Lights in the Heights...

I live in an area of Houston called The Heights. Every year, they have a one night celebration called Lights in the Heights. Basically, the community blocks off 2 streets in the neighborhood and everyone walks up and down the streets looking at the lights, listening to the different groups caroling at the houses, and overall just getting into the Christmas spirit. There are thousands of people and parking is crazy but I live within walking distance so I got lucky! This year, since I was already done with finals, a few of my friends and I decided to check it out.

A leg lamp! I need one of these!!!!

The girls of the group...

Christmas Vacation- part 3

This year for New Years, I went with a few of my friends to The Hyatt O'Hare. They had an 80s cover band playing, a pretend casino, and a Dj dance floor. We stayed at the hotel, which ended up costing us extra $$$ but it was worth it because at the end of the night, we just took the elevator up to our room! It was a fun evening and a great way to ring in 2011!

Here are a few pictures from the night-

Snooki was at the party (or maybe just a look alike) And just a side note, the outfits I saw throughout the night amazed me. Perhaps I'm too old to be hanging out with people in their early 20s because I would never wear some of the things I saw!

This guy and a few of his friends just started break dancing in the middle of the hotel

The Band!!!

And the countdown! Happy New Year!!!!

Now I'm all caught up on my blogging. School starts on Tuesday and my life will be over for a while. I'm taking a clinic and got a job at a law firm and still working at Williams Sonoma. I might just be crazy!

Christmas Vacation- part 2

While in Chicago, I did lots of fun things. One of those was seeing White Christmas the Musical. White Christmas is one of my favorite movies and I loved the musical. It was a little different than the movie and left out some of the good parts but it still had the same feeling and theme. I snuck this picture when the ushers weren't paying attention!

While downtown, we also went to the Kris Kindle Market in Daley Plaza. We go just about every year and I always enjoy it, even though it is freezing cold outside!

After New Years, my mom and I came down to the city again and did some shopping at the old Marshall Fields (aka Macys) and then we ate lunch in the Walnut Room. This is one of my favorite traditions. I remember doing this as a child and I hope that one day when I have kids, I'm able to continue the tradition. We thought the tree would be down already but we caught it on its last day up!

On our way back to the car, my mom and I stopped in the Chicago Conservatory. It used to be the Chicago Public Library and I had never been in the building. They have a huge Tiffany dome that is gorgeous. I also got some good pictures of Millenium Park.

After 3 long weeks of fun and relaxation, it was time to go home. I was ready to be back in my own bed but sad to leave my mom all by herself in Chicago. Anyways, this is what I woke up to when I left last week. SNOW!!! It had all melted right before New Years and I guess Chicago didn't want me to leave without getting another blast of it. The snow caused my flight to be delayed about 3 hours so I got to spend some quality time in Midway Airport before coming back to Houston.

Part 3 of Christmas Vacation will be New Years!

Christmas Vacation- part 1

This year, I was able to go home to Chicago for break. I was there for 3 weeks! I had so much fun and really enjoyed living in denial that I had a ton of things to do when I got back to Houston. I started off my trip the Chicago by doing a lot of baking. I love to bake and most of the time (when I don't burn things), I'm actually really good at it!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are pecan and cinnamon sugar cookie things (I can't remember what they are called but they were yummy!)

I also made snickerdoodles- my favorite!

These are ranch oyster crackers- also a favorite

For breakfast on Christmas morning- semi-homemade cinnamon rolls

And then for dessert on Christmas- Peppermint Ice Cream!

Here are some pictures of my mom's decorations around the house. She has such cool stuff!

The Christmas Tree-

My Mom collects wooden Santas

Close up of the Santas

We even have Christmas night lights!

And finally, even Leo got into the Christmas Spirit!

Up next- the Kris Kindle Market, White Christmas the Musical, New Years, The Walnut Room, and Snow!!!

Happy 2011!

Another year has come and gone. Where did the time go?!?!? Well, this past year flew by for me with school and life in general. I've had a great Christmas break and have enjoyed the holidays a little too much. I'm really not wanting to go back to school in 1 1/2 weeks. I have lots to blog about and will get to that maybe sometime this week but I wanted to post the Christmas card that I got made for FREE from Shutterfly. I didn't mail a lot of them out because I had already done regular Christmas cards. Plus, I think it looks a little funny with just pictures of me. Anyways, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year! I'm really excited for 2011 and my 30th year of life!

Christmas Celebration at Houston's First Baptist

Before I left for Christmas Break, I went to see a Christmas Program at Houston's First Baptist Church. This church is HUGE and the "chapel" holds about 3,000 people. The program was really good and really got me in the spirit of Christmas. Here are a few pictures I took during the program-

They had a real live elephant in the program. It was so cool!

Christmas Tree

This year, Kourntey and I managed to get up a small Christmas tree despite being consumed with finals. It was nice to have a little bit of Christmas in the apartment even though we were busy studying!

Weekend Fun!

I'm in Spain right now but I needed to catch up on some other blogging before I blog about Spain so check back in the next few days for a Spain update!

Last weekend, I went to Austin for a Special Education Conference and then to San Antonio to visit a family I used to babysit for. On Saturday, I took the 3 older boys to Fiesta Texas and we had a blast. We were there for 11 hours, rode a ton of rides, played in the water park, and perhaps had a little bit too much caffine and sugar and not enough food. I wasn't a very responsible adult and I filled them up with soda and by the end of the night, they were wired! On Sunday, we all slept in late and then went to go see the boys different schools and out to lunch. Then it was time for me to head back to Houston. Anyways, it was a fun and relaxing weekend and I loved hanging out with the whole family. Hopefully, I'll get to come to San Antonio more often to visit!

Here are a few pictures I took at Fiesta Texas-

Waiting in line to ride on of the roller coasters

In the car heading to Fiesta Texas

The boys and their favorite ride- Superman!

Watching the fireworks after a long day at the park

A small part of Fiesta Texas