Last Week

Last week I went to....

...a lovely Sunday bridal shower celebrating former New York 9A roomie - and the future Mrs. Lance Villio - Miss Hannah Kate Flora!

...a Monday patio, pizza, cupcake birthday dinner for Kristen!

...work on Tuesday where I won an Xbox 360 Kinect from the FX upfront! Ummm, very awesome?!

....a Wednesday night at the ballpark to watch the Rangers beat up on the Yankees! Our section won baseball cards. And a free Denny's Grand Slam. All around win.

...a Thursday night happy hour with new work friends...at a new favorite bar!

...spend a Friday night with Baby Tyler! And my sis-in-law left me a end-of-the-week, post-baby-bedtime treat. She is a good woman, she is.

...to the ballpark again for Saturday night cheering on the boys with Lauren - with slightly closer seats. Another Ranger win. Another perfect breezy Texas spring night!

It was a very busy week. Filled with lots of happiness. Hannah's Texas wedding is so so soon! I love springtime at the ballpark before it gets too hot and miserable! I really really love all my new friends! And am so happy to spend a Friday night hanging out with my sweet nephew.

Oh! And I got a new big kid bed too. I kinda love it! :)

Oh my {she's four}

My niece. The Birthday Princess.

Sloan Elizabeth turns four!

Some thoughts...

1. No no, she cannot be FOUR. She was just one! And then two. And then three...ok fine. She's four.
2. I'm old.
3. I respect her love of dress up. And costume changes. Gotta keep 'em on their toes. I think I lost count at the 5th princess dress of the day.
4. Yeah...I'm old.
5. Where does she get that SASS?! It's like she learns from the best or something. Ohsoproud. 

Will she ever outgrow her princessy stage? I sure hope not. It's my favorite. She is my favorite. I adore her.

Princess costume changes for all

Cupcake pinata!!! A very big hit.
See what I did there? Hah!

Princess parade to the castle sized bounce house

Colton only liked the bounce house once the big kids were out. More room for him and his balloon.

Princessy posing with Le Le

Princess cake!!

It's my party and I'll have a giant piece of princess cake if I want to!

More castle bounce house jumping!

Oh Baby Tyler! He's seven months old now. And the happiest lil boy!

The Bledsoe's!

These boys are quiiiite the handful. And are getting so big!

Oh heeeey sassy sass!

Time for the presents!

Learning to play the hopscotch game I got her!

Birthday girl love!

Happy happy FOURTH birthday to my pretty pretty niece!

Love!

Friday. Friends. Fun.

A few weeks ago we went to see Dave Barnes at House of Blues. 

Love Dave Barnes. Love House of Blues. Love a lil Friday concert fun.

Dinner at Union Bear in Uptown first. 

And then on to HOB.

(sidenote: I think Dallas is so pretty at night!)

Andrew Ripp opened the show. Newest singer songwriter fave.

Pretty friends. 

Julie and Bekah told me that Dave was funny, but I wasn't prepared to giggle along with him throughout his whole performance. His stories and jokes cracked himself up. Quite literally!

Dave was performing in one room at HOB. And Tyrone Wells (who I've seen muuuultiple times in NYC) was playing in another room. I clearly couldn't be in both rooms at once.

Happy we chose Dave this time, he was so great! 

But was sad to miss Tyrone. Next time! 

Egg Hunting + Easter Experiments

Easter weekend with the fam... 

Look how cute this one is with his Easter basket! This is my cousin Ashley's little boy, Colton. He's very sporty. Swings his bat left handed, runs his "bases" like a champ. And he was very good at hunting his Easter eggs at his Nana's house. :)

And because this makes me laugh...these fools below are my Dad and his youngest brother. (Can't see the resemblance, can you?) They're not helping or hunting. Juuuust watching. Suppose they know their place.

Sunday lunch at my parent's house was inspired by the Pioneer Woman. Now that I have introduced Mom and Dad to the ohsofantastic PW via Saturday mornings on Food Network, seems they are now big fans as well. We wanted to try out a few recipes on Easter, nothing fancy.

And then it was mentioned to an aunt, and then another, and then our silly lil themed lunch turned into something a bit bigger. Leslee's in-laws joined too. It was quite the affair.

Mom and I were just slightly concerned that we would mess up PW's fail-proof recipes. Lucky for us, all turned out perfectly. Lunch was delightful. Family was full. Jesus was celebrated. Hearts were happy.

My Green Bean Casserole. Made with real bacon. And freshly blanched green beans. Yum.

Mom's Potatoes au Gratin. Super cheesy, super tasty. And also yum.

And our personal favorite?
Flat Apple Pie. A joint effort. With pretty perfect crust. Easy caramel sauce. And a little Blue Bell ice cream on the side. More please?

Pioneer Woman Easter was a great success.

And from now on - themed family get-togethers?
Feel like south-of-the-border Sunday is probably appropriate.

Daddy's Girl

While I was in New York, my car was left with my parents for safekeeping.

Halfway through my trip, I received the following text from Dad...

I've wanted to darken the windows on my lil Accord since last summer. But I'm not so great at car things. Since Dad was so graciously offering to take care of this for me while I was gone, I was more than happy to authorize the $200 price tag and hand off the responsibility.

Upon returning home...

LJ: Dad! Thanks for taking care of my car! Am I all set with darker windows?

Daddy: No problem, it looks good. You'll like it.

Mom: Yes...and he might have spent a bit more than you authorized....

LJ: Haha, ohhhh, is that right? What's the damage Dad? Pretty sure I only authorized $200...

Daddy:  Well...I mean, they were going to use the cheap stuff and the one I picked is about 10x more heat resistant, I tried it under the heat lamp...

LJ: ...and?

Daddy: It was only $244...

LJ: Hmm, I see. Soooo...is that $44 going to be your gift to me?

HAH! Kidding, kidding. (kind of?)

I am most thankful to have these darker windows. And that I have Dad to take care of car things like this for me. 

Otherwise, who knows when I actually would have gotten around to it. I'm such a girl. No shame.

Dad also hooked me up with a new key to his house while I was gone. 

Such a good man. Who knows me well. :)

Thanks for taking care of me Daddy!