out the front door...



boo bash sack racing



hays street bridge



siclovia



chalk it up

 

freckled streets



bright hues

 

diwali festival

 

accordian festival

wow. to think it's been since summer that i've last updated our blog.  time sure is flying by!  thanksgiving break is already around the corner.  last month we celebrated our one year in the house and the shots above are some of the awesome events we've been able to enjoy recently. 

the dig is heating up...

and i'm not talking about the weather...our dig hill neighborhood association voted to support the establishment of a microbrewery on a city owned lot located near the outer edges of our neighborhood.  there are of course different views and opinions on the issue everywhere.  from what i can tell by monday night's meeting, many are for it, some are skeptical, and a few are fervently opposed.  very interesting... it appears the city seems to think so too by the looks of these stories from sa current, ksat news, and the express news.

on a side note, dig hill is finally getting the much anticipated historic street signs installed.  woohoo!

we ♥ dignowity hill...

there are so many great initiatives in the works in dignowity hill and it has been an absolute thrill for us to be able to participate and contribute in any way that we can.  sometimes,  i reflect back on the preconceived notions i held about the neighborhood during the initial stages of our house hunting and  i always end up shaking my head in disbelief at how little i really knew about the community's history, significance, beauty, and people. it's like befriending the outcast and realizing, hey you're not as bad they said! ha, ten months in and we are absolutely DIGGING our community ;) ok, to the fun stuff.  let's see...

there's THE EASTSIDE SPROUT...

our community is starting up a second garden in dignowity hill at ella austin community center called the eastside sprout.  we are in the beginning stages and looking for volunteers of all skill levels and ages. we were just approved recently for funding by green spaces alliance and look forward to the fall season which will start off our first planting efforts. i wasn't a "dig" resident when the first community garden took off so i'm so excited to be a resident now and help out from the very beginning.  i'm so looking forward to meeting even more community members and enjoying the fruits of our labor together.

there is also THE EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE...

our community is also planning to build a partnership with saisd's bowden elementary, one of the elementary school's in our community.  as a teacher, this is right up my alley and i'm psyched to see that our committee is growing to include members outside of our community who really want to make a positive impact on the children. insight and support from communities in schools and san antonio youth literacy are really helping us build a strong foundation for our committee and we look forward to beginning a mentoring program in the fall and a "saturday school" type program in the spring. in this program, students and their parents will meet with volunteers and fellow community members who will teach a unique skill. we are currently still in the planning stages and hope to present our plan to the neighborhood soon so that we can start recruiting volunteers and mentors.

and there is THE FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE... 

 now, this one is really tony's baby.  but since i went to the last meeting for him, i have to share what may be in the works. it's a halloween block party.  that's all i'm throwing out since it's the very early stages of planning.  but many cool ideas were thrown around at the meeting and there's much potential for good ol' scary and neighborly fun in october.  it's gonna be a treat!

there's also talks of a MICROBREWERY... 

eugene simor, owner of alamo beer company, would like to build a microbrewery on a city owned corner lot near the restored haystreet bridge which is located in dignowity hill.  tony and i absolutely love this idea because it would bring more attention and economic interest to our side of town.  this will be san antonio's only microbrewery in the city and would help shine a light on the beauty of the dignowity hill historic district.  hopefully, it will also help others in the city think again about their preconceived notions about the eastside.  simor has already presented his plan to the city and neighborhood association and many of us our thrilled.  however, there are some residents who feel that the microbrewery would bring only traffic and noise into the neighborhood.  they feel that a skate park would be a better solution for the use of the city owned corner lot. the neighborhood association will take a vote this monday to choose its stance on the issue.  we'll be there!

and just yesterday, we attended a BURGER FEST!

so this isn't in the works since it just happened yesterday and it's not organized by our neighborhood per se, but still it's pretty awesome and just down the street,  it's the all-american burger festival! it was our first year to attend the event and we look forward to chowing down again next year.  yum!


what's in between your buns?



loving the lake + nkotb + my hardworking man...

the secret's out, boerne city lake is a great place to visit if you're looking to spend a quiet and relaxing day at a lake that is right outside san antonio.  the scenery was beautiful and i was surprised with how few people were there in the morning.  we can't wait to go back...



mom practicing her swing



dad fishing



tokyo chilling

 

the boys bonding

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my favorite band as a girl, new kids on the block, came to san antonio a couple of weeks ago.  my bff, sis in law and i went to the concert for some good ol' screaming and dancing to the songs of our youth.  we even dressed up retro! we got out the curling iron, teasing comb, some bright colors and went wild.  fun, fun!

we love you jordan and donnie!!



bsb's biggest fan!

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my hardworking man built us a bench for our front porch... and in this texas heat!  our front porch is finally coming together and is starting to feel like the welcoming space we've been working toward.  good job tony!


hammering...



sawing...



and perfecting away...

while these two cuties looked on...



in between their kissing breaks!

and viola! our bench that we get to all enjoy!

early summer brings folklife + watermelon...

tony and i went to our first folklife festival this past weekend. we live so close to the institute of texan cultures, how could we not.  the cultural performances were impressive and quite the treat for us. we went in the evening and enjoyed native american, philippine, chinese, and spanish dance performances.  i have always been fascinated by the story of the native americans, especially in texas.  the cultural connection to nature and the tragedy of their decline echoed in the voice of a native american descendant as he sang on stage during the performance.  this was my first time hearing native american singing and chanting in person and i was in complete awe of the amount of strength and passion in his voice.  seriously, goosebumps. our favorite philippine performance consisted of dancers clapping long wooden poles while other dancers maneuvered in and out of the poles.  picture double dutch and that's what it looked like, just replace the jump ropes with long wooden poles that stay close to the ground. my mouth dropped when they sped up the rhythm and i couldn't figure how on earth the dancers didn't tumble over each other.  again, impressive.  then, we saw the chinese kung fu demonstration and i could only agree with tony, those boys must surely not get picked on at school.  amazing.  we'll be back next year...

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early summer is bringing some heat.  in mid-day, it's absolute torture.  so of course, this means it's time for some cold juicy watermelon. and just my luck, i happen to have an expert watermelon cutter handy all the time.  yum...

day trip to austin...

the castro clan headed up to austin for the day to spend some quality time with the austin castros, tony's sister and cousins.  most of the day was spent catching up in the shade, except for the paddlers...

they got to paddle around lady bird lake. unfortunately, they were out of the two person paddle boats so tony and i decided to hang under the shaded trees with this little cutie...



he loves to talk and talk and talk and talk... he's quite the entertaining fellow.  we let him go with our camera and he took a picture of himself {above} and us too {below}...

i definitely see potential!  afterwards we got some snacks at the downtown whole foods, that place is crazy awesome... what a fun day in austin with the family. now that summertime is on its way, we're going to have to look into some local paddling near san antonio...

we got on our bikes and rode...

...and back.

hey gorgeous hoyt, it's fiesta!

we have a new addition to the castro clan and his name is hoyt.  this little fellow is drop dead adorable, just picture a pound puppy and you've got hoyt.  we had been wanting to get another dog for a while and decided that summertime would be best.  so, you can just imagine my surprise when tony decided to let me know he was ready for a new pup now.  as for myself, i'll take a dog any day, so of course i jumped on the chance before tony could change his mind and later that afternoon we we're standing there at the humane society looking for our new pup.  we had two in mind that we saw on the society's online web page. one was already adopted when we arrived and the other one, our hoyt, was in a room being looked at by potential doggy parents.  immediately, we tensed up and asked a worker if we could be next in line to see him if it turned out the couple didn't want him.  she agreed and let us in on some inside info: the couple had been in the room for quite a while and that wasn't a good sign.  so all we could do was hope and wait.  when the couple made their decision and began walking out of the room, we both held our breath and strained to hear their decision from a distance.  to our luck, and the couple's future one-day-doggy, they decided the time wasn't right for them.  as for us, it couldn't have been more perfect. and the rest is history...



hoyt, catahoula leopard



the tok is happy

 it's fiesta time in san antonio!  because dignowity hill is located so close to downtown, we were able to walk to the battle of flowers parade and mom castro joined in on the adventure.  everyone was decked out in their colorful fiesta gear and it reminded me of when i used to go to the parade with my whole family and really make a day of it.  the sounds were mixed with toy hoots and the laughter of the old and young. the smells, oh boy, the smells teased with hints of juicy turkey legs and greasy tripa tacos. yum. viva fiesta!

us with our head gear, ready to walk to the parade

street lined fiesta-ers on a perfect day

my bff, melissa, has started her own business with what she loves best, jewelry.  since summertime is just around the corner, it will soon be time to start flaunting my bad self in summer dresses and melissa has some of the prettiest jewels to compliment my floral, carefree, and colorful summer style.  her business is called hey gorgeous, which i love, and her website can be found here.  Visit her to see the wide range of styles and colors that she offers for gorgeous you!  my order just came in and i'm in love with the colors, but boy are my little owlets killer adorable!



owls, not only wise but stylish



my recent hey gorgeous stash

spring break 2011...

luminaria

spring break started off with a walk from our house to downtown to attend luminaria, an arts event held every year.  this year it was sectioned off to just hemisfair park, which was more than enough space.  the food we tried was omg tasty and ranged from cajun to asian with some good ol' bbq and mexican in between.  we enjoyed some great shows, exhibits, bands, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect...

crossing our green thumbs

our biggest chunk of spring break was focused on the front yard.  we were able to add a nice little garden up front with the help of tony's family who offered us help with some hardcore weed pulling, gross grub pinching, and some soil tilling. it was a lot of hard work but boy it sure is pretty and feels even nicer sitting on the front porch and enjoying the view...

our zen froggy

 

i heart the smell of jasmine





the first leaves on our apple tree



 

first rose bloom



vintage

it's no secret we love old stuff.  there's something about the craftsmanship of the past that symbolizes pride and beauty.  be it an old spoon, jar, or table; it was built with purpose, it was built to last, and it was crafted with style.  it's amazing to see that even many years later, the craftsmanship is still able to shine through the scrapes and scars and awe new generations.  so with this addiction, how could we not spend some time looking for old stuff during spring break?  we headed to comfort, tx and we weren't alone, my parents joined in on the fun.  one of the biggest highlights of the trip, besides the fun of course, was eating probably the tastiest sandwich EVER.  and i don't like using caps, so if i'm typing EVER, i mean it.  so the tastiest sandwich EVER can be found in camp verde, tx.  i recommend heading there through helotes, tx so that you can stop by jo jo's antiques and such in helotes and then country accents antiques near bandera, tx.  i love love these two stores and would buy more than i should if tony didn't always happen to be with me when i visit these stores. hey, i'm on to him......

anyway, back to camp verde, so drive past bandera and head to the camp verde general store and please order arthur's delight. it is so so delish!  you won't regret it. you could probably spend hours in that store because there is so much to see as well. 

comfort, tx turned out to be quite a charming little town.  one store that took my breath away was blackbird antiques.  talk about some eye candy!  in the middle of the store was a miniature dog house and what i mean by this is there were a bunch of dog-sized (pug-sized) furniture like a sofa, coffee table, tv stand with a tv, antique beds, and pretty much anything you'd find in a human home.  it was the cutest thing i ever saw.  i walked out of the store feeling like a pouting little tot because i pretty much wanted to buy everything i saw but knew i shouldn't.  well truth be told, it was more like tony wouldn't let me. still, it was such a fun day trip and i'm so happy to have spent it with my parents.

our kitchen window decorated with some old stuff

some old buttons in a jar from jo jo's

cute jar from jo jo's and a vintage inspired label i made

tony's fave: our new (but old) recycle bin



our vintage inspired doorbell

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happy birthday to you...

happy birthday to you.

happy birthday dear danny and dad.

happy birthday to you!