marie

i have died and gone to heaven! as i was browsing the internet this evening i stumbled upon the houston ballet site and look at what i found - the world premiere of stanton welch's marie, as in marie antoinette. being a huge francophile, this is SO up my alley. of course, next weekend is the last performance, so i must get tickets.

love who you are

so after a yummy dinner at my fav new braunfels restaurant, i stopped by a little boutique right next door called princess be (how adorable, right?). i got a beautiful chocolate pearl necklace and earrings and i found another papaya art panel to add to my collection that is shown above. the message rings so true, and we lose touch with that so often.

john and i are trying to get on a new fitness kick. he has seen the wonders of the ymca in new braunfels so while he is swimming i will be taking a yoga class or old-schooling it on the treadmill (or is yoga really the old school workout?). i'm happy because we both really need to work on our physiques - especially if i really plan to start teacher training in september.

citizen sheriff's academy

hola, chicas. i have been SO draggy this week - like "30 minutes late to work because i cannot get my tush out bed" draggy. don't know if my mind is still on vacation or if i'm getting a bit sick. either way, it doesn't help the growing mound of work on my desk. today i had some difficult detention hearings - one being yet another juvenile charged with aggravated sexual assault. this offense happens so much more than i like to think and i can already tell that this is going to be a drama case.

on a more positive note, tonight was my first citizen sheriff's academy class. i'm in the class with a few gals from my office and it really is a fun class. i might post a picture of me in the patrol car that we took this evening. i have so much respect for our law enforcement guys - even if they sometimes make mistakes or act a bit too "cowboy". we get to do a bunch of fun things in the class, like ride along with a deputy one night and spend an afternoon at the fire range. can't wait!

jewelry and flip flops

ah, back to the grind. playing catch up after a week off of work could have gone worse, but it wasn't exactly a stellar day. i get so frustrated with people sometimes and some of these juvenile cases can be SO ridiculous. i just have to stand my ground and have confidence in the decisions i make, even if others disagree.

anyway, after work, i headed to the container store and bought this jewelry organizer:



currently, my jewelry was overflowing my little jewelry box that i usually forgot what jewelry i actually had. hopefully, this will help make my mornings a little less stressful.

while at the container store, i also found this little gem - a cute and space-saving flip flop holder:



you can see their difference styles at www.mypairtree.com. while on their site, i noticed they support the ladies who launch program. even more reason to love them!

since it's already 10:30, i plan to spend the evening listening to the latest HTC podcast and call it a night.

coats for cubs - sunday continued

well, i made it back home. it's so nice to see john and the other pups again, but not so nice having to unpack and get organized for work tomorrow. boo. on a much awesomer (is that a word?) note, i came across this program called Coats for Cubs where you can donate old fur coats to orphaned wildlife so they can cuddle up and sleep on real fur (like they would with their mama) rather than towels or other man made fabrics. fortunately, i came across the program just before i left my parents house and i was able to snatch up my mom's fur coat that her mother bought her when she was young. since it has been sitting in an upstairs closet for over 30 years, it definitely had not been serving any purpose. what a fabulous way to make a positive out of a negative. right when i got home, i grabbed john and we drove up to austin to buffalo exchange to drop the coat off. mission accomplished!

find out more about the program by visiting http://www.hsus.org/furfree/campaigns/c4c.

oh, also, here are some pictures of the fendi sunglasses i bought this past week. they are this wonderfully rich rusty chocolate brown.

the end

well, today is the end of my little vacation/conference, which is good since my pocketbook is now empty. as always, these things go by way too fast and i am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. i learned a lot of wonderful things at the conference that i would like to work on, but those things typically take a backburner to other job duties, so it is an ongoing frustration.

on a higher note, i did find an amazing pair of chanel sunglasses and neimans and both gucci and fendi sunglasses at off fifth. i'm such a sunglasses whore, it's unreal. i have a picture of the gucci sunglasses and will post pictures of the chanel and fendi in a later post. i also bought a fabulous sweater and lots of makeup. all in all, a very productive "conference." :)

while i was in town, i got to meet up with some old friends, 2 of whom i haven't seen in 4-5 years! i had dinner with one friend on wednesday night at the cheesecake factory and we had lunch again on saturday at kona grill. the other 2, i met at a cute little italian restaurant in bellaire. one is 6 months pregnant and the other has a 2 year old. it's so strange that my friends are having babies. it seriously makes me re-evaluate what i'm doing with my life. perhaps it's time for john and i to have "the talk."


picture these in a deep red - so hot!

ooh la la

so, i'm spending the week in houston visiting my parents and attending a work conference at . . . the galleria! the conference doesn't start until tomorrow evening, so i had all day today to myself and this is what i found: http://www.oohlalasweets.com. so, of course, i bought 4 cupcakes and a chocolate rasberry coffee drink. two of the yummy concoctions are pictured above. i ate a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing - delish!

while i'm in town, i'm going to have dinner with a couple of old friends and their husbands (i'm without john, so i'll feel like a 5th wheel). it's crazy how much i've lost touch with good friends. every time i drive around my parents neighborhood, it makes me feel a bit wistful - oh, the good ol' days.

V-Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I've pretty much spent the day in utter laziness, which was fine with me. After sleeping in until 11:30, John and I finally made it to lunch at one of my fav restaurants in New Braunfels, Fork and Spoon. After a yummy lunch, we headed to an HEB Plus in San Antonio and bought some dinner makings. John is treating me to a homemade steak dinner tonight. So sweet of him! Filet mignon, caprese salad, grilled veggies, and mashed potatoes. Totally my kind of meal. I'm heading to Houston on Monday to spend some time with my parents, catch up with old friends, and attend a juvenile law conference - a much needed break!


On another note, check out what I found last night? The Blanco Lavender Festival! Every June the little town of Blanco has a festival completely dedicated to lavender. Apparently, that has become the upcoming crop around Blanco and Central Texas. Who would have thought, right? Anyway, since my desire to have my own lavender fields is a distant reality, I'm definitely going to check out the festival this year. People think I'm crazy, but this is so up my alley. I already can't wait until June!

slightly sick

ah, another monday. i woke up today with a sore throat and it pretty much lingered all day. i was able to push it aside during the day because work was so busy, but now i'm feeling it again, along with the stuffy head and grogginess. sigh...i really hope i'm not going to get sick right before my vacation. so typical, right? while i should be drinking hot tea, i have been on a diet coke rampage today. totally not healthy, but it really is my addication.

so, saturday john and i are supposed to spend running (or walking, in my case) a 5K for our local children's advocacy center. we have done absolutely nothing to prepare for it, so i have a feeling i'm going to be really, really sore afterwards. i'm a bit nervous.

brunch and legally blonde

finally, after non-stop craziness since the beginning of the year, i had a fabulous weekend! my bff from dallas came down to visit this weekend and yesterday we spent shopping, dining, and watching the movie he's just not into you. the movie was not nearly as chick-flick as i expected - both genders can really enjoy it. definitely makes you think about your love life, whether you have one currently or not.

today, we drove up to austin and started the day with brunch at the four seasons, which was FABULOUS! for once, the internet ratings did not lie. it really is the best brunch in town and totally worth the money. afterwards, we headed to bass concert hall to see legally blonde the musical, which was absolutely adorable! we then had a yummy dinner in gruene and then called it a night. such a fun evening that it makes me a bit sad for work tomorrow.

check out my fun ruffle dress i found for today:


and our cute shoes: