Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Texas’ Category

Well Texas IS my #1 passion and the blog IS called Texas Lou!

A couple of weeks ago, Ben, my mother-in-law, and I attended the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello and I spotted these two gems:

Texas Blue Bonnet Seeds…Ben’s mom bought some

A Texas Bird Pepper plant…I wonder if any of my Texan friends and family have one of these?

Texas is everywhere I look folks!  I must have Texas On My Mind!

Have you ever heard of the Homesick Texan?  The other one, not me…haha!

The Homesick Texan is a blog written by fellow Texan, Lisa Fain, who now lives in New York.  Like me, I’m sure she had a hard time finding good Tex-Mex food outside of our beloved Texas, so she decided to make it herself and document it on her blog.  She even wrote a cookbook, The Homesick Texan Cookbook, that my Aunt Connie and Uncle Mike gave to me as a wedding gift!  It was such a surprise since I don’t think I’d mentioned to anyone that I read her blog.  However, I’m sure it wasn’t difficult for anyone who knows me to see that I would love and identify with the theme!  I mean I LOVE food, I LOVE  Texas, and I’m constantly homesick for the great state and all of the wonderful people in it!

So, why am I bringing up the Homesick Texan all of a sudden?  Well, besides the fact that she is awesome, right?  My friend Cara is having a birthday party/cookout tonight and she asked all of her guests to contribute something edible for the evening.  I  announced that I’d bring chicken for the grill, but I also wanted to make some sort of appetizer or dessert that was new, exciting, unique, and personal.  Well for me, what’s more personal than a Texas themed recipe?  I headed over to my Pinterest “Cooking and Food” board to get some ideas for recipes I’ve found on the interwebz in the past that I’ve been saving for a special occasion.  As soon as I saw the Homesick Texan’s Bacon-Jalapeño Cheese Ball, I knew I had to make it.

The recipe was really easy to make, the ingredients weren’t complicated at all, and it didn’t take me long to create the masterpiece.  The finished product also looks very pretty and festive.  I haven’t tasted it yet, as I’m saving it for the birthday party tonight, but I did lick the bowl when I was finished and it was quite tasty!

If you are looking for something AMAZING to make, head on over to the Homesick Texan’s blog and check out the recipe.  The main ingredients are jalapeños, bacon, pecans, and cheese so it can’t be anything but awesome!  If I remember, I’ll snap a picture of it before it’s all gobbled up tonight and post it here tomorrow.

Translation: Oh My Gosh Thank God It’s Friday YAY!

I’m so excited today and here’s why!

• It’s Friday and the beginning of the weekend…DUH!
• We are going to the Top of the Hops Beer Festival tomorrow where we will get to sample many awesome beers and spend time with lots of friends!  We went last year and it was a blast!
• I feel like I am doing so much better at work.  I’m feeling more comfortable with my job, tasks, and asking my coworkers questions plus I am meeting new people and getting involved!
• The weather has been wonderful and it is supposed to stay that way through the weekend.
• I was really good this week at keeping up with my healthy eating and exercising (ran over 11 miles!).  I’m trying to remind myself constantly that this is important to keep me positive and help me mentally and emotionally in addition to keeping my body healthy.
• Lastly, I found out that I MAY be able to spend a weekend in October with my brother, sister, and dad in New York AND go to a TEXANS game (special thanks to my awesome boss for giving me the time off)!  It’s not definite yet, but we’re working on it!

I hope everyone has a FABULOUS weekend!

Friday afternoon, I met up with my friend/sister-in-law Sarah and my friend Amy to hang out at Fridays After 5.  Sarah and Amy were downtown looking for some last minute items for Amy’s wedding which is in less than two weeks!  I’m so excited for Amy and Joel’s wedding…it’s going to be a blast!

After meeting up with the girls, we stopped by Baggby’s Gourmet Sandwiches and then headed over to the Nook to join Sarah’s parents, Craig and Robin, for some drinks.

The girls and I downtown at Friday’s After Five.

After drinks at the Nook, we headed to the pavilion to watch Mingo Fishtrap play.  I’d never heard of them, but Sarah’s parents were raving about their music.  Plus they are from Austin, so any band from Texas deserves a listen from me.  I really enjoyed their music and they were great at playing several different styles and genres.

Mingo Fishtrap performing at the Charlottesville Pavilion

They even brought their own sign!

Amy and Sarah downtown

After taking the picture above, Sarah and Amy both asked if it was going on the blog.  Well here it is girls!

Ben and I were supposed to get dinner with our friends Cheryl and Dan who sadly moved to Tennessee on Saturday, but their movers came too late and they weren’t finished packing until well after dinner time.  We will miss them, but are planning on a visit soon!

After Fridays After 5, Ben and I randomly headed out to Sarah and Ian’s new house for a fun night with friends.  All in all, it was a perfect start to the weekend!  I hope everyone’s Friday was as fun as mine!

A few months ago, my mother-in-law was doing some shopping at Tuesday Morning and found something really unusual (well unusual for Virginia).  She alerted me of the 40 pound concrete stone in the shape of Texas and I knew I HAD to buy it.  Besides, I am probably the only person in Charlottesville Virginia who has an affinity obsession for items in the shape of the great state of Texas.

I made a quick trip to Tuesday Morning which always has awesome deals and got this Texas shaped stone at a steal for $8.  And as I was buying it, the clerk remarked, “Good, I’m glad someone’s finally buying this.  I’m tired of looking at it on the shelf!”  Well like they say, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!

Since we don’t have a yard currently, my in-laws are storing it for me in their yard until we have a house and yard where I can proudly display it!

The title of this post is one of my favorite quotes about love and relationships.  I think I really like it because it describes the teamwork, partnership, and cooperation that I believe is necessary for a healthy and lasting relationship.

Speaking of love and games, I wanted to show the cornhole set that I had custom made for my wedding.  The theme of the wedding was Texas and Virginia (mine and Ben’s home states respectively in case it wasn’t already obvious).  We had lots of little aspects of the wedding that went along with this theme like the Texas shaped bride’s cake (yes, you read that right, we had a bride’s cake instead of a groom’s cake) and the Virginia wine and beer served at the reception.  I think this game brought the whole theme together quite nicely, not to mention it was great fun to have at the wedding and Ben and I can enjoy them for years to come.

Board 1: Texas

Board 2: Virginia

The boards were hand made by the extremely talented Derik of Cornchucker LLC .  He did a beautiful job and let me customize the wording, colors, and logos on the boards.  I know Ben and I are going to have these set up in our backyard when we finally buy a house and they will always remind us of our wonderful wedding weekend!

I realized the other day that I just passed the 7 year anniversary of moving to Virginia.  I believe I moved into my first Virginian residence on August 9th, 2005.

I remember how weak and sad I felt when I got here.  I literally kicked and screamed part of the way here and could think of nothing else more than to get back to Texas ASAP!  I never dreamed that I would still be here 7 years later.  Even though I still wish I lived in Texas and I miss my friends and family terribly, I wouldn’t change the past.  Had I not left Texas and moved to Virginia, I don’t think I would be as strong and independent as I am today.  Had I stayed in my comfort zone close to mommy and daddy, I may have never really gotten that push out of the metaphorical nest that I needed to truly become an adult.  Living close to my parents was always a crutch that I could take advantage of.  What if I had a flat tire? What if I got in a car accident?  What if I can’t figure out how to cook something?  Mom and dad were always right there to fix things for me.  Of course now they are only a phone call away, but being 2000 miles away from them made me realize that I needed to be able to rely on myself like an adult.

Another reason I would never change the decision I made 7 years ago to follow my college boyfriend to Virginia is that I would have never met so many amazing new friends and family.  I would have never fallen in love with and learned so much from Ben.  I probably would have stayed in an unhealthy and manipulative relationship and not morphed from the shy introvert into the outgoing extrovert (most of the time) that I am now.

I would also probably never get the chance to appreciate a more rural environment.  When I first moved to Charlottesville, I certainly had culture shock!  I spent my whole life living in HUGE cities like Houston and San Antonio.  Not having a gas station on every corner was pretty scary to me…it made me feel cut off from the rest of the world.  Now I LOVE living in a less urban environment.  It means that there are less traffic, less pollution, and less crowds to deal with.  And Facebook, cellphones, email, and this blog certainly keep me feeling connecting to the ones I love who are far away.

I’m so glad that I have traveled the path that lays behind me now.  It certainly wasn’t easy and it’s been filled with some sadness, heartbreak, and loneliness.  But it has also been filled with joy, surprise, adventure, learning, love, and amazement.  I know the future will definitely hold the bad and the good but it will also be shaped by the 7 years I’ve spent here and the decisions that led me here as well.  I just have to remember that in order to experience something amazing, I’ve got to take a risk, endure the negative, and keep a positive outlook on things.  Had I not left Texas, I wouldn’t be the person I am today and that would be sad, because I really do love who I am!

I was reading an article titled Google Autocomplete Reveals the Fattest, Boringest, and Most Racist States in the Union on slate.com that explains how a researcher used Google Autocomplete to draw conclusions on the biggest assumptions about each state based on the most popular Google searches.  It’s a pretty short read and quite fascinating but what really got me excited about the article was the top most popular Google search about Texas shown in the interactive map of the United States in the article.

Screenshot courtesy of slate.com

“Why is Texas so awesome” was the most popular Google search about Texas at the time the research was done for this article!

Anyone who was born and raised there may not be able to articulate the answer to this question, but they can certainly feel it!

This weekend, Ben and I drove 366 miles to FINALLY visit my brother Mikey in Columbia, South Carolina.  The drive wasn’t bad at all…we drove through Lynchburg and Danville, Virginia, Greensboro and Charlotte, North Carolina, and finally made it to the beautiful state of South Carolina.  We made the trip in under 6 hours and that was with two stops for gas, bathroom breaks, and snacks.

When we got to Columbia on Friday evening, Mikey took us to one of his favorite brewpubs, the Hunter Gatherer, for dinner and drinks.  We each had delicious gyros and many microbrews.  We also finally got to meet Mikey’s South Carolina entourage (or part of it).  Ross, Katherine, and Josh met up with us for drinks and shared lots of crazy stories!

Saturday morning, we got up and went for a run around the University of South Carolina campus.  I did about 4.5 miles, but couldn’t keep up with Mikey and Ben who at a much faster pace, ran around 7.  It was really cool to see the campus and I also got a taste of the USC Gamecock school spirit from Mikey’s awesome roommate Katherine.  After our run, we hit the farmers market in Columbia, but soon it started raining, so we detoured to the Cock n’ Bull for what Mikey deems the best burgers in Columbia!  He was right…we all had delicious burgers while we watched the Olympics.

Later that afternoon, we got dressed up in our Texans gear and headed to Charlotte with Mikey’s buddy Josh who was gracious enough to drive us.  We stopped for sushi once we got to town and then continued on to tailgate before the game.  Much to our surprise, we realized that drinking on the streets in Charlotte on game day is legal accepted by the local police so we met up with some of Josh’s friends and enjoyed a few cold ones.

Mikey and I tailgating in our Texans jerseys!

Mikey and Josh enjoying cold beer in a hot parking garage.

The hubby and I getting ready for his first pro football game!

The guys at the game.

View of downtown Charlotte from the stadium.

The game was great!  The highlight was in the first quarter when Trindon Holliday scored an amazing touch down!  The night couldn’t have gone better with the Texans beating the Panthers 26 to 13.  Even though it was a preseason game, we made sure to out yell all of the Carolina Panthers fans surrounding us in true Texas spirit!

Sunday morning, we met up with Mikey’s friends for brunch at the Thirsty Fellow where I sampled the bellini, mimosa, and a bloody mary (the Sunday brunch trio)!  Food was great, drinks were awesome, and the company was the best.  But like all great weekends, this one had to end, so Ben and I loaded up the car and headed back to Charlottesville.  The trip was so much fun and I was sad it had to end.  I love getting to spend time with my brother and it was really cool to meet his friends and see where he spends his time.

I can’t wait for another trip back to South Carolina.  Next time I’ll make it a three-day weekend (or longer) and we’ll check out Charleston!

The Nederlander Theater on Broadway to be exact!

This weekend, a dear friend and I are making our way by car, by bus, by foot, and maybe by cab if our feet get tired, to see Disney’s Newsies The Musical on Broadway!  After a two hour drive to Northern Virginia, a five hour bus ride to New York City, and a short walk from our hotel to the Nederlander Theater, we will be seeing Newsies on Broadway after months of planning!

Attending a Broadway play is one of the many adventures on my very long bucket list.  You may be wondering how the fulfillment of this adventure has finally come to fruition.  Well, you’re in for a treat, so sit back, relax, and read on!

There once was a little girl named Sarah whose aunt took her and her cousin to see a Disney movie in the spring of 1992.  This little girl fell in love with the story and the characters and became forever fond of the film.  That movie was Newsies, starring the now famous Christian Bale!

Fast forward 20 years or so; that little girl happens to be all grown up and has become great friends and soon-to-be sister-in-laws with me.  One day, Sarah mentions the movie Newsies and after my response that I have never seen it, she exclaims that I HAVE to watch it and that it will be LIFE-CHANGING.  Well she was right!  I fell in love with the movie too and Ben even gave me the DVD for Christmas.

So imagine our excitement when Sarah learned that for a limited time only, a new musical based on Disney’s Newsies would be playing at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey!  So Sarah, our friend Wendy, and I bought tickets and drove more than 600 miles in a weekend to see the play!  It was definitely worth the drive and we even got to meet the up-and-coming Jeremy Jordan who just happens to be a Texan!

 

Jumping for Joy!

Me and my girls getting ready to see Newsies at the Paper Mill Playhouse!

Here I am meeting Jeremy Jordan who plays Jack Kelly and realizing that he is from Corpus Christi!

Here Wendy, Sarah, and I are waiting anxiously for Newsies to start!

We had an amazing trip and the play did so well that they decided to take it to Broadway!

So that is the story of how I came to see my first Broadway play!  Many thanks to Sarah and Wendy for the pictures above and hopefully I will have many more to share with you when I return!