blue sky muffins and chickpea

my coworker told me about these amazing muffins from blue sky bakery and of course, i had to try it. he brought me a zucchini, raspberry, and chocolate to try and it lived up to the hype. it was just moist enough and just yummy enough for me to stuff it all in mouth in about 2.5 minutes. must have again!

i discovered another lunch spot that is so good and so worth the money. chickpea would so really well in austin so if anyone has some extra money around to franchise this place, i would highly recommend it! i got the chicken kebab w/ pinenut and basil hummus and a salad for less than $10 and i had leftovers.

i'm already starting to get lazy, i admit, about taking pictures everywhere i go. i've eaten at aj maxell's for restaurant week since we were all craving a steak. it was ok but i don't think i'll be back. i've also gone to the mermaid inn for $1 oysters during happy hour with some coworkers which was really fun. i saw the play, equivocation, which was an amazing production. when i read the actors list, i didn't recognize any of the names, but once it started, there were a few famous people in it! john pankow, michael countryman, and david furr. ok, he's not famous but he's hot in person! oh and i also went snowboarding for the first time! my bum and my arms, and my legs still hurt but it was worth it. i had SO much fun and will definitely ride again. i made it down the mountain twice without falling! i was pumping my fists in the air like the jersey shore kids. 


xoxo,
p.

the lovin' cup and the suckers

after spending the weekend in philly w/ my brother and his family, i came back to see the suckers at cameo gallery. the front of the show space is called the lovin' cup which is another speakeasy type bar but a little cheaper than the others i've been to. my first drink was a lemon song (fig infused vodka with lemon and basil) and my second was a blueberry mojito. they were both too delicious that i had to have one or two more.

the suckers are from brooklyn and already have a huge following. they've opened up for mgmt a few times and have played acl and sxsw. they are definitely a band to watch out for.

xoxo,
p.

i miss...

in no particular order:


my friends
my family
tam's (my absolute favorite vietnamese place) & sunflower
pho van (pho in general)
maudie's (strait plate!)
trudy's (insalada grande and mexican martinis)
watching ray prim play almost every other week
heb
mandola's
galaxy cafe
barton springs (even though i wouldn't be going there right now)
queso
upper crust bakery
frankie at jr salon
THE WEATHER
the space, storage, and location of my last place
town lake/zilker park/deep eddy pool
dinner parties
free dog sitting
marley, jack, tucker, callie, zella, charlie, snappy
san francisco deli and bakery
elysium
strut
imperia's happy hour
el patio
blue dahlia
east austin
being in a car singing my heart out with the windows down
kathy
turkey creek
and most importantly, breakfast tacos


xoxo,
p.

snow day!!!

we're suppose to get 10-18 inches of snow today. it started early this morning and stopped but is suppose to start up again later today and cause a raucous. 

and of course, the only thing you should eat in this weather is some good ole (delivered) matzo ball soup (and salad).

xoxo,
p.

the magician, shang, and verlaine

the 3rd place for restaurant week was shang. it's on the lower east side so i had to go to the magician first to have some super cheap drinks. by the way, their happy hour is from 5-7:55. don't piss off the bartender by trying to get hh prices after 7:55. you won't get it. she told me a story about how this girl was following her around showing her the time on her phone and she was not having it. 


from the restaurant week menu, we had the hot & sour soup, assorted dim sum, marinated skirt steak, cantonese wok fried pearl noodes, roasted scottish salmon and the mango panna cotta. it was pretty good. i don't think i would go back just because i can get so much better food in chinatown for 1/2 the price. but i was a fun experience and the main room is impressive.

we didn't want to end the night, so b.l. took us to verlaine for some after dinner drinks. when she told us that hh was until 10pm, we didn't even need to think about it. this place is pretty cool!

their hh is $5 lychee martinis, sangria, and bloody marys. verlaine had me at lychee martini of which i had 2. visitors, be prepared to frequent this place because of the prices and the deliciousness.

xoxo,

p.

as you like it

if ever you want to get a dose of shakespeare, new york is a great place to be. it seems like there's always a shakespeare play readily available to be attended. as you like it at bam is directed by sam mendes so of course i had to go, hoping of course kate winslet would be there too. 

it was a bit long (3 hours) but highly entertaining. the set was pretty amazing considering the space is pretty small but they were able to make a lot out of a little. i wasn't sure what 'as you like it' was about and didn't know what to expect and i enjoyed every minute of it. it was funny, sad, dramatic, and beautiful. there was not a lot of music but the little bits stayed with me. i was singing it all the way home.

xoxo,
p.

the importance of being earnest & cafe 28

i've always loved oscar wilde's the importance of being earnest so i took the chance to see the musical version, earnest in love, at the irish repertory theater this past week. i had dinner at cosi first (just a soup and salad combo) then went to the theater. it's small and they're still making renovations but it's a great place to see a show. not a bad seat in the house. the actors were so funny and cute. i highly recommend it if it's playing in your town!

another lunch spot i've recently learned about is cafe 28. this place is pretty insane and kinda overwhelming. when a coworker mentioned it, i asked what they had and he replied, "they have everything" and he was right.

let me first say that new york delis are not like the ones back home. delis are, to me, a soup, salad, sandwich kinda place that i normally go to for lunch. new york delis (or bodegas) are a one stop shop for groceries too. it's usually more expensive but if you're in a crunch, you can usually find your sugar or a can of tomatoes here without a problem. so cafe 28 has those household items and so much more. you walk in and there's a small bakery area, then you go a little way and there's udon bar (which of course is what i had), 2 buffet areas with salad stuff, bbq, sweet and sour chicken, roast chicken, etc., pizza bar, sandwich bar, all types of drinks, and some asian foods spread about. so basically, if you have no idea what you want but you want to go to a place that has a little bit of everything, i would highly recommend cafe 28.

xoxo,
p.