Girls Weekend

Blogging is hard. I've gotten so much better about taking pictures, but then I get busy doing other things* and forget or feel too busy to blog. Apologies. I had great plans to catch up while I had a long weekend, but there was just no time.

*Other things = Packing up my life for my move this weekend. Packing takes time. And tape. I've also decided it's a great time to go through everything I own and purge. "When in doubt, throw it out" has been my mantra. I have to keep reassuring myself that I'm not a hoarder, even though I've kept some WEIRD things over the years.

Here is my weekend summary: We ate and shopped. Then we did it all over again.

A few months back, my mom decided she wanted to have an annual weekend with just Em and me. After weighing our options, we decided on a "staycation" in Houston, because we never have time to just shop and relax when we're all together. Mom picked me up on Wednesday from the airport and then we took AC back with us. AC and I played and played on Thursday and Friday while the rest of the family worked. We went to the pool, the park, had dance parties, played in her "book club" AKA the tiny guest closet at my parents' house, and ate BLUE sno-cones. It was a successful few days. On Friday, we traded AC for Em and headed out. We stopped at Sam Moon which was surprisingly not packed with people grabbing at knock-off purses like their life depended on it, then headed out to the outlet malls. It was so nice to not feel rushed and just go in every store we wanted to. There were lots of snacks and drinks (iced tea!) mixed in, because that's how the Etier girls roll. After more shopping and eating, we just hung out together and I introduced my mom to the glory that is YouTube. I also made these delicious Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels I found on pinterest. I'll post the recipe soon...so easy and addictive. There are no pictures, because we ate them too fast.

Dancing to JB, of course!

On Saturday, we started off at Tiny Boxwoods for breakfast. If you live in Houston, go here! My friend Erin gave me the rec and my sister had been there too -- this place is wonderful. We shared the breakfast meat & cheese board and the mother's breakfast with homemade biscuits, sausage, and jalapeno grits. Oh wow. We also shared a berry muffin and chocolate chip muffin. Carb loading for a long day ahead...hahaha! Everything was fresh and delicious. This place is so inviting..can't wait to go back!

We then went to the galleria and surrounding shops. I got the deal of the day with some cute leopard flip flops at DSW for $2.95 plus tax. It's a family joke that I always find the best deals and this is a prime example. My mom had a DSW mailer with two $10 coupons, one for May and one for June. I found the flip flops for $22.95, but when I went to check out, the lady purposefully scanned both and gave me $20 off.You have no idea how happy this made me. Next, we went to Blue Fish (another Erin rec) so my mom could try sushi for the first time. This was the perfect time, because my dad wasn't there and it was happy hour. We ordered edamame and a few rolls to share. I think she liked it, but she can't stop talking about how she still tastes all the ginger! HA! We met back up with the men and AC on Saturday night so everyone could sleep in their own beds.

Overall, it was such a fun weekend of being together! I'll post more soon!