cody's graduation!

So, I've been really behind in blogging, which is what Sundays Off are for! Cody done graduate'd this month, which means we spent a lot of time listening to Darrah cry and be an adorable proud mom. ;P We don't get to see our sweet family as much as we want to, so it's always a good time hanging out with Darah and the boys and giggling at how sweet and hilarious they are. (Which totally made up for the crazy parking senarios... at least we're prepared for the upcoming years!) 

Congratulations, Cody!

R and Del, melting my heart. :)

I really wanted to get a picture of Del and I together, and I didn't realize I could, you know, take off my 5-inch heels? So that's why this picture is all out of wack... but I have so few pictures of me and my sweet Del together!

And the Obligatory Gratuitous Couple shot. ;P

currently

Really thankful for these beats that make my car feel like a 70s pool party at Marvin Gaye's house. Swagger!

treat yo' self 2013!

R and I recently took a glorious week-long "stay-cation," and we don't ever want to go back! We ate the best food,  stayed up late watched awesome television, hung out with our favorites, and slept-in until who-gives-a-fuck o'clock every single day. THE BEST EVER.

On Monday, my Bunny Brew (cutest juice name!) and I met Monsieur Ceej at the Design District, which is always so fun to poke around. Just look at this giant flask! Why didn't I buy that?!

On Wednesday, we did the Minimal Required Responsible Adult Activity for the week and took care of our cars. And by we, I mean Richard basically did everything while I looked really cute in my swimsuit. Oh, and Pandora! I figured out how to play Pandora while he changed oil, air filters, tail lights... all that stuff! I did help wash and vacuum everything, though!

We also made an honest "life is so hard!" effort to be functional at 11am to go try out Hypnotic Donuts... TOTALLY WORTH IT. I'm not into the cake-doughnuts for breakfast (I prefer savory to sweet in the mornings), but I did love me a classic Homer donut. :D Also, they have the most amazing biscuits. Like, so amazing I wanted a plain one after seeing R's chicken/gravy biscuit. I'm still dreaming about it... 

And then my sweetie got a handsome haircut. HANDSOME MANNN.

Annnd: Toulouse. One of our favorite places! We got all gussied up and made that menu our bitch.

A French-75! Officially added to my cocktail rotation. ;P

FROG LEGS, YUM YUM.

An old-fashioned and chocolate soufflé. :)

Not Pictured: the most wonderfully decadent scallop risotto and ugh-tastic lobster mac-and-cheese. We were too involved licking our bowls to photograph any of that.

This also happened at some point. OPULENCE.

Ok, let's all sit down and talk about Torchy's for a moment. This place makes Chipotle look like a pile of hot garbage. Fried avocado slices in my taco? Corn-flake battered cookie dough balls? Guacamole scooped into my queso?! What the what are you trying to do to me! If you're trying to make us order that fucking queso three seperate times within the entire week, well done, Torchy's! WELL DONE.

Torchy's queso for Hungover Breakfast-In-Bed at 1 in the afternoon?? Treat yo' self!!

Really awesome things that also happened during the week...
- hanging out with Ceej at JR's
- stayed up until 2 in the morning watching Zach Galifinakis and Eddie Murphy and laughing like crazy
- made kick-ass grapefruit-strawberry margaritas at Debbie and A-ron's
- discovered peach-flavored vodka!
- waking up every morning with my sweet handsome silly man there :)

Ugh, I don't ever want to go back. Vacations are awesome, but stay-cations are their own breed of kick-ass awesome. :) :)

may-babies take the dma!

So, mine and Emmy's birthday are one week apart, and thus we have a very special little May-baby connection that makes me smile. I always like to do something special with the kittens for their birthday (something with just the two of us! no Daddy, no siblings, just US!), and this year I decided that Emmy and I should go to the Dallas Art Museum and hang out. Emmy is our Little Artist in Residence, after all, and she just gets it.

The weather was so lovely last Saturday, and after waking to some beautiful morning sunshine, Emmy came in and cuddled and watched parts of Rigoletto with me. We were so into it, she even paid attention as I got dressed so she could tell me what the subtitles said (what a doll). :)

We then spent a fine afternoon at the DMA, where we ate lunch, did arts/crafts, and lusted over everything--including an opulent furniture exhibit (Emmy said, "I'm just really into furniture right now." and she's TEN). She is so fun to share art and artistic impressions with her because she really understands to look at all the details and the bigger picture at the same time. Plus, she's beautiful and mature and hilarious, and I adore her.

obsessed

Love us some JT.

emily is ten

Sweet Emmy hit the double digits! She is ever becoming the loveliest, most imaginative little lady and this year has been so fun. She's so creative, so outrageous, and so damn witty, and we have the best seats in the house to her brilliance.

Blackberry monster!

Her daddy once described her as "twisted in the best kind of way," which is just as adorable as it is accurate. She's so not afraid of making big creative statements and she has the cutest girl-crush on her big sister. She works extremely hard in school and has one of my favorite laughs when she find something so hilarious (most often in response to her daddy's shenanigans).

This year, Emmy has blown us away with her drawings of elaborate candy mountains, piggies on her toes, and meditating Buddhists (really!). She is just as excited to have her hair and makeup done as she is to catch a fish. She's rightly earned the nickname "Business Decision Emily" (Bizzy Dizzy Emmy!) because, boy, just tell her what's required to get what she wants and then count to ten--from eating extra veggies for more computer time to pulling her loose tooth when I promised her a secret candy stash--DONESKI.

So excited to find "Flintstone furniture!" | Covering herself in mud... just cuz!

Right now Emmy is really into messy tom-boy ponytails and cherry tomatoes. She always holds my hand when we're cuddling on the couch and she's written more than one letter to her Gramma in Tennessee of her own volition. She is always willing to pose for the camera and puts on the best Backseat Car Concerts with her younger sister. She's also one of the most sociable kiddos I've ever met, but she definitely requires Lone Emmy Time every now and then.

Top Emmy quotes this year include...
"Dad... I got my eye on you." (after a very intense wrestling session!)
"What is this steel cocoon?!" (her impression of an Amish person getting in a car for the first time... really)
"Why are all the cute boys bad?!"

R: "I believe your physical dominance over your younger brother is going to come to an end very soon."
Emmy: "So I gotta live the dream now..."

Me: "You're always ready for the camera, aren't you?"
E: "Yes! I can be silly, elegant, or jumpy!"

and, of course: The Tropical Num Num Song...

This year, we had a little party for Emmy at Aunt D's, which included a baller hand-made present from Meggie (a pillow blanket with her name on it!) and lots of video games. Emmy requested burgers and red-velvet cupcakes for her Birthday Dinner and even got to spend the night with the other littles.

Emmy, right now you're in that in-between stage where you really want to grow up but you still want to be small enough to pick-up and carry. I love learning what new Top 40 radio songs you adore and I really want to figure out how to make rainbow ice-cream for you. You always ask for your own veggie smoothie when I make one for me and Daddy, and you really can't stand when your younger brother shows signs of superiority in anything. I just love when you ask to talk alone and how interested you are in learning about art. When I grow up I want as much self-confidence as you, and we just can't wait to see all the shit you get into next. :)

who's that handsome man?

Just my sweet man! The Ole Guys may have lost, but what I really care about is this poster.

what a week!

This past week has be so actioned-packed. Phew! I sure was exhausted 90% of the time, but who wants to remember any of that? Let's focus on all the fun, happy positives this week brought to us...

1. We had a nice Meggie Time dinner on Monday.
2. There was a 40%-off day at work, yeahhh!
3. Richard and I visited with our sweet Del for date night. (One thing I never have to worry about is being without a nice cold class of white wine at Del's!)
4. Richard and Bob were able to hang out.
5. We had some late-night drinks + grown-up time around the fire-pit with Matt, Ioana, Debbie and Aaron on Friday.
6. CJ sent me the most hilarious text: "Ooh, shit... Sir Laurence Olivier, circa 1940, could smack me around a little."
7. R and I got to have lunch with Del and her former boss this morning. (Seeing her twice in one week! The best!)
8. Richard and R3 are having some quality boy time at the Cub Scouts awards ceremony tonight.
9. I recorded some amazing movies: "The Women," "Ball of Fire," and "Giant." Hellooo, Kylie Time!
10. I finally painted my nails, you guessed it, sparkly gold.
11. I've eaten a million clementines! My new favorite bed-time snack!
12. R has a derby game tomorrow. :)
13. We finally cleaned up the patio.
14. Meggie sewed a blanket for Emmy for her upcoming birthday. :)

I've learned a long time ago that living a fulfilling life and being well-rested are two separate things... and I certainly complain much after looking over this list! Tonight I just look forward to a nice comfy cuddle with my sweetie, watching a fun movie, and having some drinkies. Relaxing after all the hustle and bustle of this week is the name of the game. Who knows, we might even go to bed early! Ohh, we're so cool. ;)

play date!

 

We had such a blast on Saturday after spending some quality time with some of our favorite people. We met Matt, Debbie, Aaron, and Veronica at AAC (after riding the Dart!) to watch Matthew play hockey. As with any sport, I know diddly about hockey other than Matthew's team won, so yeah!

^Aaron and Richard flirting

Sadie comforting Matt, who sat by himself for a hot minute ("This is where the cool people sit!") | Forever obsessed with R3's new chipmunk smile...!

Little muppet face!

Afterwards, we met up at the Hafele House (sans Matt) for a good ole-fashioned... veggie cook-out! Richard and I have slowly tweaked a veggie fajita recipe that is likely to mess up any carnivore and it's one of our favorite meals to share with others. We did cook some ground beef, too, because lawd knows our sweet Matthew+R3 weren't going to have any part of it. ;P But all the girls had veggie tacos, or at least a bite thereof. Win!

She's such a ham, isn't she?

Richard, providing some pre-dinner entertainment. :) Goodness, he's so handsome!

Not pictured: hummus and refried beans! Om nom nom!

We wrapped up dinner semi-early, and Sadie was very insistent on throwin' down a hula-hoop challenge with Veronica afterwards. (We manage to evade the decision of "who won...") And then, I don't know how this happened!, but the next thing we knew, nearly everyone was playing some sort of sport outside. There was basketball, street hockey, rip-sticking, baseball... most often all at once! There was obviously too much fun activity going on to photograph, so just trust me. ;P (If you can't tell by the lack of Richard and Emily, they were upstairs the whole time playing a much coveted video game and only came down to feed. Whatever!)

Needless to say, I slept pretty well that night! (If I didn't have to work on Sundays, I would have slept really well...!) We are so lucky to be friends with the most adorable people. :) It's so nice to get together and just be big kids (who drink booze and eat healthy veggies, but that's totally allowed).

(Note: Meggie was at Scarborough Faire with Nicki-poo the whole day. I'm convinced she missed out. ;P)