Mini-Vacay Recap: 4th of July

I apologize for being a little missing-in-action.  The familia and I took a mini-vacay for the 4^th of July and we just back into town last night!

Mini-Vacay Recap

Wednesday afternoon we headed for Victoria to visit mi madre.  Man, I have really been go-go-go for the last three weekends and I love it!  That’s what the summer is supposed to be about!  Family, travel, food and fitness!

I woke up that morning and went for a long run.  I ran 6 miles and when I got back, the hubs made a “Tortilla Española” for brunch. Potatoes, eggs, leftover diced chicken, and red bell peppers.  It was delish! 

Doesn't look too hot but I promise it was yummy!

After brunch, we packed up the car and headed for Victoria. 

Halfway there, we made a pit stop at Prasek’s in Hilje.  Prasek’s is a family owned and operated smokehouse and I’ve been going there since I was little!  They have the best…well, everything!  Choclate cake, kolaches, sausage, peppered turkey jerkey, pulled pork sandwhiches, pecan pie, cookies…these are just a few of may favorite things from there!  We only get to eat stuff from there like once every two or three months so when I do you better believe I am not worried about calories or fat! J

We got to Victoria, headed to my mom’s and that night went to watch the fireworks display.  It was beautiful and

I was really impressed with the quality of the show. This year they had it out by Victoria Mall, and I must admit it was fantastic!  And that’s saying a lot because I am used to Houston’s fireworks celebration!  After the show we went to Wienerschnitzel (again…it is one of my Mom’s favorite fast-food restaurants) and then went home to rest. 

The next day (Thursday) we went shopping!  We went to the Victoria Mall and perused many stores.  We were there for most of the afternoon and got some pretty good bargains!  I made out with some great stuff, including these bad boys!

Just couldn't resist these blingy shoes!

I also know now what my next pair of sneaks will be:

Nike Free 4.0, baby!

 That night the hubs went on a 4 mile run with me on the same trail that I ran on last time.  It was awesome!  We ran and chatted the whole time and before we knew it we were done.  I love running with my hubby!  I usually lrun by myself with my music but I really enjoyed the company.  After all, he is my favorite person to hang out with!  After our run we relaxed and vegged out in front of the television with my mom and our little one.

The next morning the hubs got up early to go do some shots for his photography portfolio.  He wanted to get some good shot of downtown, Old Victoria as the sun was coming up.  I decided to skip my run and go with him.  That was kind of hard for me!  I’m such a one-track-mind, crazy-focused kind of person when I get something in my head.  But I try to remind myself to enjoy the spontaneity of life too.  I mean how often do I get to go with him when he goes out to shoot?  And it’s not like I couldn’t go running later, right?  I’m really glad I went with him!  We (even I got in on the action!) got some great shots and even had a romantic breakfast at a little whole in the wall Mexican restaurant.  It was a beautiful morning.  Here are some of the shots that I got:

The old courthouse in downtown Victoria.

The gazebo as the sun is coming out.

Beautiful red brick building, now a restaurant.



My hubs, the photographer.

That afternoon we chilled with my mom and got our stuff ready to come back home.  We hit the road and for the next two hours, made our way back to Houston.  We got back in town late and the hubs, bambina, and Bella were all gracious enough to come on my run with me.  Well, almost, anyway.  I ran and they walked around in the field behind the school that I run around.  I ran a quick 2.6 miles in 20 minutes and we came home.

Overall we had a nice mini-vacay filled with family, food, a little shopping, and relaxation.  It’s always nice to go back home and run around my old "stomping grounds."  For me the old saying proves true, time and time again: there really is no place like home. 

PART 2: Sand&sun, delish food, and family time

After making our garage-sale rounds we met my second mother's daughter, her boyfriend, and his daughter at the beach in Port Lavaca. It was the perfect day for the beach and we had a fantastic time! We came prepared with snacks and everything we needed to really enjoy a relaxing afternoon.  We sunbathed (as if I needed any sun J) and periodically took dips in the water to cool off.

Yep, that's right. My mom was trying to read the newspaper at the beach. Don't tell me you've never done that. Nope? Me either.  Only my mother would! J

 After the beach we came home and I helped my second mother cook dinner. Been looking forward to this food for a while so I figured whatever I could do to make it easier on her, the better! Look at this goodness!!

Chicken and dressing, Turkey breast, brocolli rice casserole, creamed corn. Yum!

DESSERT! 

We enjoyed dinner and spent the rest of the night chatting and drinking some vino.  It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day!

 The next morning I got up and went for a run on the same trail.  I ran 5.11 miles in 50:42, a 9:55 pace.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.  I’m pretty proud of my time; I may not be fast but I’m steady and consistent.

 After getting cleaned up, we went to church.  We went to Faith Family Church, my second mother’s home church.  Pastor Graff and his wife, Tamara, spoke about  “The Road to Romance”.  Mrs. Graff also happens to be Joel Osteen’s sister.  I really liked that they took a tag-team approach to the sermon.  Pastor Graff said that since they were going to be talking about keeping the romance alive in a marriage (and that takes two), that it would be best to speak on the subject from both perspectives.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and especially appreciated that their honest and frank approach to love, marriage, and everything that comes along with it.  They are brave souls and even touched upon things that others would be scared to talk about!

 After church, it was LEFTOVERS TIME!!!!  I ate another round of all of that delicious food and then we took the short trip to Bloomington to my mother’s house.  After visiting my hometown, my favorite neighbors, and Mom’s cats, we loaded up all of our goodies.  My Mom always loads us up with lots of awesome stuff!  We made it back to Victoria just in time to hop on the bus to head back to Houston. 

My bambina with my mother's giant cat.

After what seemed like a short ride, we made it safely back home.  My handsome hubs was waiting on us when we arrived!  We came home, unloaded all of our stuff, got caught up on the weekend and headed to bed.



Overall, it was a beautiful weekend spent amongst family!  It had been a while since we had spent a whole weekend with my mom and my second mother.  Needless to say, I am definitely looking forward to spending some more QUALITY TIME with my favorite ladies. J

     

My beautiful mother and I!

 My second mother and I!

PART 1: Shawarma’s, celebrity sighting, and the wheels on the bus

This weekend was the long-awaited and much-anticipated Girl’s Weekend.  It started off with a bang! 

Friday morning I ran 2 miles on the treadmill at the gym and then did a Pilates class.  Please tell me why I was breathing heavier in Pilates than during my run.  That Pilates stuff is NO JOKE!!  I finished my work out and came home to pack.  We left for the bus station, yes you heard me correctly – the bus station, but first went to Abdallah’s Restaurant and Bakery because we were in the mood to eat Lebanese food. 

Before I continue, let me explain why, when we have a perfectly good car, we decided to ride the bus to my Mom’s.  You see my daughter wanted an “adventure.”  She wanted to ride the bus, since she had ridden it once before with my Mom and thought it would be fun to do it again.  We believe in exposing our daughter to as many life experiences as possible, and this one was feasible so we did it.  We rode the bus!

At Abdalla’s we ordered the Beef Shawarmas with a side of Hummus.  The people were really nice; they actually remembered my husband even though he had only been one other time, three weeks earlier!  The food was ah-maz-ing!!  The Shawarma was HUGE, enough for two meals, and that’s saying a lot because I eat a lot!  The Hummus was flavorful and creamy.  I could have eaten a whole vat of the stuff!  We have added it to our list of new favorite restaurants and will definitely be going back…and soon!  Is it just me or is that now two restaurants I’ve added to our “Favorite Restaurants” list in the last week?! 

As we were about to leave, we met Greg Onofrio, the guy from the WB 39’s “NewsFix.”  He’s not just “some guy”, though, he actually narrates the news show and does the closing commentary.  Talk about a nice guy!  Not only was he friendly and funny, he was down to Earth, actually engaged in real conversation with us, and even posed for pictures.  I was a fan of “NewsFix” before but I will definitely be watching it even more faithfully now!!

After meeting the Houston celebrity, we made it to the bus.  The wheels on the bus went round and round and two and a half hours later we were in Victoria!  My second mother picked us up and we werejoined shortly by my Mom.  After a gourmet dinner at Wienerschnitzel, we hung out, chatted, watched some television and then went to bed.

Saturday morning’s workout was an early morning six-mile run on a running/biking trail not far from my second mother’s house.  It was beautiful weather and my run felt really good! 

After getting back and getting cleaning up, we went Garage Sale-ing for a few hours.  I sure have missed a good old-fashioned Garage Sale run!  It’s been years since I’ve done one.

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I’m going to stop there for now but I will be back to tell you about the second half of our weekend.  Coming up: the beach, the food, church, Mom’s house, and the trip home!