Ewa spent the entire day after Christmas stranded at the Round Rock outlet malls just as happy as can be. And she's totally ready for more. So today we attempted the unthinkable. We braved the insanity that is the San Marcos outlet mall during after-Christmas sales.
At 11 a.m. there were already tons of cars, but not too bad. There was still decent parking, and you could navigate the shops with relative freedom from frustration or strangers encroaching into your personal space. We were happily shopping until about 2 p.m. when things started to get a bit claustrophobic. By the time we decided to break for lunch the parking lot was absolutely packed with lines of people desperately circling like buzzards for exiting shoppers so they could pounce on their spots. We had to resort to Taco Hell because every other place was filled to the breaking point. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Then again, I rarely brave the malls. Is it always like this? Surely not.
Anyway, we escaped unscathed and with a trunk full of pretty things. Yay! That's my shopping for the next year.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas Day
Merry Christmas, everyone!
More food! And Christmas crackers.I don't know why I look hungover here. I wasn't. I swear!
Greg and Ewa model their crowns.
The kids. All together now - Awwwwww...Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas Eve Fun & Food
The evening started with herrings on toast and Christmas crackers.
After dinner I got to play Santa.
Greg modelling his new sweater.Time for fat pants and a James Bond marathon? I think so. Yes.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Spa Day, Baby!
As part of Ewa's Christmas present, we had a girls' manicure day at Lake Austin Spa Resort. May I just say, a girl can get used to this kind of treatment...
We met up with my friend Katie, her mom, sister and sister-in-law for manicures and lunch. We also took a tour of the grounds. Its absolutely lovely. And if I ever go again, I'll make sure to bring my swimsuit. They have an outdoor lounge area with pool, jacuzzi, and massive padded chairs, which were unfortunately soaked with freezing cold water, a rather rude shock when Katie and I tried to sit on them. But there's also a heated indoor lap pool. What a way to spend a lazy day. Ah...
We met up with my friend Katie, her mom, sister and sister-in-law for manicures and lunch. We also took a tour of the grounds. Its absolutely lovely. And if I ever go again, I'll make sure to bring my swimsuit. They have an outdoor lounge area with pool, jacuzzi, and massive padded chairs, which were unfortunately soaked with freezing cold water, a rather rude shock when Katie and I tried to sit on them. But there's also a heated indoor lap pool. What a way to spend a lazy day. Ah...
Friday, December 21, 2007
Bumbling Soccer Wannabes...
How sad is it to be slaughtered on the soccer field in front of your mother-in-law, who apparently spent the entire time laughing her ass off at us.
Actually, I probably would have done the exact same thing... :)
Actually, I probably would have done the exact same thing... :)
Thursday, December 20, 2007
TexMex and Chocogasms
Greg and I took Ewa downtown tonight for a TexMex and champagne fix. Try as they may, the Brits haven't quite pulled off excellent TexMex just yet so Ewa gets her fill while she's here.
We met up with Dilek, Kenan and Jill for dinner at Serrano's downtown. One plate of beef fajitas later and we headed to Cork & Co for their Thursday night Chocogasm. Tastings of five sparkling wines and chocolate truffles are an excellent way to end any evening.
Dilek and Kenan with us waiting patiently for our desserts.
Greg K, serious connoisseur of all things alcoholic or chocolate
We met up with Dilek, Kenan and Jill for dinner at Serrano's downtown. One plate of beef fajitas later and we headed to Cork & Co for their Thursday night Chocogasm. Tastings of five sparkling wines and chocolate truffles are an excellent way to end any evening.
Dilek and Kenan with us waiting patiently for our desserts.
Greg K, serious connoisseur of all things alcoholic or chocolate
YouTube Superstars!
Brian tried bribing me with half his poker winnings to make that footage disappear. Silly, silly man...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Cruel and Yet Also Hilarious...
So along with our usual Wednesday poker night, we also host a white elephant gift exchange near the holidays. Gifts have to be in the $10 range. Everyone draws a number. The person who draws #1 gets to pick a present first and unwrap it in front of everyone. The second person can either steal the opened gift or choose a wrapped one to open. The third can then steal either of the two opened pressies or select a wrapped one. It goes on and on like that until everyone gets a present. Any single gift can only be stolen a total of 3 times. If a person has their gift stolen, they can't directly steal it back in that same round. Good stuff.
The presents range from really good ones - bottles of wine, gift cards to the Alamo Drafthouse, etc - to really crappy ones like, for instance, a dirty sweatshirt grabbed from someone's floor 2 minutes before the game (Lance!). And everything in between.
So Chris S brought as his gift a collection of lottery tickets. Four were real. One was not. The fake was a $10,000 winner. Greg and I were apprised of the situation beforehand so we'd have the camera ready. Of all the people at this game, Brian, the consummate gambler and lottery ticket scratcher, got those tickets (fantastic!) but soon had them stolen. So being the wheeler and dealer that he is, he struck a bargain with Aubrey. He would steal her cashews (yes, that's right - a giant tub of cashews) so she could then steal the tickets back and they'd split the winnings. Aubrey gets to unload the cashews. Brian gets to scratch off his tickets. Everyone's happy. (But none happier than me, Greg and Chris since we knew what was coming.)
I had the camera poised and recording when Brian saw he had a winner.
Oh my God. It was beautiful! I'll just have to post the video so you can see for yourself. Priceless.
The presents range from really good ones - bottles of wine, gift cards to the Alamo Drafthouse, etc - to really crappy ones like, for instance, a dirty sweatshirt grabbed from someone's floor 2 minutes before the game (Lance!). And everything in between.
So Chris S brought as his gift a collection of lottery tickets. Four were real. One was not. The fake was a $10,000 winner. Greg and I were apprised of the situation beforehand so we'd have the camera ready. Of all the people at this game, Brian, the consummate gambler and lottery ticket scratcher, got those tickets (fantastic!) but soon had them stolen. So being the wheeler and dealer that he is, he struck a bargain with Aubrey. He would steal her cashews (yes, that's right - a giant tub of cashews) so she could then steal the tickets back and they'd split the winnings. Aubrey gets to unload the cashews. Brian gets to scratch off his tickets. Everyone's happy. (But none happier than me, Greg and Chris since we knew what was coming.)
I had the camera poised and recording when Brian saw he had a winner.
Oh my God. It was beautiful! I'll just have to post the video so you can see for yourself. Priceless.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Guests & Fish...
In a few minutes we will be on our way to the Austin airport to pick up Ewa, my mother-in-law. She'll be staying with us for 3 weeks over the holidays. I'm sure the next few weeks will entail lots of shopping and wine drinking and hopefully peace and harmony for the holiday season.
She's going to cook us a traditional Polish meal Christmas eve, which will include fish (no meat!), wild mushroom soup, fruit compote, and minced meat pies. (Although I think that last one's more a nod to the English tradition.)
I'm sure her bags will also be filled to the brim with English sweeties. So much for healthy eating over the holidays. Oh well. More motivation to train for the upcoming 10K.
8 more days 'til Christmas! Are you done with your shopping yet?
She's going to cook us a traditional Polish meal Christmas eve, which will include fish (no meat!), wild mushroom soup, fruit compote, and minced meat pies. (Although I think that last one's more a nod to the English tradition.)
I'm sure her bags will also be filled to the brim with English sweeties. So much for healthy eating over the holidays. Oh well. More motivation to train for the upcoming 10K.
8 more days 'til Christmas! Are you done with your shopping yet?
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Holiday Celebration Pain...
Ugh. Highly polluted. Head hurts. Slightly queasy.
Not fun.
But last night was! What started as a somewhat dull company holiday dinner morphed into a pretty kick ass party. I have to say it was the most fun we've had since the first year back in 2002, when Greg was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed new employee and we'd only been dating for two weeks.
Back in the day, Greg hadn't known what to expect and his only advice from the very sage Kenan was just don't be the drunkest one at the party and you'll be fine. Although that bit of advice was not exactly followed to the letter of the law, Greg did win a prize as the person who had the most fun during the karaoke competition. The band had packed up, but we weren't done dancing so the most logical course of action at the time was to gate-crash another holiday party down the hall at the Renaissance with a few of Greg's VPs. (Somewhere an Austin Energy employee has photographic evidence but we're confident that incident won't come back to bite us.)
Its a good thing he's at a relatively young and small company or that could have been messy and more than a little embarassing. But seeing as the VP's were our co-conspirators, he has nothing more dangerous than a reputation to contend with.
Anyway, back to last night...
Its always lovely catching up with friends and Greg's co-workers who I usually only see once a year. And an open martini bar is major enticement. But after a while it sometimes starts getting a bit forced and awkward. For the past couple of years, we've made an early exit at that point. But this year, we just kept running into people and having a few more drinks and hearing good dancing tunes from the band. So we stayed. And stayed some more. And then stayed a bit longer. Next thing we knew, the boss had gone, the drinks were flowing a bit more liberally and the band busted out a few raunchy tunes. Everyone loosened up and it was a party!
I think we got Kenan in trouble with his missus... He was sweet enough to offer us a ride to our next party, but I'm sure he would have left much sooner had it not been for us. Oh well. He was having fun. Even dancing, which is a rare occurence. When we finally tore ourselves away, Kenan dropped us off at Kristin's house for a very late graduation congratulations.
Wait a second... Its all coming back to me now. It was the damn Franzia that she kept offering me! Boxed wine - that must be the source of today's yuckiness!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Not fun.
But last night was! What started as a somewhat dull company holiday dinner morphed into a pretty kick ass party. I have to say it was the most fun we've had since the first year back in 2002, when Greg was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed new employee and we'd only been dating for two weeks.
Back in the day, Greg hadn't known what to expect and his only advice from the very sage Kenan was just don't be the drunkest one at the party and you'll be fine. Although that bit of advice was not exactly followed to the letter of the law, Greg did win a prize as the person who had the most fun during the karaoke competition. The band had packed up, but we weren't done dancing so the most logical course of action at the time was to gate-crash another holiday party down the hall at the Renaissance with a few of Greg's VPs. (Somewhere an Austin Energy employee has photographic evidence but we're confident that incident won't come back to bite us.)
Its a good thing he's at a relatively young and small company or that could have been messy and more than a little embarassing. But seeing as the VP's were our co-conspirators, he has nothing more dangerous than a reputation to contend with.
Anyway, back to last night...
Its always lovely catching up with friends and Greg's co-workers who I usually only see once a year. And an open martini bar is major enticement. But after a while it sometimes starts getting a bit forced and awkward. For the past couple of years, we've made an early exit at that point. But this year, we just kept running into people and having a few more drinks and hearing good dancing tunes from the band. So we stayed. And stayed some more. And then stayed a bit longer. Next thing we knew, the boss had gone, the drinks were flowing a bit more liberally and the band busted out a few raunchy tunes. Everyone loosened up and it was a party!
I think we got Kenan in trouble with his missus... He was sweet enough to offer us a ride to our next party, but I'm sure he would have left much sooner had it not been for us. Oh well. He was having fun. Even dancing, which is a rare occurence. When we finally tore ourselves away, Kenan dropped us off at Kristin's house for a very late graduation congratulations.
Wait a second... Its all coming back to me now. It was the damn Franzia that she kept offering me! Boxed wine - that must be the source of today's yuckiness!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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