Happy 55th Mom!

Mom turned 55 on July 11th. I think it's important to celebrate those milestone birthdays, you know like 20, 25... 50, 55, etc. I decided it'd be fun to surprise Mom with her closest friends on her birthday. I tossed around some ideas of what to do and with Courtney's help we decided to have everyone meet for lunch at Casa Torres in Decatur to surprise her. I sent out an evite to her friends, who I had email addresses for, and called the others. That was the easy part. Surprising her and getting her to cooperate was a little harder. I told her Courtney and I wanted to take her to lunch on her birthday so I would probably arrive from Frisco around 12:30. She liked the idea so I could tell she didn't know we were up to anything. The day of her birthday I stayed in contact with Courtney to make sure she and mom were getting around to come "meet me". This proved to be a little more difficult. I headed to Decatur earlier than mom thought I was so I could get to the restaurant first and make sure they were getting seating ready for 11. She called me when I was about 30 minutes away so I told her I had just left. She wanted to know if we could push back the time because she was getting around slow, had just taken a shower, and didn't want to rush. For a split second I thought "Man, I'm going to have to tell her and ruin the surprise." Then I thought again. I'd just be demanding. She wouldn't think it was anything out of the ordinary. Haha. I told her I really wanted to meet at 12:30 because I was already on the way and I would be really hungry by the time I got to town. She bought it and reluctantly said okay. I arrived at the restaurant around 12:10 and shortly after mom's friends started arriving as well. We got seated pretty quickly. Mom & Dad live super close to the restaurant so I told Court I would text her when everyone was there and then they could leave. Around 12:35 everyone had arrived and I told Court to come. I had talked to her on the phone and she said "Where are y'all sitting?" Yikes! But mom didn't hear her so that was good. Court called me right as they were walking in so I'd be ready with the camera. They entered the entry way of the area we were sitting and mom was shocked when she saw all of us and we started clapping and saying surprise. Other people sitting near us even joined in! I could tell she'd had NO idea. It was great! We ate, chatted, opened gifts, and had cake. It was a great birthday, which she commented on many times during the weekend. I love you mom! Happy 55th! Here's to many, many more! :-)

30 Week Baby Bump

While I was in Houston at the beginning of July I took pictures of Elizabeth. At the time she was nearly 30 weeks pregnant, technically 29 1/2, and I thought it would be super fun to do a maternity photo shoot for her. That way she'd have great memories of being pregnant and of how cute she looked, but wouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg to have a professional photographer do it. I bought a black sheet to use as a backdrop and researched pregnancy poses online. I even brought some props to use as well. We had a TON of fun. She's so precious. All baby. She was also a terrific sport while I took the 200+ pictures. Yes, over 200. Hey, I had to make sure we got some good ones. Deb served as my assistant and did a great job running to get Elizabeth water and helping me set up the shots. Elizabeth's husband Kevin even got involved in the fun. He provided us with better light resources than we were originally using. And of course we made him get in some photos at the end as well. Baby James is due September 16th. I can't wait to meet him. But I'm honestly going to miss Elizabeth's cute baby bump. She is definitely one of those women you look at and think "Oh, she's so cute pregnant!" We all want to look like her some day! Love you Betsy Boo!

Chocolate, Chocolate, and More Chocolate

I traveled to Houston the weekend of July 3-5 to visit my college girls, Bets & Deb. It had only been about a month and a half since I'd seen them, but it felt much, much longer, so it was definitely time for a girls weekend. Probably about a month before going to Houston I had been reading a magazine all about Texas and had discovered a magnificent place in Houston that I had yet to visit, The Chocolate Bar. The minute I read about this glorious chocolate heaven I thought "If those girls know about this place and we've never gone there in all the years I've made trips down there they are in big trouble!" Thankfully, for them, they had not heard of this piece of paradise. The Chocolate Bar can only be described as a mini Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. We were THRILLED! It's a fantastic, super cutely decorated, place that makes chocolate treats, ice cream, cakes, pies, etc. and sells them. You walk in the door and it's chocolate from ceiling to floor. They make chocolate tool kits, chocolate golf balls, handcuffs, shoes, etc. Through a little window you can also watch the employees making the wonderful treats. It reminded me a little bit of the episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and Ethel spend an afternoon working in a chocolate factory. After enjoying some awesome scoops of ice cream that put Marble Slab and Cold Stone Creamery to shame, we bought some chocolate treats and headed out. We'd actually been there a while and decided we'd had enough chocolate. It even deterred us from going into Candylicious next door. The Chocolate Bar is most definitely a chocolate lover's dream. I highly suggest visiting it next time you are in Houston, if you love chocolate like I do. Enjoy!

I'm Still Around

I just haven't posted in a while because I've had a lot going on. Between searching and applying for teaching jobs (no I do not have one yet), traveling to Houston to see my friends and take maternity pictures of Elizabeth, planning and crafting for her baby shower (which is a week from today), hanging out with friends, celebrating birthdays, going to concerts and working, I just haven't taken the time to post lately. I promise to upload some pictures from the before mentioned events soon. I hope everyone else is well! :-)