Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Perfect Pants

Ok ladies, hold the phone...I have found the PERFECT pair of pants. The J Crew Minnies. They are stretchy without being spandex-y...the are a great length to wear with flats...they are casual chick, dressy but not too dressy...I have not found a single problem with them! Oh and to boot...I had to go down a size in these! (I've read other reviews, most everyone has to..so sadly it's not that I've lost weight, it's just the cut of the pants and the fabric). I have a black pair and I wear them, oh maybe, 2 times a week. I think I might invest in another color, or maybe I'll just get another pair of black so that I can wear them EVERYDAY! Ha! No but serious, you need to try them. They just might change your life :) Ha!

Texas Hill Country Trip- Lost Maples State Park

On our trip to the Texas Hill Country, the BF had expressed that he really wanted to do some hiking. Now I had never been hiking before, but I wanted to make him happy so I thought we would try it. When I started researching areas in the Hill Country to go hiking, I realized that there were tons... But when I came across a review of the Vanderpool/Medina area near Lost Maples that described it as the "Tuscany of Texas", I knew we had to go there!!

We left Boerne and drove to Bandera (the Cowboy Capital of the World) on TX-16. It was only a 30 minute drive. Bandera is a small town and it had just one main drag. The BF and I walked into a few stores, tried on some cowboy hats, and then decided Bandera was not really that fun... But it was a good chance to stretch our legs :)

We got on RM-470 and drove to Utopia, which was about a 1 hour drive. Both the BF and I were very surprised about how pretty the drive was! It was about lunch time when we got to Utopia, and the BF doesn't ever skip a meal so we deiced on Lost Maples Cafe. Well, honestly I think this was our only option other than maybe fast food, ha! It was interesting to say the least... I went with the daily special and the BF got his usual grilled chicken. I will admit that the mac & cheese was really good. But I don't think I would say this is a "restaurant" that you have to try :)

Onward to our final destination, Lost Maples State Park! It was only like 10 minutes away from Utopia, and I was blown away when we got there! I did not even feel like we were in TX anymore!!! Even though we were there in December, it was more like November weather and we definitely got to see all the leaves changing colors...gorgeous! We decided to do the East Trial, which was 4.6 miles. I don't think the BF thought I was actually going to be able to hike it all, but I was determined! And honestly, it was so pretty that I did not even notice how far we had gone. There were some steep parts, but the views after climbing those steep parts made up for it. OMG, gorgeous. I only had my iPhone, so the pics were not the best. After we finished the hike, I was on a high...and I decided that I LOVE hiking! No one told me it was just like walking, but with nice scenery. I guess I did not expect the path to be so clearly marked and I thought we were going to be like guessing where to go...but it was not like that at all.

On our way back we took RM-337 through Medina to get back to TX-16. Wow, most beautiful drive...ever. The BF and I were stunned at how gorgeous this drive was. Little to know, we discovered later that RM-337 is on the list of like Top 10 drives in Texas or something like that. It is a must do if you are in this area.

All on all, this trip to Lost Maples was great! We left Boerne at maybe 10AM, and I think we got back around 4PM. And I found out that I love hiking! Wahoo!

Look how cute the BF is :)


He made it to the Top...ha! :)



This was the steep part!! Ahhh!!!


The sun was so bright so that can't see....but the view was gorg!


Wish List


The Amazon Kindle has been on my wish list for awhile...but recently within this last week, it has been popping up all over the place! A girl on a blog I read just got one...the lady getting her nails done next to me was reading on one...I think it's a sign :) I LOVE reading, but I never have the time to go to B&N to get a book...this would so solve this problem! And note to the BF...since you are leaving me for 6-8 weeks for your internship...this would be a great present to make up for that, I'm just sayin...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Josh Lomers!!!


I also forgot to mention in my previous post that the one and only Josh Lomers (aka- my favorite Baylor basketball star) is from Boerne, TX!! No wonder he's so great :)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Texas Hill Country Trip- Boerne, TX

I just realized that I never blogged about the trip the BF and I took to the Texas Hill country in December 2009. We had a blast! At one point, the BF even told me that if was the best trip he had ever been on (which just tickled me pink!). I put a lot of effort into planning this trip and it paid off. The BF specified that he wanted to stay in the small towns where we would walk to dinner, rather than stay out on a ranch. That helped to narrow down my planning. We had 4 nights, and we spilt that into 2 nights in Boerne and 2 nights in Fredricksburg.

On Friday morning we loaded up the Envoy and started our trip down to Boerne. The traffic around Austin & San Antonio was HORRIBLE! We were really glad when we got to Boerne after the 5 hour drive and saw the little town. I think I fell in love at first sight with the cute little downtown area. Shops, shops and more shops! And to boot, they had an arts fair going on right across from our hotel. We stayed at Ye Kendall Inn, which is the oldest hotel in town and right in the middle of everything. I upgraded us to a Garden Court Suite, which was way worth the extra like $15. It was clean, and the bathroom was new! Two things that are very important to me.


The first night we walked to the Dodging Duck Brewhouse, and it was delish! We had the beer sampler which was great because I like to try new beer, but I usually can't drink more than a few sips. I tried their Sausage, but my favorite thing was the side of warm Bavarian Potato salad. Mmmm...I could eat that every day. It also came with a pretzel and some cheese!
The next morning before our next adventure, we went to Bear Moon Cafe for breakfast. I had read many reviews of this place, and it did not disappoint! They had a hot breakfast buffet, which sounds gross...but everything on the buffet was yummy! Including biscuits & sausage gravy, which oddly enough I don't think I had ever had...and now I dream about them. The BF was also happy because they had oatmeal and some healthy options. I would recommend this place! Just get there early, because this place fills up quickly.
For our second dinner, we choose Tin Roof Steakhouse on the recommendation of the staff at Ye Kendall Inn. I thought it was going to be a little stuffy or expensive, but I was wrong! The decor was neat, it had great prices, and a business casual feel to it. Both the BF and I got pasta dishes and we liked them. To top it off, we got Bread Pudding for dessert!! Yummy!

In addition to all the food and the great hotel, I did some shopping (surprise, surprise, right?!). The main street in Boerne is just lined with these cute little boutique shops. I got some great Fall decorations that were on sale, some Christmas gifts for my Mom, and two cute scarves (which are my new obsession). There were actually too many stores to recommend my favorite. You can't go wrong just going into every one of them! The only thing I did not find was a great piece of art. I love to buy art when I travel, but in Boerne I could not find any for a decent price.
Overall, Boerne was great! I would come back again...and really hope that the BF and I do...soon! I still need to post about Fredricksburg, Lost Maples Park, Pedernales Falls Park, and Enchanted Rock to finish off our trip :)