Whirlwind Week!

I headed to Friendswood about a week and a half ago and directly into all the hurricane mess! We had two baby showers planned and I had to attend a CLE class in Houston the next week. The baby showers went surprisingly well considering the circumstances and the hostesses did such a lovely job with everything- especially considering half the town was still without power! My parents power finally came back on two nights before I had to leave (out a total of 12 days and cable is still out!). Susan's parents, Russell and Eva, who have always been like family to us were kind enough to take me in so I could sleep in air conditioning! It was an interesting visit to say the least! I was thoroughly impressed with the way the community has pulled together to help friends and neighbors through the aftermath however!

So last Friday my Mom drove me to Austin so I could meet up with Kurt for ACL Fest and a baby shower our friends were throwing there. We had an awesome time in Austin eating at our favorite places, seeing some of our favorite people, and just generally being back in our old stomping grounds! Thanks so much to Jess for hosting us for the weekend (and even giving up her bed to the preggo chick!) and to Darri, Lacey and Julie for such a wonderful couples shower! We enjoyed it so much! ACL was pretty fantastic this year since the weather was generally cooler than in past years! We made it out all three days for the late afternoon/evening shows. Foo Fighters definitley rocked the house and was our favorite. Yesterday we flew back into SB (on the hottest plane ride I have ever experienced- probably thanks in part to changing planes in Phoenix!). We had our first celeb sighting on the plane ride. Jeff Bridges (who many of you will recognize from lots of movies including Seabiscuit, The Big Lebowski, Iron Man) was on our plane and we didn't actually realize it until we were waiting for our bag! I looked over at him and told Kurt, "That guy sure looks a lot like Jeff Bridges- couldn't be him right?" Finally we saw the girl who sat next to him on the plane go over and take a picture with him and we figured it had to be true! Kurt was so embarassed that I dragged him over to ask for a picture too, but Jeff was very nice to us and apparently has a house in SB! Anyway- made our night to meet him and sort of cracked us up that movie stars have to ride in on the regular puddle jumper in the sweltering heat just like us (no first class into this town)!

Ike Aftermath

When Ike whipped through the Galveston/Houston area early Saturday morning it left quite a mess in its wake. My parents were left with downed fences and trees. They had a neighbor's tree fall on the corner of their house with what they think is some minor damage. Also had a tree completely uproot and land on top of their carport- the carport luckily sustained no damage at all! Their garden shed was also smashed when a tree fell into it. We feel very lucky that nobody was hurt and all friends in town also seem to be fine. Electricity to their house still is not on, so please pray that will be up and running soon! Quite a few others around Friendswood seem to be starting to get power back, so hopefully it will not be too long! My parents are very thankful to have so many wonderful friends and neighbors who have shared power from their generators with them (to charge their phone and to plug in their freezer).

I feel pretty helpless out here in CA, as you can imagine. It seems very strange to me that life around me in Santa Barbara is going about it's usual course, when my heart is in TX where so many are affected. I am supposed to fly into Houston on Friday for two baby showers this next weekend. Please say a prayer that the power will come back on around town and we will be able to have the showers and I will still be able to get back home...

The Big 3-0!

So yesterday marked a milestone for my life- I turned 30! Hard to believe since I sometimes still feel like a teenager! It was a good day though, as we have so much to look forward to this year! Kurt started off the day with a cute card that informed me that I was to keep my new iPhone (part of my present) close by me all day to receive further instructions. Throughout the day he kept texting me these clues that all led up to dinner on the beach at sunset last night! He was so cute, he had gone and gotten takeout from The Boathouse (this cool restaurant that just opened up on our favorite beach here) and had a blanket and everything laid out. It was nice that it was a Wednesday night because there were hardly any other people on the beach with us. He also gave me a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses I had been lusting after- to shield my eyes from the sun at sunset! Thanks, honey, for making me feel so special and loved on my birthday! Thanks also to my Mom and Dad who sent me the beautiful bouquet of flowers shown in the pictures above!

On another note, please say some prayers for my parents and the other residents of the Gulf Coast region. Hurricane Ike has turned in the last day and now appears to be going in much closer to Galveston than anticipated. My parents are packing and boarding up to leave town right now, as Friendswood is currently under a voluntary evacuation, but could switch to mandatory later on.

From SB to SD!

We spent Labor Day weekend in San Diego! Kurt had Friday off too, so we made it down to SD on Thursday night. We stayed at the most beautiful hotel, the Estancia La Jolla! I can't even count the weddings we saw there this weekend- beautiful grounds! We spent Friday at the San Diego Zoo. My favorites were probably the pandas since I don't know that I've seen one in a zoo before. Saturday we took a trolley tour of SD that you could hop on and off of to see the sights. Our first stop was the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier. Pretty much as soon as we got off the trolley we happened to pass two guys running. Turns out one was Kurt's marketing prof. from UT- how crazy to run into him out in SD! The Midway tour took several hours and we were pretty worn out by the time it was over- but we had so much more to do! We also got off in the Gaslamp Quarter and at Balboa Park. The Gaslamp Quarter was pretty cool with lots of restored restaurants in it- we enjoyed an icecream at Ghirardelli since we were so hot and tired by then! Balboa Park was beautiful and a definite place to go if only for a stroll. At the end of the day the trolley let us off in Old Town and we had some good Mexican food and most importantly fresh tortillas! Yum! Sunday was spent around La Jolla breakfasting, walking by the beach, laying by the pool, and finally a very nice dinner at George's. On Monday we had to drive back, but we drove a stretch of the PCH so I could see Laguna Beach (yes, I know I'm too old to be watching this show!) and Newport Beach. Very fun and pretty beach towns- but not enough time to stop! Oh well, all good things must come to an end, right??