My Empty Stomach & I Go to Austin, TX

The lack of posting lately is due to the fact that a lot of hotels in Texas don't offer free in-room wifi. Hello! McDonalds even offers free wifi now…. like what year in the 2000s are you stuck in that you have yet to install this necessity? Anyway, my mother and I went to Austin for a few days to visit family in the area and see what the city is all about.

The food of course was the best part of the trip. Seeing that eating is one of my favorite activities why would I not enjoy exploring Austin's palate? Austin is well-know for pretty established food truck businesses, but my mom was not into the whole idea of that so unfortunately I didn't get to experience any of them. The restaurants that we did go to my empty stomach & I were very satisfied.

Nancy's Sky Garden located in a very cute, small town called Georgetown, TX was absolutely my favorite place we ate. The town itself is rich of character and small, local shops and is totally worth driving out of the city to walk around in for an afternoon. The food at Nancy's is to die for. It is all asian inspired dishes that will make your mouth explode with flavors. It is also super fresh and all the dishes are very healthy options. It doesn't help that they decorated the restaurant to look adorable.

Hummus Roll 

Spicy Tofu with Avocado 

Back in Austin, our concierge recommended the local, higher-end, "tex-mex" staple: La Condessa. We went for lunch and the restaurant was relatively empty and the service was quick and friendly. The decorating was very fresh, modern, and well done. The food was very delicious here as well but I didn't get the small, local, mom & pop vibe like I did at Nancy's. Still definitely recommend it for a yummy meal at an interesting and modern eatery. 

Chips, Guacamole & Seasonal Salsas

Aguacate Tostada 

(sliced avocado, black bean puree, poblano rajas, chipotle mayo, arugula, tomatoes)

For dinner, I got my mom to try sushi for the first time and she actually enjoyed it! Piranha Killer Sushi is where we went, again on a weeknight, and it was very empty - therefore, good service. We ordered saki and I tried that for the first time, all by myself, because my mom doesn't drink. Lets just say I was a little buzzed by the end of our meal. Oops. The sushi was good, especially because the seaweed itself was crunchy instead of adding the crunch to the fish itself - something I have never experienced before. 

Crunchy Tuna Roll, Edamame, & Tozai Snow Maiden Saki

On our final day, we traveled to the Counter Cafe. Featured on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives, the food is fresh, local, and delicious. The restaurant itself is basically the size of a small cardboard box, but the vibe is inviting and friendly. You walk in and immediately feel like you've been coming here every Sunday morning with your parents since you can remember. My meal was delicious and the prices are very reasonable.

Breakfast Tacos (bacon on the side), In-House Made Salsa & Mimosa

I enjoyed my time there and enjoyed spending time with my mom, but would I go back to Austin? I don't think so. The city has a really weird vibe, yes, that is their saying, "keep Austin weird", but that's not the vibe I'm talking about. The new side of the river just constantly felt like I was walking in a newly built outlet mall. It was very barren and the buildings and shops felt too "big-box store"-ish, uninviting, and overall were lacking character. 6th street, filled with bars and live music was the only interesting part on that side of the river worth going to.

On the older side of the river, South Congress is the place to explore. It has a lot of shops and restaurants that are unique and fun to roam in and out of. My favorite part was going to the "Cathedral of Junk". Basically, its a guy who decided to make "sculptures" in his backyard. It was a great photo opportunity for me and my photography and totally fun to explore and see everything. It might have freaked out my mom a bit but it was awesome. I'll post later in the week some of the images I took on my actual camera instead of just my iPhone. Hope you all have been well!

In case you haven't noticed, I gave my blog a little touching up over the weekend. My new banner even has a little Sushi in it! (It's really iiwaken, a Japanese cartoon Shiba Inu that happens to look exactly like Sushi) I guess my Myspace html days are really coming back to haunt me in a surprisingly positive way.

My weekend was spent pretty much just as I had stated on Friday: studying. I am procrastinating at this very moment for my three exams tomorrow. I'm sorry but if I cram my head with any more american government, biology, or anthropology I will absolutely stick needles in my eyeballs.

After classes on Friday I came home and Sushi and I went on a lovely adventure around my neighborhood. We meandered to a pier that overlooks New Jersey, watched the melting ice on the Delaware River float by and relaxed in the finally "warm" sun. The Race Street Pier is one of my favorite hidden spots in Philadelphia - total zen area for me. We also got lost in the bookstore next to my apartment and I took home some F. Scott Fitzgerald. Later, boyfriend came over and we got some delicious sushi at a local restaurant the size of a closet. Yummy things come in small restaurants? Is that a thing? We fell asleep with full bellies & watching Game of Thrones.

Portobello mushroom & zucchini pizza

Saturday I crammed for the exams and made us a lovely dinner. Since becoming a vegetarian, Pinterest has been a godsend. Before finding the website, I was basically just eating pasta (with the post-stomach pains, unknowingly I needed to be eating gluten free) or salad. Boyfriend found me at a good time because I am utilizing the Food & Drink category like no other and making some goddamn delicious food.  I made portobello mushroom & zucchini pizzas. Super easy & quick meal - got good reviews from me & the boyfriend too!

I hope you all had a lovely & relaxing weekend!

Not really relevant to anything but this video is hilarious. Guys have no idea how much anything we use/wear costs. at all.  I guess I should know this by now considering my boyfriend definitely has not even the slightest idea what I spend on anything related to being a female. Thanks for sharing Rubi!


 




Here's what I'm listening to: Making Plans for Nigel - Nouvelle Vague & Fade Into You - Mazzy Star

On Being A Vegetarian

About four years ago I seriously decided that I would stop eating meat altogether and become a complete vegetarian. Well... pescetarian, meaning I eat fish but no one usually knows what that means so I usually just say vegetarian. Even though I do eat fish, it is on the rare occasion. Maximum once a month and I always do try to find vegetarian alternatives when given the option.
Anyways, I constantly get bombarded with questions like, "Where do you get your protein?!" or "So like is it hard? I could never do it.. Don't you crave cheeseburgers? Don't you ever want chicken?"

Ughhhhhhhhhh. Honestly, no - it is not hard. And after watching so many documentaries and reading so many books on the subject, the thought of meat makes me sick to my stomach. I would never eat any meat in the United States thanks to our lovely food industry. I do get my protein from a variety of sources: a shit ton of quinoa, beans, etc. A few companies make some yummy alternatives, MorningStar.. Amy's... that taste enough like chicken nuggets, especially when they're swimming in BBQ sauce (jesus elixir), to hold me over.

(Yes I photoshopped this - yay art school) 

The only time I really run into issues with being a veg is at fast food restaurants. There are rarely any vegetarian options at any of them which is annoying as fuck when you're hungry, drunk, and have about $5, at 2am. Thank god for TacoBell. I am and have always been a diehard TacoBell fan (if you're not you're a goddamn liar). Thank god they have their seven layer burrito, as shown in its natural environment above.

Also, Burger King has a MorningStar veggie burger that I tried today. (gif above is accurate about how I feel - catch me now at your local BK) Make sure to order it with their "king sauce" which is what they put on their whoppers - let me tell you, my taste buds were stoked. Even if you're not a veg I suggest it!

Being a vegetarian/pescetarian has a lot of benefits and it isn't as difficult as some may lead you to believe… unless you're a drunken, broke, college student in the middle of the night.

(or you're Ron Swanson)