Valentine Soiree

My life has been a go-go-go of friends, family, school, and work, with hardly a break in between any of it lately. So when an opportunity came up to have champagne, sushi, and strawberries at a local clothing boutique as part of a free Valentine soiree I was all over it. With a friend. Well, when the three friends I invited couldn't make it for one reason or another after the previous invitee couldn't make it I decided I'd just stay home. As the boys got ready to head that direction this evening for cub scouts I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to go with them so I could drop them off and go all by my lonesome.

I had a fabulous time!! Drinking Brut Rose, eating chocolate covered strawberries drizzled with white chocolate, and california rolls, and shopping fabulous clothing including Voom, MM Couture, and Susana Monaco. I got asked if I was a student (thank you people who mention when you think people look young), and a homeless guy on the way out asked how I could look so pretty. I wanted to take him and his guitar for a drink. What made it even better was on the way home Li called to see if I wanted to come over for a soothe the nerves beer after a confrontation I had to have earlier today, and when I told her what I was up to she called shotgun on the next soiree. I'm all over that. I love life, and I love my friends. I'm also a little relieved and loving that I can still have such a good girlie time all by myself even after having so much girlie time.

Totally Obsessed

Oh my gosh I am totally obsessed with Twitter and Asht*n K*tcher and D*mi Mo*re's twitter. Yes!! They are REALLY on Twitter, or the wool has been pulled over my eyes so far I'm not sure I'll ever get out. They post adorable pictures with their iphone all the time, chat with each other, and mess with the pap*razzi. It's adorable to see a couple behind all the wool the med*a pulls over our heads. To see them real, living, and adorable. I'm totally in love, I think I have a couple crush. Is that possible?!

I heard about Twitter from one of the dj's on our most awesomest ever local morning show this morning and how his wife is obsessed with L*nce Armstr*ng's Twitter and wasn't afraid to admit it. Then the dj's and his co-dj mentioned Twittering L*nce when they were in a bar and saw a signed jersey by him and L*nce Twittered back shortly thereafter.

It's global texting people and I'm coming clean. I haven't actually twittered much myself, just following, but I'm trying it. Oh and I don't want to put their names here because I don't want to contribute to ruining the preciousness of it. Hopefully it'll stay pure because it DOES come straight from them. It would suck if it got convoluted and I'm staying out of that!

This was only a test

Sorry for the interruption in blog feed. I never went away, but I'm back now : ) . Just had to make sure my blog stayed private. I can't stand people looking over my shoulder when I'm writing or reading, I can't imagine how much any random person I know in real life reading my blog posts would make me cringe! Some people can post just fine that way. I would be presented with a huge case of writer's block.

Weekend Getaway

River Walk Cruise

Arneson River Theatre where Sandra Bullock filmed a scene in Miss Congeniality

Cafe by the River Walk

Along the River Walk

Hotel where Jennifer Lopez stayed while filming Selena,

including a scene on a pedestrian bridge right in front of the hotel

Our fresh guacomole made table-side and our view at Boudro's on the River

Streets of San Antonio above the river

Yes it is.

Toes! By the river!

La Villita, historic first neighborhood of San Antonio, rebuilt in 1819

Rubiks Cube Man hanging out at a shop in La Villita. He deserved a kiss.

Bolavar Cafe in La Villita.

The Alamo

Inside the Alamo in the room that kept the women and children who survived safe.

The breath-taking Japanese Tea Gardens.

Ahhh, a weekend in San Antonio. Not much is better right about now! KT and I had a blast even with my camera's battery dying halfway thru. Fortunately even though the screen on her camera leaves something to be desired the pictures came out beautifully!

We spent the better part of the morning and afternoon on the River Walk. We cruised the river on a boat tour, walked the River Walk, and  toured the historic village of La Villita near the Arneson River Theatre where Sandra Bullock filmed the bathing suit scene in Miss Congeniality. La Villita has historic buildings from 1819 and is the first neighborhood of San Antonio. The historic buildings were built after the flood of 1819 and have been preserved since. It was an absolutely amazing and beautiful sense of history there. Then, we ate at Boudro's by the river where we had our guacamole made by our table. Yum!

We also met up with a good friend of mine that I haven't seen since last year, Kristy. Yay! She is having a baby boy with a midwife. So exciting! We met her and her hubby (who was so sad Brando wasn't there) at the Japanese Tea Gardens. WOW!! Talk about gorgeous!! I had no idea something so incredibly breath-taking was sitting right next to a place we have visited a million times, the San Antonio Zoo. Crazy!! I'm so glad I experienced it for the first time with KT, though, because she was equally as in awe as I was as we described it like a dream similar to a popular chocolate movie only with serenity instead of candy, a mini Hawaii, peaceful, could lay there forever, and read a book all day, etc. Definitely a must-see if you are headed to San Antonio anytime soon! Here are some fun pictures from the day!

Productive Saturday

So this is what a productive Saturday feels like. The next few weekends are so packed, but we don't have anything planned until this evening so Brando decided to sit down and do taxes. I decided to implement weekly chores that the boys get paid for, but have to do regardless. So far my porch and verandah has been swept, living room, kitchen, and boys room vacuumed, and my kitchen is about to be mopped. I'm out a few bucks, but they deserve it. They get a pay scale that ranges from .25 for an okay job to .75 for an excellent job. I started charging them for leaving their toys and clothes all over the house and living room. I charge from .25 for not flushing the toilet to .50 for toys and clothes left in the living room. It's totally effective, but I decided I better give them a regular way to earn money, besides the every other month windfalls of money from doing something simple for Grandma and Grandpa.

Coffee Shop S'mores

Fabulous date with the hubby last night! He suggested driving downtown and having coffee with live music. Mmmm, my kind of date. We ended up at Halcyons, a cozy little coffee and full bar. They had plenty of couches and small tables, dark lit, with vases full of black rocks and tealight candles. We sat at a high table for two and toasted our marshmallows over a small fire, lit by the little green man building the fire underneath. We talked and laughed, and tried out Brando's new camera lens. Then walked the streets of Austin, taking pictures as we went. When it got too cold we drove through the new parts of town where they are building sky rise condos. I'm excited to see a little shopping area of downtown going up!! They've always had South Congress which is a lot of eclectic shops, but here they have more boutique, upscale, modern type shops with new sidewalk cafes. Can't wait to walk it one Saturday morning! Cozy coffee, intimate settings, treats for two, late night walks, and discovering new places - totally my kind of date.

Being goofy in Brando's hoody - it was cold!

Halcyons

Reflection of the Frost building

Our own s'more toaster

Mmm s'mores

Black tealights

Trying out Brando's new lens before we purchased it

In Love

I have a girlfriend, KT, who is so much on the same brain wave as me it's ridiculous. Every time I pick up the phone to text or call her, she is either already calling me or just sent me a text. Any time that doesn't happen, her text back to me always starts out, "OMG I was just going to text/call you!" We've coined a special brand of esp that's all ours. Even with our ideas, financial situations, time pressures, we are always on the same wavelength. Half the time she is letting me know she was just going to suggest what I suggested or vice versa. I.e., just now, I have been all stressed out about our girlie weekend coming up. It's her birthday weekend and I agreed to spend the weekend road tripping with her. I didn't want to be stingy even though finances are hitting us hard right now, so I was going to make it work. I just got a facebook from her saying that her finances are tighter than expected but we can still go for the day and make it a blast. Exactly what I've been thinking but didn't want to spoil her fun! Any way, sooooo much financial stress relieved and I was totally already on the same page! Love the esp and can't wait for our weekend!! Whoohoo!!

Reasons Not to Drink Any Time It's Offered

1. I will have pointful conversations.

2. I will have conversations with people I will more than likely see again.

3. I will not tell my life story to a person whose name I don't remember.

4. I will go to bed that night without getting upset.

5. I will wake up the next morning without a headache.

6. I will sleep through the night without waking up with dry mouth.

7. I won't beat myself up the next day for killing my liver.

8. Realizing these, I will continue to be more selective about the times I drink.

PS Sorry about the fonts on my site! They're all screwy and I haven't figured out how to fix it!