With our stomachs full (the "bowl of papas" is divine) we were ready for a hike, so we drove another half hour to Dripping Springs. I read some good reviews on Trip Advisor about this place, but my boyfriend and I were both blown away by the beauty of it.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
New Mexico Get Away
This weekend the bf and I made a quick trip to Southern New Mexico to spend some time outdoors. (This city girl usually counts brunch on a patio as an outdoor activity.) We left early Saturday morning and flew to El Paso, Texas, picked up our rental car, and made an hour drive to Las Cruces, New Mexico. We stopped for breakfast in a cute little cafe called Josefina's Old Gate in the town square of Old Mesilla. I was so hungry, I didn't even photograph my food. For your viewing pleasure, here is a pic of the place, courtesy of the interwebs.
With our stomachs full (the "bowl of papas" is divine) we were ready for a hike, so we drove another half hour to Dripping Springs. I read some good reviews on Trip Advisor about this place, but my boyfriend and I were both blown away by the beauty of it.
With our stomachs full (the "bowl of papas" is divine) we were ready for a hike, so we drove another half hour to Dripping Springs. I read some good reviews on Trip Advisor about this place, but my boyfriend and I were both blown away by the beauty of it.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
That time I was a total sucker
Since we moved into our new house, we've been getting a ton of junk mail. Like pounds of it. Junk mail is one of my pet peeves. A weird one, I know. I can't believe companies spend money on direct mail pieces (my employer included)! I spent a few minutes every morning this week calling companies and asking to be removed from their mailing list. One of the pieces of junk mail I received (addressed to "Resident") was a shiny, colorful piece of card stock from a local car dealership telling me that I may have won a new car, $15,000 in cash, an iPad, or a Wal-Mart gift card. Enticing, I know, especially the last prize.
I called their main line and simply asked to be removed from the mailing list. Standard procedure. Now, I have to give major props to the girl on the other line. She asked which mailing piece I received, and I described it to her. She then said, "Don't you want to claim your prize?" Um, what? She then proceeded to explain that if the number in the scratch off box matched the number printed on the paper, I was eligible for a prize, and to claim it I needed to make an appointment and come in. I told her, Sorry, I'm not in the market for a car. She said it's no problem, but I should come in and retrieve the prize that's rightfully mine. I'm embarrassed to say that I made an appointment for 12:30pm that day.
I told my bf about this via text. Surprisingly, he did not discourage me from going. I would almost say, he encouraged me to go. Probably so he could hear about how I awkwardly showed up at a car dealership demanding to be given the grand prize. Well played, sir.
During my lunch break I drove to the car dealership on the other side of town through rush hour traffic, nervous that I'd look like a schmuck or a freeloader, or a wicked combination of both. I arrived at the dealership and was welcomed by a super nice sales guy, whom I told, "I called to ask to be removed from your mailing list and the girl on the phone talked me into coming into claim my prize", as I proudly flashed the mailer to everyone in the show room. "My appointment is at 12:30," I told him, thinking he'd bring me to a room behind a velvet rope where the prizes are kept alongside chilled bottles of champagne. Instead, I sat down at his desk and he filled out a form with the info from my driver's license. So now I'm probably on their permanent mailing list. Awesome.
"Now we'll walk over to The Board to see which prize you won!" he tells me, and parades me over to "The Board", which is in the back of the showroom, so everyone can laugh at the girl who came in to claim her prize. I hate to admit that during this time I was thinking about all the house projects I could complete when I win the $15,000 grand prize. I'm such a loser sometimes!
To win the good prize, the special number on your mailer has to match the number next to the picture of the pile of cash. Mine didn't match that, or the new car, or the iPad... But EVERYONE is a winner at this dealership, so I won a Wal-Mart gift card in the amount of $5 to $25! YEEE-HAW!
At the end of the day, I spent an hour of my time to drive to some obscure car dealership. I came away with a Wal-Mart gift card and a purse full of business cards from the sales guy to pass out to friends. The moral of the story: Direct mail really works!
Now I'm off to Wal-Mart to spend my gift card. We're low on Funyuns.
I called their main line and simply asked to be removed from the mailing list. Standard procedure. Now, I have to give major props to the girl on the other line. She asked which mailing piece I received, and I described it to her. She then said, "Don't you want to claim your prize?" Um, what? She then proceeded to explain that if the number in the scratch off box matched the number printed on the paper, I was eligible for a prize, and to claim it I needed to make an appointment and come in. I told her, Sorry, I'm not in the market for a car. She said it's no problem, but I should come in and retrieve the prize that's rightfully mine. I'm embarrassed to say that I made an appointment for 12:30pm that day.
I told my bf about this via text. Surprisingly, he did not discourage me from going. I would almost say, he encouraged me to go. Probably so he could hear about how I awkwardly showed up at a car dealership demanding to be given the grand prize. Well played, sir.
During my lunch break I drove to the car dealership on the other side of town through rush hour traffic, nervous that I'd look like a schmuck or a freeloader, or a wicked combination of both. I arrived at the dealership and was welcomed by a super nice sales guy, whom I told, "I called to ask to be removed from your mailing list and the girl on the phone talked me into coming into claim my prize", as I proudly flashed the mailer to everyone in the show room. "My appointment is at 12:30," I told him, thinking he'd bring me to a room behind a velvet rope where the prizes are kept alongside chilled bottles of champagne. Instead, I sat down at his desk and he filled out a form with the info from my driver's license. So now I'm probably on their permanent mailing list. Awesome.
"Now we'll walk over to The Board to see which prize you won!" he tells me, and parades me over to "The Board", which is in the back of the showroom, so everyone can laugh at the girl who came in to claim her prize. I hate to admit that during this time I was thinking about all the house projects I could complete when I win the $15,000 grand prize. I'm such a loser sometimes!
To win the good prize, the special number on your mailer has to match the number next to the picture of the pile of cash. Mine didn't match that, or the new car, or the iPad... But EVERYONE is a winner at this dealership, so I won a Wal-Mart gift card in the amount of $5 to $25! YEEE-HAW!
At the end of the day, I spent an hour of my time to drive to some obscure car dealership. I came away with a Wal-Mart gift card and a purse full of business cards from the sales guy to pass out to friends. The moral of the story: Direct mail really works!
Now I'm off to Wal-Mart to spend my gift card. We're low on Funyuns.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Shelves: Splurge or Save
I just loooove online shopping. Not for clothes or shoes- I have to try everything on. But for household items and gifts, it's the best. The bf and I use Amazon Prime and it has saved us bundles of money on shipping. Need a bed frame for the guest bedroom? Shop around on Amazon and BAM! Two days later it's at our doorstep. In our new place I decided we had to have a pair of shelves flanking the TV in the living room. I'm not a fan of traditional TV stands. Our TV is now mounted on the wall above an antique sideboard we found at a thrift store. I wanted some open shelves on either side to add some height to the wall and to display some chotchkies from our travels and our books.
I found these in the Pottery Barn catalog for $349 each...
After hunting around on Amazon, I found these for $62 each.
I'm sorry to say this is a teaser post. Did you think I was going to show you how they actually look in our coral-colored living room? Well, I'm sorry to say it's not ready for the big reveal just yet! If I showed you what our living room looks like right now you'd think we're hoarders. The moral of the story is: Amazon Prime is worth it (and no, I'm not affiliated with Amazon, although it would be awesome to get paid for saying that, if anyone at Amazon wants to throw a few bones my way after the fact).
I'll try to have some real house pics to share soon! :)
I found these in the Pottery Barn catalog for $349 each...
After hunting around on Amazon, I found these for $62 each.
I'm sorry to say this is a teaser post. Did you think I was going to show you how they actually look in our coral-colored living room? Well, I'm sorry to say it's not ready for the big reveal just yet! If I showed you what our living room looks like right now you'd think we're hoarders. The moral of the story is: Amazon Prime is worth it (and no, I'm not affiliated with Amazon, although it would be awesome to get paid for saying that, if anyone at Amazon wants to throw a few bones my way after the fact).
I'll try to have some real house pics to share soon! :)
Monday, September 9, 2013
Summer Scrapbook
It's Monday and I'm a little sad that the weekend is over... and so is summer. As the smell of Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes fills the air (and pictures of said drink overload my Facebook and Instagram feeds), I start to get reminiscent of the summer that's passed. Just for fun, here are some highlights of this summer of 2013!
We went to a beautiful wedding in La Jolla...
Followed by a gorgeous wedding in Oklahoma City...
We rode the mustache train to Fort Worth...
We went to a beautiful wedding in La Jolla...
Followed by a gorgeous wedding in Oklahoma City...
We rode the mustache train to Fort Worth...
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Our New Hood
I took a walk this morning to check out our new neighborhood on foot, since I've only driven through it and haven't had time to pay much attention to my surroundings. Maybe we should have done this before we bought the place? I was pleasantly surprised at how nice our neighborhood is! American flags, live oaks, and even a duck pond! All we need is a white picket fence around our place and we're suddenly The Cleavers.
Does anyone else feel awkward and/or creepy walking the streets of a residential area without a dog or a stroller? I ran into my neighbor and waved at her from a distance, and I could tell she didn't recognize me. She was pushing her two kiddos in a stroller and I could see in her eyes we had that awkward "do I know you and what can I do to protect my kids from this stranger walking towards me" moment. Maybe it's time for a dog??
Friday, September 6, 2013
Bachelorette in the Burbs
I feel guilty blogging about one friend's bachelorette weekend and skipping over another equally fun one, so it's time to play a little catch up. One of my high school besties tied the knot in Oklahoma City in April, so a couple of weeks before her big day, her girlfriends from Dallas, Fort Worth, and Oklahoma City all met in neutral territory- Grapevine, Texas, Murica. Isn't she a gorgeous bride?
If you're a North Texas local (or an Oklahoman, which is pretty much the same thing), you know Grapevine for the mall Grapevine Mills. For high school kids in OKC, one of the really cool things you might get do on a special occasion was to take a weekend trip here. I have literally come to this destination as a "vacation". My parents tricked me into thinking this was fabulous. Now, another thing this area is also locally famous for is its wineries. (I didn't say the wine is good. It's just wine. No one's complaining.) I don't know which came first for the city: the name or the vineyards. There's an annual wine festival (happening next weekend) and any time you can tour the wineries.
For this particular trip, our group stayed at the Gaylord Texan. My first time to stay here was New Year's Eve in 2010, which was a solid good time. The weekend started off with (what else?) a group dinner. I was in it to win it this weekend, so when the majority of the group decided to call it an early night after dinner, we (the cool kids) had a little dance party in our room.
The next day we did normal things and had a Pinterest-style bridal shower in a suite at the hotel and played cheesy wedding games.
If you're a North Texas local (or an Oklahoman, which is pretty much the same thing), you know Grapevine for the mall Grapevine Mills. For high school kids in OKC, one of the really cool things you might get do on a special occasion was to take a weekend trip here. I have literally come to this destination as a "vacation". My parents tricked me into thinking this was fabulous. Now, another thing this area is also locally famous for is its wineries. (I didn't say the wine is good. It's just wine. No one's complaining.) I don't know which came first for the city: the name or the vineyards. There's an annual wine festival (happening next weekend) and any time you can tour the wineries.
For this particular trip, our group stayed at the Gaylord Texan. My first time to stay here was New Year's Eve in 2010, which was a solid good time. The weekend started off with (what else?) a group dinner. I was in it to win it this weekend, so when the majority of the group decided to call it an early night after dinner, we (the cool kids) had a little dance party in our room.
The next day we did normal things and had a Pinterest-style bridal shower in a suite at the hotel and played cheesy wedding games.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
A Very Merry Wedding Weekend
It was a very merry (albeit short) wedding weekend in Copper, Colorado this Labor Day weekend. After a hellacious day of travel on Friday which caused us to miss 50% of the weekend events we were going to attend, the other 50% was fab! And yeah, it was worth the money spent and stress to see the world's best boss get hitched! Here are some totally gorgeous pics of the bride and groom that I stole from a co-worker's Instagram account.
Doesn't the background in the first pic look fake it's so perfect? That was no green screen, folks! The bride and everyone else rode a ski lift up into the mountain to get to that picture perfect spot. It's so much easier to get on and off these things without a stupid snowboard hanging from my foot!
Doesn't the background in the first pic look fake it's so perfect? That was no green screen, folks! The bride and everyone else rode a ski lift up into the mountain to get to that picture perfect spot. It's so much easier to get on and off these things without a stupid snowboard hanging from my foot!
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