this was quite the month! i had work trips to reading, santa clara, and san antonio…plus i went to houston twice to visit philip + friends. lots of traveling, lots of fun, and lots going on in general. there were a couple bumps in the road here and there, but overall, things are going well and may was filled with some really great times.
and now, for a million photos…
{this boy!}
{he cracks me up}
{with his little airplane which lucky loved too…lucky played with it until the sound device inside played continuously and then died. so now it’s a silent plane.}
{i can’t get enough of him!}
{and some selfies by myself…because stripes + red lips…}
{the view from my hotel room in reading, PA. this town has had a tough go over the years – it’s a very poor city, but i have to say that it really grew on me.}
{healthiest meal ever! good thing i couldn’t eat it all…that was a heart attack waiting to happen!! anyway, if you’re ever in reading, go to brewers and order the angry orchard burger… it has angry orchard apple butter BBQ sauce, cheddar, and bacon. need i say more?}
{west reading}
{when your man loves eggs benedict, you take the time to perfect your recipe. ;) the hollandaise was perfect when i finished making it, but by the time i had poached the eggs, it had thickened and yellowed just slightly. next time i’ll add a few drops of water and whisk well before serving. still tasted great, and the whole thing was pretty dang good.}
{car selfies}
{it made me so happy to see julee this month! we met at whiskey cake for a couple of great escapes and had the best mini-date. old friends are the best friends. also, we are totally twinning with the hairstyles right now!! i love it.}
{the former albertson’s that i can walk to turned into a sun fresh market, and i like it so much better. one of the perks is this little bar/”brewery” area with 24 beers on tap. you can fill up a growler, stop for a drink, whatever. not that i’ve ever done that…i mean, let’s be honest – if i wanted to get a drink somewhere, this isn’t really where i would go, but i still think it’s cool and definitely nice if you had a growler to fill. way to step it up, sun fresh!}
{remind me why i felt the need to take these again?? oh yes, it’s because the cute boyfriend asked for a photo…and despite being in my workout attire, i obliged.} ;)
{philip is probably going to kill me for posting these, but one of the things about being in a long-distance relationship is that you end up sending and receiving a lot of selfies. because you miss the other person’s face so much! and i know i’m totally biased, but i think he’s dang good-looking. i mean, that suit…hello, GQ model!!}
{the photo on the left was taken the day before mother’s day – we hosted a bridal shower for a family friend. and happy mother’s day to my sweet mama! i’m so thankful for her wisdom and guidance, her patience and love, and our wonderful friendship. she is a woman of God and a beloved wife and mother. i’m so very lucky to have her as my mom. on the right, i made crab benedict for mom and the three of us with the help of dad and mike. this + champagne made for a pretty fun brunch.}
{both of these fabulous ladies celebrated a birthday around mother’s day, and both have had such an influence on me as i grew up and now in adulthood as well. they are amazing women – smart, independent, young-spirited, and fun. and they are still traveling the world at their age, which just makes my heart so happy. i aspire to be like them someday!}
{on the left…welcome to my life. i do everything food. and a [belated] birthday dinner for miss becca – kristen and i were so happy to celebrate with her! as a side note, did anyone know that hg sply does a free toast at the restaurant at sunset every day?! this was my first time being there for the sunset toast and i pretty much thought it was the coolest idea ever.}
{a little throwback to the chubby-cheeked days!}
{weekend packing…i think i have a little theme going here!}
{on one of my trips to visit philip… he took me to pier eight on the water – it’s this seafood market where you pick out your fresh-caught fish and they cook it for you. i’m pretty much obsessed now.}
{hello gulf snapper!}
{so happy to see him!}
{this was the best lunch ever.}
{a great night – we met philip’s friends at the cutest little italian place in houston, antica osteria.}
{one of the funny things about philip is that literally everywhere we go in both league city and houston, everyone seems to know him. i can’t figure out if he really frequents all these places or if he’s just a memorable-looking person [he is super tall] so maybe people remember him if he goes there once or twice? or maybe he’s the type that people just feel like they know? he does seem to make friends everywhere…but the whole thing just cracks me up!}
{at philip’s favorite brunch spot – i can’t remember the name of it. these fried green tomatoes topped with crab and drizzled with remoulade were super tasty.}
{when i took my work trip to santa clara, the rental car company ran out of cars so they made us stand in a line and just assigned the cars as they came in to the next person in line…and this was the ride i got assigned to. MAJORLY lucked out. i’ve never driven a beamer [and quite honestly didn’t know how to work it at first…it was much different than my little toyota camry!!], but i had some fun driving around this baby.}
{this california sunshine was wonderful since texas was getting a lot of rain this spring.}
{first stop was lunch at sushirrito, which i’ve been dying to try! it was sooooo good – i had the geisha’s kiss: yellowfin tuna [hand-line caught], tamago, piquillo peppers, yuzu tobiko, lotus chips, namasu cucumber, butter lettuce, avocado, and sesame white soya. sushirrito, when are you coming to dallas??}
{…and then a little drive to the beach.}
{half moon bay}
{i hit the sand. because when you have a million and one work calls to make, making them at the beach > making them at the hotel.}
{this.}
{a quiet morning at the hotel before my meeting: working in the hotel room, and lemon poppyseed pancakes with fresh ricotta and a sprinkling of granola for breakfast.}
{another drive to the beach…}
{…this time to san gregorio beach! i just had to get out of my car in this very spot to take a photo. i could hear the crashing waves from here.}
{san gregorio beach. quite a bit of soul-searching was done on this trip.}
{ohhhhh, highway 1.}
{the magnolia tree in bloom. and in the picture on the right, enjoying a much-needed moment on the terrace on a friday afternoon… my 8 am flight that morning out of san jose was diverted to san francisco about an hour in due to a medical emergency, so i spent six hours on a plane that day, plus work was complete insanity due to my boss and coworker being in india for two weeks, PLUS my personal life was complete insanity due to some personal stuff. so yeah, at this point, i was wishing both drinks were alcoholic!} ;)
{brother-sister date in trinity groves!}
{…first we had lunch at LUCK… i had an oak highlands guavagood kölsch and calabacitas [yellow & zucchini squash, garlic, roasted poblanos, diced tomatoes, corn and onions, topped with queso fresco, sour cream and cilantro]. and of course we shared beer ice cream for dessert!}
{and then we went to four corners brewing co. aaaaand i had brother bear take a picture of me in front of this wall, because, well, that’s just what i do.}
{…and finally, we checked out the trinity skyline trail because we’d never actually been on it before. pretty cool!}
{we know, torchy’s, we know.}
{serious selfie, fun selfie. i really only wear my glasses to drive at night and to church if i remember…and if i want to look serious at work!}
{beer and pizza by the fire table at my parents’ house…these are the best nights. and my parents’ 30th anniversary was on may 25th [they’re leaving today for a much-deserved vacation to france for a food & wine river cruise plus a little paris adventure]! these two have always supported me and shown tremendous love to me throughout my life, and they are truly the best parents a girl could ask for. they’re amazing role models and i’m glad we all have so much fun together! happy anniversary to them and many more joyful years to come!}
{oh hey cutie!}
{dinner with my girls on the patio at the blind butcher! and when at the blind butcher… order the brisket cheddar jalapeno hand cranked sausage and bacon brussels sprouts.}
{cheers to the three college roomies finally being in the same city!!}
{lunch date with my work ladies at seoul garden… that korean pancake was da bomb.}
{octopus bibimbap with the rice separated. the server looked at me like i had a third eye when i asked for it this way, but i knew what i was doing!}
{another work trip, this time a conference at la cantera resort in san antonio. not a bad place to spend the night!}
{this is too cute.}
{views from my balcony}
{the grounds of this place are amazing.}
{i could totallyyyy get an award for awkward conference photos with this one!!}
{gotta love texas hill country}
{and after san antonio, i drove to league city to visit this guy! unfortunately i had gotten some kind of food poisoning at the conference so the trip there was no fun, but philip was so sweet to me and i went straight to bed and luckily the sickness was short-lived…i woke up feeling fine the next day. we worked remotely at starbucks together in the morning [it was a half day at work because of memorial day] and then he grilled some salmon and asparagus for us for lunch. and then i was off to houston to spend the night with my friend angela. as a side note, my sparkly pizza purse finally made its debut!!}
{dinner with my favorite houston girls at karbach brewing company! i had the 3 little pigs pizza with ground charcuterie + housemade mozzarella + dressed arugula and it was great.}
{it was stormy early that night and this after-storm photo doesn’t do the sky justice…it was SO crazy-looking out there.}
{fun cocktails and the best convos with my soul sister angela at the coolest little speakeasy in downtown houston, captain foxheart’s!}
{and another cool bar we went to downtown called OKRA charity saloon. for each drink purchased, a guest receives a vote for one of four charities to receive the next month’s proceeds… really neat concept.}
{so unfortunatelyyyyy i could barely eat these breakfast tacos at BRC [which were so delish] because i had already filled up on cheddar biscuits with bacon jam. #oops. next time i’ll come ravenous!!!}
{at kemah boardwalk!}
{this sunset though…}
{the cutest place! we had a blast.}
and that was my may! can’t believe it’s already summer!