A Birthday, an Anniversary, and a Baptism

We've been a busy bunch lately! A few highlights...

I celebrated my birthday at the end of August. The Saturday prior, Jason and I got a sitter and ventured downtown to check out Qui, the new restaurant from recent Top Chef winner (and now famed Austinite) Paul Qui.

We were prepared for a crazy wait and, at two hours, it lived up to expectation. Fortunately, they let us leave during the wait, so we headed down the block to get some appetizers at one of Paul's East Side King trailers behind a local dive bar. Then, we headed back to the restaurant to enjoy some cocktails on the patio. It was a fun high/low Paul Qui experience.

Dinner was worth the wait, and the highlight of the evening was that he came by and shook our hands. He seems like such a genuine, humble guy-- just like he was portrayed on Top Chef. Our seats were at a bar overlooking the kitchen, so we succumbed to our inner tourist and snapped a few (or twenty) pictures of the chefs at work.

My actual birthday was two days later on a Monday, so we celebrated that night with a nice meal at home. Grilled steak, roasted cauliflower, and roasted asparagus, followed by chocolate cupcakes-- a nice way to usher in a new year.

This past Friday, Jason and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. It's amazing that five years have come and gone-- seemingly in a blink! And, looking back, I'm proud of all we've accomplished: a cross-country move, a graduate degree, new jobs for both of us, lots of travel, the birth of our first child, and the purchase of our first home. Wow. I'm tired just typing it. But it's been an amazing ride, and I'm so glad to have Jason as my partner along the way.

And, last-- but certainly not least-- we baptized Nicholas yesterday at our church. He is a little older than a lot of other babies who get baptized, so I was nervous about how he would tolerate it, but he did great. He didn't make a peep when the pastor poured a little water on his head, and then he calmly let the pastor carry him a little ways down the aisle in front of the congregation. It was his first time sitting through an entire service with us (usually he's in the nursery) and he handled it really well. He was enthralled by the music-- so much so that he loudly exclaimed "Yay!" after a very talented soloist sang a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace. Everyone laughed and it was a really cute moment. 

It was a special morning for us, and for Nicholas, and we look forward to the years ahead as he hopefully grows in his spirituality and comes to appreciate his faith.

Weekend Fun

We had a nice little weekend 'round these parts. Saturday was a scorcher (high of about 108), so we took Nicholas out into the yard bright and early for a little outdoor time before it got too hot. Jason was doing some watering and of course Nicholas had to help, so we just let him strip down and play in the hose water.

He was a fan.

Later in the morning, I hit up the free Barre3 class I mentioned on Friday (still sore this morning...), while Jason and Nicholas strolled around the 4th of July festival at Hill Country Galleria. After my class, we checked out the petting zoo, and of course I took no pictures. Nicholas was very curious about all the animals, but a little nervous when they got too close. However, we didn't stay too long because it was already well above 100 degrees. On the way home, we stopped at Chick-fil-a for lunch (which I'm sure is exactly what Barre3 recommends to help maximize your fitness routine.) Afterward, we came home for afternoon naps and then grilled burgers for dinner.

Sunday, I woke up to this:

After a difficult week, Jason surprised me with flowers and a breakfast of creme brulee french toast, topped with powdered sugar and blueberries, and bacon. Yum. Afterward, we made a quick trip to Home Depot for some new flowers and herbs to spruce up our patio, along with a real sprinkler for Nicholas to run through. 

Fortunately, it was a lot cooler (mid-90s) on Sunday afternoon, so I potted my plants while Nicholas ran around in the sprinkler (this time properly attired in a swimsuit.)

Two of my new pots - German thyme and pink vinka.

We wound down on Sunday evening with a dinner of grilled Copper River salmon, asparagus, and roasted potatoes. I can't say I was totally ready for Monday, but the upcoming holiday definitely makes it easier to face the week!

Weekend in Review

A few highlights from the weekend:

• I spent Friday night cleaning. Jason spent Friday night going to the gym. We were both happy about it. How times have changed...
• Saturday we went to a fun Cinco de Derby party. You know... horse racing and pinatas... bourbon and taquitos. What could be a more natural fit? We brought blackberry mint juleps from this month's Southern Living and dressed Mr. Nicholas in his best seersucker. Sadly, I failed to take any pictures. But he looked cute... and those juleps were tasty.
• On Sunday evening (OK, it actually took most of Sunday day and part of Saturday), Jason made Emeril's chicken and waffles recipe. Holy moly. The chicken is marinated in buttermilk, paprika, and hot sauce overnight, which gives it an awesome spicy kick. Then there are the buttermilk waffles. I don't want to know exactly how much butter is in them, but I know I had a full pound of butter in my fridge on Saturday and now there is just half a stick left. Then there is the hot pepper maple syrup and vanilla butter (yes, more butter.) Unbelievable. This recipe is killer. Our kitchen looked like a crime scene afterward, but it was worth it. And while I failed to take pictures of my baby in his adorable seersucker, I totally took pictures of this dinner. Served with mimosas. Naturally.

• And a few gratuitous pics of my child enjoying one of his favorite pastimes:

All clean and ready for bed!

Spring Excursions

We've been enjoying a gorgeous spring here in central Texas. Spring is by far my favorite season in Texas-- and we only get 6-8 weeks of it before the relentless summer heat sets in and I become an angry, bitter person who hates Austin-- make that the entire state of Texas-- most of the people in it, and the sun itself. I have the opposite of winter seasonal affective disorder. Or maybe I should call it seasonal angry disorder. But that is neither here nor there. We've still got a little bit of spring left, and we've really made the most of the past few weekends. I don't know if it's the fact that we're more cooped up during the week than we were pre-baby, but since Nicholas reached the two month mark we've really made an effort to get out and do fun activities once the weekend rolls around.

At the end of March we took him on his first wine tasting trip. Yes, we're starting him young. He slept through much of it, but Mom and Dad loved checking out some wineries and enjoying a picnic lunch in nearby Driftwood. In the past, we've driven all the way out to Fredericksburg to visit our favorite local winery, Pedernales Cellars. But, with Nicholas in tow, we decided to stay a little closer to home and visited Duchman Family Winery, Driftwood Estate Winery, and Bell Springs Winery for the first time. We enjoyed all three, and found a few bottles to bring home with us.

Our spring has been a wet one by Texas standards, meaning that we had a bumper crop of wildflowers. Bluebonnet photos are an annual must for Texan families, so we spent a couple weeks scoping out the perfect location to set up a little photo shoot for Nicholas. We found a shady patch of flowers along the road behind a nearby housing development, set out a blanket, and got a little trigger happy with the camera. He was a little unsure about the whole thing, but we got some cute photos to help us remember his first spring.

(And our personal favorite...)

And this past weekend, we made a little trek out to Boggy Creek Farms to check out their farmer's market. We showed up around 11:30am, but unfortunately all the good stuff was sold out. Since I'm not yet at the stage with a baby where I have the time or inclination to conjure up meals with, say, Brussels sprouts greens, we walked away empty handed. But, we did stroll around the farm a little bit, checking out the flower gardens and chicken coops. Afterward., we enjoyed a tasty lunch at East Austin's Hillside Farmacy.

The coming months will undoubtedly include a lot of time spent parked indoors, on the couch, in the AC, but I'm glad we enjoyed some quality family time outdoors this spring. Maybe when the 78th consecutive day over 100 degrees hits this summer, I can take a look at these photos and feel just a little bit better...

Week 29... and a wedding

November 11, 2011

Best Moment: The highlight of the week was catching up with my best friends from college at my good friend Anne's wedding. I haven't seen one of our friends, Camille, since she visited Austin last April, so it felt like a girls weekend with an extra special finale. (But we missed you, Diana!) Thursday night after work I drove down to San Antonio and met up with Anne, Camille, and her husband J for dinner at Dough. (Good stuff if you're ever in the Alamo city.) On Friday we hosted a little shower for Anne to enjoy some pre-wedding pampering, followed by the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Then on Saturday, we attended her gorgeous wedding. It was great to get away for the weekend and enjoy some fun with old friends before the little man arrives. Here's a picture of the three of us together:

Symptoms: Back pain, hip pain, and fatigue. But I managed to fulfill my MOH duties with flying colors by standing for the full hour of Anne's orthodox wedding ceremony. Go me. (Of course, I enjoyed a good two hour nap the next day.)

Cravings/Aversions: I crave food. Pretty much all types. I think I may need to delete this category. I feel like I am beginning to sound like a broken record.

What I Miss: Not too much really. I can now definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel, so I'm just trying to enjoy the last couple months of this experience.

What I Can't Wait For: We've got an exciting few weeks coming up. We're hosting our first married Thanksgiving together, and then heading out to the gulf coast of Florida for another wedding in early December. We're going to stay a few extra days and make this our "babymoon." I'm looking forward to some R&R-- and hopefully a good prenatal massage at the resort!

Milestones: Baby is pushing 3 pounds and-- we revisit the produce aisle again this week-- about the size of a butternut squash. At this point, his brain development is kicking into high gear, which reminds me that I need to go pick up some Omega 3 supplements!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend-- much needed after our two weeks of house guests (!) and all the festivities surrounding Jason's graduation. We kicked off the weekend with dinner on Friday night at Hop Doddy (I seriously cannot get enough of that place-- best. burgers. ever.), followed by a movie at the new Violet Crown Cinema in downtown Austin. The Violet Crown is kind of similar to Austin's Alamo Drafthouse theaters in that they have a full bar and lots of gourmet concessions, but it's a lot swankier. The lobby feels like a lounge-y downtown bar. We saw Everything Must Go with Will Ferrell. It was good, and nice to see Will in a more serious role, but definitely a little depressing.

On Saturday we attended a BBQ with some of J's business school friends, which was really an excuse for all the guys to get together and watch the European Champions Cup. I totally just made up the name of that soccer game. Something like that. All I know is that it was between Manchester United and Barcelona, and we are happy Barca won because we (meaning J) do not like ManU. (See, like how I use the abbreviated nicknames, as though I am a legit fan?)

Afterwards, he and I left to watch another movie. For Christmas my boss gave me a gift card to Austin's Gold Class Cinemas (I think they have them in other cities too), which are basically really fancy movie theaters. The seats are leather recliners. They give you fleece blankets. And you have a server who waits on you during the movie to bring you any variety of beverages (alcoholic and non) and gourmet treats. The ticket prices are astronomical, but it was a fun treat with a gift card. We saw The Hangover Part II. Meh. Definitely nowhere near as good as the original (and significantly more raunchy), but it had some funny parts.

We capped off the evening with a light dinner at Whole Foods. It's already so hot here that all I'm craving these days is fruit and big salads. Although we'll see how long that lasts. And clearly the heat didn't dissuade me from Friday's burger and shake. Ha.

On Sunday, a big group of our business school friends got together and made the trek out to Hamilton Pool, about 45 minutes southwest of town in the Hill Country, for a day of picnicking and swimming. We arrived around 10:45am, but at that point the lot was completely full and the park ranger estimated we wouldn't be able to get in until late afternoon. Fortunately Cassie saved the day by remembering a nearby swimming hole in the Pedernales River at Milton Reimer's Ranch Park. We would up finding a nice empty (sandy!) stretch of riverbank and the river was the perfect temperature (and depth) for swimming.

I was clearly too busy having fun because this is the only picture I managed to take of this beautiful spot. We decided a nice stretch of river and a sandy beach was far better than the obviously overcrowded, and apparently much smaller, Hamilton Pool.

Sunday night, we were completely wiped out after a full day of sun, so we tried out a new Indian place and then crashed on the couch and caught up on FNL episodes. Unfortunately I also wound up getting a pretty bad sunburn on my back. Ugh. It's all faded now, but I have to agree with Kate over at EA: getting a sunburn as an adult kind of feels like a major failure in "being a grown up 101."

On Monday (yes, I promise this post is coming to an end soon...), we woke up early and had a super productive morning: meal planning & grocery shopping, a turbo house-cleaning session, and a good workout-- all before lunch. Then Anne came up from San Antonio and we enjoyed yummy salads at Zocalo and a little bit of shopping.

I guess my weekend was actually pretty packed... but it felt nice and relaxing. And, now we're almost 3/4 of the way through the short work week... the best part of a long weekend! How soon until 4th of July?? Who's with me?

Lazy Weekend

We (or, more appropriately, I) had a really lazy weekend. (My husband, on the other hand, probably spent at least 25 hours studying.) A month or two ago I bought a one-time house cleaning coupon from Morgan's Deals (a Groupon knock-off), and with our upcoming onslaught of house guests for J's graduation, I figured now was a great time to get my house spic and span. And it was sooooo nice. Back in my free-wheelin' single days, I used to have a house cleaner come twice a month. To clean my apartment. My studio apartment. As if 350 square feet was even enough space to make a mess. I hear some single girls enjoy massive collections of designer shoes. My drug of choice was apparently obsessive compulsive disorder.

But I digress... after we got married, got on a budget, and, oh yeah, my husband got laid off, I became our house cleaner of choice. And as we plan to stick to our Dave Ramsey budget and baby steps, I will continue to be our house cleaner of choice (with help from J of course... the man cleans a mean shower). But, for one weekend, it was such a treat to have it done for me. The windows, counters, and floors are all sparkling. And the best part was that while they were cleaning, I managed to tackle some other projects around the house to the tune of a refrigerator deep clean, pantry and linen closet organization, and seven, yes S-E-V-E-N, loads of laundry. Ahhhhhh, nothing soothes quite like a cleaning binge. (Satisfied smile.)

And now-- having started a post about a pleasant, relaxing weekend and then written a novel about house cleaning-- I realize I need to get some hobbies. But, never fear, the cleaning binge on Saturday morning allowed me to enjoy a nap on Saturday afternoon, followed by drinks out with friends on Saturday evening. And then on Sunday, my day consisted of church, a good circuit training workout, an hour by the pool with a novel, and dinner at our friends' Tylor and Erin's house.

Sadly, finals week prevented J from partaking in most of these activities. But-- I almost forgot the highlight of the weekend!-- on Friday night we enjoyed a special date night out at Jasper's, courtesy of a gift card J received from his sister for his birthday back in January. We wanted to save it for a special occasion and figured that it would be perfect for a "days-away-from-completing-grad-school" celebratory dinner before his parents arrive next weekend. And it was sooooo nice treating ourselves to a fancy dinner out for the first time in months (fancy restaurant dinners being another luxury we've given up in the past few years.) I have to say... when it's a special treat, we really enjoy it all the more. I loved every bite of my field greens and filet mignon (and bites of his prime rib), the wine complemented the food perfectly, and the molten chocolate cake with tres leches sauce was a delicious as it sounds. All in all, a perfect night, and hopefully a prelude to more fun celebrations as graduation nears.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Busy Bee

It's been a little while since I posted last... what's been going on? To start, we had our friends Anne & Gregg up from San Antonio to run the half marathon (them, not us) the weekend before last. I headed out bright and early on Sunday morning to cheer them on and thought I might end up running a mile or two with Anne if I managed to pick her out of the huge crowd of runners. I did find her... and then proceeded to run the whole rest of the half marathon with her! That was a 5 mile workout I hadn't planned on, but it was a beautiful day and so much fun to be out amidst the crowds and race day excitement. It made me kinda wish I had a big race on the agenda (until my knees started killing a few hours later, at which point I promptly nixed any race plans.) After the race, we fulfilled their request for HopDoddy burgers and I felt no guilt indulging in my Llano Poblano burger. Mmmm.

Monday and Tuesday of last week I headed to Atlanta for meetings with a new client, and then we had a few fun plans later in the week. I've been meeting with a group of girlfriends each Wednesday night to watch (and dissect) The Bachelor on DVR. Some are old veterans like me, and others are new to The Bachelor, but I think we can all agree that a.) Brad is super awkward; and b.) Emily seems way to good to be on this show. I hope he picks her, but also sort of hope he doesn't because I think she could probably find someone so much better. Time will tell... only a few weeks to go!

On Friday night, we participated in the annual MBA Big Lebowski Bowling Tournament. Costumes mandatory. Our team's performance was pretty poor, but we all picked it up on the second game, and I managed to bowl a 110, which may be my best ever. I beat J in both games. (Yes, we are terrible.)

J & I in our costumes (80s workout chick for me, random Big Lebowski dude for him)

The rest of our team, minus JH.

And, the winners-- including our good friends Joe, Dan, Andy, and Cassie. (Unfortunately I didn't get a full length picture-- you could have marvelled at the guys' super sexy cut off jeans.)

We just stayed in and relaxed the rest of the weekend. It was low-key, but one of those weekends where I managed to accomplish a lot and get caught up on a bunch of things (6 loads of laundry come to mind...) J made me dinner on Saturday night, which was a huge treat since I do 99% of the food planning, purchasing, and preparation in our household (although he does do the dishes regularly.) Here's my manly chef:

Hope you had a good weekend, too!

Ready for the Weekend!

This week has been a looooong one. I think partially because we were out of town last weekend, so we didn't have a lot of time to prepare for the week ahead. Work is also starting to pick up for me (which is a good thing), but that leaves me oh-so-ready for a relaxing evening tonight and a low-key weekend.

Last weekend was a lot of fun. We went out to Los Angeles to visit our friends Laurie & Matt, and their daughter, Camille. Laurie runs a non-profit, and J is on the board, so we flew out to attend their annual in-person meeting and dinner. We also got to spending some time enjoying LA-- including a trip to the zoo, lunch from In'N'Out, a walk along the park that overlooks the ocean in Brentwood, and a drive past O.J. Simpson's former residence. (We discovered that they have torn down his house, built a new one, and renumbered the street. I don't blame them. Can you imagine living in that house? Creepy.)

The weather was gorgeous! Unlike Texas, which is totally dead and brown this time of year, LA was lush and green. It looked and felt like May. Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pictures, but I did snap a few at the zoo:

Dad & daughter enjoying the sights

Overall, it was a great weekend! I think we found a new little buddy in Camille. Hopefully we'll be able to visit again before she forgets us completely!

We don't have a whole lot planned this weekend, but will be heading out to cheer on our friends Anne & Gregg in the Austin Half Marathon. They have requested lunch at our new favorite burger joint, Hop Doddy, afterward. I am happy to oblige, but sadly will not have just burned 1,300 calories like them. Hmmm... I may need to do a little jogging myself.

Happy Friday!

Birthday Celebrations

Jason celebrated his birthday on Monday, so we enjoyed several fun outings over the past few days. On Saturday evening, we met up with a group of friends at Austin's legendary (and enormous... holy cow, that place is big!) TexMex establishment, Matt's El Rancho, for queso, margs, and all kinds of ooey gooey enchilada deliciousness. Afterward, we enjoyed some libations at Red's Porch. We ended up staying out until 1am, and, boy, I can tell J's not the only one around here who's aging. That was rough. I only had three drinks during the entire night-- dinner through 1am-- but the fatigue alone left me feeling so worn out the next day! Is it sad that a home-cooked pasta dinner, a glass of wine, and a Netflix movie that wraps up around 10:30pm is my idea of a perfect night these days? (That was essentially our Friday night.) Regardless, we had a great time on Saturday and it was nice to have a bunch of friends come out to celebrate J's birthday.

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous-- sunny and 78 degrees. There were actually people laying out by the pool. Were it not for the queso and margaritas the night before, I would have joined them. Instead, I opted for a long walk around Town Lake. It was so nice to get some sun and even a little color on my arms and cheeks! Later we went to our Dave Ramsey class, which we're still digging, and then enjoyed our pasta leftovers and more Netflix.

Monday was J's actual birthday, so the celebrations continued with a little wine and cheese course at home, along with some presents and cards, followed by dinner at Olivia. We went there for my birthday a year and a half ago, loved it, and were looking for a good reason to go back. Another birthday fit the bill, and it was as delicious as I remembered it. He had the Kobe beef grilled tri-tip with sea salt frites (and an amazing aioli), and I had the pan seared sea scallops on a bed of Parmesan risotto with blood orange, celery root, and cashews. We wrapped it up with a deconstructed apple pie a la mode for dessert. Tasty!

In the meantime, our beautiful 78 degree weather has vanished thanks to the massive blizzard currently wreaking havoc on the Midwest, and it's a balmy 22 or so right now. I just wish we would get a few flurries so we could enjoy a snow day like everyone else! Come on, snow... come on, snow...

Monday, Monday...

Here we are on Monday, again. They seem to come quick, don't they? Today I'm OK with the fact that it's yet another Monday because I had a nice weekend-- quiet, but relaxing and fun, too. Friday night was low key. We made tacos and saw The King's Speech, which was fantastic (and Collin Firth will totally win the Academy Award.) And then I was in bed by 11. My kind of night.

Saturday, I got up and took a long walk around Town Lake with two girlfriends. It was still cold (and, yes, I realize Texas has turned me into a total weather whiner), but finally sunny! And it was so nice to just enjoy some fresh air and girl time. Then I came home and made lasagna from scratch... sauce and all. It wasn't very difficult, but definitely took some time-- probably over 3 hours in total. Since the sauce had to simmer for an hour and a half, I figured it was the perfect time to take a nap. So I did, and it was delightful. Then I got up, cleaned up, and we had some friends over for a big lasagna feast. I should have taken some pictures, but didn't. I realize my blog has been pictureless here for a few weeks, so I'll have to get on that...

Yesterday was another lazy day. We slept in, and then made our (sadly, nearly habitual) Sunday morning breakfast of waffles and bacon. J even snazzed it up with some fried apples that we used to top our waffles. Delicious, but not so figure friendly. That, combined with the aforementioned lasagna feast, necessitated some serious cardio at the gym. Usually I hate working out indoors at the gym on weekends, but since I didn't really have any other pressing duties (and it was still cold out), I actually kind of enjoyed it.

Later that afternoon, we headed to our Dave Ramsey class. We've been taking his class this winter, and are really enjoying it so far. A lot of the early classes are on the basics like saving and reducing debt, which are fairly common sense (although always a good reminder and he provides excellent motivation), but I'm really looking forward to some of the later classes on things like investing, insurance, retirement and college savings, etc. I feel like I've always been fairly on top of the basics of personal finance, but I know there are so many more things I could be doing, so we're enjoying the classes and also actually enjoying getting a little more hard core about our budgeting, saving, and working towards our financial goals.

Then, we wrapped up our evening with a little more lasagna (so much for that cardio) and some good books. I always kind of feel like January is a boring month that I just have to slog through, but it's kind of nice not having all the hustle bustle of the holidays or a lot of plans. And it's one of a few months where it's totally acceptable to spend an entire Saturday making and eating comfort food, so there's that too...

Have you tried any new recipes lately? Any favorite winter comfort food meals?

Holiday Gruene-ery

That (bad) pun won't make much sense to anyone outside of central Texas... for the rest of you, Gruene (pronounced Green-- haha, get it??) is a tiny, scenic town about an hour south of Austin whose motto reads, "gently resisting change since 1872." True to this statement, the town looks like it's straight out of an old west movie set, with a general store, a few saloons and restaurants, numerous antique shops, and Gruene Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas. And around the holidays, Gruene oozes charm.

This past weekend, we were invited down for the night to celebrate my friend Cassie's birthday with three other b-school couples. We bunked up in cabins at the Gruene Mansion Inn, strolled the festively lit streets checking out boutique after candy shop after boutique, enjoyed a delicious birthday meal at the Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar, and capped off the evening with lots of pool and live country music at Gruene Hall. I love exploring the little historic towns that make each region unique, and this was no exception. We had a great time.

The birthday girl, and her husband, Dan

The girls goofing around outside the dance hall

Cory Morrow on stage at Gruene Hall

Serious fans

Dan and Alle shootin' pool

J and I enjoying the show

Gypsy Picnic

This weekend was pretty chill, and exactly what I needed. I slept (a lot), got back into my workout groove, cleaned the house, and ran some much needed errands. But we did manage to sneak a little fun into the weekend, too. Knowing that we may not live here forever (caution: big, scary life decisions ahead as we approach J's last semester of business school), I've been trying to make more of a conscious effort to get out and enjoy Austin and its distinctive quirkiness.

Airstream trailer dining is a big thing in Austin. Some of them roam freely around the city and some are parked in specific, permanent locations. They serve everything from tacos to Korean barbecue to Indian food to BBQ and good ol' Southern comfort food. Some try to provide an upscale trailer experience, like my favorite Indian place, G'Raj Mahal. G'Raj (pronounced Garage) has a nice tented patio with wrought iron chairs and tables and nice lighting. They wait on you at your table and, other than the fact that you're eating outside in a vacant lot near some dilapidated buildings, it feels like a decent restaurant. They don't have a liquor license, but who can complain about BYOB? Most people bring beer or a bottle of wine to enjoy with their food. (If you go, get the Saag. Mmmmmm.) Other trailers are unabashedly low rent (numerous taco trucks come to mind), but their food is equally delicious.

This past Saturday 30 different trailers gathered together at Auditorium Shores as part of the Gypsy Picnic. Admission was free and the idea was essentially to roam around and purchase small tastes (about $3-$5 each) from multiple different vendors. This being Austin, there was also a stage with numerous different live music acts throughout the afternoon and two beer gardens. Lines were long for most of the trailers, but we were impressed that the "tastes" were actually pretty substantial for $3. We tried tacos and homemade hot sauce from Royito's Hot Sauce Streamer and shrimp po'boy sandwiches from Turf N Surf Po'Boy.

After that we just kind of wandered around, chatted up some friends we ran into, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Of course all of this strenuous activity necessitated nap when we got home, but it was well worth the effort. ; )

Weekend update x 2

As promised, we did hit up the Texas State Fair last weekend. And it did not disappoint. The sheer volume and variety of fried food was staggering. Apparently there is some sort of contest to judge all the fried food in a number of different categories. The winning "most tasty" food was the fried frito pie, and it actually looked really good. It took us about an hour to find the stall that was selling the fried frito pies, but the line was insane. We stood there for about ten minutes, but it didn't move at all. So I wound up with a fresh squeezed lemonade and an ice cream bar instead. This was very possibly the first time in my life where the ice cream bar was a healthier choice! J and his parents did manage to sample the fried beer, however. (Fried beer won as the most creative fried food.) It was essentially a little dough pouch with beer in the middle. The whole thing was fried, and the beer was still liquid in the middle. I didn't try it, but they said it was kind of weird and not that tasty. And the beer was hot. Hmmm... still, they get points for trying it.

Aside from tracking down obscure fried foods, we saw a bunch of livestock, wandered through the Midway, saw a blue ribbon winning butter sculpture, and visited the car show. All in all, a good introduction to the state fair.

Butter sculpture of UT vs. OU

J and his parents

Us in front of Big Tex... "Howdy Folks!"

This past weekend was pretty mellow. It was one of our first weekends in what feels like months where we had very few plans. Or at least I did. J had his good friend, Aaron, from growing up come into town. They went to see Jackass 3D on Friday night, while I went to my friend's pumpkin carving party. Let's just say the guys kind of wish they had gone to the pumpkin carving party too. ; )

Saturday, I enjoyed a leisurely morning, took a two hour nap (I know, impressive), and worked out. The guys went to the UT game. (Let's not discuss it. Such a sad season for the Longhorns. Instead, I am focusing all my football attention on the Oregon Ducks.) Then we took Aaron out for BBQ at the Salt Lick. The wait was seriously two hours-- the worst it's ever been for us. Needless to say, when our food arrived, we stuffed ourselves silly. Then we were all so spent that we had no choice but to come home and lie on the couch and watch Missou take down Oklahoma. And what does that mean, my friends?? Oh, yes it does... The Oregon Ducks are now ranked #1 in the BCS for the first time ever. Let's hope they do not continue the streak of number 1 teams losing on the road when they play USC next weekend. Gulp.

Yesterday, I finished up the weekend on an uber productive note-- seven loads of laundry (that should give you an idea of how busy we've been the past few weekends), meal planning for the week, grocery shopping, working out, and making the Barefoot Contessa's Italian Wedding Soup (click the link for the recipe) with chicken sausage meatballs from scratch. It was delicious. It was slightly time consuming due to all the vegetable chopping, but it turned out really well. And it was one of those great dinners that tastes really good, but is good for you too. Definitely a good Sunday evening project. And now I've got leftovers in my freezer! Can't beat that.

Relaxation

This weekend has been just what the doctor ordered... after numerous weeks of visitors, my sister's bachlorette festivities last weekend, and plenty of work travel scattered in for good measure, I really needed a weekend to veg out and do nothing. Well, not much anyway.

J was out of town this weekend, so I got home from a business trip to Houston on Friday evening and watched the final 3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy while doing a couple loads of laundry. My interest in that show kind of ebbs and flows, but the season finale was surprisingly riveting. I was totally glued to the TV. Then I got a strange little burst of energy at about 11:45 and wound up cleaning the house for an hour. That doesn't happen often, but when the mood strikes, I go with it.

Saturday I slept in, and then my friend Anne came up from San Antonio. She is doing the triathlon with me, so we headed out to my gym to do a 30 minute open water swim, followed by a 5K. The swim felt great, but we started the run around 1:30pm. Probably not the best timing considering it was well north of 90 degrees and humid. But we got through it and rewarded ourselves a few hours later with a medium pie and a Greek salad at Home Slice. Later, we met up with a few of my friends at Lustre Pearl to enjoy a cocktail and celebrate at birthday.

Now it's Sunday and I've got to tackle one long bike ride-- probably an hour or so-- and then I plan to pretty much just lie around and relax for the rest of the day. Ahhhhhhh.

Avatar, pool time, and live music

That about sums up our weekend... Super low key and relaxing, and totally "Austin." On Friday night we headed out to our fav Tex Mex joint, Curra's (mmm... avocado margaritas... sounds weird, but tastes divine!), and on our way home we heard some lively music blaring from the outdoor bar at Guero's. We've been bad Austinites-- in the 7 or so months we've lived here, we haven't gone out of our way to hear live music once. A few times we've kind of stumbled into it, but we've been telling ourselves on an almost weekly basis that we need to get out and see some shows.

We had had plans on Friday evening to hit up Austin's legendary Continental Club (which also happens to be about 2 doors down from our apartment) after dinner, but on a whim decided check out the blues-y rock at Guero's first. That was a good call. We ended up staying for two hours (and quite a few margaritas), and it was fantastic. The band was called Los Flames. I didn't really know many of the songs, but I felt like it would have been the kind of music I would hear if it was about 1954 and I was hanging out a tavern deep in the bayou in Louisiana. And listening to it outside, on a balmy evening, under grove of huge live oak trees strung up with globe lights was perfect.

Saturday was a lazy day. And by lazy, I mean I was in my pajamas until 2:30pm, and got dressed only to get back in bed for a nap at about 3:30. I could chalk it up to the margaritas, but work has been so insane lately, I felt like I deserved a day of complete and utter sloth. I did manage to get myself cleaned up and actually leave the house though. We went to see Avatar in 3D (and, yes, we are probably the last people in the entire country to see this movie.) I was pleasantly surprised. It's been so hyped up that I felt like it was just something I should see, but might not actually like it that much. I'm not that big into sci fi or fantasy, and I tend to get real antsy in movies longer than 2 hours, but it actually didn't feel that long to me and I was totally engaged the whole time. Definitely worth the $15 for 3D.

Today has also been pretty mellow, but I managed to get a 3 mile run in. It was also about 76 today, so I put on my swimsuit and headed down to the pool to do a little reading. I wasn't sure if it would feel warm enough, but there were a bunch of other people down there with the same idea and it felt hot-- like sweating in the sun hot, and I actually got some little tan lines. So obviously I had to send the obligatory bragging texts to my sister and pals in Seattle. (Of course, it's supposed to be a whopping 39 here on Tuesday, so they shouldn't feel too bad.) Now we're just watching the Olympics and relaxing. All in all, a fantastic weekend.

Catching up...

A little behind with my weekend update... I can't believe it's already Wednesday (although I'm definitely not complaining!) A few highlights from last weekend:

• Group dinner at our friends' Alle and Dan's house with a few other friends. I love getting together and socializing with friends over a dinner party at someone's home. It's so comfortable and laid back, and yet feels so grown up! Plus it's fun to check out someone else's cooking/decorating/hostessing style. Alle pulled out all the stops with juicy grilled steaks, cheddar polenta, amazing brussel sprouts sauteed with onions, carrots, and feta, and an arugula salad with grilled pears. Mmmm.
• The 'Horns BARELY making it to the National Championships. They gave us all a little scare, but came through with a field goal with 1 second left in the game. So now I get to cheer on two of my favorite teams in Pasadena.
• The marquee in front of Docs, which read "Prime Longhorns vs. Canned Corn." Love that place.
• Christmas shopping! I'm by no means finished, but have made a good start and am well ahead of my typical December 23rd shopping habits.

Highlights for this week:

• Girls dinner at Cassie's. A group of 6 of us (all wives/girlfriends of b-school students) get together every few weeks for dinner at someone's house. It's always a fun night of good food, good company, and lots of vino.
• T-29 hours until Jason is done with finals for this semester! Can't wait to celebrate on Friday night!
• Christmas date next weekend. Instead of exchanging big gifts this year, we've decided to get creative (and budget-friendly) and do a stocking for each other. It's actually been really fun to plan out and purchase all of J's stocking stuffers. Thinking up several small gifts has definitely required more creativity and I think he's going to really enjoy opening it up! We're doing our stockings this weekend because he is heading back to Seattle next week (since he'll be done with school) a few days before me. So we're going to cook a Christmas feast, open up our stockings in front of the fire (and my lovely bedecked mantle... pictures coming tomorrow), and then head out on the town for dessert and drinks somewhere festive.

What do you have planned for the week? Any fun holiday celebrations?

Monday, Monday...

It's Monday and I'm back at work again, but fortunately this week looks pretty mellow. I travelled for work for a few days last week and it's amazing how much that throws off your schedule! I went to the gym a grand total of 0 times last week, so I'm trying to get back on track. And break in the new gym membership of course! This morning I went to my first class at Pure (a body pump class), and seeing as it's been about a month since I last lifted, I'm sure I'll be good and sore tomorrow. But it was a good jump start to the week.

Our weekend was good... great, actually. The perfect blend of relaxing, fun, and productive. On Saturday we were going to head down to San Antonio to visit my friend Anne, but she called to say she was sick just as we were pulling out of the driveway. Since we were showered and ready to go before noon on a Saturday (which is pretty rare in our household), we figured we'd have an afternoon adventure anyway. So we headed west into hill country to explore. We stopped in Johnson City for lunch (home of LBJ... and, surprisingly, it was named Johnson City even before he was famous-- per Wikipedia... we were curious), and then headed towards Fredericksburg for some wine tasting. We stopped at our favorite vineyard, Pedernales Cellars, which was delish as usual, and then checked out couple new ones: Becker and Rancho Ponte Vineyards. Pedernales is still our fav, but it was fun to do some sampling. And it was even more fun to just have a totally unplanned afternoon to roam around in the beautiful countryside with no agenda-- I can't remember the last time we did that. Definitely good for the soul.

Saturday night we headed to a "couples dinner" organized by one of J's classmates at Austin's swanky downtown BBQ joint, Lambert's. The Salt Lick is still the best by far, but it was fun to check out another famous Austin spot and try their version of ribs, brisket, and BBQ chicken. And I may be considering reversing my previous stance on queso... the jalapeno cilantro queso at Lambert's was pretty irresistible. There were 6 couples there, so it was fun to mingle and meet some of the other spouses/significant others that I hadn't met yet.

Yesterday was my standard get-stuff-done Sunday. Boring, but effective. And oh so needed. I also got inspired to do some cooking and I made the Barefoot Contessa's dijon mustard and thyme marinated pork tenderloin roast, on top of a bed of roasted fennel, carrots, and new potatoes. Not to pat myself on the back too much, but it was out of this world. (Clearly all the credit goes to Ms. Ina Garten... I'm just good at following directions.) If you like pork tenderloin, I highly recommend this recipe. The dijon marinade is really mild-- it doesn't taste too mustardy; mostly it's just savory goodness. Unfortunately, I can't find it online right now, but I promise to copy it down from my cookbook and post it soon. I'm looking forward to leftovers tonight.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

I'm back!

Hey friends-- Sorry about the unexpected absence! Two weeks have just blown by and life has been busy. We had some visitors in town, then I was traveling for work for a few days, and then I was battling a minor cold. But all is well, and I am back and ready to post some pictures. Finally! I know my readers... um, all 7 of you... have been clamoring for them. ; )

Two weekends ago, J's sister, Kristin, and her new husband, Dan, were in town and we had a blast showing off Austin. They have a few other friends in the area, so they were able to show us a few new spots as well. We went two-stepping for the first time at the Broken Spoke, and let me tell you... those people are serious about their dancing. At one point I mistakenly used the term "line dancing" (which it definitely is not), and I was informed that line dancing is a little "low brow," but two-stepping is where it's at. I raised quite a few eyebrows (and even got a couple dirty looks) with my two left feet and poor coordination. Apparently you don't just roll into the Broken Spoke to two step if you don't actually know what you're doing. Ah, well. A few beers eased my shame and then I wasn't too terribly concerned.

Brother and sister in front of the Broken Spoke

We also took another hike up to the lookout on Mt. Bonnel (which is really just a 750m jaunt up a hill from a parking lot, but the view of Lake Austin is spectacular.)

Saturday night was Halloween, and after cheering on the 'Horns (and the Ducks, who destroyed USC by the way), we headed out on the town. Only Dan dressed up, but we had fun checking out the scene downtown and some of the crazy costumes.

J and I in our not so crazy costumes

We finished up the night at the Club DeVille, which (who knew) has outdoor karaoke on this stage with a dramatically lit limestone backdrop. By the time we arrived (late in the evening), many of the patrons' karaoke skills had rapidly deteriorated, so a few members of our crowd were able to put on some pretty impressive numbers. Below, Kristin and Dan belt out some Meatloaf. Good times.

We ended the weekend on Sunday by watching the bats beneath the Congress bridge. Fun fact for you... Austin has the largest urban bat population in the world. Or maybe it's just the western hemisphere... Either way, there are a LOT of bats that live beneath the Congress bridge, and they fly out to munch on some mosquitoes every evening at dusk. Quite honestly, the bats freak me out, but anything to help keep the mosquito population down... And it's a pretty impressive site when you see millions of them fly out at once. I tried to get a picture, but it just looked like a big black blur, so you'll have to settle for me and J standing around waiting for the bats to make their entrance.

All in all, a great weekend! And it was so fun to have our first guests come visit. We loved having friends in town, and want to have as many visitors as possible. Hint, hint... you know who you are... start looking at plane fares!