Roomie Visit!

So my college roommates, Kate and Carmen, came to visit me this weekend! We had big plans to make no plans. We all wanted to decompress and just relax...so we headed out to Fredericksburg. Even though it's a little bit of a drive, it is super relaxing once you get out there.
Well, and after you finally score a parking spot. We actually got a really good one.

So we headed out around lunchtime on Saturday (after sleeping in as long as we could stand it.) Carmen was a little selfish and called shotgun, so Kate was stuck in the backseat:

As you can see, she was a little sad, but she perked right up once we made it to our lunch spot, Rather Sweet Bakery. She found the menu quite exciting!

Carmen was there, too. It looks like they're in the same seat, but they're totally not.

We fueled up (on BLTs!) and then headed out to do a little shopping. We saw tons of stuff we liked, but only bought a couple of things. I include this picture, mainly as an example of that:

 See the purse that Kate is kind of sitting in? That's what I bought and I love it! At first I thought that maybe I would try to find someone who might actually need another bag and have a birthday coming up. But not now. I'm keepin' it. You can't have it!

While we were shopping, Kate found several hats that she was interested in:

Personally I like the one with the feathers the best.

Carmen found something to wear on her next date with Matt:

The picture is a little blurry because who can help dancing in a tutu?

I'm a redhead:

So I took a picture in front of red's sign.

Inside Carmen found a sofa that she really got excited about!

To be fair, it was really pretty and really comfy all the same time. (That, by the way, is not a fake face that she's making. It's genuine delight.)

Our last stop was a winery just outside town that Kate had been to before. She was really glad to get to go back, I think.

She looks excited, huh? I think she really liked that wine.





It was really pretty and the grass was nice and thick and the view was really pretty. And it was a balmy 98 degrees that day, so...nice & cool.

Okay - so, surprise! Kate, wasn't really there. I know - shocking! It was supposed to be all three of us this weekend, but she totally stood us up. And this is what happens when you stand us up! We try ridiculous hats on a picture of you and you aren't there to do anything about it!

All that to stay, we missed you, Kate!

Thirty, Flirty and Fun!

Not me - I'm not 30 yet. But my sister is now! And last weekend, she threw a party to celebrate that fact. And since everyone in their thirties is sophisticated and very grown up, she threw a very sophisticated and grown up party, henceforth referred to as The Fancy Party.

There are a few things you need for a fancy party. These include bling - from head to toe:

(Tiara provided by Josh)

You will also need a Fancy House:

These can be found available for rent on Galveston Island.

And apparently you need LOTS of cheese!

Now tell me what party that starts out like that could possibly fail?

But a fancy party is more than just looking good and serving cheese. A LOT of work went into throwing this party. Brandi has been planning and shopping and getting ready for what seems like months. And when we arrived on Friday evening, Momma and Brandi were arleady at work. Pretty much what I did on Friday was bake the cake.

Since the cake was going to be extra tall, I had to mix it up in an extra large bucket:

Bucket-o-cake. More on the cake later!

We worked late into the night getting ready. Can you see what time it is on this clock?

That is one o'clock AM! And I'm pretty sure she stayed up for a while after that. I snapped this picture over my shoulder on the way up the stairs to bed!

 The boys were totally into throwing a Fancy Party.

(They actually helped a lot. Just not in this picture.)

Saturday was filled with setting up tables, arranging flowers and baking bread. (Isn't the table gorgeous?! I love how it turned out.)

 Brandi picked out pink peonies and made the placecards herself! The placemats she ordered online after seeing them at Spice in Waco.

Here's a good look at the whole place setting. (That's my seat!)

Okay - so the reason for all the cheese was pizza! Brandi wanted to make Fancy Pizza for her Fancy Party, and for that you need lots of cheese.

The pizzas were a bit of a team effort (we even enlisted the help of one of the guests! Thanks Jen!), but they turned out really yummy.

I think it was Lynette that gave Brandi the apron that just happened to match her dress perfectly! And that's me behind the wall of hair there in the bottom corner. Ha - I would've been irritated with me if I was the photographer! Show your face, lady!

The Fancy Menu included Chicken Alfredo, Marguerita, Hawaiian and Pepperoni & Sausage pizza, Lasagna by Nicole, Tortellini Soup by Momma and lots of appetizers. (PW's stuffed mushrooms were one of them and they were delicious!)

And then the guests arrived! They totally got into the Fancy part of the party and got all dolled up. The girls looked great, but I think Josh won Fanciest Outfit with his tuxedo. (Cumberbun and all! No idea how to spell that. He's on the bottom in the middle.)

I had not met most of these people before, but I felt like I already knew them because Brandi talks about them constantly. I think that fact made me forget the importance of introducing myself. Sorry if I skipped you!

Josh (the other Josh - top, right corner above) brought Brandi a tiara, and it suited her surprisingly well.

I love that she wore a tiara all night for her thirtieth birthday party!

These are just a couple of pictures I like. I obviously didn't take the first one, but I'm looking at Daddy like, "Oh, Silly Daddy!" and he's got, a "You shouldn't believe anything I'm saying right now," face. It characterizes our relationship quite well.



And, of course, the event that all the work had been..uhh...working up to:

Dinner! We all filled our plates with more food than we could possibly eat and chowed down. Or - you probably don't chow down at a Fancy Party...we...noshed! That's British and anything British is fancy, right? So that's what we did.

And even though it started as tub-o-cake, the birthday cake turned out looking quite fancy itself!

To top it off, I bought sparklers to use as the candles! They were supposed to read "30" but the zero wouldn't light. So it just said "3." I think I pretty much still got the effect I was going for!

(Cake photos by Michael!)

Everyone stopped for a few prom-style pics in front of my custom-made backdrop...

...and then we headed out to the patio to hang out a little more before everyone headed home.

And then the dishwashing began...

Happy Thirtieth Birthday, Brandi!

Do You Like It?

So what do you think of Jifferdoodle's new look? I was tired of the old one and wanted something a little spiffier so I enlisted my web-designer friend, Breanna, to help me out. I think she did an awesome job! Thanks, Breanna!

Forgive Me?

So I kind-of implied that you'd get to see the fancy party pictures this week. Well - it ain't gonna happen. So by way of apology I offer you:

BLUE STEEL.

There. Laughing at us should keep you busy until at least Monday, which is when I anticipate actually getting the party pictures up!

Fondue for You!

Ya know what's hard? Getting flattering pictures of people at a party where all you do is eat. Normally, you kind of wait for the eating to be over, and then you take the pretty pictures. But at a fondue party, all there is is eating! So we do what we can. (I think the ones I picked look pretty good!)
We all brought stuff to dip in cheese, broth and chocolate (not all at the same time) and fondued all night! Seriously, it took us maybe 3 hours to finish eating. First we melted some cheese and dipped bread and apples in it. YUM!

The bread was all stuff from the HEB bakery and it was delicious! Thanks Dani!

Now, getting a flattering picture of Joel is a whole different story, because he just won't allow it. I think most of the pictures I have of him look something like this:

But look!

Got a good one! I'm a professional. Don't try this at home.

We also copied the Melting Pot and boiled beef, chicken and some vegetables in seasoned broth. We had to do this one on the stove. The pot didn't get the broth hot enough.

This was Michael's favorite part.

My favorite part was the chocolate! We dipped strawberries, marshmallows, pretzels and something else that I don't remember...

Joel looks pretty excited about that marshmallow.

And there is no telling what Meagan had just said here:


 She was so silly that night! Hudson was hanging with the grands and she was able to just sit and hang out for what must have been the first time in a while! I think she needed to do a little decompressing and there was much laughter! (But we did miss Hudson, though!)

And then the boys fell into a fondue induced coma.

Fondue is fun! You should do it! (But invite me when you do! We'll hang!)