Wedding Season is back!

Last summer we went to so many weddings I was sure that no other year could come close to comparing on sheer number attended.  We kicked off wedding season with my favorite wedding so far, our own :)  And then went to Emily & Austin then Justin & Tricia then Bekah & Dallas then Kendall & Keith then Darcy & Matt, then Kate & Matt, then in December to Hunter & Sydney then Stacia & Chris.  (I left someone out of that list I think,  I am sorry if I left you out and you are reading this I promise you are important in our life).  Thats 7 weekends out of the Summer that we were at weddings...after our wedding we didn't spend two weeks in a row at our new home until July.  

Now it's time to start again!  Tomorrow we kick off our second wedding bells marathon with Oscar & Meredith!  We are very excited for this one!  Unfortunately Oscar was unable to be in our wedding because he was out of the country helping to save the world but Meredith made the drive from Austin to the Ville to be there and we were so very happy to have her!  They are a great friends and are very excited to welcome them into the married club.  

The schedule continues after Oscar & Meredith to Sean & Micky then John & Krista to Flora & Chris then Jeni & Sam. 

Here's how it goes:

Rehearse, eat, speech, laugh, cry, drinks!, makeup, hair, boys eat, girls don't, tux, flowers, the dress, the bouquet, the aisle, the vows, the kiss, pictures, the cake, the party, the meatballs (you know 8 out of 10 weddings serve the little meatballs - not me, Blake or Hunter though), dancing, more laughing, more drinks, sore feet, the bouquet, the garter, hugs, bubbles/rose petals/sparklers,  limo, cleanup, group breakfast on Sunday and see you again next week!  

I love wedding season! 

Been a long time

Well everybody, I planned on writing a long post over how fantastic Valentines Day went but I currently can't look at the computer screen for more than 5 minutes before I feel a headache coming on.  This is not good considering I pretty much need to look at my computer all day.  Right now I am handwriting all of the things I need to get accomplished with the intention of typing them out later.  I will write a long post about how fun it was to spend the whole day with Mat later.  

Conner, Stacia, Collin, John, Krista - anyone else in any sort of med school, feel free to call me with suggestions on how to get rid of a headache I have had for a week and as of this morning a very slight fever.  I will be anxiously awaiting the cure I know someone out there has.   

Procrastination

It is fun to paint walls fun colors that you have coordinated with your things.  It is NOT fun to paint walls that are fun colors that coordinate with your things - to beige.  Now that Mat and I have moving into our town home we have to go back to our apartment and re-paint it to the original color, which is probably officially called "blah".  My good friend from work, Joela, brought her super nice boyfriend, Kevin, to the apartment last week and we got all but one wall painted back.  It's only one wall but neither Mat or I want to go do it.  We didn't go yesterday because Mat had to work and the more I think about going over there the more tired I feel.  "It's only one wall...It's only one wall...It's only one wall...."

Friends + Food

Raqib and Dana made it to Dallas!  Though the plan to make it here on Friday turned into Sunday all that really matters is they made it.  Raqib and Dana both worked with me at Saatchi and are so very fun to have around.  We took them to Villa O (great mashed sweet potatoes even though it's an italian place).  They are driving from Arizona to Michigan - quite the trip.  Raqib brings out the most sarcastic part of me for some reason so for the next few hours I will be thinking that I am quite funny even though I probably am not as funny as I believe myself to be.  

Central 214

So as most of you know Mat and I's time together is well, spotty.  He loves his job but the travel means we don't get to spend as much time together as we would like.  The upside to this is that when Mat comes home he says things like "I want to take you out".  This is not the same as "Lets go to dinner", the latter translates to "What places serve food in a half mile radius from where we are".  "I want to take you out" translates to "It's ok if we spend a little bit of money."  I like it when he says "I want to take you out" so of  course I was down.  We decided to go to the restaurant inside the Palomar Hotel.  We had been there once in September for my cousins birthday dinner and loved it but hadn't been back since.  I remembered that we had fun and that the food was great but forgot how cool it felt to be there - big difference from my usual vegetable soup  and salad by my lonesome whenever I happen to get home from work.  I love the neutral but geometric plates they serve things on.    

When we walked in they told us we could wait or sit at the "Chef's Bar" which was  code for the counter in front of the kitchen that no one really likes to sit at.  When we said we would sit there I thought we might have made their night.  I loved sitting there because I got to see how the kitchen was set up and how many people they had working each position and all of that stuff no one who didn't manage a restaurant for a few years cares about.  
While we were sitting there the Chef came by and told us that Bradie James, a Dallas Cowboys football player, was having a charity dinner there that night.  She pointed him out, she actually said "He is the tall dark choloatsicle and he likes to give out hugs".   It was not hard to find him.  The 27 year old tall, athletic black man at a table of obviously rich white people who were all flirting with 60 years old.  

Our dinner was awesome.  Hopefully Mat will say "I want to take you out" again sometime soon.  

Tacos and Basketballs

A couple of weeks ago my youngest brother Kampbell, who I call Kampus, came to Dallas with his friend Bobby and stayed the weekend with me while Mat was in New Orleans for Oscars Bachelor Party.  Me and two 15 year old boys, I am sure you are thinking, "What could possibly be bad about that".  So two highlights of their visit (I will channel my inner Matthew Bond and list them with numbers in front, this blog is about both of us you know).

1) Fuel City -  When I heard they were coming my first thought was, "What the heck am I going to do with two 15 year old boys for three days!".  Insert twitter.  Naturally I sent out a 140 character message to my "Tweeps" (twitter peeps that is) and asked if anyone had any suggestions.  Joel Thomason (@JoelThomason or @10lunches) to the rescue.   Joel, the soon to be hero, had told me about his out of this world awesome trip with Ben Rector to Fuel City tacos while we were at Hunters rehearsal dinner - and I totally forgot about it.  Lucky for me he responded to my desperate tweet with a reminder that Fuel City was a great option, actually he said "Take them to Fuel City".  It was almost a command, how could I ignore that? 

 I don't know if you caught the Texas Monthly cover story titled "59 Tacos You Must Eat Before You Die" but in case you missed it Fuel City Tacos are number on on the list, yup number one, #1, most appropriately- numero uno.   Fuel City is a gas station.  Awesome, I know.  There is a window you walk up to and order tacos from a couple of Mexican ladies who are in a little tiny kitchen.  Each taco cost less than a dollar!  We walked up and ordered, picked out our bottled drinks imported from Mexico (made with real cane sugar - none of the High Fructose Corn Syrup crap) and waited for our tacos.  Once we got them we opened them up on the back of my car and dug in....FANTASTIC.  These things were incredible.  Kampbell said "Oh my gosh these things are amazing.  If this is a real taco nothing I have ever eaten before this qualifies as a taco."   We ate the tacos (Kampbell - 8, Bobby - 6, Kelsey - 2) while we listened to Karaoke in spanish that was taking place in the parking lot, watched longhorn cattle graze to the side of us, and talked about how we might not ever eat anything that great again.

2) Jazz vs. Mavs:  Kampbell had never been to a professional basketball game and the thought of coming to Dallas to see one of Fayetteville's Finest (Ronnie Brewer, Duh!) and the German Hero (Dirk Nowitzki) was too good to turn down.  So we went to Victory Park pre-game and walked around.  The boys needed a picture in front of the massive screen on the side of the American Airlines Arena, looking hard of course. 
The highlight was really after the game.  Ronnie was so nice to give us passes to hang out after the game and see the Jazz players.  Bobby was so excited he literally started screaming and talking like a little girl.  Kampus kept his cool and got a great picture with Ronnie.  

Disclaimer: Kampbell is not as tall as Ronnie he is actually no fewer than two steps above him on the bleachers. 
Jazz lost but thats OK it was a great weekend!  Can't wait to do it again - and maybe the Jazz will win next time!

Getting Started

So, it's been a long time coming but the Hency blog is finally up and going!  There are a few things I want to change but I figured an OK blog up and going was better than no blog up and going.  Be looking for frequent life updates from the Hency house!