Peace in Austin

The traffic southbound on I-35 is always a nightmare, but the three hours are worth the stress once I arrive in Austin. Every time I arrive, a sense of peace settles on me.

I can't explain why Austin has this effect on me. I don't know if it's because it was the first place I lived on my own after college. Or if it's because it has the best restaurants in the whole state. Or if it's because my favorite football team is there. Or if it's because it's close enough to home to feel like I'm with my family. Whatever the reason, I try and find opportunities to get to Austin whenever I can.


[The view from my hotel room was a view of the building I worked in many moons ago.]

I was just there at the end of May through the beginning of June, but I took the opportunity to spend the night there on my way to a conference in San Antonio. And while I was in Austin, I managed to try a few new places.

First stop on this trip = Lunch at La Patisserie, which has earned rave reviews for their macarons. The lady at the counter was the friendliest cashier I've ever met, and she was thrilled that I correctly identified their sweets as "macarons," not "macaroons."





After some shopping at Kendra Scott and a few of the vintage shops on South Congress, the heat demanded that I make a stop at Sno Beach. There's a reason that Austinites mark their calendar each spring for the opening day of this place.





Dinner was take-out from Hyde Park Bar & Grill, known for their fries, and then I also grabbed some breakfast treats from Quack's Bakery for the next morning.



I got to hear the executive pastor from Mars Hill preach at The Austin Stone, and then I headed to Driftwood, Texas, to grab a bite to eat at the world famous Salt Lick BBQ. The BBQ lived up to its legendary status, but I wasn't a fan of their sauce.



After more stressful southbound I-35 driving, I arrived in San Antonio, right when the Cowboys were there. They were staying at the Grand Hyatt, while I was at the Hyatt Regency. Their buses were visible at all times, and they received a police escort whenever they traveled throughout the city.



The best part of the conference was catching up with two of my grad school friends and trying new restaurants with them. Here we are at Paloma Blanca after eating some great fish tacos and delicious tres leches cake:



Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures when we were at Paesano's, Druther's Cafe & Catering, Dough, or Tre. But I did snap a photo at Boudro's of the chicken with guacamole risotto, which the waiter told me not to get because he thought I should get a steak:



It was absolutely delicious! And I'm glad we ignored all of his dessert recommendations.

On the way back, Austin called my name again. This time, I tried my first trailer food in the form of cupcakes from Hey Cupcake.





And when I returned, I went on a diet. THE END.

Christmas Traditions 4 - The Sweets

I love how my mom's kitchen transforms into Candyland and Cookieville every year at Christmas. When we were growing up, my sister enjoyed helping with the baking, while I was more of the quality control tester and deliverer. We'd deliver the goodies--intricate tea breads and decorative containers filled with Spritz cookies, gingerbread cookies, English toffee, white chocolate covered pretzels, penuche nuts, and/or peanut brittle--to friends' houses just in time for Christmas Day gatherings.

I'm glad I grew up with that background because my workplace's gift policy prohibits the exchange of non-edible gifts. So over the years, I've made pretzel pops, Oreo truffles, thin-mint-like cookies, and Guenther House brownies. The most-requested are the pretzel pops, so that's what my co-workers received this year.

Personally, my mom's decorated gingerbread cookies are my favorite. I look forward to enjoying them when I go home for Christmas and to continuing the tradition of delivering more yummy sweets to friends and neighbors.

So what's your favorite holiday baked good? I'm always up for trying something new.

Queen for a Day

Everyone should have the chance to feel as celebrated as I've felt today. I wish I had pictures to capture all the wonderful things my family and friends did for me today from birthday wishes sent via text, email, and regular mail to packages that arrived overflowing with love and thoughtfulness to meals composed of all of my favorite dishes. Who wouldn't feel loved with all this?

But I feel loved day in and day out because God has surrounded me with an amazing group of people who love Him and let His love overflow through them. I am blessed beyond measure. So thank you for loving me well and making my birthday so special.

(The yummy red velvet cake from Bluebonnet Bakery that I took to work today. But even this tasty treat could not compare with my friend Lee Ann's homemade cooked banana pudding with meringue, which was served warm right after a meal of chicken spaghetti, beef stroganoff, and salad prepared by Lee Ann, Sandi, and Susie. And the fifty-degree temperature outside made this warm food taste even better. I must be livin' right, as my friend Susie would say.)

*Note: I confess that I am also the queen of delayed postings. I started this post, along with the two others below it, earlier in the week but did not post them until Oct. 17.

Food Fast

I didn't set out today with a fast in mind. The fact that I was fasting came to me mid-fast.

Last night before I went to bed, I decided that I wanted a smoothie for breakfast. So this morning, I picked up a smoothie on my way to work. About mid-morning, I decided that it might be a good idea to give my digestive system a little break by sticking to liquids today. I'd never done that of my own will before. And as with every first, I've learned some lessons. The most noticeable was that I have the potential to drink a lot of liquid if I forego solid food.

To most people, that's nothing new. But to this girl who is lucky to swig down a bottle of water during the day, which I know is a bad thing, it was a huge accomplishment to drink over 64 ounces of liquid, and most of that occurred before 5 p.m. I simply do not get thirsty. Or I'm unable to notice my thirst because I crowd it out with food.

Tomorrow, I'll go back to real food because I've felt what hunger is today. But I'm hoping that I'll also learn to recognize when I'm thirsty and be able to satisfy that with water instead of overcoming it with food. And I hope that I will recognize this tendency--to fill a need with something less than what is needed--in other areas of my life as well.

Fun Fridays Update

By failing to post about our Fun Fridays lately, I probably gave the impression that we had already deserted them. Never fear, Fun Fridays have been ongoing!

On Friday the 15th, the entire office went to a BBQ place for lunch. While we were there, we "roasted" our clerks who will be leaving at the end of the summer. We laughed a lot as awards were given based on each clerk's unique attributes that have surfaced over the year.

Of course, I was not at work on the 22nd, but it sounds like it was a "Fun Food Friday." I heard that there was chocolate cake, banana pudding, and cherry cobbler with ice cream to celebrate different events. Too bad I missed that!

And today, we went out to lunch to celebrate a co-worker's birthday. You can't beat chicken fried chicken, buttered corn, mashed potatoes, and huge clover rolls. Now if only my hair didn't smell like homecooking . . .

Enough Doubting

Do you ever doubt?

Usually I doubt the weather. But today, I found myself doubting a recipe. Not just any recipe. An add-one-ingredient-to-this-mix recipe.

Surely hundreds of people have tried this box mix before. Surely if it didn’t work someone would have told the company.

Despite knowing that, I still doubted that 2/3 c. of yogurt would be enough to moisten all of this dry brownie mix.

That got me thinking: Am I am enough Lord? Enough to spread your light in the darkness? Enough to handle mean people? Enough to encourage others? Enough to do the job you've asked of me? Enough to?????

Thank You Lord that You are always Enough. Enough to cover my doubts with Truth, Light, and Love.