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