on my radar

as i hear new songs that tickle my fancy (which is usually in the car) i type them into my phone for safe keeping.   then once they build up enough, i make a killer mix-tape or add them to my running playlist.

the other night, we were lying in bed laughing at jimmy fallon, per usual.  he introduced his musical guest by saying that he had no idea who they were and then heard them on sirius radio (me too, jimmy!) and had to know more about them (same here).  he said he was obsessed with this song...or something like that (ditto, jimmy, ditto).  i took it as a sign that jimmy fallon is my soul mate.

here's how the conversation with chris went down:

me: oh my god!  did you hear that.  jimmy fallon is in love with this song!  i am in love with this song.  he heard it on alt nation.  i heard it on alt nation.  we must have the same taste in music.  we could be best friends or soul mates.  either way, we are exactly alike, obviously.

chris: yep, but there's only one major difference.

me: what?

chris: jimmy fallon is funny.

the end.

here it is:

sylvan esso, coffee

artsy and weird.

love.

hill country lovin'

Baby's just a little bit tired of the city,

Billboards and bullshit got her down,
Seem like you need a little hill country,
A little back roads driving, little bit of the old top down.

-Pat Green, Carry On

if you are a texan, you know that the hill country is special.  this year, we celebrated a big anniversary and decided to share some of that hill country magic with our little guys.  i cannot adequately express how perfect this trip was for our family (inspiration was found here).  i will break-down our trip for you in case you want to make a similar one someday.  i sure hope you will, friends.  you will not be sorry, promise promise.

DAY ONE: thursday, travel day (which just happened to be our tenth wedding anniversary.  holla!)

we left dallas early afternoon to start the four hour trek to marble falls.  we chose marble falls because we had holiday inn hotel points to use and it was centrally located for our swimming hole destinations.

we stopped in lampasas, texas for dinner at a highly recommended little german restaurant (thanks, yelp.)  we ate schnitzel, drank a german beer and toasted to happiness.  let the long weekend begin.

DAY TWO: friday, hamilton pool

after reading reviews, we arrived to hamilton pool when they opened at nine after a fourty-five minute srive from our hotel.  that drive may not sound ideal, but the views were stunning.  they only allow seventy-five cars in the parking lot.  once the lot is full, it's one car in, one car out (so get there early).  it is quite a hike down to the pool, so wearing tennis shoes and carrying a manageable cooler was necessary.  once the pool reveals itself after the hike down, you are rewarded with one of those rare moments of take-your-breath-away beauty.  what a gift.

we kept thinking, "where are we"?  it was like we were on mars.  the pool is spring-fed and water falls off the cliff above.  the water is cold, the beach is pebbly, the people-watching is phenomenal.

there is a trail around the pool perfect for exploring.

we packed a lunch so that we could leave when we were good and ready, not because we were hungry.  and it turned out that with two young kids, the longest we could last was until just past lunch anyway.

bringing a float is crucial.  the water is deep in 80% of the pool.

we wore ourselves out enough to recover by watching movies in our hotel beds until it was time to leave for dinner.

if you are texan or a foodie or a foodie texan, you may have heard of cooper's barbeque.  we have had the pleasure of eating at the original before, and this trip made it possible for us to indulge again.  good lord, it's delicious.  

this is a picture of a very, very happy man.

DAY THREE: saturday, krause springs

just twenty minutes from our hotel is a privately owned campground and swimming hole called karuse springs.  it was completely different than the day before but equally as gorgeous.  once we arrived we took a stroll through the butterfly gardens on the grounds, which was a treat in itself.  if you go, don't skip this part.  while heading to the springs we passed a beautiful man-made pool and hiked down a very steep staircase (wear tennis shoes, if you go) to be rewarded again with a take-your-breath-away beauty.  two days in a row!  that doesn't happen often.

this pool feels smaller and it's a bit tricker to get into and out of (think moss covered rocks).  but once you are in the water, you're golden.  it also has a muddy bottom, so i recommend wearing those super stylish water shoes.  safety first, people.  we did not have those fancy shoes, so my feet got a little beat up on the rocks.  i also recommend bringing floats.  this place is perfect for sitting in a chair float and drinking cold beers (like lone star, because when in rome...) all. day . long.

we did not do these things since we had our children with us, but in another life we would have, fo sho.

there was a rope swing where ben spent all of his time.  krause springs was his favorite swimming hole, hands down.

and just so you know it wsan't all rainbows and unicorns, here is a picture of my darling crosby who cried to get out of the water and once out cried to be back in.  good times, y'all.

i would suggest not taking kids younger than three to these places.  some people definitely do, but it would be difficult.  there is a lot of swimming, maneuvering on rocks, and hiking involved in both places we went.  ben was the perfect age.  we were cutting it close with cros, in my opinion.

after lunch at the swimming hole, we changed clothes, hopped in the car and headed to luckenbach with waylon, willie and the boys.  just kidding, they weren't there.  but i'll tell you what was: ice cold shiner bock beer, along with sausage on a stick, mandatory luckenbach souveniers, and live texas country music.  texas perfection, y'all.  the last time we went to luckenbach was with friends, pre-kids.  then i never would've imagined that on my next trip there we would be with our two young sons.  they were the best sports and let momma and daddy get nostalgic about old times.

that evening we ate dinner in marble falls and took it easy at the hotel.  you would think we were staying at the four seasons and not the holiday inn according two our boys.  they thought they were in the lap of luxury laying in the hotel bed and watching karate kid.  sweet babies.

DAY FOUR: austin and home

our original plan was to drive our tired (and cranky) crew back to dallas after breakfast.  but we had a last-minute change of plans and spontaneously drove to austin for one last hurrah.

we rented a canoe on town lake.  we sweat (sweated??) through our clothes and took in the beautiful sights of our state's capital through our boys eyes.

we saw turtles and hippies and graffiti and tall buildings and runners and gorgeous scenery.  i love austin.

before we hit the road, we swung by chuy's for some a/c and enchiladas.

and for dessert, the boys had amy's ice cream and the grown-ups had iced turbos from jo's.

we finished our treats as we strolled up and down south congress, stopping for live music and photo ops.

the perfect ending to a perfect trip.

here are the cliff's notes of our trip (click for links):

eve's cafe- german food in lampasas, texas

hamilton pool

cooper's barbeque

krause springs

luckenbach

chuy's tex-mex

amy's ice cream

jo's

what we listened to (aka mandatory hill-country road trip music):

girls trip 4 mix, volume 1

willie nelson

robert earl keen

p.s. here's a video from our drive from luckenbach that i titled, "bonner family fun time".

to see more, follow me on instagram @ cortneybo

greatest hits

you guuuuuuys,

i just got back from an awesome long celebratory anniversary weekend trip with my little family.  i am so sun-drenched and tired, i can barely stand it.

i can't wait to tell you all about our trip, but can't without unloading all of these pictures first.

it's the responsible blogger thing to do.

i made that up.

let's play catch up, shall we?

1) in case you don't follow me on instagram or never see me in real life, my baby wanted a buzz cut.  i was pretty emotional about it before hand, but then pep-talked myself with an "it's-just-hair-it'll-grow-back-grow-up-cortney" lecture, and in a moment of insanity let the nice woman SHAVE THE BLOND OFF.  he looks like a new man and i'm not sure i'm feeling it.  but it's not about me, right?  riiiight????

2) i don't know what's going on here, but our summer has been awesome.  i mean, it usually is, but this summer feels even better than ones before.  

on the third of july, we randomly decided to participate in our neighborhood's fourth of july parade the next morning.  having never even seen it before, we were rookies, but i sure am glad we got our feet wet.

after the parade, we hustled to the lake where we ate too much, rode on the boat and shot off fireworks.

{i love how redneck crosby looks in this picture}.

3) because my sister is the shit, she offered to watch our kids overnight (brave soul) so that chris and i could have a few hours of grown-up time to celebrate our anniversary.

we had a delicious dinner here and then our friend bryant generously treated us with admission to see bob schneider at the granada (always a good time, btw).

ten year anniversary, for the win!

4) pawpaw went with us to ham orchard to buy some delicious peaches (and peach ice cream. duh.)

how are you, my friends?  i would love to hear.

looking forward to sleeping in my bed and truth be told, going to work in our newly renovated office tomorrow.  woot!

what are you looking forward to?

love,

coco

ten years ago

at this time ten years ago, i was getting my hair done with my sister.

it was the first step of the day to look the part of a bride.

i was excited and antsy and giddy and confident.

i knew without a doubt that i was doing the right thing.

(ah, and what a good feeling that is....)

 my memories of our wedding day are a little fuzzy now, ten years later.  at the time chris and i were adamant about not having a videographer.  we did not want a cameraman in our face and in our way on our special day.  

but now i sure wish i could hear my pop's voice giving a touching toast at the reception and our officiant's joyful voice because they have since passed and we will never hear those precious sounds again.  my attendants gave a thoughtful and hilarious toast, the hard-copy has since been lost, and now we'll never remember (cause we've had two kids since then and they have drained our memory.  damn kids).

thank goodness we did heed one piece of advice given to us on that day: write everything down that you can remember.

so on the airplane to st. thomas bright and early the next morning, chris and i jotted down some things we never wanted to forget about our wedding day.

my cousin jake (then 4 yrs. old) told the groomsmen before the ceremony, "i'm the cutest thing in here."

singing the aggie war hym at the reception.

when prompted by the dj, my mama (now gone), gave the marital advice: "love each other".

when paw was asked the identical question, he replied, "keep your mouth shut".

my friend becky dancing the running man.

spilling hot wax from the unity candle on my fingers during the ceremony.  i may or may not have used profanity.

our flower girl (then 5 yrs. old) passed out wedding programs during the reception because her name was on them.  in her mind that was a big damn deal.

sneaking booze in the bridal room.

being left alone on the dance floor during last call for alcohol.

but most of all i remember feeling loved and beautiful and special (and sweaty, to be honest),

which is all you can ever wish for on your wedding day (especially if you are armed with a good anti-perspirant).

thank you for a fantastic ten years, mr. bonner.

you are the best partner (dance and life) that a girl could have.

xoxo