Dog Days

Today I had an OLP Happy Hour after work with some of my Cooper co-workers.  It was really nice to get to meet some of the other young OLP's that I don't get to see every day in South Milwaukee.  And then I get to come home and watch the USA Women's Team Finals!! EEEKKK!  

GO TEAM USA!

(Another great part of the day... PACKERS TICKETS!! Randy at work sold me his pre season pack and gave me the two beer discount as well.  Wes and I are SO excited to get to go!!)

I have been begging for a dog since... ever?  Anyways, Wes has finally started to entertain the thought of a puppy.  I am totally in love with poodles and mixed poodle breeds, Wes on the other hand, not so much.  He's convinced that I don't really like them (like he knows...) and that poodles are ugly. So he had me take a "dog breed test" and he took one as well... The results are in.... 

(I got a Labradoodle/Goldendoodle.  Which is exactly what I said I wanted...)

(Wes got a Portuguese Water Dog.  Please take another look at the photo above and then tell me the main difference in how these dogs look...)

Almost half way through the week.  Wahoo!

Until next time...

Going for the Gold

There's nothing like the Olympics to bring the world together, or make you want to go work out at the gym.  I don't know anyone who doesn't find these athletes absolutely amazing.  What I find even crazier, is that most of the people competing are younger than me!!

Here's a look back of some of my favorite Olympic memories...

(The Magnificent 7 of the 1996 Olympics.  Last night Jordan and I relived watching this on the pull out couch in our living room in Denton.  I can still remember Dominique Moceanu's floor routine and imitating that in my living room for months afterwards.  Shortly after these games my dad built Jordan and I a balance beam from a 4x4 covered in carpet.  We were on that thing every day.  I will also still blame Jordan and Kerri Strugg for my inability to do a back walkover.  Thankgs guys;))

(The girl in the middle here, Svetlana Khorkina, made me think I could be a real gymnast.  She gave me so much hope for "us tall girls".  Too bad she's only 5'5''.  That Russian diva.)

(Yall remember this guy?  Michael Johnson?  Fastest man in the world?  Yeah not anymore...)

(Who could ever forget the 2008 Beijing Games.?  Not only was it the most impressive opening games (sorry the only cool part about London's opening games was getting to see Kate Middleton)  but Michael Phelps.  Dang.  I was very concerned his swim suit would fall off after this relay win.  But the major question is how did I not notice how cute Ryan Lochte was 4 years ago??)

Can't wait to see what the 2012 Games bring!!

Until next time...

Fun Days!

This week has been great.  My Mom and Memaw left me with a super cleaned apartment, things are busy and going well at work, and I got to go out to dinner with two different groups of people.  That like never happens.  Anyways, just a couple of photos for now!

(This week was really busy at work.  I had the chance to go down and visit one of my suppliers and I got to stop at the Mars Cheese Castle!!  

THERE WAS SOOOOO MUCH CHEESE)

(One of the things I bought myself for my birthday... A sideways gold cross necklace.  This picture is pretty crummy but there's really no good way to get a good picture of such a dainty necklace.  

Only downfall... everyone at work keeps trying to drag my necklace back upright for me. Haha.)

(GO TEAM USA!!!

I'm SO excited for the start of The 2012 Olympics tomorrow.  What better way to show my support than to bring Olympic  cupcakes to my co-workers?  

Martha Stewarts chocolate cupcake recipe and easy buttercream frosting.  Martha always knows best. 

Special good luck to all of the Aggies in the games!)

This weekend should be filled with some exciting events for me to fill everyone in on next week.  Have a great weekend and enjoy the Olympics!!

Until next time...

Birthday Weekend!

This birthday weekend was spent my with my Mommy and Memaw!  It was a beautiful weekend here in Milwaukee for shopping, which is what me and my mother do best!

On Saturday the three of us headed out to Cedarburg, WI.  It's this super quaint little town full of antique stores and boutiques.  It reminded us a lot of Brenham, Texas. 

(My Mom and Memaw outside in Cedarburg.)

(We had lunch at Anvil Pub & Grill.  It's in an old blacksmith shop that's been turned into this super cute restaurant with very yummy food!)

(View from the back porch of Anvil Pub & Grill.  Cute little Canadian Geese Family:))

(There was this awesome little bakery shop in Cedarburg that has the largest selection of cookie cutters in North America.  All of the walls were filled top to bottom like this with cookie cutters, cupcake liners, and other little baking nick-naks.  

I got an Arkansas, Texas, and Wisconsin shaped cookie cutter!)

(On one of the walking bridges.  Look at those lovely Kendra Scott earrings:)  

Fun Fact: Cedarburg also has the last covered bridge in Wisconsin)

One of the main missions while my mom was in town was to get a few more things for the apartment.  Since Wes isn't always the most patient shopper, so it was great to have my Mom here for that!  

(I got two new dining room chairs.  They are a great denim blue color, with nailhead trim.  A new photo for the dining room wall.  And some new flowers for my vase!)

(My Mom and Memaw also help me pick out some new pillows for the living room couch and club chair.  My mom also brought me these two super great lamps as one of my birthday presents; the bases's look like logs.  If any of you guys remember my failed stump project from before you'll know that I love all things tree like.  I also got a lovely sofa table for them to sit on.  Do you know how hard it is to find a sofa table these days?  No worries, my mom can find anything!)

I also got a new bedside table for Wes's side of the bed.  I'll be posting pictures of that stuff and the other things I bought this weekend later this week!

Until next time...

Double Deuces

Today is my 22nd birthday!  Although this years birthday is significantly different than last years'. (which for those of you who were there for my birthday last year know that's probably a good thing)

It's still been a great birthday none the less.

My Mom and Memaw were able to come up and spend the weekend with me and we're going to spend the time shopping for a sofa table, some new dining room chairs and a night stand for Wes's side of the bed... What a cRaZy weekend, right?  Anyways, here's a couple of photos from today and Reed's visit last weekend.

(Last weekend when Reed came in town, we went out to Bastille Days in downtown Milwaukee.  It wasn't quite what we were expecting but we did get to see this awesome Eiffel Tower replica!)

(Bastille Days 2012.)

(Two of my favorite men out on the town with me.  We saw an awesome quote here at Charlie's

"Work is the curse of the drinking class."  

Aint that the truth.)

(Reed and his super masculine beermosa at Benelux.  

Brunch was delicious even though we were exhausted.  It was so awesome getting to see Reed.

It made me smile extra big every time he said one of his little phrases... "heard that":))

(The three of us spend the afternoon on the Lakefront Brewery Tour.  $7 for 5 beer tastings, a souvenir glass, a 45 minute brewery tour, and having the guest that travelled the furthest.  

(The girl from LA didn't count because she was originally from Chicago.))

(Wes and I out at Nomad's on Brady Street.  I

t was a super cool bar and it had the strangest specials...)

(The Prix Fix.  Needless to say it was a hit with our group.  Reed, Wes and I met up with a couple of guys we went to school with (first Aggies I hung out with in WI, WHOOP!) and some of their co-workers.  The guys were all over this little deal at Nomad's.)

(One of the presents Wes and I bought ourselves for the summer were new bikes!  

(photos of the bikes to come)

We went to pick mine up in Shorewood on Sunday and on the ride home we saw this turkey wandering aimlessly around a ritzy neighborhood.  

We then headed to the beach to waste the afternoon away!)

  

(I love presents, and I especially love this one!!  The Brasuell's sent me this super cute Texas A&M themed plate for graduation.  Love it!!)

(Flowers from Wes for my birthday! So pretty:))

(And more presents!! My awesome friends sent me the exact pair of Kendra Scott earrings I had been eyeing.  Needless to say I will be wearing them tomorrow.  Thanks Brooke, Mara, and Kathryn!!)

I'm going to do a better job at blogging in the future as I've taken this whole week off.  But oh well, there's nothing to blog about if you aren't living life out in the real world too!

Until next time...

Tag Team Back Again!

So it's been about a week since I've blogged, but I've been trying to soak up as much time with Wes and Jordan as I possibly could!  Here's a recap of the past week...

Jordan flew in to town last Wednesday for the Fourth and to spend the weekend at Jim's family reunion and at the same time Milwaukee was experiencing the hottest streak of weather all summer.  Go figure. We spent the 4th sweating on the porch of the Horny Goat Brewery and then took a 3 hour nap.  Yup, that's right.  We napped on the Fourth of July.  That's freedom for ya!

(Wes and I on the Fourth at the Horny Goat.)

(The next day we got a little bit smarter and headed indoors to the Milwaukee Public Art Museum.  Every First Thursday of the month they have free admission, so we scored a free look at Toulouse La Trek's Posters of Paris exhibit.)

(The Calatrava is a super impressive and artistic building and has a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.  The best part about it?  It was air conditioned!)

(After a failed attempt to tour the Lake Front Brewery (who knew they sold out so quickly??) Jordan, Wes, Anisha, and I headed to the Water Street Brewery for a little beer flight!)

(Before: 8 beer samplers all brewed at the Water Street Locations.)

  

(And After!  Amazingly we finished all of the samples we had!  There was lots of mixing and matching and what not of course, but we somehow managed to finish.  I'm not gonna lie, Wes drank all of my nasty tasting ones...)

(Jordan and Anisha after the tasting.  We might have actually lucked out in not getting in on the Lake Front Tour, as Water Street Brewery was air conditioned, and Lake Front was not.  No need to drink in 100 degree weather when you can drink in the cold air.)

(How American is this photo??  This was the dairy farm we went to for Jim's family reunion.  It was a wonderful weekend and Wes and I felt right at home with his family! Thanks Moe clan for being so nice to us!!)

(The best root beer I've ever had.  Made right here in Milwaukee!)

(One of these things is not like the other... Wes is a true kid at heart (which is just the way I like him) and spent a good portion of the day creating his own breeze on the swing set.)

(Now my mom always taught Jordan and I never to show up to a party empty handed, and family reunions are no exception!  Last year for the 4th we made what was dubbed "America Pie."  It was basically a pizza sized sugar cookie covered in a cream cheese spread and topped with fresh fruit.  Since pizza sized pies don't usually make 2 hour car rides well, we decided to make these super yummy miniature version.  Thus, "America Cookies" were born.  They were just as delicious as they look!)

(Jim's family owns a specialty grocer called Brennan's that carries 

the freshest and most delicious things ever.  

We brought home some of the freshest, juiciest peaches I've ever had.  

Wes and I will definitely be heading to the Milwaukee location to stock up!  The Monroe location even had a rocking sheep you could ride.  And how often do these things have a sign on them that say "Please Ride Me"?  Right?  Best place ever.)

I would have more pictures but Jordan failed to send me the ones she snapped on her phone.. Cough Cough.. send me your photos Jordan!!

Since the weekend Wes and I have been super busy.  We went a bought some new bikes to ride around town, had dinner with Chris at Hinterland, and went to look for a new car!

Shopping for a new car is very exciting, but very stressful.  I want to make the right decision!! If you have any suggestions for a mid-to-full size suv, let me know! 

Until next time...

Right Here, Right Now.

I feel like I'm finally starting to settle in here in Milwaukee.  Maybe it's all the great friends and family that have been coming in to town to visit me, which has definitely been a blessing, or me getting used to my role at work.  Whatever it is, I'm exciting for the rest of the summer!!

Last Friday I received my first big girl paycheck!  Naturally, in true female fashion, the first thing I did was go shopping.  I headed South to the outlet malls outside of Chicago and tore up the sales for pre-4th of July Festivities.  I did buy some semi responsible items (new skillets at Calphalon, a nice slip for my work dresses, etc.)  but most of the day was filled with mindless shopping.

(Here's just one of my purchases.  A great new pair of neutral summer wedges from the J. Crew Factory Store.  In my defense these are replacing my golden summer wedges from last year.  

But aren't they cute?)

 

(Saturday I headed out with Chris and some of his work friends.  It was so awesome to be around Aggies for the night.  We started out the night with a trip the The Safehouse, a local restaurant and bar. You have to know the "password" to get in or they make you do funny stuff to get into the bar, they then videotape your whole entry process and project it on 20+ tv's on the inside.  It was so funny!)

(We then headed down to Summerfest to see ZZ Top and The Scorpions.  Overall it was a great night and Chris and I got to catch up on where life has been taking us.  So sad that he's going to be moving to Memphis in two weeks though!)

(Sunday night, Chris and Diego came over for dinner.  I forgot how much easier it is to cook for more than one person!! We had guacamole burgers and baked parmesan zucchini fries for dinner.  For dessert I grilled peaches and topped them with a homemade yogurt and honey topping and some blueberries.  They were super yummy.  Thanks for being my guinea pigs guys!)

(Last night I decided to make some treats for my co-workers in celebration of the 4th of July (which is also my Memaw's birthday!!).  I made rice krispie treats and cut them into stars and then packed kabobs with fresh banana's, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries.  I called them edible sparkler and they were a huge hit.  The best part? I came home without any leftovers!)

 (You might recognize Jim from his previous appearance on my blog.  Remember the tie-dye shirt, jean cargo shorts, crocs, and sweatband?  Yes, this is the same man.  I loved his America themed polo... it was the perfect mix between frat-star and Jimmy buffet, and with the addition of his edible sparkler he was the true "Uncle Sam" of Cooper today!)

And the best part of today... WES IS OFF THE BOAT!

I'm picking him up at the airport tonight and I'm SO excited.  Wes left 3 days after we moved in and we haven't been able to talk very much since he's been gone.  It'll be great to catch up!

And the next best part of the day... JORDAN FLIES IN TOMORROW MORNING!

I can't wait to see her!  The holiday will be filled with The Lakefront Brewery and Distillery tours, biking along the lake, fireworks in the park, and sister time!  

SO EXCITED!

And the next best part of the day...  TOMORROW IS MY MEMAW'S BIRTHDAY!

Winnie Sue Cox, you're life has been so full and adventurous all these years.  

You're always happy and ready for anything and have always been one of the world's #1 Memaws!

I hope it's a great day, love you miss you!

Until next time...