Dallas Vacation - June 2015

The first week of Summer vacation usually takes Chad out of town for a full 6 or 7 days, as he chaperones qualifying students to the annual National Forensic League (NFL) tournament.  While the destinations aren't always exotic, this year we got lucky -- "Nationals" was in Dallas!  It was a perfect opportunity to visit our dear friends The Sullivans for an extended vacation (well, for me and the girls, anyway!).  The four of us flew out to DFW together, along with the students Chad had qualified.  While he spent a week up to his neck in the tournament, the girls and I hung out with Randy, Lindsey, Brynlee and Degan at their new home in Prosper.  Chad joined us at the conclusion of the tournament and we spent another week there together, this time with our favorite foursome (US) in tact.  

Highlights of the trip: seeing all of Randy and Lindsey's family, Chad and Randy playing at "Top Golf," the Dallas "indoor" zoo, whiskey tasting, experiencing major Summer storms/flooding, and watching our four kids play together.

We continue to be SO BLESSED by our 11-year friendship with The Sullivans.  There is never a dull moment together, and it always feels like our hearts are home.

Dallas & PAC

Last month I had the opportunity to visit Dallas, Texas for the PrideStaff Annual Conference.  It was also a great opportunity to spend an extra day in "The Big D" and visit our Texas family, the Sullivans.  I feel so fortunate that much of my work travel (as rare as it is) takes me through the American Airlines hub in Dallas -- I've been blessed with lots of extra time with Lindsey as a result!  

We had a great time.  Lindsey picked me up when I arrived in town on Wednesday and we had a few hours to spend lunching and shopping.  We also decided to visit "Reunion Tower" downtown and get a view of Dallas from the air.  On Sunday when my conference was over, we enjoyed a leisurely brunch at one of their favorite places, then they took me to see their brand new house that is almost move-in ready.  We spent the afternoon out at Lindsey's parents' house, hanging out with her whole family.  It was a rainy and lovely day with some of my most favorite people.  I didn't have to fly home until 8:00pm so I really felt like I got the entire day with them -- just wonderful!

Visit From Lindsey

For the second summer in a row, I got so lucky that my best friend Lindsey decided to extend her trip west with a visit to California.  She attended the Origami Owl convention in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, and then hopped on a plane to see me (and meet baby Kate)! 

 

Linds flew into Burbank, and I drove down to pick her up so that we could have a day or two together "just us" in beautiful SoCal.  She arrived around 10am and we spent the entire day in Santa Monica, shopping, lunching on 3rd Street Promenade, watching the ocean, and riding the ferris wheel at Pacific Park.  It was so relaxing to just be together, doing what we do best -- talking/eating/shopping -- with no agenda.  As evening approached we headed down to "The OC" to visit my mom (Meg) at her new place (that's another story for another blog post).  We enjoyed a "girls' night" with her and a leisurely breakfast in the morning, before hitting the road for Fresno.  We took our time and stopped for more shopping (shocker!) at The Citadel in L.A. 

 

Linds was able to spend about a day and a half here in Fresno with me, Chad, and the girls.  We made a visit to the local zoo and had breakfast with my inlaws (Paul and Barbara), who coincidentally adore her. 

 

We are getting really good at goodbyes, after 16 years of long-distance friendship.  But we always know that it's more of a "see you later"... we already have our next visit in the works!  I'm so grateful for Lindsey and the wonderful, special story of us.  I couldn't love that girl any more!

Tahoe Vacation 2013

We spent the first week in August up in Tahoe with friends.  It was a great vacation!  Highlights include:

 

-A FULL WEEK with our dearest friends, the Sullivans, and their adorable kiddos.

-A long weekend with our local close friends, the McDonalds, and their four precious daughters.

-Having 2 of our favorite families together with us!

-7 beautiful kids under one roof.

-Beautiful walks around the Northstar neighborhoods and golf course.

-2 full days of relaxing on the beach.

-Riding a ski lift up to gorgeous views of the Tahoe mountains.

-A fun day trip to Heavenly Village at South Shore.

-A full day of outlet shopping.

-Finishing a couple books.

-Wave runners, paddle boats, and PARASAILING on the gorgeous blue water of Lake Tahoe.

-A much-needed adults night out (triple date FUN!).

-A quick trip to the casino with some unexpected wins at the slot machines.

 

We are so blessed to have the family we do (with a beautiful home to vacation in) and the friends we do.  Grateful for such an easy and relaxing getaway! 

The Bestie Visits

After attending the big Origami Owl convention in Phoenix, Lindsey was able to hop on a plane for a quick trip to Fresno.  We had a glorious 3 days together doing what we do best: eating, shopping, and talking!  While Lindsey was here, we also hosted a housewarming party for our new place -- which meant that local family and friends got to have a quick visit with her, as well.  And on her last day here, we took a day trip to Gilroy Gardens with Tess and our little friends Emma and Sarah.  We are so grateful for ANY time we get to spend together!  We're looking forward to a week-long family vacation with the Sullivans in August!

Walking In Memphis

Right after Tess's birthday, PrideStaff asked me to make a somewhat last-minute trip to visit our Memphis office.  Our office there just landed a huge, new account and the team was in need of some special training.  I got to travel with my dear friend Danielle and we had a great time helping the office and soaking up Southern culture.  Highlights were visiting Beale Street, driving past Graceland, and eating at the world-famous Gus's Fried Chicken.  The song "Walking in Memphis" makes so much more sense now!

As a fantastic added bonus, I got to see my dear friend Lindsey during my Dallas layover on the way there.  Then, on the way home, both Danielle and I got to have an extended layover in Dallas and have brunch with the whole Sullivan family -- Randy, Lindsey, Brynlee, and Degan.  What an unexpected blessing!

Below are some fun pics from the trip.

Visit From "Auntie" Lindsey

August has been such a special month for us, what with Tess turning ONE and all!  Along with all that entailed, we had a wonderful visit from my best friend Lindsey.  She stayed for almost a week, and it's pretty amazing what we accomplished during that time!

First, there was our visit to Gilroy Gardens on Thursday with my mother-in-law, Barbara.  This was Tess's first time to any kind of amusement park, and my first time to Gilroy Gardens.  Our family has a special connection to GG, and one of the park's cafes is named after the famous "Sugar Plum Farm" restaurant that Chad's grandparents owned and operated for many, many years in Hollister.  GG is SUCH a beautiful park, and so much fun for kids!  I was able to get a fantastic deal on season passes for 2012 and 2013, so we look forward to visiting many more times as a family. 

Dani, Tiff, Me, Linds

Then, there was getting ready for the big birthday bash!  We spent Friday afternoon decoating my aunt and uncle's backyard for the party.  We rewarded ourselves with a very fun "Girls' Night" with dear friends Tiffany and Danielle at Danielle's new home in Kingsburg.  The girls helped me make party favors while we enjoyed tacos and margaritas and watched a chick flick.

Saturday was "The Party," and Sunday was spent shopping.....hey, it's how we relax and recover!  On Monday, which was Tess's actual birthday, Chad had his first day of school and so Lindsey and I took Tess for a special treat to Superior Dairy in Hanford.  I had never been there before, and we were shocked at how BIG a scoop of ice cream is!  We got 4 scoops to share so that we could try different flavors: banana, strawberry, cookies & cream, and rocky road.  Tess enjoyed the special sweet treat!

We were sad to see Lindsey leave on Tuesday, but in a special twist of fate, I was able to see her TWICE the following week, thanks to PrideStaff!

Tess's First Trip To The Lonestar State!

Almost a year after our last visit to "The Big D," we returned to Dallas the week before Easter to show off our precious little Tess to our best friends Randy and Lindsey.  We had a wonderful time, as usual, and lots of adventure, too.

We arrived on Palm Sunday and immediately hit up Steak 'N' Shake (this is a must for me -- I absolutely love their banana milkshakes!), and were joined by Lindsey's sister Chrissy, who was excited to meet Tess.  After that, our next priority was a Costco trip to make sure we had plenty of good wine to enjoy during the week.  Our first night in town, we attended a traditional Passover Seder meal at their church (and saw lots of now-familiar faces!).  It was a fun experience and the rabbi who "presided" over the dinner was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining.  I felt a little weird eating the dinner roll that came with my bacon-wrapped filet (the dinner was catered, and not a traditional Jewish meal except for the Passover "elements" at the center of the table) but since I am not Jewish I quickly came to terms with it. 

On Monday we had a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the Dallas Arboretum.  I had been looking forward to doing this for such a long time!  We picnicked, drank wine, walked through beautiful gardens, took pictures, played and napped on the grass, and shopped the gift shop.  It was just wonderful.  On the way home we stopped for dinner at Torchy's Tacos (their only Dallas location) for AMAZING queso, tacos, and their famous dessert called "nookies."

Tuesday was our adventure day.  Lindsey and I made a trip to Addison (a few towns over) to visit the PrideStaff office and suddenly found ourselves in the path of an oncoming tornado.  What was supposed to be a 30-minute visit turned into a couple hours, as we waited for the tornado to move out of the surrounding areas so that it was safe to drive back to their house.  At one point the office's property management called and had all of us "evacuate" into the women's restroom in the building's interior.  Fun times!  Lots of family and friends called and sent text messages to see if we were okay, since the severe weather made national news.  Thankfully, although we got lots of rain and hail, we never saw a tornado or any of the tornado damage that was done in the area. 

On Tuesday night we also had a much-anticipated double-date night (no kids!) to go see The Hunger Games at the local AMC dine-in theater.  What an awesome experience! It's not cheap, but if you love going to the movies, you should try this at least once (assuming you have one in your area).  This particular dine-in theater has leather rockers, a full-service bar, and delicious menu -- and even a 21-and-over theater if you don't want to risk having your movie ruined by snickering teenagers.  It was SO fun to order drinks, appetizers, and dinner and have it all served to us while watching the movie. 

On Wednesday, Lindsey and I were able to have "girls' day out" while the guys watched all three kids (Brynlee, Degan, and Tess). We shopped, ate, talked, shopped, talked, and ate and it was fantastic.  We capped off our afternoon by taking some gorgeous pics of the kiddos in a field of Texas bluebonnets.  

For our "farewell" dinner on Wednesday night, we grilled up some delicious steaks, had truffle-oil potatoes and salad, and two really great bottles of wine.  After dinner we made "wedding cake martinis" (YUM) and Lindsey and I attempted to make a Reese's peanut butter cup pie...it didn't turn out exactly as we'd hope, but it was chocolate and it was dessert, so it was well-received.

Thursday morning we had some "sisterly" time while both of Lindsey's sisters (Missy and Chrissy) came by to visit and play with Tess.  It was a slow and easy, relaxed kind of morning with a yummy breakfast and lots of good coffee and conversation.  By 12:30 it was time to load up for the airport and head home...and make our tentative plans for our next rendezvous with the Sullivans!

By the way, Tess did so great on the plane, both directions.  We flew Virgin America and had a really great travel experience with them -- and got a super deal flying out of LAX.  We will definitely fly with them again if we can!

See below for our pictures from the trip.

PS...It was in Dallas that Tess figured out the "army crawl"!

Visit From The Bestie

Have I mentioned how blessed I am?  In mid-July my best friend Lindsey came from Dallas to visit me, come to my baby shower, help me in the baby's room, and be her wonderful, beautiful self in my everyday life for 4 days.  It was heavenly!  I know I gush about "The Sullivans" a lot, and I was absolutely THRILLED for so many people in my life to finally meet Linds and know why I love her so.  We had such a great time visiting with Chad's parents, my parents, my girlfriends, my extended family, and each other.  We shopped, we ate, we had tea, we watched movies, and we talked talked talked.  And sometimes we didn't talk, we just spent time together.  The best gift Lindsey gave me, in addition to all the beautiful homemade gifts she gave me for the baby, was helping me put the nursery together.  We spent almost 2 full days, it seemed, unpackaging baby stuff and trying to find places for it, sorting thru boxes of baby hand-me-downs, washing and folding/hanging baby clothes, and dreaming about final decor for the nursery.  It's because of her that I did not collapse from the overwhelming task of getting that room ready. 

And I'm sure somewhere in this blog I have mentioned how talented and crafted she is.  She's got one of those really cool sewing machines that will custom embroider stuff, and so she showered me with a boatload of personalized burp cloths, onesies, and a gorgeous blanket for the baby.  As if her visit and help wasn't enough!

It was great to see her so soon after our last visit in April for Easter....and, AND she is planning to visit AGAIN as soon as possible after the baby arrives!

At the Victoria Rose Cottage Restaurant in Old Town Clovis.

Easter In Dallas

This year for Spring Break and Easter we ventured to Dallas, TX -- which really feels like our second home after visiting the Sullivans there for 7 years! We were glad to be back in "The Colony" after their year in Austin, and it meant we got to spend lots of time with the kids and the family. We had a great time visiting the zoo, exploring downtown, coloring Easter eggs, and enjoying the holiday with the family. As usual, it was wonderful to spend time with our dearest friends Randy and Lindsey.

Another Texas Labor Day

Just like last year, we spent Labor Day weekend in Texas, visiting our best friends Randy & Lindsey Sullivan (and kiddos Brynlee [age 5] and Degan [age 3]). You may be thinking, “Didn’t you JUST see them?!” The answer is YES, but with this kind of fun and friendship, we just can’t get enough! (And with my recently acquired travel voucher, another trip may be in our near future…)

This time we kept it local, visiting their new home in Austin, checking out local digs, and being “Uncle Chad” and “Aunt Sarah” to the little ones. We also made some new friends in Austin (Brad & Liz, and Adam & Angela) and enjoyed some FUN triple dates! As usual we had a wonderful time and didn’t want to come home, because being with them FEELS like home. And, true to form, we packed LOTS of activity into 4 days: wine tasting (at 4 places), shopping, sightseeing, and eating (and eating and eating and eating – I came home with extra pounds in my suitcase AND on my hips!). I could go on, gushing about the Sullivans and how wonderful it is to be with them, but you’ve heard it all before – so here are the pics!

San Francisco & Napa With The Sullivans

We've just returned from 5 days in Napa Valley with our dearest friends, Randy & Lindsey Sullivan (they flew in from Austin, Texas). We had a fantastic first day and night in San Francisco, and then spent 4 days visiting no less than 16 wineries along Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail. We ate, we drank, we shopped, we laughed, we cried (well, the girls did), and we loved every moment together!

We took a different approach to wine tasting this time, since tasting is different (aka more expensive) in Napa Valley than in Paso Robles. We focused on wines that are waaaay out of our price range ($80-$200 a bottle), using the tasting as an opportunity to try expensive wines we would never buy. We also visited the wineries that won recognition in the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" that was featured in the movie Bottle Shock -- Stags Leap & Chateau Montelena. We also had an unexpected opportunity to meet Bo Barrett, the winemaker who was portrayed by Chris Pine in the movie.

"Wine to me is passion. It's family and friends. It's warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It's culture. It's the essence of civilization and the art of living." ~ Robert Mondavi

Another Vacation With The Besties!

I'm getting so excited that I couldn't wait until after-the-fact to blog about it. We are anxiously and excitedly looking forward to another fun trip with our best friends, Randy & Lindsey! This time we're hitting up San Francisco and Napa, July 10-14. SF will be special because it's the first place we visited together when we met in 2004. In Napa, we're staying at the beautiful Silverado Resort and can't wait to relax and wine taste! Most of all, we're thrilled at the idea of being together. Time with the Sullivans is so FUN and EASY. Below is an excerpt from a blog I wrote about them in 2008, and some fun pictures of the four of us from over the past 6 years.

For those of you who don't know, theirs is a very special friendship to us. Lindsey and I (Sarah) met on the Internet during the Summer of 1997. (I know, it sounds so seedy!) We were both working jobs at switchboards and were both engaged, looking online for wedding stuff. We happened into the same chat room on Yahoo and started talking wedding plans... Chatting turned into emailing which turned into LOTS of emailing and phone calls over the years. We became very close as pen pals and promised that we would meet each other in person before one of us had kids! So in May of 2004 it finally happened, partly due to a California busines trip for Randy and also partly due to the news that they were expecting Brynlee. It took us all of 5 minutes to be completely comfortable with each other. The best part is that our guys had never met, never talked.... but they hit it off, too! The four of us together almost instantly felt like the most natural thing in the world and we absolutely consider them family. Since 2004 we have spent holidays together and vacationed together, and loved every moment of it. The added twist is that EVERYONE (seriously, everyone) that doesn't know us thinks Lindsey and I are sisters because we really do look a LOT alike! It's uncanny -- even our families can't believe it! I often see pictures of her and get caught off guard thinking they are pictures of me, or see pictures of me and think they look like her. It's like icing on the cake, becuase if I could pick someone for a sister I would definitely pick Lindsey!

Texas Here We Come! Visiting The Sullivans...

For the long Labor Day weekend we headed to Texas, home state of our beautiful and very dear friends Randy & Lindsey Sullivan (and Brynlee & Degan, too!). This time, instead of hanging out in Dallas, we took a road trip to San Antonio. Lindsey booked us a room at the beautiful Hotel Contessa, right on the River Walk. We spent 2 days eating GREAT Mexican food, shopping, drinking margaritas and wine, and catching up. All while trying not to melt from the heat! On Sunday we headed back to Dallas to spend the evening and following day with the kids and also caught up with Lindsey's sisters. Being with the Sullivans truly feels like HOME to us -- we can't imagine the possibilities if we lived in the same state or even the same town! Check out pics from our weekend below. The Sullivans are busy busy right now, prepping their house for sale so they can move to Austin, where Randy landed a new job. On our next trip to TX we will be Austin-bound!

Vacation With The Sullivans!

We took advantage of Chad's Spring Break to host our dearest friends from Dallas, Randy & Lindsey Sullivan, for our very own California adventure! The long weekend started off with wine tasting in Paso Robles -- we visited Tobin James Cellars, Martin Weyrich, and Meridian. Next we ventured to Santa Barbara for shopping on State Street, some beach time, and a night in Montecito. After that, we headed north to L.A. for shopping in the Garment District and hanging out in Hollywood. We hit up all your typical touristy spots, including Rodeo Drive and Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills (they really ARE out-of-this-world delicious!).

We were so grateful that R&L made the trip out to CA. Their first visit to us was in 2004 and since then, they've been busy starting a family! They have 2 beautiful kiddos, Brynlee (age 4) and Degan (age 2). It was good to have them on our turf again!

For those of you who don't know, theirs is a very special friendship to us. Lindsey and I (Sarah) met on the Internet during the Summer of 1997. (I know, it sounds so seedy!) We were both working jobs at switchboards and were both engaged, looking online for wedding stuff. We happened into the same chat room on Yahoo and started talking wedding plans... Chatting turned into emailing which turned into LOTS of emailing and phone calls over the years. We became very close as pen pals and promised that we would meet each other in person before one of us had kids! So in May of 2004 it finally happened, partly due to a California busines trip for Randy and also partly due to the news that they were expecting Brynlee. It took us all of 5 minutes to be completely comfortable with each other. The best part is that our guys had never met, never talked.... but they hit it off, too! The four of us together almost instantly felt like the most natural thing in the world and we absolutely consider them family. Since 2004 we have spent holidays together and vacationed together, and loved every moment of it. The added twist is that EVERYONE (seriously, everyone) that doesn't know us thinks Lindsey and I are sisters because we really do look a LOT alike! It's uncanny -- even our families can't believe it! I often see pictures of her and get caught off guard thinking they are pictures of me, or see pictures of me and think they look like her. It's like icing on the cake, becuase if I could pick someone for a sister I would definitely pick Lindsey!