Weekend Crashers

Wow, it seems like it's been so long since we've spoken!  I have been busy decorating the house and making my Christmas cards and enjoying the weather.  Mr. Bean and I have been drinking lots of hot chocolate and apple cider and listening to Christmas carols as much as we can. I've been recording whatever lame movies Lifetime offers and lovin' every one of them.  I love this time of year.

To start off our first weekend in December, Mr. Bean thought he'd get all fit on me and and run in a half marathon out of town.  So we took a road trip up to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the weekend.  Luckily, we have some pretty amazing friends that allowed us to crash their weekend.  It was an action packed weekend, so I thought I'd share some of the highlights.

Our first stop was Fort Worth, Texas to visit my friends, Christina and Nehme.  I haven't seen them in over four years.  They built a new location since the last time I visited, so for four years, I've watched their progress and been there in spirit since the beginning, but it was time to experience Chadra Mezza & Grill for myself.  And I wasn't disappointed.  The.Food.Was.Amazing.  They are well known in the Fort Worth area for their food and have received numerous Reader's Choice and People's Choice awards, so I had pretty high expectations.  Especially since I've eaten there before and remembered Nehme's lamb melting in my mouth.  But, I was not prepared for the awesomeness I had on my plate.  I wish I had taken pictures.  If I had had a second or two between shoving my fork in my mouth and chewing I probably would have, but trust me when I say there was no time.  

Mr. Bean left me in Fort Worth that night to have some girl time with Christina, so Saturday Christina gave me a tour of her 'hood.  Fort Worth has some really awesome old school Tex-Mex restaurants.  And by 'old school' I mean home-style, home cooked, better-than-Grandma's cooking.  We stopped at Benito's on Magnolia Avenue.  I couldn't help myself.  I had to take some pictures.

By the way, I am working on figuring out how to size my pictures properly.  I am just now getting the hang of the ratios.  Just click on the picture if you want to see it larger. 

  

We stopped by an old home supply store that I was too busy rummaging through to take pictures.  Then we stopped by to bug Nehme at Rahr & Sons Brewery. 

Nehme claims he was working, but after about 2 minutes there I knew why he was really there.  There was live music and awesome food (provided by Chadra and served by Nehme, of course) and lots and lots of beer.  It was such an awesome atmosphere.  Fort Worth is one of those big cities that will forever be a small town.

It was time to say goodbye to Fort Worth after that.  Christina drove me over to Dallas to meet with Mr. Bean and crew.  While we waited though, we stopped by the Dallas Farmer's Market and checked out all the pretty pansies while we looked over our shoulder for Ahmed Hassan to come crash our yard.  No sign of him, but I did make a list of everything I needed wanted for my yard in case he makes an appearance near me. 

In Dallas, it was just laid back good times.  We stayed with Mr. Bean's good friends.  They are pretty awesome people.  The kind that don't make you feel like you really did crash their weekend.  We ate dim sum, played the XBox Kinect, and I got a tour of the most fabulous craft room I've ever seen in my life.  It was like an Archiver's was open all night just for me. And this, my friends, is where I found myself in the presence of the most beautiful piece of machinery I've ever seen in my life.  A 1903 Golding Pearl letterpress machine.  And.It.Was.Amazing.  I had one of those moments where my jaw literally hit the floor when the machine was unveiled.  All I could say was 'O.M.G.'.  I call her 'Pearl'. 

I won't pretend to know anything about this particular machine, but what I do know is I was in the presence of greatness.  Pearl, can I just say you are impressive?  Check out her heart shaped pedal.  Be still my heart.  Apparently that is a pretty rare pedal.  Pearl, you had me at 1903, but that heart shaped pedal won me over.

After that, nothing could really compare.  My weekend had pretty much peaked.  But, I can say I was left a little speechless once again when we stopped by a house in our friends' neighborhood.  The Christmas lights were insane.  Mr. B doesn't know it yet, but I am fully expecting something like this in our yard next year.  He can't say it's impossible now.  ;)  

After all of that, Mr. B still had to run the race, so Sunday we all got up early to cheer Mr. Bean on.  He did really well on the race.  I am so proud of him.  He is now inspired to sign up for some more, so next time, maybe I'll join him.  We'll see.  I'd kind of retired my racing shoes, but it's hard to just sit and watch all those racers run by you and not be inspired by their sheer determination.  Pretty amazing.

Thanks to everyone who allowed us to crash their weekend!!  For me, Christmas time is about family and friends, so it was a perfect way to kick off the Christmas holidays!

I promise to post what I've been working on next time.  Until then!