Don't say cheese!

Taking good photos can be a pain,but at least with the advent of digital cameras, you have the possibility of a second take. Here's a good article from one of my favs (Real Simple) on How to Look Good in Pictures, whether they're planned or action photos! I think Al really needs to read this article.



Grumpy Al

Not Grumpy Al

'got my hair done

So I know it's not the best picture but for some stupid reason, I didn't take it right after the stylist finished, so that's the best you're getting unless you come visit me and check it out in person :p

Enjoying some vino during my haircut

I tried out a new salon, Bettie Bangs with a LivingSocial deal for a haircut, and partial highlights. There was a a scheduling issue the first weekend I had planned to go, so they threw in a deep conditioning for no cost. Brenna Sloane (who had half pink hair) cut and coloured my hair and did a fantastic job while I drank wine! It took some time to get used to having colour since I've had virgin hair for over 10 years now, but I really do like the change and apparently, so do most people, with the number of compliments I've been receiving. Really, I would have loved to go with something more drastic like red or blue or purple highlights, but the fact that I work in the corporate world and that those colours don't last for too long on dark hair, were a deterrent. Maybe I'll try Bumble and bumble's spray chalk for a quick colour fix the next time around...

A bunch of oddballs

 
When we were in the NYC area, we'd often go to comedy clubs and watch stand-up comics, but since we moved here, we haven't done too many of those. So when I heard about a touring comedy festival coming into town, both Al and I jumped up at the opportunity to go see it yesterday. The Oddball Comedy & Curiosity festival had so many great talents at it, and we also got a chance to see the new Austin 360 Ampitheatre which is part of the Circuit of Americas F-1 venue.

I really, really liked the venue (see left) and even though we purchased lawn seats, we had a pretty good view. We saw Al Madrigal and Kristen Schaal from the Jon Stewart Daily Show. Also opening were Jeff Ross, Demetri Martin and Hannibal Buress who was absolutely hilarious. But everyone was obviously there to see the headliners, Brett and Jermaine from the Flight of the Concords and of course, Dave Chappelle. All in all, the show was a laughing good time and I can't wait for the next one!

'got my nails did

Since I scan the internet like a hawk for deals, I found one to try out shellac nails at Nail Geeks. The awesome thing about shellac nail polish is that (1) they're dry as soon as you're ready to leave the nail salon (2) they're supposed to last for at least two weeks; shiny and no chips. I'm normally a red nails kinda girl, but I decided to get hot pink since it's such a fun summer colour and probably one of the few colours I do not have in my arsenal of nail polishes.

So it's 10 days since I got my nails done and they're still going strong, even with lots of scrubbing and cleaning today without any gloves. Of course my nails are growing so you can see a blank space close to the cuticle but other than that I think these will really last a full two weeks!

At the ranch on 616

I'm sure you're starting to see a pattern but this is yet another post about food! Al and I went to dinner yesterday at Ranch 616 because I had bought one of the half-off vouchers online for it. We made sure we tired Watson out at his daycare, Doggy Day Out and zipped out as soon as he fell asleep!

Grilled 5 Spice Duck Breast

Divorced Quail

The place is a little off  the west side of 6th Street which is the nicer, grown up part of 6th and it was easy enough to find (free) parking on a Wednesday evening. The venue is quite funky with a mix of Austin weird meets antique shop. We opted to sit outside since it was a cooler summer evening with a pleasant breeze.They have an interesting selection of drinks and Yelp reviews say that they're all good. Even though they claim they are not to be bucketed in with a food genre, them seem predominantly Tex-Mex using local ingredients and cooking styles. The one exception was Al's dish which had a Chinese influence with 5 spice, hoisin and bok choy. I ordered the divorced quail which allowed me to try two types of quail; one buttermilk fried and one tomatillo grilled. Both of our dishes were very tasty but I think the dessert took top prize. It was a cinnamon sugar crusted nacho platter topped with fresh berries, chocolate sauce and vanilla bean ice-cream. So simple but absolutely divine.

Cinnamon tacos with berries and ice cream

And even more s'mores!

A while back, I wrote about how much I love s'mores and my favorite way to make them at home. Today I received an email from Pillsbury that had me beat. The article was entitled 'What we're obsessing about' and had not just one recipe for s'mores but a whole week's worth! They all look delicious and I hope you enjoy trying them out.

S'More To Love™ S'More maker

Beantown again

Mimosas at Friendly Toast

Hanging out at Legal Seafoods
with Tim & Shannon

We visited Boston, aka  'Beantown' this past weekend for Al's cousin's wedding and even though it was a whirlwind trip, we made the best of it. Boston is one of my favorite places ever and I was so happy to be there again, along with the perfect weather.

We met up with two sets of friends for breakfast at the Friendly Toast and for lunch at Legal seafood respectively. That not only allowed us to meet old friends but it also meant brunch cocktails followed by New England clam chowder and raw oysters. Yay! 



The wedding party outside the
Boston College church

The wedding itself was very nice and Al's cousin, Kristina, the bride looked beautiful! Since we moved to Austin, we don't get to see Al's family that often, so this was a great opportunity to catch up. 




We were staying in Boston's little Italy, more commonly known as the North End and a trip there would not be complete without getting some Italian food or desserts. We didn't just eat there,but we brought home cannolis from the local's favorite, Maria's Pastry Shop. Yum, yum, yum!

Macaroons, many ways

So today was my first time ever trying French macaroons. I know what you're thinking --- seriously, what rock have I been sleeping under? But I've grown up knowing other types of macaroons (more to come on this) and had no inclination to try the French ones till I saw how they were made on a cooking show. Today, we found a cute little French bakery called La Patisserie in our neck of the woods and one of their specialties was their macaroons. We decided to sample not one but all the flavours. Our favorites were lemon, guava, nutella (of course) and raspberry.

Now back to the other macaroons that I've eaten. One type I'm sure you've heard of are the coconut macaroons and I'm not a fan of these at all because the coconut can make it too rich and sometimes a little oily, depending if you use the fresh or dessicated type. 

The other type that you probably haven't eaten are Mangalorean macaroons. My mother is from Mangalore, India and over there they make their own version of macaroons with egg whites, sugar and cashew nuts. I do like these when my mum makes them, but some bakers tend to be heavy-handed with the sugar and that's when egg white and sugar should never be together. Another thing is that we dont really pronounce the second 'a' and it's more of macroons :-)

My middle name should be $$$

This week has been an amazing finds week. I just don't know how people go about in the US without using the savers or loyalty programs and keeping an eye out for discounts. I have a CVS card and along with the coupons, weekly offers and personalized offers for me, I saved almost $24 from a bill total of $40. Yes, I did split my bill into 2, but the first one gave me bonus dollars to use on the second... sneaky, sneaky.

Then I happened to be at Bed, Bath and Beyond and saw these OXO Steel pop top containers in the clearance section. If any one knows me, I'm a huge organizer fan and this was like finding the holy grail (even Amazon.com doesn't discount these babies). I even had this on my Wunderlist as an optional home item, since I have a few and absolutely LOVE them. The original list price was $99.99 but was marked down to $49.98 because one of the lids was missing. Hmm, I looked inside but found all of them so I was wondering what was wrong and found one of the pop tops didn't work. I jiggled it a few times and used my keys and voila, I was able to get it to work! Woohoo! I used my 20% off coupon and got it for $39.98 - talk about a $60 savings, and did I mention I love these containers?