Darryl's Guitar Project

Since Darryl has been so kind as to photo document our living room improvement project (coming soon to this blog, it's done, now we're still cleaning up) I thought I'd share another project he's been working on and documenting, his guitar.  Check it out, he was inspired by a lot of the art we saw in Italy and I suspect compelled to create something while I was busy creating our first child (ok, he started it before I ever got pregnant, but still, we kid about it).  Check out his many months of hard work.

Day 3, Hubs and I Take on the Italian Transit Strike in Florence

When we checked into our hotel after our long trans-Atlantic flight and then our long trans-Italia train ride (okay, it wasn't that long, Italy isn't that big) we were informed by the hotel staff that our tour for the Uffizi had been cancelled due to a transit strike.  What? 

I called the tour company, they explained that transit workers would be on strike that Friday and that the gallery would likely not be open so they wanted to re-book our tour on another day or on another tour.  Our itinerary didn't allow for this, so we opted for a refund and freaked out a little that we probably wouldn't be able to see the museum we were most excited about.  Cue furious Googling on my iPhone to figure out what the heck was going on.  One thing my Googling mentioned, during strikes to expect public demonstrations and street closures for parades.  I paused to contemplate this.  I, slightly disgruntled with my current work situation, had brief flashes of me joining the Italians to protest my BS paycheck compared to my workload.  Sure I don't work in the Italian transportation industry, but I'm sure I could explain to them my beef and I bet they'd totally let me join their demonstrations.  Also I briefly had visions of the hubs bailing me out of an Italian jail the next morning as a result of my protests against "the man" holding me down.  No, today was not the day to join an Italian labor demonstration.

So back to the Uffizi.  You are supposed to make a reservation to go in, lest you have to wait an obscene length of time in line to go in.  These reservations book up months in advance.  We had made no such reservation since it was covered in our tour.  Which was now cancelled.  We decided to take our chances anyways and loiter around in that line (which was quite short because no one thought the museum would be open) while the staff that had come in met to decide if they had enough people to open the museum.  We didn't have to wait long, they decided to open and we were IN!

Inside the Palazzo Vecchio, brief detour on the way to the Uffizi

Palazzo Vecchio

The Uffizi

Once we were inside we cued up our Rick Steeves audio guide and got a guided tour of the gallery at a tiny fraction of the cost that we would have paid for our live guided tour, FTW!  My favorite works were Botticelli's Primavera and The Birth of Venus. 

View of the river and bridges from the Uffizi window

After our tour of the Uffizi we hoofed it back to the Duomo for a slice of pizza and to follow Rick Steeve's Renaissance Walk through the city.

Inside the Duomo

We started at the Duomo and walked back through the city viewing all the buildings and sites of interests from the Renaissance.  Finally we ended up back at the Ponte Vecchio (yeah, we walked all over creation on this trip).

I made Darryl drink out of the fountain, we didn't know how to do this the "right way" until we reached Rome

Us on the Ponte Vecchio, a Medieval bridge

The globe room at the Galileo Museum

As if our robust trek back and forth across the city wasn't enough, we decided to squeeze in the Galileo Museum, which is basically their history of science museum.  It was neat, they had some super old maps.  And when I say super old, I mean pre-Columbus-the-world-is-flat-look-out-you're-gonna-fall-off-the-edge maps, which to see an original of, is pretty cool.  And we saw some neat globes and lots of tools and survey equipment.  Back in the 1700s when people would have parties they would do physics demonstrations so they had all sorts of machines that generated electrical charges and did all sorts of things that I guess would entertain a people prior to the invention of reality television. 

It was a pretty interesting museum, uncrowded, and well air conditioned.  But our bodies were getting tired so back to the hotel (on the completely opposite side of the city again of course) we went for a little rest.

That night we went to a little restaurant we'd discovered on our stroll the night before.  We settled down with some of the house table wine and had a little appetizer which was basically ham, tomato, basil, and cheese toasted.

I had the wild boar pappardelle.

And D had a pork chop with rosemary potatoes.  For dessert, I think we had tiramisu.  I learned that while D hates tiramisu in the states (the lady fingers are generally way oversoaked with liquor flavor) he likes proper Italian tiramisu.  Imagine my relief.  I typically don't care if he doesn't like the things I do because that means there's just more for me, but desserts are often shared and I was scared I would be scarfing down the tiramisu solo on this trip and was pleasantly surprised.

Then we found D some gellato (he ate this 2x a day people, not even joking) and strolled back to the hotel to rest up for our biking tour of the Tuscan wine country the next morning!


Darryl Has a Blog!

All the art and we saw in Italy inspired him to pick up a carving project he's let go by the wayside for a while now.  He's carving his first guitar.  Check it out here.

Our Second Anniversary Trip to Italia!

On May 4th we embarked on our first trip to Europe together as a couple (my first trip to Europe period).  I've never had any interest in traveling to Europe, in fact, it's the LAST place I wanted to go because everyone's already been there and we could totally go when we're older.  But the hubs really wanted to go and made a good case and so as a compromise I agreed to go so long as we went to Italy, which is where my great grandparents lived prior to immigrating to the US.  So flights were booked and off we went!
This trip could not have come at a better time for me.  Work has been such a crazy stressful mess, I have never needed a vacation more.  We originally booked coach tickets but when we arrived at Dulles in DC to make our connection, the thought of spending 9 hours in coach suddenly became less appealing.  After a bit of a debate, we went to the gate agent and asked that they upgrade our tickets to business class.  I'm so glad we spent the airline miles, it was an overnight flight and it really helped me to unwind and rest at the beginning of our trip.

Here's Darryl and I enjoying wine at the bar at the Red Carpet Club.  Notice the lady behind him at the bar looks like she might die.  Totally didn't notice that when I took this picture.  D is fiddling around with our new awesome camera we bought for the trip.  I have no idea what kind it is, nor have I bought a digital camera since 2004, so perhaps I'm easily impressed.

Our seats were at the bulkhead in business class so we got to peep into first class.  I've never seen business or first class on a long haul flight.  I'm usually so far back in coach I'd need binoculars to see the better classes of seats. 

The first class pod style seats were so close I could touch them.  Darryl wasn't impressed with the plane, it was older.  Both Darryl and I have done a few trans-Pacific flights and we took it for granted that they use the best planes in the fleet for those flights.  Still, this United plane was WAY nicer than the craptastic Continental plane we took back to the States and even though we weren't on one of the sleek high tech planes that Darryl usually flies on to China, Business Class on such a long flight kind of rocked my face off.  We've upgraded to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean but this was way better.

Here's my little glass of bubbly at my seat.  There were like 10 levers, it was a total mind-f***.  Darryl had to explain to me how to operate my seat like 4 times and was visibly embarrassed as I tried out the various stages of incline.  I made quite a scene.


Darryl is clearly too refined for my antics.  After pillaging the free newspaper cart and the amenity kit (socks, eye mask, ear plugs, toothbrush and paste, and Murad hand lotion) I checked out the sleeping amenities.  No ratty questionable looking pillows and threadbare blankets.  A pillow with a legit case on it and a quilted white duvet which came presealed in plastic. 

After our pretakeoff bubbly, we were served warm nuts.  The stewardesses were also super good with the concept that my champagne glass should never dip below 25% full.  After all that bubbly, I headed to the lavatory and found that everything is better in Business Class, even the lavatories.  In addition to the normally expected items they had pomegranate hydrating mist for your face, pomegranate lotion, and mouthwash. 

After my little trip to the ladies room it was time for dinner.  Our first course was a veggie spring roll, salad, a roll, and of course more champagne.  The flight attendants were the most pleasant employees of United that I have ever encountered to date.  We were the youngest people in Business Class (something I didn't notice until I pointed out to D that all the people in First Class were old) and the flight attendants kept making a fuss about how cute we were.  They also greeted us as Mr. and Mrs. XYZ (which threw me for a loop, how do you know who I am lady?  Then I realized she was holding the manifest and knew who was sitting in what seat, I'm slow, I know).

Dinner was beef short ribs and roasted vegetables (and of course more champagne).  Dessert was ice cream and grappa.  Then I reclined my seat and finished watching Country Strong (terrible movie) and then laid back and caught some sleep.  The flight attendants were like ninjas, my sleep was a bit fitful since I'd had so much to drink I didn't take a sleeping aid on the plane so I didn't sleep as well as I could have, but every time I woke up and drank my water, rolled over and went back to sleep, the next time I woke up my glass was mysteriously full again.  Ninjas I say.

First Course

Morning came and we were treated to a lovely continental breakfast, I cleaned up a bit, and it was time to land in Rome! 

On our next installment, navigating ourselves from Roma to Firenze called "Italian Trains Confuse Us".

We Are Back!

We had a Rollie on our arm while we were sipping Chandon....okay it was a Timex and I seriously doubt United serves Chandon in business class.

We had lazy days in the sun...

And took in the art and history and all the wonderful things that Italia has to offer....

Coming very soon, a proper recap of our trip complete with the gory details of how I nearly met an untimely death on a bike under the wheels of a Fiat, how I barfed gelatto into a bidet (so very Euro of me), and all the marvellous other adventures (not to mention 1500 photos we took, I promise to only post half, ha). 

First Photo Together

Can you remember the first photo you and your spouse took together?  Here's ours.  He took me as a date to a Pimps and Hoes party.  I don't even know how to explain this to our children....

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...Dreadful Weekend Recap

I've provided a photo of some happy little daffodils from my garden.  I have a couple of vases like this throughout the house.  These sunny little beauties are one of my favorite things about February, they pop up around Valentine's Day each year.  So in case my Valentine should forget to bring me flowers (he didn't forget) my garden will. 

Now in the scheme of things (war, famine, poverty) this weekend is hardly dreadful.  But has anyone had a bitch of a week at work (just spread thin, stressed out, overwhelmed) and you just want to relax and get ahead on your chores and work on the weekend?  These are just not the kind of things you want to deal with.  And I did get to spend some lovely time with friends and at the salon.  Without these bright spots I would be pulling my hair out. 

Friday
Darryl went out with some friends so I happily crashed on the couch, ate leftovers and cleaned out my DVR.  I love Friday night veg time.  However, midst vegging in front of the TV and surfing trashy celebrity gossip sites, I managed to get a computer virus from one of the websites on my personal laptop.  I had gotten a similar malware virus on my work laptop from Facebook, so not my first rodeo with this kind of virus removal (yes, I have a regularly updated virus protection program on both machines, consider yourself warned)  but it was still time consuming and frustrating.  While I was in the throes of removing this virus from my machine, Petey decided to mosey into the bedroom, crawl onto my bedside table, retrieve my plastic retainer and chew it up into tiny little bits, swallowing half of them.  Now I get to pay $300 to have a new one made.  Thankfully, Petey was fine.

Saturday
I ran some errands and got my hair cut and colored at the salon while I finished Jen Lancaster's Pretty In Plaid.  To round out the day I thought I'd stop at Jiffy Lube for an oil change.  I typically take my car to the dealer for everything, but I thought, it's convenient, why not. 

So I'm sitting there and my oil change is taking a loooong time.  The assistant manager comes in to tell me that they didn't have the right oil filter in stock so they ran down to AutoZone to grab a new one.  That one was out too, so they had to go to another one.  While this is all going on, unbeknownst to me, (I couldn't see my car from where I was waiting), they had left my headlights and all my interior accessories (radio, etc) and completely drained my battery.  AND they still charged me for the oil change.  Thanks for totally ripping me off and destroying my battery, ass hats.  I left a message for the district manager requesting reimbursement for both.  I mean, okay, the tech that drove my car into the oil change bay messed up, but what about ALL the other techs that walked back and forth in front of my car (it was in the bay closest to the waiting room) with its lights on and did nothing.  So.  Freaking.  Pissed.  Then they had the audacity to say that there was something wrong with my car and that it was experiencing an electrical "failure" and that they couldn't try jump starting it.  Calls made to Lexus customer service (love them) who confirmed that Jiffy Lube had drained my battery.  Then my husband had to come down and jump start my car.  Aren't you guys mechanics?  Why can an engineer and a geologist figure this out and you can't?!? 

Saturday night was nice, had dinner with friends which helped me take my mind off my rage.

Sunday 
Sunday morning I woke up and of course my car wouldn't start thanks to Jiffy Lube's complete decimation of my battery.  I went to brunch with friends in Darryl's car, tried to jump start my car again unsuccessfully so Darryl spent some quality time being sweet and replacing my battery while I spent quality time cleaning the house.  Sigh.  With weekends like these, it makes me long for the work week.  Hope your weekend was better than mine! 

Best Birthday Week! Or Why I Will Need Bigger Pants In the Near Future

This week I celebrated one of the best birthday weeks on record (and certainly a Foodie's dream birthday week).  Sunday, I met up with Elizabeth a la The Waspy Redhead for brunch at Olivia.  She had the the corned beef hash and eggs, you can see below her photographing her meal, which I stole a bite of, it was fantastic.  We both had blood orange mimosas.





I had the south Austin croque senora.  Basically a sandwich filled with slow roasted chicken, prosciutto, and cheese, served with a fried egg and gravy and a boatload of fries.  I can't believe I ate the whole thing.  Then we shared a bread pudding for dessert.  The best friends are the ones that are already full to their eyeballs, but then agree to share bread pudding with you anyways.  Could not have had a more delightful meal with a dear old friend.  I can't believe we've known each other for 10 years!




Monday was fairly uneventful, I made shrimp masala and D and I went to the gym.  Tuesday I went to dinner with Christine at Gloria's and had their trio of ceviches.  Wednesday was my actual birthday and my parents sent me these pretty flowers at work and D had his own waiting for me at home.  We didn't get to go out to celebrate because I had a client in town, but my client is extremely pleasant, as are my coworkers, so it was hardly "work" to go out with them.  And I was able to convince them to go to Fonda San Miguel where I had my favorite margarita in all of Austin, the Silvercoin Margarita made with watermelon infused Patron Silver, Cointreau, and lime juice.  For dinner I had zucchini stuffed with corn and cheese and smothered in red sauce and for dinner we all shared some of their amazing Tres Leches.





Thursday we had dinner with some of Darryl's coworkers and their wives.  We grilled steaks and had shells and cheese and a spinach kiwi salad and lots of good wine and conversation.  I really enjoy hanging out with this group of people, they're all really smart and funny and the food is always GREAT!  Friday night I picked up something on the way home, but we ended up meeting 2 other couples (including Christine) at the Daily Grill  for late night happy hour in honor of my birthday.  These 2 couples are definitely 4 of my favorite people, I was so glad the 6 of us were able to spend time together.  I specifically only invited them because I wanted to make sure to have lots of time with them.

So, Saturday rolled around.  Note that I have only been to the gym once this week.  Yes, it's time to ring the fatty alert again because Saturday night we had dinner at Vespaio.  Darryl had the filet mingon with pancetta mashed potatoes and broccoli and I had the seafood mixed grill which included grilled shrimp on cheesey polenta, a crab cake with an arugula garnish, and a grilled fish on a broccoli cheese casserole.  For dessert I had espresso and tiramisu.




Darryl had a molten chocolate cake with chocolate gelatto.  Everything was absolutely amazing! 



A bit of advice if you want to have a fabulous date with your honey at Vespaio on a Saturday night.  Get there EARLY!  They don't take reservations, so we got there at 6:30 and were told we'd have a 45 minute wait.  Even though we arrived so early, we snagged the last 2 seats at the bar.  Their food really lived up to the hype.  Often times we go to these fancy pants restaurants and Darryl moans and groans because he claims he could get just as good of a meal at the Outback Steakhouse and can't see paying that much for food.  Vespaio was totally worth it, I heard nothing but good things from his side of the table.  By the time we left at 8:30, the wait for a table was over 2 hours long. 

And thus, I ended my birthday week un-freaking-believable food binge.  Now, with my friend Janet's wedding in 2 months (and me in a bridesmaid dress) it's time for major healthy eating and exercise.  It's okay, I had a GREAT week of last meals!

Weekend Recap

Friday
Spent my lunch break with my coworkers delivering for Meals on Wheels.  Afterwards we grabbed a bite at Tam's Deli.  They're known for Vietnamese cuisine and are very affordable.  I had some yummy vegetarian curry, an egg roll, and one of their famous cream puffs for dessert, totally worth the hype.  After lunch my husband called to tell me some good news he'd received at work (what news he got exactly is private, sorry readers, not my news to tell) but I was so happy for him!  Friday night I came home and freshened up my hair and makeup and then headed downtown for a sweet dinner with my husband at Parkside on 6th street.  I've always wanted to try this place and we were meeting some friends at a bar for a birthday party and had intended to just stop for a slice of pizza or something on our way there, but I saw that there was no wait for a table so we went in!  I tried their Tex and the City cocktail, which was a mix of whiskey and jasmine liquor served up.  We shared some lump crab fritters and I had a Cesar salad for dinner and D had a cheeseburger and fries.  I totally recommend this place for happy hour.  Afterwards we headed up to the Treehouse Pub for a fab surprise birthday party for a friend.  We had a blast chatting with everyone and playing Foosball.  But I had to get up early the next morning so we left early.

Saturday
I met some friends at the Natural Gardner for an organic vegetable gardening class.  I learned lots of good information, I've realized how much I do wrong, no wonder my gardens are so "meh" each year.  I shall sally forth fortified with this new knowledge.  If you live in Austin I cannot say enough good things about the Natural Gardner, it's the only nursery I regularly visit and if you get there early on the weekends, the staff is super happy to chat with you about what you have going on in your garden and help you troubleshoot.  Afterwards I came home and worked in my own garden and planted leaf lettuce, carrots, and onions.  I added compost and a mineral mixture I got at NG.  Unfortunately while I was listening to the class (which was outside and surrounded by cedars) dust clouds of pollen were blowing all over me.  I had noticed problems Friday while we were doing MOW, but I was able to shake it off without medicine.  Saturday afternoon I felt so terrible, even after taking medicine, that I had to cancel my evening plans.  The idea of getting off the bed and getting dressed up was too much for me.  I took a shower, did laundry, and just laid in bed.  D had some friends over and made fajitas for dinner, I wasn't that hungry but he makes such good fajitas I couldn't resist having one.  Saturday was lame, I went to sleep super early while all my friends were at a fun birthday party, sad panda.

Sunday
We woke up at 5:30 AM because our power went out and our house alarm gets all angry when that happens.  I had slept through the huge storm, but I was glad that we got so much rain.  New seeds need to be watered 2x a year and rain water is the best water you can provide!  The garden seems to have survived the storm very well.  Now my challenge for the rest of the week is to keep my beds covered with ground covers and to keep the soil temperature above 35 degrees.  Also, I totally want a soil thermometer, I wonder if I could use something else around the house to the same end? 

I ran over to the Domain and checked out the sweet sale at Sur La Table, if you love cooking of just cooking gadgets, you should run over there and stock up, I came away with all sorts of goodies.  I did my grocery shopping and came home and whipped up some raspberry lemonade popsicles a la Waspy Redhead.  I deviated from her recipe a bit, so I hope they turn out well.  Next I made some dough for these cookies I saw on Smitten Kitchen.  The dough is currently chilling in the fridge, I have to let it chill for 3 hours?  I die.  I'm planning on filling them full of raspberry preserves.  Next I started a pot of beef ragu from this month's issue of Real Simple which I plan on serving for dinner tonight over pappardelle.  It's simmering on the stove in my favorite Le Creuset dutch oven and sipping a beer by the fire (I'm a tiny bit spoiled, no?).  Unfortunately, for the life of me, I cannot get the bowl of my electric mixer off the base.  This is a reoccurring problem and D has to pull it off for me every time after watching me groan and grunt and strain to try and get it to unscrew.  So there it sits still on the stand, full dough residue.  I was hoping to whip up some Parmesan and thyme crackers tonight to serve with some blue cheese butter along side my pappardelle, but alas, that will require me to remove the bowl twice and D is out until dinner time.  Maybe later in the week?  Hope you had a fab weekend!

Ruminations on Day Two Sans Television

I know, I know, I am the whiniest person to ever go two days without TV.  You'd think I was dying or something?  Four hours ago, I was certain I was, I don't know what happend.  I got up from my desk to walk to the car at 5:30 and immediately felt woozey.  I didn't think it was a low blood sugar thing, since I shamefully had Mexican food for lunch and strawberries for a mid-afternoon snack, but I was afraid I'd pass out on my way to the car.  Then I got into my car and operated an automobile.  Not my most responsible moment, I know, judge me.  I got home without incident and put on a pot of water for dinner and then went to the bedroom to lie down.  I seriously had the spins on the bed, you know, the kind when you've had one too many martinis and you just want to die?  But instead I'd had zero martinis.  This was bullshit. 

Long story short, I managed to not pass out on the stove (which is good, because we have a gas stove, and I would have burst into flames) and whip up dinner and about 30 minutes after eating I felt like myself again.  I missed TV alot tonight because when you're sick, what do you want to do?  Curl up and watch TV and do nothing.  But no, like a jackass I was trying to read the January issue of Good Housekeeping.  Not as good as TV.

Here's what I accomplished tonight without watching TV:

• Cooked a meal without dying.  I use cooked loosely.  I reheated some bolognese I made and froze a while back and poured it over some penne.  The hubs went back for seconds though, it did not suck.
• Went to the Domain with Darryl to exchange a Christmas gift.
• Got a new battery in my watch and got my ring cleaned.
• Had my butt sniffed by the dog that hangs out in the jewelry store.  Is it just me, but shouldn't I expect to browse the Rolexes unmolested?  Also, what is a dog doing in a place that sells Rolexes.  Ah, Austin....
• Went to Lowe's, bought a new carbon monoxide detector because A) ours broke this weekend and B) Darryl was in the middle of a home improvement project that involved natural gas when I got home.
• "Helped" Darryl not find stuff for his project at Lowes. 
• Blogged
• Talked to my insurance agent on chat
• Watched YouTube videos on how to install a weave for my hair
• Watched miscellaneous YouTube videos on how to do hair and makeup
• Sat by the fire, Darryl's project involved him installing new fire logs (mostly I think he was sick of dealing with my weekly demands for real wood fires)
• Washed the dogs....much to their dismay.

Only five more days of this....on the other hand, I've been meaning to get that watch battery changed for 6 months now.  AND we won't be dying of CO poisoning tonight, so maybe this whole no TV thing is working?  ::shudder:: 

Weekend Recap

Friday
Met up with my friend Lyra to go to the Texas Spirits Alumnae reunion.  I didn't want to geek out too hard in front of the actives/Lyra so I have no pictures but the gals totally outdid themselves this year.  They had the Active/Alumni mixer at Mayfield Park, which if you didn't know is possibly the most fab location for a garden party on EARTH.  Christine and Parker at Misadventures of An Ex-Yankee did their engagements there, shot by Inked Fingers of course.   They got a kick that Lyra and I, though we pledged 10 years ago, were still friends.  Lyra even found a lady who had been a pledge in the late 80's that had lived in the same bed in the same dorm room as her.  How crazy was that?

We noshed on all sorts of yummy treats including a chocolate fountain and a champagne fountain.  The gals still know how to throw a great soiree and based on the caliber of the actives we chatted up, I can tell why Spirits won UT's Best Student Organization this year.  I cannot express how proud I am to have been a part of this organization and how happy I am to see these ladies continuing the tradition and always it's always wonderful to catch up with Lyra, we don't see each other enough.  After the mixer I came home and my parents arrived to stay with us for the weekend.

Saturday
I cooked up a little breakfast complete with wild blueberry scones with pumpkin butter and a sun dried tomato, spinach, and goat cheese fritatta.  Then my mom and I headed down to the Natural Gardner for what I originally set out to be just a window shopping trip (FAIL).  If this whole geology thing doesn't work out I would love, love, LOVE to work there.  Total fantasy job.  I ended up coming home with a wagon full of goodies, I got a few new lettuce plants, a couple of mums, chives, and a few arugula plants, which my mom and I planted together.  Then we headed up to Ikea and bought a new cabinet to hold our liquor and barware and I got Darryl a new bedside lamp to match the one I already had.  Now our bedroom and kitchen are complete, hooray!  Saturday night we went downtown for a haunted tour of Austin on Segways. 

Darryl and I at the Capital

My parents on their Segways

It was a great tour, the guide told some good spooky ghost stories about Austin and we had a lot of fun zipping around town on the Segways.  It was pretty scary at first and a number of people on our tour fell off at some point, but I managed to stay on and got that bad boy up to its maximum speed (12 mph).  We had planned to walk around town following our tour but had a major case of Seg-legs (even though you're riding around your legs HURT when you get off) so we opted for a visit to Kerbey Lane and then went straight to bed.

Sunday
Woke up and had breakfast with the parents.  Darryl had been suffering from a cold all weekend and was pretty worn out after Saturday, but he rallied.  My mom and I sat on the back porch and cracked pecans (I have two huge pecan trees in the yard) and we wrapped up our weekend.  After my parents headed back to Austin I did the week's grocery shopping and spent a few hours cooking up some chicken stew and garlic herb popovers, half of which went to some friends with a new baby and the other half served as our dinner.  I spent about 3 hours in the kitchen today, Darryl said "I looked like I was Betty Crocker or something."  Finally, I closed out the weekend by showering, putting on some comfy loungewear, and sipping mimosas while cleaning out the old DVR.  Couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

I'm Leaving Las Vegas, Lights So Bright, Palm Sweat, Blackjack on a Saturday Night

Day 4, most of our traveling companions departed on a noon flight back to Austin. Me, being of the die hard Vegas persuasion was trying to suck the last bit of Vegas that could be had out of the weekend so Sunday we went downtown and did some gambling on Freemont Street at some of our favorite gambling haunts, Binions, The Golden Nugget, and the Golden Gate. I had my 99 cent margarita and we even got comped free shrimp cocktails ($1.99 value, woooooo, firt time to get comped!) based on our game play at the Golden Gate. We played craps for a few hours there, Wizard of Oz at the Golden Nugget, and finally blackjack at Binions. By the time 3 PM rolled around, I was broke, exhausted, and finally tapped out on Vegas, so we gathered our belongings and got out of town.

Vegas continues to be my favorite vacation spot and going with the other couples allowed me to experience it in a whole different way. When I first started planning this trip, it was just for the two of us but Darryl convinced me to get others to go. I think he was absolutely right, had a great time and I hope our next trip isn't too far in the future!

You Gotta Know When to Hold Em, No When to Fold Em...

After a night on the town we rallied to watch the Longhorns take on their arch rivals, the OU Sooners. It was a rough day all around. The hangovers were harsh and widespread and the game was brutal. We ended up watching the game in our suite, it was nice and big so there was plenty of seating and booze for those who were more stable than others. I went down to the Pizza Hut in the first half of the game, having finally loaded up on Tylenol and a nice long shower. I wished the girl ringing me up a good morning and she responded with, "It's 1:30 ma'am, it's not morning." Ef you Pizza Hut girl, we're in Vegas, I was up until 5 AM the night before drinking and eating a $43 pizza (yes, there was a shenanigan where in our drunken state we felt like it was appropriate to order a pizza from room service. Not the most sound financial decision, but it was a tasty one). So as I mentioned, some of us were in better shape than others, so after the game we split up while one couple rested and spent time at the gaming tables we went over to the Strip to check out the new City Center hotel and casino.

Here are some photos from City Center, it was very impressive. After some site seeing we went back to the hotel to dress for dinner. All of the couples had separate dinners planned Saturday night. Darryl and I chose Emeril's New Orleans Fish House. It was exciting for me because the appetizer we ordered were Emeril's New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp. I made his recipe the first time I cooked for Darryl's parents. Apparently I still have some practicing to do, my version is good but wasn't quite the same. We walked around the MGM Grand for a while and then met up with the rest of the gang to watch the fountains at the Bellagio. We spent the night walking the strip, checking out the casinos, and watching the free attractions like the fountains and the volcano at the Mirage. After a robust trek, we called it a night and went back to the Hilton. Everyone else stayed up and gambled but I turned in before 2 AM, guess Vegas was finally starting to wear me out.

Get Up and Shake the Glitter Off Your Clothes Now, That's What You Get For Waking Up in Vegas...

Day Two we headed over to the Stratosphere to ride some rides.  Well the rest of the crew rode rides.  I was up until 5 AM and may have had a couple drinks along the way.  Mild hangover + Spinny Ride @ Strat = Recipe for Kelly Vomming, therefore I stayed on solid ground and took pics/held everyone's gear.  Note, this is mostly other people's pics.  D  and I are lame about taking photos.  Or downloading them.

The gang at the top

Ben and Janet enjoying their post-ride Jet Fuel drinks.  It was a Bloody Mary Morning for me.

After an afternoon of gambling at the Stat we headed back down the strip where the boys discovered the famous Crazy Girls sculpture at the Riviera.

By that point we were good and hungry so we swung into the Peppermill for some grub/an acid trip back to the 1970's.  Next we strolled back to the hotel for a little disco nap.

Us ladies prepped together while the boys enjoyed some cocktails.  Next we rode the shuttle to the Rio where we went to the Voodoo Lounge.

Voodoo has a breathtaking view of the strip.

Upon our arrival we we got to cut to the front of the line and head to our corded off VIP table.  The ladies shared bottle service while the gents got an open bar package, which was not a bad deal for any of us since the cover was $30 and the drinks were $12 a pop.  The music at the Voodoo was hoppin' and it was nice to be able to migrate from taking in the breathtaking view outside to the comfort and privacy of our own table.  There was literally NO where to sit if you didn't get a table.  Vegas is expensive but thanks to some packages we got online we did well that night.

Really well...

Really really well...  Took a black Suburban home playing Jay Z, per Janet's request and our driver was from Texas!  And that was Day Two.

Miller Time

This is a cautionary tale, though slightly humorous. But I would like to preface this post with a disclaimer that animals should never be given alcohol on purpose, it is poisonous and cruel and anyone who intentionally inflicts this on their pet should have them taken away and should be arrested.  What happened here was a genuine accident and one we will never repeat and is only funny because we got lucky and our Ginger is healthy and fine, despite our mistake.  Even a small amount of alcohol can KILL YOUR PET.  Do not try this at home.

This is Ginger.  Our sweet little girl and Petey's partner in crime.  We are dog lovers.  My husband refers to me as a crazy dog lady.  I would never intentionally do anything to hurt my dogs, but sometimes the best of us make mistakes.

Ginger helps in the office.

Hiding in her crate

Edward Hippo Hands!

Ginger's got a new bag.

Last night we learned she had something in common with a certain famous redhead.  No not a cocaine problem (I'd have pictures of Paril Hilton for that, duh).  A drinking problem.

Something's been attacking my green beans in my garden and I suspected slugs, so I did what I've done since I was a little girl (who had a dog, HE never did this) to combat slugs, I set a beer trap.  You put a little dish of beer in the garden and the slugs drink the beer, get all drunk and drown in it.  My garden has a small fence around it, after setting my trap I tightened the fence up so our dogs couldn't get into it and I told my husband about it when he got home and how we needed to keep an eye on the dogs when they were in the yard for the next couple of days so they didn't mess with it or try to break into the garden.

Around 9 PM we both forgot and we let them into the yard.  Ginger came back in and hid under the bed, not unusual for her, it's like her little den.  About 30 minutes later she came bounding (actually slipping and staggering are more accurate) across our living room.  I looked at D and said, "I think the dog is drunk."  He looked at her and said she was fine and there was no way, but upon closer inspection she clearly had rolled in poop (a favorite past time) so he whisked her away for a bath while I strapped on my headlamp and garden clogs to inspect my trap.  Sure enough, most of the beer was gone.  I checked under the bed and as I suspected, dog beer vomit.

By this time Darryl comes out of the bathroom with her soaking wet.  She's shaking to dry off/falling over and he looks at me and says, "yeah she's drunk."  I took dog CPR and First Aid (yes I am certified to do CPR on a dog or cat, WHAT OF IT) so I knew I should call the ASPCA poison control hotline which I keep on our fridge.  As I'm sitting there a message comes on and says I'll be charged $65 TO TALK TO SOMEONE.  REALLY ASPCA?  REALLY?  One little voice in my head was screaming "THIS IS NO TIME TO BE FRUGAL" and it was a case of poisoning, but it wasn't like she drank a quart of motor oil.  I was not about to pay $65 for someone to tell me to give her bread and water and help her walk it off (that's what my freshman year of college was for, duh). 

So I called the local emergency vet, figured I could scam the receptionist into soliciting some free advice from the vets which totally worked.  We keep the map to the animal hospital stuck to the fridge.  We are the most prepared pet owners ever...except for when we accidentally leave dishes of beer in the back yard.  Dog owner, fail.

I talked to a vet, described her symptoms, the quantity ingested, weight, age, etc.  I was expecting them to tell me to bring her in for stomach pumping or charcoal or something dramatic, but they said all they could do is give her an IV of fluids.  Also not worth $60-$150 since her favorite snack is ice chips which she greedily gobbles up, so I kept the bowls of those coming to keep her well hydrated.  I know for a fact she was well hydrated because she peed all over our house, but by that point, we deserved it.  Meanwhile D had to disassemble our whole bed to clean the carpet where she'd thrown up (thank God she threw some of it up).

Petey didn't know what to do with the whole thing, he kept trying to play with her, pushing her with his paws so she fell over.  She was trying to run around the house and was slipping and stumbling.  I ended up keeping her snuggled up next to me, feeding her ice chips so she didn't hurt herself.  It may have been the fact that she was half wet from the bath and being pumped full of ice by me, but her whole body was shaking.  As funny as it was at first, you could tell she was really scared and that being drunk for a dog was NOT fun the way it it is for humans.  I ended up making her some white rice, I was hoping consuming a couple tablespoons of cooked rice would help boost her metabolism and process the alcohol faster.  Plus, I totally need a snack when I'm drunk, so I figured it wouldn't hurt.

We stayed up with her into the wee hours of the morning, pushing fluids, taking her out to pee, and keeping her awake (ah college memories, though I never took a roommate to the bathroom on a leash).  When she finally sobered up enough to the point I was comfortable going to bed (basically she was cognisent enough to scratch to ask to go outside rather than peeing wherever she happened to be standing at the moment) but we put her in our bedroom and took turns getting up every couple hours to check on her, take her out to pee, and give her more ice chips. 

The next morning she was clearly hung over.  A little snuggle time in the bed with me, followed by breakfast, followed by another big bowl of ice chips and she seemed okay.  I came home from work at noon to check on her and repeat the hydration drill and she was thankfully back to her normal self, saucy, running around the yard, tail wagging.

I think as more time passes I'll find this funnier, honestly I didn't know if I should laugh or film it or burst into  tears because I was so scared for her or maybe just have a beer myself.   Thankfully she is okay, remained conscious, frisky, and was openly taking on fluids which is why we didn't seek emergency medical attention, but if this does happen to your dog definately call a vet.  And let this be a lesson to pet owners out there to keep an eye on substances that could be toxic to pets, we were clearly very lucky and are so glad our pretty little girl is feeling like herself again.  In the meantime, we'll be signing Ginger up for AA.