Classy Southern Texan : Vail

Q and A with Kelli

Recently I have had a lot of reader questions from blogger and Facebook. I thought I would take a minute today to answer 7 quick questions.

Why 7? It is a lucky number :-)

Question 1

How long have you and your husband been married/ how did you meet?

We have been married 9 years. I can't believe that in October we will have celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss. :-)

My cousin introduced us. I knew that I was transferring to Baylor University, she was currently at Baylor. I had just broken up with my high school boyfriend...long distance is hard. She told me she had a guy I needed to meet.

We meet at the local Waco mall in a shoe store lol. Don't ask me the name I don't remember. My cousin and I were in their browsing. Greg and I had chatted on AOL IM for about 2-3 weeks before we actually meet. We hung out at the mall and that evening he invited me to dinner.

He asked me out that evening and since then we have been together.

QUESTION 2

Where are you from?

I am from Killeen, TX. It is the home to the Ft. Hood army base. I grew up here and just recently returned in March of 2017.

Question 3

What is your favorite place to vacation to? I love both the beach and skiing. My favorite trips with my husband have been to VAIL, CO and the many Caribbean cruises we have taken.

Question 4

How old is your house?

It was built in 1969 and is a wonderful mix of modern and contemporary!

Question 5

Who often do you workout and what are your favorite workouts?

I try to workout 3-5 days a week.

I enjoy strength based training and running for cardio.

Question 6

What made you decide to move back to TX and run laundromats? (most asked question)

See this blog post....http://classysoutherntexan.blogspot.com/2018/02/why-laundrymat.html

It is a family business and I wanted to be closer to home.

Question 7

What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend?

The weekends are our busy time as people wait until then to do their laundry. However, I enjoy visiting either Waco or Austin on the weekends. I love to lounge and read. I take Saturdays and Sunday's to do cardio as I have a little more time.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 No comments

WOOHOO for lots of snow, fresh powder and blue bird skiing. This past week the hubby and I enjoyed snowy CO.

We typically have visited CO during Valentine's/Presidents' Day weekend for the past 8 years!!

Here are some of our tried and true tips....We have skied Breckenridge, Vail and Beaver Creek. My husband grew up skiing Vail and I have to say it truly is our favorite. We have flown into both Eagle and Denver.

My suggestion is to fly into Denver and get a car. Flying into Eagle can be tricky with snow, time delays and the like.

Rent your skis, boots, and poles in advance. This saves a ton of time. We have rented from various places on the mountain year after year. But it is so convenient at the end of the day to just hand your skis, boots, and poles to someone and have them stored vs wearing them around town, carting the heavy skis and your feet hurting.

The best feeling after skiing for me personally is putting on my SOREL boots!!

Book dinner reservations in advance!!! We have our tried and true favorites and they fill up quickly. We like to sit at the bar but getting a reservation is key. We typically book the first few evenings and then see where else we want to eat.

Day 1

When we first get into Vail, we like to either visit Red Lion or Garfinklel's. They have lots of seating and a wide variety of menu options! We like to either get a fish sandwich or burger. We personally have noticed that it is so easy to split a meal in Vail. The portions are huge and we don't want our bellies too full while skiing.

The first evening in Vail, we went and got our skis, walked the town, watched some of the Olympics and then had dinner at Vendetta's. Most of the restaurants we like to eat at are close to our hotel. Vail is a walking town but they do have a bus that can take you around also for FREE!!

Vendetta's is Italian food. They have pizza and a bar upstairs and then downstairs more of a restaurant type feel. One of the best parts is you can just order a slice of pizza.

This particular evening my husband had a pasta dish and I had salmon.

Day 2

Time to get on the mountain and SKI!!

We typically like to be up in the gondola and skiing by 945-10 AM. The first 4 days of this particular vacation my husband and I skied the mountain together. I stuck by green/blue runs. My husband has been skiing Vail, since he was three years old so he knows the mountain pretty well.

On top of Vail mountain there are several places to eat lunch. This particular day we had BBQ at Wildewood. It is so yummy and they have everything from pulled pork to sausage with mac and cheese and coleslaw. Eating on the mountain is expensive and you can always pack your own lunch. We prefer to not pack something to have the extra weight plus there is such a variety of options.

After a long day of skiing we like to rest for a bit and then hit the hot tub to relax our muscles.

For evening number 2 we ate at Lancelot. This is hands down Greg's favorite place to eat. We ate there three times this trip!! The first evening at Lancelot we enjoyed fish but they are well known for their Prime Rib. Greg's grandmother started visiting Lancelot back in the 70s and so it is very special.

If you notice in this picture also I am wearing a new piece of jewelry. Golden Bear is a famous jewelry store in Vail. Greg's grandmother has a bear from this store from over 40 years ago. For our 9th anniversary Greg gave me his grandmothers' bear and then I picked my own out on this trip.

Day 3

On the third day of skiing my true love gave to me a break at lunch!! HAHA skiing is lots of hard work.

On Day 3 at lunch time we skied to the bottom of the bottom and were in Lionshead. At the base of this particular gondola is Blue Moose Pizza!!!

OMG yummy! We had some pizza, rested about an hour and then continued skiing.

For dinner we went to Los Amigos. Monday night at our house is Mexican night so we continued the tradition in Vail.

As I mentioned before, Vail is a walking town. All of these particular restaurants were no more than half a mile from our hotel.

Monday, February 19, 2018 No comments

Welcome everybody, as you can see Classy Southern Texan has ungone some changes in the last few weeks. I wanted to take a minute and introduce myself and share 10 Random Facts you may or may not know about me.

Hi, my name is Kelli yes spelled with an I. Not an ie, y or ey....My mom is Shelley with ey and my dad is Kenny with just the y. Believe me no one ever spells our names correctly on an invitation. Too much confusion. Why Why Why

1) I am an only child and love all things girly, Lilly Pulitzer, pink and bright!!!

2) From the time I was 2 years old I was a dancer until my 8th grade year! I did ballet, tap, jazz and hiphop at a local studio in Killeen, TX.

Yes, I grew up in a military town home to Ft. Hood the largest army base in the free world. However, my family is not military.

In middle school I started cheerleading and my freshmen year of High School I was one of only 3 freshmen to make the Varsity cheer team. To this day I still cannot do a back handspring!!!

3) I was 16 years old before I got my ears pierced!!!

4) I originally went to Stephen F. Austin in Nacgdoches, TX for my college degree. I am an education major. Stephen F. Austin is the number 2 school in the nation for education degrees. I was so fortunate because there I became a Tri Delta and met lifelong friends.

5) I transferred to Baylor University as a sophomore and meet my husband. My cousin set us up and thought they were actually dating at the time. He asked me out on our first date and we have been together now 12 years.

6) I originally taught 3rd grade in Shreveport, LA for three years and then I was a K5-5th grade librarian. I love children's books and so enjoyed the library because I was able to create my own curriculum. I can tell you about all the Dewey Decimal system.

7) I now live back in TX and adore our modern/mid century home!!