Weekend Wrap Up {plus} Happy Birthday Mom!

This weekend we decided {last minute} to take a trip to Houston to visit our friends, Melissa and Jdub and to finally visit Stella Sola. Stella Sola {Lone Star in Italian} is a Texas-Tuscan restaurant owned by the guy on the left and the father to our friend on the right, Bill.


To say the food was good is an understatement! We so enjoyed everything! YUM!

We also had a great time at the St. Arnold's Brewery. It was clearly the place to be! There were so many people there but such a fun thing to experience!





Thank you Mel and Dubs for a fun weekend! and

Happy Birthday to the best mom in the world! I love you so much!

Things I'm Loving Thursday (on Friday)

Sorry I didn't get around to posting yesterday! Today and yesterday I'm loving:

Hot Rollers. These babies save my life when I want a quick fix for my bed head! I am a shower at night kind of girl so when I don't want to take the time to straighten it- I just pop in the hot rollers and wa-lah! Ready for work!

My new nail polish Pleasant gave me for Christmas. It's Essie Mucho Dinero. I love it!!

Dreyer's Slow Churned French Silk ice cream. This stuff is amazing! It's not too chocholatey and it has a bit of a coffee flavor which I love. David even likes this ice cream and he hates coffee. It's creamy and delicious!

I got my car back!! yay! It's been in the shop for over two weeks! It's good to have it back!

Here's to hoping for no more of this:



What are you loving today?

An Unconventional Weekend

David and I had an unconventional weekend. I consider it unconventional because:

1. We ate at a new restaurant. SUZE was delicious and charming and is located within walking distance of our house. We do not usually try out new restaurants for some reason. We are not food snobs but we just get in a rut.


2. I had two wedding showers in one day and BOTH were themed towards Mexican food and Margaritas. Greatness but not common to have two showers in one day with pretty much the same theme.

3. We made it to church for the third time in a row. Sad I know. We have been traveling so much it has been very difficult for us to attend consecutively. We pretty much go every Sunday we are in town but those are hardly ever back to back. It has been a real blessing for us to attend consecutively and thus learning so much on the Holy Spirit. More on this later.

4. After church we decided to do something different and go to the Dallas Art Museum downtown.


It was a rainy day and just perfect for the museum. Our typical Sunday afternoon schedule goes as follows:

a. Eat lunch after church (when we are in town- see #2)
b. Come home and immediately change into comfy clothes
c. Each grab a blanket
d. Get comfortable on our oversized sectional couch which allows us BOTH to completely lie down with unobstructed views of the TV
e. I usually fall asleep for several hours and David sneaks in a few documentaries while I'm out
f. Continue to watch TV or movies until bedtime

Now you see why going to a museum was unconventional and way more active than we ever are.

We had a great time though! I could look at paintings from Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh ALL day long.

This was my favorite. It's Claude Monet's Water Lilies.



Isn't it just stunning? To read more about this painting click HERE.

and 5. First weekend in a LONG time that we didn't have a houseguest.


Not that we don't love all of you who have stayed with us recently, but it was very nice to have the house back to ourselves all weekend!

Things I'm Loving Thursday

One week has passed already! I can't believe it but I'm not complaining. I'm so ready for the weekend to begin.

Today I'm loving:

1. that it's another pain free day! So on Monday this week I had a suspicious spot removed at my dermatologist and had to have 10-12 stitches!! :( I was hurting pretty good Monday and Tuesday but yesterday and today I feel great! I have to keep the stitches in for two weeks but right now I forget they are even in!

2. that tonight we are having dinner with our newly-married friends, Catherine and Alex. We are looking forward to hearing about their honeymoon and just life after the wedding.



3. that David and I have a very special date night planned for tomorrow night. I cannot wait! It's been forever since we have gone to a nice dinner just the two of us. We haven't officially decided on the restaurant but I get so giddy when I know a good meal is in store with my hubby!

4. keeping on the subject of good meals- David and I have cooked at home all week and made some pretty fantastic and new things.

Monday night we had homemade tortilla soup and chicken quesadillas from Pioneer Woman.



Tuesday night we had salmon with salsa verde, grapefruit salad and herbed quinoa. Super yummy and very citrusy from Giada's At Home Light and Delicious episode. Click HERE for those recipes.

I am such a fan of hers. David is too. Can you blame him? haha


Wednesday night we had a lightened up Chicken Cordon Bleu from Skinny Taste with fresh green beans and toasted almonds



Tonight I'm making chicken spaghetti and side salad for Catherine and Alex.



YUMMY!

What are you loving today?

Things I'm Loving Thursday

Wow- is it really the first Thursday of 2011 already! I can't believe it's a new year!

Things I'm loving today:

1. and everyday, my sweet and precious husband, David.


A special message from me to him. Ahem. "David, thank you so much for helping me this week with my car problems. I know how frustrating it can be to have to spend an hour on the ground trying to fix it, another hour trying to find a towing company, another hour waiting for the tow man to come get my car early in the morning, another hour at the dealership getting me a rental car, another hour on the phone with the insurance company and another hour on the phone with the service department discussing the damages and plans to fix it. I am sure you wouldn't have married me if you knew all that would happen to my car but I'm glad you did. I realize we are not done with it yet and we still have more work to do on this issue at hand, but I thank you for being so helpful. I could not do this on my own and love you so much."

2. Wine. I know I'm not alone out there. Cheers to all my fellow wine lovers. Why do I love wine this week? Read #1 again. Slowly. It's been a rough week.


This us one of the wineries I visited in Sonoma, California called B.R.Cohen Winery.


3. The Bachelor. Yup you read correctly, but let me explain. I do not love this season's bachelor, Brad or even really like the show. I do however love having a mindless, hilarious, ridiculous show to watch of my own. David and I pretty much watch everything together but this one is all mine. Since Gossip Girl and So You Think You Can Dance are on breaks I'm left with the Bachelor.

4. Williams Sonoma. I was recently in the store picking out a gift for a wedding shower coming up and it reminded me how much I love it. I love the music, the design, their products, the colors, the people, the food displayed and pretty much everything.

I am not making any purchases for myself (see #1- ie. car troubles) but if I could I would purchase:

This cheese board and set of cheese knives.


This adorable Cookbook for Kids although flipping through it looked like great recipes for any age. It makes everything sound so easy to make.


This Vinturi Wine Aerator Tower Gift Set. Not a bad price either I might add.



The list goes on and on of things I love in that store. But let's face it, I can cut the cheese (David, quit giggling) with a regular knife for now.

5. Lastly, today I'm loving sushi.
Note- this is not the sushi we had. Just a picture I found online.


David and I have found this great hole in the wall place called Sushi Time. The two of us ordered 4 different rolls, miso soup and salad for $20. It is also BYOB so we enjoyed our own bottle of wine. (See #2) This place is AWESOME and easily satisfies the sushi craving for $10 a person.


What are you loving today? Now go and enjoy the weekend!

Way To Go Rhett!!!

My baby brother is now officially done with college and Arkansas football! Last night the Arkansas Razorbacks fought hard against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Look who we found on TV!


Unfortunately, they were unable to pull out a win but we view Rhett's past four years of college as so incredibly victorious!


He has overcome struggles; he has persevered through trying times. He has matured and he has grown into becoming a man of God. He has listened to Lord's tugging at his heart and responded by impacting the lives of his team mates and the local community through FCA.



I am so proud of him for so many reasons!! But we just found out Rhett was nominated for the FCA Bobby Bowden Award! Congratulations Rhett! The nomination in itself is a huge honor and something to be proud of.

The 2010 FCA Bobby Bowden Award Nominees
Andy Dalton....TCU
Bryant Browning...Ohio State University
Chris Bullard...Western Kentucky University
Ben Chappell...Indiana University
Marcus Davis...University of Kentucky
Brian Duncan...Texas Tech
Christopher Aaron Gress...University of Illinois
Mike Ingersoll...North Carolina
Jeremy Kellem...Middle Tennessee State
Michael Maurer...NC State
Andrew McGee...Oklahoma State
Andrew Nierman...Tulane University
Christian Ponder...Florida State
Rhett Richardson...University of Arkansas
Derek Sherrod...Mississippi State University
John Stokes...Vanderbilt University
Brad Thorson...Kansas University
Scott Tolzien...University of Wisconsin
Julian Vandervelde...University of Iowa

I love you brother! Way To Go!!

Updates

As you have probably noticed, I have still not blogged on our Christmas trip to San Francisco. It's been a little crazy around here.

Upon flying back from California, David and I were greeted by my side of the family at our house. It is amazing what can happen to a small house with a three year old, a seven month old, and six adults. It was a mad house. Everywhere you turned there was something- a toy, a stack of diapers, a suitcase, a pair of shoes, or six pairs of shoes for that matter. Despite the craziness, it was so much fun to spend a couple of days with everyone. I miss them all already. :(

Then the new year snuck up on me! We had a really fun time ringing in the new year with a group of great friends. We started the night out at a party at Bill's house and then we chartered a party bus to take us to the Petty Theft (Tom Petty cover band) concert at the House of Blues.

I really need a digital camera...








David and I enjoyed a relaxing weekend of pretty much doing nothing. We did manage to make it to the movie theatre to see True Grit. I loved it! It was so good! We also managed to go to church and buy David a new pair of tennis shoes. :)

I'm glad we had such a relaxing weekend because my Monday back at work has put us through the mill. After work, I tried to leave the parking garage at my office but I couldn't turn my steering wheel. No amount of muscle would make the wheel turn (or at least my muscles). So I called David and he came to my rescue. As soon as he opened my hood he found a belt that was loose. By simply pulling on the belt it came right out of the hood. Uh- that can't be good.



After buying a new belt, and trying to replace it. We decided there was no way for us to do this alone. So we had to tow my car to the dealership this morning. :(



I'm so hoping the repairs will be cheap and easy!! AHH!