This past weekend, my friend Danielle invited me to go with her mom's Bon Appetite group on a special trip! The Bon Appetite group includes a group of women who attend Church together and spend lots of time cooking! Each year, Danielle's mom plans a trip of some kind for them and from what I understand, it always includes good food, good wine and good shopping in addition to lots of other wonderful plans! So, needless to say, I really wanted to go!
We left Houston on a charter bus at 7am Friday morning. Here we are all covered up on the bus (it was a little chilly).
Normally, a bus trip is not that much fun, but with this group, it was a blast! It begins with champagne and cranberry juice and sausage kolaches for breakfast! Then, we have a 'gift game' with lots of great gifts and lots of stealing and strategizing to get just what you want! Also, there is "all-you-can-drink" wine and beer and of course, water and cokes. We had "bus hops" that would serve you anytime you needed another drink. It was too cool!
The first stop the bus made was at the huge outlet malls in San Marcus! In fact, all of our time spent was in the San Marcus area. Here is a picture of Danielle and I just off the bus!
And, here is a picture of Loretta (left) and Lacinda (right) who are 2 of the funniest women you can hang out with! Loretta is Danielle's mom and the trip planner.
We spent the entire day shopping with the first major stop in Brighton, which apparently, was having some sale that occurs every 3rd weekend of each month. We were not aware of this, but apparently, lots of people were! It was PACKED and jewelry was everywhere with women grabbing up as much as they could of the best deals. Even men were there holding baskets and counting items for their wives (what great guys, huh!?). We actually stood in line for about 45 minutes to pay. But, it was very much worth it! Then, we continued to shop until about 5:30 pm when we checked into our hotel, and loaded back up on the bus for dinner at Tres Hermanas Enchiladas. Not only was the food and margaritas fantastic, but so was the entertainment! We had 2 guys that played their guitars and sang lots of music for us. The older man was ridiculously funny; in the middle of songs, he would just break out with "ayeyaya" and "you are foxy ladies" and "you gonna get drunk tonight'. He was crazy! We got a picture with him at the end too!
The next day had another great agenda! We headed to a GIGANTIC Garden Ridge that had the best stuff ever! Anything you could want for your home, this place had. I definitely loaded up on a few goodies for our new house! Here we are with an empty basket, but by the end, it was overflowing!
At lunchtime, we ate burgers at Centerpoint Station (right across from the outlet mall). They are known for their delicious burgers. And, what could make a great burger place even better?.....a boutique type shopping place with jewelry, home décor, clothes, etc. Here is a picture of Danielle and I trying to be super sneaky....we actually wanted a picture of something on the wall behind us that we want to make at home by ourselves, but didn't want the owners to see us taking a picture. Aren't we clever?
After that, we went.....BACK TO THE OUTLET MALL! This afternoon was even more productive than Friday. We were focused, organized, and made the most of our 3 and a half hours that day. In fact, between Danielle, Loretta, Lacinda, and I, we had filled 2 shopping carts. Now, you may recall that the outlet mall does not have shopping carts for you to take from store to store. But, we had soooo much and had to walk soooo far to the parking lot where the bus was that Loretta and Lacinda came up with the brilliant idea to just "borrow" these shopping carts from Pottery Barn to hold our bags. It worked just great....poor Pottery Barn never even missed them, I'm sure! See us here....
Later that evening, we traveled to Three Dudes Winery for a BBQ dinner and wine tasting! Their wine was delicious and so was the BBQ. They are a fairly new winery with their tasting facilities only open for about 2 years, if I remember correctly. We ate dinner on a covered deck outside and the weather was perfect. It overlooked the San Marcus river. Here is Danielle and I at the tasting.
Later that evening, once everyone got back to the hotel, a group of ladies got together to play Chickenfoot. My family really enjoys chickenfoot so we've played plenty, but these ladies played a new and fun way with money! Only a penny per point, and a few different rules, but very fun. And, I honestly, do not know if I've ever laughed so much! The hotel staff put the group into one of the meeting rooms instead of the lobby so we could visit and not be extra quiet and because it was already about 9:30 or 10:00 that night. Well, that was the loudest, funniest group I've ever been a part of. Every single comment sparked giggles and more laughs and stories and comments and made the entire night so fun! Plus, a few glasses of wine and a couple beers and the group was good to go! Here is a picture of who knows what kind of story being laughed at!
And, finally Sunday was our last day of shopping. We had a few hours left to get the last buys and then we were back on the road for more "bus fun" of gifts games, trivia and fun drinks. It really was a wonderful time and I already want to go where ever the trip is held for next year! As soon as we got to the parking lot at the Church, 3 men, (who obviously have handled these duties a time or two before) started emptying luggage, shopping bags, ice chests, etc. from under the bus, inside the bus (and surprisingly not on top of the bus, as much stuff as there was!).
The winery we went to (Three Dudes Winery) had T-shirts for sale that said: "It takes a lot of beer to make good wine!" Apparently, if they didn't drink beer while making the wine, they'd just drink all the wine. So, that is a great phrase! Some of the women who bought shirts took cute pictures.
We finally got back to College Station after an exhausting "Shop Til Ya Drop" weekend where we actually did just that! Danielle and I filled her Tahoe with all of our goodies! I can't wait until next year!
Then we headed to Northgate for a quick drink and to see Lauren's little brother, Will. We must be getting old (or actually we were just exhausted) because most of us left about 10:00 and headed to my house. After a tour, we opened a bottle of wine, visited a little while longer with some other friends and hit the sack! This is some of us at Northgate (me, Lauren, Taylor, Darcee):
The next morning after some breakfast and girl talk, we headed to Freebirds for lunch and then onto campus for some tailgating and the football game against UAB!
Once we got to campus, we headed straight to the new giant "Aggie Ring" that has been displayed at the Association of Former Students. It really is impressive and of course, we had to take some pictures in front of it.
We headed onto the rest of campus where all the tailgates were being held. Lauren's parents come for all of the games, as her brother, Will, is in the Cavalry. They are also big-time Aggies and from what I saw, had a great tailgate with lots of great food with other Cav families. Vic and I also stopped by the Lee Adams tailgate. The Cummings family invited us and even gave us 2 tickets that happened to be right next to them. Darcee and I took them up on the tickets right away! The football game was lots of fun; nice and cool and plenty to watch. Fortunately, A&M beat the hell outta UAB 56-19! Whoop!
I can never resist capturing the Aggie Band on film, since they are so impressive. I love the football games and the band and the War Hymn and Spirit of Aggieland and everything else that comes with these exciting days! Thank you to Debbie and Scott for giving us such great tickets! Here is a picture of Darcee and I on the field after the game. How fun are we?
After a really fun weekend, everyone went back home to their jobs and families. But, I am already happy for the next time we get to see everyone!
