.

I.LOVE.SPRING.

Guest Post: Britt from The Magnolia Pair!

Happy Hump Day everyone! We're half way through the week (only half way??) and I'm already ready for the weekend! But until then, I have a fun guest post for you today. Britt from The Magnolia Pair, you may remember her sponsor highlight from a few days ago, has been sweet enough to blog over here today and I'm excited for her to share her love story with you! Thanks Britt!

When people get married most think that it is one of the most drastic changes they’ve experienced in their lives, but for me, it was a handful of things that changed everything. The only way I can describe my life the last year and a half is simply a whirlwind and a mere blink.

Let’s rewind just a little bit to summer of 2010. In June of this summer Joel and I lived and studied together in Barcelona for a month. After studying, we travelled for 3 weeks though Europe staying at hostles, missing our flights (Oops!), seeing historical monuments/landmarks, meeting the locals, and so much more. For us, this adventure was a time where our relationship became stronger and our hearts grew fonder of one another.

 
After returning from Europe, we began our last year at LSU together. In the middle of the semester Joel proposed on October 19th in the middle of a lake standing on a skinny barge, where he first asked me to date. From this point on our lives were suddenly struck with adrenaline.

In December, smarty pants Joel finished a semester early from college and graduated. Before he began medical school in the summer of 2011 he took a research job with a professor to stay busy and make some extra money.

A few months later, in May, I graduated! Being so proud of myself for finishing in four years with a degree that I was passionate about overwhelmed me with joy.

But that soon fizzled because the wedding craze began!

Time went by so fast after a bachelorette party with my favorite girls in June, house hunting in Alabama, and a last minute girls trip to see Britney Spears in concert., and purchasing our new vehicle. The month June and July swept me off my feet and July 16th was here before I knew it.

We married on July 16th at 1:00pm, and headed to St. Lucia for a week of honeymooning!

And what do you know, literally, the day after our honeymoon we landed back in New Orleans, headed to Alabama and Joel began Medical School the next day. Talk about a whirlwind right?

As Joel got settled into school I was on the job search and after two weeks of the big move I got my first interview for my first “big girl” job. After 6 intense interviews I was offered the position. I jumped for joy since I got a job just in time for my 23rd birthday!

A few short days before I began work we added a new addition to our two person family, and that was our little pup Rayne! We rescued our shelter puppy from a high kill shelter. She has come with ups and downs but we love her so much. I needed a little companion for my alone time, and she did just the trick!

My life is fairly strange now. I knew nobody here in Alabama when we moved and literally had to start over, which was exciting and scary at the same time.

***

I started this little blog to help me share my feelings about what I was going through and to share my recipes, photography, crafts, and funny newlywed stories. My blog covers a lot of trials, triumphs, and tribulations of our newlywed life.

I’d love for you to come follow along and share your stories with me! Thanks for reading, and thank you Sara for letting me post here!



Cirque Du Soleil + Date Night

Oh blog, how I have missed you! I have wanted to write down all of my thoughts and share my life with you all this last week, but work was somewhat nightmare-ish this past week. Not in a bad way necessarily, but in a so-much-to-do-I-can't-even-sleep-peacefully-because-my-brain-won't-shut-down kind of way. I plan on telling you all about it next week, but for now, I'm enjoying a peaceful weekend of rain and sleep. Oh, and a little laundry, but that was inevitable. :)

Until Monday, I'll leave you all with a few pictures from mine and Luke's date night last night. We met up in Corpus for dinner at our favorite restaurant, Water Street Oyster Bar, and then went to see Cirque Du Soleil: Dralion at the American Bank Center! I have been working with this event and their promotions team to promote ticket sales through an integrated TV and internet marketing strategy for the past 6 months and it was so fun to see it all come together! There was a huge opening-night audience and the show was fantastic. Luke and I really enjoyed the show; it made us feel like we were somewhere other than Corpus, ha!

 {Dinner date with the hubs}

{Love him so much!}

{End of the show. So good!}

Have a blessed rest of the weekend!

XO,

Sara

See ya later February...Hellooo March!

Dear February,

I'm glad you're over. Sorry I'm not sorry.

No love,

Sara

So you can probably tell that I'm just not the biggest fan of February. Wanna hear why? I know that it's the month of love and all, but guess what: we should love each other every day! Plus, Christmas is over, the weather is cold/rainy/gloomy, and there is just something about March that screams, "SPRING IS HERE!! SUMMER IS GETTING CLOSE!!!" I know I sound a little too passionate about this, but it's true. I couldn't love March more! And being that March is my birthday month may have something to do with it. ;)

So, here are a few lovely pictures from Pinterest to celebrate the first day of this lovely month and the promise of sunshine, peonies, and all things spring!

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{My obsession with peonies is slightly outrageous. via.}

 

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Dear March,

I've been anticipating your arrival. I knew I could count on you. :)

So much love,

Sara