Puerto Rico!

Two weeks after coming back from Mexico and it's off to EDC Puerto Rico!



A pretty horrific trip actually. Chris had a freak out over nothing and then got quite threatening. Needless to say, we are no longer on speaking terms. Oh well! Onward to nicer people and happier times :) San Juan is really pretty though. Not very big. Got to see the old fort that's there. A bit creepy down some of the hallways hahaha.

My brain is drawing a blank about what else I've actually been up to. So, I'll just skip ahead and try and do a better job of keeping up with stuff in future.

Busy because Eddie arrived! Took him out to Pass & Provisions!



It's so awesome. Speaking of this place... I'd been once before in between EDC and Eddie arriving so that's something I did! We got to sit at the seats that have full view of the kitchen! Really really great food and drinks and a fantastic atmosphere. I really want to keep going back. It's also brilliant that it's just up the end of the food from Mum and Nick's. Eddie thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure he's going to want to head back too.

Oh! I found an apartment! Going to be living Downtown and so is Eddie :) Just like uni all over again! Hahaha. Found him a car this weekend as well and work started for him today.

I also went to my first Texans football watching party thing as well. Made sausage rolls and thought I did a pretty good job. Yay cooking!

Books completed too: Slaughterhouse 5

Slacker

Maybe I got a tad behind on this because of all of my vacations that I've been taking and what-not. Lots of stuff has changed lately!

After getting back from Kerville, interesting stuff. The Super Happy Fun Day ended up being really super happy fun. That's enough on that. We went to a Comedy club, was pretty hilarious actually :) Very good time.

I got to try out Feast Restaurant for Houston Restaurant Weeks and it was awesome!!! I need to convince the rest of the family to head over there and give it a shot. Yum yum yum! I had beef shoulder with potatoes... amazing! I will definitely be going back.



After that, there was a trip to Playa del Carmen in Mexico! Was another really awesome trip. Had the usual mimosas at the airport nom nom nom. We went to the same Italian restaurant every night as usual because it's awesome, and we were treated EXTREMELY well. David was our waiter again, but the restaurant manager spent a lot of time looking after us and recommending different wines, letting us try free wines. Epic. Nick and I went swimming in the sea while Mum was at the bar (some toasty water in the Gulf of Mexico) and we went to quite a few other little random bars too. A lot of wine. And a lot of swimming :) Nick and I were getting up every morning to go in the pool. One morning, Mum and Nick went to get cheese and meats and bread for breakfast. And champagne! Happy happy me! Hopefully the next time we go, Steven can come with us. Anyway, some fun shopping too, got a few rings and little jewelry bits. Looking forward to going again.

Weekend With The Brewers

We all got to go to Kerrville! Okay, so maybe that doesn't sound overly exciting... but we got to go to Kerrville with a lot of other brewers!! Friday morning I went to pick up Dennis and Stephen and we started our 4 1/2 hour journey. Highlight of the drive: We passed a guy with a bumper sticker that said, "If babies had guns, they wouldn't be aborted." Priceless. We stopped at Freetails Brewpub on the way up there and had lots of tasty tasty beer and some nibbles. We were almost to our cars to leave when someone said... another beer? Yes said the group! And back in we went. Friday night is a bit hazy for me... maybe too much beer. Maybe. I do remember (and have a video of) the group 'Daggering' Aaron because he went to bed early, and I might have gone skinny dipping in the Guadalupe River. 101 Things to Do Before I Die number 83 completed! Went with a guy from Real Ale... can't remember his real name. Fun times though. Friday night also involved my first Honky Tonk! I got to dance with absolutely everybody! Including non-dancing Justin and Vince. Lots of line-dancing and two-stepping. I played poker too :) I won!

Saturday we had a lot of seminars to go to. The aroma seminar was the most interesting. Saturday was a much tamer night for me, though I did have Dennis come into my room at one point demanding a back massage. I was trying to watch shark week damn it! We played a lot of card games with the Southern Star guys including one involving stacking cards on top of a can. Dennis was trashed by this point and lost three times. Lots of Buried Hatchet for him. Real Ale randomer tried to get me to go swimming again. I don't think so, but nice try. I had a drunk Dennis banging on my door at around midnight, but I was mean and left him outside. 

Sunday was a very difficult drive back. Lots of tired people. Got to meet Aaron's dog though. Big cutie basset hound. I even got hugs off the non-huggy boys because I drove all the way there and all the way back. Was nice :) Then I had a Dynamo game to go to with Dagger! Went to the tailgate with Robbie and Jessica beforehand and drank too much there as well. Game was a draw. Met a couple of players (no idea who they were) and got chatting to a couple with a very cute little girl. Her Dad was a Liverpool fan so we had plenty to talk about. Nice people. We got some of the cheerleaders autographs too. Then I was taken home and made the stupid decision to go and visit Chris. Bad Claire. Anyway, good fun eventful weekend. It was a shame that I didn't get to go and visit Steven though. Hopefully I'll see him soon. 

This Week: In the Working World

Just another bad bad week in general. A lot of stuff going wrong which obviously isn't very fun. I'm afraid a certain working buddy isn't working out as well as we'd hoped. Still asking a lot of really silly questions which he shouldn't be asking after working there for that long. I'm not really looking forward to having to spend the whole weekend with him either. I need a break. I did manage to do the plates yesterday though without any issues so hopefully there will be no more back injuries in future. 

Last night I went over to Chris' for dinner. Tasty tasty dinner. And general lounging which is always nice. I need to spend more time chilling out and stop worrying about filling all my time with stuff. 

I also went to Target this morning to go and grab a pillow to design for Dennis this weekend... should get working on that :P 

Disjointed Weekend

Due to stuff breaking at work, our weekend was divided which was a bit annoying...

THURSDAY: During the day, I went with Casey to go and watch the new Batman movie. I had free IMAX tickets! When I went to watch Prometheus, the movie died towards the end so I got free tickets to go watch another IMAX movie whenever I felt like it. YAY! MOVIE POSTER!



Anyway, nifty movie and Casey and I thoroughly enjoyed that we didn't recognize Tom Hardy until right towards the very end. I definitely preferred him in Bronson though. It was a shame that the majority of his facial expressions were covered up by the mask. I was kind of disappointed with the end though. Surely a big bomb like that would have caused a massive title wave that would have done some more damage to Gotham? No?? Fine then. I STILL LOVE MICHAEL CAINE!

After the movie, I went round to Chris' and he made a fish curry. Tasty fish curry. We made mashed potatoes to go with it instead of rice. We proceeded to drink 2 bottles of wine too... oops. The Riesling and Tempranillo from the party. And there was Bailey's. Maybe I need to lay off the booze a little bit hahaha. We watched Mrs. Brown too. I love that movie. Woke up with a minor hangover, which wasn't great, but at least I didn't have lots to do at work that day.

FRIDAY: Work work work. Cleaned the system. Chris messed it up some more. Ugh. To get rid of my frustration, I went out to Sushi King with Sven and Jez. Felt much better :) The waitress they always get is really nice in there. Then went to bed because I'm dull and I was tired.

SATURDAY: Today, I went over to Mum and Nick's because I didn't know what else to do and Mum and Nick were just as bored. We drove around for a really long time trying to determine where to go for food! Passed the Stag's Head, Richmond Arms... just didn't feel like going to any of those places. In the end, we made it all the way towards the galleria and settled on Escalante's. Had a really really nice waitress in there and nice tasty foods. After food, Chris came over because we were going to go to Miller Outdoor Theater to go and watch a production of Hamlet... but it was really hot outside and we decided to go round to Mum and Nick's for food. Lamb and mussels and tasty cheese and port. Instead of boring dinner, Nick had completely set the table and it turned into a dinner party, even if it didn't make it into the book. Chris took his pants off as soon as he got in the house because Nick wasn't wearing any either... RANDOM! They were singing the HMS Pinafore too. Good night.

SUNDAY: Had to work. :( Nothing interesting happened. Yawn!

Weekend Wonderfullness!

FRIDAY: Work ended early for me on Friday so Chris, Sven and I could head out to Little Woodrow's! Got to work on my 'Big 50'. Only 10 more beers to go :D Mum and Nick came out to meet us as well which was nice. They need to come out more! Silly Weight Watchers :P Anyway, too much drink was had because one of the bottles I ordered was a 750mL bottle and I didn't realise... oops! 

SATURDAY: Woke up with a not so great head. Lots of water was required. In the end, El Tiempo was the only solution. Fajitas are one of the best hangover cures. Mum and Nick came out to meet me and Chris there as well. Margaritas also helped the hangover cure... or maybe just masked it. I had to work for a little bit after that to check some tanks. Aaron and Leah were already there setting up for their wedding :) She looked so pretty! Went home after that and got ready for their wedding reception. The most popular comment of the evening, "Claire... you're in a dress! You clean up nice!" Haha. Kind of fun to go from scruffy work clothes to a nice dress. The night was really awesome. Rachel and I did a lot of dancing and it was fun hanging out with Lori too. After the wedding reception we headed to Char Bar for a while and more girlie time. Really nice night. 

SUNDAY: Ummm... Sunday started with going to La Madeline with Chris for lunch and then heading to The Black Lab with Jez, Sven, Pam, Scott and Ajax. Had a few drinks before heading to the racepark to go and see Kooza! Cirque du Soleil is fun :D Lots of fantastic acts; would absolutely love to go and see another one!! Anyway, busy busy weekend, but had a fantastic time. Managed to keg my test brew to :) And now and can lie down and just watch TV for a while before and majorly busy week at work! HURRAY!!!

Crazy Work Week!

One of those hectic weeks where stuff wants to break and not go as smoothly as one would have liked! Even beer can be a difficult mistress sometimes. Oh, I brew beer for a living :D Awesome time, but like any job can have its difficult days. Still! The work week has to end soon right? I have a fun weekend planned of weddings, working on my 'Big 50' at Little Woodrow's, and going to see Kooza. Will be my second Cirque du Soleil experience, so hopefully it will be as good as the first one! Sadly, not in Vegas this time :P 

Birthday Weekend

Updates: Went to Jones Hall to go see a Zelda Symphony performance!http://zelda-symphony.com/



Was pretty cool! Definitely had flashback memories; I haven't seen footage from 'Link's Awakening' in a very long time! Got to see a lot of cosplayers and chatted with the bartender for a while. Anyway, would go to something like that again. I'm distracted because Futurama is on. I went to Hearsay afterwards for tasty foods and cocktails. Pretty good night, I miss going to concerts as often.

Had another outing to Dave and Busters later in the week as well. It was a 1/2 price night so we were able to get enough tickets for me to get a fluffy pink spider! I think he's cute. And now I had a random fluffy pink spider that lives on my bed :) I got a pink cocktail too! Tasties!

Random things!
We decided to do a drive round the loops of Houston! First: the 610 loop. That only took about 35 minutes to drive around... so it was decided that it wasn't a long enough road trip... TO BELTWAY 8!! The beltway took significantly longer. About an hour and 35 minutes. I was sufficiently bored about halfway around... typical. Still, there's a lot of Houston to see that way! Probably wouldn't do it again though...

LAST WEEK!!

Went on a date with Chris to a sushi place in the Galleria area. Was really fun, I met Leroy the cat too. Crazy cat. We were meant to be going out again on Thursday, but I really hurt my back at work and couldn't leave my apartment! Uncool. I had to go to the doctor first thing on Friday morning. Had to have muscle relaxants and painkillers from the doctor and try and work out my shift for this week because I'm now not allowed to lift anything! Missed work on Friday due to doctor's orders.

Rowanne arrived that afternoon though which was awesome! (It's also Mum's 50th birthday at this point!) We went out to Brasserie 19 for dinner and had lots of tasty wine and food. A lot of oysters! I think we had 7 bottles of wine or port between the 6 of us hehehehe. I had to go home early because my back was still hurting and I couldn't sit for so long. When everyone got home, Nick started shouting about the Olympic opening ceremony and how it was the best thing we've done since winning the war... a tad drunk I think hahahahaha. Mum was a bit tipsy too! Was doing her classic, "I'm tired..." "Go to bed then." "I'M GOING!" (doesn't move from couch). And repeat. Steven fell down the stair too... but Katie was there to help him. I think less booze should have happened.

Rowanne and I went back to my apartment and hung out for a bit since we were the only two that were sober. In the morning, we went headed to Buffalo Exchange. I found a dress for Leah and Aaron's wedding for $6.50! Awesome dress! I need to head back to that place more often to pad out my wardrobe!! Saturday night we had Pam and Scott over for a vegan dinner party. I had to go to bed early again because I wasn't feeling very well. And Sunday was El Tiempo margarita day! Margaritas for Rowanna! Was a fun weekend. Chris and I got to go to Hearsay last night to make up for the reservation I cancelled. Watched Mary and Max too. Good movie.

Today is Pumpkinator week at work... so hopefully my injury isn't going to cause too many issues!

Wish I could sit for a long enough length of time so I could play Diablo III...

Successful Night

First the catch up and then the update from last night.


Catch up:
The Friday after my birthday, Kevin (old brewer) turned up to say good bye to everyone (moving to... somewhere else). Lots of beer was had at our usual bottle share and then more beer was had because he'd brought some from... where ever he's going to go live. Went to the Front Porch (bar) with Dagger (work person) afterwards for a couple a beers (I see a pattern forming) and then went back to mine before he headed home. Apparently, I have a 'Dude Pad'. I'm not entirely sure what that's meant to mean, but Dagger told me that I live like a dude. Is that bad? Sam came round before going out to Kevin's leaving party and we drank my Speedway Stout from San Diego :) mmmm... tasty beer. 


Next day: Went to Da Marco's for my birthday dinner. We originally thought that Nick was going to be in Alaska and miss my actual birthday so booked it for the week after. Turns out we didn't need to. Anyway, wonderful truffle risotto and tasty wines for Claire. Make Claire happy :) Got to go all out for these things. I got to touch a gorgeous Bentley too. Looked it up when we got home... $350,000 worth of car. And I touched the wing mirror. Heh. I also go some VERY attentive waiters. So, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself and not so upset about being older. 


Euro cup winners: Spain. That is all.


4th of July: Went to Beaver's for a beer event and took part in a charity event. Charity event involved me getting hit in the face with pies. There was a distinct smell of whipped cream in my hair for about 2 days afterwards. Fun day of more beer. Watched the fireworks from Mum and Nick's roof. Katy and Steven managed to make it down from Austin as well. Always nice to see the baby brother. 


Update from last night!!
Pretty stressed after a not-so-great week at work and decided to go meet Mum and Nick at Majorca. Sadly, they were just leaving as I got there so I didn't get to hang out with them. I went to Little Woodrow's by myself for a while instead. Had just texted Sven to ask if he wanted to have a drink with me when Chris (new person) asked if I wanted to join him and his friends since I was by myself. Apparently the two of us have a vast quantity of things in common: video games, anime, love to travel etc. A certain somebody gets to out for dinner next Tuesday :P So, we shall see how this develops! 

BOUNCY BALLS!

Things I have missed writing about since my birthday because I'm lazy:


I got to be part of a party on my actual birthday!! For my birthday I normally get a bit sad due to certain family members not being around that I wish could attend. To make all these nasty feelings of sad go away - throwing 300 bouncy balls down the stairs seemed like a nice logical step :D If you've never tried it, do. Awesome. And it scares the shit out of the people also attending the same party (best if you don't announce your intentions at the top of the stairs). Fun night. Pinata and dancing!


My actual birthday day involved going out for pitchers of margaritas with my parents (hurray for fun parents!!!) and going to watch the European Cup Final (I fell asleep). Copious amounts of booze resulted in me missing work on the Monday. Bad Claire. 


I'm determined to write this all out in chunks... so tomorrow will be another fill in of things I missed. But first! Update about today! I got chatted up in a bar! I'm not used to such things! Cool feelings. 


Also finished book: "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman"

Explanation!!

So! 25 years old is going to count as my mid-life crisis year. The plan: Have lots of fun during this year and blame all of it on having a mid-life crisis. And.... GO!