Austin bound!

A couple weeks ago, I drove to Austin for an early celebration of Tori's graduate school graduation. Her masters program held a beautiful reading at Laguna Gloria, part of the Austin Museum of Art. The space is really beautiful and has an amazing view of Town Lake. Here are a few pictures from the reception afterwards.





Tori read a few poems from her thesis. It was great to get to see her work bound and official-looking and know it will be in UT's library. I am so proud of my little sister!

After the reading, we went to a late dinner at Z'Tejas. We got a yummy new appetizer, artichoke beignetss and, of course, cornbread. I got the Jerk Chicken salad for my entree. I have had it once before and it was as good as I remembered, very spicy!

My parents and I stayed at the Star of Texas Inn right by the UT campus. It was cute and I liked the location. I slept fine because I'm used to noise, but they do offer complimentary ear plugs because of all the fraternity houses nearby.

And because we were so close to campus, I just had to go visit my old stomping grounds at Scottish Rite dormitory (aka SRD). I checked out the cafeteria (no CCB's being served that day unfortunately) and sat by the pool. I miss those days!

Michael's birthday weekend!

Sorry it has been so long since my last update! Nothing too exciting has been happening in our world, other than me being sick from allergies and Michael plugging away at school. Our weekends usually just involve working and homework (for Michael anyway) but this weekend we set aside time for some fun!

Michael turned the big 2-8 on Friday so we started with dinner at Patrizio with his parents and Judson. Patrizio is always a family favorite, the service is great and the food is fabulous. We got bruschetta to start because you just can't start a meal at Patrizio without it. I got Vegetable Lasagna and Michael got the Fettucini Pappagano. And of course I got a bellini, yum!

Afterwards we hung out at "the casa" with the guys, played pool and ping pong.

Saturday night we got a great gift from our friend Andrew, he took us to the symphony! I love the symphony, so I may have been more excited than Michael to get invited. The program for the evening was Mozart's Requiem. It's not exactly a happy piece, but beautiful to listen to. Japp von Zweden is a guest conductor and he did an amazing job with the DSO. And I can't say it enough: I love the Meyerson Symphony Center.

After the symphony, we went to Trinity Hall and Margarita Ranch for drinks and delicious junk food.

Whew! I am only sad I didn't get any good pictures during all the festivities. I need to catch up on sleep now!

31:51

Running is going well! I asked for (and got!) a running watch for my birthday. I am still figuring out all the ins and outs of using the software, and unfortunately the heart rate strap doesn't quite fit around my chest. However, it has really helped me be able to more accurately track my runs and I've enjoyed using it.
My friend Sarah works for Genesis Women's Shelter and she asked a few of us to participate in the Make the Break 5k. Aria, Jessica and I signed up and had a great time on Saturday. I wasn't sure how long it would take me and goaled myself at 35 minutes based on times of other runs I have done outside. Aria and I crossed the finish line together and my chip time was 31:51! I was so excited to see that I beat my goal!
However, I think my Garmin needs to be calibrated! When I stopped the timer, it had logged 5.27km. Hmmm...

Goat cheese

I started out with this recipe and an idea from my friend Meredith.
I roasted one bulb of garlic and mashed the soft cloves with about half a package of crumbled goat cheese.
I marinated boneless skinless chicken breasts in olive oil, lemon juice and Italian seasoning. Michael butterflied the chicken and stuffed it with the garlic-cheese mixture. I baked it instead of pan-searing, about 30 min at 350.
I served parmesan couscous (Near East mix) and sauteed carrots and spinach on the side.
Nummy dinner!

New York New York!

Mom and I had a whilrwind trip to NYC! We landed late in the day Saturday and hit the ground running.
I tried to put together a pretty comprehensive list of all the things we did. This was our third trip to NYC together and we stayed in a different neighborhood than before so we really got to do some different things.

Accomodations
We stayed at the The Lucerne. At the time, they were running a good special so we were able to upgrade to one of the suites. It was wonderful to have a mini-fridge and coffee maker in the room. We had a little blip checking in, our room was not ready until almost 5pm (checkin was at 4pm). Other than that, the staff was wonderful and we loved the neighborhood we stayed in.

Food and Drink
Nice Matin- This French bistro is attached to the Lucerne and you get a discount on breakfast. We ate there several times and the food was wonderful! We loved the atmosphere, it seemed like a popular neighborhood cafe. Some favorites: Fava bean hummus, pistou, fava bean tortellini, vanilla creme brulee. Great wine list and beer selection.
Teany- We noticed Teany after leaving the Tenemant museum en route to Katz's. We decided to stop there instead; quite a difference as Teany is vegetarian! Lots of delicious tea (of course), salads, soups and a great atmosphere.
Pisticci- This ended up being one of our favorite dining experiences. The restaurant itself was beautiful, the staff was friendly and there was live jazz the night we went (a Sunday). Our waitress was knowledgable and talented- she sang with the band! I got garlic bread with goat cheese and the grilled chicken with arugula and tomatoes and tiramisu for dessert.
Cafe Lalo- The restaurant was beautiful, another that felt like a French bistro. Our service was terrible, although I think it was our particular waitress, English was clearly not her first language. I was so looking forward to a grilled sandwich, but she said they were not available (I didn't understand quite why). But I got oatmeal and yogurt and it was very good. The desserts looked amazing!
Le Pain Quotidien- We ate here during our day at the Met. It's a chain, a lot like a La Madeleine and very delicious! We ate here with my cousin and we all ordered tartines, an open faced sandwich. Mine had grilled chicken, mozzarella, pesto and arugula. A great lunch spot!
The View Lounge- This is the only rotating restaurant/lounge in NYC, so it is a popular spot for an after-theater drink. It is located at the top of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Be warned, it is insanesly overpriced and there is a cover charge after 9pm. You are really paying for the view, which is fantastic. They have a buffet, and you can also do just dessert and cheese.
United Nations Delegates Dining Room- This was a really neat experience. You have to make reservations (we were able to make them the same day) and no jeans or tennis shoes are allowed. There is an international buffet for lunch and amazing views of the East River. The food and service were great!
Sido Falafel and More- Across the street (403 Amsterdam Ave) from the hotel. Yummy falafel!
Amsterdam Gourmet- Next door to Sido. Cheap and yummy coffee, pastries and groceries.

Shows
Wicked- We did not have tickets, but thought we'd check to see if the box office had any available Saturday night. They did not, of course. However, we could get in line for cancellations. There were about 12-15 people ahead of us and it was 2 hours to curtain so we figured our chances weren't good but thought we'd risk it. At 7:55, there were still 8 people ahead of us when the box office released a lot of tickets. We all ended up in about 10th row center, amazing seats! The musical was so great, I had never seen it and I highly recommend it. Showing at the Gershwin Theater.
Avenue Q- We had a discount code and bought tickets for this Monday night. Our seats were toward the back, but the theater is small so it was okay. The show is hysterical and definitely not kid-appropriate!
Billy Elliot- Amazing! This was the only show we bought tickets in advance. We missed the first half hour because we (mistakenly) assumed it was an 8pm curtain. I had seen the movie many years ago and the show is a good adaptation. The dancing is incredible! There are 3 actors who play Billy because it's a pretty demanding role. I very highly recommend this show.

Sightseeing
Tenement Museum- Really interesting, a glimpse into the lives of immigrants living in tenements. It can only be seen by taking a guided tour and the one we took was called Getting By. Our tour guide was great, we really enjoyed it!
Columbia University- Candace took us on an informal tour of the campus, very pretty!
Church of Notre Dame- Pretty church near Columbia with a grotto.
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine- Gorgeous church, it has been under construction for over 100 years.
Peace Fountain- Next to St. John the Divine, great area with children's sculptures.
Riverside Park and Morningside Park
Shopping in Soho- I hit up H&M for inexpensive clothes and we browsed in Dean and Deluca as well as some of the smaller boutiques.
Metropolitan Museum of Art- I have been to the Met twice before and this time I insisted on dedicating an entire day to the museum. We took a guided tour of Great Paintings: East and West and had a great tour guide.
United Nations Headquarters- Really great tour! The website said the tours were sold out through March, but we went anyway and there were tour tickets available.

Whew!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

We went out for a family dinner to celebrate my dad's birthday (a little belated). We tried out a fairly new restaurant in our neighborhood, Woodlands.
The food was delicious. I started with a mixed greens salad. It was delicious, I normally hate salad dressing but their citrus vinaigrette was sooo good. For my entree, I ordered the half rosemary chicken with baby vegetables. It was delicious! Michael got the COBALT sandwich, Tori got a center cut filet and both my parents ordered fish. Everyone loved their dinner and there was a lot on the menu that I would like to try.
For dessert we ordered two chocolate desserts: the molten chocolate cake and the chocolate snowball. The snowball was really dry, but the molten chocolate cake was delicious!
We will definitely go back, the atmosphere was really cool. The design was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wrights' Fallingwater house. It wasn't super-expensive, it could be a great neighborhood hangout.

Spa Day!

My mom and I love to get pampered, it's our favorite way to spend a day off together! We decided to try out the Spa at the Crescent Court today. I received a gift card from my wonderful in-laws for Christmas and decided to splurge on a Hotter 'n Texas Rock Massage.

Description: Based on ancient Hispanic healing traditions, the body is massaged with smooth hotstones, relaxing and stretching the muscles. Stone massage is designed to balance theemotional, mental, physical and spiritual spheres of your being. There is an energyexchange between the stones and the tension in your body. You will feel spirituallyuplifted and reenergized by mother earth.

Wow, it was amazing! And today was the perfect day for a massage after my really tough workout last night at Muscleflex. We did a lot of ab work and I since my abs are not in good shape, I have a bad habit of using my neck to push through extra reps. I asked the masseuse to do a little extra work on my neck and she did a fantastic job!

We lunched at the Spa Cafe inside. I had a wrap with grilled chicken, greens and tomatoes and mom got the spinach salad. Yum!

Mom and I decided that we have a career as spa reviewers. :)