When Texas Comes to Town

My friends Courtney and Carolyn jumped on a plane from Dallas to visit us in Spring Lake.  I am thankful that in our short time in Dallas we cultivated lifelong friends.  Having these girls here for a few days reminded me how much I miss them.  Kind of like having a bite of an apple pie when you really want a ginormous piece or even the whole pie.  And yes I can eat a whole apple pie.  We're already looking ahead to our next adventure.  However, maybe next trip we can skip the thunderstorms, food poisoning and closed u-pick fruit farms.  

Friday we caught the sunset at the beach.  Our attempts at a jumping photo reminded me not to try and jump alongside classically trained Texas cheerleaders and dance team captains.  They breed them differently down there.

Seriously I ruined them all.  We had to try like 50 times.  Literally.  The below one must have been snapped just perfectly for the half second and inch I made it off the ground.

How do they just hang in the air?!  

Anyways then we caught up over drinks and the Grand Haven Musical fountain downtown.   Saturday captain Nick took us out on the boat and the rain began. And didn't stop. We made the best of it by hiking through the woods to the beach and visiting a local u-pick farm.  Lacking any fruit to pick.

We capped off the weekend with drinks and dinner on the town, Sunday morning church and shopping.

Thanks for coming girls!  Did I mention each of these girls has two kids?  The effort and organization it took to make this trek north was much appreciated.  Miss you big time.

Dallas: Labor Day 2012

I'm never going to an out of state Michigan game with Katherine and Paul again. It's bad luck.  First the 2004 Rosebowl, and more recently the Cowboys Classic Michigan vs. Alabama season opener. Both games were brutally embarrassing for the Wolverines.

Despite the outcome of the Alabama game, we had a blast and I therefore retract the above statement- I'd go anywhere with Katherine and Paul, they're fun even in a loss. 

We brought Fishy to Dallas.  He stayed with the Shavers for the night and LOVED playing with sweet Campbell.  Note his game day chic attire

Sunday night we had dinner with the Daniels and Shavers.  Love all these little ones.  Fisher is wearing his SMU cheering outfit.  He took of his maize and blue in shame.

Girls from the midwest with Fritos and beer

Cowboy Stadium from afar

Nick succeeded in eating BBQ 3 times in 2 days.  He's obv quite happy about that

Some of my favorite ladies at brunch Monday AM.  Courtney is due with baby #2 in December.

I Dream of Tablescapes

I dream of having a set of china for every month.  A dear relative who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent has 12 different china patterns that she cycles throughout the year.  Each china pattern reflects the month in some way- April is floral, December is Christmas etc.  She keeps them in her basement and swaps them out on the first of the month.  I love this.  One day this will be me.  Some dream of saving the world, I dream in china.  I know this is embarassing.

Going through old photos this morning I came across the following tablescapes from the last couple of years.  I tend to follow a few general rules.

1.) Everyone needs a placecard and a seat, menus are a nice plus
2.) Think in layers of texture and color
3.) Even if you are not going to use the knife or the fork- it is always best to create a full place setting including all utensils, wine glass and water glass.  This is why we have dishwashers.
4.) Grocery store flowers are the best- just don't tell anyone
5.) You can never have too many candles
6.) A glass of champagne or prosecco to begin the evening sets a festive tone and takes the edge off of the hostess

 .

Lonestar Lobsterbake

Christmas- yes should have ironed the tablecloth. . .oh well

Seriously whats not to love about a grocery store bouquet

Casual Sunday dinner with friends, the placemats are actually dish towels

Ladies only engagement dinner.  This was a non drinking church group- hence the single glass

Twilight dinner and a movie party

Thanksgiving.  I love incorporating fruit and unexpected flowers

Can you tell I love hydrangeas?

Mother's night out party, I often use Christmas ornaments at each setting.  Nice little take away

Thanksgiving #2.  Not my favorite, the flowers were too dramatic.

I loved these menus, combining handwriting and type.

Texas State Fair

Thanks Jann for the tickets to West Side Story!  It was a great excuse to head out to the fair and enjoy some only in Texas specialties.

Our Menu:

• 2 Bottles of Water
• 3 Shiners on tap
• 1 Fried grilled cheese sandwich with shoestring fries and tomato soup
• 1 Grilled chicken sandwich
• 1 Dollar dog
• 1 Chili Cheese Dog
• 1 Chocolate dipped fried cheesecake

I am grossed out too as I read that. . .and I wonder why I am developing a double chin. 

Hot Dog!

Dallas is terribly hot.  Today is the 24th day of 100 degree+ heat.  Yes you read that correctly- 24 days in a row with a thermometer in the triple digits.  There is no end in site, tomorrow's high is 105.  It comes as no surprise that 27 weeks pregnant, a permanent hyper thyroid condition and 100 degree heat don't mix.  I basically hide in our bedroom where the AC is the strongest and pretend I am anywhere north of the Mason Dixon line.  The only one who hates the heat more than me is Lola.  She refuses to go outside.  During our weekend walk she insisted on army crawling most of the way to punish me for taking her on a forced march.  Needless to say we didn't get much exercise.

Galveston, TX

Texas is a ginormous state.  Nick and I are doing our best to explore our adopted homeland and decided to visit Galveston over Easter weekend.  Galveston is another place that everyone from Texas seems to hate.  My friends and coworkers all looked at me skeptically when I told them of our plans to visit the barrier island about an hour outside of Houston.  I hoped the comments of, "the water is brown", "so much seaweed", "everyone is a redneck- tell Nick to leave the Polos at home", "there are oil rigs everywhere", were not true as I packed my trusted beach wardrobe of sundresses, sunglasses and sunscreen (Except I hate wearing sunscreen, I bring it just for show.  See below sunburn pictures for proof).   Sure enough just like the Alamo, I LOVED it!  I love anywhere with the smell of salt air, the sound of seagulls and drinks poolside.

We made it to the Hotel Galvez by midnight Thursday- the hotel was beautiful and historic- I could already tell Galveston was my kind of place.  I looked over at Nick, hoping it was his kind of place too.  Nick's enthusiasm for this trip was suspicious from the beginning. The trip involved, travel, driving and spending money- not Nick's favorite things.  When he took the liberty of booking the hotel room himself I knew something was up.  Then it hit me- his massage therapist moved to Galveston earlier this year.  Sure enough Karen, said massage therapist showed up to give us both messages Friday AM.  We also enjoyed a long walk on the beach, stopping at the Spot for drinks/apps and Rudy & Paco for dinner.  Nick even ordered what he classifies as the best value wine he has ever had at dinner, 14 Hands, from Washington State.

Friday dinner at Rudy & Paco

Vacation for Nick = doing work by the pool

Nick in front of the Hotel Galvez

Galveston beach

Nick made me add this one . . .

Saturday our friends Rob and Kim invited us to a crawfish boil or what I call the southern Lobster bake.  Crawfish is a lot of work.  Like so much for so little meat.  Thankfully Kim was a good teacher and by the end of the afternoon we were shucking like semi-pros.  The afternoon was almost perfect, good friends, good food and corn hole but then an Ohio State fan had to go and ruin things, like they so often do.  When he found out my allegiance was more of the maize and blue variety he became decidedly less classy about giving us a ride in his golf cart.  I didn't really want to ride in a golf cart with a red "O" flag on it anyways.  The rest of the party I felt like I was wearing a Michigan t-shirt in the Horseshoe in late November.  It is surprising Nick and I got out of there without beer thrown at us.

Rob dishing up some Crawfish

The crawfish was served on giant plastic plates that are hosed off

They are just little guys . . .

In honor of Easter there were several little ducks at the party

Nick wanted to bring one of the ducks home

I am mean and said "no".

My face is the same scarlet color as the flag

Easter Sunday we drove to Houston to spend the day with Nick's grandparents visiting from Michigan, cousins, aunt and uncle.  We went to church and enjoyed an excellent Easter lunch, sadly I didn't take any photos.

All in all a great weekend and Go Blue!

Welcome to Seguin!

It has been on my to do list to visit Seguin since I moved to TX.  This may seem like a little thing, but it took me 2 years to accomplish this goal! Yes this is a random thing to want to do, but my first Dallas friend Courtney is originally from Seguin and I love her stories of growing up in small town Texas.  Seguin is a place where you can barter for things like a wedding dress with the promise of professional tax preparation, where school closes when the rodeo comes to town and a high school party means gathering in a field outside of town (just like in the country songs).   Seeing the town in person gave her stories new life. 

How can you not love the home of the largest Pecan?

Main Street alive and well in Seguin

Thanks Courtney for a delightful evening, I particularly liked the trip to the Dairy Queen.  It is these little things I really missed out on growing up outside of Chicago!  And to think you have 3 Dairy Queens in Seguin. . . spoiled.

P.S Yes it was the same day as my Alamo trip, hence the same outfit.  While I do like that dress a lot, I don't like it THAT much.

Remember the Alamo

My expectations for the Alamo were very, very low.

Nick thought it was boring, my friend Courtney said it was lame, others have said it was much smaller than expected.  

Maybe it was because my expectations were so low that I LOVED it!

Whats not to love about an historical relic?  I am also a sucker for antique doors, windows and stone walls.  As a non-native Texan I have a high appreciation for Spanish mission/hacienda/ranch chic architecture.  

Inside the Alamo courtyard- I would give you the history, but I don't really know it.  You will have to ask a native Texan who took Texas history for the story.  Yes they have a class on Texas history AND a Texas state pledge of allegiance.

Beautiful flowers, it is full out Midwest summer in Texas these days.

The classic photo of the main building.

Me sporting a typical tourist pose.

LOVED this walkway with hanging lanterns and wood beams.  My picture does not do it justice.

Thanks San Antonio for showing me a great time! This is a major accomplishment considering I was traveling for work, by myself, via car and staying in a Courtyard Marriott by the highway.  I can't even imagine how much fun you are under different circumstances!  I'll be back, hopefully next time with company.