Carrie! {blown away tour}

Spontaneous country music on a Wednesday night? Wait, sorry? Carrie? As in Carrie Underwood? 

Oh yes. That will do.

Co-worker conference call: Hi Lauren, what are you doing tonight?

LJ: Oh just a lil happy hour with Lindsey...what are y'all doing?

Co-worker: Oh yeah? What are you doing after?

LJ: Ummm...going home?

Co-worker: Maybe you want to go see Carrie Underwood instead?

LJ: TONIGHT?! Yes. Yes, that will do.

Let's be very clear on one thing. Carrie can SING. And sing she did, for a solid hour and a half. We're still not sure how she didn't pass out. 

She had only five outfit changes - and one was shorts and a t shirt. We were expecting more. But she also flew across the crowd perched on a glass bottom platform. We weren't expecting that. 

 She brought out Hunter Hayes to sing with her. He is adorable. And we immediately loved him. Who cares if he's twelve?

The best part - her Remind Me duet with Brad Paisley. It was almost like he was there. I mean, come on, it's kiiiiinda like he's on stage with her. That's cool.

 And of course she closed with Blown Away. Twister, blowing down house and all. So good.

  I wish I had pictures of the hilarious man sitting to my left. He was alone. Wearing an Affliction serpent t-shirt. Clapped aggressively. Loved Carrie unconditionally. The situation was hilarious.

Thanks for sharing your Wednesday night with us Carrie. Loved it much!

Green.

They told me St. Patty's weekend in Dallas was not to be missed. I mean, I've done St. Patty's celebrating in New York City friends, I'm no stranger to the craziness of this holiday. But hey, let's see what this is all about.

I stuck around, made some plans to tag along with Linds and Colin and their friends for the festivities. Which turned out started at 8:15am. Ouch. These guys don't mess around.

I wore a green dress. Green nail polish. Green Kendra Scott earrings. And my cowboy boots. Duh.

Greenville Avenue was all shut down in preparation for the parade and block party. We camped out at Stan's among lots and lots of green-clad St Patty's celebrators. Koozies were necessary. 

Colin and Linds. Very green.

We call this, the green slurpee. Yum. Just a taste before hitting the road - ok, maybe just walking a few blocks - to our next party location.

We met some horses along the way. They were not dressed in green. But we thought they should have been.

I must share the following photo shoot. 

Jessyca and Lindsey. And the kilted man. Lindsey was very sure she knew him from somewhere...

House party. Green beer. Green jello. Puppies. It was a good day.

I'm also not 100% sure where this lei came from. But it is now hanging in my cubie at work. Just a lil green reminder of my very green holiday. 

Love these girls!

Oh and another happy St. Patty's treat?? THIS gal was in town from South Carolina to celebrate her big 3-0 birthday. I met up with sorority sis Deborah, her husband FJ and their friends for some cookie cake and one more green beer. 

All that equals...

One. Long. (and very green!) Day.

St. Patty's Dallas style. 

Success!

Burnt Orange & Boots

This is the Texas State Fair.

Home of Flecher's Corny Dogs. All things fried - like oreos and guacamole.

This guy with his Dickies jeans and 10 gallon hat, Big Tex.

And most importantly, home to the Texas / Oklahoma Red River Shootout.

This year, I didn't watch the big game from an NYC bar at Stout or Hill Country. This year was the year of my return. To Texas. And to the Red River Shootout. This year I was right in the action.

Live from the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park:
Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners

Sadly the Longhorns did not quite deliver on their end of the deal. It was sad. But I love the Horns and I will continue to cheer for them even when it's kinda hard to.

Texas!

Bevo!

Football friend! Hey Linds!

The Texas Longhorn Showband of the Southwest. That's right. They are very official.

She twirls fire batons. It was the halftime battle of the baton twirlers.

Hey Case! It's a growing year. We know this. We still love you.

Alright, so the game didn't turn out as we'd hoped. The day was only half over! After a morning of sportiness, we switched gears a few hours later and headed out to Cowboy's Stadium for a MUCH anticipated concert!

Next up: Taylor Swift!

Confessions...it was my 2nd Taylor concert. And Lindsey's 4th. What can we say? We can't help but heart her!

She puts on a super fun show. And her sparkly, twirly costume changes don't disappoint. She wore 9 different dresses this night. But not like I was counting or anything...

Telling you...everything is just better with boots.

There she is! Hi Taylor!

In dress #2, one of 2 princessy gowns.

Dress #4 red sparkles. About to beat up on that bell dropping from the ceiling.

Dress #6 purple twirly. Slowing things down. At her tree.

Dress #7. Black sparkles. With special guest, BOB! Singing Airplanes.

Encore! In Dress #9 princess gown + Dallas Cowboys jersey.

We were really happy to have glowy sticks. Necessary.

We totally love Taylor!

Whew! It was one very long Saturday! Filled with sportiness and sparkles.

Love Texas. Love Taylor. Love spending the whole weekend with Linds.

:)

just the gals {a bachlorette weekend}

the sitch:
sister's much-anticipated bachelorette bash weekend.
new braunfels, texas.
at a pretty fantastic house on the guadalupe river.

the gals:
20 of them.
ranging from future mother-in-law to elementary school besties.

the rules:
non-existent.

scene 1 --
the bachelorette, maid of honor, mother of the bride and aunt -- southbound 35 on a beautifully sunny friday morning.

upon arrival in new braunfels, the group surveys the property, and finds themselves quite pleased (read: EXCITED) with where they'll be spending the next few days.

after a full tour and a quick lunch, the pool awaits!

and the main room of the house gets a bachelorette makeover - la la la lauren style. everyone gets their own purple tumbler. fabric pennant banners are hung. chalk signs are drawn. now the weekend of celebration can officially begin.

scene 2 --

8pm. all gals are gathered on the patio. the grill is fired up, burgers all around. 

bartender shauni takes over, mixing up drinks so tasty, even the mother of the bride couldn't resist. 

oh! and there was a big weekend kick-off surprise in the form of a new louis!

scene 3 --
10pm-ish? about time to really get this party started. music blasts. kelly expertly teaches the girls how to dougie. which launches a full fledged bachelorette style dance party...moved outdoors to allow for more...elaborate dance moves? like...posing?

scene 4 --
another perfect 90 degree, blue sky, sunshiney day. girls are possibly a bit bleary-eyed from the previous evening's dance party. nothing some sunglasses can't cure. 

it's time for rafting the guadalupe river. 18 girls pile into a bus, hop out at the river, load their coolers / koozies / selves into 5 big rafts, each grab a paddle, and they're off!

scene 5 --

girls gather after a dinner of mom's famous chicken enchiladas for a bachelorette lingerie shower. again, la la la lauren style. a dessert buffet of delicious treats homemade by the bridesmaids. a delightful pink champagne punch, and just a few surprises.

surprise #1 -- a special video visit from the groom, keith! who answered some "bridesmaid approved" questions. and made everyone giggle with his "playin' it safe babe" responses. 

the bachelorette cried a lil, bridesmaid calli cried a lot, the mothers of these two managed to hold it all together. 

surprise #2 -- a special custom made bachelorette featherband from the lovely (and incredibly talented) mrs. kathryn beck. who lovingly fashioned this pretty little accessory with very little guidance from the maid of honor other than..."something sparkly and bachelorettey!!" 

she's a gem. check out all her designs at her katbeckdesigns etsy shop. big fan.

scene 6 --
post-lingerie festivities, on to a night out at gruene hall, the oldest dancehall in texas. 21 lovely ladies all rockin' their cowboy boots and bachelorette party beads and definitely ready to dance the night away.

drinks in hand, the gals took over the dance hall. dale watson - the cowboy singin' on stage - took an immediate interest in such a big group of pretty girls. he made sure the bachelorette was whisked off her feet the moment she walked in the door. 

she waltzed with a nice old man...

she two-stepped with this handsome bachelor while her ladies danced with his bachelor party boys.

there was a pretty intense rendition of cotton-eye joe that had the whole dance hall on their feet. 

and there was bachelor #2, who also happens to be tying the knot on november 19th.

 

 

 

 she was a very giggly, very happy bachelorette. 

until she thought she had lost a button on her new bachelorette party dress. then she was sad.

but those sad faces didn't last long. 

a few minutes later she realized that the buttons on her new party dress were all the same distance apart. so she couldn't be missing a button. then she was happy bachelorette again.

this whole button misunderstanding could have been a result of the gruene hall sangria. or the wine. definitely not the beer. she doesn't drink that. even in cowboy boots.

21 pretty girls + cowboy boots + live country music + gruene hall = bachelorette party night success!!

scene 7 -- 
post-gruene hall dancin' back at the house, there was some make-shift photo booth fun. easily one of the most entertaining activities of the weekend. never underestimate the power of some dress up clothes, props and chalk board paint.

the bachelorette even coined her own weekend catch phrase. believe it derived from a jersey shore reference to the phrase "let's be honest"...transitioned to "lezzzbehonest"...and eventually to...

and then the dance parties were over. the boots were tired. the treats were gone. 

a few more hours by the pool soaking up the texas sunshine the following day. then the girls loaded up their cars, hugged and laughed and said they couldn't wait for more fun at the wedding. 

the bachelorette packed up her lingerie. the maid of honor wondered how she was leaving with more supplies than she came with. the mother of the bride was glad she is good at tetris and could make everything fit in the SUV.

they all waved goodbye to the cutest little house on the river, called to thank the owners for a lovely weekend at their lovely river home and vowed to organize a family event there in the near future.


end scene.

 

happy happy bachelorette bash weekend to sister and bride-to-be leslee! 

let the countdown to mrs. marcom begin! 

love youuuuu!