Foodie Fun and Other Goodies

I think that there needs to be a run-down of some fabulous (and not-so-fabulous) food:

FTW:

Boudro's, San Antonio River Walk- the dishes (Gulf Coast Seacakes and Center Cut Stip Sirloin) were so tasty and cooked to perfection. Disappointingly, their famous guacamole was way too citrus-y and just plain nasty. The same for their margaritas. I would definitely recommend Boudro's, but skip the guac and ritas.

York Street, Dallas- a tiny little restaurant, this place only seats about 45 people, creating an incredibly intimate atmosphere. The staff are engaged and professional, and the food is out of this world amazing. The Buffalo New York steak that I ordered was perfection. A great plus about this place is the focus on sustainability and seasonal ingredients; their produce is purchased almost exclusively at the Dallas Farmer's Market. This place is definitely our new "date night" location.

Masaryk Modern Mexican Kitchen, Addison Circle- Everyone knows how much I love my Mexican food. And, there has come to be a certain expectation for Tex-Mex- greasy food shlopped on a plate and covered with cheese. What could be better? Well, Masryk delivers all the things we love about Mexican food, but with cleaner flavors and smashing presentation. No vat-o-queso for this bunch. To top it all off, the margartias...oh, the margaritas, they are powerful and delicious. My new favorite Tex-Mex place (sorry, Mi Cocina!)

Epic Fail:

Biga on the Banks, San Antonio Riverwalk- Worst Dining Experience Ever. This restaurant is hailed as the quintessential San Antonio restaurant, but all I got out of it was an uneven, over cooked steak with a sticky bernaise, and I can honestly say that the service was appalling. I understand that Corban and I look young, and we have noticed that it means that we get different service than others at times. The table across from us got literally double the attention from our server who just slapped things on the table and didn't talk to us at all. Not to mention the fact that a busboy came and took our plates away before we were finished eating. Plus, the decor looked like a magician's boudoir. Needless to say, we did not stay for drinks or dessert. DO NOT GO TO BIGA ON THE BANKS, EVERRRRRRR!

I guess three wins to one fail isn't so bad! Life, it seems...is good.

Now for a recent exciting acquisition. The other day I bought a sewing machine off Craig's List for $50- my first CL purchase! I want to have a bunch of new pillows and curtains, etc for the new place, but they are so expensive to buy; so, I thought I'd try making some myself!

Portable, yet heavy.

It even came with a button holer! Not that I know what a button holer is, but that's ok. I spent about 45 minutes earlier today learning how to thread the damn thing (it's been years since I've touched a sewing machine), and now I'm ready to start picking out fabrics!

Also, a couple paintings I finished recently:

"The Last Dolphin"

"Suicide Mime"

Whew, that was a long one! Now to clean out the fridge. Yum...

Chelle

The Temporary Return of the Diary Comic

I remembered that I did a diary comic last month, and thought that I might share!

I have been on a serious Jane Austen kick lately, re-reading all her stuff (come on, the lady only wrote like five novels) and seeking out more post-humously published tidbits. I am not too proud to admit that Mr. Darcy is the sexiest man to never live. There, I said it.

That being said, I think I'm ready to move on to a different genre. Corban and I recently had a Half Price binge, from which I emerged with books on linguistics and evolution, as well as several fiction titles. I think I shall begin with One Hundred Years of Solitude.

I cooked dinner tonight! I love that it's still a big deal. Tonight was Spaghetti with Meatballs; a very fun meal to produce. I like anything that I have to construct, like enchiladas or chicken cordon bleu. It turned out very very tasty and I am excited to eat the leftovers tomorrow!

It's so fresh, you can actually see the steam!

I need to go to bed and nurse this sinus infection of mine. Plus, school tomorrow (bleh). Later days.

Chelle

Anniversary Vacation: Part 1

For our first wedding anniversary, Corban and I decided to have a re-do of our honeymoon in San Antonio, TX. Our honeymoon did not exactly go as planned; I ended up having the flu and the weather was below freezing with a really strong wind. While we did get to stay at the Hotel Contessa, and really enjoyed laying in, looking at the view, and watching movies, we didn't get to see the city, and I was not well enough for us to keep our reservations at the nationally renowned Le Reve restaurant. This time we wanted to do it up right.

Corban got sick a few days before we left, so we were in serious danger of having a repeat of our honeymoon. However, we decided to go for it at the last minute and we're really glad we did. Corban ended up feeling much better, and it was totally worth it. We stayed at the Valencia this time, and it was fabulous, although it was super noisy. Seriously, the walls were like paper. When we checked in, the attendant offered to upgrade us to a suite for a small additional fee. This room was actually bigger than our apartment. Heck. Yes.

The hallway- all the noise came from the people in the next room over. One night there was a bachelorette party or something. Lame. We took our revenge by getting drunk and stealing their door decorations.

Ze King Sized Bed- I want that bed. It was so comfy.

Sitting Area- this is a bad photo, but check out that view! Corban and I spent a few hours over the weekend people watching out those windows.

We had dinner our first night at the hotel restaurant, Citrus. We told the server that we were there for our one year anniversary, and on our way out, he gave us a fabulous desert to go! Pound cake with mandarin oranges. So tasty!

We spent our anniversary day walking around, reading, and enjoying ourselves. Actually, that's how we spent the whole trip. We were not idle, but we took it slow and loved every minute.

Friend Balloon

Friend Duck takes a wife

Resting

I wish I had a photo of this, but in the afternoon, there were tons of high school kids running around with cameras taking pictures. Apparently there was a high school journalism contest going on. We were sitting outside of a really cool little coffee/sandwhich shop called Sip , Corban reading and I sketching, when one of them asked if he could take our picture. Fine with us. Then another came, then another. A total of five high schoolers asked to take our pictures, and one group of girls filmed us answering interview questions about local coffee shops versus big chains like Starbucks. The whole thing was so much fun! I wish wish wish I had asked one of them to send us the pictures they took. I've tried googling it, but to no avail. Either way, it was really great to see all the art kids running around and doing what they loved to do. Inspiring.

Corban produced the most fabulous, surprising anniversary gifts!

The "Lurve" necklace from Katy Scudieri's etsy shop that I have been wanting for forever!

OMG, diamond earrings. Biggest surprise ever. Seriously.

My gift to Corban was a fabulous bottle of 18 year Macallan single malt scotch. I think he likes it. :)

More photos and a run-down of the extensive eating that went down to come soon.

Chelle

Foodie Fun

Lets get caught up on some edible goodness!

Pollo Relleno- LOVED this one. Of course I loved it, it's Mexican food.

Chicken Enchiladas- another fabulous Tex-Mex dish (fabulous, but not fabulous for me.) Basically an excuse to gorge on dairy.

So, those are my most recent food success stories. Look at me. Ain't I somethin'?

I've got lots of fun stories to tell about our recent vacation, which I will post soon. Right now I am tired with yet another illness. It's a swollen/sore throat this time. On top of it all, I had two exams today, one of which I was an hour late for because of an epic traffic jam on I-35. I'm hoping for high Cs / low Bs on both. I'm not picky. Passing will do.

I think I will have another one of the fudgecicles that Corban brought me last night. He is too sweet.

Chelle

Artsy Fartsy

Finished up a new painting today.

Tell your friends!

Chelle Lynn

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Second blog post of the day can only mean an excess of awesomeness. With excess meaning three. Three awesome things. Ah-ah-ah!

Awesome Thing #1: New apartment. This means decorating a new apartment. Yes, please. I have recently re-discovered Apartment Therapy so I'm collecting a file of photos that I love and want to draw from when putting together the new place. I see the new apartment as our first real home together and I'm excited about making it ours. Here are a few of my recent favorite looks.

Zebra rug? Yes, please.

Fridge as a decoration. Loves it.

Um...there are no words. Just...yes.

I would like to own this dining room.

Funest living room evar.

Yellow + Blue = :)

So, this is pretty much what I'll be thinking about instead of homework for the next two months. It's great to have distractions.

Awesome Thing #2: Got a new painting in the mail. I ordered it last week, and I am super duper excited to hang it up in the new place. It's not even going up in the currant one. It's like a blessing or something.

Love, love love it. Got it from http://jamesethurman.etsy.com Go buy something from him.

Awesome Thing #3: Finished up another style project piece this afternoon.

Stepping outside of my little art box has been fun. Check it out in the shop. Tell your friends.

Now I'm seriously done for the day. I might do a diary comic again one day. I make no promises.

Chelle