I write now as Mrs. Emily Agnew (yay!) The wedding and honeymoon were in a word; unbelievable. Fabulous, perfect, and (in discussing places on our honeymoon) breathtaking also come to mind. I suppose everyone has this mentality but our wedding weekend was everything we could’ve asked for and more from our vendors to having SO many of our friends and family there with us to celebrate, we both agreed that we’d do everything again exactly the same way in a heartbeat. The honeymoon was perfect, having my husband (still get a kick out of saying that!) to myself for two weeks on a Mediterranean cruise with no cell phones, verrryyyy slow and limited internet and lots of great food, wine, and sightseeing is something that we’ll cherish forever.
And now, somehow, it’s the holiday season! Don’t know where this year went, but I am happy to celebrate my favorite time of year! We decided to spend our first Thanksgiving as a married couple in Texas and headed to South Padre Island for a long weekend. South Padre is about 5 and a half hours from Austin, but we were told that being from North Carolina and used to “beautiful beaches” that we should make the trek as it’s the nicest beach in Texas. We were not disappointed! I used vrbo.com (check it out for all your vacation rentals, love them!) and found a one bedroom, dog friendly condo right on the beach with a pool/hot tub, kitchen, and for a bargain.
While it was definitely strange in a way to be away from NC and not with my family for the holiday, our weekend was amazing. The weather was perfect, 80 – 85 degrees all three days we were there. Our condo unit ended up being right next to a classic beach bar, the “wanna wanna”, with the islands best shrimp, great drinks, and pretty awesome people watching ;) We had a buffet Thanksgiving and consumed wayyy too much of all the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc and loved the raw seafood stations included. (No broccoli casserole which is my fave, but it probably couldn’t measure up to my mom’s anyway!). Sadie proved that yes, she really is our “daughter” as she loves the beach as much if not more than we do! Between taking her for walks, fetch in the ocean, not worrying about cooking, and just relaxing, it was an absolutely wonderful Turkey day!
~our beyond happy puppy on the beach~
We got back in town yesterday afternoon to beat the traffic and went to dinner at a place I’ve been meaning to blog about for some time: Garage Mahal. If you like Indian food, you HAVE, have, have to come here if you are in Austin. It’s technically one of Austin’s many food trailers but it is a full service restaurant instead of a trailer where you order at the counter. There’s a huge tent set up in front of the trailer and there is plenty of outside seating as well. Heaters are on no since a cold front has finally come through to Austin and the place is always crowded. They serve amazing naan and truly excellent curries. To add to the restaurant’s appeal, it’s bring your own alcohol, so you bring whatever beer or wine you’d like to accompany your meal and the waiters are happy to bring glasses and an opener J Patrick is obsessed with Indian food and since discovering this place, I am too so we’ve been here several times and each time have walked away amazed at how fantastic it is.
I'm definitely overwhelmed with gratitude for all that has happened and that we've experienced this year. I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and are ready to jump into the Christmas craziness!! I don't have room for two trees this year and have no fireplace in our Texas house, but I spent the day decorating and one tree is up, the stockings are hung (on the wall!) and my Yankee “Sparkling Pine” candle is lit… what a wonderful start to the holidays!
