A few pics of the little guy

So, tonight is a total mom post... really this one is for Ben so he can see his little Roo tonight.  Luke has taken to the T for his bath letters - fitting for Team Tanner. 

 A little rubber ball action in the bath...

 His Christmas PJ's - oh so comfy.  Dakota is right outside this window and Luke had a grand old time laughing and looking at D. 

 Precious little red eye pic. 

 Off for some Kwalking (knee walking - as my sister termed it) to the toy box.

 Time for some milk - boy do we need to ween that bottle! 

 What a cutie!

 Time to brush teeth!  Such a good job.

And, now, off to bed.  Good night!!!  Suenos con los angelitos.

You Deserve It!

So, I am not a huge T.V. watcher but I do enjoy a good show or two each week... Amazing Race and Parenthood to name a few... But I have recently started watching a show hosted by Chris Harrison (the Bachelor/Bachelorette host) called You Deserve It.  It is a game show where the person playing is winning money for someone they love... winning money for them because they "deserve it."  It is kind of like "Extreme Home Makeover" in the purpose of the show - doing a lot of good for a very deserving someone. 

The 3 shows I have watched - they have all won over $150K!  It is an emotional show with such a sweet thoughtful outcome.  The deserving person has NO idea this is going on and at the end of the game show is completely surprised!  It is always fun to watch. 

New York Anniversary

This past weekend Ben and I enjoyed a fantastic anniversary weekend in New York City!  It was such a fantastic time - as always with my hubs.  We travel so well and have so much fun exploring - minus the few directional debates bound to happen.

We started off enjoying a lovely stroll down 5th Avenue, spent some time at Rock Center looking at the tree... made a stop in Lego land and ended up in FAO Schwartz where I ran into a friend from Tejas!  So fun.  Then we took our time looking at the windows on the way back to the hotel and Bergdorf windows were absolutely amazing and my favorite designs EVER!  The window designer was even outside giving a tour of his windows.

We then had a delicious and romantic anniversary dinner at The House  - Ben's pick and it was fantastic.  Between window touring and dinner, we went back so I could rest up and have a breather (Caroline is sitting SO incredibly low - I am already extremely uncomfortable at 28 weeks... )  I had just taken the 2nd dose of antibiotics the doctor recommended I take... when I woke from a brief nap in hives and a red rash across my face.  Yikes!  And itchy.... No fun...  So we had to make a stop at the pharmacy where I took a double dose of Benadryl.  So, I just barely made it through dinner but I made it!  Thankfully I was pretty allergic reaction-free in the morning.  Because we had a full day of fun planned.  We took the train to the Bronx where we enjoyed the New York Botanical Gardens and the Holiday Train show.  This show is like none other.  Models of NY landmarks are spread throughout the gardens and all the landmarks are made from plants!  Small little trains then weave through the landmarks and garden.  It is absolutely amazing.   

This bride below is made completely of plants and trains chug along right over it.  And check out Radio City Music Hall - all plants!

After the gardens, lunch and a rest, we met up with Annie and Dave and Lindsey and Jon for cocktail hour, Turn Out the Dark Spiderman Broadway show, and dinner!   We had to take a photo pre-show with our best Spiderman web-shooting impression. 

Sunday, Ben and I met Ann and Dave for a tour of the WTC Memorial.  Here are the guys on the grounds.  We ended our trip with delicious dim sum in Chinatown!  Que rico!

Thanksgiving at the Ranch

This weekend we enjoyed a great time at the ranch.  Little Luke was such a busy little guy working his little digger, practicing his walking and enjoying the great, COLD, outdoors!

The best turkey recipe ever! You can't mess up...

How To Cook A Turkey:

First, buy the turkey and a bottle of whiskey. Pour yourself a glass of whiskey and put the turkey in the oven. Take another 2 drinks of whiskey, and set the degree at 375 ovens. Have 3 more whiskeys of drink and turn the oven on. Take 4 whisks of drinky and turk the bastey. Stick a turkey in the thermometer, and glass yourself a pour of whiskey. Bake the whiskey for 4 hours, take the oven out of the turkey, and floor the turkey up off the pick. Pour yourself another glass of turkey. Now just tet the sable, and turk the carvey!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
(Thanks E for this turkey how-to... )

P. Nemir Dry Goods turns 100 years old.

Navasota, Texas - population 7000 outside of College Station, Texas.  This is where the Paul Nemir family settled once they immigrated from Lebanon.  Being a proud Nemir and granddaugher to the late thoracic surgeon Paul Nemir, Jr, I was honored to visit Navasota this weekend to celebrate P.Nemir Dry Goods 100th celebration.  When the family settled in Navasota, my great-grandfather opened a dry goods store - a local department store in the central square of town now housed in three historic buildings.  My t-sipper cousin Robert Nemir owns and manages the store with great success as he has taken this local small town gem to new heights with its internet presence.  www.pnemir.com.

The 100th anniversary was a special celebration with a private party for family and long-time customers.  The celebration included a complete spread food and drink, of course.  Over 40 door prizes including Justin boots!  The ceremony had a special talk from my great Aunt Ruth Nemir Harris - who also celebrated her 94th birthday that weekend.  Aunt Ruth shared notable memories with her dad running the store... helped to paint a picture of what life was like as the store survived the depression, war - you name it. 

The mayor of Navasota declared Nov. 19th, 2011, P. Nemir day and he was there to read the proclamation and celebrate with the town. 

P. Nemir also recently received a city grant to help with efforts to go "GREEN."

Ben and Rob having a chat about a very important and interesting matter... Luke and his "knee-walking" - he is quite a sight to see with his mobility choice.

Before the kick-off began - a quick photo with Rob.

My mom, Virginia Nemir Lukefahr with Aunt Ruth.

Rob kicking off the 100th celebration - complete with Luke doing laps on the stairs (THE ENTIRE NIGHT) behind the presentation.  Ben is close behind supervising.  Every once in a while Luke gave his two cents about the speakers and door prize recipients.   

 One of my favorite items, YellowBox flip flops made special edition flops for P. Nemir store 100th.

After leaving one Hilton candyland celebration, we were welcomed with a delicious sweets table at P. Nemir.

  

It was such a special time and I loved every minute of sharing this with my family and celebrating my cousin's accomplishments and hard work.

P. Nemir is known for outstanding customer service.  The kind that is hard to find these days... The kind that is worth a drive or call to small town Navasota to make your purchase. 

(Oh - and for those of you that do not know... Nemir means "tiger" in Arabic.)

Happy 100th P. Nemir!!
www.pnemir.com
(Become a friend and LIKE P. Nemir on facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/P-Nemir-Dry-Goods-Company/264923400212719

Avery H. turns 1 with a SWEET celebration!

This  weekend Luke got his first taste of a true candyland!  The Hilton's had a delicious first birthday party celebrating their precious daughter Avery.  Avery is Luke's unassuming girlfriend/best friend/playmate.  Very special!  Momma Annie is my best friend and check out all of the details her and dad David put into Avery's bday!

Annie with Avery's chocolate and vanilla 2 layer cake.

Yes, it was as tasty as it looks.

 A quick pic before all the festivities kicked off.

A candy bar complete with candy buttons, laffy taffy, M&Ms, rock lollipops, gummies (Haribo, of course), Jelly Belly's, and my personal favorite - candy necklaces.

A banner of 12 months of Avery.

The Hilton family.

The infamous cake smashing - Avery was such a lady. Dad really smeared the icing... She was very particular about her icing messiness. 

Avery showing her book to Luke.  There is always time for a good book.  Thanks Aves for making sure Luke is on task with his book club reading.

No Hilton party is complete without a little love from bull dog Sampson.
It was a great party with friends and family.  Thanks Hilton's for hosting a fabulous Saturday shindig.

“Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.”

This holiday season I have an extreme urge to shop like crazy and buy lots of gifts for my family and friends... Great - but lately I feel like the urge is overwhelming.  I feel like I get so caught up in how perfect and fitting my gifts should be that I lose track of the true meaning of the gift in the first place... to show appreciation, love and thanks to the receiver. 

I also want to make sure that I start as early as possible teaching Luke how important it is to give in the right mind and with the most true intentions. 

Albert Einstein said, "It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it." 

I hope we can instill a spirit of giving in our son.  We must...

We are starting by doing little things like Operation Christmas Child.  Samaritan's Purse International Relief has a program called OCC that allows anyone to put together a shoe box for a child in need around the world.  I did a graduate internship with SPIR during grad school and OCC is a huge part of this organization.  This year Chick-Fil-A teamed up with SPIR to help make OCC even more successful than ever.  (Man - do I love the Chick...)  So, we packed up three large shoeboxes and dropped them off at Chick-Fil-A to be delivered to a sweet little boy and girl around the world. 

From this week until the end of December, I will do something to give back to someone or an organization. I write this not to boast but to keep myself accountable.

I encourage you to think about other ways to give back this holiday season to those who will not be expecting any gift at all. 

What do David Yurman & Anthropologie have in common w/ fibi and clo?

As a lead fashion agent for fibi & clo sandal line (www.fibiandclo.com), I am pleased to share with you some exciting news!!  Not only will fibi & clo be introducing a line of wedges in early 2012, but fibi & clo founder, AnaLiza, has recently hired an assistant jewelry designer to help her with a collection of jewelry for 2012. This designer has worked with David Yurman, Anthropologie and Silpada jewelry!  The jewelry will be high quality with the same great, low price.... and in some cases even better prices!


Many of the pieces will correspond with sandal designs.  The new jewelry collection will be ready by March of 2012.


Until the new pieces are completed, check out some of fibi & clo jewelry pieces that can be yours! Just call me at 210-995-8434 or email me at helenlukefahr@gmail.com.

Gold dangle earrings with various colors of blue stones - about 1.5 - 2 inch drop - Just $18!

Gorgeous black and CZ rhinestone drop earrings. Great quality. Stunning for the holiday season and your sassy night out! $25 - a steal!

Gold drop with small light brown dangle stone - lightweight and perfect accessory with your boot or fibi & clo sandals! - $18!

My favorite!! Multi-colored stones set in gold - great quality! Looks fantastic with fall colors - oranges, purples, tans, browns, greens. $25 (I have these in brown/black multi stone also!)



Exquisite gold drops with deep red stones. Very attractive! $25

A modern twist of two-tone strands and classic pearls. Looks stunning with your traditional pearl earrings. Great with black cocktail dress or white button up and black slacks. Sleek and unique! - $40

One of my favorite pieces in the fibi & clo collection! Large green stones draped in gold chain. Absolutely fabulous! - $50

These are a few of the pieces in my fibi & clo inventory.  Interested in what you see or want to see others?  Contact me.  If you like these styles, get excited about the new designs of 2012.