Finally a New Post!

After another month of not writing, I'm back with a new blog post! Things have been sooooo busy at work (thanks, Spurs!), I've had zero downtime. When I get home for the day, I'm so exhausted that I only want to cuddle up on the couch with a glass of some sort of booze, my cat Minnie, and the tube (does anyone actually use that word anymore? I'm such an old soul!, haha).

 I wanted to take a little time to tell everyone about my trip with one of my best friends, Jasna, to San Antonio, Austin, and New Orleans.

Let me say, that time flew by like no other! We had SO much fun over the course of the week, and packed a bunch of activities into that time.

Jasna arrived to Houston Sunday afternoon. I picked her up from the Amtrak station, and she was a bit overwhelmed by the heat at first! I just said, "welcome to the south!" This was really the only laid back day of our week - spent having dinner, and Jasna catching up with my parents and sister. We left for San Antonio the next day, and even made a stop to pop Jasna's Buc-ee's cherry! She loved it, and affectionately calls the beaver "Bup-ee". I was pleasantly surprised we only made one pit stop the whole drive, with two ladies who have bladders comparable of a 95 year old woman's traveling together.

Jasna with Buc-ee

We arrived in San Antonio sometime between lunch and dinner, which gave us enough time to settle into our hotel, get gussied up, and head out for the night. Usually when I stay in San Antonio, we always get a hotel right on the Riverwalk. This time, I ended up booking a hotel a little off the Riverwalk, which was a hop, skip, and a jump to the Alamo, and only cost $89 for the night! Very spacious and modern - awesome deal. As it was Jasna's first trip to Texas, I wanted to take her to America's first Tex-Mex restaurant, Casa Rio. For those of you have have not been to San Antonio, you would definitely recognize the brightly-colored umbrellas of the restaurant, as they grace most of the pictures you would have seen of San Antonio in magazines, postcards, etc. The location is great, food delicious, and for being such a popular restaurant, the wait for a table was not bad at all (we sat on the bar patio with a couple margaritas whilst waiting). With being in a prime location, there is plenty of people watching to do. I will never forget this one guy, who we couldn't tell was a bum or not. He passed by the restaurant a number of times - wearing army boots, ripped jeans, an oddly neatly pressed shirt, while polishing off his look with his chosen accessory of a tall-boy of Busch Light. He kept stopping at tables asking people questions, but not for money like you would expect. It was almost like he was just some lonely drunk guy looking for company, but then he would go up to random vacated tables and pick at the food, so, I don't know. Very interesting character.

The city view from our hotel

Casa Rio riverside

Continuing our night, we decided to first stop in a little convenience store right across from the Alamo, pick up a couple energy drinks (fuel!), and snap a few evening pictures in front of the iconic Texas (and for that matter, American) landmark.

The Alamo at night!

After a little photo session, we first stopped at Esquire for a drink, then headed back towards the Riverwalk and surrounding bars. We decided to go to Pat O'Brien's, which always has a good crowd and live music. After debating on what drink to get, we both decided on getting Hurricanes (the drink Pat O's is famous for). I was quite excited to finally try their classic drink, but ended up semi-disappointed as the bartender just pulled a couple of plastic cups and filled them with a pre-mixed drink from the well. It was still pretty good, and I understand why they would do a pre-mix with it being their signature.

Pat O'Brien's

An hour or so later of enjoying the band and chatting, we decided to head to a different bar. As we were checking out a few different places, a cheeky bouncer starting talking to us and subsequently persuaded us to come into his bar, Club Sirius. Boy, was this a good decision! There were just enough people there, the music was fantastic, and the bartender was the best! Nate did a great job taking care of us. He created special drinks for us with the bar's signature "Sirius Salt" (a mixture of spices and salt), gave us multiple free shots, and only billed us $8 each! Oh, I was in love. Who wouldn't like a hottie bartender that treats you well, and is so sweet on top of that?!?  Needless to say, we ended up spending the rest of the night there. After all the fantastic drinks and shots, Nate even accompanied us as we walked out of the bar. We talked with him for about a half hour after bar close, and when were finally saying our goodbyes, he seemed so disappointed we were only there for one night! :( We were disappointed as well, but he sent us each off with a big bear hug - lifted off the ground and all! Can you tell I was a bit smitten? haha

The beautiful light up horse-drawn carriage

We began our next day in San Antonio with a trip over to the Alamo to soak up some history. I know it sounds corny and nerdy, but I always spend some time at the Alamo every visit I make to San Antonio. It's amazing to think such a huge important battle was fought on the grounds where high rises, hotels, and restaurants now stand. My first trip over that way, we were all shocked to see this famous landmark standing right in the middle of the city, and not in some field 20 miles off the beaten path. Definitely a must see!

The Alamo in all of its glory

We then decided to do "linner", and went with Buckhorn Saloon. The atmosphere exudes old west, with the building having been built sometime in the earlier 1800s, and cowboys walking around greeting guests. If you're looking for some great southern food and sandwiches, this is the place. We even did their museum tour (you can even grab a beer from the bar to take with you while on the tour!), which included an exhibit on Texas Ranger history, different stuffed animals (eek), a special Bonnie and Clyde exhibit, and a full sized replica of an old west San Antonio street! Very cool and worth the money!

Jasna with her huge beer

Me with my huge beer

My employer back in the day

Old west

Bad girls go to jail!

Buckhorn Saloon

After finishing up at Buckhorn, we made the short drive up to Austin for our next stop. We were stuck in a bit of traffic, so we didn't make as good of timing as I would have liked. But hey, we were in no rush, we were on vacation! :) We got to our hotel right around dinnertime, so after we settled in again and freshened up, it was time to feed our faces again (you're starting to see a trend here on this trip, right?!). On the recommendation of my friend Kristi, Jasna and I trekked over to this French restaurant called Peche. It was fantastic! We had some absinthe-based drinks (I tried "Death in the Afternoon" - absinthe mixed with champagne), as well as grilled cheese with gouda and apple butter, and, of course, escargot (which I tried relentlessly to get Jasna to try, but she wasn't having it)!

Death in the Afternoon

Fancy pants grilled cheese

My favorite - escargot!

After dinner, we took the city in at dusk, and continued the night on 6th Street. We went to a handful of places, but didn't do anything too crazy. Another fun night all around.

After a restful night's sleep, we decided to take a walking tour around the city by day. We had lunch at Second Bar + Kitchen (tried Austin's own Eastciders Gold Top cider, yum!), spent an hour in a perfumery, where we gained our "life coach" George, popped by the Capital Building, and ended our time in Austin around the University of Texas campus. It's still one of the most beautiful campuses I've ever been to (my alma mater is still my favorite!). 

Before we headed back to Houston, we made the pit stop to the flagship Kendra Scott store, and Jasna made her very first purchase! She's hooked! :)

For our day of exploring Houston on Thursday, we decided to take advantage of the spectacular lunch Saint Arnold Brewery hosts during the week. That day's lunch consisted of a root beer-rubbed pork loin, grilled veggies, a blue cheese crumble salad, and unlimited beer (I usually only make it to two or three beers). 

Boileroom Berliner Weisse

While we were so full from lunch, Jasna and I still craved something sweet. No trip downtown/uptown would be complete without a trek to Sprinkles for one of their phenomenal cupcakes. I tried a new one that I had never seen before - orange cake with strawberry frosting.

Orange cake with strawberry frosting!

I really wanted to show Jasna the Houston night life, so we met up with my friends Michelle and Nate at Boheme (for their very different drink menu), followed by The Dogwood, both in the Midtown area. Right near the end of the night, we joined my sister, and one of our other favorite couples, Glenn and Kasey, for the tail end of Meteor's Drag Show. Very talented ladies and gentlemen! Wrapping up our night on the town in Houston, we made a stop at House of Pies to split a slice of banana cream pie. Delish!

Jasna and I with Coffee!

Stay tuned for part two of our adventure - Laura and Jasna do New Orleans!!