Charleston!

Well we made it back from Charleston (after flight cancellations and delays) but overall we had a great time and enjoyed all being together! I've put together a collage of some of my pictures but I'll also give a quick run down of our trip....

• We ate the BEST food ever! Who doesn't love shrimp and grits and she crab soup?!?
• We went on a boondoggle to a winery in the middle of now where - see picture to get an idea of the bathroom facilities :)
• Had a history lesson and learned a little more about the Civil War and where the first shots were fired
• Toured a really pretty plantation
• Ran into super cute southern boys - A fraternity from the Univ. of Georgia happened to be staying at our hotel for the weekend :)
• I found a super cute new dress for the horse races in Kentucky - I wish we had a Copper Penny in Houston!
• Drove by the house where Noah lived from the movie The Notebook
• Realized I would love to live on Rainbow Row - the houses are amazing and super cute!
• Celebrated my grandmother and my cousin's birthday
• Did I mention we ate really really good food??

We had such a fun weekend and I'm looking forward to getting together again!

Girls Weekend

My bags are packed and I'm ready to catch my flight early tomorrow morning for a girls weekend in Charleston, SC. My mom, grandmother and I are meeting my aunt and cousin in South Carolina for a long weekend full of fun, shopping, wine, good food and of course good company. I promise to come back with tons of pictures!

Since I will be away from my computer this weekend I want to wish an early birthday to one of my best friends Nicole. She turns the big 25 this year and I hope she has a fabulous birthday weekend. Happy Birthday Nicky T - can't wait to celebrate when I get back!!

Couples Shower Recap!

Last night we hosted a couples shower with Aaron & Nicole for our good friends Alison and Mark. Nicole and I have been planning this for a few weeks and everything turned out fabulous! It was a stock the bar theme shower and they received so many fun gifts from bottles of wine, liquor, wine accessories and glassware. I took a ton of pictures so you can scroll through them below to see all the fun details and then some of the guests. Nicole also posted a few details of the shower on her blog so you can check out the menu and our fun drinks that we had :)

The fab Nicky T working in the kitchen

This is where the guys spent most of the afternoon.....

The boys got up and decided to help....this lasted two minutes. Actually Ryan did a great job with the bruschetta and Aaron cooked a delicious tenderloin :)

The food - Mushroom/Cheese Bruschetta, Asparagus Prosciutto Bundles, Tenderloin Sliders & Shrimp Cocktail - Yum!

The awesome cake! It matched pefectly with the colors from the invitation and it tasted great!

Here's a sample of the menu cards we had set out

The drink station - Sangria and Champagne

Garnishments for the Sangria

Marriage advice for Alison and Mark - this got interesting as the night went on but it was fun to hear what everyone wrote to them.

And now on to the party....

Ryan and I

Guests arriving...

The happy couple

A few of the guests

Opening Gifts

All the bridesmaids - minus Lauren (Alison's sister)

Some of the guys outside

Overall it was a great party and we had so much fun celebrating with all of our friends. Congrats Alison and Mark - we can't wait until the wedding in April!!

Exciting News

I'm happy to report that my brother and his girlfriend (now fiance) are engaged!! They have been dating a few years now and my brother popped the question yesterday morning. Ryan and Courtney are such a great couple and we couldn't be happier for them. Here's a cute picture of of the two of them from last Fall....

I am also really happy to report that my Ryan (yes, it gets confusing b/c my brother and husband are both named Ryan) was accepted into the professional MBA program at Rice! I've mentioned before that he has been hoping to go back to school and we've been anxiously waiting to hear back from where he applied. Well we received the acceptance letter and packet in the mail on Friday and I am so proud of him and we're grateful for this opportunity. It's going to be a long two years as he'll be working full time and going to school in the evenings but I know it will be worth it. I'm still trying to come up with a hobby to keep me occupied as most of my evenings will be spent by myself and with Benny....

Once again, congrats Ryan and Courtney on the engagement and congrats to MY Ryan on the acceptance!!

Weekend Recap

It's hard to believe it's already Sunday afternoon but we've had a great long weekend. Friday was our 9/80 day off from work which is always nice. On Friday I met my Mom for some lunch and shopping. As always we had a great time and I walked away with a few new items! I think my favorite is this JCrew top that I can't wait to wear this Spring.


After we shopped I met up with two of my girlfriends for happy hour at Ra Sushi. We had a great time catching up and enjoyed several yummy martinis. Later that evening Ryan and I decided to stay in and catch up on some of our fave shows.

We woke up on Saturday and hit the gym first thing. After that, we headed out for lunch and then we ran a few errands. We're hosting a couples shower with our friends in two weeks and I needed to pick up a few items for the party. It's a Stock the Bar theme Shower and we're super excited. I don't want to share too many details of the party but I attempted to take a picture of the invitation so you could at least get an idea of the theme/colors . I promise to have plenty of pictures after the party to share!


After we ran a few errands we decided to have a date night. It's been too long since we've actually gone out just the two of us and we had a great time. We went to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire and I would definitely recommend it if you are thinking about seeing it. After the movie we went to dinner at Houston's and had a lovely evening just the two of us.

As for today, I've done some cleaning around the house, Ryan's been working in the yard and now we are both relaxing on the couch.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Photography Class

This past year for Christmas Ryan gave me a membership to the Houston Center of Photography and said I could enroll in the next available photography class. At the time he bought the membership the next class was full and yesterday they posted a new spring Calendar. I enrolled yesterday morning and I'm set to start my 6 week beginner photography course in March! I've had a passion for photography for the past few years and on our 1st anniversary last June Ryan bought me a Nikon D40. I'm in love with this camera and I've been able to take some really great shots on several of our trips over the past year. However, I know there is so much more I can do with it and I just need to figure out all the bells and whistles.

I'll leave you with a few of my favorite shots I've taken with this camera and hopefully I'll be able to learn a few new tricks for the future!

Benny - my favorite subject

San Francisco - June 2008

Fall 2008

After I master this class I hope to tackle photoshop :)