Art Cars, House Update, and Birthday

Here's a (hopefully) brief recap of what we've been up to!

1. A few weeks ago, while we had a showing at the house, we walked down to Allen Parkway to watch the annual art car parade. We'd never been before, but it was a lot of fun. We will definitely go back again. It was fun seeing how creative all of the entries were. Here's a pic!

2. Our house is currently "Option Pending" which means that we've signed a contract to sell it and we are in the time period of inspection, appraisal, and basically a 10-day period where the buyer can back out for a minimal fee. Our option period ends in 4 days, so everything will become "official" then! We've found a great house that we love.....so we're triple crossing our fingers and praying that everything works out with it!

3. For my birthday this year, I really wanted it to be low-key. And it was! I just didn't want to make a big deal out of turning 26, so it was a really nice weekend. My birthday was a Friday, so that evening, J and I went out to a nice dinner at Taste of Texas, and then Saturday I went shopping with my BF and got a pedi, and then that night had dinner with two girlfriends. Sunday night we had my family birthday dinner, which was really fun. It was a relaxing weekend celebrating my descent into my 30's....

One of the major highlights of my weekend was my trip to Tory Burch. One pair of flats and a pair of sandals later, I am a very happy girl!

A Weekend In the Keys!

Last weekend, Mom took me to Key West, Florida, as an early birthday present/mom-daughter getaway! We had a great time, like we always do! Key West is beautiful. It was a mix of Cape Cod meets the Caribbean (two of my fave places). We stayed on Duval Street (which was like Bourbon St. meets the Bahamas), in a beautiful hotel that is the tallest building on the island! We had Key Lime Pie (I had mine in the form of a chocolate-covered ice cream bar), did some sight-seeing and had a great time! Here's a run down of our unforgettable weekend!

Friday Night - well, it didn't start off as a weekend in paradise; due to the outrageous storms in Houston, we were delayed for 5.5 hours! Luckily, Mom's a member of the President's Club, so we weren't absolutely miserable! Needless to say, we departed IAH a little after 1 a.m. We were crawling into bed at our Miami hotel at 5:30 AM. Take a moment and let that nugget sink in!

Saturday Morning - Left Miami at 10:00 AM (do the math, I woke up at 9, that's 3.5 hours of sleep) and made the beautiful, albiet L-O-N-G drive to Key West. Seeing the beautiful ocean was breathtaking! Great conversation kept us going the whole way!

A shot of the Atlantic Ocean from my passenger seat!

Saturday Afternoon - Arrived in Key West and immediately went to tour Ernest Hemmingway's home, which was so interesting. And, we saw one of the six-toed cats! Left there, and did some exploring of Duval Steet (i.e. shopping and happy hour)!

Hemingway House

Saturday Night - The big thing to do in Key West is go to the dock and watch the sunset...so, when in the Keys...Anyway, it was really fun, the whole environment at the "Sunset Celebration" was upbeat and family friendly - vendors, food, music, jugglers, dancers, etc. After the sun went down, we headed to dinner at a fun place and heard a band playing (side note - they were totally crude, but a tad funny, too)

Just before sunset at Mallory Square!

Sunday Morning - Went to breakfast at Blue Heaven (Kenny Chesney's fave restaurant in Key West) and it was sooo yummy and such a cool place! After breakfast, we took the trolley tour around the island, which was really interesting! After that, we headed to our rent car so we could go to Miami and do a little exploring before my flight home. However, OUR CAR WOULDN'T START! So, the traveling woes continued and we were delayed 2 hours.

Blue Heaven! I've now eaten somewhere that Kenny has eaten! Woo Hoo!

Sunday Afternoon - Lunch in Miami at a restaurant (er, bar) that was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Though the food was delish, it was surely a dive; sorry Mom!

It was a great trip, and such a memorable weekend with my precious Mom! I only wish it could have lasted longer!!

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day! With a mom as great as mine, how could we not?!? I procrastinated on getting my mom's gift and on Sunday morning found myself in front of the computer buying our tickets to see Wicked (yes, we skipped church)! Jeremy and I saw Wicked last spring in NYC and LOVED it! Mom will love it, too!

Usually for holidays, we all cook and eat lunch together, but since my brother and his family had Astros tickets we waited until after that and had dinner. We went to Cyclone Anayas and then came back to our house for dessert. It was really fun!! Love my family!!!

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

B

Best PJ's EVER!

I'm always looking for comfy PJ's! I love nothing more than snuggling up under the covers wearing super soft and comfy pajamas. Not the kind that twist and turn and slide up your legs - but really soft, down right amazing pajamas.

You get the picture. I'm a new fan of Gap Body. I bought this one-piece romper this weekend and LOVE it! I actually think about it during the day, and that I can't wait to put it on when I get ready for bed. Silly, right? But I don't care. I'm blissfully happy in my new romper! Check it out!


I'm off to bed now, where I'll put on my cozy romper and cuddle up with my new book club book!

Goodnight all!
B

Family Update

Well, here's an update of what we've been up to this week:

1. I made this yummy dessert last night - its like half brownie/half chocolate chip cookie. I figured since I'd survived another kickboxing class, I might as well reward myself :) I'm ashamed to tell you that despite the baking goddess I think I am, its from a box. Hey, its the weeknight!
2. WE GOT AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!! And then right before signing the contract, they decided to put an offer on a different house. Yea, I'm still not really over it. Selling your house sucks - there's just no prettier way to say it.

3. I got this in the mail today! Ahhh...I love J.Crew and their overpriced sandals - I just can't buy $80 flip-flops, no matter how great they look on my feet! They have such a cute line out this spring!
4. I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but cheerleading tryouts (ie. cheer tryout drama) is finally OVER! In case you were wondering, tryouts were on April 1. Check your calendar, today is April 29. Enough said.

5. I cried this week during Biggest Loser. I love the show, but I have never cried during it. It just really hit me this week. And, I wasn't the only one in the house tearing up, if you know what I mean....

That's about all - time to catch up on some TV shows while Sparky is at the Astros game.

Have a great weekend!
B

Book Review - The Help

One of the top 5 books I've read in my life is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I was reluctant to read it because its a thick book - over 400 pages in length. And, that in itself can be intimidating! But once I started, I wanted it to keep going - to be much more than 400 pages. I yearned to know more about what happened to Skeeter, or how things are with Minny. I love books that allow you to dive in and really explore the characters, so much in fact, that you feel as if they are your friends.

The Help is about three women - Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny - who live in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Skeeter is a recent college graduate and Aibileen and Minny are maids for wealthy white folks in town. During the peak of the Civil Rights movement, they each go through transitions in their lives that make them stronger women. They help each other in unexpected ways and unite together through the creation of a surprising project.

Without giving much away, it's an incredibly moving story that really makes you think. What would you do? Would you stand up for your beliefs even if it means losing your closest friends? Would you be accepting of unlikely friends? How far would you go?

A must-read!

Brittney

Playing Catch Up!

Its been awhile since my last post - so here's what we've been up to!

1. We spent the weekend in Boston (Woburn, actually) for J's cousins wedding. We had a really great time with our family and friends!! I love my new cousin-in-law, Erin! She's just the sweetest person, and we get along really great! I love when fabulous people become part of your family!

2. No updates on the house - we had another open house this weekend and received great feedback, so hopefully soon! We are READY TO SELL!!!

3. Charley got kicked out of day care while we were away this past weekend. Aggressive behavior. Yep, our precious dog, who is as friendly as can be was kicked out. Grammy picked him up on Saturday morning and he was an angel for her - wouldn't you know?!? Oh, well.....hopefully our 2-legged kids are better behaved!

4. GLEE IS BACK!!! Thank you Jesus!

5. And SPRING IS BACK!! Hooray for being able to wear dresses and sandals again!

6. Today is my mom's birthday! And for her birthday, she is taking me on a trip to the Florida Keys! Great mom, right? I love my mom so much!! She's the world to me!

Have a great week bloggers!