For once I can truly say it…….happy Monday! Because I am on vacation and don’t have a care in the world today or anything to worry about until Tuesday night (: Chris and I left late Friday afternoon to head to the Houston, Texas area for a few days to visit family. We left right in the middle of a big snow/ice storm in Michigan and landed in 75 degree weather at 9pm. It was fantastic. But let’s back up a little bit…..
We got to the Detroit airport literally two hours before we needed to board our flight, because Chris is very organized and I am not. This was okay though, because it left plenty of time for us to eat something good for dinner. They recently put a Bigalora (one of our favorite pizza places) in the Detroit airport, so we split a veggie wood-fired pizza and roasted brussels sprouts and had a few glasses of wine before our plane took off.
Our flight was about three hours, which was plenty of time for me to start reading Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist (I got through about half and think I like it even better so far than her prior book I read) and talk with the sweet little three-year-old girl sitting in the seat in front of me. We got in fairly late and after getting picked up by my grandparents, we just headed back to their house to talk for a while and catch up before we headed to bed. My grandma is so super cute and left us little welcome gifts in our room – robes, all the toiletries we would need for the trip, champagne, and snacks.
On Saturday morning, we slept in a bit (amazing!) and went for a run to stretch our legs out. I just love running in shorts and a tank top with the sun on my face. Then we went to a nearby town, appropriately called “Olde Town,” to do some shopping for a few hours. We took our time wandering in and out of stores, and I was able to pick up some of this tea tree oil soap that I got here last year and loved and just recently ran out of at an adorable store called Connie’s Bath Shack. Then we stopped at a local bar for some crawfish and cocktails.
I was not the biggest fan of crawfish, but Chris sure was. I tried one, but it just seems like way too much work for what you have to do to get a tiny little piece of meat. However, I loved the seasoning and ate the corn and potato that the crawfish came with. It was really spicy, but paired perfectly with the type of food. If I had some of that spice at home (I’m sure I can buy it?), I would put it on just about everything. I think it would be amazing on french fries. While the boys ate that entire container, my grandma and I stuck to wine and margaritas for the most part.
After going home and relaxing for a bit, we headed out again to go to a Mexican restaurant that I absolutely loved the last time I came to visit them called Pappasito’s. So we obviously had to go again. It’s a local place with insanely big portions (I had more than enough left over for lunch the next day) and wonderful homemade salsa and margaritas. I definitely ate more chips and salsa than I did my actual entree (chicken fajitas).
I love a super tangy, salty margarita with not a lot of additives, which is exactly how they make theirs. All I need to be happy is good tequila, lime juice, a salt rim, and a lot of ice. It was amazing. We had such a fun day catching up with them and like all vacations we go on, ended our day by watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives until we fell asleep.
Sunday was a very welcome different kind of day than we typically have. We got to sleep in (again!!) and then leisurely made our way to the gym (the new gym we joined has locations everywhere and there is one only a few miles from where we are staying) for a long workout. I did a mixture of a little cardio, a lot of lower body, some stretching, and sitting in the steam-room for a little bit. I’ve had really bad allergies lately, and the eucalyptus scent they push through that steam room really made me feel a lot better. We got some healthy protein shakes on our way out and headed home to lay out in the sun for the afternoon. We spent a couple hours drinking champagne by the pool, swimming, reading, napping, and talking. It was wonderful.
After showering and getting ready, we left to go to a nearby burger joint for dinner. Everyone else got burgers, but I got a blackened chicken sandwich with jalapenos, cheese, and a ton of ketchup with seasoned fries and a beer. So freaking good. We had a great time just sitting outside and talking and eating together. It’s a long story, but I lived with the people we are here visiting in college for a while and got super close with them, so it was really fun to re-live those memories and tell stories from a few years ago.
Sunday night consisted of hanging out on the couch, sitting outside and talking, and going for a long walk around the neighborhood. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate walking around in flip flops and a tank top in March, when I know in Michigan it’s 30 degrees and snowing. A very welcome change – that’s for sure!
We are really excited to explore downtown Houston tomorrow on our last full day in town and will be walking around to different bars and just wandering towards anything that seems fun to us – I can’t wait!
What was the weather like where you live this weekend? What was the best thing you had to eat or drink?
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