New Years...New Beginnings

Whelp it's New Years Eve and I'm chilling at home with a nice bottle of wine...or two...and some champs is chilling in the fridge too. 

It's not my favorite day to be out on the town with all the silly willies that drink and drive and think they are super humans. So I decided to stay in and enjoy a movie and some wine and cheese and salami. 

And I truly hope my home is blessed this next year. 2013 was a trying year. I quit my job, moved to London for a couple months and returned to my job and life changed. What I thought was...wasn't. But isn't that life? 

So I will not make any resolutions. I rarely do. But this year... I promise to find my happy, to be happy, to grow into who I am to be, I will be positive, and I will still be me and all my sarcasm. I will continue to travel. I have to travel! It's in my blood!!  I will succeed in my career and continue and push to learn more and be greater. This is my year and by golly I need to take it by the horns.  So who cares if I am alone on New Years and who cares if I have a mundane life right now and who cares if I don't have lots of friends...next time I'll share a kiss at midnight with someone special, I'll have a crazy adventurous life and I love all my friends I have now. They have been my rock. 

Here, here to a fantastic 2014!!! 

                       Cheers, Nelly

A little randoms

Not much happening in my world... Just dreaming of the next place for me to fly to and explore. I'm thinking a beach for my birthday! I'll see if I can make that happen. 

I spoke earlier on my awful sleeping and lately it's been better. In in taking more water and back on the tea wagon. 

The sleepy time tea seemed to work nicely last night. I will definitely sip some more tonight. 

I also made some chicken wings last night for football while I prepared my weeks salads...I didn't feel like dirtying up a plate so this is how the smart chick eats...

Yes that is a big mixing bowl. I have been eating lots of Frank sauce lately. It's great on anything!!! 

                       Cheers, Nelly

Grandpa

My favorite thing this weekend was face timing with my sweet Grandpa!! I love how he follows my blog and always gives me a hard time when I slack. He's such an amazing strong man and I'd never want to let him down. So here's to you Gramps!! I love you! 

Cheers, Nelly

ZZzzz

Sleep is overrated these days for me. Apparently I don't need 8 hours of sleep to function. I don't even need 4 hours.... 2-3 hours have been doing plenty for me. UGH! I kid I kid. Not sure what the issue is lately but I seriously do want 8 hours of constant sleep. I sleep about 3 hours most and then I start to toss and turn. Maybe I'll try hot tea before bed, or reading a book, or a noise machine... I am determined to figure it out.

Cheers, Nelly

Weekend Rewind

I was definitely on the go this weekend. Calista was in Dallas for her company's solutions convention and I took every opportunity to hang out with her that I could....Friday night and Saturday night. It was a blast getting to hang out with her co-workers. They definitely know how to let loose. Saturday night was my company's Christmas party and it was a nice time laughing and enjoying each other outside of work. I was a total bum on Sunday. Watched random movies and shows on Netflix, watched some football, caught up on the Sing-Off, took a few cat naps and for some reason I watched the Survivor Finale. I didn't watch the season but it was the only thing on last night and it was entertaining. I guess this is the crazy week before Christmas. I generally do little gifts for close friends and family but this year it just hasn't been on my list to-do. Maybe I'll rethink it before next Wednesday....

Cheers, Nelly

Weekend Rewind

I am still sleep deprived from the weekend and it is Wednesday! All the sisters got together in Houston and it was lots of fun! Friday after picking up everyone from the airports we stopped at Casa Maria for beeritas and amazing queso flameado with chorizo!

We hung out at Calista's house that evening and had chicken wings, double fried fries with chili and cheese. It was also a celebration for Ashley; she recently graduated college with her Bachelor's degree after also having an Associates. Very proud of her! 

Saturday we made the trek to Saint Arnold's Brewery. I was surprised how packed it was but it was an absolute blast. You buy a glass and with it comes 4 tokens to test their beer. Santo was my favorite and next was the Brown Ale. The Christmas brew was tasty too. Ok ok... I liked them all. We played the Heads Up game and even strangers got into the action. Everyone was so nice there. We took the last tour of the day for the brewery and the founder/owner Brock Wagner was our guide. It has a fun history. You should check it out if you're ever in the area. 

The building is over 100 yrs old; the inside has been renovated since.

We packed snacks...cheese, crackers and salami.

Cheese please! 

That's the owner...Brock Wagner

Chardonnay barrels used to brew special flavors

Isn't he a lucky man!? All the sisters

Sunday we went to Top Golf and Season realized that just because you took a golf class in college does not equate to knowing how to actually hit a golf ball. Her stance was absolutely comical but she would still hit the ball and get points. I think my phone was MIA during this adventure... I have zero pics. 

Monday was the departure day...Abbi didn't have any issue getting back home, Season had a small delay and Ashley just has no luck when flying. She was delayed like crazy. The Dallas/Fort Worth area got hit HARD with ice and snow on Thursday. I was lucky enough to get out of town right as it was starting to fall. But when I got back in town...it was insane. I have been ice skating into my apartment since Monday. Hopefully it will melt as the temp is suppose to rise today. 

It's not a thin sheet of ice by any means...over 4 inches of ice.

Here's to hoping for better weather next week! Did you get any winter weather yet?

Cheers, Nelly

Bipolar Texas Weather

I am thoroughly convinced that Texas has an ongoing feud with Mother Nature. Yesterday it was 80 degrees! Yep you read that right...80 degrees in December. It was great! BUT today...currently 35 but feels like 23 and it is only going to continue to drop. How does that even happen!? And this weekend is gonna be rough for these inexperienced winter weather drivers....

weather.com

So glad to be getting out of town for the weekend and avoiding all that icy glory. We have a big weekend planned with all of the sisters. There will be lots of fun and lots to celebrate. It's nice when we all can get together. Yal stay warm! 

Cheers, Nelly

'Tis the Season

Monday I decided to put a little Christmas spirit in the apartment. I enjoy decorating and getting festive but I dislike having to take it all down and pack it up. It's not much but it definitely warms the little space up quite nicely.

Yep table with no chairs...one day...

My only House of Hatten piece...family history

Red and Gold decor with a couple personal ornaments

Hung two stockings...one looked sad and awkward...maybe Santa will fill both for me!? 

Table decor...I want to add more

O' Christmas Tree

Each year I tune my radio to the station that is all Christmas music...I think though it is still a little too soon. I don't want to get burnt out. Do you listen to Christmas radio station? When do you start getting in the spirit?

Cheers, Nelly

Weekend Rewind

Last weekend was Thanksgiving or as we coined it this year Friendsgiving. All the friends got together at Lake Somerville and Calista had prepared many of the traditional dishes and we cooked it all in crockpots. Easy clean up!!! The boys fried the turkey and it was heavenly.

Our screened in cabin

Everything is better fried

Friday night we did chili dogs and chicken wings. I may go down as the best chicken fry-er! 

Don't judge my awesome outfit

Goodness all fried up! 

The weather was actually really perfect. We couldn't have asked for any better. During the day it was about 60 and at night it got pretty chilly but I never felt as if my toes were going to get frostbitten. It was a nice get away. 

Cheers, Nelly

Weekend Rewind

Time is flying by so fast...I can't believe we are in the middle of October already...before I know it Thanksgiving will be here.

This past weekend was family filled. My cousin's wife is due with her second child in two months. They are having a baby boy and we went to her baby shower which was more like walking through Pinterest in real life. Her friends were so creative and truly hosted a sweet shower. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures to share but here are a few...

My Aunt and Uncle were in town for the day and we had a little cookout later in the afternoon. I had no clue my Uncle was Lithuanian decent...swear I learn something everyday...he shared some Lithuanian beer...

The best beer is the kind you can't pronounce

After a long day it was fun to be entertained by Princess of the house... 

She is a hoot

Overall a nice family filled weekend and a good amount of relaxing which I definitely enjoyed! What did you do this weekend?

Cheers, Nelly

Crazy Beautiful Life

Life is full of ups, downs, turns and twists...You can plan all day but if you don't live it to the fullest, who cares what was planned...

Recently my journey has been a whirlwind...but I'm so use to things not going to 'plan' and can adapt to change pretty easily. Just deep breaths and keep moving forward... 

Hung out with the awesome opossum Calista this past weekend and went to the most real Texan fair ever...Fort Bend County Fair. Will Hoge was performing and Calista has followed him for years and has really got me to enjoy his music a lot as well. The first time I went to Billy Bob's (the largest honky tonk dance hall) was to see Will. It was a blast!! It was an adventure getting to the fair...what should have been about an hour trip was more like two hours and many exit onlys streets. We finally got to park and rushed to the entrance line and it was a mile long. We were certain we would miss his performance. We decided to leave and head back to the car...but lo' and behold as we were walking back I pointed out a shortcut, we were strolling along next to the rodeo arena and we see what appears to be an entrance gate...WITH NO LINE! It couldn't be...we ask the girl in the booth taking selfies or facetiming if we can use the entrance and yep we got in and it was literally right by the stage. SCORE!! 

Will Hoge

My favorite past time is probably people watching...it is so entertaining at airports. At the fair though...man, I can't even put in to words what some of these young girls were wearing. And apparently there is one style in that county...slinky pants and off the shoulder shirts. Seriously let's get original folks. 

Sunday was a day full of furniture, sand dust, stain and paint...pretty sure Dad would be so proud of his girls! Dad refinishes antiques and makes custom woodworks. (Don't tell him we were always paying attention...shhh) Anyhow, Calista had a daunting task of re-doing her dining room furniture. She already did the table and chairs...thank goodness! We had the two piece hutch and island to finish. 

We sanded all the pieces and I thought sanding would be pretty much a piece of cake...Well I was wrong! It was more like you put a pan of brownies in the oven and totally forgot about them and they burnt to a crisp and you couldn't even scrap it out of the pan. But we conquered and then we were able to stain the wood and this week she is stuck with the task of painting all that is white...black. It's gonna look ahmaze! 

Calista hard at work

Love the distress look

Painting knobs... not my thing

Thank goodness for mineral spirits

It was a beautiful day and the company was even more so. I am not sure how she would have kept her sanity doing all of that herself...lord knows I sure wouldn't have. 

With whatever life throws at you in the midst of your plans, take it and make it a crazy beautiful experience. 

Bueller....Bueller...Bueller...

Absent much!?!? Oooppsie, sorry guys! I have been so on the go and just dealing with a lot of daily life stuff that I haven't had the chance to sit and blog. But I was starting to miss it and so here I am...

I had the chance to spend about two weeks with Calista down in H-town and we had a great time. I haven't laughed so hard, cooked so much yummy food, hung out, shadowed someone at work daily, had a running partner, and even just sitting in silence was enjoyable. I had to soak it all up because soon I will be joining the corporate world again and back to the 8-5p grind. I am definitely looking forward to it but I must get re acclimated to the schedule.

On my way back from Houston there was a tractor trailer truck that was two cars in front of me and his entire wheel came off and barely missed my car and when I passed him a crap ton of brake fluid sprayed all over my car, so after a good run this morning and some errands I hand washed the car in the driveway. It was a workout for sure but I have definitely missed washing my car by myself. Such a feeling of accomplishment.

I guess I have one more weekend to enjoy before I become a weekend warrior again... here's some photos of this past week/end...

Calista hosted a Pampered Chef party and it was so much fun and of course she had a craft for all us girls to do...Painting wine glasses is super fun and a great party gift!

My Favorite Flower

For that time when you want to class up your football game

 The weather was great this past weekend...Definitely feeling like fall is starting to sneak in...My all time fave season!

Me and Petey enjoying some back porch sittin'

Calista is one party planner and adventurous cook. Friday friends came over and we did ribs and potatoes on the grill and some ranch style beans.

Scribs!!! So tender and yummy...bake first then grill

 I'm envious of her Keurig machine and she was sweet enough to make me some pumpkin spice latte.

Perfect start to the fall

All in all a great weekend and ready for one last more before the real world swallows me up whole. What's on your schedule for the weekend!? 

Cheers, Nelly

Next Stop?

I have a friend that has always commented on how much I travel as a young person that she never did and how it seems I am always on the go...thus blog name. There are definitely times where I love to sit at home and do nothing, or just have a low key weekend, I could be considered a home-body. But I for sure love to travel and see new places and experience new things. I don't have any big travel plans booked or planned coming up...what a shame...so I have been thinking of where to go to next...

Maybe to a beach in the Caribbean...

photo from google images

Maybe to the hill country of Texas during fall...

photo www.westphaliaisd.org

Maybe a quick trip to Vegas...

google images

Or lastly what I have been thinking about lately is a girls trip to wine valley in California...

image www.prweb.com

Where's your next stop on the map??

Cheers, Nelly