San Antonio! Day Two

Clinton and I got up early on Saturday so we could squeeze in as much San Antonio as we could! We went around the corner to a bakery for breakfast. It was fine. Neither of us are big breakfast aficionados, so we content. 

After eating, we took off walking towards the Alamo. Although we were determined to change the last night's impression of San Antonio, we walked upon an ugly scene. I'm not going to go into detail of what we saw, but lets just say I never thought I would see it in real life, only on CSI:. We walked quickly by, and pushed that out of our minds as best we could.

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the Alamo Plaza. A reenactment was about to take place! Turns out, we were there on the 175th Anniversary of the Siege of the Alamo! Our luck in SA was changing!

After wandering around the Alamo for a little while, we caught the trolley to the Market Square or El Mercado. We walked around the shops for a few minutes, but discovered they were really the same over and over again. Clinton had gotten a recommendation for lunch from a local to try Mi Tierra, which happened to be in the market, so we tried it out! Inside was really festive and fun.

 

The chips and salsa were great! I really wish I could have some right now! The margarita has my vote as my favorite of the trip!

We were serenaded!

We both chose Tacos del Mercado, but I picked the Carnitas Michoacan (pork) and Clinton picked Carne Asada (beef). Of course, we swapped one of each so we could try them both!

Oh, my mouth is watering! Clinton thinks the beef was the best, and I'll agree that the pork was a little dry, but both were so delicious! This place is a definite must when we return!

After lunch, we bought Emma a present, maracas & a red peasant dress. Then we rode the trolley back towards the Riverwalk. We got off at La Villita and walked around the shops some before walking back down the Riverwalk to our hotel for some rest before the night's festivities!

Later, we went back down the Riverwalk to Rita's to get another margarita! A huge, Texas-sized one! We shared it! Clinton chose this one as his favorite of the trip!

We had reservations at Boudros for dinner. Good thing, too, because it was packed! What followed was one fantastic meal!

I got the Prickly Pear margarita, the only flavored/ frozen one of the weekend. Good, but not my favorite.

Not a favorite picture of me. 

Table-side guacamole & smoky salsa. DELICIOUS!

I had the blackened gulf fish. It was great! The lemony, garlicky spinach was amazing! AND the waitress & I convinced Clinton to try some! 

 Clinton had the Big Tails, Little Tails. He cleaned his plate, so I guess he liked it!

The reason I chose this restaurant... they had creme brulee! My absolutely favorite dessert!

Can you tell we liked it?

After eating, we had to head to the room for me to change shoes. I am never going to buy heels again. Flats and sneaks for me only. Ugh!

Then for the reason of the whole trip... WICKED!

We weren't allowed photography of any kind in the theatre, so no pics, but if you are ever in SA, go to the Majestic, it was beautiful!

Wicked was so great! I loved every minute of it! I was afraid Clinton would hate it, he usually hates musicals, but he said he was very impressed! I wish I had read the book again before going, but it really didn't matter. It was fantastic! I can't wait to see it again! I hope I can take Emma to see it one day!

San Antonio! Day One (a.k.a. BBQ Road Trip Phase 1)

For Christmas, Clinton gave me tickets to see the play Wicked in San Antonio, which also translated into a weekend away! We decided to make the trip to and from SA into a BBQ road trip to try a couple of the top places in Texas!

Unfortunately, the day before we left (Thursday) I got really sick and went to the doctor, only to be diagnosed with strep throat, which Em had earlier in the week. It sucked, big time. So I slept from Bogata to Austin, or about 5 hours. Poor Clinton had to drive by himself. Anyway, I had rallied by the time we arrived at our first stop of the BBQ RT, The Salt Lick , in Driftwood, TX.

The place was huge and had a really festive atmosphere. We had a little bit of a wait, but it was nice outside and there was some live music on the patio.

We lucked out and were seated in the original building (there were two) with the pit!

We ordered combo plates, but Clinton chose sausage & I chose turkey.

The money shot!

Taste-testing...

Delicious!

Our ratings: It was a really cool place! The ribs were my favorite (ribs) of the trip, but we only had one each to try. Should have ordered just ribs. The sausage here was both of our choice for best sausage. We didn't have turkey at the second place, but it was good and juicy! The brisket had a good smoke flavor & smoke ring, but was too dry for our taste. I didn't really like the sides, except the beans, which were fine. I think there were fennel seeds in potato salad and coleslaw, I don't like fennel seeds. Clinton never eats potato salad or coleslaw, so he didn't get a vote. The "extras", bread & pickles, were great here, too. I believe they were both homemade. All in all, we left happy, thinking we had had a great meal! We will definitely go back if we find ourselves in the area.

Later, when we arrived in San Antonio, we went down on the Riverwalk to get a drink. It was pretty dead and most places were closing up, so we ended up at a tourist trap (and not a good one, either).

Definitely NOT the best margarita of the trip! But empty as you can see.

The view from our table.

After we finished our awful margaritas, we went back to the hotel to get some sleep so we could get up early to make the most out of our only day in SA.

Also, I should never try to wear cute shoes... just from the little trek to that bar and back, I had blisters on BOTH feet. Not a good start, San Antonio!

Just had to share this

Last night, Emma and I were snuggling and we had a little whispering conversation and this is how it went...

Me: I love you, Emma.
Em: I love you, Mommy.
Me: You're my favorite.
Em: You're my favorite.
Me: You're my best friend.
Em: You're my best friend.
Me: You're so pretty.
Em: Thanks.
Me: You're welcome.

I thought it was too cute!

Resolution Update

Last month, I wrote about how I was trying to "get it together". I had planned on doing a monthly update on how it was going, to motivate myself even more, but I'm a few days late on my update. Oh well... another thing to work on...

1. Get out of bed at decent time

This one is still really hard! I went to the Dr. to discuss my constant fatigue and desire to sleep. Still waiting for test results, but at least I've taken that step. I've also started setting 5 different alarms on my phone. Desperate times...

2. Cleaning schedule

My weekly schedule, that I posted last month, has really been helping me! I don't always stick to it due to activities and whatnot, and it will have to be tweaked some, but all in all I'd say this one is successful so far.

3. Drink less caffeine

This one, however, is not as successful! I have cut out Coke most days. I was drinking 4 or 5 a day! Now, I may have 1 or 2 a week. BUT, I drink sweet tea constantly. Not a big improvement.

4. Keep Emma on schedule

I've been doing a lot better on Emma's schedule. She almost always goes down for her nap at 2 and bath time & bedtime routines are firmly in place. I have to master #1 on my list in order for her schedule to be perfect! 

5. Meal planning

Haven't missed a week yet! Sticking to what I've planned on those days, however....

6. Eat healthier

Nope, haven't even attempted this...

7. Work out

So I've worked out twice in the past month. That's an improvement over zero, right? With the weather being nice, I'm planning on walking outside though!

8. Keep on budget

Hmmm. I hesitate to admit this. Clinton, skip to the next one, ok?.... My grocery budgeting is going awesome! I saved $55 last week using coupons & my Kroger card!  But I spend money on crazy stuff! I bought some rollers for my hair. I RARELY fix my hair! That kind of nonsense needs to stop!

9. Teaching Emma

I am so proud of this one! Em & I have learning time mostly every day. She loves playing games on the computer! (OK, I'm going to brag on her a little here, so turn away if it's too much) She knows how to count to 16, "some" of her letters (not a lot), all of the colors (normal ones anyway), and most of the shapes! I've, also, enrolled her (us) in this program called Parents as Teachers through the county. We get weekly visits where they work with her on things. Last week, we worked on sorting and differentiating between big/little things. She's doing really great at that, too!

10. Take pride in how I look

I've made some good strides on this one, too. Bought some new clothes (see budgeting) and jewelry (see budgeting), and got my hair done (see budgeting) and bought some curlers (LOL!). Actually as I type this, my hair is fixed and I have a full face of make-up on. So GO me!

As you can tell, I've got some work to do, but whoever said that resolutions have to be accomplished by February, right?

Learning to fish

Clinton bought Emma a fishing pole for Valentine's Day. It's a Disney Princess fishing pole. Emma loves it! So we had to teach her how to use it!

Clinton and my dad started out showing her how to cast in the backyard.

We are only letting her practice with the plastic crown that came with the pole. No hooks.

 

 

Still not getting the concept of reeling it in...

Then we went to the pools behind my dad's house to try to catch a fish!

Now, THAT is a crew!

 

Playing in the muddy, nasty water.

Em decided she needed to be safe!

Yeah, Papaw is fishing with a pink fishing pole! MY pink fishing pole!

I think that the lack of fish catching had begun to bore her.

No fish were caught behind my dad's house, so we stopped by Uncle Sid's pool and Clinton caught one on the second cast. 

He wanted Emma to touch it.

Emma didn't want to touch it. Or get anywhere near it.

We saw a wild otter! He was trying to play with us, jumping up and down in the water! It was too cool!

Awww! Father/ daughter bonding moments.

A little spring cleaning...

Today, I noticed the front door had about a million hand prints on it. I got the Windex out and started cleaning it, and like everything else, Emma couldn't be left out! So I had her do the windows!

Finally, I hid the Windex, and Emma went outside. I thought she was playing, but nope! She was still cleaning!

The only part of the playhouse that got cleaned was the roof.

Take notice of the stool she is standing on... you'll see it again.

And here it is. She needed a seat for cleaning the tricycle.

Even her Coupe got a wipe down!

Do I have a great child or what? Next time, its dusting! Sssh! Don't tell the child labor people!