Spring Breakin'

Last week was spring break and unfortunately for the Pacleb household, we don’t get a vacation. Or rather, we choose to spend our vacation days during other times of the year. Either way, we celebrated. My biggest celebration was during my usual 20 minute commute to the south of downtown. With all of those parents staying home with their kids, we childless people were left to enjoy the space on the highway and shorter commutes. Woohoo for extra sleep in the morning!

We had the pleasure of attending the Cliburn Concert Series featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott last Tuesday. Amazing. Simply amazing. We were given box seats and they were fabulous. As Robert said, “I feel a little bit like Abe Lincoln right now!” We also met with our accountant to have our taxes prepared. Not quite as exciting.

On Saturday we awoke to wicked winter weather. I’m talking rain like you wouldn’t believe. Well, I guess everyone around here could believe it because it has been the story of our lives for the past few months. I heard Dallas got a few inches of snow but we just had a dusting. And I’m totally fine with that. I’m looking forward to the spring temps this week. If Saturday starts looking good, we may have our first garage sale. It is much needed – we have an entire bedroom filled with garage sale items! I'd like to reclaim that space as my own.

And yesterday, we finally broke down and saw Avatar in 3D. And yes, I enjoyed it even though I thought it was going to be lame. James Cameron created a beautiful world that made me wonder, "what happened to my imagination?" And I loved the subtle “save the Earth” undertones in the movie. Caitlin absolutely loved it, too. But we all know she is a tree hugger and a sci-fi nerd ;)

Last night I attempted a Tomato Tart from this month’s food and wine magazine. Like most things with tomato, it’s always best on day two. And I wish I would’ve left it in the oven for about 15 additional minutes because my yellow cherry tomatoes were a little big and they all didn’t roast. I give the recipe two thumbs up for being delicious and fresh. And the pie crust was fun to play with too! I may attempt something else from the magazine next week.

And speaking of food, we’re about to start week two of our chef delivered meals. We LOVED it last week. Everything is portioned correctly and it saved us a good hour in the kitchen every night. Perfect for busy people like us :)

Life in fast forward...

We've been keeping busy lately...here are a few highlights:

I threw a bridal shower for a friend two weeks ago. It was a lot of fun because we got engaged around the same time. She's getting married this weekend!

I went to the Dallas Flea, which was cool but smaller than I expected. The only things I bought were food items but Ashleigh found a few great "vintage" items for her house.

I had my first meal at Nordstroms Bistro and my mouth is still watering for another goat cheese tart. I love great food. Why does America like junk so much?!

Robert bought a new driver and played golf on Saturday with Justin. They got sunburned...welcome spring!

We all went out to dinner Saturday night at Taverna and had a soup incident. I always have to order their soup because it's delish. Saturday night it was butternut squash and our waiter ran into another waiter and splat! Soup was all over the floor. The next day I realized that there was soup splatter all over my black heels and my black purse. Don't judge...the lighting was really dim everywhere we went. :)

We also went to Scat Jazz Lounge to see an organ trio. An organ + jazz = amazing. Who would've thought?

On Sunday we celebrated my brother's birthday. I was excited to try Hoffbrau for the first time. Too bad it turned out to be that junk that America likes to eat. Nothing special.

Last night Robert and I went to see Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott at the Bass as part of the Cliburn series. The Cliburn series is arguably one of the best in the country, if not the world, and it was a special treat. We were given box seats by one of the board chairs. I hate to say it, but Stott almost outshined Ma if that were possible. She was a total rockstar.

This week Robert and I are trying something new. We've been looking for ways to save time and maximize it to our benefit. We hired a chef we met who owns a catering company to make all of our meals for the week and deliver them on Mondays. So far, so good. We're eating really great, fresh food and we get at the very least an extra hour to spend doing something meaningful every night...whether going to bed early or taking a walk, it's made a big difference! Now if only I could outsource all of my cleaning, laundry and yard work...

And tonight is tax night. We're meeting with our accountant after work. We're hoping for a very small refund and to owe nothing. That is the point, right? We're also going to get advice for filing as a married couple for this tax year.

And that's our little update of what has been happening. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Too busy being fabulous...

Here is a gross way to find out that you're a really, really busy person. Interested?

So for the past few months I have been out and about running around and living out of the office that is my 4runner. I'm not in my stationary office very long and when I am, I'm only checking my mail or drafting a quick contract on the computer.

Today I was rummaging around my "utensil" drawer to grab a pack of crystal light and noticed a horrible odor. That odor turned out to be a rotten lunch that I left in there. It was concealed in a Target bag, which blended in with the other Target bags I recycle.

Have you ever wanted to vomit from a thought? I wanted to vomit at the thought that I haven't noticed that smell for what could be months. So disgusting.

And for all of you clean freaks out there, that drawer has been heavily disinfected and everything in it has been disposed of.

New rule: no more hiding my lunch in drawers.