Charity Walk and a Halloween Bash

The weekend flies by when you're having fun...isn't that unfair? I wish we could have just one more teeny tiny little day on the weekend. One more day to sleep in (who am I kidding, I can't really sleep in any more these days) and get things done. Anyways, where was I...

I've been looking forward to this weekend for a while. Tyler and I signed up to do the 5k Walk to End Alzheimer's with our Texas Young Professionals group and our friends Sam and Jennifer joined us as well so double bonus.

 

 

The walk was AWESOME! There were a ton of pumped up people and they had the jams going while we waited to start. There was over $350,000 raised!! WOW! It's just amazing the power of giving others have and how we can all help to make a difference. The walk was around Reliant Stadium and the weather was perfect for us.

 

We had just finished the run and were wearing our smiles of victory!

 

After our run we went and had brunch at Tiny Boxwoods which is ALWAYS delicious and a little favorite of ours. I had the yummiest turkey club and fresh fruit annnd I wish I had some right now.

 

The rest of the day was full of chores and errands (yayyyy) BUT we had our first Halloween party of the year to get ready for so the day flew by. One of our neighbors has an annual party and we weren't able to go last year because I had my wisdom teeth extracted a few days before. Let me just tell you, this is like his Christmas, he goes all out. You should see his front yard. It's one of those front yards where you get scared just looking at it. He makes a lot of his own props and he is a true artist!

 

Look at the back right of this picture and you can see a whole setup he did with Freddy Krueger



Don't we look cute?!? I was a kitty (and had to remind myself every 5 minutes not to touch my face) and Tyler wore this awesome Pastor outfit. We had a fun night full of dancing and beer pong.

 

I am recovering relaxing today and watching the Texan's game...let's go boys!!!

 

Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

St. Jude's Gala

I decided a few months back that I want to start volunteering and getting involved with charities. It feels so good to help others in need and sometimes it's just easier said than done. But I can do it and I will do it!

On Friday, Tyler and I went to the St. Jude's Gala held at The Petroleum Club downtown and had such a great time! This was our first time at a nice charity event and we weren't sure what to expect. The venue was gorgeous, the dj was great, the food was delicious and the drinks were tasty!

 

 

OMG I had to take a picture of the desserts, they were bite size and just pure perfection. I wish I had some right now...

 

 

 

We entered in some of the silent auction items and we actually won a few!

Check out the skyline in the back!

We were the highest bidders on 2 Charming Charlie bundles and a few gift cards.

 

It felt good to be a part of a fabulous event and we are looking forward to the Walk to End Alzheimer's this Saturday!

 



Birchbox October 2012

I love when I check the mail and see a little box in there waiting for me to open it! It's that time of the month...my Birchbox has arrived!

This month we got the choice to choose between the normal Birchbox or the Goop Birchbox. I wanted to see what the Goop box had to offer because their website is great.

I get most excited when I pull back the tissue and see what treasures wait inside!

 

I am surprised by the huge size of the DDF Brightening Cleanser. That will last a while! I can't wait to try out the tea (there are 3 different kinds). The lip gloss is a not a color I would typically pick out but that's the best reason about getting Birchboxes, you get to try out things you might not of chose on your own. The Caudalie is a grape-derived antioxidant serum that retails for $79 so it must be amazing, right?! The little glass tube of Orofluido hair treatment is a wonderful vanilla amber scent and I am looking forward to having my hair smell pretty.  :)

If you haven't checked out Birchbox, I would highly recommend it! It's easy to sign up and you can cancel at anytime. Did I mention it's only $10/month?!?

https://www.birchbox.com?raf=gwljk

 

Did you get a Birchbox in the mail? If so, what did YOU get?!

A Day Outdoors

Let me start off by saying I looove Saturdays! My husband can tell you I am the person trying to cram everything I can into one day, just to make sure it is full. We both really like being outdoors when the weather is nice and we took full advantage this weekend!

We started off with a great bike ride with one of our favorite couples to hang out with, Jennifer and Sam, at a local park. We cruised around on a bunch of different trails and the guys rode ahead and talked while Jennifer and I rode at our own pace and caught up on our weekly gossip! That's why I love bike riding...it's a good workout and you can still have fun and chit chat. Definitely makes the time go by fast!



These are our fancy Huffy's  :)



After we got home and got ready, we headed out to Central Market to get some goodies for the next part of our day, a picnic at Hermann Park. For those of you that don't live in Houston, Hermann Park is HUGE! It was a zoo, a lake and lots of fun little areas to hang out and people watch. We try to go out here as often as the Houston weather will let us.

We got a few snacks (including some wine!) at the store and after FINALLY finding a parking spot (ohmygosh they need more parking) we arrived at our favorite little area under the big Oak trees. It was nicely shaded with a little breeze.

The first thing we did once we were settled in was grab the frisbee! There was a bunch of running around because we were a little rusty, but that's okay, a little exercise never hurt anyone. We worked up an appetite and munched on some yummy dips we got at the store. After a few cups of water, we broke out the wine and cheese. It was perfect!

We ended with another intense game of frisbee and headed back home to enjoy the rest of our day. We picked up a little gem called Troublemaker that my friend Lyana introduced me to and had a relaxing evening!

What did you do on your Saturday?



Hair

So here's my hair story. I would say my hair grows at an above average rate. I grow it out because I have all these hopes and dreams of styling it in all these fun ways. Once it gets long I get frustrated because it takes me so long to do. Then I chop it off. I love, I hate it, I deal with it. I try to style it but as it grows it hits my shoulders and flips out like I'm 12 years old. Yeah, that's my favorite look :::rolls eyes::: Then I remember I think I look better with it long so it grows back out and guess what, the cycle starts again. Am I the only one that does this? Here are some examples...




Spring 2009



Fall 2009

 

Fall 2010

Spring 2011

December 2011

My birthday this year in July

So guess what part of the stage I am in right now...you guessed it...the growing it out stage. Ha! Will this cycle continue or will I find a length I like? I guess we will see!

San Francisco

San Francisco is such a fun and active city! There is so much to do, see and great places to eat! Tyler and I ran around like mad men doing all that we could in the 4 days we were there. Follow along as I share the photos of our journey...

FABULOUS trip and lots of new memories made.

 

Happy Anniversary to my best friend!

Napa

Oh Napa how I miss you already...

Napa is this little valley nestled between mountains and I learned that they are known for the Cabernet Sauvignons, which are indeed amazing. When you are driving into the area, you immediately see vineyards all around. Even the hotels had vineyards growing on their land.

Everywhere you look could be a picture on a magazine and we did take our fair share of photos. We did some "winery hopping" on Saturday and took advantage of going everywhere we could. The only thing I wish that would of been different is that only a few of the vineyards sold wine by the glass. We are used to the Texas wineries where you can do a tasting then have a glass (or two) of your favorite wine and relax and enjoy the views.

We chose to do a tour at the Castello di Amorosa by a recommendation of our friend Helen who was there not too long ago and we were SO happy that we did. This is a $55 million castle that was built in the 2000's and they got every detail right! We started at the castle courtyard and made our way all the way down into the dungeons. Our witty Italian guide (I want to note that since he was Italian it made our tour just perfect, he really knew his wine!) was great and made sure we enjoyed ourselves.

Like I said earlier, we "winery hopped" and here are the pictures from the rest of our day.

I highly recommend going to Napa for a special trip, it is everything you imagine it will be and more!