Tuscany

Days 1, 2, and 3 of our Europe trip were spent in Tuscany. Home base was this great little villa called Antico Borgo San Lorenzo. Pics below.

After flying into Rome, driving to our villa, and not getting lost at all (sarcasm) we only had time to eat dinner at the restaurant in our villa, have a few glasses of wine, and go to sleep. 

Day 2 was a little more exciting. One of the perks of our villa was that we were only 30 minutes away from the Chianti region. We spent our day driving through Chianti tasting wine and olive oil.

We ended up staying at the last winery that we went to, Il Borgo di Vescine, for the majority of the night. I highly recommend it to anyone going to Tuscany. After lots of tastings and free glasses of wine my new best friend thought it would be hilarious to wheel me on out of there on his dolly. I was terrified.

Day 3 started out with a little prosecco breakfast (prosecco purchased from Il Borgo di Vescine the night before) in honor of Abbey's birthday.

Then we drove to San Gimignano, an old walled-village about 15 minutes from our villa. San Gimignano was very beautiful. It had some really great shops, restaurants, and sightseeing. We climbed to the top of the hill behind the church in the center of San Gimignano and had some of the most beautiful views of Tuscany.

After San Gimignano we went to Firenze for the afternoon. We did some sightseeing, shopping, and had a wonderful dinner at one of Abbey's favorite restaurants, 13 Gobbi. Here are some random pictures.

Happy birthday Abbey!!!

Vacation Reading Reviews

Before I get to my posts about my trip to Italy and Spain I am going to provide my vacation reading book reviews. First up...

The Island

The Island is a fun, girly read. It is told from the perspective of a mother, her sister, and her two daughters. All of the girls in the family decide to get away from their hectic lives by living at their family beach house for a month. Over the course of the month the girls come to terms with the trials and tribulations in their life and grow and learn. This was a book that should be read with your toes in the sand, a floppy hat, and sunglasses. Lots of fun but not life changing.

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

I love all of the Chelsea Handler books. Her previous books have all been hilarious collections of short stories dealing mostly with her sexual escapades throughout her life. This book was a bit more mature. A bit of a testament to Chelsea maturing if you will. Don't get me wrong...there were still a few hilarious stories about sexual escapades, but the majority of the short stories in this book were about her crazy family and pranks that she pulls on her co-workers and boyfriend. Just like her others this one had me laughing out loud. Definitely recommend.

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is set in the United States in the future, except the United States has fallen and become the country of Panem which is divided into twelve districts. In the government's attempt to strike fear and submission into the minds of the citizens of Panem, an annual twenty-four hour televised event is held where they force twenty-four teenagers (a male and a female from each district) to participate in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a last-man-standing event where they are forced to do whatever they can to stay alive and kill the other contestants. Our heroin in the story is Katniss Everdeen, a young girl from District 12 who volunteered to participate in the games in order to save her younger sister who was randomly chosen to participate by the government. Throw in a little bit of teen romance, and you've got yourself a surefire young adult winner. There are two more books in this series, and I can't wait to read them. I am hooked!

Summary: 

The Island - Read it when you're bored on vacation.

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang - Read it when you need a good laugh.

Hunger Games - JUST READ IT. You won't regret it!

Las Vegas - Day 3

We woke up Saturday morning craving some normalcy so we walked next door to the Venetian for some McDonald's breakfast. That might have been the best Sausage McMuffin I've ever had. After breakfast we got dressed and ready for a day of football! And how should all football gamedays start? With a shotgun of course!

(Shotgun in our bathtub)

We had planned on watching the Alabama/Penn State and Texas/BYU games at Lagasse's in the Palazzo; however, we got down to Lagasse's, and they informed us that they had a $50 food and drink minimum per person per game. This means that we'd have to spend $25 per person for second half of the game before Alabama, $50 per person for the Alabama game, and $50 per person for the Texas game for a total of $125 per person. Needless to say we decided to skip out on Lagasse's. Who does Emeril think he is?!

Instead we headed over to Caesar's after noting that they had a nice sports betting area while we were there shopping the day before. Some very nice and very cute South Carolina boys taught us how to place our bets on the football games and pointed us in the direction of Shadow Bar next to the sports betting area. We camped out there for the Alabama game.

We made best friends with one of the boys rooting for Penn State in the bar. He and Haley took turns buying each other Alabama Slammers, and we decided they needed to be boyfriend/girlfriend despite the rivalry.

 (Haley and her boyfriend, Jason.)

(Girls watching football.)

During halftime Shannon and I decided to try our luck at gambling again. We sat down at a blackjack table in the Pussycat Dolls section in Caesar's, and each of us walked away up over $100. After an Alabama win we cashed in our winning bets and headed back to the hotel. We decided it would be best to watch Texas in our room while getting ready for dinner. 

Dinner was at Postrio's, Wolfgang Puck's Italian restaurant along the canals in the Venetian. The food was delicious!

 (Mom, Me, Shannon)

(Me, Shannon, E.A., Haley)

After dinner we got our sole group picture of the trip along the canals. I guess we were too busy the rest of the time to worry about group pictures.

(The crew - Mom, Shannon, Me, Haley, Cari, E.A., Lanyce)

Mom, Shannon, Lanyce, E.A., and I then headed over to the Bellagio to watch the fountain show. It was so great! They fountain show was to the song "Proud to be an American"...very appropriate for September 11. 

(At Bellagio)

Shannon and I decided to try our luck one more time at gambling. We immediately lost about $70 per person in 6 hands in blackjack. Then we moved to craps. We were able to hang in there a little longer with craps, but we still walked away down. We'd lost all of the money that we won earlier that afternoon at Caesar's. Overall I ended up down about $40, Shannon ended up down about $60, and Mom ended up down $1 from her bets on the football games. Not too bad...I'd say we definitely got $101 worth of entertainment during our 3 days!

The trip was so much fun. It is something that I will never forget, and I'm so glad I got to spend this time with my Mom and sister.

(Acting goofy at the airport Sunday morning)

Thanks for the amazing trip, Mama Sheila!!!

Las Vegas - Day 2

After a good night's rest we woke up bright and early for Day 2 of Las Vegas.

(Bed buddies)

We were wide awake and ready for lunch at 10:00 Vegas time. We found a panini place in the Venetian that was actually serving lunch that early, and then we set off for some shopping. We started at the Fashion Show Mall (meh...) and worked our way down to Caesar's for the Forum Shops (really cool!). On our way to Caesar's we stopped at BLT in the Mirage for a spiked milkshake. Emily, Abbey, and I had them the last time I was in Vegas, and we really needed to have one this trip also.

(Most amazing milkshakes!)

We finally got to Caesar's and set off in search of the H&M (my new obsession). We found some fun things along the way...for instance I fell in love with a $300 scarf at Pucci, stopped for some pics with fountains, AND we found a Zoltar machine like the one in the movie Big.

(Caesar's fountains)

(Shannon getting her fortune from Zoltar)

We were exhausted from a day full of shopping. Lanyce and E.A. got into Vegas early that morning. They spent the whole day down by the pool with Cari and Haley. We were all ready for a good dinner. We went to Dos Caminos, a Mexican restaurant in the Palazzo. We had some delicious tacos and guac, and serenaded Shannon with a little "Happy Birthday."

 (Shannon, Me, Mom at Dos Caminos)

(Blowing out the candle)

(Get it, Shan!)

(Haley, Shannon, E.A., Me)

After dinner it was time to head off for our most important stop of the evening, The Thunder from Down Under. Lanyce and E.A. opted not to join...their loss...so we said goodbye for the evening and set off for Excalibur. Ladies, I highly recommend going to this show next time you're in Vegas with your girlfiends. It was hillarious. We had a drink at the bar outside of the theater then hit the show.

 (Drinks at Excalibur)

(Thunder from Down Under)

We went back to the Venetian, and Shannon and I went to do some gambling. She and I both lost all of our money and decided to call it a night. We were ready for a good night's sleep to prepare for our final day in Vegas!

Las Vegas - Day 1

A few months ago Mom and Cari's random (alcohol induced) conversation about Haley and Shannon's 21st  birthdays turned into a full blown 21st birthday extravaganza in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. Lanyce and E.A. decided to come as well for E.A.'s 25th birthday, September 11. We got into Vegas on Thursday, September 8. Haley turned 21 earlier in the week on September 4th, and Shannon would be 21 at midnight when it was officially September 9th.

(Sisters in the taxi line at the Vegas airport)

We drove over to the Venetian with the help of our new friend and cab driver Glenn. Glenn told us all about how you can't tell which girls in Vegas are prostitutes and which girls are nice girls because they all dress like whores. He said that he usually tells the guys to go up to a girl and ask her, "How much?" If she slaps you she's a nice girl. Good to know.

We decided to set off exploring the Venetian and the adjoining Palazzo. We found a restaurant to go to for dinner, a bar to go to at midnight for Shannon's first drink, and finally we found the Walgreens at the base of the hotel. We got the cheapest drinks in Vegas at Walgreens and went up to our room to get ready for the evening. About this time Haley and Cari were getting in so we had a few cocktails in our room to prep for the evening.

(Shannon, Me, Haley in the room)

I was first to finish getting ready, and the Vegas fever was making me antsy. I went down to the casino to do some gambling while the other girls finished getting ready. When Mom, Shannon, Cari, and Haley came down to get to me to go to dinner I was up about $75. Still high off my winning streak we walked over to Cut, which is Wolfgang Puck's steakhouse in the Venetian. 

(At Cut)

After dinner Haley and Cari went to gamble, and Mom, Shannon, and I went over to Harrah's for Legends in Concert. We needed something to keep us occupied until Shannon turned 21 at midnight. A show seemed like the best thing. Legends was really great. The show has impersonators for different musical "Legends." We got to see Lady Gaga, Steven Tyler, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Darrin, Michael Jackson, and of course...Elvis.

(Elvis got a little handsy during this picture.)

By the time we got out of the show it was around 11:00...time to walk back to the Venetian and get Shannon's first drink. We went to Laguna which is a champagne bar in the Palazzo. 

(Shannon's first drink!)

We toasted to Shannon's 21st, and decided that we were exhausted since it was 2:00 a.m. Texas time. After the drink we hit the sack so that we would be refreshed and ready for a full day tomorrow.

Unbroken

I just finished reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

Unbroken

My mother was right...this book was VERY intense. It is a true story about Louie Zamperini. Pre-WWII, Louie was an Olympic runner. At the start of WWII he joins the Army. During the war his plane crashes into the ocean between Hawaii and Japan. After struggling to stay alive on a life raft for over a month he is captured by the Japanese. He is then transferred from POW camp to POW camp. It tells of how badly he was tortured and beaten by the Japanese guards. And if that isn't enough it then tells about his post traumatic stress disorder following the war's end. This book was very educational and very inspiring. Louie was faced with every obstacle imaginable, and yet he overcomes them all. Very powerful.

Amy's 25th Birthday

I recently made the trek over to Dallas to celebrate Amy's 25th birthday. We had originally planned on doing dinner at Saint Ann in Dallas; however, since it was restaurant week it was impossible to get a table for our big group. Instead we did dinner at this incredible restaurant called The Dream Cafe.

(Me and Amy at dinner)

After dinner we went to Saint Ann for drinks and partying...and partying we did. The night got a little out of control...as all birthdays should. I especially loved the bartender at Saint Ann for letting me "make it rain" with the cocktail napkins. And of course we couldn't head home until we had a photo shoot on the bull statues outside of Saint Ann.

(Sassy Amy) 

(Scott and Kasey)

To top it all off we had brunch the next morning at Breadwinners before Scott and I headed back to Fort Worth. 

(Scott's facial expression shows his shock of our shenanigans from the night before)

All together it was a fabulous time! What a great start to Amy's 25th year.