Weekend update

Exciting weekend around these parts! After much scheming and secretive discussions with several family members on both sides (moi included), my sister's boyfriend proposed! We all love Mike, so we're super excited to have him join the family as a new bro/son-in-law. And hats off to him... Mike managed to totally surprise my sister with an incredibly elaborate proposal that included a walk to a park where he feigned setting up the camera timer to take a "scenic fall picture" of the two of them under a canopy of fall foliage, followed by a surprise stay at a nice hotel downtown, which he had spent the morning decorating with rose petals and supplying with cheese, homemade chocolate covered strawberries, and champagne-- and then, as though that wasn't enough, dinner at Seattle's fanciest restaurant, Canlis. Laura is a lucky girl and we can't wait to toast them in person when we head home for the holidays!

Meanwhile, J happened to be in Seattle for one of his good friend's (and groomsman's) wedding, so I took the opportunity to travel down to San Antonio to visit my good friend Anne. We only live about an hour and 15 minutes apart, but don't manage to see each other enough, so it was fun to head down there and indulge in 24 hours of girl time. We visited a huge outdoor shopping center called The Shops at La Cantera, where I managed to walk away with two necklaces and a purse for only $35 (courtesy of Forever 21... love that place.) Later we had dinner at a delicious French bistro called La Frite. I truly think that Saturday night might have been only the second or third time in the two and a half months that I've been here that a meal out hasn't been Mexican food. Don't get me wrong-- I love me some Tex Mex-- but with Mexican restaurants on every street corner here, it's easy to forget that there is a whole wide world of different cuisines out there. I had a delicious tomato crab bisque, followed by moules frites (big pot of steamed muscles basted in a tasty white wine, garlic broth and lots of Belgian style fries for dipping.) Mmmmm....

Sunday we slept in and chatted a bit over a breakfast of coffee and scones before I headed home. I spent much of the rest of the day on the phone chatting again with my sis about the proposal and then discussing it in depth with half of my family. We're all very excited! Good thing I kept all my wedding planning materials and vendor info-- I have a feeling it will come in handy!