Catching Up

Wow.  I feel so behind, I'm not sure how to catch up!  The last week has been a blur.

Last Saturday I hosted an It Works! party.  Are you familiar? 

I had heard about it, but was a bit skeptical of it all.  But you know me, any excuse to host a party :)  10 of my girls came over, and we all got ourselves wrapped.  AND...we all lost inches!  AND...the inches have stayed off.  So there you have it.  It, apparently, does work.  We've all ordered more wraps and other products to keep it up.  I'll keep you posted :)

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Sunday I left for Austin, TX for work.  I meant to tell you that Monday, but as you saw....Blogger and I had a bit of a misunderstanding.  I am a fan of Austin.  It wasn't as pretty as San Antonio (the only other TX city I have been to), but it does have it's charm.  A friend from work and I did a mini bar crawl up and down Sixth Street, and then we went to the bat bridge.  Yes.  Bat bridge. 

You could hear them squealing.  It was kindove gross.  And kindove neat.  All at the same time.  We also played beer pong in a bar.  They don't have that in Virginia I don't think.  It was an experience :)  Here I am #winning:

We also played tourist in the Driskill Hotel.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Apparently it's haunted as well.  Spooky, spooky!  I wish we had stayed here.  Although I imagine it was a bit out of the company budget :(

(here I am playing tourist with my cowboy boots & camera)

I lost my blackberry during our bar crawl, and I had to go back to find it in my yoga pants.  Talk about embarrassing.  My friend took this picture at some point:

I feel that it sums up the evening.  A blurry mess.  But fun :)

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I flew back to Smalltown, VA on Wednesday evening and went directly to cooking class at Daisy's!  Homemade spinach pasta and homemade sauce.  Mmmmmmmmm.....


**AND..I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!**  Marilyn Monroe said to me "T, why is there fuzz on my face?  And Daisy's?  on your blog?"  Of course that led to me asking if they wanted to be "fully exposed".  They proclaimed that they were absolutely fine with that. 

So.....here are the girls...sans blurry face:

(I did not have my proper cooking apron due to my late arrival from the airport)

(boil/wilt the spinach)

(blend the wilted spinach)

(mix with whole wheat flour)

(roll into a ball and let it sit for 20 minutes)

While the pasta was resting, Marilyn Monroe took a little stroll around Daisy's back yard:

(Daisy has planted some lettuce!)

(her fish pond has been de-winterized)

(the koi are very active)

(Louis hears us come back in and he is ready to taste some pasta!)

(flatten a portion of the dough)

(run it through the pasta machine)

(flat!)

(and again....)

(it's my turn!)

(and we have linguini!)

(and more linguini)

(the noodles needed to dry a bit before cooking....)

(the pups were acutely aware of the presence of food)

(they were never far while the pasta was drying)

(the heavenly scent of this homemade sauce was all around....)

And then finally......

(perfection!)

(Louis is not one to beg for food. this cooking class was an exception)

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Yesterday after work my friend S came over for a glass of wine on the porch.  I confessed that I still hadn't cleaned up the house after the It Works! party, and do you know what she said?  I loved it:

  To me, a mess means you are too busy living to worry about cleaning.

Isn't that the truth?  Because I have definitely been too busy living.  And it has been lovely :)  Last night TEN took me to dinner.  It was fun, and exciting too.  We haven't seen much of each other with all of this busyness in my life, and it kindove felt like a first date.  But more comfortable.  And I liked that :)

Sunday we are going to a winery that is about 20 minutes away.  It's one that neither of us have been to before, and it is supposed to be an absolutely glorious day!  Bring on the sunshine and sundresses :)

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be rainy, so I think I will work on straightening the house and unpacking from Austin.  I've not done that yet either.  Uggghhh...

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And Louis.  Poor, sweet Louis.  He had a great time playing with the pups at Daisy's house while I was away, but it did not escape him that there was no Westie Wednesday this week.  He wanted to know what I told you about him.  I said that I had told you nothing.  Louis was not pleased.

And so, I will share a few photos from Louis' week while I was in Austin, with Daisy's words attached.  Thank you Daisy for keeping me updated on my little man's goings on :) 

(the "man" always lending a helping hand....)

(but i want a chicken treat too...it is my birthday!)

**SIDENOTE - Daisy's pups love Louis' chicken treats.  He gets one when it is "crate time".  So, they have taken to getting into his crate as well.....in hopes of also receiving a treat.  How cute is that?!?!  Also, can we please discuss that Louis looks like a maniac in the above photo?

(i'm not sure what you want...but i want to stay outside)

And that is what Louis has been up to while I've been gallivanting around Texas.

So glad we've had the chance to catch up.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend.  I'm looking forward to getting myself back on track, and catching up with all of you!

T