Cowboys vs. Lions

On November 21st Paul and I went with our friend Andrew and his brother, John to the Cowboys vs. Lion's game. The Cowboy's actually WON and it was fun to watch the crazy fans at the game. I've noticed that the hot thing to wear to the games are leggings, a jersey and cowboy boots! I'll have to remember that next time so I fit in! Being a texas girl takes some practice!
We visited with one of Paul's clients in their suite for the first half and then went down to our seats with the TRUE fans. Before the game we tailgated with some friends who operate the "Burger House's" here in Dallas so we got some REAL yummy, greasy tailgate food.
Being from Michigan Paul was a bit torn on who to cheer for? The Dallas Cowboys -- his new hometeam? Or, the Lions whom he loved from childhood? We cheered for both!
Andrew works with me and plays bball with Paul on Wednesday nights -- he knew the Lions game would be a good one to take us to! And it was!

Here we are at our seats! Go Cowboys! (and go Lions!)

Look at that big screen! Makes it hard to actually look at the field!

View from the suite

Hooray for Girls Weekends!

Paul has been gone so much I have really looked forward to girl time! And that's exactly what this past weekend was all about! A few of us were invited to my friends Debbie's lake house on lake Kiawah just north of Frisco. Only about an hour away makes a quick weekend get-a-away very do-able!

So, Friday night Tina picked me up, we loaded the SUV with wine and snacks and headed north. After a little traffic and a stop for gas we made it to the lake. ahh, how peaceful! This is exactly what we all were craving! It had been a busy week for all and with Thanksgiving around the corner we all needed a little down time before jumping into family gatherings and hosting events. We settled into our first glass of wine and gossip -- then did homemade pizzas! I can't tell you how long it's been since I've done pizza at home?! What a treat...OK, I splurged a little bit but it's girls weekend! (and I did 10miles the next day...) And then we ran into a problem. Yes, the corkscrew was no longer. What were we going to do?!

Well, take a screw, a screwdriver and pliers and you have a homemade wine opener -- right? Well, not really...it didn't work so well! But, we did give ourselves a pat on the back for our creativity. We ended up having bad Smirnoff's leftover from the summer. Which aren't really bad -- except when you go from wine to Smirnoff....

The rest of the night we watched chick flicks that we could never watch with our hubby's and indulged in more yummy treats. (As if the pizza wasn't enough!) It was just like an old fashioned sleep-over. Just what the doctor ordered for those over-stressed, over-worked, sleep-deprived gals in Dallas! Cheers!

Neath the Wreath | Ladies Night Out

Here's Tina and I with our Hot Santa from the Plano Police Dept. woot woot!

Tis the Season! We kicked off the holiday season at the Junior League's holiday market, Neath the Wreath. The market has EVERYTHING holiday plus clothes, jewlery, pottery, food, etc. Its so much fun to shop and get unique gifts for everyone on your list. The league hosts a "Ladies Night Out" preview shopping event with food, drinks, silent auction and this year....HOT FIREMAN SANTAS! I had so much fun chatting, eating, drinking and previewing the auction that I didn't even get a chance to shop (barely!) Luckily, I went back the next day and was able to still snag some of the things I saw the night before. This pot was one of my favorites from this year...it still needs some flowers but I have it sitting in front our house right now. So cute!


Welcome to the Simon's!

Give thanks

Its that time of year when we should forget what"we don't have" and give thanks for what we do have! We are so blessed and it's easy to get wrapped up in wanting more. A better job, a smokin hot date, a firm a**, faster car, a bigger TV, more shoes, more time, etc! Each of us have so much to be thankful for...here's a few of mine.

thankful for:
Fleece
Hot coffee on a cold day
long phone calls with old friends
Flip flops
Perfect weather on a run
A great boss

laughter from my nephews
Legs that carry me 26 miles
A husband that loves me
The smell of cookies in the oven
Comfy Ugg boots
Salt on the rim of a margarita
Delta Phi Blues sweatshirt
Warm towels out of the dryer
Milo snuggled next to me
Reality TV
Organic Peanut butter
Spin class
Slow Country music
Chocolate chip cookie dough
Good friends
Fine wine
pool on a hot day
Receiving fun mail
Amazing family
People magazine
Clients who give me a job
A Strong marriage

Guess who went to NASCAR?!

November 7th Paul and I went with some of his clients to Texas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR races! We were VIP all the way -- what a treat! I'm convinced that's the only way to enjoy racing. We were in the inner circle with lots of food tents, beer and RV's! Oh, and did I mention the people watching...omg, that was crazy! So many insane NASCAR fans! If you ever see me decked out head to toe in #5 you know I've gone over to the other side!
It was a little loud for my taste (I wasn't able to chit chat as much!) and it smelled like exhaust and gas all day! Thank goodness for the jumbo-tron because I would of never been able to see what was REALLY going on otherwise. They zip by too fast! But overall, it was a great time and NASCAR fans are really happy, fun people to party with. I would definitely do it again! (yes, I just said that!)

This is the view from the Jack Daniels tent -- not to bad, huh?!

Paul and Jules!

This is the view from the top of the scaffling -- "the pit" is just to the right

Yes, I climbed this to view the race! Crazy girl!

The 20miler…The beginning of what comes next

Today I ran my second 20miler getting ready for the White Rock Marathon December 5th

I have ran a handful of double-digit runs in the teens but there is something about getting into the “20’s” territory that is special - (and slightly insane!) You get a taste of complete exhaustion, test your limits, try your mental strength and some find the "wall." You learn that your mind is the most important part at this point. Everything hurts. Your knees ache with every strike of the pavement, your quads have been burning since mile 13, your hamstrings and calves are so tight you wonder if you can fully extend your leg strait anymore? You can't feel your feet yet somehow they continue to propel you forward? Your entire body is soaked with sweat and you feel dehydration affects starting to set in. Then, you wonder how you will ever make the last 6 miles come race day? And you have to ask yourself: how bad do I want this?

Ready to run?

Happy Halloween from Maverick and Charlie!

This year my girlfriend Haley was throwing a big Halloween party that we all dressed up for. Our group had some very creative costumes! We had anti-mother nature, the crooked tooth fairy, the hip-hop Easter bunny, an unlucky leprechaun, unlucky in love cupid, a sweepstakes winner and Father Time just to name a few! I was amazed by how much time and energy my girlfriends put into their costumes – they turned out sooooo good! I mean, I just order ours off the internet and hoped they fit Paul and me ;-)
We all had a wonderful time at Haley and Garrett’s – the party was nothing short of a “Haley Party!” There was a bar, catered food, amazing cake, photo booth, DJ and a fortune teller! I talked Paul into doing the fortune teller with me – the most noteworthy take away from her was that we’re going to have boys – two of ‘em! We’ll have to see if she’s right….

Here's Paul and I all dressed up as Maverick and Charlie!

Here's Jenn, Me and Cindy getting pics before the party!

Photo booth fun!

Hotties!

Let's Dance!

Where's the bar?

The next night we continued Halloween festivities at our friends Kerri and Jason’s. They were hosting their annual “Pimp ur Pumpkin” party. Paul and I stopped at like 4 places searching for a pumpkin to bring and “pimp out” but were unsuccessful! However, with all the sports on TV and cocktails flowing nobody really ended up carving that night. GO RANGERS!

Pimp UR Pumpkin!

kerosene in a pumpkin?! YES!

Sunday was Halloween and I was very excited to hand out candy for the first time in our new house. Paul and I had our own little “chili cook-off” that afternoon and invited a few friends over to judge while we watched the trick-or-treaters. Unfortunately, we didn’t have too many little kids…so, we’re stuck with tons of candy! And the jury is still out on who made the best chili! (I did!)

Milo dressed up like a bumblebee this year...what a cutiepie!

My Milo dogger!

Rex's wedding weekend in Dallas

The weekend of October 23-25 was a BUSY one! Not only was a coordinating and working with the American Girl Fashion Show BUT my family was in town for my Uncle Rex’s wedding to his new love, Linda Sue!
They had many activities planned for everyone – happy hour, TCU football game, brunch and of course the wedding itself. My parents, Jeff & Kori and Chad arrived Friday night to take part in the wedding weekend.
Paul and I took them out Friday night to the Shops of Legacy to kick off the weekend and show them a bit of Texas ;-) We started at Season’s 52 for dinner – where every dish is under 500 calories. It was sooooo tasty – you couldn’t even tell it was low cal! After dinner and a few bottles of wine we headed to Mi Cocina across the street to have everybody try a legendary “Mambo Taxi” hence the name you need a taxi home if you drink even one! ;-) And to boot, we watched the Rangers win the ACLS championship and head to the World Series!! Woot woot!!! The whole town was celebrating with us! To close down the night we had drinks, shots and danced at Sambuca…that’s where all the silly pictures are from! We sent mom and dad home in a town car (they thought it was so fancy!) before things got too crazy! Lol!
Fast forward past happy hour, brunch and the TCU game (since I wasn’t able to attend any of these – I was at the fashion show!) And here we are at the wedding Sunday night…. The ceremony was at our friend’s home in North Dallas, Jimmy & Mary Ann Camp. It was a lovely evening outside where they exchanged their vows poolside ;-) After we had the reception at Chamberlains Fish Market where things got a little silly again, go figure! But the funniest happening was that my dad’s shirt caught on fire from the candles lining the wall – hilarious! He was of course embarrassed but we laughed and laughed and he played along ;-) “That damn starch!”

Mom and Dad at MiCocina - watching the Rangers...

Jeff sweeping Mom off her feet at Sambuca!

The whole crew!

Ok, who bought more shots?!

Chaddles on my phone...I have no idea which friend of mine he's talking to?

Closing down the bar!

Uh oh...I think it's time to go home!

At Rex's wedding

Jeff and I are the reception

American Girl Fashion Show Fundraiser

It finally arrived...the big event we had been working sooooo hard for and been anticipating since May....the American Girl Fashion Show Fundraiser! The event went beautifully and every detail was in place -- we had so many happy little girls and many pleased parents who attended.
It was a long road, lots of hard work and a lot of late nights leading up to this weekend but it really did all pay off when we saw everything come together and the smiles we created ;-)

The Junior League of Plano partnered with the American Girl store to present the Fashion show. Interviews for our little models were held at the AG store at the Galleria mall and the fashion show was held at the Heard Craig Center for the Arts in McKinney, Texas. All the proceeds will benefit the Junior League's projects in the community.

The Heard Craig center was decorated in AG pink and orange with the stage set resembling a "mad tea" party. Guests noshed on tea sandwiches and desserts while they enjoyed fashions from today and yesterday on girls and dolls! So cute!

My committee was in charge of tickets, invitations and reservations -- doesn't sound so bad until they tell you its assigned seating!!! There were 4 shows with 250 guests, so 1,000 people my 3-person team had to do assign tables for! Like I said, it was a lot of work -- but worth it!

Dallas Komen Race for the Cure

On October 16 several of my Junior League girlfriends and hubbies walk/ran in the Dallas Komen Race for the Cure. We all joined and supported our friend Lisa's Doctor's team, "Laidley's Ladies"
It's such an inspiring and fun event to participate in - especially with this amazing group of women! The mega team we joined had over 600 people and raised over $200,000 for the cure. So awesome!
Our friend Lisa had her surgery about 2 months ago and is still in treatment - but doing great! We love her!!! And admire her strength and courage!! Xoxo

A few of us before the big race!

We're all done! Ready for brunch ;-)

Here's Catrina and I after the race waiting for our team -- we ran the 5k...couldn't resist!

Here's Lisa and I -- LOVE HER! She's simply amazing!

My fabulous hubby and I -- what a great guy for getting up super early and coming to the race with us! Love him to pieces! xo

80's PAR-TAY!!!!

Party like its 1989!!!

So, a few weeks ago my girlfriend Jennifer threw an 80's party for our friend Tina's birthday. And yes, it was everything 80's!!! BIG HAIR, lace, blue eye shadow, Madonna gloves, bandanas, leggings, corsets, and neon!!! We played 80's Rock band, and Karaoke all night. We looked hilarious...Oh boy!!!


I totally look like Cyndi Lauper and Paul looks Bon Jovi in those pants! lol!


TWINS! So cute!


Village People?


Sing it!


Girlies!

Baylor/Tech Game and Bachelorette fun!

A few weeks ago Paul and I went with some of our Baylor friends to the Baylor vs. Tech game at the Cotton Bowl. Since this was during the Texas State Fair we also got free admission to the fair with our football tickets. Now, we didn't take advantage of any of the rides or any of the "steer viewing" BUT we did load up on some fair worthy food. Lots of cotton candy for jules!
This was AFTER we tailgated for hours in the parking lot. So, the whole day included TONS of food and plenty of beer. What a long day!
After, we headed to Knox Street Pub to watch MSU stomp out UofM - yeah baby! What a great day of football!!!!
I was sooooo ready to crash on the sofa but the night was really just beginning. I quickly headed home and headed out to Jaime's Bachelorette dinner & shower at Los Cabos. It was so fun seeing the girls again and catching up over giant margaritas. Plus, I'm so happy for Jaime and Cal!!! Their wedding was October 22! Congrats y'all!