thankful

What an awesome month…SO much to be Thankful for…

After getting to catch up with my girls, Rachel and Alanna, over lunch, Chad and I headed to Paso Robles on Thursday night en route to Cambria.  Cambria is a cute little town on the central coast, and it’s probably best known for its location just south of the Hearst Castle.  It was a perfect weekend with a trip up to Big Sur, walk along the beach, antique shopping, (too much) good food, and a nighttime tour of the Hearst Castle...

Lunch view from Nepenthe in Big Sur 

Morning stroll

Spot the seal lion!

CA sunsets are the best.

Chad's Christmas tree ;)

Grand Room

Dining Room

Library

Just Hearst's own personal movie theater...

My favorite, the Roman Pool

Sunday I headed back to Houston for a week of training.  I was actually super excited about the week because Jenna was in town taking a training at the same location in Katy.  Carpooling with her made the commute in Houston traffic bearable.

On Monday morning, I walked into class sleepy-eyed avoiding the initial networking part of the first day of class.  Some tall guy sitting in front of me turned around and cheerfully said Alli?!  I looked up and there was a vaguely familiar Jacob Weaver in front of me.  This is going to be a very confusing explanation, but bear with me….I lived with an adorable girl, Amanda Henderson, when I interned in Bakersfield the summer of 2008.  She was just a baby freshman at Texas Tech, so naturally we bonded immediately.  Amanda had grown up all over the world (Chevron baby), and I was so fascinated with her international life.  She had recently fallen back in love with her elementary school ‘boyfriend’ from when she was living in Indonesia, Jacob (also a Chevron baby).  I got to watch their love story that summer, and for the next few years (they are now happily married).  So flash forward to 2010 while I’m sitting in some training in Bakersfield (probably sleepy-eyed), and this tall guy turns around and cheerfully says Alli?!  Not Jacob this time, but his older brother, Tyler.  I immediately made it clear to Tyler that he and his precious wife, Christine, were basically family – and over the next 3 years they did become part of my Bakersfield family (several of my blogs include Tyler’s babies Curt and Rosalie).  Since then, I have met the other two Weaver boys and solidified my adopted place in the Weaver clan…at least in my mind.  Anyways, Jacob AND his now wife, Amanda, were in Houston for training, so I was able to get together with them one night for dinner.  Again, there’s nothing better than catching up with good friends!   

The weekend following my training meant it was finnnnnnally time to spend a day celebrating and #kickinitwiththekilcreases!  After a two year engagement, my unofficially adopted cousin (Laurel’s best friend), Kelly, was marrying her longtime love, Robbie.  Needless to say, Kelly looked absolutely beautiful, Robbie was very handsome, and it was a perfect wedding!

getting fancy for the wedding!

The Kilcrease's!!!

date/bestie/sista

obligatory bathroom selfie with the bride.

On Sunday, I headed up to Dallas for a short trip to spend some time with Nana and Papa for an early Thanksgiving…the commencement of my holiday eating and subsequent 9-lb. weight gain (true story, Chad and I weighed in before and after the week).  Chad and his family were in town, so he cooked an early turkey meal at his grandmothers.  He was also able to bring his grandmother over to Nana and Papa’s house for dinner.  Not only was it an amazing meal (as usual, Nana can do no wrong), but being able to have 3 people that are so special to both Chad and I in one room was something I will forever cherish!

LOVE

Wednesday we hopped in the car for a family road trip (plus Chad, minus Brian) to head to San Antonio.  After our usual pit stops at Whataburger and Dairy Queen (Texas’s stop sign, according to Dad), we made it in time to take a nap before heading to Floore’s County Store for A Braun Family Thanksgiving concert – complete with Muzzie, Micky and the Motorcars, and Reckless Kelly. 

family who dances together, stays together

kids

Finally, Thanksgiving Day was upon us.  I would call it a success – 60 people, 3 turkeys, 2 sad football games (Longhorns and Cowboys let us all down, AGAIN), and several bottles of wine made for a great day.  

Freund Family Thanksgiving

Lisa's mandatory jumping pic - clearly the ladies are much more talented than the boys.

My great-uncle Robert (Left) and my Pa (middle) acting like goofballs

My Pa (Left) and uncle Robert (right) STILL acting like goofballs

After an unnecessarily large breakfast followed by probably too many family stories for Chad to bear and a box of old photos, we headed to the airport to get back to Bakersfield.  Saturday morning was Christmas lights time, complete with a morning full of carols (Celine Dion Christmas Pandora Station is TOP notch).  Chad is a semi-professional Christmas light installer – he ran a side business in high school and college hanging lights for people – so the job only took us about an hour, without a single Griswold moment.  My friend, Elena, is expecting a little girl in February, and Rachel planned a baby party Saturday afternoon (Baby party meaning that boys and booze were included).

Sunday morning we got the most beautiful tree, and the house was officially ready for Santa.  Chad marinated a brisket all night and got it ready for a long overdue thank you dinner for Alanna for helping us get that 700-lb slab of granite into Chad’s backyard…

Chad's actual Christmas 

From Bakersfield I headed to New York City!  Ever since watching Home Alone 2:  Lost in New York at the age of 6, I’ve been dying to go to NYC during Christmas time to see the city transform into a winter wonderland.  Lucky for me, I got he added bonus of staying with my good friend Maru and getting to catch up with her and her friends Devon and Ann (which I have latched onto over the years, and now claim as my own).  I woke up early Thursday morning, grabbed a bagel and coffee from the super friendly Italians (not) at the bagel place across the street, and headed to Rockefeller Center.  I walked around the tree, ice skating rink, gigantic ornaments, Saks Fifth Avenue windows, and did some serious people watching for a few hours before my 11AM show of Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular!  I quickly realized that they early show was reserved for little girls below the age of 12 and adorable couples above the age of 65.  Needless to say, there was lots of excitement in the air.  The show was wonderful, and if it didn’t get you in the holiday spirit, you’re a Scrooge.    

After the show, I walked up 5^th Avenue towards Central Park and window shopped at Harry Winston, Tiffany’s, Bergdorf Goodman, and Louis Vuitton.  All the store windows were decorated so beautifully for the holidays, so window shopping was almost as good as the real thing…almost.  Ever since I went to London, I’ve been really into high tea (also thanks to my friend Marius) so after more people watching in the park I headed to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for tea with a beautiful view of the park.  I cleared the table of scones, followed by sandwiches, followed by assorted desserts, so decided to walk through the park for the rest of the afternoon but didn’t get much further than the ice skating rink which was endlessly entertaining.   

Central Park

After a dinner of authentic Japanese Ramen, we went home and I was telling the girls that I had bought tickets to the 9AM tour of the 9/11 museum the next morning.  After mapping out my route and figuring that I would need to get up at about 6:30AM to shower and get out the door, they reminded me that I was on vacation and should be sleeping in – not getting up earlier than they do to get to work.  It was at that moment that I realized, yet again, that I am turning into my mother…seems to be a reoccurring theme these days.

The next morning I walked down to catch the East River Ferry (after getting my usual from the bagel place).  The ferry ride was so beautiful, watching the sun come up over the city.  Unfortunately, my fingers were too frozen to snap any photos when I walked outside to take in the view.  I got to the city and walked along Wall Street towards Ground Zero just imagining what that horrible day would have been like in Lower Manhattan.  The memorial area has two reflection pools that are footprints of the two towers, and along the edges of the pools names of all the victims from the flights, Pentagon, and the World Trade Centers.  The grounds are beautifully kept, and there is someone that continuously cleans the edges to keep the names visible at all times.  Entrance into the museum is $24, and worth every penny.  I was so impressed by how well the museum not only honored all the folks that were affected by the day’s events, but also presented the facts in the months leading up to the attack.  I spent about 3 hours walking around the building, but could have easily been in there for several more hours just reading through all the information on display.  It gives me chills just thinking about my day spent remembering, being reminded how blessed I am to live in the great US of A.  

Freedom Tower

South Tower reflection pool

I needed to recuperate from the museum, so I took the Staten Island Ferry out of the city and took in the beautiful view of the city with Lady Liberty herself!  I realized that it was my second day in NY and I hadn’t had a slice of pizza, so I went back to Brooklyn for some pizza pie (and a little snooze…).  I met the girls back over on the Lower East Side for cocktails and some serious, authentic Jewish Deli sandwiches at Katz Delicatessen.  After getting to sample the pastrami, brisket, and corned beef, I opted for corned beef, and it was amazing.

NYC with Lady Liberty on the left

powering through

Saturday we woke up to a “typical” NY winter day – gloomy and rainy.  The good thing was that it was the weekend, so I had Maru to spend the day with.  Our first stop was Bloomingdale’s to get rain boots (totally necessary).   We went to a delicious French bakery for breakfast before my first (off) Broadway show – amazing.  Maru had to swing by the office to do a few things for work, so I drooled over the new merchandise while she worked.  By 6 it was STILL raining, so we went to warm up with cocktails at the Viceroy, which would have had a beautiful view of Central Park if it wasn’t so yucky outside.  Ann kindly made us a cozy dinner at home, which was amazing!  It was the perfect end to my trip, a grown up girls night – selfies included.    

but first....

So I’m back at work, whoommppp wommpp, and back in the 100 degree, humid heat – which I actually don’t mind too much because it makes missing the holidays a little easier…no white Christmases here!  I’m only here for a whopping 25 days this rotation, so I’ll be back just in time to head to Steamboat for a week of jamming out and hitting the slopes….I’ve got some good motivation this time around J  

5 days down, 19 to go!  xoxo…