Chelsea Salomone

These were two more of Erin's pictures from Fredericksburg. I had to post them because these two pictures pretty much sum up our weekend.
Loving life, each other and karaoke.

Oh my goodness. We had SO, SO, SO much fun in Fredericksburg!! From sharing clothes to the girl talk to sleeping in one crowded room to the late night karaoke- it felt like living in the Kappa house all over again. Girls' trips are the BEST. Even though I came home completely exhausted, it was exactly what I needed!

Natalie and I drove down Friday after work and arrived at the B&B around 9:00, about an hour before everyone else. It was EXACTLY what you would picture at a B&B- lace doileys, flowery bedskirts... the works! Think Great Uncle Gary and Great Aunt Nelda's house. You know what I mean.

We got a little nervous when we saw our cramped sleeping arrangements and lack of enclosed, private space for our scheduled wine and game night. Natalie and I started to worry about the fact that a) there was no place for us all to hang out b) it was a little too quiet for the music and wine we had in tow c) it was distinctly possible we would get kicked out

So, being the two crafty little minks that we are, we took matters into our own hands and completely rearranged the upstairs to our liking. This was no small endeavor let me assure you. I'm talking bed and table moving, chair finding, heavy furniture lifting. I'm sure the owner was a little confused listening from downstairs, but he let us stay the entire weekend so he obviously didn't mind too much.

Before:
After: The perfect game playing, wine drinking, iPod listening spot for all.
We drank wine and played Partini until 2 a.m. Following that was a college style mission to sneak downstairs and take a picture with the precious "crystal pistol" we had all spotted upon arrival. The next day upon more thorough examination we discovered it was actually like a glass candy holder or something. Disregard the wine stained teeth.Saturday morning we were up bright and early for breakfast. Then we hit Main Street for lots of shopping and lunch. We also went to the Circle E candle factory and stocked up on our favorite candles. (Bird of Paradise candle is my life.)

After that, we did wine tastings at three of the local vineyards. Our favorite one, Torre Di Pietra, had a live band playing in a tent outside. We bought a couple of bottles of wine and some cheese and crackers and enjoyed the band outside in the sunshine along side the grapes.

Of course, if you know Erin it goes without saying that she wound up on stage with a mic before the day was over. You can watch a short clip of her musical debut below. She is really is a great singer, unlike her dear friend here.

Last night we went to the Stars game with Natalie and David. We had really good seats, but it was a slow game with no score until a shootout in overtime. It was also Nat's first Stars game, so I wish it had been a little more eventful for her sake. Needless to say the overtime made it a late night, and I woke up with a terrible cotton candy hangover this morning. It's no wonder parents cut their kids off half way through the bag. That pink, fluffy deliciousness goes down surprisingly well and before you know it, the entire bag has been devoured. Eesh!

Our little Stevie Wonder:You know you're getting old when you have to wear your PRESCRIPTION SUNGLASSES to see the "lady" wearing a blazer, banging on the glass and cussing at the refs across the arena. Two good laughs right there.

Nick and David had a good old time poking fun at our upcoming Fredericksburg trip. Wine and game night, staying at a b&b, girl talk, winerys, touring the Circle E candle factory (pray to God I can remember some of my Dave Ramsey ways once I step into that factory o' bliss)... let's face it, the guys are just jealous and wish they could partake in the fun.

Here is why I love today. Eventhough it's chilly and drizzly, the wisteria is blooming in our backyard. Every March when the purple blossoms dot our fence it means that spring is here!
I love today because Ally wrote the best post. I can totally relate, and I loved reading both her post and the attached article. Check it out! I remember a time (oh yeah, yesterday!) when I stayed later than I should at work to help another teacher figure something out, rushed home to change clothes & let Lexi out, went to the job fair and hurried back home to get dinner on the table (aka a bag of fries, chicken sandwiches & diet cherry limeades from Sonic). Then rushed back out the door to go see the costumes that Tammie designed in a high school play in another city.

Last night Nick and I went to eat Mexican food with his parents & Andrea. Then we came home and snuggled up on the couch with some Sour Patch Kids to watch a movie. I rented Changeling. I don't remember wanting to see it when it was in the theater, but Kari had rented it earlier in the week and kept talking about it, so I decided to check it out. Then the lady at Blockbuster told me, "OH! This is the best movie I've seen in years."

I don't usually take the time to recommend movies on here (although I did think Marley & Me was just fabulous: love Jennifer Aniston, loved the music, loved the way they made the book into a screenplay...), but I'm telling you, as a woman/mother/Christian (if you are any, some, or none of those), this movie is a must-see.

It's based on a true story set in LA in the 1920s. Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins whose nine year old son Walter goes missing. The LAPD returns a boy to Christine only it's not her son. Because of the corruption and self righteousness of the police at that time, they don't want the press to find out that they made a mistake in finding her son. It's really good! Go enjoy this beautiful day, and then rent this movie! If you rent it or if you've seen it, let me know what you think!

Last night we had Lisa, Ryan and Addyson over for dinner. It was so much fun! Lisa and I made this cute video of her while the guys talked about politics. UGH! (Refer to this #22)

For those of you sitting in cubicles lamenting about your lack of Spring Break- let me just say this: it's not all it's cracked up to be. The days of sipping mai tais on the sandy beaches of Mexico and clubbing late into the night with your sorority sisters are dunzo. Now a days, spring break looks a lot more like trying to find something inexpensive to do to occupy your time while all of your other friends are at work. Or doing something around the house that you've been putting off. I'm not complaining because I'd rather be doing that than working, but I'm just saying. Don't feel like you're missing out. I wrote this exact thing on Haddy's blog, and just thought the rest of you should know: Spring Break does NOT look like this anymore. Neither do my abs or thighs for that matter, and I'm fine with it.That's right, Erin! Thumbs up to 2003, vodka tonics, mini skirts and plastic purses.That being said, I can't believe spring break is almost over!! The good news is only ten weeks until summer, which incidentally, looks a whole lot like spring break. I'm not gonna lie to you and say that staying in your pjs until 10:30 reading blogs and watching 90210 reruns sucks, but it's no college pool party either. Time off gets kind of boring after a while and inevitably for me, expensive. There are only a limited number of things that are both fun and free, and I usually exhaust those options by the first week in June.

Why would I pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to go on an exotic Spring Break get-away when paradise is literally right here in my back yard?
Ah, the lovely Lake Grapevine-such a scenic escape...

Today was absolutely GORGEOUS in the high 70s. This morning I had a lot of fun playing golf with my mother-in-law, Teri. I played HORRIBLY, but it was a really good time.

When I got home it was so pretty I decided I needed to do something outside. At first I thought about laying out, but decided against taking a blow to the ol' self esteem by getting in a swimsuit this early in the season. I still have two months to prepare myself mentally for that. I also thought about washing the car, but that requires too much effort. So instead, I decided to take the dogs to the lake. DogS plural because we're keeping Tammie's Boston Terrier Noodle this week. He is SOOOOOOO cute!!
When we first got to the lake we came across some unsupervised young children (I swear to you one had a REAL tattoo on his shoulder!) splashing about and throwing mud in the lovely, clear blue and not at all murky water. I'm sure that water was warm and chemical free too.

Of course Lexi and Noodle got all excited and wanted to join the kids. I unhooked their leashes so they could swim and and run around by the boys, one of whom kept refering to Noodle as "Poodle." I told him in was Noodle as in "spaghetti noodle," but he just looked at me funny. Apparantly they don't eat those at his house.

I let the dogs have fun until Lexi started drinking the water. When I said something to her, one of our new friends replied, "Oh, no! This is nice water, Miss. It's clean." Umm hmmm I'll bet. Pray to God poor kid makes it to the ocean at some point. And Galveston does NOT qualify.

Here are the upstanding gentlemen. When I kept taking pictures of the dogs playing, the cute little pudgy guy with the mud stain on his chest said, "Hey! Put us in the picture with Lexi and Poodle!" Sure enough. (Look! You can even see the other one's tattoo!!!)

After we left our friends, I walked around the lake while the dogs ran around chasing sticks and playing in the water some more. There are actually some pretty nice walking and biking trails there. It was nice to spend the afternoon outside in the sunshine!

This morning I was doing my usual blog stalking, enjoying a cup of green tea and my first day of spring break when I came across Jalei's latest post. I gasped in disbelief. Is it really possible?!?!

You know, it's a wonder I even have a job. I am clearly SO productive on my time off. I should get paid for this kind of stuff.