checked off: #18!

back in july the husband gifted me a ride in a hot air balloon, knowing it was part of my 30before30 list, and i finally got to check off that goal very early on christmas eve.

you know the part in james and the giant peach where they are able to get the peach to fly high up in the air? i think that's where my hot air balloon dream started. i'm aware it's not a hot air balloon in the book/movie by any means, but it's the closest i can get without actually living in a roald dahl book. and just on a side note, if i were to live in a roald dahl book, it would definitely be the bfg, but that's neither here nor there. anyway, i think that's where this whole thing began and i've been saying it's on my to-do list since i was little.

there's your backstory! now:

bright and early (and i mean early early, as it was a sunrise ride), we headed to the meet-up spot for take-off. i was actually pretty nervous on the drive there because, as much as i've wanted to ride in one of these, it's still scary. you're going all the way up in the air in a wicker basket suspended by a balloon...filled with fire. that's lacking some logic, no? but it was absolutely beautiful, perfectly cold, and so so much fun. we spent about 45 minutes total in the air going over the hill country and ended up over a neighborhood waving hi to little kids who came out in their pajamas to see the balloon. and when we landed (in someone's front yard!) we got a brief history of hot air balloons from our hilarious and inappropriate pilot, and a champagne toast.
and for the record, it's not scary at all...and this is coming from someone who is not a fan of flying.

^that's the little tiny moon you can still see up there! ^

here's what my list looks like now:

1. visit santorini, greece - 2. learn to speak portuguese fluently - 3. go on a girl's weekend trip to a vineyard - 4. own an original art piece - 5. learn how to bake my own bread - 6. give birth - 7. start a movie night tradition - 8.participate in some sort of marathon or race - 9. plant a thriving vegetable garden - 10. go on an annual camping trip - 11.read at least a book a month for one year - 12. master taking photos the way i picture them in my brain - 13. decorate our "forever home" to reflect both my husband & i perfectly - 14. start a sunday night supper tradition - 15. visit spain - 16. see radiohead live again - 17. become crafty - 18. ride in a hot air balloon - 19. visit maui for 5 year wedding anniversary - 20. start teaching my children how to speak spanish fluently - 21. start a regular yoga practice - 22. sleep in a tree house -23.  see northern lights - 24. host thanksgiving at my house (insead of a parent's house!) -25. take a weekly photo of my child/children for an entire year - 26. take a road trip (more than like 12 hours of driving!) - 27. learn to tango with my husband - 28. take my own (professional looking) newborn photos of my children - 29. surprise my husband with the best birthday gift ever (still don't know what that is....) - 30. end this whole thing with a 30th birthday bash that's worthy of being blogged about

checked off: #24!

i can finally check off another 30before30 goal!

#24 on my list was to host thanksgiving at my house. this may seem like a pretty small goal compared to some of the others, but believe you me - it was a big deal to me. i've thought of it as a rite of passage almost, and now i'm pretty convinced that i'm a real live adult. we sat in the dining room and used cloth napkins and everything!

my parents came in from dallas, along with my step-sister and her partner, and my furry nephew (their dog, fenway). we had so, so much fun and even though my sister in law did most of the turkey frying (because i was 99% sure i'd blow up my family and house on accident), i still kind of cooked my own thanksgiving turkey. and mostly, the husband did all the marinating and stuff. but, we'll pretend i did it all myself.

the day was full of football, wine, lots of pies, ping pong in the backyard, and sitting by the fire. i didn't take as many pictures as i would've wanted, because i alawys get distracted and forget about that. but here's at least some photographic proof that all of this is true:

 

 

 

and now that thanksgiving is over, i am in full christmas mode. all christmas presents have been purchased, some of them have been wrapped, and the house is decked out in its christmas gear.

i've even started watching all of the horrible christmas chick flicks that started playing on tv as of december 1st, and i'm not ashamed of it at all.

 

here's an update of what my list looks like now (and PS. the hot air balloon ride has been booked, and is in a few short weeks!!)

1. visit santorini, greece - 2. learn to speak portuguese fluently - 3. go on a girl's weekend trip to a vineyard - 4. own an original art piece - 5. learn how to bake my own sourdough bread - 6. give birth - 7. start a movie night tradition - 8. participate in some sort of marathon or race - 9. plant a thriving vegetable garden - 10. go on an annual camping trip - 11. read at least a book a month for one year - 12. master taking photos the way i picture them in my brain - 13. decorate our "forever home" to reflect both my husband & i perfectly - 14. start a sunday night supper tradition - 15. visit spain - 16. see radiohead live again - 17. become crafty - 18. ride in a hot air balloon - 19. visit maui for 5 year wedding anniversary - 20. start teaching my children how to speak spanish fluently - 21. start a regular yoga practice - 22. sleep in a tree house -23. see northern lights - 24. host thanksgiving at my house (insead of a parent's house!) -25. take a weekly photo of my child/children for an entire year - 26. take a road trip (more than like 12 hours of driving!) - 27. learn to tango with my husband - 28. take my own (professional looking) newborn photos of my children - 29. surprise my husband with the best birthday gift ever (still don't know what that is....) - 30. end this whole thing with a 30th birthday bash that's worthy of being blogged about

 

 



weekends were made for...

hosting some of my favorite people at a pre-holidays/fall party.

the weather really cooperated with us and it was perfect outside - it actually felt like fall! remember in this post a few weeks ago, i posted some inspiration for a fall party? i tried to do at least a few of the things from that post, and it turned out really well. at least i had a good time.

(these photos are from a few different cameras, so please excuse the size difference everywhere!)

i know this is a lot more pictures than what i usually post in my "weekends were made for" monday posts, but...i just couldn't pick my favorites!

it's bittersweet knowing that we'll be leaving this house fairly soon, because there's really nothing that compares to hosting some of your favorite people & spending hours in the backyard. especially when you're hearing the guys somehow turn a game of ladder toss in to a gambling fiasco, or when marshmallows end up all over the patio due to failed s'mores experiment. for the record - almond joys + marshmallows + graham crackers = heaven, apparently.

speaking of s'mores, i've been able to check off a few things from my fall to-do list!  so far, i've been able to check off 'have fun with pumpkins' - we have 2 painted pumpkins in the backyard currently...you can see a tiny peek of one in the 3rd picture up there, and the other one here. and thanks to the party this weekend, i can cross off s'mores making. i've been wearing plenty of scarves, too...which means that all i have left to be officially done with the fall to-do list is to bake something pumpkiny (any recipes you want to share??) & make it to the drive-in theater with the husband. i think that's doable.

i hope your weekend was filled with as much goodness as mine was! i'll be back later this week.

weekends were made for...

finally getting some fall-ish weather again,

halloween party shenanigans (we were mary poppins & the chimney sweep. also pictured: the cutest piglet you'll ever see, a taco, a lone star beer bottle, the brawny man, a lichtenstein painting, and friar tuck),

yummy texas drinks,

and spending a bit of time in the backyard after a sunday run.

are you dressing up for halloween?