smiles...

at two weeks of age, zephyr's smiles come quick and mostly due to gas. but boy do they melt my heart. i got really lucky with the shot below.

it's a boy!!

zephyr salvador made his grand entrance on a beautiful september afternoon. we are in love!

 

smile!

with a baby on the way, tony and i thought a new camera would come in handy to capture special moments.  today tony's little sis vicki was our photographer for the day.  she helped capture some photos of our growing family!

feeling good...

 

it's amazing to think that within five to seven weeks, we will get to finally meet our little one! it's crazy to feel baby castro stretch its little foot out of my right side, which it does quite often.  tony always says that he (or she) is packing and taking down the frames and posters in his (or her) room! i'm feeling great and loving each moment : )

preparing for "bc" {baby castro}

another school year is down and it's summertime! while i have been enjoying some much needed rest, tony and i have been busy preparing for our newest addition, little baby castro who is due at the end of august! its been a lot of fun browsing pinterest for inspiration and ideas and we're just about done. it's been even more fun hunting for fabrics with tony and just being creative as we make curtains, a pelmet box, wall mobile, an abacus, art, and shelves!

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...

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

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...

one year down in a flash...

tony and i celebrated our big one year today!  it's funny how a year ago the weather the week prior to our wedding day was making us pretty nervous. to our luck, the weekend cleared up and we couldn't have asked for better winter weather.  this year was no exception and we enjoyed some great weekend weather to celebrate our first year of marriage.  we cut the top tier of our wedding cake that we had saved on friday with my parents, grandmother, and tony's family at the house. 

lemon, raspberrry, and buttercreme goodness...

tony planned this year's celebration and boy am i one lucky lady.  saturday started with a couple's massage at bodique with some chocolate covered strawberries & champagne waiting in the room.  it was the first time we had been there and the ladies were so nice and did amazing work.  later in the day we packed our bags and went back to the special hotel where myself and my lovely ladies got ready for the big day, the fairmont hotel.  tony surprised me by booking one of the rooms that i absolutely loved but was too small for getting ready in last year, the gold room.  the room is so gorgeous.  in the restroom there's a chandelier on top of the jacuzzi tub, icing!

for dinner, tony and i ate at the chart house located in the tower of the americas.  we had never eaten there before and it was so lovely.  the view definitely couldn't have been beat!  we sat facing the northeast side of town and had quite the time trying to find sweet pea and other nearby landmarks. the food was delicious and the conversation enjoyable and silly as always. the night ended with some latin music at nearby azucar.

sunday morning, we left the beautiful fairmont for some brunch at candlelight coffeehouse where we enjoyed some great food.  i quite enjoyed my plate which was called "green eggs and ham."  then off we went back home to lovely sweet pea and her valiant guardian, the tok. 

tony and i wanted this year's celebration to be extra special.  tony did what he does best and planned one unforgettable night.  i can't believe it's been one year already and we look forward to what the future holds for us.  we know it will be hard, but we know we make one heck of a team.  and for right now, we are enjoying every minute of bliss and learning that comes from sharing your life. 

 



cheers...

the new year began with several firsts: hosting the new year's eve family party in sweet pea, making menudo with my mother and grandmother (yum!), and enjoying the fireworks at dignowity and lockwood parks which overlook the city. we walked to the park to see the city's annual downtown fireworks.  however, when we got there we were stunned to find out that we could also see fireworks being popped across san antonio. in neighborhoods stretched across the city, a rainbow of fireworks popped in and out of the distant horizon. and for once, the celebration of the new year was not one of just close friends and family but of community as well. cheers...

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...

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.