First Corporate Purchase

So, everyone else is documenting kid stuff, and since we don't have those yet, I still have to document monumental events in our lives... like this...


Yep, this was my ride on Thursday! What can I say? We bring Jeremy on-board, we make some exciting corporate purchases! Okay, not really a corporate purchase, but this was my ride on Thursday back to Dallas. I'm working on an AMAZING project for one of my clients and they let me hitch a ride back to the big D with them on their plane!

I just had to keep telling myself, "Don't get sick, that would be sooooo uncool! Plus I don't think they have sick-bags on these kinds of planes!"

Luckily, my stomach withstood the 40mph winds we landed in, and I called Jeremy immediately afterwards and told him I knew what our next big purchase would be! I'm telling you - just to avoid the security lines --- so fun!

Hole in the Wall

So I've been on a work odyssey of sorts these past few weeks. One of my first biography clients lived in the small town of Stephenville, Texas.
It was about 4 hours from SA and 2 hours from Dallas. As with all my biography projects I like to get to know a little bit about the area too. So I really looked long and hard for a place to get an "authentic Stephenville dining experience!" It didn't take long to find, "Jack and Dorothy's Cafe."

All I have to say is that I should have known it was authentic just by checking out some of the cars in the parking lot! Just take a second to imagine who might be behind the wheel of this little truck here - and then imagine 40 of his friends! Yep! Then just imagine me walking slowly into the smoke filled room as all 40 pairs of eyes give this city girl a once over!

Here's the menu, which states clearly "We specialize in Chicken Fried Steak and Waffle Fried Potatoes!" So I didn't have to peruse too long to decide what to order. Plus, Texas Monthly had rated this little hole in the wall as, one of the "Best Small-Town Cafes in the state."

I wussed out and ordered a 1/2 order of their specialty... and then sat to ponder... What will really good chicken fried steak taste like? I mean, if they are bragging about the stuff, this is going to be an assault of the taste buds... right!?? So my order arrived.... 1/2 order mind you!


.... so I dug in, cut my first bite, and... yep, you guessed it... flashback of chicken fried steak Thursday's at my school lunch line. Actually, I take it back, Brentfield Elementary's chicken friend steak might have even been a little less chewy! =)

Oh, well. Guess it was worth the effort to just get a little local feeling for the scene. Plus I think they almost comped my meal for me because they thought I was working for the newspaper.... what, not all of the diners come in and take photos of their dinners?! =)

So this might be one hole in the wall to drive right past. But in all fairness, I did have some AMAZING bar-b-que later that week at Hard Eight's!

My Second Love

Ahh yes, I am just finishing up my 13th day on the road and heading back to SA tomorrow. But I must confess that during my time away I have developed a second love! No worries Jer, I don't think you will feel threatened... but I am slightly obsessed with.....

Yes, my red velvet cupcake from SPRINKLES! I never thought I could ever day dream about a cupcake of all things, but this little thing stole my heart. So sad that they only have a Sprinkles store here in Dallas.

The great thing is that I have my mom now addicted to them as well. I took her and Dad over to the Sprinkles store this past weekend and she also is proclaiming the high praises of this little bakery item!


So if you get a chance try one out - specifically Red Velvet, cupcakes will never look the same again! =)

I just might be sneaking a few for my road trip back to SA... just a few....er, a baker's dozen....or... we'll see how many fit in the trunk! =)

Seriously Target?

So, I'm going to have to pull a "Seriously Target!!!" moment on you! We are buying some new office furniture from one of my previously favorite stores and having a HECK of a time!

All we wanted was a brown table for meetings, some desks, and a few lamps. We bought everything, crammed it into Jer's Honda, and trucked it ALL the way home, up 3 flights of stairs, opened the box, only to have the WRONG PIECES inside for the table... Some random brown wood was in there... definitely not a table. And, the lamp was soldered wrong, so it wouldn't go together either. Nothing more disappointing that having to make the trip twice.

So we truck the table and lamp down 3 flights of stairs, back in the car, back to Target and get another one. I even checked inside to make sure it had the right pieces before leaving.

Soooo...back up the stairs again, and then I pull out the styrofoam only to find it has messages in Sharpe ALL OVER IT!

Yes, you heard me right... someone had left behind messages for us on the packing styrofoam in blue Sharpe!
So what's the possibility that this box has ALSO had a previous owner - much like the last one? 100% you say?

With phrases like...

"Breakfast Shop... Our Brefast is dulicious..."
"Come shop here every morning... It's Dilises"
"Breakfast Shop, next right"...

... Oh, and don't miss the menu of "Oatmeal, Special K, and Koala Crisps, Banana Nut Cherrios, and Yog Active."



So I'm guessing that if this "Breakfast Shop" was using this for signage they must not have made it long enough to afford the table and it had to be returned to Target! Okay, so it was probably some kids idea of fun for the night, but couldn't bear to make another round trip to Target... so this original styrofoam is ours!

Here's the finished table... turned out okay, but definitely had scratches on it! How does this get through QA - twice in a row!


What do you think? Should I let Target know? I mean how does this happen!?

End of an Era

Well, today was a BIG day, Jeremy's going away party at Rackspace. Hard to believe he has been there for over 6 years! Tomorrow, Friday, will be his last day... and then as of Monday morning, bright and early, he will be mine!

For those of you that don't know... Jeremy is coming on full time to The Texan Biographer! We are finally taking that big leap, and going to make the company grow even faster and better... with both of us behind the wheel! A long time dream in the making will finally be coming true soon!

Today was such a nice day at Rackspace. They really have been a great group for Jer to work with, and yes, I will be the proud wife and report the details, but they had so many nice things to say about him and how he's been a great part of the team!

Yes, I was officially tearing up... but just so proud of all the hard work he has put in there, and the middle of the night emergency conference calls, the paintball outings, learning to fire and hire, and manage 50 different personalities on his team. He was a trooper! So here are some of the pics from the day...

Here is the floor he works on...

One last shot of Jer at his desk!

And then the stories and speeches began...

Todd, Lew, and Jonathan (below) told some great stories!

One, of course, was about Jer's love of spreadsheets. Oh yes, when we were dating he kept a very good accounting of our meal expenses... and I did submit receipts at the end of the month to see where we stood. Jonathan was inspired by that story to have an entire cake make to celebrate his Excel passion... You can't miss the, "We will miss you Squirt Muffin" message... I'll have to tell that story some other time! But that is the best spreadsheet cake I've ever seen... look at the detail on that toolbar at the top!
And then they gave him this great vintage wine, from 2004, the year he started at Rack. You can see that he was given the title "Wicked Overseer" from his employees - if you only saw Jer in action would you see just how "wicked" he really is... okay, so "Quiet but Nice Overseer" just didn't have the same ring!

So yes, the end of an era at Rackspace. I can still remember when his team totalled just 8 people, and today it has grown to over 200! And I think that Jer hired over 50 of them... it has been fun to see what he could do at Rackspace and now I can't wait to see what we'll do as a team together. More updates to come on transitioning into work life together. I can promised lots of good stories there!

Surprise Weekend

There is nothing better than surprises - good surprises that is! A couple weekends ago my brother and I pulled off a big surprise for my Dad's birthday. We coordinated Ryan's trip into Dallas and had him ring the doorbell when Dad came home that evening. Seeing as Dad has just talked to Ryan on his cell phone, he was even more flabbergasted to see him at the door... instead of thousands of miles away in Philadelphia!

We topped off the surprise with an entire "Linda's Fudge Cake" from Cheesecake Factory. Look at that thing in the photo...it is ginormous..and weighs at least 15 lbs! Dad typically only gets one piece of this delectable dessert, so it was chocolate overload ALL weekend... we kept hearing him sneak into the kitchen for another bite! Yummmmm!

We even busted out the badminton net for a little Werner rivalry... though I hate to admit it, Mom and Dad kicked our butts! I blame it on Dad's intimidating size at the net!

Then we took Dad out to one of his new favorite places in Dallas:
Nick & Sam's!

Started the night off with some champagne!

Some fabulous appetizers...

And of course the main course... steak!

Don't worry we documented...everything...

I would like to buy that painting behind us, don't worry it goes for a cool $5K! Oh, I am talking about the one above... the one below probably costs you your first born child!

Then on Sunday morning Ry treated us to a specially created egg-scramble!It was so much fun to be home and celebrate Dad! Because every once in a while you just have to remind them how special they really are! =) Mission Accomplished!

Got him in Green!

Jeremy tried to walk out the door today wearing a WHITE shirt! Not on this day buddy! =) I had him march straight back into the closet and get a green one...this was after lots of phrases like, "I know you aren't Irish, but you're married to someone who is 50% Irish, so you still have to wear green!" Oh, followed up by.. "Someday you are going to have kids who are 25% Irish and what will you tell them then??!"

Anyways, turns out they even took a photo of everyone in green over at Rackspace today - see, now if he hadn't been wearing green he couldn't have been a part of this photo! Which is exactly the reason I think he tried not to wear it in the first place!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!