Lucky Lady

Spending the day with this handsome man...

I'm a lucky lady :)

Love you, boyfriend!

Heaven

Last week I decided to give myself a little gift this Monday morning -- a vacation day!  I'm so glad I took this day for myself and am loving this break from my normal weekday routine. Right now I can be found still in my pj's with a cup of coffee in hand, watching "Kelly and Michael" and catching up on some of my favorite blogs.

The rest of the day will involve lunch with boyfriend, a little errand running -- without the normal weekend crowds, -- some cleaning, and some sewing.  

Off to soak up this wonderful Fall day because it's back to reality tomorrow -- Happy Monday!

Fall Fever

Despite the 100+ degree temperatures still looming here in Dallas, I have already declared it Fall in my book.  With the official calendar change to September, the return of college football, and the flashing school-zone lights on my drive to work again, the past few days have undeniably felt like fall. 

I’ve been trying not to go overboard in anticipation of my favorite season of the year -- i.e. no boots or scarves just yet -- but have been adding little touches to make it feel like fall around here.

Apparently I’m not the only one who loves this time of year. Some of the girls and I at work declared last week to be ‘pumpkin treat week’ so we could bake up some of our favorite fall desserts. I went with my tried and true, always a winner, Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes via the butter lovin’ gal, Paula Deen.  

via

These bars are extremely easy to throw together, make the house smell amazing, and disappear in no time by pumpkin and non-pumpkin lovers alike!  Seriously, a non-pumpkin loving coworker of mine tried one and loved it.  I highly recommend them if you are craving something sweet or just want a taste of fall.

In addition to the baking, I’ve been sporting my burnt orange once again in support of my lovely Longhorns.  It was so exciting to cheer them on last weekend and I can't wait for the rest of the season -- Hook 'Em!

It's an oldie, so try not to laugh too hard at my cheesy-ness :)

Last, but not least, even my toes got a little bit of fall fever.  When I went in for a pedicure this weekend, I could not resist picking out a darker shade of purple to carry me into October!

Stay tuned for more fall changes around here -- I promise not to post anymore pics of my toes.  Here's hoping the weather catches fall fever soon! 

Happy -- almost -- fall, ya’ll!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I am a Texas girl, born and raised, and like most, I love my country music.  Among my favorites are Garth Brooks, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum, just to name a few. 

  

I am not a huge concert attender.  You know, there's those people that always know who is in town when and where they're playing, when tickets go on sale and the best seats to buy for that venue -- ya, that's not me. The last one I remember wanting  to go to and not just tagging along was Keith Urban way back in 2006. So when I heard Lady A would be in Dallas, me wanting tickets was unusual. 

Sometime before Thanksgiving, I asked boyfriend if we could go and he of course said yes -- probably thinking it was in February and there was a good chance I'd forget by then. I suggested we buy tickets when they went on sale and he assured me we could find better/cheaper ones if we waited and scoured Craigslist, eBay, etc.  Being the good and trusting girlfriend that I am, I said OK and waited. 

While patiently waiting, I decided it wouldn't hurt to add the tickets to my Christmas list just in case anyone was feeling generous. Sadly, this did not have the intended effect and by New Years, I was still ticket-less.  I continued to bring up the concert whenever it felt appropriate, you know, as a subtle reminder, but day after day no tickets showed.

About a week before the concert -- and coincidentally just before Valentine's Day -- we talked about going once more and by this point, I think boyfriend realized I could not be talked out of it.  On Valentines, he gave me their newest CD -- which I'm shocked I did not already own -- and mentioned he had been searching for tickets and had hoped to give them to me then but was having no luck.   He searched online ticket sellers -- sold out -- and checked Craigslist and eBay but could not find anything short of a $300 price tag for the two of us, and those weren't even decent seats.  After an unsuccessful ticket search, we decided we'd just go to an early dinner and head to AAC with cash in hand hoping for some scalpers. 

So in the midst of Saturday errands and rain, -- just what you want when trying to scalp tickets -- we went to the ATM and withdrew cash to carry out our plan.  As we talked about dinner, I realized I wasn't even positive what time the concert started so I hopped on the Internet and looked up the event. I saw the 7:30 start time and nearly shut the laptop, when the "Purchase Tickets" button caught my eye. I figured, what the heck and clicked on it, chose 2 tickets and searched for best available. I could hardly believe it when I got results back!  Two tickets had magically appeared -- they were more than half-off the price tag we were finding anywhere else, AND they were floor seats!  At this point, I was convinced anything available just 2 hours before the show started must be terrible so I immediately called boyfriend and asked about them. He was as shocked as I was when he heard they were floor seats and said "Get 'em"!  I made my online purchase and we went ahead with our dinner plans, feeling much more relaxed and at ease knowing we had tickets.  When we left for AAC and it was STILL raining, we felt even more grateful we happened across them. I'm certain trying to scalp in the rain would have been cold, wet, frustrating, and worthless.

Once we picked up our tickets and made our way to the seats, we were even more amazed by how awesome they where. We started talking to the people around us and one couple mentioned how excited they were that it was finally here since they bought tickets months ago. Another girl mentioned she was able to get her seats because she was in the Darius Rucker fan club and got to purchase them early -- little did we know he was one of the performers that night. No one could believe we'd bought ours just 2 hours before the event, including us.  We didn't dare mention what a bargain they were!

We had such a wonderful time and enjoyed all the bands.  The opening group was called Thompson Square, which I didn't think I had heard of. I'm queen of knowing every word to a song, but having no clue who sings it! I was surprised when I recognized a couple of their songs and thought they were really great.

p.s. all these photos were taken from our seats with very little zooming involved :)

Next, Darius Rucker came out. Again, I wasn't sure if I knew a lot of his songs until each one started and I looked at boyfriend and screamed, "I love this song!!!!" I have so few pictures from this part of the night because I was too busy singing along. We both really enjoyed his performance -- he has a great voice and was really entertaining. He even gave us a little flash back to his earlier singing career and busted out some Hootie and the Blowfish before ending with Purple Rain.

Last, but certainly not least, came Lady Antebellum.  They were equally as wonderful and I was so happy to see them! They played all their singles and a bunch from their new album. I managed to snap a few good pictures before singing the rest of the night away. You should know, I don't normally sing in public and only those closest to me have ever heard me try, but it was just way too much fun not to. So, I apologize to anyone around us who had to listen to my tone-deaf singing yelling :)

At one point during the show, all the groups came back out and performed together!

Boyfriend was such a great sport considering he had no clue who the opening performers would be and knew only one Lady A song -- his love of country music does not run as deep as mine :) 

All in all, it was an amazing night and I could never have imagined something working out like this.  For two overly planned people, this was one time waiting seriously paid off! Still not sure I could do it again, but luck was definitely on our side Saturday night!

Christmas Cookies

This week, the boy and I spent a night baking and decorating Christmas cookies. Although I try to make this a yearly tradition, I don't have special recipes for the cookies or icing that I use each time. I usually just look around the web until I find one that sounds interesting. This year, I stumbled upon this recipe for the cookies and decided to try it because of the almond extract -- which I LOVE. Before even baking the cookies, we were in smitten! This recipe will definitely be saved and most likely become part of a yearly tradition.

For the icing, I was going to try the recipe on the same site as the cookies, but couldn't find meringue powder so I searched for a different royal icing recipe.  I found this one from Alton Brown and picked it mainly because I had all the ingredients on hand. It was so-so and probably won't be a repeat, but was really easy to throw together and definitely has not kept me from having a cookie -- or two, or three -- each night.

So, after we baked up our cookies and whipped up the icing, we chose to color a third of the icing red, a third green, and leave a third white.  Although our red looked red while mixing, it quickly turned into a very bright, hot pink!  Still looks cute on the cookies, just a little less traditional :) We put the three colors in Ziploc bags and cut a small opening in the corner so we could pipe them onto each cookie.

Boyfriend has not done this in many many years and was fascinated by the Ziploc bag trick. 

We just kept on going until we had plates full of cookies! Along the way, we 'tested' the broken or deformed ones and approved of their quality :)

To top off the Christmas-y, fun-filled night, we took the puppies and drove around looking at Christmas lights.  It was one of the most fun ways to spend a weeknight! 

Hope everyone else is getting their fill of holiday activities before they fly by!

Reoccurring Thought Today

Anyone else having one of those days? Where time seems to stand still. You look at the clock and can't believe only five minutes has passed since the last time you looked -- which you swear must have been hours ago. You stare at words on a page but can't absorb a single one. You're just ready to be anywhere else and moving on to other, more exciting things. Yup, it's been one of those days for me.

Maybe I'm just anxious for the weekend to get here...

 

End of Summer Vacay

The boy and I snuck off last week for a little vacation at the beach.  We had the most amazing time and met so many wonderful people while we were there!  In very few words and lots of pictures, here's a short summary of our whirlwind trip...

Our room, which was spectacular!

We had a huge bathroom complete with a large Jacuzzi, walk-in rain shower and plenty of room for every girls bathroom essentials.  We also had a sitting area, small table for eating and a large balcony with lots of seating and a view of the infinity pool and ocean.

We had lots of great food while we were there and not nearly enough time to try it all!

The French restaurant where we had salmon, shrimp and fillet our first night.

The Hibachi restaurant where we had dinner with friends and a ton of sushi, noodles, rice, and dessert.

Oceana, one restaurant overlooking the pool and a great spot for lunch.

Outside of eating, we also played hard -- we went snorkeling, took out a catamaran and kayak, Adam played volleyball twice a day while I lounged by the pool, tried darts, Mexican Lottery, a putting competition, saw a dance show and even did our fair share of dancing.

We also met several fun, newlywed couples from all over -- California, Ohio, Austin, Canada, and Wisconsin -- I'm sure there's more I'm missing!

We were very sad to be leaving on Sunday and can't wait to go back!

Goodbye for now, Cancun! We will miss you!

Christmas in July

I had the urge to start a puzzle last night -- strange, I know. I’m not sure if it’s because Netflix had delivered a girly movie and I needed an activity to go with it, or was having puzzle withdrawal -- I’ll explain in a minute -- or because I have a newly rearranged apartment with a full size table just begging to be covered with stuff.  Whatever the reason, I put in “Eat, Pray, Love” and dug through my puzzle stash. 'Stash' may be exaggerating a bit. I actually only own two puzzles at the moment and both are Christmas themed. But, I figured a puzzle is a puzzle so why not?

Me and Christmas puzzles actually go way back.  Since 1991, my family has put together at least one Christmas puzzle during the holidays -- at a minimum, that's 20 puzzles so far! Some years we felt ambitious and did more than one.  We would then add the date to the front of the puzzle, glue it together, have it framed or mounted, sign the back and hang them up each Christmas.  It’s so nostalgic to see them all over the house during the holidays and marvel at how the collection has grown over the years.  So, despite the fact that it is 100+ degrees outside and we’re still in the month of July, busting out a Christmas puzzle felt all too familiar.

Once I decided on a puzzle, I started the slow process of laying out each piece and dividing them into the edge or middle piles. I highly recommend a movie, music or some sort of entertainment during this part -- going through a 1,000 pieces can become a pretty mundane task without a great movie playing.

I did begin to worry if all 1,000 pieces would fit on my table. Although it's larger than it has been, it is by no means a big table. Luckily the box was emptied just before I ran out of space.

I even managed to get the border put together so I'm confident the whole puzzle will fit just perfectly. And, with those pieces pushed so close to the edge, I have more motivation to get them put together. I must have dropped at least five pieces last night and both dogs ran for them like steak just hit the floor. It'd be terrible if I got to the end and discovered they'd eaten one fallen piece!  

Oh, and apparently I decided wine would be the perfect complement to a movie and puzzling -- that part is completely optional  J 

Although it's still summer and a somewhat nontraditional start, I'm excited to begin my very own Christmas puzzle collection.  I didn’t get too much further last night, but I’d love for my 'Christmas in July' puzzle to be finished before August.  Hopefully I can con some weekend visitors and my sweet boyfriend into helping me  J 

Snow Day!

It doesn't happen often in Dallas, but once or twice a year we get lucky and snow -- mostly ice -- makes its way through the metroplex, covering everything and keeping everyone indoors. Since we live in the most unpredictable weather capital in the US, these days are often preceded and followed by 60 degree and sunny weather. So, for those of you worried about the Super Bowl, don’t be. The sun and warmer weather will be back in just a couple days -- much like it was just two days ago.

For today though, the snow is still falling and a thin layer of ice has covered the ground! It felt like Christmas morning waking up and hurriedly going through emails just hoping to find one titled, “Office Closed.”  Since I slept through my alarm this morning, finding this one was even more exciting -- if it wasn’t there, I was going to be over an hour late, and if it was there, I’d been able to sleep in and didn’t have to make my way to the office -- WIN!


I’ve only braved the outdoors once so far today. Unfortunately, having pups means going outdoors at least 3 times a day be it rain, snow, sun or shine -- so, the three of us bundled up and made our way outdoors. The stairs and sidewalks were covered in ice so getting to the courtyard was a slow and slippery chore. It was Nolan’s first experience in snow / ice and it took him a little while to find his “snow legs.” He fell over a few times trying to mark his usual spots but was not deterred. Once he got stabilized, he and Shiloh were running and playing harder than normal. For some reason, the colder and uglier the weather, the more they want to play and the more I have to plead with them to do their business so we can go back indoors!  I let them have their fun until I could no longer feel my ears and forced them back indoors. I’m already dreading the lunch time potty outing and digging around for some warmer winter accessories.  If I get bundled up enough, I’ll try to get some pictures of my little snow puppies.


But for now, I get to enjoy a cup of coffee, watch “Regis and Kelly,” and think about projects I want to tackle on this unexpected snow day!

Home Sweet Home

We did in fact make it back to Dallas! Despite not having a triumphant blog post last Friday -- or even a couple days after -- we did make it and were so happy to be home!

With a packed U-haul, car-in-tow, two cats, and a warm cup of coffee in our bellies, we began the (half) cross country drive Wednesday night -- just hours after my plane landed in Richmond.  

Everything we had worried about seemed to work out just fine -- There was plenty of room for us and all the belongings, Adam drove the truck and trailer like a pro, everything was safe and secure, and the roads were clear.  We did, however, completely underestimate the difficulty of traveling with two cats. After about 5 minutes in the truck, I almost broke down and was certain we weren’t going to make it.  Despite drugging the kitties -- with prescribed meds from the vet, no worries, it was safe -- they would not settle down. They were typical curious cats and jumping all over the van, onto the dashboard, crawling under your legs, jumping in your lap and digging their claws into you at every bump.  The car also turned them into completely different animals and they acted like enemies hissing and trying to fight each other. This was certainly not going to work for the next 48 hours! 

After realizing neither would settle down, we pulled out the pet carrier and put Simba, the least affected by the meds, inside.  We made a little bed on top for Pima and prayed they would settle down -- Success! The meds eventually kicked in and Pima finally fell asleep after some reassuring and attention. Simba was contained, albeit against his will, but at least he wasn’t roaming around anymore. The one problem -- he cried the entire time! We realized there was nothing we could do about it at this point, so we turned up the music and assured him everything was fine.  We made it a few hours before reaching our first ‘rest stop’ in the south-west corner of VA. 

We grabbed a quick bite to eat, filled up with gas, and were back on the road!  We drove a few more hours and finally stopped in Dublin, VA for the night. There weren’t a lot of choices for hotels at this point and we were forced to settle on a non-pet friendly place to stay. 

After securing the room, we started to brainstorm about sneaking the little kitties and their littler box in. Luckily, it was so late and there was a side entrance, so we managed to get them in without any trouble or worker run-ins.  We had no idea; however, that little Simba would continue his whining and ugly streak all through the night.  He literally cried every 5 minutes and would not stop trying to fight his brother. Finally, at 5am, he was banished to the car to cry as loud as he wanted so we could get a couple hours of sleep before a very long day in the truck. 

Sneaking little Pima out the next morning turned out to be quite the task. Maids were all over the halls by the time we were ready to leave and just begging to clean our room. They were practically waiting outside our door since they knew we were loading up the car and checking out.  As a good-girl-rule-follower, I almost had a heart attack when I realized I would most likely be seen with a cat and be a known rule breaker!

Like the most awkward person in the world, I stepped into the hallway and pretended to be waiting on Adam until I could be assured the maid would be busy in another room. She kept asking if we were leaving and wanted to come to our room, so I continued my awkwardness and managed to keep her away. As soon as she gave up on our room, I rushed to grab little Pima, motioned for Adam and we took off almost jogging down the hall to the stairwell. We got him in the car and just needed to go back for the litter box and pet carrier -- both obvious signs there was an animal in the room, so I was still filled with some major rule breaking anxiety! I took a deep breath, we went back upstairs, and we carried out the same plan -- a little more awkwardness and Success! Once everything was out of the room, I was very relieved and could finally relax again.

We made another stop for food and gas and were back on the road!  Here is what we saw for most of our morning drive -- SNOW! Being born and raised in Texas, it was quite enchanting for the first few hours. The novelty of it, however, was quickly lost every time I had to get out of the car and couldn’t feel any part of my face or extremities -- I may exaggerate a bit, but it truly was COLD! 

In just a couple short hours, we saw our first signs of travel progress -- Tennessee! 

My pictures aren’t super great since all were taken from a moving vehicle, but the color and gloominess is quite accurate. It snowed the entire first half of the day and through half of Tennessee. By the afternoon, I was thrilled to see some clear skies! 

I tried my hardest to get my lovely driver to stop in Nashville for a sweet treat at Gigi’s -- it was just 10 minutes from the highway! -- but he refused when he learned a new store had just opened in Dallas and it wasn’t something exclusive to Nashville. I should have kept my mouth shut and acted totally surprised when we came across the one in Dallas. But seriously, check out their website and you’ll see why I was dying to stop.  Plus, the Nashville store was the original, so there was some significance.  Anyway, we kept on driving straight through Nashville until the sun went down. 

Due to several recommendations, we stopped in Memphis for some good ‘ol bar-b-que from Corky’s. Despite living in Texas, I’ve never been a huge fan of bbq, but that night it sounded and tasted delicious! While at dinner, we did some destination mapping and planning and decided we could make it to Little Rock that night and have just 5 or 6 hours left to drive on Friday. Back on the road again, and just a little ways after Memphis, we saw our next signs of travel progress -- Arkansas! 

I know that picture is AWFUL, but it’s the only one that has signs saying “Welcome to Arkansas” -- I promise, that’s what those blurry squares say! With just a couple hours left until Little Rock, we decided to spare myself another heart attack and called around to find a pet-friendly place to stay.  We had a lot more success this time around with our pre-planning and I was relieved I didn’t have to do any more sneaking and rule breaking. 

We brought Simba in for some food and water and to see if he’d learned to be nice, but quickly realized he was back to his whining and fighting ways. After purchasing enough hand warmers to heat a house, we made him a warm bed with blankets, pillows, and hand warmers all around, and settled him into the car for the night. We knew we couldn’t go two nights in a row without sleep and it was not going to be possible with him crying and fighting all night.  He snuggled up on his warm bed and finally slept -- either the drugs kicked in or he finally gave up, but he slept -- woohoo!

The next morning was the most exciting because we knew we’d be in Texas that day! We left the hotel uneventfully -- since the kitties were allowed to be there this time -- and began the last leg of our drive. Arkansas wasn’t too enchanting but we were thankful the snow had stopped and it was sunny. 

This part of the drive was pretty unexciting until we caught our first glimpses of Texas. We must have missed the welcome sign, but there was no doubt we’d crossed the border -- minus the snow, that’s a little more unusual for us. 

We had just one more stop to make before this road trip would be complete.  As any Texan knows, Dairy Queen is the Texas stop sign and no road trip is complete without stopping for a blizzard. So, despite the freezing temperatures and snow still on the ground, we stopped for lunch and dessert and completed our trip :) Since I did not get my cupcake, there was no way I was skipping this blizzard! 

It only got better when we saw our first signs of downtown Dallas -- Thank you Rockwall, for this lovely view of the Dallas skyline complete with a picturesque lake in front.   

We were home -- finally! After 3 days, 4 states, two drugged-up kitties, dozens of pit stops and one delicious blizzard, our road trip was complete. I must say, once we got the kitty situation sorted out, the drive really wasn’t bad, of course, I was just the passenger -- Adam may feel differently :) I don’t think another trip like this is in either of our near futures, but if something unexpected should happen and we must make a similar journey, we have learned much from this adventure and would get through it like old pros.