Family Mooch Week: A Look Back

Brendan and I had a wonderful Spring Break with our families! We left early on Monday morning for Sugar Land and spent the day bumming around town with his parents and doing a little shopping. I had wedding credit left to spend and thoroughly enjoyed bringing home bag-fuls of stuff without spending a penny. We hung out with our good friends Landon and Aja all day on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we took it easy around the house. Just so you know, I have no pictures of our stay in Sugar Land because I just plain forgot to take any. But I do have some of San Antonio. Speaking of...

We arrived in San Antonio around lunchtime on Thursday. I did a little shopping with my mom, and we hung out with my parents that night. On Friday we went to the Witte Museum downtown and saw this really cool -- but very creepy -- exhibit called Our Body: The Universe Within. It's basically a knock-off of Body Worlds (if you've heard of that), and it showed human bodies that have been plastinated and posed to reveal the intricacies of the human body -- muscles, nerves, and all. It was pretty intense, but overall I enjoyed it. Saturday we visited the Zoo, which was wonderful. I hadn't been to the San Antonio Zoo since high school, and it was so much fun going back with Brendan. My grandmother came down for a lovely Easter Sunday, and we headed back that night. Overall, it was a very relaxing and fun trip.

Sprinkles cupcakes! If you've never had a Sprinkles cupcake, you are missing out on one of the joys of life. When visiting my old roommate Stephanie last month we went to the Sprinkles cupcake bakery in Dallas, and that cupcake changed my life. Seriously. They only have a handful of locations in the entire country, but I found their cupcake mix in Williams-Sonoma and made them in San Antonio. Mine were almost as good as the real thing. Let me tell you about the icing, so you can really understand these cupcakes. The recipe calls for two sticks of butter and about four cups of powdered sugar. Wow.

This is my puppy dog, Abby! Brendan and I aren't allowed to have a dog at out current place, so it's always fun and entertaining to have her around when we're home. Playing with her makes me realize how much I miss having a dog.

Doesn't he make a beautiful butterfly? This was taken at the Zoo.

Yes, that is a bird on my head. At the Zoo, we visited an aviary with live birds flitting around, and you can feed them nectar in little Dixie cups. One decided to perch right on my head for about two minutes.



Our friends Brandi and P.A. got married on Friday, so we trekked downtown for their beautiful wedding. This was our first wedding to attend since getting married ourselves, and weddings mean so much more now. As I watched Brandi walk down the aisle, I was reminded of the emotions I felt on my own wedding day, and it brought everything back. I remember how excited I was to walk down the aisle to Brendan; he was all I could see. Weddings are more special now because I remember how much I loved Brendan on that day, and how I love him even more now.

An Open Letter to Chocolate upon the Conclusion of Lent

Dearest Chocolate,

It's been so very long. I must admit, there were times during your absence that I wondered if we could ever rekindle our relationship. But the wait is over, and I have you back in my hands once again. You must have questioned my affection for you when I declared that I couldn't see you for forty long days, but it was because of my deep love for you that I had to let you go. But I promise from this day forward to make you daily a part of my life.

Sincerely,
Erin

Happy Days Are Here Again

Good news! Brendan's recovery has gone very smoothly. He felt well enough to go back to work yesterday, so Family Mooch Week is back on track! We're leaving tomorrow morning for Sugar Land, and I'm really looking forward to getting out of Abilene and visiting our families.

I've already confessed my penchant for estate/garage sale shopping, and I just have to brag about my latest finds. Brendan and I have needed new lamps since we moved in, but retail-priced ones are ridiculously expensive, even at discount stores. I've been making do with an old one from my dorm days, but poor Brendan didn't have one and has been mooching off the light from my lamp during bedtime reading. Our church put on a giant garage sale this weekend, so I woke up very early on Friday to get my hands on some discount lamps, and found these beauties for a total of $7. The lampshades that came with them were heinous, so Brendan and I made a trip to Target to replace them. Here are the results!

My lamp! Brendan picked out the lamp shade; he's so stylish.

And here we have Brendan's lamp. I think it looks very Parisian.

So, funny story about the lamps... we took the lamp bases to Target so we could pick out just the right shades. The two bases were in my cart, which I was wielding down the shampoo aisle, when a woman stopped me and asked, "Where did you get those lamps!" I feebly replied, "Umm, at a garage sale..." She looked mildly amused and walked away. I must admit, I felt like a loser at that moment, but in hindsight I should have triumphantly bragged about my finds and responded, "But I got them for $7!"

There's Nothing Like a Drugged-Up Husband

Brendan's getting his wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow morning at 10:30, so if you feel like it please send happy thoughts and prayers our way. He's pretty nervous about it, and although I love my husband like crazy, I can't say I'm excited about playing nurse for a moaning grown man for the next few days. Oh, and just for your amusement, I'll post some chipmunky pictures of Brendan soon! Aren't I a good little wife? :)

One last thing... I'm an unashamed American Idol watcher, and I am not happy about tonight's elimination. Kristy Lee Cook must go home now!

Our two month-iversary dinner at Olive Garden

Family Mooch Week

My Spring Break begins next week, and I really need it; I'm very ready for some time off from all the monotony of weekly readings and papers. We originally planned on Brendan taking the entire week off for Family Mooch Week (as I've dubbed it) and spending several days with each set of parents. But unfortunately (for Brendan), he's having his wisdom teeth out on Thursday, so an abbreviated Family Mooch Week starts on Wednesday! We're leaving that morning for Sugar Land and heading to San Antonio on Friday. I'm excited about our little adventure!

Also, I'm really looking forward to spending Easter with my parents. I've made pilgrimages to San Antonio for Easter every spring since my first year of college, and my visit has sort of become a tradition. Every year, my mom and I shop ourselves to exhaustion for new spring clothes at La Cantera and North Star Mall. Easter Baskets, courtesy of the Easter Bunny (a.k.a. my mom), "magically" appear by the fireplace when I awaken on Sunday morning, with Mom chirping, "Erin, the Easter Bunny came!" And I gorge at Sunday lunch on whatever vice I happened to give up for Lent (This year it's chocolate. Pray for my waste-line once Lent is over). I'm glad Brendan can share in these family traditions.
And I've already warned him about the Easter Baskets.