16 at Heart

Backstreets Back Alright! So it took no convincing to go see the NKTOBSB show, even if it meant driving down to San Antonio. Sara picked me up early from work and we had the best mini road trip. We arrived early enough for dinner on the Riverwalk and discovered that everything really is bigger in Texas, I'd like to think everyones heads kept turning because of our good looks but it was obviously our margaritas getting all the attention ;)


Another Texas touch was discovered as soon as we walked into the arena, cutest bathroom sign I've ever seen:
But on to the good stuff, or should I say Right Stuff ;) NKOTB took that stage and everyone, including us, were screaming like teenagers. Oh how I love boys bands! The concert was the best I've seen in ages, NKTOBSB really know how to put on a good show!!!

Keep Austin Weird

The weekend isn't complete in Austin without a festival to celebrate something! This festival certainly lived up to the city's slogan, Keep Austin Weird. The festival kept us entertained with live music, vendors, fake tattoos, freebies, food stands, dancing, etc but the finale was the most entertaining. They ended the celebration with a 5K run/walk all creatures and costumes welcome. You can only imagine the crazy characters that we witnessed. Another random and fun day in this unique city!

Dell Diamond

Shaun loves Baseball and I love Jack Ingram, so we enjoyed the best of both worlds tonight! We headed to Dell Diamond for our first AAA Baseball Game of the season and discovered a whole new baseball experience. The Round Rock Express, Rangers Farm Team, play just about 10 minutes from our house and boy do they have an amazing set-up! They have a pool overlooking the field, hot tub, grills, rocking chairs, playground, bounce house, you name it they got it, all parks should be designed this way as there is entertainment and/or comfort for anyone!!! But the highlight was after the game when they let all the fans out onto the field to enjoy a concert by Jack Ingram! I was so happy to be seeing him and Shaun was so happy to be out on the field, again best of both worlds! Texas really sure knows how to do it right!

Happy Early International Sushi Day

Chris DeMay has brought a great new tradition into our lives, International Sushi Day! We are just novices compared to him, Bonnie & Chris have matching Sushi T-Shirts need I say more, but we do out best to honor this day ;) The Richards had stumbled across this great sushi place called Beluga so what better time to give it try then now. We were a little early in our celebration this year but who doesn't like extending a holiday celebration to make it last longer! Happy International Sushi Day everyone, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Home Sweet Home

I just came to the realization that I've never been away from home this long, ever in my life! I went out of state for college and even moved across country for a couple years but I was still lucky enough to come home on a regular basis. As independent and adventurous as you may be nothing makes you feel better than family sometimes so being away from them for the past six months was really hard. But thankfully my nephew provided us with the perfect excuse to come home, his High School graduation, Congrats TJ!!!

Since this was our first trip back since moving to Texas we tried to cram a lot into our visit! We arrived on Thursday and beelined it to Rio Grande ;) We enjoyed a leisurely lunch with my parents and gave ourselves just enough time to digest before heading off to our other favorite restaurant, Rays the Steaks! Yes we are foodies as you can tell. We met up with Meredith, Bonnie, Erika, and Tim for dinner and a night on the town. We visited some new establishments and some of our old favorites as well, O'Sullivans, and then crashed in Arlington like the good old days. It felt so good to be back in Virginia with our closest friends and family!

Friday was another whirlwind, we were non-stop from sunrise to sunset! The McCalister’s were in town as well visiting family so Shaun and Eric headed out for a round of golf while I met up with some old co-workers and friends. I spent the afternoon with Catherine, Sadie, Elias and her mom hoping that she would go into labor so I could meet baby #3 but no such luck. We had a great afternoon catching up and playing with the kids, it was hard to tear myself away. Later that evening, we headed over to the Bursch's for a cookout and some cornhole. We were so drained by the end of the day but every second was worth it, we really miss days like these living so far away!

If you thought Friday sounded busy just wait for Saturday's rundown, we fit in a graduation and a wedding all in one day! My brother arrived the night before so we probably stayed up later than necessary because the sound of the alarm on Saturday morning wasn't so inviting. But we were off once again as my nephew was about to graduate from high school. And yes this does make me feel old! Graduation started at 9am and the weather mostly cooperated as the rain held out until all the diplomas had been handed out. We had a short downpour that quickly past but no rain was going to dampen our spirits, TJ just graduated and will be heading off to college in two months to play soccer at Bridgewater! We headed out for a celebratory lunch with the festivities continuing throughout the weekend. Then it was off to the church for Katie and Tim's wedding. Luckily it was in Reston so we had just enough time to swing by my parents house to freshen up. The reception was out at the Westfields and we enjoyed an evening celebrating the new Mr. & Mrs. Becker with the Donald’s and crew!

Another day, another party! TJ's graduation brunch was on Sunday morning and the extended family was in attendance. As always, it was great to get everyone together and enjoy each others company and celebrate each others successes! Sunday was dedicated to quality time with the family and then we took TJ golfing on Monday morning to close out our trip. We are so proud of him and can't wait to see what his future has in store!

We wish we made more time to stay and visit with everyone, 5 days just wasn't enough!

Super Hero Dance Party

What started out as a low-key weekend turned into quite a show! Sara and I were heading to a farmers market on Saturday morning with the pups and low and behold she picks me up with a new quest, find a sitter and costumes. We still enjoyed the farmers market but like true Super Hero's we accomplished a million things at once. Before you knew it we had multiple babysitter options and costumes to choose from. This has to be the most random and fun night yet in Austin! All of us received tons of compliments on our costumes and we even attempted to win the concert tickets and participate in the dance-off. I might have permanently injured myself, the picture speaks for itself, but it was all in good fun!

Central Market

We just keep stumbling across one cool place after another! Austin really is proving to be such an easy going & care free city, we just love it! So our latest discovery is a placed called Central Market. Here is where looks can be deceiving, from the outside it looks like your regular grocery store but on the inside it has amazing gourmet options with loads of ambiance!!! They have a porch out back where you can order food or bring your fresh picked groceries outside to enjoy. We hand selected our lobsters, had them stemmed and cracked, grabbed a bottle of wine and enjoyed a nice picnic under the oak tree where they had a live band playing and a huge playground for all the kids to enjoy while parents relaxed. This place really is a dream come true!