That time I met Darth Vader

As my husband has 2 summer school exams this week, most of the weekend was spent studying (for him) and grading/reading (for me). However, we were able to get out a bit Friday and Saturday nights! On Friday, we went to the Ft Worth's Symphony's Concert in the Garden-- Star Wars & Beyond and had a great time!

We parked at a nearby parking lot, took the shuttle in to the Botanical Gardens, and then waited in a long line to get into the area where the concert was. We were able to find a good spot for our two lawn chairs and set up camp.

The concert program that evening

Matt stayed behind with our stuff while I went around to explore the various booths that were around. After picking up a free coozy (we only had 1 and had talked about earlier the need for a second), I came upon this:

Other Star Wars characters were there as well, but who wants a picture with a wanna-be Princess Leia?

And so I of course had to get in line and ask a random family to take my picture for me.

I got back to our seat, showed Matt the picture, and then he had to go see it for himself. Unfortunately, he didn't feel the need to get a picture with Lord Vader himself. Oh well.

The concert itself was quite amazing and we had a great time! The lasers were quite impressive and the music was of course awesome. The last song had not just lasers choreographed to the music, but also fireworks. I am admittedly a snob about my firework shows (my trips to Disney World have spoiled me) but I was very impressed!  

Shocking, it's hard to take good pictures of lasers :P

Overall it was a great night and Matt was able to relax after a day full of studying. Success!

Five Things for Friday

I hope you had a great week! Here is my weekly collection of 5 things, just for you!

1) This week has been exhausting for my poor husband. He had to work a lot of overtime this week, so that + taking 2 summer classes = tired, busy Matt. For me, that means a lot of entertaining myself, which I have been able to do by reading  for fun (!), going shopping, and ruining cookies. More on that later.

2) We are excited about this weekend yet again. Why? Because I have these tickets: 

Yes, my Disney love lives on. We can't wait til Saturday! 

3) We're also going to a concert Friday night put on by the Ft Worth Symphony. It is at the local botanical gardens and this particular one is a laser light show set to music from Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. Sounds like it will be a great night to me! 

4) For the first time ever, I had to throw away a batch of cookies. It was so sad. They came out undercooked and if I baked them longer, the edges would burn. When recipes state how big of scoops to make each cookie, you should follow that advice... 

5) Don't you love it when that shirt, skirt, book, accessory, etc finally goes on clearance at Target? Yeah. That happened to me yesterday. This pillow (yes, a throw pillow of all things) I've been eyeing for a month or so at Target finally went on sale. I couldn't bring myself to spend $20 on it but $13.98? Sold! I love this pillow a lot more than the old one so I'm a happy girl. 

It's a lot cuter than the crappy cell
phone pic shows, promise

So that's my week in a nutshell. What about you? Any good purchases lately? Weekend plans?

Five Things for Friday

I hope everyone had a great week! Me? I'm just pumped for it to be Friday. It has been a long one... Anyway, here are some random happenings in our life lately.

1) Yesterday I felt like baking as well as spoiling my husband (he's had a rough week, guys). So I made him his favorite-- oatmeal raisin cookies. Thankfully I'm not one who minds raisins in her cookies, so it works out. Anyway, I used this recipe (just subbed raisins for the chocolate chips) and they are absolutely delicious. Highly recommend :)

Yes, you get the cell phone pic today. I
assure you, they are tastier than they look.

2) Yesterday was awesome for another reason-- my shoes came in! Due to my new hobby of running, I've been having some foot issues. Along with getting 2 steroid shots in my foot (don't recommend, BTW), I have been in the slow process of replacing my shoes. My two immediate needs were tennis shoes (which I got from a local running store) and sandals. I used to live in flip flops up until this incident, so it has come as quite a shock to not have them anymore. Anyway, at the recommendation of a fellow runner, I went to our nearest Walking Company store and purchased some (pricey) sandals. They had to be shipped though, but it was worth it. I wore them like slippers yesterday, they're that comfortable. And cute, right?

If you want a better angle than this, click here

3) We bought a traditional coffee maker several months ago to make decaf coffee at night. We have a Keurig, but don't like paying for K-cups, hence the 'old-school' coffee machine. Anyway, I started making decaf coffee around 2 in the afternoon, sticking it in the fridge to cool down, and come about 8, 9 at night- bam! Homemade iced coffee. It's great to have while relaxing with Matt at the end of the day. It's the little things, right?

4) I have an Android phone, mainly because when I bought my first 'real' smartphone, I didn't want to pay $200 for an iPhone. However, the new iOS 7 that was released... I kind of want it. The Control Center aspect is particularly cool... It makes my 2 year old HTC phone and its lousy battery life look pitiful.

5) We get 2 date nights this weekend, which I'm pretty excited about. With Matt working late a lot and then having to do school when he gets home, quality time has been lacking lately (hence why our decaf coffee time is so valuable). So not only do we get to do our traditional date night tonight, with whatever Matt has planned, but we will have a second one Saturday night thanks to an attractive Groupon. Gotta love those deals!

What about you? Anything exciting happen in your life? What about plans for the weekend?

This weekend, I...

Linking up for another edition of our weekend in review. Go here to see what others have been up to!

This weekend we were quite busy, especially in the cooking department!

This weekend, we made homemade pizza, on a pizza stone nonetheless, and it turned out amazingly! 

Beef & bacon pizza, from this amazing cookbook

This weekend, we used my dad's breadmaker that hasn't been used in about 15 years and made some honey whole wheat bread. It also turned out great! 

This weekend, we grilled up some Tequila Lime Chicken (from this cookbook), made strawberry limeade, and enjoyed a Mexican feast. So much good food!

This weekend, we took a relaxing walk around our nearby park system and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine before it got too hot. (See, we did more than just eat!)

This weekend, I got to do a lot of reading. I have recently finished reading my first Stephen King books: 11/22/63 and The Green Mile. Both were fantastic and I highly recommend them.

That seems to sum up my weekend. What about you? What did you do?

New Orleans Trip- French Quarter Wanderings

On our final day of our trip, we hung out mainly in the French Quarter. We visited the museums located in both the Cabildo and the Presbytere, took the ferry across the Mississippi River to Algiers and back again, and of course ate tons of food. Don't worry though, we walked all around the French Quarter and saw some very interesting things, including not 1, but 2 cross-dressing men (complete with leather skirts-- only in NOLA, right?). Finally, we enjoyed our (early) anniversary dinner at Stanley, a restaurant located right on Jackson Square to finish up the trip. It made for an exhausting but awesome day to finish up our trip!

This was inside 1 of the museums; it had an exhibit about Hurricane Katrina
and this model made me smile. Can you guess why? 

Pete Fountain's clarinet that was damaged in the Flood.

An example of Mardi Gras

More Mardi Gras exhibit

One of the costumes

Another museum's display of weaponry

We had fun picking out our choice of saber

This is a very famous room in the Cabildo and heard several important cases, such as Plessy v. Ferguson.

It is also the home of 1 of the death masks of Napoleon.
A little creepy, yes?

Then we stalked a wedding that was happening in Jackson Square

Now onto our ferry ride!

It is free and you get to see a really good view of the city

Outside Pat O'Brien's

Our dinner (really brinner). Matt's pancakes (yes, that's a scoop
of chocolate ice cream).

My Breaux Bridge Benedict, complete with boudin, poached egg,
Hollaindaise sauce, and french bread.  I feel like I gain 5 lbs
just thinking about that meal. Yum!

Sitting on front of the square, enjoying the sights.

So there you have it. We had an amazing trip to NOLA and can't wait to go back-- not only to visit family but to see the sites. There is a lot to do in the area and if you have any questions about planning your own trip there, feel free to ask!