First Class Experience!

I've been an absentee blogger, thanks to Stacie for carrying the load, my apologies for the long silence.  It's me, not you faithful blog follower.

We have a new attraction that just opened in Austin called Gold Class Cinemas.  Ultimately it's like if first class air travel and the movies had a baby.  The theatre is set-up to only seat about 40 people.  All of the chairs are uber comfortable microfibre recliners with a shared table.  When you arrive at the theatre you are greeted into a swanky lounge / bar area where a waitress takes your initial drink order as well as appetizer and entrée selection.

Not too Shabby!

After enjoying the ambiance and drinks, guests are ushered into the theatre where the servers bring food, more drinks and dessert while you enjoy the movie.  Just like flying first class this experience comes with a pricetag but have no fear, the Sale family didn't spend a dime (ok, we tipped the waitress).  We learned that prior to officially opening, Gold Class was running training for their newly hired staff.  We jumped at the opportunity to go to a free show, enjoy free drinks and a free meal.  Free is good!

Hard to tell but this isn't us -but this is how we roll!

I have to say that the experience was great.  I'm not sure they convinced me to return and pay $29 per ticket (per person, seriously!?) and another $40 - $60 on food and beverage but I'm glad we went.  At least I can say I experienced it and reflect on that experience next time I'm at the $1 theatre with the unwashed masses!


-Kyle

Our East Coast Whirlwind Weekend

Last Friday morning at 04:00 hours, Kyle & I embarked on the start of our east coast whirlwind weekend trip (try saying that ten times fast)! We tried our best to pretend that we are usually awake at 4 am, much to the utter confusion of Deacon & Mercedes who decided it was was a better idea to keep sleeping (this proves they are in fact not stupid, but very, very smart dogs).  At 5 am we were in the car driving to the airport to catch our 6:30 flight- what were we thinking?  Not sure, but thankfully our flights were on time and we arrived in Richmond, VA at 12:30.  Just in time to eat lunch in the car and get dropped off at my Grandmother's house for our bowling date. That's right- Kyle & I went bowling with my grandmother (who by the way is the sweetest Southern grandmother that you could ever even imagine).  Bowling with your grandmother is actually a very entertaining pastime and Kyle & I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My only regret, aside from being the only one not to get a strike, is that I do not have any pictures of this blessed event! You'll just have to imagine it in your head. 

After bowling, we went to dinner with my parents at one of our favorite spots in Richmond- 'Bottoms Up Pizza'.  Kyle & I have been known to be serious gluttons, which is why we love Bottoms Up so much. Each slice of heavenly pizza that you order is the size of a quarter of a pizza.  And not just any pizza- you can choose from toppings like crab meat, shrimp, artichoke hearts, broccoli, peppers and on and on and on. It really is a pizza experience more than anything else.  But, not to let anyone down, we may have ordered nachos to accompany our pizza.  I know, I know- my theory is that we each have a repressed fat kid inside of us just begging to come out. And every once and awhile he does.  But sometimes we are good. Case and point- both Wednesday and Thursday nights this week we ate salad for dinner.  Yep, just salad.  How about them apples for you!


Okay, back to the trip.  Friday night, Kyle & I celebrated our anniversary by staying at the hotel we had our wedding reception at- 'The Jefferson'.

Isn't it dreamy? This is the point in our day when we get on our hands and knees and thank the good Lord for family connections!  We had a great time pretending that we were fancy enough to stay in the hotel on our own two feet. Then, to further our inner fat child, we ate some decadent dessert.  Why not at this point?
Saturday we spent hanging out with parents and relaxing. My mom made her delicious egg rolls and strawberry rhubarb pie and we watched the slightly disturbing movie 'Law Abiding Citizen'. 

The pie in all her glory

Now comes for the whirlwind part of our weekend. On Sunday morning we got up at 6am and left the house by 7am for the five hour drive south to Rockhill, South Carolina to see my cousin Alyssa's senior basson recital.  She is graduating next month from Winthrop University with her degree in music.  Here are a few pictures of the trip:

Some Wisteria along the way

My grandparents made the trek from Richmond too

Family photo op!

The grande finale of the recital! Go Alyssa!! (note: they did not wear the costumes for the entire recital)

Us with Alyssa post-recital!

My older brother Jonathan & his wife Valerie at dinner afterwards

My cousins Alyssa & Alanna and my Aunt Liz!

After the rectial and a wonderful dinner, we got back in the car for the five hour drive home! We arrived back in Richmond at 12:30 am and went to bed for a few sweet hours before the alarm went off at 4:30 am to head back to the airport again!

Unfortunately, our trip home was not as uneventful as our trip there.  Our flight attendant overslept ( I will not mention on this wholesome blog the names Kyle & I came up with for him- what can I say, we need Jesus!), so our Richmond flight left late and we missed our connecting flight in Chicago.  Needless to say, we eventually got home and have spent most of this week trying to recover. It was fun though and very worth it! We don't have any trips planned until the end of May now and for that I am grateful!

-Stacie

Easter Visitors

This past weekend, we had more visitors! Kyle's mom, sister, brother-in-law and nephew all came to visit us for Easter!  It was Marek's first trip, so we were especially excited to have him come visit.

Aren't they cute together?

Uncle Kyle!

 They all arrived on Thursday afternoon and from that point on we pretty much proceeded to eat ourselves into a stupor.  Austin has a plethora of delicious food to partake in and we, of course, didn't want our visitors to miss a bite of it! We ate burgers, fries, shakes, bbq, ribs, pizza, tacos, chick-fil-a, frozen yogurt, donuts....are you disgusted yet? I am shocked that I am still able to button my pants. Apparently, my metabolism is a bit faster than I thought! Aside from all the eating, we also visited the Capital building on Friday afternoon.  Heather is a history buff so we knew she'd be interested.

In front of the Capital building 

We also spent some time exploring South Congress Street which is home to an eclectic mix of stores and eateries in downtown Austin.

South Congress Street

Eating pizza on South Congress

And of course, I had to have a few photoshoots with precious Marek for my class (and personal collection).  All in all it was a great visit! 

Not to leave anyone out, we're headed off to Richmond tomorrow morning (at a very ungodly hour) to visit my family for the weekend and attend my cousin's senior basson recital. She will be graduating from Winthrop University (South Carolina) in May with her degree in music (what can I say, we are a musical family!).  Should be a great trip! We'll post pictures all about it next week.

Stacie