Birthday Weekend Recap

I had a fantastic birthday weekend!!!  I think this might have been one of the best ones yet.  It all started on Friday afternoon because I had the afternoon off.  The husband took me to Goode Company Seafood for a delicious lunch.

Aside from delicious food, Goode Company's Westpark location has a cute atmosphere.  Part of the restaurant was constructed from an old railroad car.

The Goode family has been in the restaurant business in Houston for a long time.  They have several locations and many different types of food including their signature Texas barbeque.  Lunch was delicious.  The husband and I split a mesquite grilled fish and shrimp po-boy and had some fantastic gumbo.

After lunch we made a visit to the Harris County Animal Control shelter.  A couple of my animal rescue friends volunteer in various capacities at this facility.  As far as shelters go in the Houston area this is a very small and very poorly funded shelter and therefore they have a higher kill rate than others.  Whenever I see special animals there, I am moved to go meet them to try and champion their rescue or adoption.

On Friday we met this guy...

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This dog was picked up as stray.  He clearly had a home at one point, he was neutered and very well behaved.  He was a little under weight, but heart worm negative and ready, very ready, to go home.  I am not sure how he ended up on the streets, but I do know that when he was picked up by animal control he had no collar and no microchip.  Please, please, please tag and microchip your pets.  It gives them the best odds of making it back home to you if they are lost.  Do not worry about this guy.  He will live happily ever after in a new forever home.

Saturday one of my BFFs Rebecca took me for a fantastic mani/pedi at NailTime.  I had never been to this nail spa before, but I loved it!

Rebecca and I got our spa pedicures in a smaller room and it was so nice because for most of our time there it was only the two of us in there.  It was fun to have catch up time with her without distraction.

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The massage chairs in this place were actually comfortable!  Yay!

View from my pedi chair.

After NailTime we headed over to Lola in the Houston Heights for lunch.  Right now I am working from a list of new to me restaurants to try and this was one of them.  I will go back.

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For one, how cute is this?  And secondly...

Um, yum!  I had the club sandwich and Rebecca had a fried green BLT.  Yep, it had fried green tomatoes on it.  She said it was divine.  And their fries, just wow.  I can't wait to go back for breakfast.  Chicken and waffles?  Yes, please.  Go. Eat. Enjoy.

Saturday evening we had a relaxed dinner with friends, which was just what this birthday girl wanted.  I also got to say happy birthday to another BFF who shares a birthday day me!!

This was obviously not taken at dinner, but it is still some of my favorite silliness with this amazing woman.  Kasey, I hope your birthday weekend was a fantastic and relaxing as mine was.  I love you!!

On Sunday the husband and I went for massages at our fave place  Dolce Vita Day Spa.  I have no pictures to share of our trip, but they are definitely worth mentioning because they are fabulous.  If you are in need of a little massage therapy, you cannot go wrong here.

It was a fantastic weekend!  The only thing I did not get to check off my list was a birthday weekend nap.  Oh, well.  There is always next weekend.

Today is another very special birthday.  Yet another of my BFFs is celebrating today.  Happy Birthday Liz!!!

I hope your day is fantastic.  If you are also a 4/14 baby, happy birthday to you!!!

Come back and visit me tomorrow.  Sammy has an announcement.

Have a lovely Monday of what I hope is a short work week for you as well!

Weekend Recap and Weigh In

I am thankful for all the fun and family time I got to spend with everyone over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I am not thankful for all the food I chose to eat...which is why I skipped the scale this morning.  I will be back on track this week and on the scale next Monday.

The family time was great!  There was sidewalk chalk.

And popsicles...

The Neal's dog Mo loves to be in the back of their suburban...I think he feels nervous like he might get left behind if they decided to suddenly leave.

There was one evening that is was cool enough to light the fire outside.  It was warm and cozy and we enjoyed some red wine.

 

We had no shortage of food for Thanksgiving dinner.  Everything was delicious.

I will say I didn't have some of everything, which was smart.  I did however have seconds, which was probably not smart.

My sister Audrey and her hubby John went antiquing on Westheimer on Sunday.  They have moved into a new house and needed a few things.  We went with them to pick up their goods and happened on these awesome end tables.

I love them and they had a pair!!  I was so excited.

To finish out the weekend, some of the Christmas decorations started to appear!

Coffee tastes better in a Christmas mug...at least I think it does.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Weekend Recap

We had great fun with great friends this weekend.  Friday night we had dinner and drinks with Rebecca, Liz and Diaz.  Then Saturday we got awesome news.  Liz and Diaz got engaged!

Happy Couple

We went to a party Saturday night to celebrate this awesome news.  I am so excited and happy for my Lizzy Lou!!  Diaz you are a lucky, lucky man!  I wish you both all the best!!

Weekend Recap and Weigh In

Last Saturday was the 6th year anniversary of Daniel and my first date.  We decided to celebrate all day! We started the day with workouts.  Daniel hit the gym and I walked with Rebecca.  We walked a little more than two miles.

Daniel and I took Sammy to the park to swim.

Her chicken toy was a hit last weekend.  All the pups wanted to play with it.  Sammy was very patient with the sharing.

We stopped at Kegg's Candies on the way home from the park.

My chocolate was one ounce and it logged for 1 point...so I had 1 point of heaven on a stick.  Delicious.

In the evening we went to the Italian Festival.  It was fantastic.

Daniel had a meatball sub.

I had Cesar salad and stuffed artichoke hearts.

There was wine...too much wine to be exact.

One of the biggest reasons we chose to celebrate at the Italian Fest that night was that a fellow UST alum, Hamilton Loomis and his band were playing the festival at 7:30 that evening.

Almost time for music!

The Hamilton Loomis Band

Rockin'

The Hamilton Loomis Band is pretty awesome I must say.  I would think this even if I hadn't gone to school with him.  His music is just...well, awesome.

As are his shoes.  :)

And now for the weigh in!

This week: -3.9
Previously: -2.7
So far: -6.6

I'll take it!

The pen color today is blue!!  Happy Monday!

Weekend Recap and Weigh In

I have jury duty this morning.  Awesome.  I am so excited and since I have to leave the house earlier, I am short on time.  So, let's jump right in, shall we?

The weigh in did not go well.

This week: +3.6
Previously: -6.3
So far:       -2.7

Ugh.  I know what happened, which means I know what to do to get back on track, which is good.  I went to work with less sleep than normal and an empty stomach on Friday.  This was after a very successful evening out with the gals (details here).  My logic for that was that I was only working a half day and I had light popcorn in my desk to be popped.  Silly, silly me.  Friday is the day when the guys in the office bring in kolaches and donuts.  So after a 15 point breakfast, which I logged...I was off to the Greek Festival with Daniel.

Lunch was good.

Dessert was 10 points, but delicious.  Rice pudding.

We did skip the wine though.

So that was a good decision.  And then the afternoon led to happy hour and happy hour led to a cheeseburger and fries for dinner.  Sigh.  It was a fun day, but it was not filled with all the best food choices.

Saturday and Sunday kind of followed suit.  It was rainy, which was awesome, but that also made me lazy.  There were no weekend workouts, but there was dinner out on Saturday night and Chinese food on Sunday followed by the family birthday celebration for my sister-in-law's birthday.

Awe

So to fix the problems, eat less, make better choices and MOVE!  Here we go!

Have a great Monday!

Birthdays and Challenges

My sister-in-law's birthday is on Saturday so last night the girls went to dinner to celebrate.  We went to Carraba's Italian Grill and had a great time.

Dawn and Me

When you are trying to lose weight most eating out situations present challenges.  I prepared by looking at the menu ahead of time and planning what I was ordering for dinner.  I ordered a large house salad topped with grilled chicken and had them bring the dressing on the side.  This was a great option and was only 8 weight watchers points.  I try and look at the menu before eating out whenever possible, it helps eliminate the stress of having to make good food choices while surrounded by friends and so many options!

And then there was the bread basket...and I passed.  I was very proud of myself since their crusty dinner rolls and rustic sour dough bread is so delicious...especially dipped in their olive oil and herb blend.  In life there are choices and I chose Cabernet instead of bread.  I am happy with the decision.

Some of the gals ordered a huge order of calamari and fried shrimp for the table...I won't lie...when it arrived I stressed a little bit about it.  I was worried that I would over indulge.  When the plate was passed to me I took two pieces of calamari and one piece of shrimp.  Win!  That was an additional 3 points for the night and they were delicious!

I am very proud of myself for learning to handle these situations.  When it comes down to it the birthday celebration and spending time with friends and family is what it is about.  You can do all the celebrating you want while still making smart food choices...and as it turns out you have even more fun because that feeling of accomplishment just makes it better.

Dawn's friend Leslie did a great job with decorating the table.  She brought flowers and had a votive candle for each of us.  Isn't that cute?  And so sweet.

A good time was had by all.  We made Dawn blow out her candle twice so we all could get our pictures.  Two wishes...awesome.

Happy Friday to you!  I am only working until noon today and I know I will be counting the minutes!  Daniel and I are headed to the Greek Festival this afternoon.  There will be Greek salad and more wine, oh my!

Happy Birthday Dawn!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

BirthDAY - DAY Off!

My birthday is the April 11th and this year it was a Monday...ugh, Monday Moanday.  It also happened to be the Monday after the weekend my husband had planned for me in the Texas Hill Country...I couldn't go to work on a Monday after a nice weekend like that...especially not one that was my birthday!  So, I took the day off.  My husband had to work, poor Daniel.  :)

I intended to sleep in, but of course didn't.  I was awake at regular time, but instead of rushing out of bed and doing chores and getting ready for work, I simply got some coffee, got my book and my pup, Sammy, and got back under the covers.  I stayed there until I finished my book.  Nice!

It was fun hanging with Sammy for the morning.  She was a birthday present herself two years ago.  Daniel brought her home to me as a surprise.  Here we are that afternoon in 2009.

She is the present that keeps on giving.  I think she was enjoying the relaxing too...she sure looked like she did.

It was great to have a day off where I could get some things done that I wanted to get done.  I had no big plans and nothing scheduled for a specific time and it was AWESOME!!!  After coffee Sammy and I did a nice long workout walk.  Then I took some items I had for donation and dropped them off at Goodwill...Daniel later told me it looked like I had been robbed since my trunk was so empty (very funny).  I took a package that needed to be returned to Zappos.com to the UPS store (it had also been riding around in my trunk) and stopped at Spec's and got a wine that I love so Daniel and I could toast my relaxing birthday when he got home. 

I picked up some sandwiches and Sammy and I went to my mom's house to enjoy a relaxing lunch.  We had Antone's poboys...delicious...not Antone's poboys you find in your grocery store...the original Antone's, from the location in the Rice Village.  There is a difference.  I don't know the official history, but apparently when Mr. Antone died there was a dispute about the family business and one member of the family does the grocery store poboys, which are not the original recipe with the orange chow chow, and another Antone does the sandwiches in the import store/restaurant.  If you do not believe there is a difference you should get one of each and check it out...there so is a difference and the grocery store one, in my opinion, is not worth the calories.

My mom gave me this fun watch...she lovingly refers to it as a glitzy watch.  She has a big red one.  This one's purple even though it looks black.

After lunch with my mom I went to the car wash and had my car detailed.  I had promised myself I would do that once my car was paid off and I finally got it done, happy birthday to me! I won't mention that I paid it off in October...6 months it took me to get this done.  Sheesh!

After the car wash I went home and installed my doggie hammock in the backseat.  Sammy rides back there all the time and it will be nice to be able to fold that up and put it in the trunk should I want to give anyone a ride and not have them exit my car with a hairy behind!

Daniel got home around 6:15 with roses and we had some wine.  I love that guy.

It was a perfect birthDAY - DAY off!!!  How do you like to spend your birthday?

Relaxing Weekend

What better way to follow an 11 day work week and an upgrade weekend?  A super relaxing weekend.  My husband planned the best timed birthday/congrats your upgrade is over weekend!!  He asked me 3 questions...would you like a massage appointment?  (Let me think, hmmmm...yes!!!!)  Do you want to have lunch at the winery I found near where we are staying?  (Ummm...gee...okay.)  Would you like me to cook dinner on Friday or Saturday...I'm taking you out the other night.  (Let's go with Friday.)  Tough questions...and the extent of my planning assistance.  Love it!

So we left Friday morning after dropping Sammy off with my mom.  We went straight to Flat Creek Estates Winery in the Texas Hill Country for lunch...what a smart husband I have.  It was beautiful!

The winery was so cute!  Here are a couple of pictures from their website.  The left picture is the room we had lunch in (over by the windows) and the wine on the right is the red we liked the best...Super Texan 2009.



Our favorite white was the Bucking Horse White...also super delicious...and Daniel who is mostly a red wine drinker also liked it...so that was nice.  Oh, and lunch was delicious also!!  It was a three course lunch with wine pairings.  :)

The we moved on to Lago Vista and the condo where we were staying for the weekend.  Can you say nice view?

We sat out at the cute table on our balcony taking in this view and enjoying a very quiet happy hour with pleasant temperatures and a breeze and boats zooming (or meandering) by.

Daniel got busy in the kitchen and we followed happy hour with dinner on the balcony.  So relaxing and peaceful!  I brought some candles from home, so we had candle light as we enjoyed the sunset and evening.



The next morning we willingly slept in and then took a stroll around the condo resort.  I love the rock formations around the lake.

After our walk we went for our couple's massage appointment.  It was delightful and followed by mimosas! We moved on to a late lunch on the water where we had some very pretty lunch companions.

We ended the evening on the balcony of the bar/restaurant at the condos, again watching the sunset.

All in all a fabulous and regenerative weekend!!  Thanks Daniel!!