London was Lovely.. .and Paris - Qui! Qui!

Have you ever needed to blog about something that you know is going to be long, detailed, involve lots of pics, etc...and find yourself putting it off, for oh..hmmm....a week?!?! Enough is enough! I am just going to give you the Reader's Digest version (okay, my best attempt at a short version, at least) of our London and Paris Trip recap.

"Are you traveling for business or pleasure?" customs man asks. "Well, both actually."

Truth be told, the reason for the vaca - business, but it came with a heaping side dish of pleasure ;). Jordan and his family had two half-days of meetings, covering the business part of our travels, but other than that...we were all about the pleasure.

Sidenote: Jordan and I had both been to London before, for 6 weeks actually, while studying abroad with Baylor. But, we went during separate summers, so this time it was especially fun to experience London all over again, together!

We flew out on Friday for London. We arrived in London at 7a.m. Saturday, London time, which was midnight Friday, Texas time. But, no rest for the weary...we were off and running. That day we were up for 36+ hours due to the time change...it was lovely.

While in London we...

Visited the Cabinet War Room (where Winston Churchill ran and called the shots during WW2)

...ate at the oldest known Fish n Chips place -Rock and Sole

...shopped in Covent Garden (the young, trendy area), toured Kensington Palace (Princess Diana's former residence), walked through Hyde Park and saw the nutjobs/crazies vant and rave at Speaker's Corner

...went for a ride on The London Eye

...made an unplanned visit to the South Kensington Police Station (long story)

...ate at Wagamama, which was still just as deelish as J-man and I remembered it 8 years ago
...drank a pint at the famous and nostalgic Waxy O'Conner's, ate pizza late night from a street vendor (a must-do)...


...walked The Tower Bridge

...toured The Tower of London, saw the Crown Jewels...

...toured Westminster Abbey Windy, ehh?
...went to see Wicked. It.Was.Fabulous.

...shopped 'til we dropped at Harrods

... had 'high tea' at Fortnum and Mason

...and did some more great shopping at Fortnum and Mason, too.

Whew...are you tired yet?

Next, we headed to the train station to catch the Eurostar/Chunnel to Paris!

We arrived in Paris late, late Wendesday night and crashed. Thursday morning we were up early and off running again.

During our short stint in Paris we...

Toured and hiked 200+ steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe

...then headed to Notre Dame

...where we toured the Cathedral

...and Bell Tower (ya know, Quasimoto) where we hiked 600+ more steps

After some hardcore touring in the a.m., we headed to The Eiffel Tower for some relaxation at an amazing lunch midway up the actual Tower at the restuarant Jules Verne. The food, service, and views were all abolutely phenomenal. Nothing better than sipping champagne mid-day atop the Eiffel Tower...ahhh....can we go back yet?!?



Okay, back on track...after the Eiffel Tower we headed back towards our hotel which was just off the Champs de Elysees. On the way back as we strolled down the Champs de Elysees we did some window shopping...some of those stores were a tad too rich for my blood :). That night Jordan and I went out just the 2 of us, and it was SUCH a treat. We walked the streets and stumbled upon this adorable little Italian restaurant( I know, we were in France, but hey, who's counting). We chatted, chomped on tasty pizza and sipped on red wine, all the while soaking in the charm of it all :). Pardon the overly-cheesy-tone...but it was really such a nice, simple, quaint night for us.

Friday morning we were up early again and out the door to the Louvre. We toured for 6 hours (yes, you read that right, 6 hours)...and just about collapsed from exhaustion that afternoon.

Jordan making me laugh. Clearly I must have been delirious ;)

But there was no time to rest...we hopped on the Metro back to hotel and loaded into a cab back to the train station to catch our train back to London. Once back in London it was straight to the hotel and straight to bed, as our flight was awaiting us the next morning for our return home.

The trip was wonderful - the sights, the food, the company, the accomodations, the weather...all of it...wonderful. It was, however, great to be home in the end. I do love traveling, but nothing beats a much needed good night's sleep back in your own bed. And for your information, I was in bed by 7:30pm the night we got home...but give me a break, to my body clock, which was still on Paris time, it was 2:30a.m.

Okay, I have no crafty way to wrap this post up - so- The End.

I see London, I see France...

And across the pond to London and Paris we go!!!

We'll be back next Sunday, with pics and stories to follow :).

That's Amore!!!

This past weekend was all about love. I totally got to have my cake and eat it too, celebrating Valentines Day on Friday night with my best pal, favorite, bearded man -Jordan, followed by a weekend of Besties and Babies - Oklahoma City style :)

Friday night Jordan and I hit up our favorite 'lil sushi joint in Southlake, Sushi Sam. It was deelish, as always. We realized on Friday that we have been eating at Sushi Sam for nearly 7 years now. My, oh my, how I wish I could have had a tape recorder from the start, so we I could listen to how our dinner convos have evolved over the years. Who me? Sentimental? What ever gave you that idea?!?

And now, onto the Babies and Besties portion of my weekend :)

Saturday morning Leigh, Caroline, Alaina and Mason packed it up (without a single inch to spare) and headed out West to get me, and then, we were off, to the great state of Oklahoma! Feel free to join in singing....O!K!L!A!H!.......alright, alright, you get the picture.

Leigh was sandwiched, literally, between Mason and Caro in the back, taking on the tasks of bottles, baby food, paci's, etc.... I manned the wheel, and Alaina was a flawless assistant. Scalpel Burp cloth, check. Paci, check.

We arrived in OKC to our dear friends Jenna, Sarah, Ashleigh and baby Gage waiting in the yard with open arms. It was the first time to see Ash's gorgeous home and meet precious, tiny Gage. Shout out to Jenna for flying all the way in from Cali...you are such a sweetie, and to Sarah, too, for making the flight from Houston, and cutting out of school with your kindies.

An afternoon of baby lovin' and catching up with my gal pals....awe, it was sheer bliss! That night Jenna whipped up her famous Chicken Chalupa and homemade salsa, accompanied by Sarah's new and highly addictive Cream Cheese Queso, topped off with Patty's magic dessert bars. I think it's fair to assume no one went to bed hungry that night. It was scrumptious:).

Okay, I will quit rambling and simply post pics from our fantabulous time together.

Mr. Mason after his bath. Those dreamy blue eyes are going to break many hearts one day ;)

We could end up with triplets- watch out Jordo :)

Jenna and sweet, handsome Gage. Quite possibly the chillest 6 week old baby on the block!


Sarah and Caro, who's looking pretty in pink. This little lady is a giggle box deluxe! Too cute!

Couch time with some cuties

Mason's looking to take a ride and Jenna is ready to go!

Alaina, Kimberly, Mason, Leigh, Caroline, Sarah, Jenna, Gage and Ashleigh

Here's to a wonderful weekend with those I hold so, so dear to my heart...my husband, my college besties, and now, their little lovies, too!

And yes folks, THAT'S AMORE!!!!

Queen of Hearts

For nearly 2 years now all of our couple friends...okay, well only the female half....have been tossing the idea around of getting a Dinner/Supper Club started. We all know that everyone gets so busy, and before you know it, months have passed since everyone's gotten together. Plus, with many of our friends beginning families, the gatherings will undoubtedly become fewer and further between.

So....after many emails back and forth, we finally got a date on the calendar for the Innaugural Supper Club dinner, and that date was this past Saturday!!!

Kami and Darin co-hosted with Jordan and I at our house. The theme was Queen of Hearts, with cards and casino games to boot. The menu was Italian, and last but not least, the company was great friends!!!

One of the tables set for dinner

Sweet card from the arrangement my family sent for the event

Jordan is Bob Villa and Martha Stewart!

Kami's so crafty!

This is a close up of the cute Texas Hold'em Party favors and rhyme she wrote.

Jordan and Darin - Casino Dealers Deluxe!!!

With 22 people, we only had one red wine spill, and even then, have no fear, my ShamWow came to the rescue, leaving the carpet looking as good as new Sophie had left it (ahh, the memory of potty training a small dog.) Sorry, random tangent.


The parting shot - Jordan comforting Sophie, as she was simply exhausted as she tried to maneuver her way through 40+ extra feet on her turf.

All in all, the evening was such a fun time with wonderful friends. Can't wait for the next one!!!

Another birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday Mom!!!!

(only a week+ late)

Okay, so this post is way past due, thanks to my unexpected visitor last week, Vince the Virus. You, sir, overstayed your welcome. Seeee ya!

Anyway, back on to the message.

Wishing my sweet Mama (who, on her own birthday took such great care of me via cell phone and email 90 miles away) a wonderful new year! Thanks for being my confidant, culinary advisor, prayer buddy and unconditional friend. God has blessed me and my family with one heck-uv-a Mom, certainly the kind I can only hope to be one day!

To celebrate, this past Sunday Dad, Mom, Ash and Mabry (Scott was out of town for a conference) drove up and met Jordan, Reg, Brooke and I in Grapevine for brunch. We ate at this neat spot called Tuscany. Can you say food coma. It was deelish. What a fun day we had, even though their stay was far too short.

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!!!