New Orleans 2013

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Christina Does It All

I just got back from a blissfully perfect week-long vacation. My hubby and I boarded our first cruise ship, and visited New Orleans, Cozumel and Progreso for the first time together. We covered a lot of ground and had a completely fabulous time doing so. It was a week full of new, wide-eyed experiences, exploring, mouth-watering eats, deliciously strong drinks, sunbathing, dancing, gorgeous scenery, quality moments spent with my dude and about a trillion new memories made.

Nothing I write could possibly do justice to what an incredible trip it was, but that’s not going to stop me from writing about it anyway.

The first evening on board was definitely joyfully-experienced sensory overload. There’s just drinks and games and shows and food EVERYWHERE. Husband and I were both exhausted from a long drive and lack of sleep so it was pretty hard to choose where to start. Dining was at 6pm though, so we started with that. If you haven’t been on a cruise before, let me tell you something magical that happens in the restaurant area. You order the entrée you want. Or you order the four entrées that you want. Or six appetizers and three entrées. Then you can order seven desserts (May I suggest the chocolate ((orgasmic)) melting cake?) if you want. Nobody even looks at you funny. All of it is endless, absolutely delicious and included in the price of the cruise. Needless to say, we stuffed ourselves silly every night. And day. (I am oh so thankful for the track on the top deck. Working out every morning provided gorgeous views and probably spared me from gaining roughly 2,382 pounds.)

The sunsets on the cruise were absolutely lovely:
After a long semester and stressful finals, I was in complete paradise lounging, reading, water-sliding and drinking, all whilst looking out at the beautiful ocean surrounding me.
There was definitely never a dull moment on the ship. If we weren’t lounging, we were watching a hilariously inappropriate comedy show. Or partaking in an art auction. Or doing a little bit of gambling. Or hot-tubbing. I even had the chance to take part in, “Last Man Standing.” Contrary to the name, this was a female-only competition that is a mix between a scavenger hunt and musical chairs. I didn’t win (I couldn’t find one of those little damn drink umbrellas!) but had a blast and even have a nice little souvenir medal to show for it!

Progreso= Party by the ocean! Cheap Coronas, (I felt pretty legit singing my own off-key version of the lyrics, “So I’ll just sit right here and have another beer in Mexicooooo”, while actually in Mexico drinking another beer.) pool and bar just feet from the high seas, free shots (which I didn’t even have to lift a finger to drink, thanks to generous bartenders…), shopping the cute little area of Mexico and attempting (and failing pretty miserably) to learn how to whip a whip. (Whip a whip? I’m sure there’s a more grammatically correct way of saying that. But I have no idea what that would be.)

The next day was spent in Cozumel, which was an entertaining, merry and captivating place to unwind and traverse. (Pictures serve the place better than my words do)
((We’ve got big guns. Hee. Hee.))

Did I mention yet how great the cruise food was? If we weren’t in the dining area for a meal, we were pigging out on the best buffets my mouth ever did taste. It was so hard to choose just one meal. Or plate. So, uh, I didn’t.
On the last day of the cruise, we ran into friends from back home and spent a fun evening with them. It never ceases to amaze me how small this big ‘ole world can be sometimes.
We had little time to spare on the way to the cruise, so the day we came back provided us with another mini-vacation; A day spent in New Orleans! I was rather smitten with the energetic vibe, lively atmosphere and delectable eats this city provided. I loved not really being able to walk anywhere without festive band music playing in the background. I also loved being able to walk the streets at 11am with a humongous daiquiri in hand. (Also did that in Cozumel…this trip might have been bad for my liver, y’all.) Eating one of the best breakfasts of my life at The Ruby Slipper, exploring the shops at the French Market, walking through the stunning St. Louis Cathedral and purchasing coffee and beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde all left me in awe of what a wonderful city I had the chance to take part in.
Goodness, it was just an unforgettable trip and I couldn’t imagine a better way to kick-start my summer. I just feel so blessed to have spent this entirely perfect and much-needed vacation with my favorite boy. He’s the ideal travel buddy and I’m so happy to have had him by my side whilst exploring beautiful new parts of the world. I feel rejuvenated and like I’m glowing from all of the phenomenal times experienced in the last week. Oh, and also from my new, snazzy tan.

Me,Celebrating.

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Christina Does It All

There’s a lot of things I’d love to ramble on about right now. I’d like to go on and on about how excited I am to have just turned in my last final. How giddy I feel knowing that all that stands between me and graduation is two simple summer classes. How thrilled I am to be leaving for my New Orleans/Mexico vacation with my husband tonight. I wish I could capture in perfect words how blessed I feel to be so insanely busy doing the things that I love and am passionate about. How great it feels to not only be chasing my dreams, but to also be catching them. To have a life full of adventures. To be so loved by the people in my life, and to love them back oh-so-much. To celebrate knowing my favorite boy in the world (aka my husband) for five years now. But right now I’m having trouble finding the time, or the ability to verbalize all of these things just right. It’s all happening so fast. It’s a whirlwind of amazing moments. And I’m trying, I’m really trying to take it all in. I mean, I just got done jumping up and down in my kitchen. Why? I am just so overwhelmed by good things, happy things, exciting things… That jumping up and down in my kitchen just seems like the most appropriate thing to do right now.

Because sometimes, when you have too much on your plate and can’t completely wrap your head around the words that would suffice for all of the wonderful feelings that you’re feeling, jumping up and down in your kitchen is the very best way to celebrate.

(Ps: I swear I’ll get to writing about all of my life updates eventually. I’m pretty backlogged at the moment and there’s so much happening that I haven’t found the chance to write about yet. For now, here’s some pictures/captions:)

Girl’s night with two of my favorites:

Being a DietToGo Brand Ambassador means getting a week of delicious food delivered to my house in a cooler. Review on that soon!

Best dude friend of seven years:

bryant

My friend Priscilla bought tickets to a hockey game and sweetly gifted me one. Despite the fact that she spent a fortune and we had awesome seats, we spent probably five minutes watching the actual game; The rest of the time was spent in the bar area catching up, laughing and perhaps even shedding a few tears. You can’t put a price tag on girl-bonding, yo. (Easy for me to say, considering I didn’t buy the tickets)

I’ve known my husband for five years now. We were basically a thing from the moment we met, so I decided it was cause for a photo reenactment.

Okay….VACATION TIME! I’m going to New Orleans! And on a CRUISE! To Cozumel! And Progreso! CAPS LOCK’S ON BECAUSE I’M REALLY EXCITED, GUYS!

(I might need to go jump up and down some more now….)

Happiness Is….(Part Three)

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Christina Does It All

A couple of months back, I posted updates of what was encompassing my happiness as of lately. Here’s part three; aka the latest on what happiness means to me:

Happiness is….

Great friends and fun shindigs

Becoming a ‘Diet-To-Go’ Brand Ambassador. (More about that later!)

So many fun projects & resume-builders (More about that later too)

My husband being mister handyman. He found a broken Mac curbside, waiting to be taken away as trash; within a week he had fixed it up, good as new. He sweetly gifted it to me, and now I have an Apple computer, webcam and all. Having Mr. Fix-It as a spouse is really convenient (and also pretty sexy.)

These cool kiddos. A couple more weeks until I’ve been their nanny for a year now; makes me almost weepy knowing I’ll be leaving them soon for post-graduation things. Below you can see them with the makeshift ‘toys’ my car provides:

Registering for my last two classes before my August graduation

Speaking of graduation. Today I had my very last class (excluding finals) at Concordia (I’m finishing up my last credits at local community college), aka my university/home away from home of three years. SO bittersweet. It was pretty neat having this last ever class with friend Becca, whom I also shared my first ever class at Concordia with three years ago. Oh time, where do you go?!

Little brother being in town this past weekend. Everyone always says we look alike, and I usually completely disagree. But I guess I can admit to seeing just a teensy bit of resemblance in the below picture.

My runs are getting faster; yesterday I got to over three miles at an average of 8:29 per mile. That’s a second under my goal for the year!

ONE MORE WEEK until husband and I are New Orleans/Caribbean cruise bound. Eeek!

There’s a lot of words that could describe this time of my life. Busy. Exciting. Productive. Overwhelming. Stressful. Fun. Crazy. But if I had to come up with one word to sum it all up, I think it’d simply be, “Happy.” And for that, I feel very blessed indeed.

Vacation Bliss

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Christina Does It All

What’s getting me through this last week and a half of schoolwork and finals is knowing that, in less than two weeks, I will be in vacation bliss. Yes!! The day after my last final, my husband and I are booking it to New Orleans to then board a cruise heading to Progreso and Cozumel. To say I’m really excited would be an understatement. The idea of a cruise has seemed magical to me since childhood. Being on a big ship full of fun, all-inclusive things, devouring delicious, all-you-can-eat food whilst traveling to soon-to-be-explored foreign lands….It’s a fascination that’s stayed very much alive throughout the years. On top of fun on a big boat and exploring beautiful parts of Mexico, I’m also stoked to be visiting New Orleans for the first time. Being married to a Boudreaux has given me a taste of both the thrilling Cajun environment and the scrumptious eats, so I’m definitely joyfully anticipating the entirety of this trip.

The crazy thing is, I had originally booked a cruise in April, leaving from Galveston, Tx. Almost immediately following my booking, the same ship I had booked was stranded, full of passengers, in the middle of the ocean. Clearly, I’m really lucky with this timing stuff. All passengers were okay, but, to say the least, it didn’t make for a fun next several days for them. Needless to say, there were some maintenance problems to be dealt with on this particular ship, and my first booking was cancelled. I booked another cruise for May on the same exact ship, (I figured surely they wouldn’t let the same thing happen again?) and a couple of weeks later, got an email saying Carnival was still working on maintenance stuff. This booking was also cancelled. At this point, I was annoyed, bummed and about ready to postpone fulfilling this cruise resolution of mine. Then, while perusing the internet one day, I came across an online ad for a Carnival cruise ship leaving from New Orleans. A light-bulb went off. I could visit a new-to-me and wildly popular U.S. city AND leave the country on an entertainment-filled ship to arrive at what looks very much like paradise? All in the same week!? Yes, yes please. I quickly called and booked the cruise. Y’all. It gets better. Because the cruise line had now cancelled my cruise plans twice, my husband and I will also be receiving $200 towards our on-board expenses to do with whatever we so please. Since most everything is already all-inclusive, I’m thinking a shore excursion, plenty of alcoholic beverages and maybe even a spa day? Oh, the possibilities….

All’s well that ends well, yeah? LESS THAN TWO WEEKS, GUYS!

Weekend Full O’Awesome

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Christina Does It All

My weekend was a fun, productive, busy, lovely one crammed full of lots of awesome. Elaborations below.

Saturday afternoon I volunteered at my local animal shelter. When I was leaving, the dog trainer noted, “Well, you got Bear out.” Apparently Bear does not usually let others walk him. I had noticed he was a little timid at first but eventually he came around and was an incredibly sweet doggy soul. Dog trainer told me that I must give off good vibes. Sweet. I don’t at all mind being a good vibe giver offer.

After volunteering, it was time for spending hours pool-side with the best friend. Obviously, plenty of chatting and picture-taking and laughter was included.

Saturday night was a wonderful time spent with friends and full of downtown shenanigans.

Sunday I was back in the downtown area for a photo-shoot. One of my favorite parts about location modeling is all of the gorgeous sights in Austin I visit doing so. I love and am familiar with Barton Springs, but the Barton Creek Greenbelt was a first for me. From the water to the trails, the scenery was absolutely lovely. Can’t wait to go again! (But next time, probably minus the makeup and plus a water tube)

Still smiling about packing so much joy into so little time. I hope your weekend was full o’awesome too!

Soaking It Up

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Christina Does It All

Still so busy lately. But making a conscious effort to soak up all of the amazing, lovely things surrounding me also keeps me oh-so-happy.

Ahem:

Park date with the husband/The fact that we’re both five at heart:

On-campus radio show:

Bounce-house fun with the twins I nanny:

Sweet surprise from my husband:

Grad fair at school. Free cake and t-shirt. (Senior perks. What’s up.) :

Enjoying a beautiful morning on my gorgeous campus:

Always trying to enjoy moments as fully as possible is something I try to live by on a daily basis. Lately though, I’ve been even more focused on this effort, knowing that a couple big chapters of my life will soon be closing. My school of nearly three years and my current nanny job of almost a year are two of the beloved things I’ll be saying goodbye to after my graduation. (In less than FOUR months.) As excited as I am to be moving forward and as giddy as I am to be surrounded by so many new opportunities as of lately, it’s also really important to me to cherish the things that have made up such a wonderful, huge part of my world. Really making sure lately to treasure every single moment spent on campus and with my two favorite two-year olds.

Port Neches/Louisiana Road Trip 2013

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Christina Does It All

This past weekend was a perfect one spent mini-vacationing with two of my favorites. My best girl friend, my husband and yours truly (me!) road-tripped on over to both Port Neches, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana for a magical and unforgettable weekend. You know me, I’m definitely going to elaborate below.

Our road trip consisted of lots of laughs, a pit-stop for Mexican food and margaritas and trying on hats at a gas-station.

Shortly after arriving at my husband’s parent’s place in Port Neches, Texas, (Try saying Port Neches without a country accent. It’s hard. That’s how southern it is.) the in-laws treated us to a night out on the town at Larry’s French Market and Cajun Cuisine. Larry’s is the hip place to be in Port Neches on a Friday night. Before you start thinking this Austinite is patronizing, let me state that I loved every moment at Larry’s. Yummy drinks, live music, giggles with my best friend, bonding with the in-laws, delicious stuffed catfish AND getting to watch my husband making an art out of crayfish eating. A lovely night indeed. As a side note, my dad-in-law sounded adorably sweet when he informed Tessa that her money was no good in Port Neches. Surrounded by loved ones and moments that left me all smiles, my heart felt really full and happy at Larry’s this Friday night.

After a morning of coffee and monkey bread, we made the hour and a half drive over to Lake Charles, Louisiana. We had lots of fun gambling at Isle of Capri. And by gambling, I mean Tessa and Robby did some gambling, I got offended that the machines took roughly five of my hard-earned dollars, and I then mostly watched my loves gambling whilst I drank free drinks. The environment and energy of those around me tend to be enough to make me so giddy that money spending is not required. Cheap excitement!

Later that night we made our way over to Puju Street Cafe in downtown Lake Charles. If you ever find yourself in the area, definitely do yourself a favor by visiting this eatery. What followed upon entering the doors of Puju Street was a night of scrumptious seafood and gumbo, rounds of dollar beer, socializing with a convivial wait-staff and, in general, an all around amazing evening.

Oh…Did I mention yet, mint chocolate-chip cheesecake!?

(They grew their own mint leaves!)The above definitely went in my tummy. And my tummy loved it. As did my tongue. This is me talking food porn to you.

Sunday (Easter!) was spent enjoying more time at the in-law’s place. Donuts and coffee and a good book were enjoyed upon waking up, Tessa and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and got only slightly lost, (She didn’t have her contacts in and I’m directionally challenged. Ergo, the blind leading the blind.) and a delightful lunch of sandwiches, pickles and chips were devoured for lunch. A charming end to an incredible weekend.

I just think life is this really enchanting thing. I’m really glad I get to share this really enchanting thing with really beautiful people. This weekend full of adventures and laughter was a great example of this really enchanting thing that I get to share with really beautiful people.

Christina Does It All

Doing it all, One blog at a time.