I knew you were coming, so I went ahead and baked a cake

A month ago (yeah, I know, July disappeared, too) we had some visitors (hi, Mom and Dad!!), and since one of them was having a birthday, it really was the perfect reason to bake a cake.  So I did.  At, like, midnight the night before because I have poor time management skills when it comes to prioritizing things and strongly feel that sometimes watching crap TV is number one.  Oops.  Let's commence with the caking.

Is it scary when the stuff IN the mixer matches the color OF the mixer?  Only a little bit...

And that's why you slap on a crumb coat - look at that hot mess of a cake

There, that's better!  Thumbs up to the cake!

This is Dad we're talking about, so I knew red velvet was the way to go.  And yes, it's kinda ridiculous to bake a giant cake for four people to maybe have one piece each, but when has that ever stopped me?  So we kept on celebrating by doing the present thing...

birthday present opening while wearing Father's Day present - now, that's pretty cool, Dad

...and journeying over to Ft. Worth and eating some really delicious Mexican food at El Rancho Grande, where we've been going as a family since before I can remember...

...and doing some definite Dad-style shopping, where Craig was more than just a little out of his element.

"What the heck are these things?" - oh, Craig, so much horse education to go

It was a little on the crazy-hot side, but we explored the stockyards for a little while and found some horsey friends.

Then back home to just sit in air conditioning where certain animals were a little less inclined to be friends...

...but then pretty much got over it and decided these guys weren't so bad after all.

oh, kitten, you are ridiculous

Happy birthday, Dad, creepy dripping candles and all!

Nerd school, and back to the East of Coasts

I just got back from nerd school in Baltimore, and while the majority of each day was consumed with really exciting tax information and avoiding the oppressive heat, I did manage to escape for dinner and a little exploring.  You know, as much as you'd want to explore Baltimore.  Which for me, was apparently just a little baseball game action when it was within easy reach, so I was glad to take a little more time to discover that there are actually cute things, tasty things, historical things in Baltimore...not just scary things.  So I took some phone pics for you (for me, really, but since I'm sharing them and all...), happily enhanced with some Picasa action here and there.  Enjoy the brief trip.

Oh, you know, just some boats hanging out in the inner harbor

Look what I found in Baltimore!  A little touch of home

For reals?  Yes, it's for reals, and claims to be America's oldest...

A fuzzy shot of the awesome bar at Thames Street Oyster House

A million kinds of oysters!  I, of course, had none - they kinda gross me out

So instead of oysters, I had a really delicious lobster roll with cucumber salad - YUM

Hey there, dining at the bar buddies

They also talked me into dessert - key lime tart, so good

The super old and super cute Broadway Market

The National Katyn Memorial, which I knew absolutely nothing about...something about Poland?  It just looked kinda cool

View of the harbor from my room at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront - hello, water

Did you know the world is your oyster?  Mo's says so!

I was temporarily back in the land of Yuengling...it's a weird place to be

Wreck 'em!

Yesterday. Hot hot HOT and not feeling very autumnal at all, but the essence of fall was in the air. And by the essence of fall, I mean that we journeyed allllll the way to Ft. Worth and followed a path through a random backyard...

...seriously - a very random backyard!  Park on neighborhood streets in Colonial Hills, seek out the house with the red brick driveway, almost walk past said house, get a little assistance from friendly TCU fans, and just scoot on down the driveway and through the path in back, over a bridge, and find yourself...

...taking in the essence of fall, which on this particular day meant emerging through a small patch of trees at the back of a random backyard to the smell of grills going and...well, it was quite strong...beer.  Ahhh, that means tailgating!!  Football time!!  I headed to Ft. Worth with Diana, Blonde Jen, and Red Jenn (it's the easiest way to distinguish!) to cheer on our Red Raiders versus those crazy horned frogs (really, "fear the frog!" as your "rah rah, let's intimidate the opponent!" tagline? I'm not really feeling it...). Not so bad having a conference game where the road trip for us Dallas gals is around an hour - I think we might make a tradition of this! Especially as long as Diana has these excellent tailgating connections.

A few pre-game festivities, which mostly consisted of fajitas and beer as well as some smack talk from the rowdier members of the group - you know that's Diana's job!  Especially since she's going around tagging TCU fans with tiny Masked Riders on their jerseys...

The game, of course, being a Red Raider football game, was ridiculous and almost gave me a heart attack four times.  I was also hoping for a gorgeous fall day, but it was a little on the toasty side (don't worry, I slathered myself in SPF 70 to preserve my Casper-like glow), and the sun was right in our face up until...ummm...yeah, overtime!

It's easy to forget about the sweat and the heat and the frustration and the craziness, though, when your team finally comes out with a win in TRIPLE OVERTIME.  Get your guns up!!

Glad you could pull this one out, Raiders - we celebrated your victory at Rosa's for a little taste of West Texas.  Yay for college football!  Also, we're a pretty loud cheering section all on our own - I have awesome friends. 

Oktoberfesting

In years past at the annual Addison Oktoberfest, members of our merry band of revelers have partaken in events like...a yodeling contest.  AND a beer belly contest.  But this year was a little more subdued, and I'm going to point to the offending heat blasting down on us.  And the fact that small children are also a part of our merry band, and we really shouldn't subject them to things like Mike's yodeling "skills" - pretty frightening.  So this year was pretty much just about FOOD.  And sitting with steins o' beer and catching up on life.  Ahhhh.

Everyone should have awesome suspenders like this guy...AND the hat!  The hat!

We retreated to the beer hall to get out of the broiling sun, and  cold beer is also an excellent way to combat the heat.  Trinity's Shiner shirt is also pretty awesome, and I loved that he had at least one person ask him if he works there.

Gracie also knows how to beat the heat - water time!  Naked baby!

A good mom is always prepared - and I have to say, Gracie is rocking some pretty awesome tan lines for fall.

A box of strudel!  So delicious!

Bier hall time for all, attempting to beat the heat.

Our merry band!  Surviving outside now because the sun is mostly down, letting us enjoy the smells of fried fried and those bright flashing lights from collapsible rides.  Yeeps.

Gracie's first solo ride!  And it's on a sparkly tractor - what could be better?  She totally rocked it.

To get us in the German food frame of mind, I also made some pretzel rolls to fortify our stomachs before filling them with beer - delicious!  Spicy mustard, apples, a little cheddar cheese - a mini German picnic lunch in our kitchen.  We ate three...and then came home to find that the dog ate the other five.  Nothing on the counter is safe.  Including the espresso pumpkin bread I made this weekend and then found partially autopsied in the backyard this morning.  I'm contemplating installing an electric fence around the edge of the counter.

Come back to Texas...

...it's just the same since you went away.  Before you lose your accent.  And forget all about the Lone Star State.

Oh, you're already back?  AWESOME.  Then you can come visit us!!

All in reference to my dear, wonderful, amazing friends from forever, Carrie and Jason and the adorable Alan, who made the journey back to Texas (Houston!) from an extended stay in New York City (which don't get me wrong, I loved visiting them there...but it's nice to have them HOME).  Yay yay yay!!  So of course a summer road trip was in order, and we were more than happy to have them come hang out in Dallas with us for the weekend.

In July.  When it was 28 bajillion degrees outside.  Every minute.  And yes, almost three months ago.  Deal.

We had plenty of chill time, and Mexican food time, and for the kid in all of us...aquarium time!  Also apparently a fun activity...house cleaning time!  Who knew.  Two year olds have a fascinating kind of attention span.

Alan + Swiffer = kitchen tile moments.  Both toy and cleaning apparatus.  Awesome combination.  I'm totally putting Swiffer pads on the knees and feet on all onesies.

Cleaning is exhausting.  Apparently for both dog and human.  Also, tile floors are nice and cool in the summer heat...

I wish I still saw the world through his eyes.  Everything is AWESOME.

Check out the fun in the Picasa album.  Mainly aquarium shots.  I refrained from photographing all of our food.  You're welcome.

Carrie and Jason, so glad you guys are close again!!  See you in a mere two weeks for this whole wedding business!  YAY!!

Battling the heat with frosty beverages

Weekend before last we hopped in the car and set off for the FW in this whole DFW metroplex thing - Craig had never been then, AND we had big plans to meet up with the Vaughns for an afternoon of...well...Mexican food and alcohol, when you get right down to it.  So, first stop was the patio at Joe T. Garcia's, an institution in the arena of Mexican food and Ft. Worth things to do.

Yes, please.

My previous experience with Joe T's has been (1) you can only order enchiladas or fajitas, and (2) the food's just ok but the experience/ambience/patio makes it all worth while.  So imagine my surprise when an actual MENU came out with TONS of options!  I stuck with the cheese enchilada but also added a taco into the mix.  And while I'm happy to report the expansion on (1), (2) still holds true...although you get a little less atmosphere when there's no live music rocking the patio.  But we had shade and fans, so that certainly helped.  As did margaritas.  Duh, margaritas always help.

After loading up our tummies, we headed over to Rahr & Sons brewery for the Saturday afternoon tour.   When we showed up, I was a little worried about the line...

...but we were in without a problem!  Into the un-air conditioned brewery, that is.  Which we knew going in.  And we knew it was going to be hot.  H-O-T.  But still.  I wasn't expecting to be quite so shiny throughout the afternoon.  Thank goodness for the fans.

And the tour wasn't much of a tour (ummm...we actually kinda missed the whole "tour" part of the afternoon, but our $7 for three beers + a glass bargain pretty much made up for that), but we did enjoy catching up with friends, hearing some tunes, and checking out something new.

She was pretty good!

Craig showing off his glass, and blocking his face, which is how he prefers to be photographed.

The sweetest baby alive handled the heat pretty well...although she looks a little worried here.  Good work, Gracie!

Tooooooooooo hot to do anything!!

Who gets married OUTSIDE in JULY? In TEXAS?

These people do.  And if I didn't love them both more...the sweat might not have been worth it.  But a truly touching, very personal ceremony in Nancy's Garden at the Arboretum really helped.  A fantastic lunch at Maggiano's to celebrate the happy couple was pretty nice, too.  Congrats to Nolan and Erin!  Full (minimal) photo adventure here. 



Sorry, unsuspecting guest sitting in front of me - I had to capture the sweaty moment.



The happy couple! =)

Ahhh, a cooling fan!

Yay, they're married!