travel diaries : girls resort and spa trip - part one

It's over, it's all over.

just wait, this is coming!

This weekend started out LESS than alright, as a 4 hour drive to San Antonio quickly (or not so quickly) turned into a 6 hour drive. 

Despite the traffic and the horror that is I-35, I made it to the BEAUTIFUL hill country around 5:45 on Friday. 

I made it! VIP shuttle ride, too!

My girlfriends and I planned a girls trip back in March to the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa and have been looking forward to it ever since. The location (just north of San Antonio) and the amenities (including the various pool options) were enough to seal the deal and we were so ready for this relaxing weekend!

Spoiled for sure, we arrived to this amazing view off the double balcony of our suite. We loved that our view consisted of the pool as well as the hill country to the east and we spent quite a bit of time out on the balcony!

the beds at Marriott hotels are HEAVEN.

Just after our arrival, this collection of Texas treats arrived at our door. Homemade potato chips, dips, and Texas tea were all we needed to get the weekend started right! It was all delicious and made for the perfect appetizer before our dinner on the resort.

As I was doing research, I was looking into the amenities at the J.W. Marriott and came across Cibolo Moon, the southwest-inspired restaurant on the resort property. I found myself drooling over the menu with things like the brisket burger, iceberg wedge, and bbq trio (with a side of mac and cheese, obviously). I'd be lying if I said that the menu isn't what made me book the hotel...

We made reservations for 7pm and were promptly seated when we arrived. The restaurant was busy (good sign!) but we had great service and loved checking out all the food as it made its way to other tables. 

Heather and I both settled on the same thing: the filet mignon that dreams are made of. It was SO GOOD. After every bite we would look each other and just nod our heads. SO. GOOD.

Brittany and Emily went with the brisket and a side of mac and cheese. Easily a runner up in my choices (but there's no way it was better than the filet mignon!!!)

We all LOVED our food and called Cibolo Moon a definite win. 

After dinner, we decided to attempt to work off some of our dinner and check out the rest of the resort. 

The resort was bustling with activity. People were finishing dinner, strolling around, playing ping pong and cornhole, and there was a showing of Finding Nemo at the pool!

We walked outside of the pool area into this clearing where we took advantage of a photo op. (of course)

from left to right: me, Brittany, Heather, and Emily.

Shortly after our photo op, we noticed a sign that said 'telescopes tonight'. To be honest, it seemed a little cheesy to me but we said "why not?" and decided to take a look. 

It. was. awesome.

First, we saw Venus. It pretty much looked like a small version of the moon but it was pretty cool to see up close. Next, he turned the scope to find Jupiter, which (in the sky) was right next to Venus and it was THE COOLEST thing ever. Seriously. I had no idea you could see the planets like this! You could see some red stripes on Jupiter as well as 4 of its moons. It was also moving and he would have to move the telescope after each of us looked to follow the planet. It was SO cool.

We also got to see Saturn and its rings, which was also super cool but I thought it looked kind of fake. We spent about 20 minutes looking at the planets and we all concluded that it was such a fun activity!

We walked around more of the resort before we came back up to the room, sat on the balcony, and had some good old fashioned girl talk. 

And then this happened:

I'm a bath girl. This baby is probably going to be a bath baby. We LOVE our baths and this super deep tub made all of our dreams come true. Twice.

Night one at the Marriott was complete and we were cozy and happy!

Check back on Thursday for the rest of the trip!

*special thanks to the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa for all of their hospitality!

Entertaining

We had yet another epic girls weekend here in Dallas last weekend. As usual, Heather, Brittany, and Emily came up on Friday night and stayed with me until Sunday. It was Emily's first trip back to D-town since she got back from England and a lot had changed! For example, she got a real, live guest room!

I was a bad blogger and took pretty much zero pictures of our time here, but here are a few shots from Instagram that involved our weekend:

I updated the chalkboard wall in the kitchen and so far I'm LOVING the change. I can see this adjusting to the seasons, too! 

I love fresh flowers and was planning on getting some for the house before Emily ever said anything about it...so I ran to Central market and picked up the prettiest ones I could find. 

Per tradition, we closed out the weekend with brunch on Sunday. We tried out Coffee House Cafe in Dallas and it did not disappoint. It was delish and such a cool place, especially for my coffee loving friends! I got the grilled ham and cheese sandwich with tomato basil soup. SOOOO good!

Emily did remember to bring her camera to the scarf exchange on Saturday night, so I'm waiting for her to send me pictures so I can share it with you guys. Because c'mon, we all know she isn't going to blog about it. ;)

One thing I love doing before I have company over is prepare. I went into full on crazy mode cleaning and updating the house so my guests could come into a cozy place. I had a few spare minutes so I took some pictures to share with you how I try to make guests feel welcome:

I love lamp. I mean, I love lamps over overhead lighting. It's so much cozier so I always have the same lamps on every night. As the girls walked into their room, I wanted them to feel at home!

I try to provide some extras for my guests in case they forget something. I included hand towels, washcloths, soap, shampoo, a razor, hairspray, and nail tools plus some towels for the shower. It's helpful to have all of this at hand before 4 girls start fighting over shower time!

Per Emily's request, I had fresh flowers and a burning candle on the nightstand so they could walk into a fresh smelling room.

I'm obsessed with these giant hydrangea I found at Central Market. I borrowed a vase from work and they are on my kitchen table until it's time to dry them out, because I'm pretty sure I want them on my bookshelves year round!

Here's another view (or two, see below) of the welcome sign on my chalkboard wall. Don't you love it??

I also baked some fresh cookies for the girls to snack on. Gotta have some sweets!

More flowers spread out around the living room made it feel even more homey!

Even if my guests didn't notice, I loved the extra touches around my house. As I hashtagged on instagram, "fresh flowers are my love language". It's true. ;)

Come back later for pics from our second annual scarf exchange!!!

travel diaries : Palestine, Texas part 2

Kelly and Kyle provided a nice list of things to do while in Palestine, but since we didn't have much time before I was supposed to report for duty, we decided to just do a little 'organic exploring' on our own. In other words, we wandered. 

We didn't sleep in much on Saturday and woke up around 8am. We had some time to relax and then went downstairs for a delicious breakfast at 9am. From there, we grabbed my camera and started the short walk into downtown Palestine. 

As mentioned, this old Methodist church was across the street from the B&B. It was a beautiful, albeit humid day. 

Palestine is packed with historic markers and old houses. It's one of the oldest towns in Texas. I loved seeing the history, but it was surprising the small amount of homes that had been remodeled and restored compared to the huge restoration that has happened in Dallas. My guess is population drives growth. Genius, right?

We happened upon a train just starting out so we got to hear and see the steady departure. It was LOUD! So cool to see against the old town backdrop, though.

Many of the store fronts were empty, which made Mark and I start the discussion on how that happens, and what it would have been like in the 1950's or even earlier. Our major thought when walking around was how this was just the epitome of 'small town America'. It was refreshing! 

We stopped at this antique shop/sandwich shop/coffee shop that seemed to be the main hangout in downtown. The lady behind the counter was the nicest person EVER.  She had the slightest East Texas accent that lured you in, it was bizarre! She told us how she worked as a teacher for 19 years but now she was "retired" even though her son made her work in the shop. Mark told her that he had 6 hours to spare without me before the wedding and she invited him back for lunch and free wifi. She was so nice!

The town was eerily quiet for a Saturday morning.

We enjoyed walking around and popping into the few antique and specialty shops. It's amazing that they stay in business in such a sleepy town, but they seemed to have a steady stream of customers whom the shop owners recognized and called by name.

We came across another train on the way back to the B&B, this time loaded down with cars. Our walk downtown was so pleasant and helped us appreciate small town Palestine even more than before. 

One more post coming on Kelly and Kyle's wedding!