J and I had a second visit in July, and then I finished out the month with a weekend in Portland for my sister's wedding shower. Ah, blissful 80 degree weather... I remember taking a run at about 11:30am on a Saturday morning (a time at which no living creature ventures outside in Texas during late July), and it was just heaven. Crisp, air. Gentle sunshine. Fragrant flowers. Cue the homesickness.
August took me back to Portland two weeks later for my sister's wedding, which was fabulous-- beautiful bride and groom, touching ceremony, and fantastic party.
A week later, three of my best friends from my San Francisco days visited. We're now all spread out around the country, but there's nothing like catching up with old friends who've known you for years and remind you what your fresh-out-of-college self was like. The years have passed quickly, but we're able to pick up where left off-- as if we just met for brunch last weekend. We indulged in barbecue and swanky Mexican at La Condessa, lounged by the pool, and took stand-up paddle board lessons on Town Lake.
J finally came home from Charlotte, just in time to celebrate my birthday two days later (yay!) His second year of business school started, and then we kicked off September with separate guys and girls trips over Labor Day weekend. He went to New York and I went to Seattle, where I got to catch up with all my Seattle girls. Everything I said above about my San Francisco girls -- ditto here for my Seattle ladies. Quality girl time is something that I value very highly, and being far away from the people who have known me the longest really makes me appreciate my friendships even more. We had some exciting news that weekend--Aja announced that she is expecting and due in April. She's the first of our group, but I have a feeling a few more will be following soon!
September also brought our second anniversary, and we celebrated with a weekend trip to Dallas. I have to say... we've heard a lot of "less than enthusiastic" reviews of Dallas, but we were both pleasantly surprised. We stayed downtown in the historic Adolphus Hotel, enjoyed two fabulous dinners at Rise Souffle and Local, and lost ourselves completely at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, site of JFK's assassination. This museum is fascinating-- we're all familiar with the story of the events that transpired on November 22, 1963, but they've never come to life quite they way they did for me at this museum. It made me much more emotional than I expected, and I can see now what it must have been like to live through that gruesome day for millions of Americans across the country.
J finally came home from Charlotte, just in time to celebrate my birthday two days later (yay!) His second year of business school started, and then we kicked off September with separate guys and girls trips over Labor Day weekend. He went to New York and I went to Seattle, where I got to catch up with all my Seattle girls. Everything I said above about my San Francisco girls -- ditto here for my Seattle ladies. Quality girl time is something that I value very highly, and being far away from the people who have known me the longest really makes me appreciate my friendships even more. We had some exciting news that weekend--Aja announced that she is expecting and due in April. She's the first of our group, but I have a feeling a few more will be following soon!
September also brought our second anniversary, and we celebrated with a weekend trip to Dallas. I have to say... we've heard a lot of "less than enthusiastic" reviews of Dallas, but we were both pleasantly surprised. We stayed downtown in the historic Adolphus Hotel, enjoyed two fabulous dinners at Rise Souffle and Local, and lost ourselves completely at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, site of JFK's assassination. This museum is fascinating-- we're all familiar with the story of the events that transpired on November 22, 1963, but they've never come to life quite they way they did for me at this museum. It made me much more emotional than I expected, and I can see now what it must have been like to live through that gruesome day for millions of Americans across the country.
Finally, we closed out September with a visit from my sis and new brother in law, Mike. We took them on our usual visitor circuit, including a trip to the Salt Lick and copious amounts of Mexican food, threw in a Bob Schneider show at Threadgill's for good measure, and concluded the weekend with the UT vs. UCLA game. We shall not discuss the outcome of this game-- instead, we'll focus on the great time we had tailgating beforehand, and how excited Mike was to partake in what he termed "big boy college football." The game itself was a disaster, and we all sweat through our shirts in the blazing stadium heat, but I think Mike can now successfully add a check mark to his bucket list.
And here we are in early October... the fall should be not nearly as eventful, but I'm sure it will fly by nonetheless. For those of you who still check in, I promise to be a more faithful blog contributor. Stay tuned for some exciting Texas adventures (including a trip to the State Fair... fried beer, anyone?), some great recipes, and more photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment