castro elves at work...

i remember growing up with neighbors sending a little sweet treat our way for the xmas holidays. i always thought it was a sweet gesture and of course couldn't wait to do the same. tony and i have yet to officially meet a couple of neighbors on our block and figured this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. i love peppermint bark and have always wanted to make some, so i did.  tony found an amazing recipe from a coworker called brickle that he wanted to "kick up a notch", so he did.  mom castro told tony about a haystack recipe that he wanted to try, so he did that too. and voila!


peppermint bark, yummy



brickle, a perfect salty and sweet treat

haystack, butterscotch flavored crunchiness

adorable labels from amy pluck with a little castro touch

head elf
i thought it would be perfect to dress up tokyo as a reindeer and bring along...
but it didn't fly with tony.  maybe next year...

an island and lots of tamales...

our island is finally in and we loooove it.  we worked with celia at monterrey rustic and more to design a custom island and we couldn't be happier.  it took what seemed forever but oh well, it's here now. it's hot and smells great too...


this past weekend we also went to tamales! at pearl.  it was a gorgeous evening and the tamales were yuuuuuum.  our personal favorites were the juicy and plump pork tamales that were packed with tasty, divine fattiness from mi casa tamales. i'd really love to learn how to make tamales. an awesome latin band, whose name i need to find because i'd love to hear them again, provided great entertainment.  the band was staged by the pearl train and children and people were dancing and having such a grand time.  they even had fireworks! what fun. i can't wait to do it again next year...

tis the season to get crafty with my bad self...

since this is our first christmas in sweet pea and our first christmas tree ever, i wanted to find the perfect christmas tree skirt.  consequently, after searching several local stores this turned out to be more difficult then i thought until i saw the loveliest tree skirt online. oh so beautiful...just what i was looking for: simple, vintagy, and crafty.  the one hundred ninety-eight dollar price tag was oh so not what i was looking for. the good news was that this lovely tree skirt from garnet hill not only caught my eye but many other crafty bloggers out there and the feeling about the price tag was mutual thus leading to many diy tutorials {like this} on how to create your own replica. then i saw this gorgeous felt wreath that i instantly fell in love with and i knew i had to try to combine their loveliness somehow. and somehow did i! it turned out beautiful and perfect! here are some pics...

the oh so lovely poinsettia tree skirt from garnet hill



the oh so lovely felt flower wreath from purl bee



ta daaaaaaa...

oh so...

LOVELY



it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

we bought our very first christmas tree! it is up and quite fab indeed!  tony's mom and sisters joined us as we picked up some lovely and sparkling silver, white, and aqua ornaments at target and decked out our tree. in the late afternoon, we walked over the newly restored hay's street bridge and into downtown to the alamo where we joined in the "lighting of downtown" festivities. with a cold, windy, star-filled night and of course our starbucks grande chai tea latte with soymilk, a pump of vanilla, a pump of cinnamon, a swirl of whip cream, and a good shake or two of nutmeg in our hands (yum! write it down and try it. seriously!), the spirit of the holidays was irresistible.

bend it like the castros...

tony and i shared our first yoga experience this past weekend at southtown yoga loft.  as our bodies shook with every new pose we managed to get ourselves into we realized how great of a workout yoga really is.  southtown yoga loft is a new yoga studio that just opened up in the southtown/king william area of san antonio.  the session went fanspankintastic and i think tony and i are hooked...

i'm loving scarf weather...

this fall weather has been perfect. last weekend we drove over to the farmer's market at the pearl brewery. we bought come cucumbers, sweet bell peppers, and bread pudding...yum.  the 2nd annual gingerbread design challenge also happened to be taking place at the pearl.  i really need to start keeping my camera in my purse.  the contestants had just started when we arrived but already you could see where they were heading in their design, super cool.

this past weekend and the weekend before, graduate and undergraduate architecture students participated in the first STAR event (students together achieving revitalization) in dignowity hill. tony and i joined other neighborhood association members to help with providing lunch for the students. it was amazing to see the students working hard and appreciating the historical architecture of our neighborhood.

tony and i also cheered on the runners and our dear friend elva who rocked the full marathon in the rock n' roll marathon this past sunday. go elva!

all in three weeks...

it's hard to believe we have been living in sweet pea for a mere three weeks. it feels longer and it's feeling great! there are moments when i am just overtaken with disbelief that this charming house is ours and we are within minutes of many of our favorite spots in town.  we are down to one box of unpacking and are only awaiting two big pieces of furniture, our island and tv stand.  our curtains for the dining room are in and so is our reupholstered sofa. we've also attended our first neighborhood association meeting, became official members, joined in a community picnic, found the tastiest brisket and yams in san antonio, and i've already managed to lock myself out of the house! lucky for me, our neighbor bill was home and i was able to call tony.  having my husband 5 minutes away definitely has its perks...



before





after!





our wool and twill drapes





tokyo the valiant



hApPy bIrThDay mArIsa!!

  

Just a little off the top

Today was a good day. I woke up early actually excited about giving Sweet Pea her first haircut. My awesome neighbor Bill let me borrow his lawn mower, and I gave her a buzz cut. The front yard is thick and lush, and the back......well, it's nothing special. Alot of clover and weeds. But at least they are short now. We're off to Floresville tomorrow for my uncle Anthony's 50th b-day party. I'll try and trim the bushes on Sunday.

new dog park...

the timing couldn't have been more perfect. there's a new dog park in town and it's super close to us. it's located at madison square park in downtown. the grand opening was just this past sunday but unfortunately we missed out on it. tokyo and  i went over to check it out this morning and i think it's going to be perfect. tokyo approves it too.

home sweet home...

and we are in! after much anticipation, it feels soooo good to be in our home.  we just came back from a stroll through dignowity park which is a block away from sweet pea.  we were just sitting there talking and enjoying the breeze and view...tony, tokyo, and i...and i wondered to myself when had been the last time we were at the park just taking it easy like we were.  it was kinda surreal cause then i realized how often we could start doing this.  we're only a block away.  the park overlooks the downtown skyline and it was a big "i'm glad i'm doing this and i'm glad it's with you" kinda moment.  my parents are in town so they got to visit sweet pea for the first time as well as help us with the rest of the moving. it's always great having them in town and i hope they move back soon for good.  so even though there are still tons of unpacking to do, we are finally home.

a perfect day for some oiling and painting...

what a gorgeous day it was today. tony and i woke up and went straight to painting and oiling.  i painted our country chairs a light blue and tony oiled our coffee table. the sky was clear, the sun was out, the radio was playing, and the breeze was doing what it does best. yesterday, we moved quite a bit to sweet pea with the help of tony's sis andrea who came down from austin to help out.  next weekend we move the rest and finally start staying at our new home...

It's our house, and we can paint if we want to...

Prepping the house for move-in is still underway. We figured what better way to make it our own than to paint it. Sonya and I finally agreed on colors and my wonderful family came over saturday to help paint. My mom, Betty, Anthony and Mia all did a great job. It's coming along very nice. Mia helped paint and acted as supervisor. Before we started painting I picked up some BBQ from a local spot called Pat's BBQ that was very good fuel for 7 hours of painting. One more room to paint this week. Our fridge, W/D, and TV come on friday. So close to moving in, yet so far away.

september 21st...

the big entrance...drumroll please :-)

sold...

Sweet Pea

she is officially ours! closing went as smooth as we could hope for. this would not have been possible without team castro which includes our super supportive family, friends, amazing realtor slyvia white,our awesome mortgage broker steve benavides and the wonderful people we have met along the way. we are so so ecstatic... at least now we both are. you see, weeks before signing tony was the one who was more excited while i was more anxious and nervous about everything going smoothly.  as soon as the deal was done, i quickly became super thrilled while tony soon found himself a bit overwhelmed with the many tasks at hand that of course comes with purchasing a 100 plus year old house. however, after getting our game plan on he is now back to being his focused and uber charged self and i am right there with him! so first things first... bring on the tape and float, the cleaners and liners, and the oh so lovely paint...

I did it, I did it

I'm just exploring this whole blog thing. I wanted to show Sonya I can do it to. Just 4 days till we get the house, and my mind is racing with to do lists. We can't wait. Pics will be coming soon.

almost home...

closing on sweet pea is in a little over three weeks 3 more days now! is there even a way to express the smile on my face and the excitement i'm feeling in words? we cannot wait and are super excited.  we are almost home...