A Week of LaLa
My mom came to visit this last week, and we truly had a great time with a little bit of everything, including an amazing meal each day. :-) The kids were still off school for Christmas break on Monday & Tuesday, so on Monday after we picked LaLa up from the airport, we went straight to the zoo! (JB's parents gave us a zoo membership for Christmas! So excited for the kids to get to use it so quickly!!! You're certain to see a lot of zoo posts in 2017 :-D) As usual, the biggest highlight was personally hand-feeding the giraffes:
On Tuesday after I taught my new Zumba class at my local little boutique studio, we had requisite Tex-Mex at Uncle Julio's for lunch and then made the kids' day by taking them to mini golf! We felt compelled to enjoy the last 85°F day for a while outside, and it's one of Will's favorite activities on earth. EVERYONE got a hole-in-one at some point on the course, but Annelise got the first one:
Wednesday was back to school for the kids and back to Zumba in the city for me = semi-normalcy. After my Zumba class, my mom joined me for Yin yoga – the most perfect way for me to stretch after teaching! We had lunch at The Yard House, before it was back to shuffling afternoon cheer practices, church Praise Team, meetings, etc.
Thursday, I did not have my normal Thursday Zumba class. (Remember how I saw it was suddenly off the schedule on New Year's without a single word from management? My loyal class members contacted management...who played completely clueless: "Oh, I didn't know her Thursday class was no longer on there." :-O Either scrambling to cover or not competently doing the job, but that's all I'll say about that… Suffice it to say, I'm back on every W/Th now, again - although they still didn't listen to the members, who desperately want me back on Mondays, b/c two days in a row is really intense for people. Whatever – I've prayed about it, and even though the schedule is not good for my people, it's fine for me, so I'm going with it & thanking God.)
ANYWAY, since I unexpectedly had THIS Thursday off, my mom & I took advantage: Chinatown for 90-minute massages at our beloved Triple Tree Center, Osmanthus bubble tea at Twinkle, and amazing breads & pastries at Six Ping Bakery. Pure bliss!!! I also scored a few awesome items online in the biannual Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale, but I'll post about those when they arrive. ;-)
Thursday night, after years of curiosity, (and dinner at Sambuca – their mozzarella- & prosciutto-stuffed beignets with balsamic glaze and their seared duck breast tapas were divine!) we finally got to see the touring production of The Book of Mormon together! It was BLAZINGLY irreverent - I was totally shocked a few times, and I can't tell you the last time Broadway theatre shocked me! But it actually ended up with the characters being happier & their quality of life better b/c they believe. The digs at religious legalism apply across the board to all. It certainly wasn't pro-Mormon, but the point was more: if you say you're going to help people (in this case, guys on their mission) stick around & really make a difference, even when the circumstances aren't good, (& these guys did, unlike the ones who'd come before.) If you're going to be committed, go all in. It was extremely lewd & crude, but not cruel. The talent & production quality was wonderful! Nonstop entertainment!
Friday's art museum trip was thwarted due to bad weather, so we lunched at Whiskey Cake instead and, b/c moms are great at holding your hand to do practical errands, she helped me find a tailor, and we took a pair of my too-small pants from the last Lilly sale to be fixed. (The only size left in my dream print was XXS; I'm a fairly fit girl, but they are too short-waisted, so the tailor is going to use the extra fabric off the bottoms when she hems them, cut off the top, and stitch a couple extra inches of that print from the bottoms in there. Excited! I know it sounds silly, but it was a nerve-racking commitment to find someone to do this without my mom there. :-P)
Saturday, my mom, Annelise, & I did some boutique browsing around town at some of our favorite places. I know it sounds crazy, but there is the best specialty clothing & gifts boutique inside of our Ace Hardware store! :-D It's are running joke that every time my mom comes, we have to have girl time at Ace Hardware. :-P I even found the PERFECT spirit wear accessory there that I needed for that very afternoon: Will's new basketball team for this season is the Longhorns, and let me tell you – I own absolutely nothing in burnt orange! But we found the cutest white scarf with metallic burnt orange polkadots, that actually look more copper than anything else, so it's utilitarian enough to wear forever, even beyond this basketball season. Woohoo!!!
Yes, Will and his new Longhorns had their first basketball game of the season this Saturday afternoon. They started out a little slow, down 10-12 at the half; but in the second half, they held the other team to just TWO points, so the final score was 35-14!!! :-O We were kind of stunned! Will did score 2 of those points, and his scrappy defense was excellent. I love seeing him get in there – no one could ever accuse him of being timid. :-D Basketball may not my favorite sport, but I lovelovelove watching my son play and cheering him on!!!
Saturday evening, we ate victory dinner at Local Table, had amazing artisanal gelato at La Argentina... and then we three girls went back out for another little massage session to end the night. (We went to a closer place instead of all the way to Chinatown, b/c Annelise wanted to go so badly & be "the girls" - LaLa's arm was easily twisted! ;-))
Houston's famous Sunday brunch at Cadillac Bar and Grill absolutely lived up to the hype!!! My faves - pork pupusas, chicken enchilada verdes, & bread pudding! They had everything Mexican, breakfast (including Eggs Benedict), dessert... all coming out consistently fresh. Super thumbs up!
We redeemed our art museum trip by all 5 of us going after brunch to see the last week of "Degas: A New Vision" at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston = another Christmas gift enjoyed, as JB got me a family membership for us! Will was not overly impressed :-P but the rest of us really enjoyed it! It was fascinating to see how groundbreaking Degas was when it came to his scene cropping in paintings, almost like photographs now, and of course, I loved all of his ballet series:
So I guess now it's time to start eating like a normal person, again. :-D Restaurant food is my FAVEFAVEFAVE, but if I can't get to the gym at some point every day, I feel like I'm going to crawl out of my skin!!! Time to get into high gear now for Beast Mode: we have our parent cheer squad practice twice this week & next to prepare for competition. This is really happening! Time to get serious!
On Tuesday after I taught my new Zumba class at my local little boutique studio, we had requisite Tex-Mex at Uncle Julio's for lunch and then made the kids' day by taking them to mini golf! We felt compelled to enjoy the last 85°F day for a while outside, and it's one of Will's favorite activities on earth. EVERYONE got a hole-in-one at some point on the course, but Annelise got the first one:
Wednesday was back to school for the kids and back to Zumba in the city for me = semi-normalcy. After my Zumba class, my mom joined me for Yin yoga – the most perfect way for me to stretch after teaching! We had lunch at The Yard House, before it was back to shuffling afternoon cheer practices, church Praise Team, meetings, etc.
Thursday, I did not have my normal Thursday Zumba class. (Remember how I saw it was suddenly off the schedule on New Year's without a single word from management? My loyal class members contacted management...who played completely clueless: "Oh, I didn't know her Thursday class was no longer on there." :-O Either scrambling to cover or not competently doing the job, but that's all I'll say about that… Suffice it to say, I'm back on every W/Th now, again - although they still didn't listen to the members, who desperately want me back on Mondays, b/c two days in a row is really intense for people. Whatever – I've prayed about it, and even though the schedule is not good for my people, it's fine for me, so I'm going with it & thanking God.)
ANYWAY, since I unexpectedly had THIS Thursday off, my mom & I took advantage: Chinatown for 90-minute massages at our beloved Triple Tree Center, Osmanthus bubble tea at Twinkle, and amazing breads & pastries at Six Ping Bakery. Pure bliss!!! I also scored a few awesome items online in the biannual Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale, but I'll post about those when they arrive. ;-)
Thursday night, after years of curiosity, (and dinner at Sambuca – their mozzarella- & prosciutto-stuffed beignets with balsamic glaze and their seared duck breast tapas were divine!) we finally got to see the touring production of The Book of Mormon together! It was BLAZINGLY irreverent - I was totally shocked a few times, and I can't tell you the last time Broadway theatre shocked me! But it actually ended up with the characters being happier & their quality of life better b/c they believe. The digs at religious legalism apply across the board to all. It certainly wasn't pro-Mormon, but the point was more: if you say you're going to help people (in this case, guys on their mission) stick around & really make a difference, even when the circumstances aren't good, (& these guys did, unlike the ones who'd come before.) If you're going to be committed, go all in. It was extremely lewd & crude, but not cruel. The talent & production quality was wonderful! Nonstop entertainment!
Friday's art museum trip was thwarted due to bad weather, so we lunched at Whiskey Cake instead and, b/c moms are great at holding your hand to do practical errands, she helped me find a tailor, and we took a pair of my too-small pants from the last Lilly sale to be fixed. (The only size left in my dream print was XXS; I'm a fairly fit girl, but they are too short-waisted, so the tailor is going to use the extra fabric off the bottoms when she hems them, cut off the top, and stitch a couple extra inches of that print from the bottoms in there. Excited! I know it sounds silly, but it was a nerve-racking commitment to find someone to do this without my mom there. :-P)
Saturday, my mom, Annelise, & I did some boutique browsing around town at some of our favorite places. I know it sounds crazy, but there is the best specialty clothing & gifts boutique inside of our Ace Hardware store! :-D It's are running joke that every time my mom comes, we have to have girl time at Ace Hardware. :-P I even found the PERFECT spirit wear accessory there that I needed for that very afternoon: Will's new basketball team for this season is the Longhorns, and let me tell you – I own absolutely nothing in burnt orange! But we found the cutest white scarf with metallic burnt orange polkadots, that actually look more copper than anything else, so it's utilitarian enough to wear forever, even beyond this basketball season. Woohoo!!!
Yes, Will and his new Longhorns had their first basketball game of the season this Saturday afternoon. They started out a little slow, down 10-12 at the half; but in the second half, they held the other team to just TWO points, so the final score was 35-14!!! :-O We were kind of stunned! Will did score 2 of those points, and his scrappy defense was excellent. I love seeing him get in there – no one could ever accuse him of being timid. :-D Basketball may not my favorite sport, but I lovelovelove watching my son play and cheering him on!!!
Saturday evening, we ate victory dinner at Local Table, had amazing artisanal gelato at La Argentina... and then we three girls went back out for another little massage session to end the night. (We went to a closer place instead of all the way to Chinatown, b/c Annelise wanted to go so badly & be "the girls" - LaLa's arm was easily twisted! ;-))
Houston's famous Sunday brunch at Cadillac Bar and Grill absolutely lived up to the hype!!! My faves - pork pupusas, chicken enchilada verdes, & bread pudding! They had everything Mexican, breakfast (including Eggs Benedict), dessert... all coming out consistently fresh. Super thumbs up!
We redeemed our art museum trip by all 5 of us going after brunch to see the last week of "Degas: A New Vision" at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston = another Christmas gift enjoyed, as JB got me a family membership for us! Will was not overly impressed :-P but the rest of us really enjoyed it! It was fascinating to see how groundbreaking Degas was when it came to his scene cropping in paintings, almost like photographs now, and of course, I loved all of his ballet series:
So I guess now it's time to start eating like a normal person, again. :-D Restaurant food is my FAVEFAVEFAVE, but if I can't get to the gym at some point every day, I feel like I'm going to crawl out of my skin!!! Time to get into high gear now for Beast Mode: we have our parent cheer squad practice twice this week & next to prepare for competition. This is really happening! Time to get serious!
What an absolutely fun week!!! All that food sounds so good, especially those beignets! Can't wait to see what you got from the Lilly sale!
ReplyDeleteBoth of my girls are playing basketball this year, and it actually is one of my favorite sports to watch, at least at that level - though I know I would totally love football, if I had a kid playing!
It sounds like you had a great time with your mother! We love the zoo, too, and don't get there often enough. I love your children's expressions after they got their holes-in-one!
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