Let the countdown begin...

It’s hard to believe that in less than two months, Robert and I will be married! The engagement has flown by and as we get closer, we’re both feeling ready to get to the big day!

Work has geared up for the season and become extremely busy. Working 10-12 hour days will be the norm for me for a while. I’m earning my paycheck for sure.

The past week was no exception but I was able to throw in a little fun. We had our hair and makeup trial run with Haute Façade in Dallas. We were the first clients to experience their new studio in the Glass House. Very chic.

Since I’d already been through their hair and makeup routine, nothing really fazed me. It was interesting to watch how each bridesmaid reacted to their makeup. It’s hard to see yourself up close wearing so much makeup but it always looks fabulous in pictures!


Saturday was the bridal shower and my bridesmaids did a wonderful job. I’m the type of person who likes to be behind the scenes so being the center of attention was a little out of the ordinary for me. Everyone raved about the food, which was centered on my favorite things down to the asparagus soup and the green tea lemonade.

The games were hilarious and even involved Robert – loved it! Thanks to the video they created, we now have something we can hold on to forever. It will be fun to watch it 10 years from now.

That night I went out to Times Ten Cellar with Elisha and Courtney. We did a wine flight and it was so good (and the bartenders were fun!). I will definitely be going back there again soon.

Robert also had his bachelor party that night. Poker and pub crawl…he definitely had a blast.

On Sunday I threw up the Christmas tree in record time and started doing a little organizing. We are in desperate need of a garage sale. We may attempt one in December when we have a free weekend since our neighborhood association dropped the ball on a fall garage sale (technically, we’re not supposed to have them without the association). We just have so much STUFF. We’re also attempting Christmas lights on the house this year. A little ambitious for a couple getting married right after the holidays. We’ll let you know how that goes.

And, fair readers, that is it for now.

Word.

Another whirlwind weekend in the books.

Friday was supposed to be my 24-hour day at work because of Relay For Life, an overnight fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, in Hillsboro. Severe weather came in and we had to call it. It was pretty hairy trying to get hundreds of people evacuated in pitch dark but I really enjoyed serving on the committee. I have to admit, I kind of enjoyed getting home at midnight instead of 7 a.m. and getting a little sleep. We did break the fundraising record even though the event was cut short!

Meanwhile, Caitlin and Robert were bowling, watching Star Trek and being mall rats. Kind of jealous that I didn't get to see Star Trek.

On Saturday we started the day with pancakes (a must when Caitlin spends the weekend with us!) and went to Dallas to do a little mother's day shopping. Caitlin did a little shopping at Urban Outfitters and American Apparel at Mockingbird Station, we found super cute stuff at Swoozie's and made the obligatory stop at Sprinkles to get mom the "mom" box of cupcakes. My favorite gift that we found for mom was the flip flop fly swatter for her boat. A flip flop on a stick - very cute.

After taking afternoon naps we drove out to Addison for Taste Addison. We enjoyed delicious food and gelato and watched Bowling for Soup and a little Foreigner. Even when it started raining.

Today we woke up super early to get a little yard work in. Our grass has turned super green and is growing like crazy. I edged last week and it needed it again this week. Unfortunately, I think we're going to need to install french drains into the back yard next year and do a little resodding. Fortunately, the front yard looks fabulous.

The downside to having a cordless, battery-powered mower means that sometimes it just runs out of charge and your lawn has a faux-hawk. But hey, we're being Earth-friendly (and we recharged and finished it before going to grandma's!).

We visited my dad and grandma and she loved her candied apricots. Then we took Caitlin home and visited my mom. We gave her all of her boat gifts. Then we ran back to Fort Worth for an early dinner at Silver Fox with Robert's parents. They had a special mother's day menu - asparagus soup, III Forks salad, Chateaubriand with potatoes, cream corn and sugar snap peas, Texas pecan cake....mmmmm. Delish. And we're both so full - we won't need to eat for the next 24-hours!

Now I'm sitting here wishing I had another two days to recover from this weekend. I am looking forward to next weekend - nothing on the calendar and I'm trying to keep it that way!

Jack is in love with his tennis ball. He gets up in the morning and tosses it around the bedroom while I get ready. Without fail it rolls under the bed to a spot he can't reach so he lays down on his side, sticks his head underneath the bed and just stares at it until someone retrieves it for him.

Kiss the pig...

This past week has been very interesting in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with the whole swine flu outbreak. I've been using hand sanitizer like crazy and hoping that my down immune system doesn't pick up something. I'm not going to stop doing my everyday stuff though...

Friday was Calvin's (one of Robert's older brothers) 30th birthday and we celebrated by grilling steaks. Delish. Saturday I had a little spa day to relax, did some mandatory yard work (in the rain - yuck) and then ran over to spend some quality time with Ashleigh shopping for 26 things for Stacey's birthday in Southlake. We found so many cute things to help Stace celebrate her 26th!

Today Ashleigh, Stacey and I went to Blue Mesa for brunch. Delish again. I love mimis. We watched Mamma Mia and looked through wedding magazines. What an awesome Sunday and what an awesome weekend. I can't wait for the next one.

Sick and tired of being sick and tired...

I had a really laid back week. I've been sick with acute bronchitis and an upper respiratory infection for a few weeks now and it really hit me hard Sunday/Monday last week. So I decided to just chill out after work every day. I'm talking take a nap, go to bed early, catch up on DVR shows, etc. Anything but work. I will admit that I did spend some time pulling weeds one evening - I couldn't resist the nice weather. Don't tell Robert.

On Saturday I joined about 300 employees from my company at Maverick Stadium in Arlington for Special Olympics. I feel so blessed to work for such a giving company - not only does the company give but the employees do too. Stacey, Ashleigh, Samantha and her mom Patsy joined us and we had the best volunteer job: hugger! What an uplifting experience.

Saturday evening I was beat so Robert and I napped on the hammock (he played golf all day) and then I did a little shopping.

Today we took Jack and Molly to the dog park. Molly actually ran around! It's a total breakthrough. She's always such a diva and doesn't usually like to walk on the grass. Then we went to see my dad and grandma and did the usual Sunday grocery shopping. Tonight we went to Winslow's Wine Cafe on Camp Bowie for Grant and Candice's wedding reception (they got married April 1). It's such a neat little restaurant and the food was delicious (wine too!). They had a great fireplace and fire pit outside.

Now it's back to the grind - work is going to be super busy until June (lots of deadlines coming up!).

Lost shaker of salt...

On Saturday Robert and I had the distinct privilege of being guests at the Lynn Creek Yacht Club parking lot party at the Jimmy Buffett concert. If you have never been to a Buffett concert before, you need to go. The parking lot parties start in the morning and stretch a mile or more long. People line up tents and RVs, cook food, make margaritas and play games. The best part is that people share. We ate (and drank) for free.

The LCYC tent was next to a pile of sand, which they converted into a land shark beach.

Everyone dressed up. There was a “lost shaker of salt,” tons of pirates, parrot heads, sharks, cheeseburgers [in paradise] and even dogs dressed as sharks. The concert itself was awesome. Laid back…lots of dancing. A sea of people wearing shark fins on their heads walking around and more beach balls than I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s not only an experience, it’s a culture.

On Sunday we worked on wedding stuff, lunched at Blue Mesa on the patio and enjoyed the hammock. Jack loves to roll in the grass – he is such a boy.

Molly is so chill. She loves the hammock because she doesn’t have to touch the grass. What a diva.

And I have been sidelined with a viral upper respiratory infection and viral bronchitis. I finally broke down and called my doctor. :( Now I have to rest.

groovin' (on a Sunday afternoon...)

It seems like I've started a Sunday posting trend. I'll try to keep it up. It's nice to review the past week and think about the week ahead.

This week was full of rain. I'm not loving our soil because it's full of sand, clay, rocks and all kinds of stuff that isn't great for absorbing the wet stuff. I'll get over it though because my plants are starting to thrive. Jack, on the other hand, has turned into a diva when it is raining. He doesn't like to get his little paws wet. That's pretty unusual considering he loves to jump into a nice pool of water. 

I spent most of the week on the road visiting my cities and next week is not going to slow down. Tomorrow is my only "office" day. Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be in Austin and Thursday through Sunday will be spent in Surprise, AZ soaking up the sun. (and taking my little sister to a little thing called Spring Training)

My little sister is a huge baseball fan. She can tell you any stat on MLB players and her favorite team is the Rangers (second favorite is the Devil Rays - because Tampa is our second home - and the Astros also make the top of her list). For Christmas I decided to get her a trip to spring training. In January, my mom lost a close friend and decided to join us. Life is too short to miss out on time with your daughters!

So I've bought the best tickets to four different games, reserved a hotel room and rental car and we'll be on our way to a lot of fun early Thursday morning. So excited.

Robert is on spring break this week, which means he'll be working ahead on school stuff and then working on a few non-work/school related projects - buying his new Camry and hanging out with his brother Greg who is in town from Tennessee.

Wow - I really jumped ahead there! I need to reverse back to Friday. 

My baby brother turned 25 yesterday! We celebrated with dinner at Mac's on Friday. You have to love dinner at Mac's.

On Saturday, my mom, sister, Ashleigh and I went wedding dress shopping at Patsy's in Dallas. My mom found her dress there 10 years ago when she married my step-dad and we knew it would be a great place to look. I tried on six different dresses and I found the one! It's not what I expected but it's definitely beautiful. We're going to order it in a few weeks and it will take about four months to arrive. It's by La Sposa - a designer I really like. My second favorite dress was by them as well. After that, we headed over to CPK for lunch and picked up Sprinkles for dessert. Can't miss Sprinkles when we're in Dallas.

Yesterday evening my sister and I went to see Race to Witch Mountain. Really cute movie. I'm so happy that I have a good excuse to see movies aimed at kids/young adults/families and a good excuse to spend more time with Caitlin.

Today was family picture day with Robert's family. It was fun to see three grown brothers posing for a picture together. I'll post when we get them in.

Speaking of family pictures....here are a few from our last Sprinkles night.

Ashleigh and I enjoying mango/strawberry margaritas and our "family" picture. Jack immediately jumped onto the couch when we sat down for this one. Molly followed when Stacey sat down. My dogs are too photo-trained.

A lovely weekend...

Robert and I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day early with a trip to Simply Fondue in downtown Fort Worth. It’s right next to the Scat Jazz Lounge (another favorite) in the basement of the old Woolworth’s building. We’d been to the one in Arlington on many occasions but we really enjoyed the Fort Worth location because our seating was so private. We had a chocolate martini that was to die for. I think we rolled out of there because we ate so much. Delicious!

Not to limit ourselves to one day of gluttony, we went to my mom’s house for a Valentine’s themed dinner party the next night. She used her Martha Stewart skills to create really fun tablescapes for the “young adult” table and the adult tables. She broke out some Caymus, champagne with strawberries and all of the couples brought a dish. Mom made filets for the girls and ribeyes for the boys. It was a ton of fun. The dessert was homemade meringue with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with homemade raspberry coulis and a few fresh raspberries for good measure. Who wants to sit in a stuffy restaurant? Why not enjoy the day of love with the ones you love? It was perfection.

And Sunday we topped off the weekend of good food with a Sunday afternoon dinner with Robert’s parents. We had char sui pork with all of the fixings – yum! Robert and Calvin dug out old photos from high school. It’s so funny to look back and see how different everyone looks.

And *drum roll please* the big wedding news. We’ve set an official date now.

January 9, 2010!

We finally booked the chapel and reception site. It was pretty eye-opening to see how competitive the wedding market in Fort Worth is. It’s easy to get your church but not so easy to get the perfect reception site. I might have been a little pickier than most because I’ve worked on big events before though.

Now the fun begins – the graphic design, the dress shopping and my favorite part – asking our nearest and dearest to be a part of our big day!