Homemade Halloween

Happy Halloween!!! Personally, Halloween is not my favorite holiday. Edwin has the same sentiment. Not that I dislike it- I just haven't gotten super into costumes as an adult. Maybe the magic died when I stopped trick-or-treating. This year was different! A few weeks ago Ted and Leigh suggested that we make costumes and dress up as the Flintstones. A craft project, you say? We were in.

This past Wednesday the four of us made a trip to JoAnn fabrics, which, along with Michael's is Edwin's favorite place on earth. Anybody buying it? nope. He claims both stores smell weird. I, on the other hand, rank them up there with Target. Which is saying a lot. Michael's still comes in a distant second to Target, but anyways. Beside the point. Back to JoAnn. We picked up brown felt for Edwin and blue stretchy cotton for me. The real trick would prove to be making them, since we don't have a sewing machine. Cue the iron on hem tape and super fabric glue.

Making both costumes turned out to be a fairly simple process. I was able to use iron-on hem tape for my dress, and the super glue for Edwin's costume. I was pretty impressed with myself- usually I get pretty frustrated if things don't go well with a craft. Well, with anything. (I may or may not have thrown a ball of yarn at the wall when a question on my take home exam was proving difficult last week.) Back to the story. The costumes turned out great!!! We were Barney and Betty Rubble, if you can't tell. Ted and Leigh were Fred and Wilma. Leigh also did an amazing job with their costumes (also sans sewing machine). We went to our friend (who we meet through Ted and Leigh) Alan's house for his Halloween party on Friday night. The costumes were a hit!

What is everyone else being for Halloween? Mom, how did your Pumpkin Caroling costume turn out? Happy Halloween!!!

San Antonio

Edwin and I took a quick trip to San Antonio this weekend, which gave us a much needed relaxing getaway. Edwin has tomorrow off, which is just plain awesome. We drove to San Antonio yesterday afternoon and checked into our hotel, which was just a few blocks from the Alamo. We walked around the Riverwalk and enjoyed people watching- Texas has some interesting people. Below is a picture of me at this great (and way overpriced) Italian restaurant. We had originally wanted to explore beyond downtown and the Riverwalk, but when it came down to it, you can't beat a great view! So we decided to have an appetizer before dinner, which turned out to be almost a meal in and of itself. We had some cheesy garlic bread before heading out on the town.

Because Edwin is such a huge fan of the Alamo (he actually held a grudge against the city itself because as a child his family would routinely visit San Antonio and always and only visit the Alamo), we took a picture on Edwin's iPhone (did we mention he got an iPhone!). Edwin really likes his iPhone and it has come in handy when trying to find directions and also for listening to Pandora in the car.

After the Italian restaurant we discovered a Mexican restaurant by the name of Acenar. It was trendy and on the Riverwalk, but the greatest part of it was that you didn't really have to wait for a table to eat. Their bar had seating at the bar counter and also in lounge-type sofas scattered throughout. We ordered Mushroom Crepes with salsa verde and beef skewers with a Chimi-Churri sauce (it's a sauce made from olive oil, rosemary, and lots of garlic). We were beyond stuffed but very happy to have a nice night out. Below are the pictures of our appetizers.

We went back after our dinner to our hotel room and were exhausted from a long week. Unfortunately, there was a dance club RIGHT DOWN the street and they were blaring their music at 12:30 am. Edwin was was really irritated and called the front desk, who were really nice and moved us to the opposite side of the hotel. We got a good night's rest and were happy that the Marriott was quick to help us out. Edwin's dad used to work for Marriott and was able to get us a really good rate for the weekend.

In the morning, we got up and ate the hotel breakfast which consisted of delicious Jimmy Dean sandwiches and Texas-shaped waffles...(we ate the "South Texas" part first!). On our way back to Austin we stopped by the San Marcos outlet to find a suit for Edwin for the wedding! We found some good ideas and will hopefully have something within the next 3 weeks. We had lunch at Whole Foods and shared a delicious burger with sweet potato fries.

The past week just cried for a good getaway. Edwin had a really tough week at school and had hit a major roadblock emotionally. He did have a very good conversation with his principal and assistant principal which will hopefully make things better for the next 2 weeks. He always expresses that no matter how crappy his days are, he's always grateful for the love and support from family (meaning you readers!) It has definitely been a big transition for both of us, and although we may not blog as often as we used to (2 maybe 3 times a month), we get by with a little help from each other and God. Stay tuned readers because coming soon is a trip to Houston with Edwin's family and his college roommate (who just moved back to the states from the Middle East) and a visit from my parents!