Sunday, March 25, 2012


Mom's Visit

My mom came to visit last month and we HAD SOOOOOO MUCH FUN. Seriously, every time she comes we always have a great time. I knew the first place I was going to take her was to the Philly Cheesesteak trailer over on the East side. My mom being the good little Jersey girl has standards and only likes cheesesteaks that remind her of back east. And these sandwiches did not disappoint. They ship in their rolls from back east and I think that makes such a difference.
Yum!

We also stopped by Cornucopia to get some popcorn. I love this place... you can try the flavors before you buy them. We ended up buying Dill (seriously yum), Jalapeno Cheddar (for Jim) and a Java Chip (coffee flavored popcorn with chocolate drizzled on it). We tried a few other flavors like cake batter (to sweet for me), chocolate covered cherry (WAY to cherry- almost like Ludens cough drops).


This was mom's first time to meet Abbey and the kittens! Of course the animals knew they were meeting grand-ma-ma and loved all over here. Here is Jelly loving on Chewie. Chewie normally doesn't let the kittens crawl on him, so I was pretty happy to get a picture of this! I think he was okay with it because there was a blanket in between them :)




I wanted to doing something sophisticated while mom was here so we went to a show at Bass Concert Hall. Unfortunately there was a huge LACK of shows to see while she was here so I gambled on this show. It was called Diavolo Dance Theater- they had 2 different sets that they used. The first one was a block that had movable parts that they used when dancing and the 2nd was a half circle, that rocked back and forth. They said not to take pictures but I still snuck one in just so my readers could see (see... I take care of you guys!). But I didn't get one of the 2nd set, which in my opinion was the better set because the dancers had a lot more acrobatics.


On Saturday morning, we headed out to do some garage sale shopping and we came across an area with lots of graffiti. The area was really neat so we stopped to take a few photos :)






We were striking out on finding good garage sales so we headed down to South Congress to walk around and check out the outdoor shops that set up for the day. As soon as we walked by the Crepes trailer we both glanced at each other and knew we had to get one :) We ordered a breakfast crepe that had eggs, bacon, spinach and cheese. It was delish! They had a few other crepes, like the BBQ brisket, that I'll be back to try.




Mom got the lucky task of going to the granite yard with Jim and I to check out granite. Our kitchen has been a looooong process and I feel like we are getting to a point were it is going to start moving again. We picked out a type of granite that we both liked and recently made the purchase of the actual slab. Now we are just waiting for install!!!



Mom and I headed to the Hope farmers market on Sunday where we checked out produce (how cool is purple cauliflower!?!) and bought earrings from a local artist.



Hope Farmers Market



That night we headed out to Lamberts for dinner. The food was really good but the experience lacked a bit because we got stuck out on the patio when it was chilly. We didn't have reservations so we had to take what was available.





A trip to Austin wouldn't be complete without a walk around Town Lake with the dogs. It ended up being a really nice day so it was perfect!







Mom and I with the kittens and of course Abbey wanted in on the picture :)


Mom and Jim under the Austin Motel phallic sign on South Congress. We ate at Hopdoddy that night...their hamburgers are fantastic. And if you haven't eaten there, I highly suggest you go!


I love this picture!



Of course we turn into hams in front of the camera



Mom resting on the couch with her boo-boo, Abbey




We had a WONDERFUL vacation with mom and I know all of her grand-boo-boo's loved having her visit too!!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Ummmm....


What are you doing?!?!?





I'm here!! I'm here!!! I'm here!!!!!!!


Oh my gosh... I had no idea it has been almost a month since the last time I posted in the blog. I still love my little blog but it has really slipped my mind over the past month. I am still cooking a ton, baking a ton, enjoying life with my hubs and now have a zoo to take care of at the house. Which of course is all blog worthy material, but I just have to shake the lazy's and post!



About a month ago we met up for Nick and Magen's engagement party. We met up at Catina Laredo and then we moved over to Six. Here is Nick and Jim showing us their shirts. In the darker room it appeared that they had the exact same shirt on, but with the flash of the camera we realized they were different colors.


After a few adult beverages, we all became dancing fools. Here is Ashley and Jim doing a dance off... because I am biased I believe that Jim totally won! I mean, look at him,,, he is doing the running man!



Erin, Ashley, me, Lindsay and Tiffany


Boys being silly trying to recreate the Step Brothers movie poster



Mike and Erin took us out to dinner one night to thank me for taking their Engagement photos. We had an awesome sushi dinner and then went over to Park at the Domain for a few drinks where Charlie met up with us.

We have done our fair share of eating out this year. Typically we eat out once a week and I always love trying new places. We had a few flubs in 2012.... we ate at Shoreline Grill to say good bye--they closed down on Jan 31st. Shoreline has a special place in our lives since we were married there. I loved the venue and I am sad to see it close down. Unfortunately our last dinner there wasn't great. Cold app's and off service. I hate that was our last experience with Shoreline but we will hold on to our wedding memories when we think of them. We also had a less than stellar experience at Hugos (stay away from the tamale,,, great sauce but about a teaspoon of meat filling) and at Fonda San Miguel (my stuffed poblano pepper was not only burnt they didn't take the pepper skin off).


Our highlight of eating out was Lucy's Fried Chicken. The fried chicken was crunchy, juicy, and spicy... delish! Jim ordered the fried chicken salad sandwich, and it is a MONSTER of a sandwich. I had a few bites of it and it was perfect with the coleslaw and pickles. I can't wait to go back!!




We met up at Jenn and Charlies house to celebrate her birthday! Here is Chris, Jenn and Jim (with Lindsay and Matt in the background).



Jennifer, Jim, Lindsay and I

I made a strawberries and cream jello shots for her birthday. Originally they were supposed to be strawberry hearts surrounded by the cream, but it was a nightmare trying to get the hearts to be centered in the cream. So after making one batch I scrapped that idea and just made a more Mosaic type jello shot. They tasted great so it was a success!




Abbey loves her chew toys!


Mr. Pooh-Pa's big ass paw


The kittens are getting big!! Here is Slinky (right) and Jelly. They are very adventurous and will show their love towards each other, the dogs and us.


Abbey and I on Mt. Bonnell after a quick vet trip for Abbey. Of course she looked away every time I tried to take a picture :)


Little Ms. Abbey