Texas Lou

I just voted in the 2012 election and here’s proof:

I’m wearing my voting sticker proud this morning!  I voted for the office of President and Vice President of the United States, Senator for Virginia, House Representative for Virginia, and cast my vote on two amendments to the Virginia state constitution.

Everyone should get out there and vote regardless of the long lines or your busy schedules.  This is a right and privilege that many people in this world do not have and less than 100 years ago, even women in this country did not have so get out their and exercise your right as an American!

Happy Election Day!

This morning, on my way to work, I was stuck behind an SUV going unusually slow.  I was really annoyed that the person in front of me was making my commute last a few minutes longer than it normally does.

All of a sudden, a deer darted out in front of the SUV in front of me which caused them and then me to slam on our breaks.  We were all lucky…the deer escaped without injury and the driver of the SUV and myself were safe from any car accident.  Then I realized that had that slow driver not been in front of me, I probably would have been driving at my usual higher speed or following another car driving at a faster speed and things could have ended very badly for myself, the deer, and my car.

I realized that someone or something was watching out for me and the unusually slow driver in front of me this morning was put there for a reason.  I found myself being thankful for them rather than annoyed or frustrated and reminded myself to not always be in such a hurry.  It’s experiences like this that reinforce my belief in God and a higher power.

Saturday night, I was in the mood for some pumpkin themed activities, so we headed over to Ian and Sarah’s house for dinner, pumpkin carving, pumpkin seed roasting, and pumpkin beer tasting!

Sarah cooked the amazing dinner and I provided the pumpkin ales and pumpkins for drinking and carving.  Sarah made white bean vegetarian chili which was delicious.  It had the consistency of potato soup but the taste of chili and it was perfect for a breezy fall evening.  I brought over Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale, Williamsburg Alewerks Pumpkin Ale (a Virginia beer!), and Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale which I picked up from Beer Run which always has an amazing beer selection!  Rogue and Smuttynose were both kind of spicy with hints of pumpkin and nutmeg while Williamsburg Alewerks was more sweet like pumpkin pie.

After dinner, we carved pumpkins with the help of Amy, Joel, Collin, Ian, and Ben.  Sarah opted for an awesome design created using the power tool pumpkin carving method.  She used a drill to create decorative holes all around the pumpkin’s surface.  I of course had to go with a Texas theme!  Due to my lack of artistic ability, I had Ben draw the shape of Texas  freehand.  It looked great but we were worried it would be too difficult to carve, so he drew me a Texas Longhorns logo instead.  It came out great and the Texas themed jack-o-lantern is now being proudly displayed outside our front door.

Sarah with her lovely pumpkin!

My Longhorn pumpkin!

The cool longhorn pumpkin cut-out.

We used the seeds from our pumpkins to roast cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds and garlic pumpkin seeds and ended the evening feasting on them while watching Netflix.  It was a great night with great friends and the perfect way to celebrate Halloween weekend!

There were many surprises that my family and friends planned for me the weekend of my wedding and I hope to eventually showcase all of the amazing surprises that made my heart melt here on the blog.

At my wedding reception, my maid of honor and sister, Carrie, and my matron of honor and cousin Megan, spoke with the DJ while Ben and I were taking post-ceremony pictures.  They asked if he could play “You’re the One That I Want” from the musical Grease, a childhood favorite of ours, on their cue.  I had no clue this was coming and when they were done with their dual speech, they cued the music and asked that all of “Lou’s Ladies” (all of my awesome girlfriends) join them on stage.  They had blue sunglasses for all of the girls to wear and everyone began singing, dancing, and putting on an amazing show for the wedding guests.  They said they had planned to sing to me while I watched, but of course I couldn’t help but join in.

The whole scene which made me so giddy went like this (thanks to Megan’s husband B for filming and posting on YouTube):

I always loved the Chris Brown wedding entrance video that one couple did at their wedding and the spoof of it that the Office did for Pam and Jim‘s wedding and wanted to do something similar and creative like it at our wedding, but couldn’t get introverted Ben to commit to anything and I was honestly out of ideas after all of the wedding planning so this surprise was perfect!  I love my friends and family and will always remember this amazing and very special moment!

Chris Brown Wedding Entrance

Office Spoof from Pam and Jim’s Wedding

In my post yesterday, I talked about how my sister brought me some Saint Arnold‘s Oktoberfest from Houston.  Saint Arnold Brewing Company is Texas’ oldest craft brewery.  My family and I have been to their old facility and their new one in Houston several times for the tastings and tours.  It’s always a treat for me to get some of their beer since it’s only available in Texas and Louisiana.  Every year, they produce a limited amount of their Christmas Ale and we tend to buy several 6 packs of it when we are home for the holidays.  A couple of years ago, my brother and I both packed up some Christmas Ale and brought it back with us in our suitcases to our respective non-Texan residences.  For my wedding, my friend Cody drove from Houston to Virginia to attend the party, so he brought me an assortment of Saint Arnold brews as a gift.

When you go in for a tasting, you pay $7 and get a souvenir Saint Arnold glass to keep.  You also get 4 tokens that you can trade in to have your souvenir glass filled with different draft beers brewed right there on the spot.  Patrons are encouraged to bring snacks and food and enjoy the company while sampling the different beers.  In addition, if you bring in the cardboard six pack cartons for them to recycle, you can trade them in for cool Saint Arnold swag.  You can also upgrade you souvenir glass to a larger pint glass or even larger boot glass or mug and use your tokens to have those filled instead.

It really is a great brewery in a great city in a great state and I always enjoy going there with friends and family.  Here are just a few pictures of some good times had enjoying tasty Saint Arnold beer.

I got to try Santo, a black Kölsch, when I was in Texas last Christmas.

I bought this Saint Arnold Texas pint glass on one of my trips to the brewery in Houston. On this particular day, I was enjoying a Summer Pils that my friend Cody brought me from Texas as a wedding gift.

This is a 2012 Oktoberfest that my sister brought to New York from Houston for me to try.

Saint Arnold prints messages on the bottom of their bottle caps. This one from a Saint Arnold Lawnmower I enjoyed a few weeks ago describes my exact feelings about craft beer.

My friend Josh, my brother Mikey, my mom, my friend Charles, and I made a trip to the brewery during Christmas break of 2007. Notice my boot that I’m drinking out of!

Mikey, Mom, and I most likely enjoying the seasonal Christmas Ale in the winter of 2007.

There are still a ton of beers that Saint Arnold brews that I have yet to try.  I’d love to get my hands on some Winter Stout, Divine Reserve, Pumpkinator, and Endeavor (I believe named for the space shuttle) so I’ll just have to keep making trips to the brewery whenever I’m in Houston visiting.  And for those who aren’t crazy about the taste of beer or who prefer to indulge in non-alcoholic beverages, they brew a delicious Root Beer.

If you’re not in Houston, be sure to check out the Saint Arnold Brewing Company website and if you are in Houston, get to the brewery ASAP!

A couple weeks ago, I joined my dad, brother, and sister for an impromptu trip to New York City to see the Houston Texans play the New York Jets for Monday Night Football.  It was an amazing trip and I absolutely loved getting to spend a weekend with my family.  The only way it could have been better was if my mom and husband were there but mom had to work and Ben was on a fishing trip in North Carolina.

We all met up at the airport on a Saturday afternoon.  Mikey flew in from Columbia, South Carolina, I flew in from Charlottesville, and Dad and Carrie flew in from Houston.  After a wild goose chase around Laguardia Airport and bumping into some other Texan fans in town for the game, we made it by taxi to our hotel in New York City.  We got settled in and then sat down at the hotel bar to discuss the evening’s plans over drinks.

The fam and I at the Doubletree bar. We are so excited for the weekend ahead of us!

Since the Longhorns were playing West Virginia, we decided to find a pub to watch the game.  Mikey had heard about a place in New York called Hill Country Barbecue Market that Texas Exes go to watch the games so we headed that way.  Let me tell you, BEST.DECISION.EVER!  This place was straight outta Texas, complete with Shiner and Lone Star beer, Blue Bell ice cream, tons of Texas decor, and authentic Texas barbecue!  Mikey and I, having not lived in our dear home state for years, were in HEAVEN!  They even had their own Texas flag, a Pearl Brewery sign (located in San Antonio where I went to college, I attended one of the most amazing parties of my college career there), and the waiters all wore Longhorn shirts for the game.

Deep in the heart of Texas right smack dab in the middle of New York!

Texas themed cocktails! AMAZING!

First time I’ve ever seen mention of the Pearl Brewery outside of Texas.

Lone Star beer! It’s impossible to get this stuff in Virginia. The taste took me back to my days of playing caps in college!

We stuffed ourselves with barbecue and cheered on the Longhorns over 4 buckets of Lone Star beer!  Unfortunately the Longhorns lost, but man was it a good game and you never would have known you were in New York by the inside of that bar.  Almost every person was sporting burnt orange and after each touch down, the entire bar was yelling the University of Texas Fight Song at the top of their lungs.  Mikey swore we could have won had he thrown more chairs!

Cat and Dad watching the game

Hook ’em Horns!

LOVING the Texas memorabilia!

Shock ’em Cougs!

Lone Star is famous for having picture puzzles on their beer caps!

The next day, it was raining so we picked up some cheap, broken umbrellas.  Of course we didn’t know they were broken when we bought them.  Mikey found a disgusting green paperclip on the streets of New York City that was just what he needed to MacGuyver his green umbrella to stay open.  Since it matched the umbrella perfectly, we dubbed it the “Green pooperclip of destiny”.  Pooperclip was the appropriate term since that’s probably what it had on it after laying in the streets of New York.

After standing in like in Time Square, we bought tickets to Chaplin on Broadway.  It was our last choice (if you ever go to New York, make sure to buy your Broadway musical tickets well in advance), but the play was spectacular and we learned alot about Charlie Chaplin that we hadn’t known.  We had time to kill before the play, so we headed to an Irish pub near Time Square called the Pig ‘n Whistle where we dined on appetizers, drank beer served by an authentic Irish bartender, and watched NFL.  We then headed to see Chaplin at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre which was amazing and I’d highly recommend to anyone looking to see a Broadway musical.  Afterward, we found McGee’s Restaurant and Pub which is the bar that MacLaren’s Pub in the show How I Met Your Mother was based on.  There we had more drinks and then headed to Stand Up NY, a famous comedy club where tons of comedic actors got their start doing stand up.  There was a 2 drink minimum so we drank cocktails and laughed until we cried.

The next day we all put on our Texans gear to represent our home team.  Carrie wanted to see the 9/11 Memorial and the Empire State Building, so we navigated our way through the subway to get to Manhattan.  I hadn’t been to the site of the World Trade Center 9/11 terrorist attacks since 2005 when they were still cleaning up debris so I was blown away by the memorial that now sits in its place.  Although it is still not complete, the memorial and north and south pools were quite a site.  It was humbling to see the spot where thousands of innocent Americans died and I was thankful for the opportunity to honor them.

After that, we headed to the Empire State Building where we did what my dad would describe as a lot of standing in line.

Dad, Carrie, and Mikey standing in line to go to the top of the Empire State Building (all sporting their Texans gear for game day of course)

We finally made it to the 86th floor after all of that waiting and it was definitely worth it.  I went to the top of the Empire State Building back in 2005, but that was at night time so it was cool to go up during the day and see the city from so high!  We splurged and joined the 102 club, going all the way to the 102nd floor!

View from the 86th floor

The Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building

The new World Trade Center Tower

Panoramic view from the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building

After all of that elevator riding, we were famished, so we walked to Keens Steakhouse for lunch.  Keens has the largest collection of churchwarden pipes in the world and their ceiling and walls were lined with them!  The food was amazing too and we were stuffed after dining on steak and a fine Cabernet Sauvignon.  After that, dad needed a rest before the game, so we headed back to the Doubletree to relax for a while.  I took advantage of the downtime to enjoy a Saint Arnold’s Oktoberfest that my awesome sister brought me all the way from Houston (you can’t get Saint Arnold’s beer outside of Texas or Louisiana).  I also attempted to help my dad log into his iPad, but he forgot the password and I have to say it was quite comical watching him try to remember it!

Saint Arnold’s Oktoberfest!

Soon it was time to head to see our Texans beat the New York Jets at Met Life Stadium.  First, we headed to Stout to pre-game where we met some fellow Texans fans going to the game.  After seeing some other patrons doing Irish Car Bomb shots, we decided to do one as a family and convinced my dad it was a good idea.  Then we headed to Penn Station where we took the train to New Jersey where Met Life Stadium is located.  We met more Texans fans from Houston on the train and had a great time talking football with them!

When we got to the stadium, everyone was pumped.  There were alot more Texans fans there than we expected so there was lots of cheering and shouting of “Go Texans!” every time we passed other fans in their Texans jerseys!  The game was great and the Texans beat the Jets 23 to 17.  It was a pretty close game, but our undefeated Texans pulled through!

Met Life Stadium in New Jersey

Panoramic view of the stadium

It was an amazing weekend and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to make such great memories with my loved ones.  A special shout out goes to my dad for footing the bill!  I can’t wait for the next Elsaifi adventure!

This weekend, Ben and I went to the Charlottesville City Market to buy some fresh veggies and enjoy the local vendors.  We bumped into this car as we were walking to the market.  I said that “Murse” stands for Male Nurse, like Gaylord Focker in the movie “Meet the Parents”.  Ben however said that it stood for Man purse, as in the man bag that Joey carries in an episode of Friends. According to Urban Dictionary, the word murse can be used to describe both a male nurse and a male purse, but I think someone is much more likely to display pride of being a male nurse than pride of owning a male purse on the bumper of their Saturn.  What do you think?

My wedding video is done!  It was really amazing to see some of the wonderful events of the day played back for the first time.  It brought tears to my eyes.  Aaron Watson and Exist N Motion Films did a spectacular job!

Leslie and Ben’s Wedding Highlight Film from Aaron Watson on Vimeo.

I found this quote today and really liked it.

“More often than not, a hero’s most epic battle is the one you never see; it’s the battle that goes on within him or herself.” – Kevin Smith

The things that go on in my head have the ability to do so much damage to my spirit and outlook but they also have the ability to do so much good.  It really is a constant battle.

You know what really drives me nuts?

People who have last names that sounds like first names.  For example, John Robert or Lisa Leslie.

Why does this drive me crazy?  Because I’m an idiot and get their names fixed up.  Then I end up calling John, Robert, and Lisa, Leslie and everything turns into a big ole I’m an idiot fest!  This happened to me the other day at work and after a coworker pointed it out to me, I felt terrible and HAD to apologize to the person right away.  Now, whenever I see that person, all I can think about is how I butchered their name and I just keep reminding myself in my head of what his actual first name is!

Thank goodness my kids’ last name will be Davidson.  Although I’m sure there are people out there whose first names are Davidson, I don’t think it’s very common.