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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Early Spring in Houston with a Broken A/C

I love springtime weather in Houston - I'd take a summer of sweltering, humid heat for the beautiful days like this weekend.  The weather has been ~80s with lingering rain clouds.  I love it... except for the fact that I went to turn on my air conditioner the other day, only to find out that it wasn't cooling.  So my house is a warm 80 to 84 degrees.  As my brother has been saying all weekend, it's frickin' hot! 

Yep, my mom and brother were in town this weekend.  Grant was in a wedding in Beaumont, and mom decided to fly down with him to spend the weekend with her favorite daughter.  It's been nice!  Mom and I went to her favorite Houston restaurant of Friday night - Amazon Grill.  Yummy... And on Saturday we went shopping at lots of great places to find some filler for the house - Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, Great Indoors, Pier One, Kirklands, and Home Depot.  We finally had to quit shopping because my car was so full!! Mom rode all the way home with a box in her lap.  It was hilarious.  We had a relaxing night in, and brought home Pei Wei for dinner.

Denali must have been tired of the warm house too, because she took a little adventure down the block.  I was working on my weekend project in the garage, and Denali was hanging out, enjoying the breeze.  I got so wrapped up in my wood staining that I didn't notice her sneak away.  When I realized she was gone, I did that little freak out thing that I'm sure most mommies do when they realize their little one has wandered off.  I thought maybe she had gone back into the house, so I ran around the house (my hands covered in wood stain) but she was nowhere to be found.  I ran up and down the block calling her name, but still no sign of her.  Finally, I heard her little whimper... she was sitting at the garage back door of a neighbor's house thinking that she had been locked out of her own house.  Silly girl.  She got a good spanking, but I was glad she hadn't wandered too far.

Mom and I are waiting on my weekend project to dry right now... I'll post about it when it's done, but I'm really excited.  Some DIY wall decor :).  Time for me to grab another tall glass of water and sit next to the fan!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Not My First Rodeo, Ya'll!

It's that time of year again!  Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo - one of my favorite Houston events.  I love the atmosphere and the energy that it brings to the late winter in this town.  Yes, it's a pain in the butt to fight traffic after a long work day.  But it's so worth it to see buckin' broncos, kids chasing calves, babies ridin' some sheep, and good live country music. 

I was shocked to find out that Bo had never been to a rodeo!!  So I was excited to share with him the experience.  I got tickets to Alabama and Lady Antebellum - and Bo bought a new pearl snap shirt.  We had an awesome time at both concerts and the carnival.  We met up with our friends Mick and Janelle after the Lady A concert to ride the ferris wheel.  It's just one of those iconic moments that all couples must enjoy.  We also rode a run twirly-roundie-speedy rides.  Well worth the hour-long wait!





Love us some rodeo~

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Fear of What? A Chili-Cook Off

The highlight of a dreary weekend in Houston would most deifnitely be a chili cook off!  A local dive bar called Liberty Station hosted a cook-off and Bo and I joined a team with 2 other couples.  Unfortunately, I wasn't involved in any of the planning because of my work schedule.  But luckily I can to participate in the day of and help a little big at the event.  Austin is one of Bo's friends, and his family owns a large ranch just an hour outside of Houston.  All the meat used to make our chili was shot and killed on his ranch.  We used 4 different meats - Sika deer, red deer (Japenese), Axis, and Texas Longhorn.  I've never had any of those before!  We mixed it with lots of beans and peppers and spices.  The result was AMAZING - probably some of the best chili I've ever had.  Bo came up with the idea to serve it with sweet buttered corn bread, and that was such a good compliment to the spice of the chili.  Our team name was Cenosillicaphobia - the fear of an empty beer glass.  Try saying it 5 times fast... I can't even say it one time slow!! 

We had a great time and enjoyed hanging out on a Sunday afternoon. Despite being the crowd favorite and the best in showmanship, our team wasn't in the top three.  Oh well, there is always next year!

 


Old Town Scottsdale Trip

When a co-worker of my told me about an SPE conference in Scottsdale, I typed an email to my boss as quickly as I could to ask if I could go.  Not only was the subject matter directly related to my current role in the company, but the conference is in frickin' SCOTTSDALE!  Only one of the coolest party towns in the country.  When I told Bo that I was going to Scottsdale for a conference, his reply was, "There's no oil in Scottsdale?"  True.  But there is sunshine and cool bars and great food. 

This is where I got to spend last week!  The conference was hosted at the Hotel Valley Ho is Old Town Scottsdale.  It reminded me of a decade long lost, but it was definitely nice enough for a mini-getaway!  I arrived on Sunday and got cozy in my new place.  My co-workers arrived shortly after me and we had a nice steak dinner at a place called the Pink Pony.
               

Monday through Thursday we were mostly locked away in a conference room talking about frac'ing, and microseismic, and performance analysis, and water resource management... all kinds of interesting topics.  A vendor took us out to dinner on Tuesday at a restaurant called Maestro's - phenomenal.  Best steak I've ever ever had.  My mouth is watering just thinking of it now.  So yummy. 

Bo arrived on Wednesday and we met up for drinks with his friend Nick, who has lived in Scottsdale for awhile.  After being harassed by a few locals at dive bar called the Coach House, we ventured to a place called Grimaldi's for dinner.  We shared a brick-oven pizza and only wished that our tummies could hold me.  Then it was off to Bo's favorite bar in the town - Rusty Spur.  One of the oldest bars in Scottsdale, we were entertained by a live band, scantally dressed women, and singing bartenders.  I finally busted out my camera for a few snapshots.



The conference wrapped up on Thursday, and after wrapping up a few loose ends for we, Bo and I made our way to Camelback Mountain for an afternoon hike.  About an hour up, and hour at the top, and an hour day.  The hike up was a little challenging, but I enjoyed hanging out with Bo and getting my legs moving after several sedentary days.  The views of Phoenix were awesome.  It truly is an oasis in the desert.  Lots of posh green golf coures, palm trees, and resort style pools!! 




Thursday night was especially romantic.  After getting showered and dressed up, Bo and I walked to a small family-owned Italian restaurant.  The menu wasn't too appealing to us, so we just had a few drinks and chatted with the friendly bartender.  Dinner at Frank & Lupe's was a let-down, and we met up with Nick again at a bar called The Lodge.  Cool place and lots of free drinks for the shot girls.  A golf cart took us back to the Valley Ho - yes, a golf cart.  It was particularly chilly in Scottsdale that night, so I ordered a hot cocoa and baileys and Bo got another beer at the hotel bar.  We snuggled and fell asleep in the chaise lounge outside under a comforter and the stars.  It was a very special moment that I know I will never forget. 

It was back to Houston on Friday - and sadly we left the sunny Scottsdale for gloomy Houston.  We were welcomed home by thunderstorms, flight delays, and horrid traffic.  Apparently Obama blocked off the air space and half the streets of Houston for his visit... even prevented Bo and I from getting late night Chinese food!!  Oh well... we still have the memories of Scottsdale to look back on.



Monday, March 12, 2012

Taking to the Skies of Houston!

Wow it's been awhile since I last blogged!  I've had several big events in the past few weeks... Bo is out of town this week, so I'll take some time to catch you up on the wonderful world of Nikki (and Bo).

For Christmas, Bo got me a Groupon for a one-hour discovery flight at a small airport outside of Houston.  I took the day off (also nice for half-marathon recovery) and we ventured out toward Cypress.  There was a miscommunication and we arrived 3 hours early... so I convinced Bo that we should go shopping!!! I was anticipating my VCIP bonus... and we had some time to kill... and the outlets malls would be dead.  I ended up spending way too much money, but I got some cute new outfits and a Le Crueset platter and dutch oven (purple, of course). 

We went to this adorable BBQ restaurant and shared a brisket sandwich before taking to the skies.  The little Cessna plane was just big enough for me, Bo, and the instructor pilot.  Bo sat in the back seat while I took the steering wheel.  Do they even call it a steering wheel??  Anyways.  It was a really cool experience to get to fly over Houston - over my house, over my office, close to downtown, over Memorial park!  It was a great way to see the city I now call home.