Fearless!

The most entertaining concert was performed by Taylor Swift and her Fearless Tour. We ventured up to LA to the Staples Center to see her since she is my favorite country artist (and admittedly, one of Ryan's). We had a celebrity siting right away as Kate Walsh (Addison on Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy) was standing in front of us in line to get in the doors, with a friend and a group of teenage girls.

Our seats were extremely high and on the side of the stage (tickets were sold out in 2 minutes, so it's the best we could do). Gloriana was the opening act. They were really good, and since they have one song on the radio that I love, it was fun to see them live. Kelly Pickler was the next opening act. She has a lot of great songs and she is a super performer on stage. It was impressive to see her working the crowd and belting all her tunes.
Taylor has such a huge following from all age groups. It was a mob scene. The special effects and her interactions with the crowd were above board. She had about 10 outfits throughout the evening, including a Lakers jersey since we're mid-playoffs, and her energy and ability to mix up the performances was so impressive.
In the middle of the show, she brought out John Mayer as a treat and he performed "Your Body is a Wonderland" and played music and did vocal back-ups to her song "White Horse". That was a highlight.


Taylor's show lived up to our expectations. She is truly a great role model for kids and a fabulous entertainer for all!

Everything is Bigger in Texas

Ryan and I flew to Texas for a 6 day trip, right in the middle of all the house buying and selling chaos. It was actually the perfect retreat away from the stress and we only had to make a couple Kinko’s runs to sign and fax paperwork. We planned to visit our friends, Lisa and Jason and their baby Landon, in Dallas and then drive to Austin to check out this city that we had been dying to see. We arrived on Thursday early evening and got a chance to hang out at their beautiful home in Allen, Texas (about 30 minutes from downtown Dallas).

Lisa’s parents were in town and were able to take care of Landon while we played all weekend. That evening, they took us to their favorite spot, Spring Creek BBQ. It was so delicious! Then we went downtown to Greeneville Street and hit a couple bars for some drinks. On Friday, Jason was at work, so Lisa took us on a driving tour through Richardson, Plano and a couple other cities.
Then we went downtown and walked around the site of JFK’s assassination and cruised the gift shop.

We had lunch at a great southern spot in a great part of town, near Lisa’s previous apartment. For dinner, they took us to their favorite Italian restaurant and then we went up to Reunion Tower for a great view of Dallas.


On Saturday, we headed to Fort Worth for a taste of cowboy country. We had lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant and walked all around town.


Eventually we made it to the famous Billy Bob’s which is a massive country restaurant, bar, concert hall, and arena for rodeos. We really felt like we were in Texas!

We drove 3.5 hours to Austin on Sunday morning. It was great drive with a nice green landscape the whole way. We had lunch downtown and set out for the State Capitol Building and then walked around the University of Texas. We also went to the flagship store of Whole Foods which was actually the same as the one here in Tustin (which is massive).


We shopped around S. Congress Street and checked out their funky shops and restaurants. Several places had live music blaring in the afternoon. That evening, we enjoyed the nightlife on S. Congress with a great Mexican dinner and some time at Doc’s – a bustling sports bar.
The next day, we went to McKinney Falls State Park and went on a little nature hike. The falls were very small but it was nice to be amongst the fresh air and trails that went on forever.

We headed out to Zilker Metropolitan Park and walked around the Botanical Gardens. We also drove up to the 3rd highest point in Austin, Mt. Bonnell. The views up there were amazing! There was a lot of activity along the lake and the houses along the water were absolutely enormous.

That evening, we went to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Then we went downtown to 6th Street for some seriously cheap bar specials ($1 beers and free cranberry juice!) and live music. The cover band was fabulous! The downtown Austin life is so much fun, even on a Monday night! We made it home on Tuesday and were very thankful to have our last little getaway for awhile. TO VIEW MORE TEXAS PICTURES, CLICK ON THE LINK OF ALL OUR PICS ON THE TOP RIGHT!

3 Amazing Years!

Today is our 3 year anniversary. On one hand, I can't believe it's already been three years, since our wedding day seems like yesterday; and on the other - I can't imagine a life not being married to Ryan. We have been together for 5 and a half years and I can't imagine it getting better, but I bet it will! I love you, Ryan, and thanks for your unconditional love and making me the happiest wife around!

Mother's Day

We had a terrific day at Rick and Joyce's for Mother's Day. My parents and Grandpa came over as well and we enjoyed a nice afternoon and dinner with Brandy, Grandma Barbara, Shirley & Bill, Nana and Pops, and Shawn, Brianna and Hailee. I love how both families get along so well and we have such a great time. Here's a few pictures from the day!

Yep, Getting Bigger

Another month has gone by. I don't really wear tight clothes yet since I'm in that 'in between' stage, but here I am for all to see. She is growing!

A New Home?

It's been crazy the past 2 weeks. We had kept our eye on the market, hoping to upgrade to a single family home one of these days while the price of homes are down. We ran across one in a desirable gated development known as Rocking Horse Ridge in North Tustin (close to both sets of parents). We jumped on it and ended up being chosen as the new owners. Of course, the process is never that simple. We love the home - it has an exquisite view, nice pool, and is just the size and layout we've been looking for. Plus, the location is out of the busy, crowded areas that we are trying to get away from. However, the Seller is a nightmare. It's an investment Trust and there is no negotiating, no fixing of anything and they are unreasonable. So it's been back and forth since the inspection and termite reports have not been good (some of it is to be expected since it was built it 1983). We'll see if this works out. In the meantime, we put our condo on the market on Monday and had two offers in hand two days later. We are hoping to get some more competitive ones this week since there has been a ton of traffic to show the house. This has been the upside to the house buying process! Here's the link to our property (not sure how long the link will stay active). http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/49-Regal-92620/home/7214635
Here's a few additional photos of the "new" house. Wish us luck!