raw-stin.

I love March for many reasons. One of them being it's my birthday month! Stephen surprised me with a little trip to Austin, Texas, for some adventuring. I stayed on top of the weather forecast the entire week before hoping the anticipated rainy weekend would change to sunshine. It didn't. So we planned for inside activities.

Now... we didn't realize until after we planned on going to Austin that SXSW was still taking place. We knew there were going to be a lot more people in town and lots of music. We were hoping to check out a few bands, but didn't (mainly because I knew none of the bands performing!). On Saturday morning, we had brunch at the coolest restaurant, Hillside Farmacy. In the 1950s the building served as a pharmacy and still has all the original pharmacy cabinetry. It was really neat and the food was delicious. I got their Bangers and Eggs and he the Big Brekkie.

After brunch, we headed to SoCo also known as South Congress. This is a fun strip of shopping and restaurants. I had previously been to SoCo a few years back and everything still looked exactly the same!

Shortly after checking out SoCo, we went to the Texas State Capitol. Somehow we managed to hop on a free tour just as soon as we were walking in the front doors. I'm glad we did, otherwise I wouldn't have known what we were looking at. Fun fact: The Texas State Capitol is 1 foot taller than the Capitol in DC. The builders purposely made the statue on top to be the tallest in the U.S.! Everything is bigger in Texas....

This is the view, looking up, from the middle of the TX Capitol.

After seeing what the Capitol had to offer, we drove around the outskirts of town and made a stop at HEB grocery store so that I could stock up on my famous Texas Pecan coffee. While checking out of HEB, I noticed quickly they weren't bagging my very precious coffee. After ringing me up, I asked if I could have them bagged...turns out Austin, Texas, is anti-bags. They're a green city and no where will you find plastic bags for the taking. You have to bring your own re-usable ones to the store! I told them us Dallas people must be bad. So I walked out with an arm full of coffee.

We then traveled to one of the famous Austin Overlooks. I'm not exactly sure what the name of it is...it may not even have a name. I'm actually trying to remember how we even pulled this place up on Google maps! It was okay. I'm sure when there isn't rain and fog, it has way better visibility. It was short hike to reach the top. Let's just say hiking in grip-less booties and mud is not fun.

It was getting close to eating time so we breaked at Hula Hut. It's a mexican/hawiian type place. Is that a strange combo? Kind of sounds like it now that I think about it, but the food was delish! After lunch, we headed back downtown to have afternoon coffee at Halycon. I'm so glad we did this because it was located in the heart of SXSW. There were hipster peeps everywhere and we were able to listen to some bands from afar.

After caffeine and rest, we freshened up and went back to SoCo for dinner at Perla's. SoCo was very much alive on Saturday night! Luckily, we were smart enough to make reservations and were seated just as soon as we arrived. Perla's is known for their fresh seafood. Cue blog title post now: raw-stin. Stephen insisted on getting raw oysters. I had never had them before and he really likes them! So I was really brave and tried them. OMG. I like all food. I do NOT like raw oysters. Horribly fishy!! Have you seen the movie Unbroken? Do you remember the scene when they were stuck in the tiny boat out at sea and ate a raw fish? That is what it's like to eat a raw oyster.

Now, Perla's was still amazing even if I don't like oysters. I had the Red Fish and Stephen the Tuna. We got the sharing size of the dirty rice. Superb. The Cab wasn't too bad either. I would definitely recommend this place! On our walk back to the car, I had Stephen snap a photo of me in front of the famous "I love you so much," sign. I can now mark that off my bucket list (kidding).

We had a wonderful time despite the rain and amount of people. Thank you, Stephen, for loving me so well! 

P.S. Here's to celebrating my 100th blog post!!! Crazy to think I've had this little website running for almost 2 1/2 years!

*The title of this post is brought to you by Stephen*

my valentine.

Stephen and I originally thought we would be in separate places for Valentine's Day so we celebrated early and then we ended up being together so we celebrated again!

The week before last week, I decided to send Stephen a formal dinner invitation for February 7th at 7 o'clock in the evening. He said yes!

I really tried to do it up right. I set the table (correctly), bought candle sticks, bought a jukebox so we could have some jams (The Red Hot Chili Peppers greatest hits CD) haha. I'm laughing thinking about how silly I am.

I bought all the ingredients, including the fillet mignon, from Sprouts. I watched numerous YouTube videos on how to properly cook a restaurant style steak. This is the recipe I followed for the process. I seasoned mine with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper on both sides. That's it and they were amazing! Like A-Mazing.

For the mashed potatoes, I followed my mom's famous recipe! It is as follows (for a small serving):

Ingredients:

• 4 red potatoes
• 1 can pet milk (found in baking section)
• 1-2 TB butter
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Peel potatoes and boil with water.
2. Boil until you can stick a fork in them and they are really soft.
3. Once potatoes are really soft, drain water and mix with hand mixer.
4. Add butter, salt, pepper, and HALF a can of pet milk.
5. Taste. If more salt or pet milk is needed, then add it.

I made sweet potato mash for myself. Basically, it is the same recipe as above except I omitted the pet milk!

For my asparagus, I followed this one.

It ended up tasting and turning out beautifully, but only because I spent an honest amount of time prepping and planning for it. I mean I was adding the steaks to our plates as Stephen was ringing the doorbell. Perfect timing! His job was to bring the Merlot and he did a great job!

I'd say I met my 2014 New Year's Resolution "cook more."

I'll be honest and say I did not bake a dessert. I picked up an individual slice of cheesecake from Tom Thumb and it did not disappoint.

Set Timer Photography!

We spent the evening sipping wine, visiting, and enjoying my $30 jukebox! I'm still daydreaming about how perfect it was. :)

As mentioned above, we celebrated twice.

On actual Valentine's Day, Stephen surprised me with roses, wine and a sweet card:) and had the idea of having a picnic. Uh, yes please! We went to Eatzis (aka Heaven on Earth) and picked up our lunch. I got a salad and he mashed potatoes and chicken. Stephen insisted on getting a dessert.

Side note: I can have self control and not get dessert. Stephen doesn't have self control and always gets dessert. Now on the flip side, he can take TWO BITES and be done. I take ONE BITE and can't stop. I hate it! So yeah he took 2 bites. I took 12.

We went to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked up a fancy picnic blanket and then headed to Arbor Hills. Y'all, it was sunny and 75. The perfect day for a picnic. We also brought a little Boss music player and listened to George while we ate.

It was seriously one of my favorite days since I moved to Plano and I got to spend it with my favorite person.

I'm excited to spend many more Valentine's with my one and only Valentine.

hillsboro & homestead.

This past Saturday Stephen & I had a little date-day. We went to Homestead Heritage & Hillsboro to visit my great Uncle Jeff!

First we went to the Homestead to eat lunch! I literally looked forward to this meal all week long. I've mentioned the Homestead once before, but it has been far too long. We planned to get there after the lunch crowd...but we arrived to find out there was an hour and half wait. And Stephen's stomach was already growling. We (I) decided we had driven all the way there -- of course we were going to wait! So we walked around and went to the new Market. We learned there they now had BBQ to offer! And there was no wait...so we ate BBQ sandwiches in the sunshine and neither of us complained. It. Was. Fantastic.

Then I got their famous cookies and cream ice cream. I promise, y'all, it's better than Bluebell. I know this for a fact because the night before I ate a pint of Bluebell's cookies and cream. No comparison. Homestead > Bluebell.

If you ever go to central Texas, you must make time to stop and eat and enjoy an afternoon at Homestead Heritage! There just isn't anything like it.

This was Stephen and I's second time to visit together. The first time was four years ago while I was at Baylor....

That day we never would've thought we'd be dating! 

After lunch at H.H., we headed 20 miles north to Hillsboro to visit one of my favorite people. My Uncle Jeff is a Pawpaw more than anything. He lives way out in the country and the drive to his house is so pretty. Tons of farmland and hills. When you pull up to his house you have to watch out for all of his pet....chickens! They have free roam over the yard. I'm just happy he got rid of the roosters!

I brought him some famous West Kolaches and we munched on those. Then Stephen and I went for a walk on his land.

Stephen: I look majestic. 

It was so great to visit with Uncle Jeff. I just wish I could make it down more often to keep him company.

And a quote from him, "Stephen, now she's a diamond in the ruff. You gotta polish her up. Make sure she can cook before you decide to keep her forever."

Thanks, Uncle Jeff....

And a quote from Stephen on the way home, "Man, he really cares about his food."

Clearly! Still love that man though :)

It was a beautifully, peaceful day & I'm so thankful for the time I got to spend with those two men.

arboretum adventure.

This past Sunday, Stephen and I took advantage of the (tad bit) cooler weather and sunshine and finally made a visit to the Dallas Arboretum. Yay for marking things off the bucket list! I had been wanting to go since last November -- Skye and I almost made it on Thanksgiving, but I remember the food coma hit too fast!

The really fun part about visiting the Arboretum in the fall is to get to see and experience their Pumpkin Town -- literally...I'm talking pumpkin houses. In the small town, there are more than 60,000 pumpkins! Unfortunately, there were large amounts of small children running around in every direction and about 200 moms snapping their Christmas card pictures too. It was hectic, but I did manage to get a few pictures.

The Pumpkin Town was the only part of the Arboretum that wasn't peaceful, haha. Everything else was so pretty and quiet! All of the landscaping was very well kept. Hopefully one day I'll have a green finger...

Louisiana House-Birdhouses! 

Stephen freaked when he saw the sailboats... like a kid in a candy store! Can't wait for those lessons in the future!

It was a perfect day & we both loved seeing every part of the Arboretum -- the pumpkins were my favorite... I don't know if the rocks, trees or sailboats were his:). I'd love to go back when it's even cooler for an outdoor concert and a picnic on the ground!