An Adventure!

Our trip to Chile and Argentina is soon, and I can't wait! This will be my first trip to South America!

We will take an overnight flight to Santiago (via a layover in Dallas, where we'll drop off our dog to stay with family!), and when we get there we're renting a car and will start our drive crossing the Andes (!!) into Mendoza, Argentina, where I hope to see sights like this:

We will head back to Chile and spend some time in Santiago:

As well as in Valparaiso:

Should be an adventure! Have you been? Where in the world are you wanting to go next?

Clicking on an image will take you to its Pinterest link

Destination Unknown

Hi friends, I'm off on a destination unknown weekend! 

My husband has been working nights all week and booked a little getaway somewhere nearby to give him something to look forward to during call...and didn't tell me where! My only hint is that it's Wisconsin or Michigan. We had our first sticking snow in Chicago last night, so I'm hoping I'll be able to look out the window at some pretty snow while sipping hot chocolate in a quaint little B&B like this one above.

Have a wonderful weekend! Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet?!

Channel Tunnel Time!

...and today we take the Chunnel from London to Paris. Cannot wait to catch my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower!

So Excited!

I am so giddy right now! We just booked a trip to Europe for late February - mid March (back just in time for Match Day)...and the best part is we booked it on points! (Non-stop and only 20,000 each way because it's off-peak - just before it goes up to 60,000 points for Spring Breakers!) 

I'm so looking forward to reading up on and planning the trip over the next several months, which I think is half the fun! We fly into London, will go to Paris (!!!) next, and the rest is still up in the air - we just need to end up in Frankfurt.

It will be a little colder than I prefer (this warm-weather gal dreams about jet-setting it in the summer to Saint-Tropez or Capri), but I quickly pinched my lucky self and am now dreaming about bundling up and strolling down the river Seine with my sweetheart.

I'd love to hear your suggestions if you have them. I've only been to Italy, so it will be all-new and all-amazing to me!  What's the favorite place you've traveled to or have been dreaming about visiting?

I have a feeling I'm going to be singing a lot of this in the coming months:

I love Paris in the spring time

I love Paris in the fall

I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles

I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles

I love Paris every moment

Every moment of the year

I love Paris, why oh why do I love Paris

Because my love is here

Stay tuned for my first giveaway in my next post! You're going to love it!

Images from the lovely Shabby Apple. I'm pretty sure this La Tour Eiffel dress is right up my alley.

Back to the Beach!

We are heading back to the beach this evening for a 4-day family reunion (J's side).  With the exception of Major Swimsuit Issues*, I'm excited to see this again:

And this:

And this:

My in-laws drove her down ahead of us so she didn't have to fly, and we've really missed her.  There was a Big Incident where she ran out the door on them that launched a Major Chase where she ran across the busy, 5-lane South Padre Island Rd. Twice. We are so, so grateful that nothing happened to her. Now we all just need to get on the same page with the commands she learned in puppy school. (Running out on them is the whole reason we took her to training in the first place. J & I have never had her do it to us, so we still have something to work on because that cannot. happen. again.)

And here is how we carry her down to the beach because:
a) burrs get stuck all over her fur, which caused J to chop part of her freshly-groomed ear (hair) off last time
b) the sand is ridiculously hot

* Since it is a family reunion, and we are the youngest of all of the adults, and we'll be chasing after tons of kids, and we'll be going to a waterpark, I wanted something a little more active than my go-to bandeau bikinis (no tan lines!), so I bought a swim skirt and after much deliberation, a few tops with better coverage.  (My problem area is my hips and thighs, so I am pretty happy with the swim skirt - it's cute but covers what I need it to!) 

Asking J last night which tops I should keep and which I should return, I got concerned again that I may need something even more conservative so I ran back to Target for the third time to pick up a one-piece.  I think it's the first time I've worn one since I was 12, and it's not half-bad, except it has absolutely no coverage in the bottom, so I will always have to wear it as a one-piece + skirt. (I can't find the link on the Target website, but from the back it looks like you're wearing a bikini, so I think it still looks pretty youthful.  If I am indeed still youthful / semi-fit enough to wear bikinis and one-piece wannabe bikinis.)

So that's how I came to have three new swimsuits with no clue what I'm actually going to wear.

What about you?  What is your go-to swim attire?

Packing Success!

Can you believe this is all I'm taking on a four-day trip?

Compare mutant toy poodle to tell the scale of my bags

All my life, I have not been skilled in the art of packing.  (I need lots of back-up clothing options, you see, which equals a lot of stuff.)

But determined not to pay to check a bag (totally ridic), I resolved to fit it all into one carry-on and one personal item.  (And I told J he better do the same!)

And I did!

We are leaving the house at 5:30 am (!) tomorrow morning for a wedding in Michigan.

I packed:

2 wrap dresses for dinners Thursday and Friday

1 cocktail dress for the wedding Saturday

1 casual dress for brunch Sunday

1 white skirt

1 pair of white jeans

4 tops (there should be 2 extra)

1 jean jacket in case it gets cold

2 pairs of heels

1 pair of ballet flats

1 pair of flip-flops

+ jewelry, toiletries, hair straightener, et al.

I am finally a packing success! (I rolled everything reallly tightly.  I'm crossing my fingers I can get it all back in later!)

I'm excited - J booked his ticket on points and gets first class on the way there. Guess who gets the seat on the longer leg of the flight?  Ooh ooh!

I've never been to Michigan.  We'll be in a small town outside of Detroit, and I'm expecting it to be really beautiful there. They've reserved bikes at the hotel, so I think that's what I'll be doing while J golfs Friday.

Have a great weekend, blog friends!

Goodbye, November

Whoops, I totally fell off the blogging wagon over the Thanksgiving break. I had a great break and am refreshed with some blogworthy ideas for December. I didn't meet my goal of posting every day in November, but I did have close to 40 posts, so I am letting it slide. I read somewhere that comments are like crack to bloggers, and I am so thankful that I am getting comments with more frequency. Please keep 'em coming!

What did I think of my break?

• Niece's dance-off party: awesome. (And yes, I was too self-conscious to participate.) The best moment for me was a toss-up between my seventeen month old nephew constantly jumping in trying to replicate his uncle's somersault and my pregnant sis-in-law spinning on her back break-dance style.
  
• Thanksgiving: yummy. (Missing dessert? Sad - darn you, cramps!; Missing helping to clean up? Mildly guilt-inducing) I forgot to do a post in advance of the holiday of things I am thankful for this year, so if you don't mind reading another one after the fact, I will post it later this week. I have so much to be thankful for.
  
• Shopping: guilt-inducing. The only items I purchased this weekend were for me, and I will probably return them. (I think I can find better versions of the short-sleeved sweater dress and the ruffled cardigan.)
  
• Friends' engagement party: fun. (Almost) makes me wish I could do it all over again. No worrying so much about the budget and people-pleasing this time!
  
• Meeting up with The Hubs's high school friends: always great. He went to a small, all-male school, and I love how close they are. And how they always hug hello and goodbye.
  
• Putting up the Christmas tree: Victory is mine! We didn't get around to putting it up last year (shocking!), so I was determined to do so this year.
  
• Relaxing and Napping with The Hubs: fabulous! He worked several days of 14-hour overnights at the hospital before the break, and we were both having a hard time of it. (I actually cried at work over some frustration coupled with the comments of an insensitive coworker. Googling "med school spouse" helped.) He had off Thursday-Sunday, and it was so, so nice to get to be our "normal" selves.

How was your Thanksgiving break? Did you score anything on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? I'm wishing there was a Cyber Week, because I couldn't even tell you how many emails flooded by inbox today with ONE! DAY! ONLY! DEALS! I didn't look at any of it.

Butterfly Migration

This past weekend, I flew down to Corpus Christi to meet The Hubs. (It's his last week gone!) He showed me around Corpus, and then we drove down to South Padre Island to visit the beach.

I drove so he could study, and was in awe of all the monarch butterflies everywhere, migrating to Mexico for the winter.

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It was pretty magical. There were so many right in front us that looked like they were going to hit the windshield, but most were pushed up by the wind at the last moment. Unfortunately some didn't make it, and hit either the windshield or the grill of the car.

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Monarch guts are not so magical. Plus, I felt like a butterfly killer.

I don't want to be a butterfly killer.

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My aunt and my mom always loved butterflies, and I in turn do too, especially because I feel like it's a connection to them.

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I miss my aunt.

My aunt had a boat that they lived on in the summer called "Le Papillon". If I am ever lucky enough to name a boat, maybe I will call it "La Mariposa".

I asked The Hubs what he would name his boat?

After me: Senorita Laurita

I like it.

October = Beach Time?!

I mentioned in a previous post that The Hubs is off doing his pediatrics rotation. He's 7+ hours away in Corpus Christi and has been gone 2 weeks now (4 more to go!). The newness of watching whatever trashy TV I want has long ago worn off, and it's been difficult having real conversations over the phone when he's not on call or studying or writing a paper...or exploring the beachy town (lucky duck).

This weekend, I'm flying standby to see him. I probably won't be heading to the Corpus Christi Bay, but will meet him somewhere between Texas and Mexico, where we will spend the weekend with some of his housemates at his parents' place in SPI. I've never flown standby before, so I don't know what to expect. Double cross your fingers for me that I make it there (and back on Sunday!) so that I can be here:

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Where I should wake up uber-early to experience this over the Gulf of Mexico:

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But will most likely watch it come back down with drink in hand over the Laguna Madre:

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The Hubs is flying up next weekend for TX-OU, and then I'm going back one more time Halloween weekend...and then he'll be back in no time. (I learned after the fact that he probably could have sold this coveted rotation for $500...instead we'll be spending that visiting each other...d'oh!)

B-T-Dubs, I found the last two images on Panoramio. It's like the photo feature on Google Maps, but much cooler to navigate. I could spend a lot of time on here exploring the world.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Busy Time Ahead

In my last post I mentioned that I'm going skiing in Lake Tahoe. Here's my packing dilemma:
- I'm leaving this Thursday from Dallas to go to Chicago for a St. Paddy's Bachelorette Weekend of fun secret-for-now activities

- Sunday I fly to Tahoe and meet up with DH's family for a week of skiing, casino-hopping, and taking in the breathtaking views

- Late Friday DH and I fly back to Dallas

- Early Saturday we drive down to Houston for DH's cousin's wedding

I am not a very good packer because I don't like picking out so many outfits so far in advance. At least the two places I'm going are both cold and cold. (What is the deal with spending Spring Break in wintry conditions? I'm a warm-weather gal.) I still haven't figured out how I'm going to pawn off all of my ski clothes for James's family to bring ahead for me, since I refuse to pay to check my bag for the weekend trip to Chicago. Since I'll have access to laundry at the condo, I should be able to re-wear some things I brought for Chicago throughout the week. I've got my outfit for the wedding ready to go, so at least I have that under control.

On a related note, I'm anxiously awaiting for the arrival of this green coat ordered especially for Chicago:
I didn't want to pay extra for expedited shipping and decided to take my chances on it arriving in time, but now I'm cursing myself for being so cheap. I'll be fervently checking the UPS tracking website for an updated status of my coat's journey come Monday.

Although I'd really rather be shopping for this right now:

Photo credits here, here, here and here

Where I'm Eating Next Sunday!

I just saw something about In-N-Out Burger and got a little jealous that I've never had it...and then I realized, the week after this I'm going to be skiing in Lake Tahoe, and there's got to be an In-N-Out nearby. Turns out there's one right on the way from the Reno airport!


Yum-o!

I Want to Dance All Over the World

I want to go on a trip!

Working on my apres-ski attire

How great would I look skiing in this?

I love the doxie!

Both found here

"Ferris Bueller, you're my hero"

I just saw here (who got it from here) that this Friday at the Village Halloween Parade in NYC that they're recreating Ferris Bueller's "Twist & Shout" Chicago parade scene. How cool will that be? I've never understood why this never happens in real life.


In 24 hours, I'll be down in South Padre, sitting in the hot tub with my honey and enjoying an adult beverage. With the beautiful weather they've been having, how can I possibly be expected to handle school work on a day like this?

I'm totally going to rock the 3 new bikinis I bought at J. Crew final sale in a moment of weakness. My previous efforts to not give in to unnecessary
(And the suits from that post were long-gone in my size.) Moral of the story? If you're going to give in to temptation eventually, might as well do it right away.