so long, 2016!

Was 2016 a flaming pile of garbage? Pop culturally speaking, yes. In our world? Not so much! So much change and positivity and good humor and progress that I really can't complain. And the ultimate send off was the weekend of & celebrating with Tonya and Stephen! Richard and I had an amazing date night on Friday that was so damn lovely. And T & S came over New Year's Eve... and hung out for 2 whole days! It truly was the best weekend.

For our date night, we went to Tricky Fish in Richardson which was so tasty! (I keep wanting to call it Tasty Fish, haha)

Before heading home to watch "Don't Think Twice" (WHICH IS SO GOOD! Watch it, watch it!), we stopped by Cinnaholic to finally give it a go... and it was ridiculous. There are so many words to describe it, and I don't feel like I could ever eat there again. It was just SO MUCH. (I had a fresh cinnamon roll with birthday cake icing and cookie dough... I felt like dying afterwards.) But, an experience for sure!

Feelin' my New Year's Eve look. :) Before dinner, I met Tonya and Mumsie for one last hostage exchange at Manny's (our last of 2016 and our last of... Tonya & Stephen's time in Texas!?) and then Tonya and I went to the mall to find me a top at the last minute. I DUN GOOD. (I've worn this blouse so many times!)

We all went to Ida Claire, and it was delightful. The cocktails! The food! The MAC AND CHEESE! Ugh, it was so yum. And the atmosphere is adorable, like a restaurant inside an Anthropologie. ;)

Dessert didn't disappoint, either!

Obligatory bathroom selfie, haha.

As I said, Tonya and Stephen spent the night, and we fell asleep watching super hero movies (I passed out at 11! It was awesome!). On New Year's Day, we went to breakfast and then decided to keep the showing going! Richard and Stephen used his new pasta maker (a Christmas present!) to try is hand at ravioli while Tonya and I watched "Paper Moon." The ravioli was... a disaster, but it still tasted amazing, haha!

It was such a lovely weekend. We wish we had the kids with us all the time (they were at their mom's), but there is something so special about Adult New Years. (Last year we took the kids to the Hill for New Years... and I passed out super early because I was exhausted from transporting everyone!) Considering Tonya and Stephen are moving in the next couple of weeks, these memories are extra special to me. It'll be a while before Tonya and I can cuddle watching "Moonstruck" in our jammies again, and I'm happy that I'm at least present enough to know that. :)

2014 | a year in review

What an amazing year 2014 was, filled with chaos, beauty, and lots and lots of love. My sweet family and I learned so much from each other, and while I'm really looking forward to 2015 I'm kinda sad to say goodbye to this wonderful year.

Last night, Richard and I stayed in with Meggie for a quiet, relaxing evening. R and I got to FaceTime the babies (the greatest thing ever--thanks, Christmas!) and enjoyed fresh crab and a killer risotto with broccoli/peas/&parmesan. We rang in the new year during the last 10 minutes of "Godzilla" (such a fun watch!) which included the sweetest little text from Emmy that made my heart swell. :) I fell asleep not long after midnight in the comfiest bed next to the sweetest husband fully aware of all my blessings and how beautiful and joyful our lives are together. :)

What was awesome about 2014 (by no means a comprehensive list):

- Emily mastering the pogo-stick

- Taking Meghan's senior pictures :)

- "The Lego Movie!" and how much R, the littles, and myself loved it :)

- face-painting at work!

- watching the Winter Olympics (in between real-estate homework!)

- sleep-overs with Hilary

- birthday dates with the kittens (Sadie saw "Frozen," Emily saw "Malificent," R3 went to the aquarium, and Meghan went to Adventure Landing :D)

- a beautiful dinner with friends at Toulouse

- "Meghan, will you watch RuPaul's Drag Race with me?"

- finding a beautiful new home to rent

- upgrading to a king-size bed, man!

- my new hammock :D

- and trying Whiskey Cake for the first time! (for my birthday!)

- watching "An Idiot Abroad" with R and Meghan and laughing alottt

- seeing Eddie Izzard with my mom!

- watching almost all of the Disney princesses movies with the girls over the summer (important!)

- sneaking off to Shake Shack (with Hilary!) after our wedding :D

- Meghan graduating early in August

- our family trip to Colorado! and seeing Tonya and Stephen!

- vegetarian nights with my husband

- getting my real-estate license and joining Ebby :D

- meeting beautiful people at my new job

- Meghan getting her driver's license

- seeing the "Marriage of Figaro!"

- rosé all day, every day

- swim parties at Nancy and Nery's 

- our reception/house-warming party with all of our favorites (and a surprise Aaron visit!)

- taking a trapeze lesson! omg!

- driving around one night with Richard to get take-out menus ;)

- Richard's demo!

- Richard and Richard III going fishing for his birthday and Father's Day :)

- cleaning out the garage to fit my car!

- our new washer/dryer that make doing laundry sooo much easier!

- sharing veggie smoothies with Emily and Sadie :)

- falling in love with fried eggs

- shopping for new clothes for real-estate!

- Emmy's clarinet concerts :)

- feeling way more confident about this whole "step-mom" game ;)

What was not so awesome in 2014:

- the terrible saga of trying to clean out our storage units

- my poor car, Pepper, saying good-bye :(

- all the real-estate course-work homework! ugh!

- R3 breaking his leg (but he's a champ, of course!)

2014, you were full and adventurous and crazy and stressful and made us feel so alive and warm. Thank you, thank you, for all you taught us. <3

new year's eve 2013

This New Year's Eve was pretty epic, if I do say so myself! We had an amazing little family party that included lots of games and music and munchies, and I can't think of anywhere else I would have rather been.

Meghan making the sacred queso. :)

Emily, who insisted on taking her picture like this.

A fun video we enjoyed watching (a few times!). For the past few years, this guy mashes up the ending-years' top pop songs, which is a pretty accurate representation of what the kittens want to play in the car 90% of the time.

R3 and Sadie put their respective hats on R3's new Christmas toys, which they drove around the house half the night. I was in stitches!

Playing Apples to Apples! I bought this as a family gift, and I didn't really feel the need to get the "kids'  version" since our little dumplings are so smart and hilarious. (As you can tell by the card selection in this picture!)

And this is what Meg and Da look like playing our new dancing game we got for Christmas! This was alot harder than I anticipated, but we had such a fun time playing this together. Richard even managed to get top score of the night, which made him very proud. ;)

Annnd, I managed to pass out on the couch at 11 that night while the family continued to play, but they made sure to wake me up at 11:45 so I could see the Dallas ball drop and get kisses before they all sent me to bed. Awesome family, much? Yeah, I thought so. :)