so lately...

tony had an appointment with the chiropractor in castroville on saturday. some of the most adorable cottage style homes are in this little town and now that we are only 15 minutes away we've been able to pay visits here more often. the doc's office is a historical house called the house on september end...or something like that. inside is like a little house. we're in the waiting area. tony's at the bottom of the picture. i told him to play it cool.privacy smavacy...who needs it anyway. here's the view of the patient room straight from the waiting room. i should have taken the picture when tony was on the table. next time.

after, we went biking through the neighborhood and off medina river. i wish i would have taken my camera but i didn't. we found a spot near the riverbank that wasn't private property and sat for a rest. as we were about to leave i noticed a big fish right near by. as we got closer tony saw that it was caught by a hook. somebody left the string there to catch the fish. i didn't believe him and thought it was just tangled up in the string. maybe we should try to set it free. he said he was for real, he and his cousins used to do it all the time when he was younger. oh. thought i, the stunned little city girl. what a lazy way to fish. doesn't seem right. if you're gonna kill it then at least owe the poor ugly thing a good fight and effort. tony just blamed the fish. he said it was stupid. those country boys. no mercy...to nonhumans. but very sweet to their ladies.after riding we stopped by one of the antiques stores in town. i love antique stores. what history. what stories lie behind each item. only thing about this shop, the history and stories don't come cheap. a little overpriced. no bargains here.

and this little fellow i've never posted a picture of. meet tokyo. viscious guard dog and the number one annoyance and nemesis of my beloved tony.

toot toot...

so, um, not to toot my own horn. but yeah.

in ruidoso i went into a corner store and found this lovely and sassy toothbrush holder. love it!

it's brrrrrr's turn...

tony finally got his wish for a brrrrr vacation. it was early january that set the month for tony and i's very first in-law-to-be vacation. we met my mom and dad in el paso and met up with his mom, sisters, cousin, aunt, uncle, and niece the following day. it was the first vacation for both sides of the family to take part in. the weather was so lovely now that i knew how to dress for it. i'm not a cold person one bit and cold weather is just a nightmare. but tony told me it was all about the layers. so i layered and layered and layered it on and voila! lovely weather! i just know if i lived in a colder climate i would be a scarf and vest obssessed freak. the drive from el paso to ruidoso took about two and a half hours. an half extra more because of a detour to white sands national monument. this was amazing! miles and miles and miles of white, and i mean white sand! beach sand can cause me to pout and whine but this sand was nothing like it. it rolled right off your skin, your feet, your shoes, your anything! we slid down some hills and it was so fun. the best part was seeing my dad slide down! it was crazy how you're driving along a deserted, dry, the-hills-have-eyes kind of road and then suddenly around the bend is nothing but evergreens. entering the adorable town of ruidoso with its shops and cafes, leftover snow on the sidewalks and huge mountains in the background was quite a view. tony and i shared a two bedroom two bath cabin that felt like a second home with my parents. his family shared a three bedroom cabin with the most amazing view of sierra blanco mountains. when we go back, we will definitely stay in a storybook cabin again, that's the name of the cabins by the way. it was so beautiful and the air was so clean and crisp. now i chickened out on the sleding and skiing. somehow i got a bad case of chicken fever. it hit hard and i didn't want to take the narrow winding road up the mountain twice so while tony and his family went skiing, my parents and i went shopping. it was a beautiful trip, definitely for those who appreciate nature. quite stunning for sure.

running pretty...

what a run today. but let me back up a bit. i just got back from a little trip i took to austin to visit my lovely pal elva. we caught up, had wonderful girl talk, and found her a gorgeous wedding dress! go elva...go elva...you look sexy...in your wedding dress! i met her friend and fellow bridesmaid morgan who gave me some sexy sexy advice (big smile) over some kickin margaritas on the rocks. tokyo joined me on this trip to play with elva's pups and boy did he have a great time. snoring away as i type right now, he's knocked out. this morning elva and i ran at town lake or what's now called lady bird lake and boy was it pretty out there. a bunch of joggers, walkers, canoers, stroller babies, and bikers were out and about breaking a sweat. the shade from the trees and the view of the lake made this run quite enjoyable. i can't wait to go with tony someday. i didn't have my camera but i found some great pictures from runbob.com that sums up the beauty.

ah california...

ah california, how i miss you already. the cool breeze, the nature, oh the flowers! what a wonderful vacation. tony and i stayed at a super cute hotel right off of the beach. it was the cheapest hotel we could find but it was the best i could ever ask for. no air condition (ekkks!) was a concern at first. but we soon found out it wasn't needed and it sure wasn't missed. the texas heat was out of sight and out of mind! day and night, the windows stayed open and the most lovely breezes swept through the room. what i'm really going to miss are the moments before going to bed when i could hear the laughter and chatter coming from the cafes down below right outside our window. it wasn't the loud annoying type of noise but a more comforting type, sounds of people simply enjoying each other's company and having a great time. the first night in LA was spent doing the really touristy type stuff like driving around sunset blvd., hollywood, beverly hills, rodeo drive, you know the typical LA glitz, glam, and what not. it was nice because i had never seen it before, but i don't think that's the stuff that's going to stick with me for this trip. although, i will remember my amazement of the number of luxury cars LA has going on with its bad, luxurious self. i've never seen so many shiny cars! my little ol honda accord would be put to shame if it ever shared the road with those sparkling zoom zoom puppies. after the tour thing we saw jonny lang, guitarist extraordinaire, in concert at the house of blues and o my god! what a talent. how intense. and i mean sweaty, veins popping from every part of his body, squinting eyes, bloody fingers type of intense. i had always wanted to see him perform since i was in high school, so this birthday present from tony was a dream come true actually. mr. lang and his band are words-cannot-describe-in-a-good-way type of musicians. enough said. the next day jenny, tony's friend and lovely tour guide for our trip, took us around santa monica and i got to meet up with a lovely old roommate from college. we went to santa monica pier, did some shopping, ate some excellent seafood, and enjoyed each other. i've never been so tired at the end of my days! but i think the best part came when we went to the vineyards in santa barbara county. of course, on the way we gawked at the humongous "homes" in malibu and i swear i saw sally fields on the highway. can't officially confirm, but jenny and tony agreed. anyway, wine tasting was buzzalicious. amazing drive, amazing views, just amazing. we had a picnic at one of the vineyards and i saw lavender. what more could i ask for. and i brought a yummy dessert wine back home, thanks to my wonderful tony. this trip was perfect. much more than i expected, but i guess i didn't really have any expectations, just that i wanted to have a great time. well, i had all that and more. what a trip to remember! so what of LA will i bring back with me? definitely the water, the canals, the art, the hippies, the homeless, the traffic, the wine, the yards, the style, the freedom, the shopping, the cafes, the view, the trees, the flowers, the lavender, the music, the food, the boutiques, the joggers, the surfers, the yoga on the beach, the roller skaters, the bikers, the flip flops, the sand, the people, jenny, paola, her brandon, the waiters, the kindness, the freakish, the green, the birds, the concert, the houses, and most definitely the beautiful weather. ah california...