Newman Family Gathering

We hosted the entire Newman clan at our house to celebrate March birthdays at the beginning of this month. It was good to see everyone and so nice of all of them to come to Dallas!

My aunts, Shar and Evalyn. 

Cousins Ron and Blake

Blake, my dad, Ethan

People sat on our patio all afternoon and the kiddos played in the yard and in the tree!

Eli and Olivia

Mom and Parker

Andy and Teresa with Eli

Holly, Al, Ron and Olivia singing "Happy Birthday."

Olivia, Eli Caitlin and Parker in our tree.

We loved seeing everyone but especially missed Brad and Lori! 

Central Market Cooking School

When I'm in Fort Worth, one of my favorite restaurants is Nona Totta. It's a teeny tiny authentic Italian restaurant off of Magnolia and the chef, Donatella Trotti, moved to FW from Milan after working for Prada. What a life. Anyway, her food is always to die for and she makes everything that comes out of her kitchen. It's wonderful and Donatella even won Fort Worth's most recent top chef competition. That's beating out a lot of nationally renowned chefs, I might add. 

Clearly I love Nona Totta and share this affection with my mother, so when she saw that Donatella was hosting a cooking class at Central Market's cooking school, she signed us up. We got there very early (that's rather unusual for my mom) and we got to sit front and center!

The Donatella Trotti. 

Did I mention you get to eat everything she makes? This deliciousness was cipolle caramellate with gelato al parmigiano. That would be a caramelized onion tart with parmesan gelato. Sinful. 

But really easy!

Lasagne di pane, a bread lasagna. Wonderful. 

Capesante con il Mais e salsa verde--scallops on a bed of grilled corn with a lemon parsley pesto. 

Plenty of wine and prosecco were passed around. 

A bunet, a pudding type dessert. Again, amazing. 

My mom and I hung around afterward and chatted with Donatella. She's nice, funny and "doesn't care to eat her own food." People like that drive me nuts. 

We really enjoyed learning to cook her recipes and I'm looking forward to making them! 

Valero Alamo Bowl

We LOVED finding tickets in our stockings to the Valero Alamo Bowl featuring a showdown between Baylor and Washington! Baylor, having perhaps their best season ever, was hoping for their tenth win and we were excited to be able to take some time off work to see it!

We got down to San Antonio early, took the obligatory pic at the Alamo, and met the Hardages for a little lunch on the Riverwalk. We later met up with both of our families at Mi Tierra and then met up with some friends at the Friendly Spot pre-game. 

Loved getting to see some friends before the game!

John and I with our sisters, Megan and Rebekah. 

Mimi and Pawpaw came down for the game as well! 

John's parents gave him a t-shirt that quotes William Barrett Travis' letter to Sam Houston during the siege of the Alamo, "P.S. The Lord is on our side..."

(Also, I'm sure John would like for everyone to know that he can recite the entire letter by heart. It's true, I have heard it several times.)

Baylor won in one of the most suspenseful games, EVER. We stayed afterward to watch the celebration and take in the milestone of Baylor football. (Balloon + fireworks makes me really nervous....)

Following the victory, we headed to the Hardages' hotel for our celebratory champagne toast. Winning is fun.

Cheers!

Thank you Baylor football for a fun-filled and and exciting games since September. Here's hoping the 2012 season is as good, or even better! 

Christmas at Nana's

Christmas morning at Nana's is one of my favorite traditions. We head over around ten for coffee, OJ, muffins and sausage balls. 

Mom and Mindy

Amy and Clay

Cousins

Being at Nana's house makes it really feel like Christmas, as she decks the halls with decorations from the decades. She's always a wonderful hostess and taught me the motto, "Treat your guests like family and your family like guests."

The tree is filled with ornaments from their years of travel. 

Christmas village. Probably a pain to put up, but always worth admiring. 

We all have stockings made by Mammaw many, many years ago. 

Pretty tablescape

Mammaw, my 93 year-old great-grandmother, was able to join us for the day as well. 

Mom and Dad

During the middle of opening presents a phone started ringing. Nana realized it was one of her presents and opened it to find her first iPhone. 

Following the presents we eat a delicious, leisurely lunch of grilled pork tenderloin (courtesy of John) roasted mustard potatoes, mac and cheese, deviled eggs, brussels sprouts and dressing. And maybe some gingerbread and buttermilk pie too. :)

Thanksgiving at the Purley Gates

This past week we traveled all the way to the Purley Gates, a retreat in Purley, TX, to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Hardage families. It was the perfect location (main lodge with individual cabins to the side) to fit all 20+ members in attendance. We ate wonderful food, played games, spent time outside and got to know each other better. I loved every minute of it. 

Outside the main lodge. 

Diana and Phil playing catch. 

Me with Diana and Olivia. 

Me with the hubs. 

The David Hardage clan. 

Hoping for another Thanksgiving out there again next year! 

Celebrating Mom's birthday

Last night we celebrated my Mom's birthday at the Dallas Arboretum's Concerts in the Garden series. I just knew she would love being outside, spending time with family and most importantly, seeing the fall pumpkins display. 

She even wore orange to match. :)

So the arboretum has had a fairy tale theme for all of their seasonal displays this year. Here is Cinderella's village. 

Too many pumpkins. So many varieties. 

After strolling through the arboretum, Mom and I met up with the guys and listened to the hits of the decades by Dallas Unlimited. 

Cooler weather + fried chicken + panzanella salad+ beer and wine + great music = Perfection. 

Followed by Sprinkles cupcakes!

Happy Birthday, Mom! Here's to many more!