Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!!


Sammy and Jack wanted to wish you a very Happy Halloween!


And I want to wish my sister, Audrey, a very happy birthday!


Love you Sissy!!  I can't wait to see you next month!

Have a great day everyone!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Getting Back Into a Groove

Or trying to anyway.  My exercise has been sporadic at best and my food choices not so great.  I need to get back into my groove...and I think I made a pretty good start last night.  I took a nice walk through my neighborhood when I got home from work...it was a pretty evening.  There is one thing I am sure of after my walk last night.


We have a serious spider infestation!!


Or my neighbors really like Halloween.  I am pretty sure it is the second one.  I am not funny, I know.


My front porch Halloween decorating style is more in line with this family below.


I really like how they have made the most of their front porch.  Their front door is on the left of the porch, which could look a little awkward but I think they have made it a very cute space.


After my walk I was very tempted to order Chinese food.  I am overdue for a grocery store trip and my pantry and fridge are kind of bare, especially in the fresh produce area.  But I found the makings of pasta.

I will share a little trick with you to incorporate protein into your pasta and reduce the amount of pasta you need in your serving.  Egg whites.


Hear me out before you stop reading...I hard boil eggs while I am simmering my sauce and then add the egg white to my pasta bowl.  The tastes really work together, the eggs add protein and bulk to the pasta so you don't need as much.


As my dad would say...don't knock it until you've tried it!  I also had garlic bread...oops...but dinner was yummy.  The grocery store trip happens tonight!

I know you were wondering after yesterday's post about Sammy's new toy.  Well, wonder no more...here is Sam with her new toy cow.


The cow is already appropriately dirty so I would say she loves it.

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Weekend Recap

We had a wonderful weekend!!  The husband and I went with our friends Robyn and Dave to their ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas.  They have vineyards on their property!


And they make wine!


It was interesting to learn about the wine making process and how much time is involved.  I never expected to feel like I was in a chemistry course while making wine.


Dave and Robyn have a batch of wine from their 2011 harvest and it was time to test the sulfite level in the wine.  I am not sure what it means but you don't want the level to be higher than a 4.

Mmmm...one year old beaker wine.

This testing, blending and moving of wine was happening at 9:00 AM on Saturday morning...I did no tasting.



I liked all the glass containers they had around for wine bottling.  The husband was very proud of the wine he bottled.

Robyn and I did lots of walking around the ranch and lots of playing with the animals.

Cats, horses and dogs, oh my!

I am sure Sammy was very sad she missed the party.

On Sunday we went over to William and Chris Vineyards.  This is the vineyard that purchased our friends' last harvest of grapes.  They grow sangiovese grapes that produces a delicious red wine.


While we were there tasting the wines, Chris (the Chris of William and Chris) showed up and he invited us into the winery to taste the progress on the sangiovese wine.  Very cool, right?

Chris getting us a taste from the barrel.

Just a few barrels.

Chris talking about wine.

Chris's daughter being a cutie.

Wine making thingies.

The husband being excited about wine.  :)

I know you are wondering if there was any shopping and the answer is of course!  Robyn and I did lots of shopping on Saturday.  Fredericksburg has the cutest Main Street with lots of great shops.

(source)

I came home with several goodies including this cute pumpkin that looks great in the mum I planted on the deck.



We visited a cute store called Dogologie. Where I bought Sammy a fun toy and this magnet that I secretly stuck on my mom's car.


I wonder how long it will take her to notice it.  Heehee.

I hope you had a fabulous weekend.  What did you do??


stillbeingmolly

Friday, October 26, 2012

Friday Funday and Insta-Friday #6

I missed Insta-Friday last week...I was on my way to New Orleans!

Bourbon Street

Look at these cool lights in the Bourbon House. This restaurant was fantastic.


In case you did not know, I work on a college campus.  We had some changes here this week.  We lost an awesome man, Fr. James Keon.  He had been part of this community since the mid-sixties.

I remember him most for his ice skating skills.


When I was an undergraduate we had ice skating nights and Fr. Keon was always there in his hockey skates, speed skating circles around us.  He will be dearly missed here at UST.  Love him.

If you're interested you can see a campus news story about him here and read about him here as well.

UST also tore down a building this week.


It was a small building, but it was the building that held my first office here.  When I say office I mean all mine with a door and windows (it wasn't my first work space here on campus).


Goodbye Carriage House.

I visited the dentist this week as well.  I was happy this guy wasn't the one cleaning my teeth.


Halloween decorations are cool.


I hope you have had a great week!

life rearranged

Today is also Friday Funday!  I am out of the office at noon and we are on our way to Fredericksburg.  It should be a great weekend!!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Thursday, Thursday, Thursday!

This week has gone quickly!  I still don't think I have caught up on my sleep from my NOLA weekend last weekend, but I am so happy it is almost the weekend.

I'll be honest, this week has been pretty boring.  The highlight of my week?  The arrival of my new fire screen from Willow House.  I am bummed they are phasing out their home decor products, but I am happy about sales.

(source)

And here is my bad picture of it in my house.  :)


Better pictures coming soon, I promise.

Look how cute my daily calendar is today.


I love Mary Engelbreit.  Oh, I've mentioned that already?  So sorry.

Today is my friend and faithful reader, Carol's birthday.  Happy Birthday Carol!!!  I hope you have a great day!

Happy Thursday!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Weekend Recap

Liz and Diaz are getting married in about a month and a half...you might remember them from this Weekend Recap.  I spent last weekend in New Orleans with them and a bunch of friends celebrating a bachelor/bachelorette weekend.  Friday night we did a co-ed evening and Saturday night was just the girls.

We ate, drank and were very merry.  Here is the recap in pictures!

The Happy Couple

Me and the bride!

Hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's

They're yummy!







I hope your weekend was awesome as well!!


stillbeingmolly

Monday, October 15, 2012

Weekend Recap

I had a fairly relaxing three day weekend!  I should be happier and more refreshed on this Monday morning, but to be honest I am kind of dragging.  Sigh.  Maybe remembering the weekend will help energize me.  Worth a try anyway, right?

Friday was kind of boring.  I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and the afternoon was pretty much uneventful.  We stayed in Friday evening and watched Revenge on Netflix.  Do you watch that show?  It is pretty darn good.

Saturday morning the husband and I enjoyed coffee on the deck.  The fall flowers I planted make the deck so inviting.  I love the mums in this cool pot.


They are in full bloom now and look amazing.


These blue eyed rivieras are so pretty.


I have never grown them before, but I am so happy I have given them a try.  They make me smile.

After coffee the husband and I met the sister-in-law and niece and nephew at the St. Luke's pumpkin patch.


Precious.


Gotta love cute kiddos sitting on pumpkins.

The husband found me this pumpkin.


It's teeny, I love it.  I joked that it was my car decoration, then took a picture of it and then realized I really need to dust my car.

Saturday also resulted in the acquiring of these Halloween critters.

Have I mentioned I love Pier 1?

Sunday the husband smoked a pork shoulder and made, yes made, jalapeno cheese buns.


The result...pretty amazing pulled pork sandwiches.


Now if the Texans had won last night that would have been awesome.  Oh, well 5-1 is still pretty darn great!

How was your weekend?


Sammy's was lazy.


stillbeingmolly