Cantwell- Chriscoe Wedding!!

Last week I had the honor of standing by Mrs. Sara Chriscoe's side at her wedding. 

It was perfect and beautiful, and I am so happy for her and Will.

We headed back down to Raleigh on Thursday morning because we wanted to check out the city before all the festivities began.The universities in the area are beautiful, and Ricky being the college basketball nerd that he is ( that I LOVE oh so much!) made sure we stopped at both Duke and UNC's basketball stadiums.

Ricky at Duke's Cameron Stadium. They also had a really cool Hall of Fame that we toured.

Ricky definitely bleeds only garnet and gold, but he also has a lot of love and respect for coach K.

Once we arrived in the city we all meet at Sara and Will's home, and it was soo cute. We also got to meet Howie : ) Who infamously got into Sara's shoes that night

Sara handled this situation, better than I would have -lol. Poor Will discovered the shoes first, and the fear on his face before Sara saw the shoes was priceless. She saw them and immediately said, " It's cool I have back-up" with a huge smile her face. You could see all of us sigh at once with relief, ha ha. Thank goodness that this was seriously the worst thing that happened the entire weekend : )

After we all said hello and caught up for a while - we then headed out to the Chriscoe's family home for a welcome BBQ. The pig roast was AMAZING! The Chriscoe family were wonderful hosts.

I'm really kicking myself now, but I didn't take any photos that night. I got caught up with meeting new people and catching up with some old ones as well.  Sorry no picks of the BBQ : (

The following morning we headed back to the Chriscoe home for a really cute bridal luncheon. It was the perfect way for all of the bridesmaids to get to know each other a little better.

These cuties were made by Will's aunts who also threw the bridesmaid's luncheon for us.

Sara gave us great bridesmaid's gifts. We all got custom monogrammed cold drink cups and pink cotton robes. Along with a bridesmaid's survival kit- that came in handy more than once ; )

After lunch we all helped Sara with her last minute errands, and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the rehearsal. Again I sucked with taking pictures, and I have none of the church or the rehearsal dinner. 

But as someone who was there let me tell you- it was pretty freakin good, lol.

* little side note* I totally fell flat on my butt at the rehearsal, ha ha. It was in the annex on the carpeted stairs. Of course you can see through the glass wall, and I slid all the way to the floor. I gracefully gave everyone a thumbs up and quietly sulked back to the bathroom. This is not the first time I have fallen as a bridesmaid at someone's rehearsal, 

and I'm afraid I have now established a "thing", lol.

On the day of the wedding we all headed down to a large suite in our cute pink robes to get ready for the big day. Mr. & Mrs. Cantwell were awesome with food and drinks ( including some mimosas) throughout the day. We each took our turns with hair and makeup and had a great time relaxing before the big event.

Jessica with her hair and makeup all done just relaxing

One of the beautiful shots the photographer had taken with her dress

Sara and Will opted for a Trolley car for the ride to the church and reception. I LOVED IT! In this photo is Erin (maid of honor) and Emily K. and Emily J.

Jessica and Sara's little Cousin who was a junior bridesmaid

Lauren Will's sister and Lauren the reader at the ceremony

Erin also caught a picture of me in my super cool shades, lol and Sara

Since I was in the bridal party  I have none of the beautiful church were her and Will were married in. The church was beautiful with large arrangements of white hydrangeas and roses. What even made this church more special was the history behind it. The church is the Chriscoe's family church, and it was the church Will grew up attending.  It was again, beautiful and perfect in every way.

Sneak picture of the new Mr. & Mrs. Chriscoe on our way to the reception

Sara did a great job with the reception, and one of the personal touches were all the table numbers. On each one was a picture of her and Will at that age. They were all so cute!

one of her many beautiful floral arrangements

The drop dead gorgeous entry table

A view of the reception hall from the second floor before guest were allowed in

Some Gamma Phi Beta love at the reception

The vintage car Sara and Will drove off in

You know you had a good time when you now need a vacation after your vacation, lol. We had a blast in Raleigh! Now once Sara and Will  get back from Antigua we all need to plan for next year's reunion ; )

Have a great week- Luv Di

Raleigh Bound!

I'm sorry it's been over a week since I last posted, but last week was just so much fun that I didn't have time to sit down and write.

 I promise to make up for it this week : ) 

We headed out to NC for lots of family and friends time.The trip started in Ashville and ended in Raleigh with a beautiful wedding. I'm going to split this up into a couple of posts. 

The first being "Raleigh Bound!"

When I think of the start of last week I can only think of one phrase that sums it all " If you want to make God laugh - tell him your plans". I relate to this phrase so much because we have had this vacation planned for months, but when Monday rolled around it all went to "Poop".  

I was super excited on Monday to get to work and get done with my day because the next morning we were flying out. I even showed up 10 mins early ( which in my book is pretty hard since I usually arrive right on the dot at 7 am). Well as soon as I settled into my desk I noticed that our internet connections were flooded out the night before, and we had no access to our system, emails, or phones for most of the day. So I was scrambling for the last hour to try and get my desk and clients ready for me to be gone for a week. Needless to say I left work super late and stressed out.  

That night I scrambled to get last minute items and packing done, but noticed around 10 pm that our dog Chloe was sick and threw up in the kitchen. Not a huge deal, but also not what I wanted to deal with right before I went to bed. Around 2am we woke up to Chloe throwing up again, but then noticed that she  been sick throughout the night and had thrown up everywhere in the house. By 3am she had thrown up around 10 times in the small time frame, and she wasn't stopping. So we packed up the truck and headed to the 24 hr. emergency vet.  After x-rays and blood work they still weren't sure what was wrong, but we knew that she needed to be admitted for more testing and possible surgery.  

(Keep in mind this was around 5 am )

Poor Chloe at the Vet

 To say we were freaking out would be an understatement.  At first we were scrambling to change our flight out that morning because everything so up in the air about her health. Unfortunately, after many phone calls with the airlines it was apparent that changing our flight wasn’t an option. So we headed to the airport with only a few hours sleep and tried to keep positive thoughts about Chloe…. If you know me I do not do well in stressful situations while I’m sleep deprived. I couldn’t stop crying in the airport- it was just plain bad, but we finally made it Raleigh and drove the 5 hours to my Grandfather’s house near Ashville.

The beautiful flowers in front of Gramp's house. All the homes had these gorgeous flowers..

Front view of Gramp's house

The nice and peaceful back yard. They have a ton of wildlife that hang out here at every time of the day. We were lucky to see the beautiful humming birds every morning.

 Needless to say it was a long rough start, but it was totally worth it in the end. We received a call that afternoon that the ultrasound showed nothing was impending in her belly, and that she didn’t need surgery after all. It turns out that she had an intestinal infection. Poor thing had an IV for a few days to keep her levels stable, but by day 3 she was back on track to her normal self : )  She went home Thursday!


That same day Ricky and I headed out on a little adventure of our own to Chimney Rock, NC it is located right next Lake Lure.

 

Chimney Rock

Ricky and I

view of Lake Lure from Chimney Rock

our view at lunch on the lake. It was the perfect temperature with the storm passing right by us.

Another view of the lake

Our itty bitty rental car, ha ha. We  picked this car because at first we thought it would be fun, but it is really just way too small for us. It was absolutely amazing on gas though!

 It was a perfect day of exploring and we were both in the best mood after hearing good news on Chloe. We went out that night to Ricky’s favorite restaurant in Hendersonville- Papas & Beer .

You would think we have some of the best mexican food right here in Texas, but this place is soooo good. It's California Mexican, and we definitely had a feast.

Me my grandfather and Jimi Lou

After that we rested up and got ready to head out for the  festivites to follow in Raleigh… the pre- wedding will be tomorrow- Luv Di

Austin City Limits - live taping!

On Tuesday we were able to score two tickets to the Austin City Limits- live taping of Kat Edmonson. Ricky got lucky and was randomly picked from their online raffle for the two tickets. Ever since we moved to Austin we have been trying to get tickets to a live taping. They are not easy to snag, but if you live in Austin here is the link to the website http://acltv.com/upcoming-tapings/ . How it works is - every 4 to 5 days before a live taping they allow you to enter into a raffle for the limited tickets they resereve for free entry into the live show. 

Kat was absolutely wonderful! I wasn't very familiar with her work prior to this show, but I am definately a fan now : ) She has a very unique sound ( kinda like Nora Jones). The  venue itself though, is soooooo cool. No matter where you sit or stand it is a very intmate setting and the everything sounds amazing. I can totally see why Jimmy Buffet tickets were going for around $300 bucks a pop.

A little history on why it is so hard to get tickets to these tapings -

This theater is home of the KLRU-TV produced PBS program Austin City Limits, the longest running music series in American television history. The show helped Austin to become widely known as the "Live Music Capital of the World," and is the only television show to receive the National Medal of Arts, which it was awarded in 2003. The show inspired the creation of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual live music festival at Zilker Park in Austin. 

From 1976 through its 2010 season, ACL was recorded in Studio 6A in the Communications Building B on the University of Texas at Austin campus, on a stage featuring a mock skyline of Austin in the background. -never made it to this studio : (  

On February 26, 2011, ACL held its first taping in its new purpose-built Moody Theater and studio in downtown Austin's W Austin Hotel and Residences. -Where we were!

Happy hour drinks and Tapas down the street from the venue before the show

Ricky and I at the front of the venue

Right before the show started in our spot on floor. They are very strict on pictures during the show, and since this was my first time there I didn't want to make them angry ; ) Maybe next time I'll sneak some pics

It was pouring after we left so when we were finally able to make it back to our car without being drenched we passed by the "Hot" sign on at Krispy Kreme's. Who can resist this, seriously?! So we each only grabbed one ( I have to watch my figure for the the Cantwell- Chriscoe wedding next week!) It was a sweet way to end our fun date night out.

 Have a great weekend- Luv Di

Texas Small Town Weekend

This past weekend started out as any other weekend without any concrete plans, but as usual we ended up doing many things. On Saturday Ricky had a few things to do in San Antonio so I decided to make the drive down there with him, and check out the city a little more while he was getting his stuff done. I'll be honest I'm still not a huge fan of San Antonio vs. Austin- sorry I'm just not. However, I did find a few cools shops and areas that I explored. On our way back we decided to stop at a small town called Gurene, TX. This is apparently a really happening tourist spot that I we never really heard about. I've past their billboards consistently as we have traveled to the coast, but I never really gave the place much thought. Well on our way back we were getting hungry so we decided to stop at one of their famous restaurants on the Guadalupe River. We have lived here for over four years now, and we don't have many "discovery" moments anymore. But this town was a pleasant surprise to us both. We had a great lunch, an awesome time walking around the shops, and were able to grab a drink while taking in a show at the music hall.

This the outside of the restaurant where we ate. They had a gorgeous garden at this huge restaurant that was situated right next to the river. Considering we are going through a horrible drought right now in central TX, this garden must be a huge labor of Love. To be honest the whole little town was in great shape plant wise.

I realize that I don't take pictures of people very often. I think a lot of it stems back to my young adult life when my mother hammered my friends and I often with posing for pictures. I absolutely hated it! In turn I think I hate asking people now to pose with me, lol. I'm slowly starting to recover now ; ) This is Ricky and I in front of the entrance to Gristmill.

View of the Guadalupe River from our table

While we weren't familiar with Gurene before this little day adventure; we have heard about their music hall in the past. I'll give you the town history that I read on the back of the menu, lol. If I get something wrong I apologize now; I'm writing this from memory. The town of Gurene was started by one of the many German immigrants that moved to TX in the late 1800's. It was a single family with the last name Gurene ( ha ha, go figure) that bought land and decided to farm it with cotton. The cotton crop industry boomed over the years, and the small town grew with over 30 families living in the area. Unfortunately that did not last; they then got hit with a double whammy. The Great Depression occurred along with an outbreak of some kind of bug that destroyed thousands of crops of cotton. Everything in the town was shut down and abandoned. With the exception of one place, Gurene Hall. This dance hall has never been closed since it was opened in the 1800's, and they play plenty of down home country music all the time. We  grabbed a drink and caught a show last Saturday. The history in this place is awesome :)

The bar at Gurene Hall. This place isn't air conditioned so I don't think we will be coming back until the fall ; )

On Sunday we headed out with our friends Matt and Michelle to the "Blue Hole" swimming hole in Wimberly, TX. We have talked about it for a while, and decided last minute to take the plunge and go out there. It was wonderful : ) It's a small natural swimming hole in a small little winery town. I highly recommend it if you find yourself in the area.

The swimming hole. The water was crystal clear and a nice cool temperature.

The big lawn where you can lay out in the sun and picnic

We just so happened to stop by this place on the way back home. I'm sorry I have no pictures of our food, but by the time it made it our table we were starving and it disappeared rather quickly. I'll be honest, when I first moved to Austin I hated Texas BBQ. I didn't really care for the whole smoked meat with no sauce thing. I know I am in the extreme minority here ; ) But I usually pass on coming out to this restaurant when friends want to head out there. It's one of the best BBQ places in the area, and you can't really beat the ambiance. Well I can tell you this time the food was awesome, and you won't hear me pasings it up anymore! 

By the time we got home from our Wimberly outing we were exhausted. We ended up passing out for a few hours on the couch, and missing a great concert out by Lake  : ( 

But it was totally worth it, lol

Have a great week- Luv Di

4th of July Party Barge!

Hello all! Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, but we have been hanging back and taking it easy the past few weeks. We did however have some of our extended Jordan family stay with us this week while they checked out The University of Texas as a possible future college for Alyssa. It was great to have Danny and Mary along with their two girls Alyssa and Cayelin at the house just before the holiday. We were able to take them to a couple of cool places around the city and try some great local food : )

For the 4th of July a bunch of us bought tickets to attend the Austin Social Club's Party Barge on Lake Travis. It was a great day of sun and water! We had a blast with everyone! Then we ended the day with  fireworks at Sam's and Kirby's Apt. on South Congress. It was perfect ending to our mid week holiday. Hope all is Well Love-Di

One of the two barges we were on

view from our barge

my handsome husband gearing up for a long day in the sun

an instagram I stole from my friend Melanie- this wasn't the whole group but most of us :)

a shot of the first works that ended our night

A view of Barton Springs when we took the Jordan Family to visit

A view Lake Travis from the Oasis Resturant

A funny but most view of how true Texan's see the US

Thought this was Hilarious and wanted to share, Go Noles!