Weekend of Celebration...

So here is a recap of the great weekend of celebration we had after our engagement. We started off on Thursday at Gueros with some margaritas and a delicious lunch with Margaux's parents, Bob and Andrea. Then we walked around south congress area...






Then Thursday evening there was another surprise for Margaux. My very good friend, Jessica Meyers, cooked an incredible dinner for our families, who got to meet for the first time. The "rents" all got along great and we had a fantastic time celebrating together.

Now, Jess isn't just a fly-by-night cook ladies and gentlemen, she's a culinary school graduate. She's a pro! She went all out and I can't thank her enough for all her efforts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! The entire family was floored with the luxurious meal. We started off with a fresh salad with some delish fruits and a champagne citrus vinaigrette...


From there we moved on to the main course, Mushroom Fillet en Crute, or maybe better know as Beef Wellington. I had never had the privilege of tasting this dish, it was awesome. It's a cut of fillet mignon pan grilled, then topped with mushroom and herb cheese mixture, wrapped in pastry and then baked. To top it all off, she had our initials monogrammed into the top. Unreal! That was accompanied by asparagus & potatoes au gratin.

For dessert, we had her favorite, creme brulee. Home made, torched in my kitchen, with some fresh fruit on top. It was ridonculously good.

Of course, we had to pair that up with some delicious champagne and wine. We didn't hold back there either, with some California Ridge and some Veuve Clicquot. A big thank you to my parents and sisters who came through with awesome selections...


We followed that up with a small friends get together on Friday night at our place. Thanks to everyone who helped with that. It was great to share that with everyone who could make it. We also got to debut the new landscape lighting at Casa de Lemburn, which we installed with Magaux's Dads expertise. Thanks again Bob, the yard looks awesome and it'll make those discs a lot easier to find during our midnight rounds of disc golf.






Saturday we drove the Lember rents around the better parts of Austin (i.e. Scenic Dr., 2222, Tarrytown, etc.) and took them over to Mt. Bonnell...





On Saturday, we took both sets of rents again and piled into my parents Odyssey for a wine tour of the hill country. We stopped for lunch at the Silver K Cafe in Johnson City, which was really good.



Then we headed west and hit up Becker Vineyards first and then Grapecreek Vineyard. Both were good, but we then hit up our favorite, Torre Di Pietra. We finished off the afternoon tour there sharing a bottle of Red Flirt on the patio with some Jalapeno Quail sausage on asiago cheese crackers. Heck yea!


Last, but certainly not least, we gathered at my parents place Saturday night for another awesome dinner. We had some huge Ribeyes grilled by my dad himself. Along with that, my mom cooked one of my favorite dishes of her's, the frittattatta. Yes, I know that's not right, but that's what I like to call it... =) We then finished off diner with a really nice port wine the Lembers had picked up at Becker Vineyards and a fruit plate artful enough to be served at the Four Seasons. Nice job mom!!!!

We weren't done on Sun. We took the Lember rents to one of the best brunch spots in Austin. Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill. Those of you who have been there know how awesome it is. If you haven't been there, go this weekend, really, it's the shizzy I tell you.

Ok, so we probably gained 20lbs each, but come on, it's not often you get engaged right. Actually I'm told it should only be once... =)

Aanyhow, it was a fantastic weekend. Thank you again to everyone who participated and contributed to make it such.

Inagural blog...exciting news...I'm getting hitched!!!

So, I've begun my blogging career here with some fantastic news. As of about 8:30pm on the evening of Wed April 2nd I am no longer a free man, sorry ladies. I've taken the plunge and gotten engaged to my beautiful girlfriend Margaux Lember. Here are some photos of the great evening we had out at the Lakeway Resort and Spa.


It was a complete surprise for Margaux and I had some great accomplices. Thanks to everyone that helped and also to those who knew for so long and were able to keep it a secret.

Thanks to Sandro & Nancy Romano for the initial cover! I told her we were going out there for a Mystery Shopping job, which the Romano's do on a regular basis, but were unable to complete because one of their kiddos was sick. This involves going to a business and doing an evaluation/survey of sorts. They give you certain tasks to perform or questions to answer and then pay for a certain portion of the visit. Of course these usually do not include dinner and a free nights stay at 4 star resorts... =)


Anyhow, we got there and checked in. We headed down to the bar and had a drink till our reservation at 8pm. The whole time we were sitting on the patio, I was communicating in secret with the staff, who I had met earlier in the day on my scouting mission.

Right before our table was supposed to be ready I asked her to walk down to see the sunset. As we kept walking further away from the restaurant she hesitated, but I told her I knew where I was headed. As we turned the final corner to the deserted patio she saw the candle lit table for two and a waiter standing by. She said to me, "oh, Aaron, we can't go down there, someone is having dinner there". Again, I reassured her I knew where I was headed. As we approached the table and were greeted by the server, she finally realized it was for us.


At this point, she still did not know what was coming. As the waiter turned on the ipod I had set up for him earlier, we sat down and music began. Only problem was that it was some random country song. Doh! I tried several times to mouth to him that it was the wrong song, but I finally just had to get up and change it. Finally, I got the Old 97's playing a song I've loved for a long time. The song is called The Question. Hear it below if you'd like...



As the song ended, I got down on one knee I told her how much I loved her and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me. What do you know, she said yes, whew....


We celebrated with a dance to Ray Charles singing in the background as our delicious dinner was cooked. We started with some crab cakes and some delicious bread with calamata olives in it.


For our main course, her Filet Mignon and my 20oz Bone in Cowboy Rib-Eye were both amazing. Yea, we were living the high life... =) We also drank a great bottle of red wine to go with it.


After dinner, we headed back to the room where I had arranged a secret delivery by the staff of some supplies I had dropped off earlier . They had set up several bouquets of tulips, a bottle of champagne and tea light candles spread throughout the room.



We were so excited, we tried calling as many family members as possible before finally crashing at 11:45pm. The next morning I was woken up by Margaux at 5am. She was just too excited, and wanted to tell everyone...=)

I surprised her one more time, with breakfast room service. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed the view. It was beautiful and peaceful even though it was cloudy. We had another delicious meal as we polished off the rest of the champagne making mimosas.


We really had a fantastic time! The staff at the resort were great. They were excited about the whole event and were very helpful and accommodating.

Here are some pics of the resort I did not take myself...