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. 

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...

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

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...

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...

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...