Yanni and Birthday festivites

Ha ha, I bet you never thought I would have those to 

things together on this blog ; )

Well it just so happens that one of my good childhood friends is an amazing singer who tours with Yanni, and I was fortunate enough to kinda shadow her when she was preforming here in Austin. I'll be honest- I was not very familiar with Yanni's music before his show here in Austin, but the show really surprised me ( in a good way). Of course the vocalists were amazing ( this may be a bias opinion but I seriously don't care) but the whole orchestra and band blew me away as well. Then Don't forget the best part of all, the reason they all came together on stage, Yanni. It was great catching up and hanging out with Lauren.  It was even an extra special treat to hang out with her back stage, and to see the inner working of her tour ( lets face it this will be probably the only time I'm ever back stage of any world tour, lol). Everyone I met was so friendly and nice; it's easy to see why she has been doing this for almost 2 years. She just ended this stint of her tour, and she is resting up at home in NYC. Congrats on a great run Lauren!! I am so excited to see what you are up to next!!

the stage during sound check

backstage view of the show

view from the stage of the venue

Lauren and I on stage before the show during her VIP tour she guided

my awesome seat before the show started

I tried really hard to get a picture of Lauren on stage but this was the best I got

Me with her pass that she gave me while she was performing. It was pretty cool to walk around anywhere back stage. PS- please disregard my weird red eyes I had really bad allergies going on that day

Lauren showing me her tour bus- I swear I have the same picture somewhere with her on our 5th grade DC trip- I just need to find it ; )

Her humble abode while she is traveling from place to place on the road. If you know Lauren she has always had a thing for chocolate, lol. So I brought her some cookies from a local shop here in town called Tiff's Treats to nibble on while they traveled to Dallas that night.

Last Wednesday was also my handsome husband's 28th Birthday! We celebrated with a happy hour at Bangers in the Rainey St. district. While not everyone was able to make it we still had a pretty big group join us, and we had a blast! I was definitely paying for it the next day ; )

Ricky with a celebratory pint at Bangers

 We then headed to Houston for the weekend where we celebrated with all our family out there. Karen, Aunt Dorthy & Uncle Gary all came out for a birthday dinner at the Jordan Casa, it was wonderful.

Ricky's sister Katie took this little nugget while I was getting ready to light Ricky's cake with our family on Saturday night

 We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and enjoying down time with the family. It was a wonderful weekend all around! Now we are resting up for our 1st anniversary trip to New Orleans on Labor Day weekend !!! Have a great weekend- Luv Di

Family time!

For the past week we have had the pleasure of Katie ( my sister in-law) staying with us. She is currently working for a few weeks in Ricky's office before she heads back to college. It's been really nice getting to know Katie a little better ,and to have a girl friend to do things around town with. She will definitely be missed : (

This past weekend we went to K1 go cart track in North Austin with our friends Bob and Kristy. These aren't your ordinary Boomers go carts- these things get up to 40 mph on the track! Lol I'm a wuss, and was a little hesitant to get out there on the track. It definitely showed in the times posted when my best lap was 10 seconds higher than anyone else. What can I say except that I'm a cautious driver, ha ha.

On Friday we headed out to dinner at Lucy's Fried chicken, and we had of course fried chicken and El Diablo grilled oysters on the half shell. Worth every calorie ; )

Inside of the K1 go cart building

everyone before taking off on the track

the rest of the track

Me and my super cool helmet, lol

On Saturday a few friends of our had some peps in town, and we all went out to McKinney Falls State Park. It was pretty freakin hot out; roughly around 101 degrees. But nothing a cold beer and a pool noodle in the water couldn't fix ; ) It was a blast, and something we want to do again in the future. Hope you all have a great week- Luv Di

McKinney Falls

 Funny pics I took this weekend, enjoy : )

Austin is for sure a very green city, but only Austin would take it this far, lol. Instead of riding a bike why not switch it up and ride your horse to the bar?

Barton Springs Saloon's signs always make me smile

Becker Vinyards

The past few weeks have flown on by! The weekend before last we helped out with Big Red Dog's move into their swanky new offices on the East side. Then we headed down to San Antonio to spend the afternoon with Lindsey and Jamie (both sorority sisters of mine from FSU). Then it was back to the normal 9-5 work schedule for most of the week. Then last weekend we went on a small winery tour and visited Fredricksburg, TX with family.

Me, Jamie and Lindsey at the Ocho restaurant in San Antonio

The gorgeous atrium restaurant is located in Liz Lambert's Hotel Havana

Ricky and his dad at Casa Columbia

The vineyard on our way over to the tasting room for Becker Vineyard

the bottling barn

Me, my mother in-law Lourdes and sister in-law Katie in the front of the vineyard

all the stems they remove off the grapes before they are pressed

The storage tank room where they allow the wine to ferment and age

The tasting room

The storage cellar where they keep all the reserved wines and age them an extra 24 months

one of the barrels in the cellar

Ricky and I in the cellar

Downtown Fredricksburg, TX

The local brewery

I thought it was pretty cool that no matter where you go everyone is watching the US in the Olympics- even in a fine antique store on a Saturday afternoon

My super cute husband is so excited that they now sell his favorite Dominican beer in Austin, TX 

That's been our life so far  in a nut shell : ) I'm starting to plan someone's 28th birthday coming up ( hint-hint it's the big guy pictured above) so stay tune for an update on that soon! Have a great week- Luv Di

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