Weekend outings!

Hihi! So it appears that the holidays are officially over and I'm back to working full 5 day work weeks. ARGH! I'm gonna be counting down until the next day off which is... I don't even know when. I guess all the more reason to enjoy the weekends even harder.. like this one, for instance! We explored the neighborhood and a few little spots in walking distance from our house.

Friday night we tried out a new spot,  Bitterman's Market Square Bar and Grill. We enjoyed  good, old fashioned hamburgers and cold beers while watching LSU beat the Aggies! (Hooray!) Their slogan is "It's every Texan's right to hold a burger in one hand and a beer in the other!" and I couldn't agree more.

Saturday didn't start off as I would have hoped. Ryan was going to go into work to get a few hours of OT so as we're walking to the car, we see the back windshield is shattered. Of course I start to cry because I'm A) super mad and  B) worried about how much the replacement windshield will cost. We couldn't figure out what happened! There was a small spot that looked like the point of impact, but we couldn't really find anything around the car that would have done it. It wasn't theft because the window was broken, but it hadn't fallen through yet. Were there drunks on the patio that just got a little rowdy and threw something?  Was it a freak accident i.e. a rock that hopped from the interstate or from the roof? I guess we'll never know because there are security cameras on parking garage floors 1 and 2...but not on 3. Funny. (Not funny). SO... to the internet I ran, looking for someone who would come out to my complex on a Saturday afternoon to replace it. I found Xpress Windshield, they found a used but in-perfect-condition back windshield and came out to replace it for 160$ total. (Thank goodness).

While we were waiting for the tech to come over, Ryan and I decided to make lemonade out of lemons and try another within-walking-distance place for lunch. I passed The Broken Spoke numerous times to and from work, but always thought it was a little hole-in-the-wall bar! I thought wrong because it is a fantastic Belgian restaurant that specializes in steamed mussels!! One of my favorites! We had the entire restaurant to ourselves at noon on Saturday but it was quickly filling as we were leaving. I had the mussels a la escargot (steamed mussels in a garlic butter sauce) with a glass of Blanc du Blanc champagne and Ryan had the chicken curry salad sandwich with a St. Arnold. Such a good lunch and a great way to take the sting out of the morning. Below are a few shots of Broken Spoke with it's colorfully decorated walls and ceiling murals.

 

    Sunday we woke up early to go to Trinity Downtown Lutheran church. We've been trying out different churches downtown, seeing which ones we like best. This weekend we went to Ryan's (as he's Lutheran) and next weekend we'll try out St. Joseph (I'm Catholic) downtown. Trinity and St. Joseph are across the street from each other (convenient!) so after Trinity we walked over to St. Joe to check it out and I snapped a few photos of the pretty interior.



After church we met up with Mom, Dad and Pete for a little goodbye-brunch at Mia Bella (a favorite!)  as Peter is moving to Lima, Peru on Wednesday! So exciting. I'm going to set up a blog for him so he can upload photos and stories about his adventures.

Happiest Monday!

As american as apple cherry pie and baseball.

GORGEOUS weekend! And so busy! Ryan and I kicked it off with a round of Pitch Black IPA's at Porch Swing Friday afternoon which was promptly followed by a nap. Had a low key Friday night. Saturday morning I made kolaches for breakfast, did a little sewing and baking, as I donated a pie to the Art Lies auction/ spring roundup/ pie raffle. I made a cherry pie...and then burned it...not CHARRED...but the crust was black and I didn't want to donate an ugly pie... so I had to buy a pie (lame) and bring it over to the art space. So now there's a quasi-burned yet still very tasty cherry pie at the house. well.. ok there's 1/4 of a pie at the house...
[before the burning]

After the pie-delivery, Ryan and I went over to George R Brown to check out the Houston Public Library used book sale. There were hundreds and hundreds of books all over lots of tables- you got dizzy from tilting your head to see the titles...I only left with 1 book (huge purchase of $1.08), a Phillipa Gregory I'd never read, but could have easily left with more. After perusing the books we crossed the street and spent about an hour at discovery green. There were lots of families out enjoying the day and enjoying a live performance of Taming of the Shrew.

[bike art]

We sat and watched kids play in the water for a bit...and we were very jealous.

We sat in the Listening Vessels: "Sculptor Doug Hollis’ Listening Vessels sits in the midst of the Urban Gardens. The two parabolas, cut from solid limestone and spaced 60 feet apart, epitomize Hollis’ desire to call attention to events that are taken for granted, such as conversation. Visitors are intended to come across the vessels and gain an understanding of their function as they realize they can hear the words of another person speaking at a normal volume, a great distance away."

After walking around the park and working up an appetite, we boiled some shrimp and baked garlic bread for an early dinner.

Sunday, we went to the Astros v. Pirates game with Mom and Dad. The ballpark is near the beautiful Annunciation Catholic Church, built in 1869, so we explored a little bit.

Mom and I lit a few candles for family that have passed and for friends and family in our thoughts and prayers.

It was a perfect day for a baseball game. A little on the warm side, but nothing a cold beer couldn't remedy. We won 10-3!

After the game, we got a few lbs of crawfish with corn and potatoes for dinner and decided to call it a weekend, getting home around 8. I added some finishing touches on an ipod touch case [ below] I made for a friend and was asleep a minute after my head hit the pillow.

Still a little tired and having a little trouble getting into this Monday. It's beautiful outside again and I can't stop daydreaming about driving down to Galveston to stick my toes in some sand and finish my book.

I hope your weekend was absolutely wonderful! It's almost May- EEK!

Oh hay pretties!

I love Eastertime! ( "ohhh yeah blah you love all holidays... ") no srsly, i do.. because all the pastel things come out! Easter baskets, plastic eggs begging for candies to fill them, bunnies, chicks, that light green easter grass that somehow makes it way throughout your entire house...( maybe even your cats eating it...), shopping for an Easter dress...it's so good. On this beautiful Thursday (tutorial coming later today!) I wanted to share some beautiful pastel inspiration. Enjoy!

[weheartit]

Friday afternoon, after work, I went downtown to do a little shopping. I found parking on the corner of Clay and Main, right in front of this beautiful Methodist church. As I was walking down Main, the noon bells started, I think they played music for a good 5 minutes. It was so pretty. Sometimes I wish I worked downtown so I could walk around at lunch and discovery little Houston secrets, like lunchtime serenades from old churches. This year marks the 100th anniversary of this First Methodist church, the first service held on December 18th, 1910. Video: Lunch time bells:

Family

So many prayers and lots of love travelling East.

Christmastime!

Christmas Eve mass

jakelove!

Boxing day bowling!

Christmas Eve dinner @ Taste of Texas.