Texas Lou

This photo from our wedding reception describes exactly how I felt that night.  Happy, in love, and having the time of my life surrounded by the people I love the most!

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.

Saturday, Ben and I went to the Top of the Hops Beer Festival downtown.  It was a beautiful day to be outside and we enjoyed it while bumping into friends and tasting lots of new and different beers.  Some of the more unique brews we tried were Fish Paralyzer BPA of RJ Rockers Brewing Company (BPA stands for Belgian-Style Pale Ale), Chipotle Ale from Rogue Ale which had a very smokey taste to it, and Jacques Au Lantern of Evolution Craft Brewing Co. which is a seasonal pumpkin ale that Ben described as being very nutmeggy!  We also tried several ciders and cask ales.

Chris (Ben’s best bud) and Ben…check out Chris’ awesome pretzel necklace!

The ladies: Caitlin (Cara’s sister), Cara, and I

Ben and I after lots of beers!

After all that beer, we desperately needed some food, so we headed to the Whiskey Jar for some southern style cookin’!  Ben and I both had the Courthouse Sandwhich “Hicory Smoked Pork with a spicy Pepper and Onion blend topped with Housemade Cheese Sauce on a Po Boy Roll and served with Fries”.  It was delicious and we washed it down with a famous Moonshine Punch!

Afterward we spent some time sobering up while playing cornhole at Chris and Cara’s house.   It was the perfect Saturday spent with good friends!

And by “Winter Is Coming”, I’m not just referring to one of my favorite shows, Game of Thrones, which I am really excited to see the third season of beginning in March.

Today is the last full day of summer and tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox, or official beginning of fall.  And as fall leads to winter, I started thinking about my first winter here in Virginia.  It was my first real winter and my first real snow storm I had experienced.  We received 6 inches of snow in Charlottesville in early 2006 and the next day, I was like a kid on Christmas.  I headed outside with my camera to view the landscape covered in white powdery snow.  I think it was pretty obvious to others that I’d grown up someplace far away that never experiences such phenomenon.

I wanted to showcase one of my favorite photos from that day.  I lived in an apartment complex that had a lake, really a large pond, that often provided a sanctuary to local ducks, geese, and swans.  The reflection coming from the sun on the water as the geese basked in the sunlight after a long night of cold and cloudy snow really lets you feel the calm after the storm.

I’m hoping we get some snow this winter, especially after the uneventful winter we had last season.  I’m not a huge fan of winter time, but if it’s going to be cold and dark and dreary, I’d rather had some beautiful snow to go with it.  After all, when everything’s white, the world looks a little bit brighter!

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!

We are getting dangerously close to the end of summer, and although I LOVE fall and all of the beautiful colors and changing leaves and cool and crisp air it brings with it, I dread the shorter days and decrease in sunlight.  The fall colors are something that I never really saw growing up in Houston that I’ve really come to apreciate here in Virginia.  However, the shorter days where it gets dark around 5 PM is also something  that I never saw growing up that I really can’t stand.  It brings on a serious case of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD 🙁 ).

With these last few days of summer and late evenings still filled with dwindling sunlight, I’m trying to soak up as much of it as I can get before the time change.  The Meade Park Farmers Market that takes place every Wednesday afternoon from 3 PM until 7 in Charlottesville is about to come to a close for the season next week so I suggested to Ben that we go for a run to the market after work.  After a beautiful 2.75 mile run to the market in perfect temperatures, we arrived at the market where we bumped into some friends, got to sample some delicious and nutritious bread from the Great Harvest Bread Company, and ended up buying some fresh and local green beans and swiss chard.  We than ran the 2.75 miles back home along the Rivanna River where I cooked barbecue chicken (with authentic Texas Rudy’s barbecue sauce – thanks to Cheryl and Dan), asparagus, and garlic parmesan sauteed zuccini.  After dinner, Ben and I watched 21 Jump Street, the movie and laughed our butts off!  I highly recommend it especially if you’re looking for a good laugh.

It was a great day, made even better by the fact that rather than going and sitting in front of a computer all day, I got to spend the work day volunteering with my company for the Thomas Jefferson Area United Way Day of Caring.  We organized closets, separated donated childrens’ clothing, and made goody bags for young families in the area at the Child, Youth, & Family Services in Charlottesville.  It was wonderful to learn about the organization, help out my community, meet lots of new people, and give my time and effort to such a great cause.  And you should have seen the amazing lunch they provided us!!!

I’d have to say it was definitely a summer day to remember!

A couple of weeks ago, September 8th to be exact (I know I am really late posting about this), we attended the wedding of my friends Amy and Joel in Crozet, Virginia.

The wedding was outdoors at the beautiful home of Joel’s mother.  About an hour before the ceremony was to begin, a thunderstorm rolled through the area which gave the bride and groom and their bridal party a scare, but thanks to awesome bridesmaids, groomsmen, and ushers, everything got put back together just in time.  I think the storm was a blessing in disguise because it brought in some cooler air which made for a perfect night that wasn’t too hot.

The wedding was beautiful and the bride was gorgeous.  You could see all of the hard work that Amy and Joel put into planning the event with every little detail and personal touch of the ceremony and reception!  We had a great time dining and dancing with friends and celebrating the beginning of Mr. and Mrs. Harrigan’s new life as a married couple!

Check out a few of the lovely pictures from the evening below!

The lovely couple just after the ceremony!

Ben and I enjoying the evening

Sarah, me, and Cris…lovely ladies in blue!

My sister-in-law and I!

The Davidsons!

Lovely cake with the most adorable cake toppers made by the bride’s sister!

I also want to give a shout out to my sister-in-law/best friend/sister, Sarah, and my brother in law, Ian.  Today is their two year wedding anniversary and I still remember their beautiful wedding like it was yesterday!  Here’s to countless more years of happiness and love for both Sarah and Ian and the newlyweds, Amy and Joel!

I found this neat red feather outside today and thought I’d share.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday!

I just wanted to share a lovely picture, courtesy of a friend, of my husband, the love of my life, and I at a wedding this past weekend (more on the amazing wedding coming later)!

Ben and I

I love him and I love us!