"Taste of Addison" - Fun Day with Dean

The festival in Addison this weekend did not disappoint. After Dean's late flight in on Friday, we hung out by the pool. Saturday morning we headed in to Addison for a day in the park. This festival brings in lots of local restaurants who set up booths and serve their favorite menu items on paper plates. There are also lots of artists and vendors selling their wares. The big draw however is a number of Texas bands and then a closing act, this year, Train. We got a big laugh over a band called "Smile-Smile". They were a young gal and guy who USED to be in a relationship. Awkward! It appears their fame has come as a result of recording an album about their failed attempts. (Everything about this screams WRONG...especially getting up on stage and drawing attention to that.) Who wants to see an ex-couple pick at one another on stage when you should be kicking up your heels and having fun? Dean decided they would be better off renaming their dynamic duo, Frown-Frown. Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed the variety of music and the people watching. These kinds of events certainly show a cross section of humanity and we found ourselves in the middle of it.
Dean was on a flight home by mid morning. What a whirlwind of a weekend for him, but a good change of scenery nonetheless. As always, we love it when one of the kids pops in for the weekend.

Practicing for a future cooking blog.

I pulled out my camera and have begun taking some practice pictures of some of the meals I am making. I hope to post a cooking blog once a week. It will never approach the "Pioneer Woman's", but it just might be a fun way to pass along some of my favorite recipes. I do love the kitchen! We will just have to see where it goes.
I am certainly going to have to challenge myself to a new level of technology skills to make this work. At some point, I am certain I will be calling one of my "kids" to ask them how to do something! Dean is coming in for the weekend, so I plan to start next week.

Fridays and School Buses

It is such fun to be behind a big yellow school bus on a Friday afternoon. Seeing all those sweet little faces getting off the bus and running up to their parents or tearing down the sidewalk toward home, reminds me of my children pouring into the house on Fridays and dropping their backpacks by the door. It was a day for no homework, a night for staying up a little later, a night for renting a movie, and hoping we didn't have to set an alarm to go to a game or activity the next morning. I still think Friday is my favorite day of the week. Now it is more about my hubby not having to go to work the next day, planning a road trip somewhere, and still hoping we don't have to set the alarm. Let the weekend begin!

The weekend.

This is going to be a seriously fun weekend for my two girls. They are going to spend it together in Raleigh. The highlight will no doubt be the engagement party, but I am sure they will amuse themselves in a host of eating establishments as well. BBQ, Bojangles, Sweet Tea, Snoopy's and who knows what else. AND, I can imagine that Robin will make at least one prank phone call to an unsuspecting individual. There will be laughs galore.
Meanwhile, back in TX, we are looking forward to staying home for a change. I can't remember the last weekend we were here. It seems like forever ago. I plan to plant my pots with some pretty flowers and then sit by the pool and enjoy them. Life is good!

Jillian Michaels - A love/hate relationship.

I follow LOTS of blogs. It's such fun. Today I realized that for a few of us there is a springtime common theme, which is...Getting ready for swimsuit season. So, I am back on the Jillian Michaels's 30 Day Shred, which worked for me last summer and I am hoping it will this year as well. Oh boy! Thought I had worked up to Level 3, but no, I am going to stick with level 2 a little longer.

Celebrating Z's B-Day

Louise flew in from Raleigh for a long weekend. Since her birthday fell on a school day, we did the next best thing, we celebrated early. On Friday, she and I hit the Galleria to do some shopping for a suitable suit to wear for some presentations coming up and happened to find a couple of other cute things. We had our good friends , the Parkers, over for dinner that evening. Saturday was such a beautiful day, so we hung out by the pool and that evening we went to our first Ranger's game. What a great ball park. Can't wait to go back there again. We put Louise on a plane to head back to NC on Sunday afternoon. The weekends always go too fast!

Exploring Texas

There is just sooooo much to see in Texas, and we are once again trekking around a new area. This weekend we are checking out Nacogdoches where Davey Crockett spent some time before he went to fight at the Alamo. We will see a few of his haunts and look for a good spot to go for a hike.
This part of TX is full of oak and pine trees. Really beautiful this time of year with all the wild flowers in bloom.
We are staying in an old Victorian B and B that is lovely. We have a 3 room suite here that is bigger than our first apartment. The antique furnishings are beautiful and it is so peaceful.
We had a lovely dinner at Auntie Pastas last night and a fun tex-mex breakfast at the hotel across the street. They have an arrangement with our B and B. Yum!
Off we go!