What Happens In Padre Doesn't Stay In Padre

But alas, they are not my stories to share, so this will be more of a G rated post.

• Had a fun flight with Ashley and Marina.
• I actually got into the ocean and didn't get eaten by a shark! But almost lost my bottoms to the waves; Bennida got an eyeful.
• Delish dinner followed by a classic Bob speech.
• First night out we had a failed attempt to make friends with a bachelorette party. 
• Ash and I had to climb the wall to get into the condo.
• "It's just my allergies....I don't have allergies."
• Finding Bob's shirt on the beach first thing Saturday morning.
• Taking a picture of the itinerary because questions are not allowed.
• Boats and Hoes = isolations.
• Best part of my day? DQ blizzard.
• A nice calm dinner with Holly and the boys.

• "Stupid cute."

Me & Holly

• Watching the show once everyone else showed up. It was a mix of Real World & MTV Spring Break.
• Late night Denny's with Benid and Amanda is always a good way to end the day.

• Getting tips from Derek's cooking school.
• And repaying him by busting jokes on him all day.

Overall it was a good trip. My favorite moments were def starting each day by watching the sunrise on the beach and having a solo breakfast. It was so beautiful and calm before entering into the craziness that lied ahead.

Cupcake Love Affair

The rest of the New York weekend was spent with a few of my best girls.

Saturday morning I got up earlyish and hit the streets to enjoy the city and hunt for some bagels to sop up the remaining whisky and coke in my belly. I found a place a few blocks down Times Square (can't remember the name) that had delish everything bagels and hot chocolate. 

I also stopped by Crave - my previous favorite cupcake shop. I didn't see what I wanted (chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream) so I asked the lady for help. She didn't seem to understand what I was asking for and kept suggesting cupcakes that weren't even similar, so I left. I spotted Cake Boss bakery across the street and headed straight over. The cupcakes were alright, just nothing special.

Late afternoon we went to Tapps for an inadequate lunch (for me at least) and then spent the evening at a small bar.

Me, Taffs, Raca, B (thanks for the pic!)

 We left Sunday and had last meal was enjoyed at Five Guys. My first (and probably last) trip there.

On the way out I did manage to make a stop at Magnolia and Crave. I must say that Magnolia was my cupcake fave from the weekend. So good! I think it was the icing.

The main contents of my carry on.

"My Favorite's Gouda" - A Farwell Austin Tour

What a wonderful girls weekend! S was invited but declined. I really don't know why he didn't want  to attend the Country Living Fair with Jess, Amanda, and me.

The first two times I hung out with Amanda I just wasn't really sure about her making the friend cut. Then she came out with us on Halloween and I decided she was alright. She's one of Jess' best friends so she must be pretty cool. I've been blog stalking her since December, so I was pretty excited about getting to spend more time with her. And after this weekend, I will officially consider her one of my friends...I hope she feels the same, otherwise this just got awkward because I know she sometimes reads my blog. (She also mentioned that when she reads my blog that it sounds like me. And I loved that!)

Friday morning I met Jess at the gym for a pre trip workout. We knew we had some less than healthy foods on the menu for the weekend (donuts, donuts, and cupcakes) so figured we'd do some pre work on that. A little after lunch we hit the road for Austin.

I did really good about not falling asleep! Yay me! (just ask Daniel, I'm not always a fun road tripper. When we made the 13hr drive home I slept almost the whole way...and had no trouble sleeping that night). We listened to the first BodyJam mix and chatted.

Amanda offered us this as soon as we arrived:

It was so good! And yes, it was the one she posted on her blog a while back...because I'm a blog stalker.

Our first stop to get this party started was Krispy Kreme! I was so excited! I hadn't had Krispy Kreme in over a year. It's the 2nd best thing to Donut Stop. We lucked out and came in right as the fresh donuts were coming off the rack. The girls were surprised when we each got a free one. (Ummm...am I the only one that's been here before? and happens to know the hours when the donuts are hot and fresh? errr, that's awkward.) When the kind donut lady gave me the donut you would have thought she was handing me my engagement ring with the love eyes I was giving it. I.die. There was a birthday party going on (I totally want to have my bday party there!) so we creeped on that for a while.

Next up: dinner! Well, kind of. We decided we didn't want to eat out for all of our meals so we headed to HEB to gather things for our snack plate dinner (a staple at BJ House). Cheese & crackers, Berries & cream, bad ass guac, and pizza (not pictured...obvs).

When Amanda said she needed bacon for the guac, I'm pretty sure I gave her the "Are you effing serious?" look..but it turned out to be delicious! (Can you please make some for us again asap?)

We had also stopped by Sephora and the girls found this black mask and managed to get us some samples.

It reminded me of Zoolander when he was in the coal mines and he painted himself black with the coal and jumped out at his Dad and Brothers (nice Vince Vaughn cameo) and yelled "Surprise!" Naturally we took pictures inspired by that, but Jess has those. The black also made your nose disappear, so I felt like Voldy.

We watched She's The Man - one of my faves! - then went to bed.

The next morning we hit up Gordoughs for some crazy donuts. Amanda (from work) had sent me a link with the top 10 donut places in America, and this was on it. They were delicious (not to be out done by Donut Stop). They were huge and tasted like a funnel cake with tons of different toppings on them. I got Heavenly Hash, and Cherry Bombs. When the guy came to the window he said, "You're lucky you're cute so I'll take your order." Ummmm...really? Actually, 1. You will take my order because I have $$. 2. YOU are lucky that I'm cute because you get to look at me. So You.Are.Welcome!

When they gave me one of the wrong donuts, but I figured I just ordered the wrong thing and the donut looked delish so I took it back to the table and ate the donut hole that was on top...just in time for an elder gentlemen to come up behind me because they gave him my donut. That was a little awkward when I had to apologize for eating his donut hole. Luckily he didn't seem to mind.

Heavenly Hash: Donut topped with marshmallow fluf, chocolate, chocolate chips, and a brownie bite.

Next up:

After many hours of that, watching some guy bake a cake and sings a song about Country Living, and witch lady not wanting to show Jes a ring because it was $600, we called it a day and decided to start checking off the rest of our list.

So we hit up the candy shop.

We also saw Oscar (from The Office) on the street!

Then we went to Hey Cupcake so I could break up with them. That was a surprise for both of us. My favorite cupcake combo is chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream icing. A classic. Last time they were sold out, this time they had discontinued that cupcake. WTF is that! It's not like I'm asking for some crazy flavor! Whatever. The lady tried to sub in chocolate cake with vanilla cream cheese icing and I told her "No thank you." What I really wanted to do was order it, then smash it upside down on the counter, but figured that might be a tad dramatic. So instead I had a snow cone. And it was awesome! Tigers Blood fo lyfe!

Jess had found two bars on pinterest for us to hit up.

We went behind the velvet curtain at Bar Congress. I told the waitress I wanted something sweet, fruity, and delicious like you would serve a child, but with alcohol." She pointed to something on the menu then immediately asked for my ID. haha. Oh, and the drink she suggested? Not sweet or fruity at all. I couldn't even be bothered to force it down. Oh well.

Dinner at Frank. It's all hot dogs and all delicious! Another great suggestion by Jess (not me, the other one.)

So true

Then we hit up Lustre Pearl. It was a pretty cool bar. It was in a house with a huge backyard.

Decided to stop branching out and stick to what I know: Cran Vodka. Their cran was super delish like a cherry pop ice.

It was all fun and games until the pin up girls next to us decided to bust out the hula hoop. They were doing this a little too close to our table for comfort, so after about 30 min of that Amanda stuck out her hand to hit the hoop. It was so funny!

We got home around midnight and I'm pretty sure I feel asleep before Jes even made it into our bed.

The next morning Amanda was busy packing for the big move while Jess and I cuddled in bed. I had a very balanced breakfast of cake and fruit.


This def helped me wake up and get jazzed for the day!

The first night when I busted this bad boy out, the girls looked really confused when the music started playing. I couldn't stop laughing.

We hit up the fair one last time. Then Jess and I hit the road.

We stopped in Bassdrop for a late lunch at Maxine's Cafe. On Sunday they have breakfast all day, so we shared the pancake and french toast. Turns out I actually really like french toast!

Then DQ for dessert. They even turned it upside down! I can't remember the last time DQ gave me ice cream that was frozen enough to do that. It was so cool!

When we got back Steven cooked us a delish steak dinner while Jess and I gave support from the couch.

This weekend has officially made the cut of Top 5 weekends of 2012. I had such a blast with the girls and I'm super glad that Amanda lives a lot closer.

I can't wait to hang out again (and by that I mean Amanda standing us up for our next antique show...foreshadowing?).

"We All Look Like We're Doing The Walk Of Shame." - Taffan

Hands down a top 5 weekend.

Me, Taffers, Marina

The America's division of the company all met in NY for our annual meeting. The weekend started a little after 5am Friday morning when Allan and Ewelina picked me up on the way to the airport. I had hardly slept the night before due to packing procrastination and a mixture of nervousness and excitement that kept me awake. I was basically passed the eff out on the airplane tray table for all but the last 30 min of the flight.

• AGM awesomeness (company growth plans = amazing) and mild awkwardness
• "I don't want her to have my number."
• "Hey Jes, come to our room. I want to show you something...No, it's not a shot! Would I lie to you?" Yes it was, and yes you did Jake.
• RDV = great time with the coworkers.
• I'm glad B is my little bird so I can easily carry her home at the end of a raging night if she happens to twist her ankle.
• Tripping out of the elevator with B in my arms and managing a spin move so she landed on me instead of vise versa. We then laid there for about 5 min laughing. Welcome to the company Chandani!
• Getting back to the hotel at 1am - I'm sitting in bed half asleep and removing my makeup when Taffs and Brian bust in so she can swap heels for flip flops and head to another bar. Of course the dance party must live on, so I threw on my keds and went with them. They went great with my dress.
• "You two need to stick together because it's not safe here!" - being the innocent lambs when entering the wolfs den at Tonic.
• Piggy back rides from Brian.
• Pictures in Times Square at 3am.
• "So, did you bang Fitoussi last night?" - 1. No. 2. I don't even know your name, so 3.Did you really just ask me that? 
• Adventures with Brian - SS happens...and then you get a free JetBlue flight!
• "If I levitate, do I have you in the bag?"
• "Jes is my baby bear, and if you hurt her, I will cut you." Actually, that's B's way of saying "I know what you did, and I will break my beer bottle and cut your throat." Oh wait, I think she did say that too! haha.
• Taking B back to Buttercup Bakery.
• Dog Piles - "I feel like I'm 17 again!"
• Pre date girl time with Taffs, Marina, and B (who was taking a nap)
• Date night with Marc = swoon
• Marc's HP pick up line -> Dear Diary, I think I just feel in love...
• Cab rides with Taffs and Brian.

I wish that once a month we could all move into a hotel for the weekend because we have such a blast together! I also wish Marina lived in Houston so we could make her hang out with us every weekend! The only thing that was missing this weekend was S+J, Shake Shack, and Crumbs...next time....def next time.

Jake, Max, David 

Me

Rick & Brian

Taffers & Me (check the flip flops and keds...too bad you can't tell that we are wearing party dresses under those coats)

Amanda & Brian

Me, Taffers, B

Jake, Marina, Brittni

Me & B

Buttercup Bakery has rice krispies almost as good as mine!

I feel that maybe the company should add this to the notes about our meetings from now on.

How not to pick up a girl and probably get nut punched:

• Tell her you don't know why she acts like she's not going home with you, when she is...even though she ended things a few days earlier.
• Pop her bra clasp open at the bar - way to keep it classy.
• Leave the bar without saying bye, then call her an hour later to see if she's coming over. Then hang up on her, twice. Oh, and make sure you don't apologize the next day when she calls you out for being an ahole. (again, this is why we have Dads)

and a few more pics:

Buttercup Bakery

B and her fave cupcakes