My (reputable) Food Truck Experience

I have always (well, since they became popular) wanted to go to a gourmet food truck and try it.  I don’t ever seem them on the side of the road or parked anywhere so I haven’t gotten a chance.  

People say that they are all over, but I haven’t had the opportunity to go.  After my sad experience at a food truck festival this summer, I decided I didn’t want to go to a festival, I would only go to a parked one.

My dad and stepmom, Pie asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  I am actually trying to de-clutter my life so I told them they could pick something on my bucket list and do it with me.  I would much rather have experiences than things any day, so that is a perfect gift for me!  They picked “eat at a (reputable) food truck”.

In Spring, there is a food truck park called Bernie’s Backyard.  I had heard about it several times but never been, so we went there.  We each got different items and we all split everything to share.  There are lots of tables outside where you can sit, but it was a rather cold (for Houston) night so we went inside the bar area where they serve drinks and got a table.  On certain nights they even have a band!

I got a frito pie philly cheese steak and mac and cheese wedges from The Naked Fry.

Dad got pizza from Rustica.

Pie got a Korean cheese sandwich and OMG fries from Oh My Gogi.  OMG, the OMG fries were AMAZING!

Everything was delicious!  Dad and Pie’s favorite was the pizza but mine was the OMG fries for sure!  We were all so full by the time we left.  It was a very fun treat to spend time with my family. :)

On the way home they got chicken tenders from Love Me Tenders for Justin since he was asleep when we left.  They said they were really good tenders but I didn't try them since I was so stuffed.

Soap Making Class

A few weeks ago I was browsing Groupon and I found a goat’s milk soap making class and I quickly signed up!  Oh wait, did I mention this was a Bucket List item???!!!!

The class was at Proverbs Farm in Alvin, TX with a very sweet woman named Tammy.

Anyway, I got to the location in Alvin but I wasn’t sure if I was in the correct place.  Does anyone else’s phone GPS take you to some weird locations?  The place was a residential building and I didn’t see any goats around.  Well, I called and it was the right place, it was just behind her home that she has her studio.  She showed me the studio while we waited for the others to get there. 

Once everyone was there we went to look at the goats.  There were even some baby goats that had been born that morning and still had the umbilical cord attached.  We were able to hold them and pet them if we wanted to.

After we got our baby goat fix, we went into the studio were we made soap!  She used to make goat milk cheese to sell at farmer’s markets, but she had recently stopped doing that.  BUT, she did have some for us to try and it was soooooo good.  She showed us the proper measurements for lye and the other ingredients.  Since lye is such a harsh chemical, she did that part herself and we added the ingredients.  One thing I found interesting was she added ice to the mixture to cool the lye down, instead of waiting for it to cool to the correct temperature.  Pretty cool short cut.

We were able to pick our color, our fragrance and our add-ins that we wanted. 

I picked glitter (duh!), pink color, poppy seeds for exfoliating, and a fragrance called “Love Potion” that smelled really good.

We made sure to measure everything properly and have the right tools (gloves and eye masks) when working.

We got to take our soap home with us.  It just needed to harden for about a week before we used it.  

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from the folks (ummm..OK, it's just me) behind FlamingosandFun.com!!!!

I will be leaving on a roadtrip to Marfa, TX to hunt for the mysterious lights and then flying out to Roatan, Honduras for New Year's Eve through the weekend.  I'm excited, I've never spent a holiday outside of the USA before!!

I want to leave with you 4 images of Christmas.

A Christmas future. This is the most important thing of all

 A Christmas past (Jabba looked like a Scrooge here...but he wasn't).  This set of pictures are probably my all time favorites of him.

 A CHRISTmas present.  Keep the Christ in Christmas this year.

And just for fun..

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Happenings Lately-Holiday Edition

What I have been up to lately...Holiday Edition!

I made a chalk drawings with my mom and Kali in my parents back yard. :)

I attempted (along with lots of others) to break a Guinness World Record by reading to the most kids in a 24 hour period with Read Across the Globe.  Unfortunately, we didn't beat the record.  But I will say that the book we read was great!  I was like "who wants to read a book about farming?" (sorry, I'm a city girl) but once I read it I wanted to buy it for my children's book collection.  Check it out!

I sat in the live studio audience of Great Day Houston!

We decorated the Christmas tree and Kali decided that we needed 4 of the same ornaments on one branch.  It was too cute to move so we left it there. :)

 We built a gingerbread house and a certain 2 year old ate most of the decorations...

I took a 2 year old to the Woodland's Mall to see Santa and then to the playground inside.  She didn't want to leave.

I attended the FANTASTIC Christmas musical experience called Celebration at Houston's First Baptist Church with my friend Terrie, her mom (below) and granddaughter, Lila.  I bought the tickets back in November when they went on sale.  I actually went twice this year, once with Terrie and co. and the other with my Grandmother.  The show is amazing!

I bought a Christmas ornament with my niece and nephews name on it!

Thanksgiving Happenings

Once again...bad blogger about writing blog posts.  Here it is Christmas and I am just now writing about Thanksgiving. :/  #naughtylist

Over thanksgiving weekend I stayed at my parents’ house and hung out with my family.  On thanksgiving we did what we usually do, invite everyone over for food and we heat the pool for the kids to swim.  I had volunteered to help Downtown at the GRB to serve food to the homeless and less fortunate people of Houston.

City Wide Club hosted over 20,000 people this year for Thanksgiving at the George R. Brown Convention Center.  I helped out in the women’s clothing department helping find clothes they would want.  We organized everything by size and the women would come to the table and choose items.  Some of the clothes were really nice but some had holes in it.  There were a few teenagers that needed clothes.  There weren’t many options so we helped them shop.  We would go over the table to see what a teenager would want and then hold it up.  One of the girls I could tell if she didn’t like something, she would just shake her head yes (because she thought she had to take it but she didn’t have to) but when we found something she loved her face would LIGHT UP.  It was really fun to watch.  I liked helping people find clothes that they liked, not necessarily what was only available in their size.  I know that some kids get embarrassed with their clothes, but I tried to make sure they liked what they got!

Afterwards I went to my parents for Thanksgiving.  Everyone had already eaten but the time I got there (about 1:30) so I just sat outside and talked to everyone while they watched the kids in the pool.  It's a tradition that my parents heat the pool for Thanksgiving and Easter.  

I knew I would be late since I would be volunteering, so I told my parents to have everyone eat without me. Then we got out the sales ads and starting mapping out our plan of attack. :)

That night my sister and I went shopping (yes, we are THOSE people who shopped on Thanksgiving Day).  We hit up Palais Royal, Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl’s.  We had a scratch off for Palais Royal that we held up to the light and figured that we would get  $10 free.  While we were shopping there I went to the jewelry counter and there was an extra add sitting on the cabinet so I grabbed it.  It was worth $20 when I held it up to the light.  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bought some items with the $20 and Laura got something for our mom with the $10 one.  I had wanted some present bow Christmas earrings but couldn’t find them anywhere.  As luck would have it, I found them at Palais Royal and used my coupon.  I got two notebooks and my earrings for $26 ($6 after my $20 coupon).  Success.

We went to Kohl’s next with the $15 in Kohl’s Bucks for every $50 you spend. We are getting my mom a SURPRISE so I can’t say but it was on sale for $119 everywhere (you can probably figure it out).  My younger sister, Tori, gets a 20% discount at her work but we decided that the Kohl’s Bucks was worth it instead.  Plus I bought an extra SURPRISE items for myself so plus a present for Kali making we get $75 in Kohl’s bucks!  I have already spent it on a pair of yoga pants, three wall organizers, and a snowman scarf (that I have received a surprisingly lot of compliments on).

That was my Thanksgiving, how was yours?!

The Feast of Saint Thomas

There is an old Swiss Tradition on the night of December 21^st that is called the Feast of Saint Thomas.  I first heard about this on a Hallmark movie, Let it Snow.  I first watched the movie at the end of November or early December and I just KNEW I wanted to do it.  It might be silly, but whatever. :)

I forgot about it until Sunday afternoon when I was watching other Hallmark movies and then I remembered!  I actually thought I had missed it, but luckily, once I checked the date online, it was the next night.  Phew. It’s too late to do it this year, but all you single ladies out there put it on your calendar to do next year on December 21st! ;)

How to Dream About Your Future Husband on the Feast of St. Thomas:

1. Climb into bed using a step-stool 

2. Remove your shoes

3.  Spin around 3 times

4. Throw the shoes at your bedroom door

5. Sleep with your head at the foot of the bed while your feet are propped up on a pillow

Follow all of these instructions and you will dream of the man you are destined to marry.

How did it turn out for me?  Well, I did it exactly like the directions said and fell asleep.  I woke up several times throughout the night, trying to remember if I dreamed of my ‘future husband’ but I always went right back to sleep.  One time I did dream of someone and I remember thinking “that is not someone I would normally be attracted to, but it’s supposed to be true”.  LOL.  We were holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes in the dream, so who knows. Haha.

Only time would tell.  I honestly don’t remember what he looked like other than I think he had dark hair.  It was just a fun thing to do. :) 

Let me know if it works for you.  I posted it on FB yesterday and I think several people were going to do it.