1....2....3....glow!!!!

Tripp and I headed south of Houston to the Ballunar Liftoff hot air balloon festival. We skipped all of the daytime events and made it to the festival for the evening portion. We listened to some live music and walked through the booths for a bit. We attempted to grab some food for dinner, but the lines were out of control so instead we staked out an area with our blanket to watch the balloon glow. Slowly as the sun went down, the balloons went up one by one. They ranged from colorful designs to advertisements for various businesses, to a huge monkey. We watched the balloons glow on cue and then headed out for a quick dinner. It was a fun night!

San Antonio

Tripp had signed up for an audiology conference in San Antonio. It worked out that I was able to join him for the weekend. Late afternoon on Friday, we drove to San Antonio. Once we checked into our Riverwalk hotel, Tripp attended a welcome reception as I started the relaxing! There is not much more relaxing than laying in a hotel bed watching tv. Once Tripp returned, we walked to a nearby Mexican restaurant Rosario's that came recommended by the hotel. The food was delicious!

Saturday morning, Tripp headed to his conference which left me with the day to relax. I took advantage of the free time by watching a movie, cleaning out my email inbox, and working out. I then walked a few blocks to the mall. I browsed around but was not impressed with the selection of stores :( I grabbed some lunch and then sat outside to enjoy a magazine and listen to a band. It was soo pretty outside.

Pretty view!

They were really good!

After returning from the mall, I sat on one of th porches at the hotel and read a book. It was very relaxing!

Saturday evening, I went with Tripp and all of the other conference attendees to the Rio Cibolo Ranch. The Ranch is a functioning ranch just outside of San Antonio. We were greeted by some real "cowboys" and quickly entered the "saloon." There was a ton of texas food, live music, pool tables, hay rides, ping ping, basketball, and the most delicious dessert--cobblers in every flavor with homemade ice cream! It was a fun way to end the day!

Sunday morning, I headed to mass as Tripp headed back to his conference. After mass, I did some more reading and packed up. Then before I knew it, it was time to make our way back to Houston. It was a relaxing, enjoyable weekend!!

Feeling crafty

So since myself and some friends have sort of become addicted to Pintrest, we thought it would be fun to have a Pintrest inspired craft day! We decided that we would make fall themed wreaths and table decor.

With fabric, leaves, paint, glue guns, wreaths, we were off! It was so much fun!!

My fall wreath!

First time I have ever made napkin rings!

Fall vases

The table all ready for the fall

My festive door

Amanda's Wedding Shower!

My dear friend, Amanda, is getting married in November and we were all excited to shower her with love, support, and gifts at her bridal shower! The showere was scheduled for Labor Day weekend. As I was getting ready to leave to drive to New Orleans, I heard more about this tropical storm Lee. I was going to be driving into some rain, but I couldn't miss the shower. I left work as soon as I could and made it to New Orleans before the bad rain came.

The morning of the shower, my mom and I met Meghan and her mom so that we could drive together. We had to leave extra early to allow time to drive in the nasty rain. Despite the nasty weather, Amanda had a beautiful shower! It was so fun to celebrate she and Prad.

I can't wait for the big wedding day in a few weeks!!

Amanda with her bridesmaids

The gifts!

Amanda with her adorable niece and flower girl, Avery

Delicious cake

The cookie favors I made for the favors!

OBSESSED....

with PINTREST!! If you have not gotten on Pintrest, you are missing out! I now have yet another thing to keep me procrastinating.

Here are a few of my favorite pins:
 

28th Birthday Weekend

For my birthday this year, we decided to travel south of Houston to experience the Space Center Houston and the Kemah Boardwalk. We relaxed Saturday morning, packed, ate breakfast and drove to the Clearlake area. We spent the day exploring the Space Center. There was soo much to see! We learned a lot about what was happening with NASA, saw tons of space suits, tried on space helmets, enjoyed space ice cream (Dippin Dots), and observed many replicas of space shuttles.

It was pretty heavy!

Not so sure I could sleep like that!

Even though I look like a dork, the audio tour was very informative!

 Once we left, we checked in at our hotel, took a nap, showered, and then headed to the Kemah Boardwalk. We chose to eat at Red Sushi and Hibatchi Grill. It had a view of the water and the food was delicious. After dinner, we strolled along the boardwalk. Tripp had to make a stop to play one of the ring the bottle games.

Action shot!

It was a fabulous birthday weekend!!

Celebration Dinner

When Tripp and I started working aggressively to pay off one of our student loans early last fall, we made a plan to treat ourselves to a nice dinner once the loan was paid. We decided to have our celebration dinner at Taste of Texas. If you ever come to Houston it is a great choice for excellent Texas specialties and treats.  We enjoyed mushrooms stuffed with lump crab covered with baked brie, salads with nearly every imaginable topping (watch out for the mouth puckering sour olives), homemade breads (Tripp was fooled by the asiago cheese roll.  It is shaped like a cinnamon bun and since he knows I love cinnamon he got one for us. Needless to say he was very surprised when he took a bite.) and butters.  Tripp and I both ordered delicious steaks.  I went with the 6 oz. filet and topped it with lump crab and a creamy french mother sauce (The name eludes me).  Tripp went for a cowboy steak.  As is typical with Tripp his eyes are always twice as big as his stomach so the 24 oz perfectly aged bone in rib eye was delicious but was far too big.  We both ordered steamed asparagus. We figured we needed something green on the table to make sure we didnt develop scurvy.   We shared an amazing dessert of homeade apple dumplings with cinnamon icecream!   It was a fabulous dinner!  And Tripp enjoyed a fabulous filet steak omlet the next morning and finished the Cowboy steak for lunch.  A perfect reward for our financial diligence!

Leaving with very full bellies!