I Heart Long Island

Last weekend we ventured up to Long Island, New York with Casey's parents to visit family. We must have brought the Texas heat with us because it was H-O-T up there. Here's a run down of the week:

Baby Page's first flight, Thursday, July 21st:


Dinner at the Snapper Inn on the bay on Thursday evening:


Putting our feet in the icy cold water at Jones Beach on Friday (which was also my birthday):


Fishing with the family on Saturday:



which was Baby Page's first boat ride


Thursday night we went to The Beachtree Cafe for dinner followed by a walk around East Islip to get some Italian Ice:


On Sunday there was a BBQ at Aunt Lorie and Uncle Ed's house which wouldn't have been complete without an all out Badminton Battle and some Bocce:



Can't wait to take Baby Page up to Long Island next year!

Mckay/Walker Wedding in Hot Springs!

Last weekend we drove up to Hot Springs, Arkansas for Melissa McKay and Zach Walker's wedding. When Melissa told me she was getting married in Hot Springs, I was super excited because I had never been there before. As soon as we got into town we were stunned by the awesome beauty of this place. It's nestled in the mountains and is absolutely gorgeous. In fact.. it's so gorgeous I really can't think of any other way to describe it because words don't do this place justice. We loved hanging out around the state park area, walking around downtown, and the weather was great. It had been snowing and very cold there so we were a little worried at first but the whole weekend it was in the 60s, sunny, and perfect... speaking of perfect - let me tell you about Melissa's wedding!

The wedding venue was a little chapel and reception hall about a mile or so from our hotel (awesome!) and the wedding was wonderfully small and intimate. The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous and filled with the Word. Melissa's sister and her dad sang during the ceremony and her grandfather (Daddy B) gave a beautiful blessing over the family towards the end of the ceremony. After they said their "I dos" we headed about 10 feet to the reception hall. Dinner was heavy hors d'oeuvres and everyone danced the night away. It was a great wedding and we are so happy for Melissa and Zach!

On Sunday Casey and I woke up early and went to the Arlington for breakfast. We didn't stay here (we stayed at the Park Hotel which was AWESOME and the people were so, so, so nice!) but it was absolutely stunning. Casey and I love historic hotels and this one was huge and very ornate. If you are ever in HS you have to stop by and see it!

After breakfast we headed over to the Quapaw Bathhouse to get a hot stone massage and take a dip in the "healing mineral waters of Hot Springs". Casey had booked an appointment without me knowing so the whole thing was a surprise! We usually don't do a lot for Valentine's, so this was a very cool V-day gift. :) The massage was wonderful as was the "bath". The water left my skin feeling super soft and we left Hot Springs feeling super relaxed.

Here are some pictures from HS!

The public bath at the Quapaw

Beautiful Melissa and Zach

Case and I walking around town

The Quapaw

Me (finally!) getting to throw a snowball at Casey

Wurstfest

This past weekend we went to New Braunfels for Wurstfest with Casey's parents. We had been wanting to go for a few years now and when we mentioned it to Casey's parents a few months ago they were all about it. Thank God because with the past month that we've had (I'll just say it has involved a funeral and several run ins with not so nice students) we really needed to get out of town and without C's parents we probably would have canceled the trip. Here are some pics from the weekend:

Mini-Moon

Last weekend we went to New Braunfels for a mini-moon since we won't get to take our real honeymoon until March. If I haven't mentioned it before, we LOVE the hill country and especially New Braunfels. On Saturday we took our time and drove up around lunch time and just kicked around New Braunfels for a bit before checking in at The Faust hotel in "downtown" NB. While driving around NB we passed a golf course with a ton of deer just hanging out so we stopped and took pictures. I realized that even though we live in a place called "The Woodlands", we are still so excited to see wildlife... kind of ironic huh?

After the deer viewing, we headed to The Faust. The hotel was ADORABLE and exactly what we were looking for. It was historic (built in 1929), perfectly located for what we wanted to do that weekend, and the staff was incredibly nice. The rooms are smaller because the hotel is so old, but it was perfect. Here are some pics of the hotel:

Kind of reminds you of the Shining right?

On Saturday afternoon we walked around the square and into a few antique shops and boutiques and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We had a really nice dinner at Liberty Bistro which is actually located in the basement of the NB City Hall - funny huh? The food was great and we of course ate WAY too much.

On Sunday morning as we were walking out of our room at the Faust we ran into our good friends Andi and Wes - how random right? Turns out they were staying at the Faust for Labor Day weekend as well - so weird! We hung out with them for a little while and then headed out to float the Comal for a few hours. The float was great and so relaxing and I finally found a cut pair of Sanuk flip flops at one of the river stores - score!

Sunday afternoon we took a drive up to Canyon lake and then came back to NB for dinner at Huisache Wine Bar and Grill, our new favorite spot in town. The food was amazing and the environment was so cool. We sat out on the breezy patio where, while we were waiting on our food, we were greeted by a white cat sitting up on the brick wall. A few minutes later another cat comes up and watches us... before we knew it there were 4 cats on the patio with us just hanging out and watching us. They all stayed pretty far away until Casey and I started feeding them (I'm sure the restaurant loved that), but we were the only people on the patio so we figured, why not? Here are some pics from Huisache..

After the waitress put our dishes in the dish tub, one of our friends promptly took care of the leftovers... hopefully the Health Department doesn't see this haha.

One of our new "friends"

Casey fed this one and then he promptly ran as fast as he could away...

On Monday morning we got up and had breakfast at Naeglin's and then headed out to San Marcos to the outlet mall and then headed home. It was a perfect weekend to relax and spend time with each other, so nice!

The oldest bakery in Texas and a place we stop at every time we are out this way...

Texas Flood

Right now I am very (selfishly) upset about the fact that New Braunfels is flooded. This weekend we were supposed to go stay at our favorite river side resort with the Chaglas, but that trip is no more because of the flooding. This is especially sad because Bash (Chris' dad) was just diagnosed with terminal cancer and does not have very much time left in this world and all he wanted was to go to Heidelberg and have a nice vacation weekend with his family and friends.

I know this is selfish because a lot of people lost their homes and businesses this week from the storms/flooding, but I can't help but be disappointed.

Please send a prayer up for Bash and for the people in New Braunfels that have been affected by the floods.

N'Awlins: The Big Easy...

Last weekend Jessica, Kelli, and I set out for New Orleans for a nice girls weekend and it was A-mazing! Our friend Sarah Kunz was there for an engineering conference so we decided to piggy back off of her business trip! We stayed with her friend Mark who was a fantastic host and showed us a wonderful time in the Crescent City. Here are some pictures from touring around the French Quarter, our two nights on Bourbon Street, and our dinner out a the fabulous Jacques-Imos- so yummy!















We had a great time and I can't wait to go back!