When we saw Tim McGraw a few months ago, Kip Moore was the opener and mentioned he would be at Billy Bobs in October! Well, Thomas wasted no time, as we were standing, sweating immensely in the the pit, he ordered our tickets. 

And that was that. After waiting over two months, the time finally came.

Kip was so personable at the VIP event, it made us love him even more! 

 After the VIP event, there was a few hours before he actually went on at Billy Bobs, so we grabbed some dinner and patiently awaited his performance

Billy Bobs is such a crazy venue, it blows my mind every time we go in there!

Kip seriously rocked it on Friday night! Cant wait till he’s back in DFW again! 

Once the show was over, we retreated to the car, got on the road, grabbed our pup from my moms, and hit the sheets! We were exhausted!

Saturday morning rolled around, which meant college football, to be more specific, Longhorn football! Thomas indulged in that and I ran a few Saturday morning errands.

We headed down to one of our favorite spots, THE RUSTIC! Our first experience at The Rustic was seeing Brett Eldredge, and we have been hooked ever since!

My favorite part of The Rustic is when they give me the giant X on my hands… Yeah right. Less than 3 months till the X’s are gone forever!

If you’ve never been to The Rustic, you must try The Rustic Burger. Its brisket and cheese and poblano peppers and amazing sauce, ALL on a burger. I probably clogged an artery or 5, but I really can’t pass this up, its THAT good!

Thomas had the pork chop, which was INCREDIBLE! Seriously, I don’t think we have ever had anything bad at The Rustic!

And last, but certainly not least, their banana pudding. Holy wow. I don’t really need to say anything, I think this picture does it for me!

Finally, after catching some more football on the million TV screens at The Rustic, we were ready to head to the Concert.

This concert was stacked from the opener to the main act. Tyler Farr was the opener, Florida Georgia Line was the 2nd main act, and Jason Aldean was the Headliner. I don’t even think stacked is a good enough word for those three.

We sat on the Lawn (mainly because pit passes were upwards of $2,000) .. Which was something we had never done, and will never do again. We were surrounded by CHILDREN who were under the age of 5, and crazy drunks. Needless to say, there was a lot of people watching going on.

I really can’t say I have ever seen it this packed!

I may have just a small crush on the guys of Florida Georgia Line. Sorry T.

 

I have to be honest… When this song came on, Jason said “Y’all, welcome Mrs. Kelly Clarkson”… Her picture came up on the screen, making it seem as though she was really there. I almost started crying because Kelly has, and always will be my favorite artist…. And then I realized it was a recording of her singing it. And just like that, I was heartbroken, sorta

His finale was spectacular!

 The concert itself was amazing! Minus having a migraine the entire time, I loved it! I was even more excited when the next day I heard that Jason Aldean AND Kenny Chesney were going to be doing shows together in 2015! And the Dallas date is around the same time as our next anniversary! SCORE!

It was more than amazing to have a weekend where Thomas and I could do normal-weekend couples stuff. You don’t realize how awesome it is to be able to go out with your man on the weekends until you never get to do it!

As every good morning in Texas should, we started it off with Whataburger. Taquitos and OJ, as close to perfection as you can get at 6am!

This being my second year to join Thomas, I had an archive of pictures that I knew I needed to replicate for this year, this being one of them!

Sea of burnt orange… Only kidding, the Sooners were out in full force Saturday morning! We were quite outnumbered.

Not sure if I forgot where the camera was or if I was just too tired to care, not sure what the heck I was looking at. Did I mention we had to get up at 6am?

 Thomas came in hot with our awesome seats! Row 4 in the end zone. Seriously the most perfect seats!

We sat right behind Bevo the entire game, which provided for some interesting moments as he was not a happy camper for the majority of the first quarter!

At halftime, a good friend of mine who works for ESPN was able to get us down on to the field. UH… Can you say AWESOME!

Seriously, it was an awesome experience, and I can’t thank him enough.

This guy’s face was the icing on the cake^

Although our longhorns weren’t able to pull off the W, it was an amazing game! Texas outdid OU in just about everything… except scoring. It was so funny after the game to hear all of the OU fans talking about how Texas technically beat them. It really was a crazy game! Coach Strong is definitely building an army!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Saturday College Football Games, I know I did!
XoXo-Tiffani

1. Amber Blush Body lotion from Bath & Body works! Its such a great scent. Other than their aromatherapy line, I’m never that impressed with the scents that B&B put out, but this one has really been a game changer! It’s not an overpowering smell, but just enough that it leaves a nice scent on my skin while moisturizing as well.

2. Harvest Gathering- White Barn Candle! I know I said I’m not a huge believer in Bath & Body works, and I really hate paying their prices for candles, but this one takes the cake for all fall scents. It has a perfect blend of leaves and cinnamon and heavenliness I really don’t think anything will ever beat this. The only downside is that it burn very quickly.

3. Bigelow Brand Orange & Spice tea! Yum Yum Yum! I love all things spice, and from the minute I tasted this tea, I knew it was my new favorite fall time tea!
4. Homecoming mums! I have a love hate relationship with these little things, but every year I just can’t say no to making them!

5. Mary Kay Timewise Moisturizer. I absolutely love this. It goes on so light, I never feel greasy or oily, especially when it starts getting cooler outside and my face needs the extra moisture!

What are some of your fall faves?
XoXo- Tiffani

 The biggest ferris wheel in the country! And….

The biggest man in the Country! BIG TEX!

Although our beloved old Big Tex burnt to a crisp during the end of the 2012 fair season, Thomas and I are really coming to love the new guy. He’s sharply dressed and his “HOWDY FOLKS” is on point.

This year, Thomas was determined to take a silly picture with everything, and I mean everything we came in to contact with

Our first purchase was this cup! It went for 20 coupons, which is equivalent to $10. I know, I know, that seems steep, but consider this: one drink costs 8 coupons, and those cups about 1/2 the size of this one. You can get refills in either cup, both are 4 coupons ($2) each, but when you’re getting double the drink, why wouldn’t you opt for this awesome cup? Also new this year, were all these awesome refill station. Maybe we never noticed them before, but I’m pretty sure they are new. They’re separate from the normal food stands, which provided no long waits for drinks, and at the drink refill stations, water bottles are only 2 coupons ($1) while they’re anywhere from 7-9 coupons at the normal food stands.

Do not get the fried milk and cookies. So gross from the minute we got it. It sounds appetizing, promising an oreo cookie with “milk.” It tasted like a bland meringue mix around a bland bland bland wanna be cookie, battered and deep fried. Seriously, the flavor was so awful, everyone around us was talking about how awful it was! Just get fried oreos instead, we all know those are the bomb.

Deep fried Chicken and Waffles. Oh sweet momma. The gravy in this reminds me of my grandmas heavenly sausage gravy that she used to make for me, topped with mini chicken bites, all in a waffle cone. At first glance, I was a little disappointed, but once I started to indulge, I was hooked. This was easily one of the best things we had that day!

Deep fried bluebonnet. Well, it tastes like old, rotten, blueberries, it is quiet bland and the tastiest thing was the whip cream and white chocolate chips on top. Its boasts a blueberry scone type thing, stuffed with blueberry cream cheese, battered and deep fried. Well, it had no flavor, seriously, none. I kept trying to find the good in it, because I really wanted to enjoy this, but I just couldn’t. Skip it. Don’t bother.

 DO #3 (if you’re really hungry)

Deep fried Spagetti and meatballs. The first bite was great, really, it was. But bite #2 wasn’t all that. I think it was just too much all rolled in to one. A massive meatball, surrounded by real spaghetti, topped with pasta sauce, parmesan cheese and basil (i think?), it really wasn’t all that bad. It was just, uh, too much? 

Roasted Corn! NOT buttered corn. HUGE difference. 

Roasted corn is obviously roasted, and buttered corn is a cob, that sits in a massive pail of butter all day long, waiting for you to die of clogged arteries from all of the lard you ingest with it. Just get the roasted corn, it’s good.

 BIGGEST DO #6!

FLETCHERS CORNY DOG! Yes yes yes yes yes. The footlong corny dogs are good, but the Fletchers corny dogs are the best! No question, get one of these babies!

Don’t skip out on water. It’s Texas, and it’s always hot. Seriously, I didn’t get enough water, and ended up with a nice little migraine. Not a good end to my day. And like I said above, it’s  only two coupons at those awesome little stands, just do it.

Fried Snickers. Do I even need to go on? No? Didn’t think so

Deep fried meatloaf. I once hated meatloaf, but now, we aren’t such enemies… And I want to kick myself for not taking a picture of this delicious delicacy. Needless to say, you gotta try this stuff. It comes with a small side of gravy as well as ketchup. You just can’t go wrong!

Do not, and I repeat, do not go on the day of any of the major football games… Grambling State/ Prarie View A&M OR Texas/OU. If you aren’t there for the football games, you’ll just be miserable. Now, us on the other hand, we’ll be there, in the big mess of it all come October 11th, @ 11am! HOOK ‘EM HORNS!

Go on a day when they have someone performing. Granted, it’s not always all that great, and normally its small acts, but it gives you a break from stuffing your face, and dealing with smelly people. We saw Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars & New country artist)

Just grab a map. Especially if you’re looking for a certain food, much like a certain someone that I was with was. I’ve never even touched a map at the fair, but this year, Thomas was determined to find a few certain foods and the map showed us just where to get them!

Deep fried loaded mashed potatoes. If you don’t love mashed potatoes, Texas doesn’t love you. Just kidding, well sorta. I had low expectations for this- I just expected it to be like a french fry with some bacon and chives, oh man was I wrong. It was REALLY like mashed potatoes, inside of a fried shell. It was served with sour cream on the side. It was delicious.

I don’t know why I should even need to say this, but don’t go to the fair and get a hamburger, chicken sandwich, or chicken tenders. If you can get it all year long at your beloved fast food restaurant, why would you bother getting it at the fair? Get FAIR FOOD, y’all! It just makes more sense.

Check out all of the vendors this year! Although there are a lot of the same ones, there are some awesome new ones! I didn’t buy anything, yet, mostly because I know we’ll be going back another 1/2 dozen times.

Get candy from the guy in the big tent! He is so sweet, always gives you free stuff, and has the most delicious varieties of candy and jerky. Deal with him though, not his wife, she’s a little more strict when it comes to weighing your items and pricing!

There are so many things we have yet to try, but we are going back twice this week, so i’ll be sure to update the list of Do’s & Don’ts!

Whats your favorite part of the fair?

This is easily my favorite fall area of our apartment! 

 I did a DIY Framed Chalkboard that you can read about HERE! I really am loving this chalkboard more than I ever thought I would! I see many more being made in the near future.

Both large vases came from Marshalls, both, on sale for under $10! I really stocked up on pinecones and other small goods last year when all of the fall decor was going on sale. It definitely paid off in the long run, because I saved a TON! Thomas’ mom gifted us the Scentsy burner, and it goes ever too well with our decor.

I stole the idea of navy beans in a jar/vase from my boss, and managed to find a few small pumpkin vase fillers, topped it with a candle and tada! 

These cute little fake pumpkins were a Hobby Lobby score!

Since we have no window treatments yet, mostly because we don’t get too much direct sun through them, I knew I wanted something to spruce them up a little. I bought the burlap flags on clearance at Hobby Lobby, and the scrapbook paper and stickers were leftover from last year. In totally, the entire banner cost less than $5 to make!

 I recently rehomed our 3 Texas themed pictures to their new home above the TV.

I got the idea of an apothecary-type- jar filled with pumpins and gourds from pinterest (duh?), and of course, found the jar on clearance at HomeGoods and my lovely sparkly pumpkin was a Ross find!

Scored this awesome serving tray at Walmart for $8! Love it!

 We have some awesome built in bookshelves that I loooove decorating

 “Pumpkin Kisses, Harvest Wishes”

My most favorite fall candle “Harvest Gathering” from Bath & Body Works

 I love the Texas shaped candle that I found at my favorite resale store!

Of course, both the wreath and pumpkin topiary were made by your truly!
I can’t believe it’s already October! I hope everyone is able to enjoy a delicious slice of pumpkin bread during their first week of October!
XoXo-Tiffani

Our morning started out at The Green T Coffee shop! Delicious drinks and scrumptious pastries- what more could I ask for? This was an adorable coffee shop nestled in the bottom of our brownstone’s building, it was so cute, and so cozy, they even had garage style doors that opened to the street and allowed for a nice breeze to pass through.

After a swift breakfast and some tiding up of our apartment, we were off for another day, in another part of the city.

Our first stop was The Old State House in the North End of Boston.

I have my camera around my neck, which I never do- I’m sure I screamed TOURIST with the way I looked

I’m so obsessed with these windy stairs- I can see myself having one or five sets of these in my future home.

Site of The Boston Massacre 

Quincy Market- which Thomas and I were both obsessed with. Yes, there were some trendy/normal mall type stores, but it was mostly awesome little vendors, super yummy local foods and eclectic little shops, with people from all walks of life. 

We were able to go inside Paul Revere’s original home. It really reminded me of something from little house on the prairie.

This little cobblestone road seriously reminded me of last winter, when Texas got all that ice and snow(?) and all of the local reporters were calling it cobblestone ice.

But it was where this road led, not what it was made of that was the fun part….

Little Italy in Boston! Totally in love with this tiny town!

Ohhhhh Modern Pastry. Have I mentioned it was almost 2pm, Thomas hadn’t picked a damn place to eat we hadn’t chosen where we wanted to dine this lovely afternoon, and I was starving.

Sooooooo…. We ended up getting pastries to tide us over. Needless to say, the Pictured^ pastries weren’t all that great, but we ended up going back for cannolis, which completely blew us away! They were amazing, and i was truly devastated when I realized I couldn’t take any home. You MUST stop here if in Boston and craving anything sweet.

FINALLY, after lots and lots of walking, and lots of irritated bickering, we I spotted The Boston Sail Loft, and figured it would do.

I think I may have hit the jackpot with this restaurant, it was right on the water, the service was so friendly, and the fish and chips was heavenly. Seriously, absolutely delicious. Thomas had fried shrimp, which were each about the size of my head! We couldn’t have asked for a better lunch!

If you even remotely enjoy tea….

You must check out David’s Tea! Just up from the Train stop that dropped us off in this side of Boston is David’s Tea. They have over 100 different types of loose leaf teas, and TONS of samples. I sampled a few different ones and decided the Pumpkin chai was for me, grabbed some for Thomas’ tea loving mom and sister, and called it a day! Check out their online store too, where you can order teas, mugs, and travel tea brewers! I know I’ll for sure be ordering more of my amazing Pumpkin Chai tea!

By this time, i was seriously so worn out. It wasn’t even 4pm yet and I knew I needed a nap, a shower and some relaxation time. We headed back to our brownstone and just chilled for a little while

That night, it was back to Hingham to check out the Whalburg’s other restaurant, Alma Nove, for dinner.

Just like Whalburger’s, Alma Nove sat right on the water, providing amazing views and a spectacular atmosphere. Outside, they had a little more relaxed setting, while inside was totally steakhouse-type setting feel.

I can’t say enough about the amazing meal we had. I had fish (of course), Thomas had steak (even bigger duh), and we also ordered a size of lobster mac and cheese (biggest duh ever). This was easily the best meal we have ever indulged in. Better than our beloved Neighborhood Services in Dallas. Seriously, if you go to Boston, and don’t go to Alma Nove, you’re crazy!

I couldn’t have imagined this perfect trip without this man by my side!

The next morning, we packed up and prepped for the airport. We were said to go, but we will definitely be returning to Boston in the future

Airplane style:

 Target shirt; teal FitBit band; Rose Gold MK watch; mint Celebrity brand skinny jeans; Tory Burch Miller Sandals in Vanilla Cream

Missing Boston terribly on this tiresome Monday

XoXo-Tiffani

For lunch we decided to hang out with Marky Mark and Donnie at their family burger restaurant, Whalburgers, in Hingham, Mass. But sadly, there were no sightings of the two, only their older brother Paul, who runs the restaurants. The burgers were amazing, along with everything else we got!

The ceiling lights had all of the movies Mark Whalburg had been in. Super cool!

I ordered a Big Papi, which was a mouthful of deliciousness as well as the fries that came on the side. I can’t remember what Thomas got, but his tatortots may have been the best I ever had.

Alma Nove is the Whalburg’s other restaurant. More about there when we visit on day 3!

Both of their dining establishments sit right on the water, that gave for the perfect views for lunch and provided a nice afternoon activity.

It was pretty warm this day, and luckily there was an Old Navy close by. My first shirt, pictures at the top of this post is more of a fall shirt- by that I mean I was hot as hell. So I bought a new one, and changed.

After our time in Hingham, we knew just the place we should head next.

HARVARD!

We were both in serious awe of how well kept the buildings were and how beautiful the campus was.

While at Harvard, we happened to stumble upon the Worlds ONLY Curious George Store! Although not as big and curious as I expected, it was still pretty awesome! We were both sweaty, sleepy and hot at this point, and knew we needed to head home. After a few hours of rest, some showers and a cat nap, we were ready to hit the town again!

D’Amelio’s Off the Boat Italian was on the menu for dinner! We made reservations almost two weeks in advance and there were only a few spots open when we called. Once we arrived, we figured out why, the restaurant was tiny! But it only added to the romantic ambiance.

The wait staff here was so sweet, and welcoming, and offered great recommendations. 

I had the Lobster Guiseppe. Spicy seafood? I’m in! Thomas had the Penne Cantante- which I don’t think he realized was super spicy. Unlike me, he can’t handle the heat enjoys his food less spicy. Regardless, both of our meals were amazing. We also added in a cup of clam chowder, which was to die for!

We were unsure about dessert at this point, because we were both stuffed to the max, but we went for it anyways. They were out of the “Chocolate Bomba” which was chocolate ice cream dipped in a chocolate shell, so we went with the “Exotic Bomba,” which was raspberry and mango sherbet dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I really can’t put in to words how amazing this was. It sounded not so great, and ended up being the highlight of our meal!

Overall, this restaurant was perfect. It had an amazing atmosphere, with an amazing staff, and some of the most divine food we had ever tasted. We will definitely be back on our return trips to Boston!

In case you were wondering, yes, we really do always match.

By the end of day 2 (which was technically day 3) we were exhausted, and I still had online homework due. So we headed back to our brownstone and called it a night. Day 3 was our final full day in Boston, but it was nothing short of amazing! Check back later this week to hear all about it.

XoXo-Tiffani

Initially, Thomas and I were supposed to leave Austin on Sunday, August 31st, and leave for Boston early Friday, September 5th. Lol, considering nothing ever goes as planned with the two of us. We stayed to finish out the holiday weekend in Austin, and the very next night after returning home from one vacation, we found out or next one was coming sooner than we though. Our 5am flight on Friday and been cancelled along with our late Monday return flight, and the only available one was late Friday afternoon and early Monday morning. Totally not okay with us… We were, after all, seeing the greatest ballpark ever that Friday night, and couldn’t risk a flight delay, or anything of that nature. We had to change our flights to Thursday afternoon, figure out where we would stay on our extra night, and arrange airport transportation. Luckily, I have the greatest boss in the world, who totally understood and sent me on my way, we found an additional AirBnB home to stay in, and Thomas’ awesome sister was able to take us to the airport. Crisis averted!

We didn’t get in to Boston until late Thursday night, and went straight to bed. But we hit the town running first thing Friday morning.
We grabbed a quick breakfast and headed out to Where we would be staying the remainder of our trip.
By the time we dropped our bags and began to walk around town a bit, we realized we were both dying of hunger. With some help for Yelp! we found Penguin Pizza, less than 1/10 of a miles walk from our brownstone.

Their ceiling was awesome

I convinced Thomas that Bruschetta wasn’t all that bad and ordered this for our appetizer, and of course, he ended up loving it!

Their pizza was absolutely amazing! Truly to die for! We ordered their “Honolulu” which came with pineapple, bacon, and onions MY KINDA PIZZA! There were only two servers servicing the entire restaurant, and doing a damn good job at it- something you would never see in Dallas.

We both had a serious sweet tooth after pizza, so we opted for J.P. Licks, which was on the same block as our pizza restaurant. They had so many options, and such awesome decor.

Cake batter-cookies and cream! Wow oh wow. It was decadent, but almost too sweet for us! We couldn’t even finish it. After we finished our ice cream, we knew we needed to go walk all of our recent indulgences off, where better than Newbury Street in Bay Bay, Boston? It’s like Northpark mall, the Dallas Farmers Market, and Stonebriar mall, all piled in to one.

Not to mention the scenery. The buildings and churches seriously blew me away!

These steps seriously reminded me of the ever so many Law and Order: SVU episodes where the bad guys escape one the fire escapes.

This is where the real fun began. To our left was all of the small boutiques and trendy shops and to our right was Cartier, Armani, and Burberry, all of the shops I promised myself I wouldn’t go in to. It took all of my might not to go to the right, but somehow, I managed to turn left and only shopped in stores that I wouldn’t be able to find at home.

There was an amazing farmers market that had endless options for fresh produce, flowers and all sorts of baked goods. 

John Copley-The plaza area was named after him

Our last stop was an Italian Slush-Seriously, it was perfect. The temps in Boston were a blazing 95, which we did NOT pack for, so we were incredibly hot, and the Slush man was so incredibly sweet, we just couldn’t resist. After a long, sweaty day, it was time to head back to our brownstone and get ready for our night. After all, the game was what we came for!

Clearly, my royal blue was a little off for the Red Sox, but we made do. I’d say we looked pretty darn good.

We asked a local what to get at Fenway, he assured us we wouldn’t go wrong if we ordered a sausage and peppers. I hate strongly dislike sausage, and this was heavenly. So So So goooood. But I’d never eat one if it wasn’t in Boston

Like every trip, this one started out by taking our sweet fur baby to my moms! Sophie has clearly passed up the weight limit on riding in the front seat, She now turns on the “fasten passenger seat belt” indicator on my nav screen… every single time!

We dropped her off at my moms house, where Soph is far too comfortable, and knew we had nothing to worry about!

 Thomas and I made our way down to our favorite city in no time at all! We checked in to our AirBnB home and rested for a bit before heading off to our first adventure of the weekend. If you’ve never stayed at an AirBnB, or never heard about them, they are private homes or sometimes rooms in peoples’ houses that are rented out, often at extremely low prices, and always cheaper than hotel! They are located around the world, so no matter where you’re traveling, there’s almost always going to be an AirBnB around. This was our second AirBnB experience, and I really can’t say enough about how awesome it was. Click HERE to get a $25 credit for your first stay through AirBnB.

First on our agenda was a Kyle Park concert at River Road Ice House. We paid extra for VIP area and  were quite disappointed in just about everything. It was a super laid back venue, and I guess Kyle Park thought he could be laid back too. Long story short, the concert sucked, we drove an hour for nothing, and didn’t enjoy ourselves at all. You win some you lose some, right?

Saturday we decided to float the river. The Comal River to be exact. Last summer we floated the Guadalupe River, which was quite rocky and had low water, so we were thankful for higher water levels at the Comal and just a more relaxed float over all. There was also a man taking pictures as people floated by on the river! Once he had taken your picture, he’d toss you a strand of beads, Mardi Gras style, minus showing your boobs, that had a bobber and a waterproof tag that had his website on there. Which is how we ended up with this awesome picture!

After the river, as always, we grabbed some Gristmill, which is only the greatest restaurant in Gruene, Texas. The onion rings are to die for, and everything else is nothing short of perfection,

Also, a must stop- Simply Detailed! I always find so many amazing apparel items here, its so hard to limit myself.

 Saturday night was the real deal… Charlie Strong’s Longhorn debut! It was a rocking’ night at DKR!

 Stronghorns Longhorns Pulled off the win with ease, which left me with a happy boyfriend. Unfortunately, by this point in our trip we were slowly entering exhaustion territory. We needed up skipping the 6th street partying after the game and turned in early. Which ended up being the best thing because the next morning we got up bright and early to head to Schlitterbahn for the first 1/2 of the day! I came here so much when I was younger, but haven’t been in the last 6 years, and boy have things changed! Nonetheless, Thomas and I had an awesome time!

 Sunday night, we went out for Mexican. Although we have Gloria’s in Dallas, we tried out the one in Austin… The Austin location is just as crappy as the Dallas ones have become. So sad because this chain used to be one of our favorites.

After dinner, we again, headed down to New Braunfels, this time for a Travis Tritt/ Randy Rogers concert at White Water Amphitheater . We were in full on exhaustion mode by this point, and being at a venue where there were close to 5 thousand people was probably not the best thing. I think it was all of the middle aged women who were scantily clothed, or maybe it was the pregnant girl who was standing next to us drinking a beer, that did it for me, but all of that paired with two tired people, was not a good mix. We lasted through Travis Tritt and a couple of RRB songs until we had enough and retreated home. I was asleep before we even hit the highway. Knowing I was able to sleep in the next morning was enough to send me in to a deep, deep, sleep!

Monday morning, after sleeping in much later than any day prior, Thomas and I slowly packed our bags and prepped for our drive home.

I really can’t call it a successful trip down south unless we make a stop at The Czech Stop in the small Texas town Of West.

We were sad to see our trip come to an end, but with this trip ending, it meant we were just a few days away from our trip to Boston! And little did we know, we’d be leaving even sooner than we thought. We head off to Boston tomorrow, which means I should really be packing, but of course, blogging>packing.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day and of course the start to September!

We relaxed a little on our last morning. Took leisurely showers and prepped for our long drive home! There was one thing Thomas and I both agreed on getting before we left KC, and that was Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ! Rated the best in Kansas City, it happens to be in a gas station, weird, but it was definitely not lacking in any areas. I dined on a Z man sandwich- brisket on a Kiser roll, with cheese and finally topped with a helping of onion rings and their amazing BBQ sauce. Although I was a little sad that they did not have mashed potatoes to enjoy with my bbq, I survived.

Many places in Texas could take note from the signs they had displayed at each of their tables!

 After lunch, Thomas and I decided it was time to bid Kansas City a due, and head home to the greatest state there is!

 After a torrential downpour in Northern Oklahoma that caused me to hydroplane (my first time in my 5 years of driving), and a couple restroom stops along the way, we passed over the Red River! HOME! Honestly, how gorgeous is this?

Any fellow Texan knows that this photo is a must when entering our great state after time away!

 I’ve stopped at this rest-stop many many times. It’s just over the TX/OK border, and it is massive. I stopped at it after many soccer tournaments in Oklahoma growing up, I stopped at it with Thomas mom after we dropped him off at school in Kansas a few years ago, and finally, after all of that time, I finally stopped and took a picture. A marvelous picture at that. We now have this picture blown up and hanging in our living room. Perfect addition to our rustic-Texas themed living room.

Just inside of Gainsville, after passing more rain I forced asked Thomas to pull over to take this amazing shot. A full rainbow with a second rainbow behind it! It’s not often you see something like this. Clearly, Texas wanted to welcome us home the proper way!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and is enjoying the long weekend. I know I am!