Friday Favorite-Vacation Decor

My husband and I took this amazing vacation earlier this year. the resort was spectacular for a number of reasons, one was the decor. Everything they did, I loved. In fact, we came home and copied some of the hotel's decor both inside and outside! One thing we both really liked were the outdoor decorations-locally made hand blown glass ornaments hanging on the trees. It was such a cool effect, especially at night with twinkling lights all around.

We bought a few glass pieces in Cabo, but as soon as we came home, we realized we should have bought more. I figured it would be easy to find in Texas. We have TONS of Mexican import places. Turns out, it wasn't so easy. In fact, I didn't find any glass ornaments/balls until I went on a business trip to Baltimore(!) months later and discovered Arhaus. I was afraid the store was going to be very frou-frou and expensive; it really wasn't. The staff was super helpful and they had reasonable prices-at least on glass balls and hearts! I found a few in Baltimore, and bought a few more when I came back to Houston.

My husband hung them on our pergola. I was afraid the glass might break during a storm, or crash into our metal Dorado/Mahi Mahi (also picked up in Cabo to remind us of our deep sea fishing experience). So far, so good. He hung all the pieces using mega strength fishing line. Hopefully they will stay. I love the finished look. It remind us of an awesome vacation. Our own little bit of paradise in the backyard.

Friday Favorite- a Favorite vacation right at home!

Friday Favorite- Cabo part 1

Our hotel room was INSANE. From the view to the private plunge pool (oh yeah) to beer and guac delivered every evening. Perfect. I really loved the decor of the hotel. I basically want to redo our entire house to look like the hotel. The bathroom was no exception. Here's part of it. INSANE.

The thing I really loved about the bathroom was the line of toiletries the hotel used, Neil George. Oh my goodness, the smell is divine. You have no idea how amazing. I thought about stuffing everything in my suitcase, but it was already too full. Anyhow, the lotion. I adore it. It smells like unicorns and rainbows...and beer and guac.

Friday Favorite- Neil George lotion

Mid-week Mexico

Today was gloomy and overcast with partial crappiness. I kept staring at this picture to motivate me to keep going. A little mid-week Mexico pick-me-up!

View from Cabo San Lucas-a couple weeks ago

The Beach!

School starts next Monday. Next week at the office will bring me more work than ever-really dreading that. I'm a beach girl at heart and needed to feel the sand between my toes. We escaped for one last hurrah. Even though it didn't start off as planned- courtesy of flash flooding and fleas, it's been pretty great so far. Lots of beach time, playing in the waves, and just sitting down and playing games. A week of slowing down and enjoying; ice cream before dinner; staying up late; and even petting a (baby) shark.

 My views today-I took my iphone to the beach and didn't even check email.

The only work I want to do-helping the kids (mine and our friends' little boy) build a ditch from the water to the blanket! A lot of sand in between the toes- just what we all needed...I'm so relaxed that I don't even mind too much when my husband wants to watch hunting on tv!-I lied. I still mind because those shows are B-O-R-I-N-G no matter where you are!

A Magical Time

This was my view for the last few days. Disney World! Lots of magic, lots of fun, a little whining (thankfully, not mine), miles of walking, and two very excited little girls.

You know those vacations when you need a vacation from the vacation? Yeah, that. Whoa.

Monday Diversion

I know Halloween is everywhere today. But, I just couldn't go with something spooky. I needed pretty and relaxing and the antithesis of...well, life lately. I remarked to a friend yesterday that I think Fall may be the busiest time of year for families. It seems like there is a festival every day. Instead of posting something spooky, I'm posting something serene. A relaxing snapshot from our trip to the Cayman Islands.
Ok, now to get spookified! Happy Halloween.

Wednesday -Augh

All day today I kept thinking it was Thursday. Augh. That's happened to me way too often lately. I even bought an extra calendar to keep me up to date! I can think of no better cure for a wonky week than a pretty picture. Here's one from our recent trip to the Cayman Islands. Ahhhh, much better.

On Holiday-Cayman Style

Whoops, sort of left you hanging on the party details. Well, those will have to wait a few more days. My husband and I are enjoying sunsets like this one in the Cayman Islands! It's been wonderful and relaxing and tropical and delicious and great. I'm off to enjoy some more sun, sand, and maybe a few rum drinks. Hope your weekend is equally relaxing.

Texas Sized News

Remember how I had a big project, perhaps the biggest yet? Well...

I welcome you to our little piece of Texas. My husband and I have dreamed about owning our own piece of ranch property for years and we finally found one that fit what we wanted and, better yet, our close friends bought right next to us.

Here she is...Casa de la Cougar (an inside joke not the real name).

I wanted something a bit more quaint, but we got rustic. That's OK, rustic has a claw foot tub, so we can work with it.

The obligatory Wide Open Spaces.

Believe it or not, that brown thing in the middle of the next photo is a pond. Once we get some (much needed) rain, we plan on stocking it with fish. Until then, our lovely neighbor to the North offered to let our family come fish in his pond, which thankfully has both fish and water right now!

Loved this metal and wood table, the axe laying around? Notsomuch...

There you have it, our little piece of Texas. Plenty of things to do inside and out. Y'all come back anytime.

Ch-Ch-Changes and Pretty Pictures

We're in the midst of some exciting changes here at casa Elzabelz. The changes have kept me and my family moving for the past few weeks. I've been working on a huge project, bigger than any party I've planned or any room I've tried to decorate...it's exciting and a bit scary. Until I have something to show you, how about a few photos from my trip to New Orleans?

Just in case you missed it, make sure to check out my snazzy new banner, courtesy of Brenda. She was a dream to work with, I highly recommend hiring her.

Hump Day -Om Day

I'm packing, prepping, and generally getting ready for Mom 2.0 in New Orleans tomorrow. I'm also trying to get caught up on work, household stuff before I leave. Which is all leaving me feeling quite anxious (but ready to go to New Orleans!)...so, I'm leaving you with a nice, peaceful, tropical landscape from our trip to Puerto Rico. Deep breaths, and ommm.....

Vacation View

Less than forty-eight hours ago this was my view...not too shabby. We returned home from vacation with lots of great stories, pictures, and a few sunburns (Oops. Next time pack rash guards, hats, and apply MORE sunscreen!). We also brought back a desire to eat Puerto Rican food and drink pitchers of Sangria. Mmm, some of the best food and drinks we've had in a long time. Needless to say, I'm catching up on work, laundry, and editing hundreds of pictures. I hope your Spring Break was full of sand/snow/relaxing fun. Any fun Spring Break stories to share?

Where We Were-Our Mini Tour of Texas

Wow. It feels like I've been gone from the Internet for weeks. I've been gone from "regular life" for some time too. It was a nice and needed break. We squeezed a lot out of the last week. After Christmas we embarked on a 900 mile tour of Texas including Great Wolf Lodge, the American Girl Store & Cafe, friends and family, and ending up in the Hill Country. Actually, ending up with two stomach viruses...but, who is counting?? I'll eventually update everything, but here are snippets of our Hill Country time.

We fed the sheep.

The girls loved all the baby sheep.

We toured the countryside. We looked for deer and found this baby on the property. Those deer move fast once they see you!
Of course, the girls did a craft or two.

Another given, s'more time with good friends.

Now, it's back to regular life and back to reality (name that song!). Hope your holiday time off was just as wonderful, but without any stomach illnesses.

The Polar Express-Texas

This weekend we got together with my family for my nephew's birthday.

My nephew turns 3 today (Happy Birthday, sweet A) and is OBSESSED with trains. His parents thought that going to ride the Polar Express would be a perfect birthday gift. They were right.

We were all able to join them in Palestine, Texas and ride the train.

There was hot chocolate.

Book reading

Time with cousins (and papa) -M, Em are the two with braids.

And, of course Santa Claus.

A great weekend and a fun family outing. If you live anywhere near palestine and have a little one, I highly recommend the Texas State Railroad and the Polar Express ride. (I have not been compensated or sponsored in any way by the Texas State Railroad. I just thought it was a really neat experience.) Do you have any special family trips you make around Christmas? Any Polar Express fans?

Hill Country Getaway - Part 2

We had a wonderful extended weekend in the Texas Hill Country. We all got to enjoy nature and relaxing with good friends, "camping" and "hunting" (my husband took my oldest daughter out one morning but they didn't see any deer at that time), we fed the deer, and I ran into a Texas animal trifecta- a deer, armadillo, and Longhorn-just roaming free! We enjoyed beautiful sunsets, and capped off our getaway with margaritas and s'mores last night. Some may wonder why we love going to the Texas Hill Country so much. These shots should give you an idea of the slower pace, the natural beauty and easy life out there. Plus, it's just one big photo op... my camera is still in the shop, these are point and shoot-pretty fantastic subjects!

I'd love to know what your favorite getaway is- is it urban so you can see shows and have fabulous meals & shopping, or more rural, or the beach?

Hill Country Getaway

Who knew what you all wanted was a Target giveaway?! Thanks so much for your response and remember, you have until Thursday to enter. I also have two more giveaways this month, so stay tuned. Since the holiday rush is about to start, we took this weekend to escape to the Texas Hill Country. We're staying at our friend's ranch property and enjoying sunsets like this; proof God Blessed Texas!

The University of Texas in Pictures

Cloudy with a Chance of Bitterness

I was in Austin this weekend with some good friends. Thankfully I did not attend the "game" (I use that term very loosely-Gah ARGH). After the "game," I desperately needed to run and headed for campus. I was not disappointed. I managed to run off most of my frustration with the Texas coaching staff and saw some favorite spots as I ran. I took these shots from various points using my phone-gotta love lightweight technology. (By the way, anyone have ideas for super small, lighweight cameras I could take with me on runs?)


The Tower (and "six pack") with gloomy skies. It's like God was upset with the Longhorns too!

The Stadium. Usually a place for much celebration. Notsomuch lately.The fountain outside the LBJ Library. I used to study on the right side of that hill in the Spring.

It was really fun to run through campus and not have to worry about an exam or paper. But, it would have been MUCH better if we'd won the game! Remember to stop by Draft Day later for my Big 12 recap.

Favorite Photo-Travel Edition

About a month ago, I attended the wedding of my dear friend, Brooke. Brooke was married in her hometown of Asheboro, North Carolina. It is such a sweet small town, I had to capture some images. Here are my favorites.

I can't resist a red door. This one belongs to the wedding chapel. Unfortunately, photos weren't permitted inside. Too bad, it was a beautifully restored old chapel.

*I thought you'd appreciate not being able to see the hand injury on the front page!

Friday Favorite- Shark Christmas Ornament

I am fascinated by sharks. I love learning about them, love Shark Week, love swimming with sharks. My parents know my obsessions with sharks and brought back the best souvenir ever, a shark ornament. Oh my Lord, I love it! The best ornament ever. Even better that they gave it to me on the first day of Shark Week. I believe they found it on Mauai. I can't wait to hang it on my tree. I love it so much that I've displayed it on my mantel from the minute I received it and I haven't taken it down yet. No, I don't collect sharks, but this HAD to be displayed.

Friday Favorite- Shark Christmas ornament.

Texas Summer-The Heat is On

The summer is in full force. We are used to unbearably, oppressively hot summers in Houston. Fortunately earlier this summer was pretty rainy, so the heat wasn't too bad. Now? Now it is as hot as Hell. No hotter, like Hell times a grillion.* I've been thinking about one of our favorite spots to go in the Summer-a little piece of the Guadalupe River by our friends' ranch property. We 've spent time at this river spot wasting away many summer days before our girls were born. Now we take them to this spot to learn how to skip rocks and fish. Just looking at the shady trees and water make me feel a little cooler. Also, now I kind of want some BBQ. The heat is really messing with my mind!

*It's so hot that I am seriously considering cutting several inches of my hair just to get an extra degree or two cooler-and I look terrible with short hair.