Texas Archives - Pea of Sweetness

Bourbon & Boots Review

February 23, 2014 by Emilee Evans 8 Comments

Disclosure: I received the product mentioned to facilitate my review. Regardless, all opinions are my own.

I love everything “country.” I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I haven’t always lived in Texas. In fact, I spent my first 23 years in Ohio. It was a small town with less than two thousand people, and I spent many days fishing, filling shotgun shells, or doing something outside. Although we’re in the suburbs of Houston now, we hope to move onto land within a couple of years. One thing is for sure, though, I’ve definitely settled in to the South, and it feels like home!
Naturally, I prefer to decorate our house with Southern style. I have different themes throughout the home. The main living area is more of the farm type Southern style, and the dining and kitchen area are the outdoors/woodsy type decor. When I was introduced to Bourbon & Boots, I instantly fell in love with the Southern style! It is my kind of style!
For my review I received the Bucky Deer Cardboard Safari Mounted Animal Trophy. Talk about a fun and unique wall decoration! Plus, you know how I love eco-friendly products, and Bucky is recycled and non-toxic!

Bucky arrives unassembled in a series of cardboard sheets. The pieces are laser-cut, so they were really easy to remove as well as put together. I was actually surprised how quickly we were able to put it together – and how big it is! I was definitely impressed! I could also tell that it was laser cut because the cardboard didn’t have scruffy edges. The edges are very clean cut, which gives it a nice overall finish.
I think the greatest thing about the Mounted Animal Trophies is there is a level of creative freedom as well! We, personally, chose not to paint Bucky at this time, but if we get the right paints for the job, I would definitely consider it! You could choose to paint it to look realistic or a little fun if that’s your style! I think Bucky looks rather sharp as-is and he is definitely an amazing addition to our outdoors/woodsy decor!

The Cardboard Safari Mounted Animal Trophies are available in four styles: Bucky Deer Trophy, Bucky Jr. Deer Trophy (a smaller version), Tex the Longhorn (totally on my wish list for our living area!!), and Wayne the Bass.
Bourbon & Boots not only offers a wide arrange of Southern Decor, but they also have all kinds of products from jewelry, apparel, vintage boots, bags, outdoors, food, all kinds of mason jar products (LOVE!), and so much more! Want to show off your Texas love? They have an array of Texas products just for that purpose? Don’t live in Texas? They have something for your state, too! 😉
Something else I love is Bourbon & Boots isn’t just an online store. They offer great articles to read as well ranging from food to decor ideas and tips! I could spend hours on their site! Once you check it out, you’ll have to come back here and let me know what some of your favorite finds are!

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Be sure to connect with Bourbon & Boots on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram.

Houston Vacation Highlights

August 30, 2013 by Emilee Evans 6 Comments

There were different posts for our awesome 4th of July mini vacation to Houston, but I wanted to share a wrap-up so you can see just how much you can enjoy in a few days in Houston!
Right now it’s about a 3 hour drive for us to visit Houston, so we left here on July 4th just before noon and arrived at the perfect time to check in at Hotel Sorella. It was pretty easy to find even though we didn’t know where it was before we took this trip. We also got a great parking spot in the parking garage.

We saw Studio Movie Grill was in the same parking garage, which was on our list! I guess we wouldn’t have a hard time finding it when we were ready to go there! We didn’t have time that evening, though, because we had dinner reservations at The Bistro and, of course, would be watching fireworks that evening! We had a wonderful dinner, and they were so accommodating!

We went back to our room to get ready to go out to the fireworks, but our youngest ended up totally crashing out. Luckily, though, we had an amazing view right from our room! It worked out perfectly! We didn’t have to deal with the crowds and still had a great view! I’m glad we stayed in our room.
The next morning we were ready to put our CityPASS to use! First we wanted to grab a bite to eat, though, because we missed breakfast. So we headed over to SmashBurger. It was our first time at a Smashburger, and they were so friendly and helpful! Plus the food was fantastic!

Once we had full bellies we were ready to go!
We knew we wanted to start at Space Center Houston. I hadn’t been there since before I was a teen, so I couldn’t wait to go again. Wow, has it changed! We really had a great time, and the kids LOVED the Space Angry Birds Matrix! It was REALLY crowded being a holiday weekend, so we enjoyed a few great highlights and were ready to head on to the next adventure!

Next, we went to Kemah Boardwalk which holds great memories for my husband and me. We used to go there frequently before we were married. It was such a great experience seeing it from the eyes of a family perspective. They have so many fun things for the kids to do that I didn’t even know were there! We rode a few fun rides and, of course, went on the train. Our little guy slept through the whole train ride! We used the Cool Zone for breaks to stay cool and headed out around dinner time.

We knew we had time left to visit the Downtown Aquarium as it is open fairly late. So, we went there next after grabbing dinner to go. We enjoyed looking at all the aquatic creatures as well as the white tiger and parrot. We also got to pet the stingrays, which the kids thought was really neat! We passed on the rides since we had just ridden a few rides at Kemah Boardwalk. It was a nice way to wind down.

The next day was our last day in Houston, and we had to make the 3 hour drive back home, so our time was limited. We didn’t get to do anything else on the CityPASS unfortunately. We did start with breakfast at the hotel before checking out. Then, the kids enjoyed some time running in the Plaza until our brunch reservations at Straits. We opted to sit outside and enjoy the nice day while we ate. It was so nice! Brunch was great, too!

After that it was time to head to Studio Movie Grill for Despicable Me 2. It was almost sold out already when we got there, but luckily there were 5 seats in a row left near the front. So, we snatched them up and waited to be seated. This was a new experience for all of us! We loved it! We didn’t order more than just popcorn and drinks since we just came from brunch, but it was so neat not having to wait in line to get them! The movie was great, too!

We sure felt like we did a lot in just a few days, and the kids had so much fun! They’ve been stir crazy ever since! haha Have you ever been to Houston? What are your favorite highlights?
Here is slideshow of our trip! If you are unable to see it you can also view the full photo album.

Space Center Houston – Educational and FUN!

July 18, 2013 by Emilee Evans 25 Comments

Each of our family members received a complementary CityPASS during the GoHouston! Travel Campaign hosted by New Creative Writing and Social Media Marketing, home to Money Saving Parent.com. All opinions are my own.
While on our 4th of July vacation we used our CityPASS to visit some of the best attractions in Houston. I was particularly looking forward to visiting Space Center Houston. I think it has been almost 20 years since I last visited. I was definitely curious to see how it has changed, and I knew it would be an amazing educational experience for the kids as well.

Immediately after walking in the doors we see a large Angry Birds Space Place. Talk about excitement! It was our first stop there. Our youngest was too young for the big Angry Birds Space Matrix and wasn’t keen on the idea of going into the ball pit area for the under age 5 group while his siblings were climbing, crawling, and sliding, so my husband took him to do the Angry Birds Space Simulators where they broke the high scores while the other two enjoyed a couple of rounds in Angry Birds Space Place. Fun stuff!
Angry Birds Space Matrix was awesome and surprisingly big! It’s 40 feet high! If you need to get your child before they come down there are stairs or an elevator to go up to find them. There were also cameras and TVs so I could see them at various sections. It was really neat and a great way to burn off some energy so they could focus on what we would be exploring next.
I was surprised to discover various animals. This is part of their “Chomp! The Science of Survival” Attraction. We got to view them and learn more about them. They even had intermittent in depth stage presentations. We even got to pet some snakes!
To go along with Chomp! they had a fun obstacle course to make it through the swamp. This was something our 3 year old could do as well! They had a blast! Not only was it fun, but it was also a great way to work on their core strength and gross motor skills. Our youngest is generally not the celebratory type, but when he finished he threw his little fists in the air and jumped up and down with pride. What a special moment!

Of course, we also got to view the Astronaut Gallery along with the different spacesuits as well as information about some of the astronauts that wore them. I find it fascinating to see the differences over the years!

The great thing about Space Center Houston is knowing we can go back and still get something more out of it each time! I loved all the hands-on experiences as well as the casual experiences. If you can take a whole day for it, I would definitely suggest it! CityPASS does include a NASA Tram Tour in addition to admission, but due to the holiday it was very busy, so we were unable to experience the NASA Tram Tour. It is definitely on our list for the next time we visit!
Have you ever been to Space Center Houston? When did you go and what was most memorable?

Studio Movie Grill CityCentre Review

July 14, 2013 by Emilee Evans 8 Comments

Our family received complementary tickets to Studio Movie Grill during the GoHouston! Travel Campaign hosted by New Creative Writing and Social Media Marketing, home to Money Saving Parent.com. All opinions are my own.

Our last stop on our Houston adventure was Studio Movie Grill CityCentre for Despicable Me 2. Studio Movie Grill is more than just a movie theater. It’s a movie and dining experience in one! When we arrived to get our seats for the movie we were told they only had the front two rows left. I wasn’t surprised because it is a very popular movie and one we had definitely been looking forward to seeing! That was fine with us!
You are then given seat assignments, which are shown on the computer screen when you get your tickets. I had never experienced this before, but I realized the major advantage when we walked into the theater because we didn’t have to find 5 open seats in a row or ask anybody to scoot down so we could all sit together. We had our 5 seats in a row with no fuss! The seats are also large and comfortable, and there was plenty of space for my purse under the table in front of me.
When entering you are given a full menu. You can order a meal or simply popcorn and drinks. Since we had just come from brunch at Straits we simply ordered popcorn and drinks. The best part was we didn’t have to wait in line! That is always my least favorite part as well as getting the napkins, adding salt, etc. while the kids still ask about all the other goodies they saw but didn’t get. At Studio Movie Grill we got to avoid all of that. When you are ready for food or drinks you simply push the red button, tell them what you would like, and they bring it all to you! If you want something like salt or extra butter you just let your server know. Our server also brought us plenty of napkins. I have heard great things about their pizzas and desserts as well!
They also came and cleaned up for us as well! So, we just got to sit back and enjoy the movie we had been so excited to see!

Studio Movie Grill offers a military discount, and many others were using a Groupon purchase as well. Their movie prices are already very reasonable, but who doesn’t like to save a little extra? If you have special needs children like we do you might be happy to know Studio Movie Grill offers monthly private Special Needs Screenings of popular family-friendly movies. Their Special Needs Screening for July was (no surprise!) Despicable Me 2 on July 13th and is available at most Studio Movie Grill Locations. Special Needs Children and their siblings are free. Additional tickets are only $6.
Whether you are looking for something fun for the family or a dinner and a movie date Studio Movie Grill has a lot to offer! You can purchase tickets online.

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