Girl Weekend

So last weekend I took a trip back to Texas for a girl weekend. We had such a great time. My sister and Carie picked me up at the airport in Austin and then we went over to Johannah's (Megan is my sister in the pink, then next to her is Johannah, then Carie, then me). Johannah has a bigger car so she drove all of us from Austin to Corpus.

We got to the beach around 7, checked in, freshened up, and headed to the bars. There were some great bands playing in Corpus so we lucked out with the live music scene. I forgot how great Texas is for listening to live music. After hitting a few bars and have a few drinks we headed back to the hotel. Of course, being it was Texas, we could not go home for the night before stopping for breakfast tacos. Whataburger was a calling and I answered :)

Saturday we got up, and went for coffee. Then after we were all properly cafinated we went to Target for some basic beach needs (water, sunglasses, snacks, etc). As soon as we had our supplies we went straight to the beach. The hotel we were staying with had a great set up where we could get umbrellas, chairs, jet skis, drinks, basically anything we could want. We set up camp and started soaking in the rays. Megan and Johannah had beer, but Carie and I decided to go for the full beach experience so we started drinking pina coladas. Mmmmmm.
Later in the day we decided to jump on the ocean trampoline. There was a lot of kids out there so we waited until it was clear, but as soon as we got on 3-4 kids came back. We taught the kids the add-on game, they taught us the run around in circles game, it was great! Tiring, but great.
After a long day in the sun we were tired so we headed back for a quick nap. We all decided on sea food for dinner. We headed to Landry's. Carie treated us to some champagne, then we proceeded to eat and eat and eat. The food was fantastic, but we ate SOOO MUCH! The girls treated to celebrate my upcoming nuptials. They are all way to sweet, but I really appreciated it. We had a few drinks after, then headed to bed.

Sunday we stopped on the way out for some authentic Tex-Mex. I just can't find that here in LA :( After filling our bellies we headed back to Austin (stopping at the outlets on the way, of course)

After dropping off the girls, Megan and I headed to her place where I had a few more treats before heading home. I was able to hang out with Miller (the coolest dog ever!) see my mom and my grandparents, and then topped it off with some Rudy's BBQ. I wish I could go home more, I really miss my family and friends. It was such a great time to be able to see everyone. I can't wait for October when I get to see them all again.

Let There be Cake

Tim, John, Sanjoy and I attended our tasting today. It has already been 3 hours since we left the Ritz, and I am still stuffed! So much food. I counted the courses on the way home, it added up to 13 courses that we ate today. We started off with a couple of appetizers. The first round was an assortment of grilled veggies with goat cheese. It was pretty good. Then they brought out the second appetizer. Grilled scallops. I am happy to report I did try EVERY course, and did not make faces once :) Other than happy ones when they brought out dessert of course. After the appetizers we moved on to soups. The first was a tomato soup with spinach tortellini. I did enjoy this, but the second soup was a won ton soup with a spicy pork dumpling. I love spicy food. This soup didn't really go with our other meal options, but it was fantastic, and spicy. After the soup we moved on to salad. The first salad was a tomato salad with cheese. Ok, but not what we had in mind. The second salad was a green salad (pictured above). We all really enjoyed the green salad and it has made it's way to the final selection.

The first entree that came out was an assortment of chicken. This is what I will be having. We modified the sides a little, but the main selection is pretty tasty. We then tried two different beefs. The first was called twin tornadoes (tenderloin with mushroom sauce). The second beef was your basic tenderloin served as a single steak with a pinot sauce. Both were very good, but we decided on the twin tornadoes.


After the entree we moved on to the good stuff, dessert! We started with an interesting wine soaked pear, with ice cream and chocolate sauce. The first bite threw me a bit, but then the more I ate the more I enjoyed it. I was really good. After the pear we had tiramisu. I personally don't care for it, but Tim seemed to really like this one.


Finally, we were at the moment I had been waiting for. Cake, cake and more cake. We started with a white chocolate sauce with raspberry filler and vanilla cake, then another vanilla cake with strawberry and a light cream sauce, then the third cake was another raspberry but in a lemon filler and lemon cake. We decided to go with the vanilla cake, strawberry and then switched the filler from cream to instead have the white chocolate filler. So the final menu, we will be starting out with a nice green salad. That will be followed by a choice of twin tornadoes, or chicken. Then guest will be given tiramisu and/or wedding cake. In addition to the desserts we will also be offering a selection of coffees, lattes, and more during dessert. The tasting was a lot of fun, and a lot of food. We had a good time. I can't eat like that often, but it is worth it to splurge every now and then.





Bon Appetite!

Flowers for Marty

Tim and I met with a florist today. We found a couple that runs a small shop near the Ritz. They have done a few wedding at the Ritz as well. They were so nice, and helpful. We were able to tell them what we wanted and they were able to offer some great suggestions, and come in right around our expected budget. And, the best part, she totally understood the importance of Calla Lilies. For any of you who do not already know, I LOVE Calla Lilies.

It has been a very productive week for us. We still have a lot to do, but we are getting there. Tim expects proofs of the invitations next week, and the week after we hope to listen to a few bands, finalize our menu, and find some photographers.

Traveling with kids

I meant to post something about this a while back and I totally forgot. I was speaking with Jen and she was telling me that when she travels with the kids each airline requires different types of identification for the kids. Being that many of our guest have young children, and that children are welcome, I figured this was worth mentioning. If you are flying with small children, be sure to contact the airline (you can probably find out online too) to find out the specifics of what they will require. Also if your child is under 2 most airlines will require a birth certificate in order for the child ot fly free.

The officiant is official!

I just got off the phone with Rev. Jim Martell. Good news, he has agreed to marry us :) Its so great to see things starting to come together.

Power went out at work this afternoon so they sent us all home. Luckily that put me at home when he called so I was able to get everything taken care of on the spot.

I have an appointment this weekend with a florist as well, so hopefully that will go as smooth. I love that I am finally able to mark some items off the list, what a great thing!

The ball is rolling...

Wow, time is flying by!!!! We are under the 100 day count down! Very exciting, and still so much to do....

Tim and I bought our wedding bands this week, and checked out a harpest. I have contacted florists and officiants as well, just playing phone tag now. We have our tasting booked July 26th. We should have the menu finalized this month. I hope to have everything except music and photos done this month.

In addition to planning the wedding, I also just changed jobs. The new job is going well. Everyone is so nice. I am back to databases now, so I am happy about that. I am trying to use lunch, or evenings to take care of wedding stuff. I am getting stuff done, but wish I had a month off to just focus on the wedding. Oh well, I am getting stuff done, and Tim is great about helping with the details. Thank goodness!!!

Next week I am going to Texas for a long weekend. I can't wait. I haven't had a weekend with my girlfriends in a long time. It's going to be a lot of fun. We are going to hang out on the beach, have lots of yummy drinks, and just relax. I can't wait to see them and to catch up.

I am also getting really excited about seeing everyone for the wedding. I can't wait. I wish it were tomorrow! Anyway, I have babbed on long enough. I just wanted to post a quick update on what's going on. Hope everyone is well, and I will post more details as I get them.

C I A B A double T A - Ciabatta
Peace Out!

Final Hotel Post

We have gone to a few hotels, and it seems that we are getting the same response across the board. It appears that with the internet readily available now, group rates at hotels have become a thing of the past. The internet rates that we have found seem to be much better than any group rate the hotels are offering directly. Here are some suggestions we have come up with.

This first section of hotels may cost a little more, but are very close to the wedding site:

The Ritz (Location of the wedding)
avg rate 10/20-10/25 = $259

Marriott Marina Del Rey
avg rate 10/20-10/25 = $199
Friends & Family Rate = $180

Best Western Jamaica Bay
avg rate 10/20-10/25 = $129-159
*** If you have 10 or more rooms go through travelocity to get $118
*** If you are staying 4 or more nights go through bestwestern.com to get $118
This hotel is great for families, has a small beach, and is close to the wedding.

Marina Del Rey is the first town you come to West of LAX on the way to Santa Monica. This hotel is not on the water, but is still a convenient location:

Furama Hotel
avg rate 10/20-10/25 = $59

If you would rather be close to entertainment areas than to the wedding locations we have a few suggestions as well.

Santa Monica is where we live; it’s about 10 miles West of Marina Del Rey. With traffic that could be 15-40 minutes. Santa Monica has great shopping, the pier, beaches, and lots for the family to do.

If you are interested in staying in Santa Monica we suggest:

Comfort Inn
avg rate 10/20-10/25 = $95

Days Inn
avg rate 10/20-10/25 = $95

These hotels are not on the beach. These hotels are about 2.5-3 miles from the water. There are busses that run in the area.

There are other hotels on the water in Santa Monica. These beach hotels range from $150-400.

Also, if you are more interested in staying close to other tourist spots you want to focus your search on Anaheim (if you are planning a trip to Disney) or Hollywood

I will be posting the rates above theknot.com as well. Please fell free to add a comment to this post if you would like to share any hotel infor you may find.

Thanks!