Happy 90th Birthday Pop Pop!!!

Birthday Fun

Somewhere along my adult life I realized that I'm not a fan of celebrating my birthdays. Sure I love getting together with friends, I love to eat, I'm a fan of trying new places, but I just don't like being the center of attention. Which is a little weird because I am a total ham,but I'm not a big fan of being the only person that is in that center of attention :)

We met up at Asti with 2 of our closest Austin couple friends for dinner at Asti. I wish we could have everybody meet up with us but I am not a fan of huge dinners. Not only can you not talk to everybody, the bill at the end is usually a nightmare to figure out.

All of our food was delish! I had a bite of just about every body's food and I was impressed with everything. I ordered the short rib with polenta, and it was so tender and flavorful. If I could have changed anything I would have preferred the polenta have some type of cheese or flavor to it. The sauce with the meat added plenty of flavor, but a new flavor on the plate would have been welcomed.

The rest of the table ordered the chicken (great citrus flavor), Salmon, pasta with mushrooms, and 2 pizza's. We also ordered the calamari and bread sticks.

Lindsay, me and Ashley

Our first stop of the night after dinner was at Shangra La. My plan was to hit a few bars on the East side. Shangra la was pretty cool,, a big outdoor area in the back, and the inside had a few booths and chairs along with a pool table and some video games. We stayed inside because all of the tables outside were taken. As a typical bar on the East side, there is one women's toilet with a port-a-potty outside to use.

Matt and Vannessa
Eric, Chris, Joe, Matt, John, Jason, Mike and Jim

Me, Lauren, Vannessa, Erin, Tammy and Lindsay

Jim and I

I had really wanted to get a picture of each place we stopped at, but I forgot to get the front of Shangra La. Our 2nd stop was at Cheer Up Charlies. They have a grate patio out front and in the back, and a small interior. If I remember correctly they were a beer and wine joint only,,, no liquor.

Lauren and Lindsay

Matt and John

I have no idea what is in this drink... Vannessa got it for us :). This was our 3rd stop of the night, at the Liberty. We have been to the Liberty before and really enjoyed it. Shangra La, Cheer up Charlies, and The Liberty are all similar... a smaller indoor area, low ceilings, patio space and one inside toilet. :)

Erin, Tammy, Lauren, me, Vannessa and Lindsay

Goofy Girl photo

The boys probably talking football

We closed the bar down... which was surprising because none of us were expecting it.

Time flew that night!

John and Lindsay hamming it up for the camera

Jason, Lindsay, Jim and I

Big thanks and love to everybody that came out to celebrate my birthday!! It was a late notice (decided on Thursday night to go out on Saturday night) so I fully appreciate everybody making time to come out!

2 Birthdays, 1 Night

We met up with friends last weekend to celebrate Nick and Natalie's birthdays! Nick and Natalie are siblings and have a birthday that is almost one year to the date (she is 364 days younger than him). They usually have great combined birthday parties and this year was no different. About 30 of us met up at Maria Maria for dinner, then we headed off to a bar to finish the night.

Here is Nick and Natalie,,, having "Happy Birthday" sung to them. Nick is the guy on the right, doing the "Zoolander Face", and Natalie is the brunette in the picture (Magen, Nicks girlfriend is in the middle of them).

Nick, Chris, Jason and Jim... with Joe in the background

Jenn, me and Lindsay at dinner

Large group dinners scare me because it is always a nightmare when it comes to paying for the bill. Frequently the amounts that people pay and what is on the bill never match up which results in a huge headache trying to figure it out. HOWEVER, Maria Maria separated the bills for us (we asked before we even ordered if they could do it) so this big group dinner didn't have the stress at the end of the meal.

Maria Maria started off on the right foot... Chips were crispy, salsa was a nice garlic flavor (which I love) and the Mojitos were spot on tasty. Their Mojitos were almost as good as Jims, and that is saying a lot. I ordered the Carnitas (Slow baked adobo marinated pork shoulder, topped with cured red onions and cucumber, served with smoky black bean sauce and fresh tomatillo salsa verde) and Jim ordered the Chipotle Shrimp (Grilled Bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed with julienne Jalapinos & Poblanos peppers topped with White cheddar, swiss and Monterey cheeses served with Roasted Red Bell pepper butter).

Jim's dish was pretty darn good... a couple of the shrimps were halfway burned, but it wasn't so bad that we needed to send the dish back. He said his rice and beans were average, nothing that stood out. I was very hopeful for my Carnitas... I have been in a pork mood over the past few months and I am always on the look out for a good pork dish! I was so disappointed, The meat came out in chunks and it was very, very, very dry. The meat had a nice flavor and the cured red onions and cucumber helped give the meat a little moisture. Jim had left over roasted red bell pepper butter from his shrimp and I used it to help out the pork... which actually tasted pretty good, but then again what doesn't taste good when butter is added??? Plus my dish (for $16) was just the cast iron pan filled with meat and tortilla's and a small little ramekin full of black bean paste (hard to describe, it was so very smooth and had a nice flavor) and a tomatillo sauce.... there could have been a side of rice to help out the dish. Of course, if the meat had been stellar I couldn't be bitching about the lack of a side dish.

After dinner, we stayed and listened to the salsa band (very good, and fun!) for a bit while finishing up our drinks. Jim, me and Jason

We headed over to Speakeasy after dinner (I think the lower part of the bar has a new name, but can't remember what it is).

Lindsay, me, Tiffany, Erin, Vannessa and Jenn....

and John as a sneaky guy getting into the ladies photo

Looking down from the 2nd floor at the bar...

Tammy, Jenn, Charlie, Natalie's husband (DAMN, can't remember his name), some random dude in a white shirt making a "I'm tough" face, Nick, and John

Do you know why I love my friends?? It is because they are complete hams and will always pose for pictures :) Which is perfect for me!

Chris, John, Jim, Tammy, Matt and Vannessa

Nick, Natalie and Jason

And of course... the couple self portrait to end the post :)

Jim's Birthday Dinner

We went to the Salt Lick with Jim's family to celebrate his birthday, his mom's birthday and his brother-in-law's birthday. We wanted to find a place where it would be okay to linger before and after dinner to hang out with everybody. It has been a few years since we have been to Salt Lick so I was looking forward to eating there. There wasn't to long of a wait, just about 45 minutes. Not bad for a Sunday, but I think the rain helped keep people away.

Perhaps I should have brought a different koozie for dinner. :) Nothing like advertising for a different BBQ place in Austin while eating at a different BBQ place

Jim and his sister, Jamie

I guess I'm trying to attack Jim?

Mmmmm... Stella

I ordered their combination plate with brisket and ribs. The ribs were very tender with good flavor. The brisket was good, but not my favorite.

Caden and Dawson (Jim's nephews) were trying out the jalapeno's... not sure if they have tried a bite out of a pickled jalapeno before. I have to say I think Jim was egging them on. Bad Uncle.

Clearly Dawson wasn't a fan

Since the kids tried the jalapeno, I had to try a bite. It had a bit of heat, but not to bad

We totally forgot that the Salt Lick was cash only, so I had to go to the other building and get cash from the ATM. I noticed this meat pit while I was there. I started to take a picture when I got waved over by one of the employees who said I could walk around and take pictures. Umm.. hell yeah! It was very hot around the pit... I assume this is where they keep the meat warm before they served it because it didn't look like it was really cooking anything.

MMMmmmm.... look at all of those ribs

Jim's mom bought the boys matching ties

Cute nephews!

Ryan and Jim

Caden and I

Ryan, Caden, Dawson and Jim

Jim's Birthday BBQ

Normally we are those people that don't really celebrate birthdays with big celebrations. Typically we just go out for dinner and have a quiet night. This year I thought having friends over for a BBQ would be a fun time, and indeed, it was!! Jim and I have some wonderful friends and it was great to spend a night with them. We prefer house parties over bars because you can really spend time with people talking and catching up. Plus it is WAY cheaper than going downtown for the night. Of course that being said, I still enjoy a fun night downtown... just not every weekend.

I had this big plan of taking pictures of the food so I could post them here on the blog, but as the hostess, I was a busy lady and didn't take pictures. So I'll just tell you what I served.... shredded pork, grilled chicken (for tacos), homemade chorizo charro beans, potato salad, apple/blue cheese/ bacon salad, along with some chips/dips and finished the night with some sugar cookies and chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.

Lindsay, Tammy, Vanessa and Erin enjoying drinks on the porch

John, Chris, Charlie, Matt and Mike

So happy these two made it to the party... Nicole and Steven

Chris and Kyndal (Ashley and Jason's oldest child, and way back when our flower girl at the wedding). She is getting so tall! I meant to get a picture with her because I bet in a year or two she is going to be taller than me! I'd like some proof that I was once taller than she was :)

Party on the patio

Kyndal and Jackson.

Jason was the human chair for his kids... Kyndal draped over his legs and Jackson hanging off to his right.

Kyndal was the first (wo)man down at around 8:30. Ashley said they had a big day of sports and running errands.

One of my few good food photos.... this was the pork shoulder after a slow roast for 5 hours
The spread

Ashley, Chris and Lindsay

The New York Gals!!! Next week I'll be travelling to NYC with these two fine ladies. It is Lindsay's bachelorette party so we are going to party it up!!! Neither of these two have been to NYC so I'll be acting as a tour guide... I sooooo can't wait!

Dawn and Matt- Although we only met these two a few years ago, we love to hang out with them!

Chewie was trying to woo Dawn.... I think it worked :)

My gal Vanessa!

me, Dawn and Jim

It's a Jim sandwich.... smooshed between two Matt's :)

Tammy, Lindsay and Magen

Lindsay and I helped Chewie up for a photo op

At one point it was the boys outside and the girls inside... come on guys... it's not a junior high dance!! Time to mingle! :)

Nick, Jim and Jason... Chewie is hiding back there some place

I believe this is a birthday lick?!?!? It seemed like a fun thing to do at the time... not sure this is the best photo of me but way to funny not to post

Lindsay, Jim and I

There was no shortage of love for Chewie. It was kind of an odd night... some of our friends didn't know that Taylor passed a month ago. I didn't know really how to let friends know that our dog had died. I did a post on this blog, which really was more of a way for me to find closure and cope with the loss of my first dog but not all of my friends read my blog. So I had to explain a few times what happened to Taylor which was fine for me and I was glad that everybody knows now. I do appreciate the friends that did know trying to quietly let other friends know about Taylor so I didn't have to do as much explaining.

Chris, Nick, Jason and Jim. Chris is getting married to Lindsay in May and these guys (along with 2 other guys) will be the groomsmen. These 4 guys have known each other since elementary school.

I think I might be one of the shortest girls out of all of my friends. Neither Lindsay or Magen are wearing heels and I'm like 3 feet shorter than they are :)

This is Chewie the day after the party..... poor guy didn't get his 8 hour nap on Saturday afternoon and then we made him stay up after midnight. He spent most of Sunday sleeping :)
I hope Jim had a great birthday, because I really had a great time!