6.25.2010

Recent Happenings

I promised to provide more pictures on my blog and to keep with my promise I have provided all my faithful readers with a few from recent happenings.  I can't guarantee that they are very good pictures but they are pictures.  And they actually include people and not just dogs.  So here it goes...

Last weekend Ryan and I made the short trek to Austin for a little weekend getaway.  This year has been so busy with school and work that Ryan and I simply needed to get away.  And sleep.  And relax.  And that we did.  However, when we arrived on Friday evening we had a little problem with our room key.  As in it wouldn't open the hotel room.  And the guy swore it would work and yet it didn't.  Every. single. time.  At this point it's past 9 pm we are starving and in need of an adult beverage.  Ryan decides he's had enough and boldly marches down to the front desk and demands a new room.  We didn't exactly get a new room but we were promised when we came back from dinner our keys would work.  I guess Ryan didn't look scary enough but they did give us two complimentary breakfast buffets the next morning. Not quite a new room but hey, I'll take a delicious omelet any day :)

The next morning Ryan and I slept in and then enjoyed our delicious FREE breakfast downstairs before making plans for the day.  We decided to hit up a local winery just 25 miles south of Austin called Mandola Estate Winery.  I'm pretty sure it was 11 am and we  had already tasted five wines each.  Who's judging?  I'm pretty sure it's ok to drink before noon when on vacation.




After we sampled some Texas wines we drove around a bit and then decided we would go back to the hotel and then spend the afternoon walking around.  That lasted about 20 minutes.  Ryan and I were soaking wet and decided what the heck were we thinking.  Walking around in 100 degrees??  Not exactly relaxing.  So we hit up a local convenience store for a six pack and went up the roof-top pool at the hotel.  Now we're talking.  I was much happier reading my magazine next to a pool, beer in hand, with a great view of downtown Austin.

After a leisure afternoon we cleaned up and went for an early dinner at Iron Cactus on 6th Street.  We enjoyed some great food and then headed to the concert.  The concert is actually the real reason we made this little trip to Austin as one of our fave bands, Passion Pit, was going to be in Texas.  What we didn't realize was that while the doors to the venue opened at 7 the band didn't actually come out until 10:30.  Clue number one we are getting too old for concerts.  Clue number two was that we really were the oldest people at the concert.  I'm pretty sure all the other boys were wearing skinny jeans and had just graduated from high school while Ryan had on khaki shorts and a polo and almost has his second college degree.  Anyways, we had a great time hanging out, err sweating, waiting for the concert to start.


I told you we were sweaty...


I will say the concert was great though.  The venue really was awesome and we jammed out with the rest of the skinny jean wearing, high school kiddos and promptly headed back to our hotel afterward for a cold shower and slept for about 12 hours.  I told you we were getting old but it was wonderful. 

Moving on....

Last night I went to dinner with three of my best friends, Kim, Sara & Leslie and we had a great time catching up with each other.  After dinner we headed back to my house and enjoyed another glass (or two) of vino.  Ryan so kindly took this picture of us which I think might have been the third of fourth try.  We couldn't stop giggling and while this one isn't perfect it was still the best.  Oh, and Leslie is officially moving back from Dallas to start her career as a dentist here in Houston and I'm looking forward to having the whole gang back together.   


In other recent news, my parents moved into their new house today.  The house we have all been waiting for.  And it has a pool.  I don't want to say too much as this news deserves a whole post for itself...

Happy Weekend!

6.16.2010

Benny times two...

Last weekend we watched our friends dog Wyatt.  Wyatt also happens to be a puppy.  Who is playful.  And who sheds.  Does that remind you of someone??  Does a black lab named Benjy come to mind???  Wyatt and Bennett happen to be great puppy friends who love to wrestle, play tug-a-war, sleep in the A/C and did I mention wrestle?   

While I absolutely adore our friends golden retriever I have come to realize that I am not a two dog person.  Definitely not a two (BIG) dog person in a 1,200 square foot house.  My wood floors took quite a beating with all the thrashing around in the house and I think I swept up enough dog hair after Wyatt left to create a whole new dog!  Now, I'm not complaining too much as I'm a softie for these dogs and the fact that Bennett slept for two whole days afterward was pretty great....

And as promised in my previous post - I have pictures!

I hope you don't mind looking at a few close-ups of the dog.  See, they can be cute....


And then they can be mean...


Enough of the dogs.  So what did Ryan and I do this weekend?  Well, Ryan spent quite a bit of time in the yard Saturday afternoon...


And I supervised while drinking a cold one.  Oh, the life:)

6.09.2010

Rudy Updates

What's going on in the Rudy household lately?  Since it's been a couple (or 10) days since I last posted I thought I would give an update in bullet format....
  • I spent Memorial Day out at my sister-in-law's house laying out by the pool.  For about 6 hours.  And my white body turned a deep pink color.  And it hurt.  And 9 days later I'm still peeling.  Oh, I also want to note that my brother-in-law is a fabulous pool boy.  If he is ever looking for a new profession I'll know just what to suggest :)
  • That next day I headed to the Sunshine State to attend a conference for a week in Orlando.  I had a great time at the conference and met a lot of really great people.  I also had the chance to go to Epcot while I was there.  And I may never go back.  Not really my scene.  Not sure if that was because a bird pooped on me while I was there or maybe it was the $40 they wanted to charge me to eat bratwurst at the Beer Garten.  Haven't decided yet...
  • While in Orlando Ryan and I had our third anniversary.  Yes, third!  I toasted in honor of us that evening at the House of Blues and we officially celebrated on Saturday at Vic & Anthony's.   We love to celebrate big occasions with a great dinner and this one did not disappoint.
  •  Now that Ryan is no longer in school my grocery bill has more than doubled.  I can no longer get away with eating cereal for dinner and I'm forced to actually buy food.  Does ravioli and frozen pizza count??  I'm not really sure but I do know it's more expensive than cereal.  Ryan also commented tonight that maybe we should change up our three dinners that we eat every week.  I might need to dust off the crock-pot again....Any suggestions on quick and easy dinners to make??
Annnd that's about it.  Not too exciting but I didn't want to leave you hanging too long.  Hopefully I'll be back soon with pictures!