Archive: April, 2009

Viva Chocolato

I partook in happy hour both Monday and Tuesday this week (We needed the drinks!) with some coworkers.

Monday, I went with Jamie and Anna and chatted up life over Kenobi lemonade and sushi. I’ve only been there once before and it was for my 25th birthday dinner closer to when the restaurant first opened. Jamie and Anna BOTH were suppose to come for that dinner as well but they both floated the river that day. I didn’t remember if I was impressed by their sushi but nah, I decided it was okay on Monday. I do really enjoyed their alcoholic lemonade and their ambiance. It’s a great place to escape to when you can’t leave the city.


Kenobi
My plate from Monday. It’s was a’ite. The drink was potent and delicious. The 2 dollar happy hour dumplings are tasty.

A handful of my coworkers and I went out to McCormicks for 2 dollar calamari and 3 dollar cheeseburgers last night. I love happy hour. I guess work has been tense for us so it was nice to just unwind over cheap food and drinks. Our ultimate treat though was to walk over to Viva Chocolate. Lily’s seen it at the Domain (I’ve never noticed it before) and wanted to try it. It’s been here a year and it’s next door to Macy’s.


Viva Chocolate


Viva Chocolate


Viva Chocolate

I want to maybe try their pistachio carmel and ginger flavored gelato. Karah says ginger gelato is delicious? I didn’t try since it is a chocolate shop and I felt I needed to nibble on their chocolates first.

Viva Chocolate


Viva Chocolate

I was a little overwhelmed so I had some help from the staff. I went for the popular pieces from dark chocolate lovers.


Viva Chocolate

Got this one. I ended up only having room for one piece and this one is still in a box waiting to be eaten. Only two of us got desserts, the other two just sat stuffed from the burgers.

Viva Chocolate

And this one got eaten. I liked it. Rich. Bitter. Yum. One piece ended up being enough for me.

Viva ChocolateViva Chocolate

Comes in a cute box.

San Fran

We’re going to San Fran.

I’m excited. Lots of food to be eaten!

I’m thinking about the sourdough bowl clam chowder and the crepes and the sushi in Japan Town which is apparently closing because “white people” are buying it. Lily’s words.

We followed our hearts rather than our itinerary.

Yesterday, I woke up early after going to bed late to trek my way to Jamie’s so we could trek our way to a small town an hour away called Copperas Cove. I was to be her date to a wedding and then later she was to be my date to Selina’s birthday barbecue. We started our drive with a trip to McDonalds, their coffees are pretty good now and their market for their coffees are explosive since it’s so much cheaper than Starbucks. I’ll still hit up Starbucks for the green tea latte but I really am digging McD’s mocha.

So Copperas Cove is an hour away. We drove for an hour and were still kind of lost. Decided to keep driving and just miss the ceremony but after another hour we gave up. At this time we’ve driven through Copperas Cove and Killeen about twice. So we gave up and Jamie asked me if I’ve ever been shopping in Salado. No, I’ve never even been to Salado. She swore to me that it’s the cutest town with the cutest boutiques. I immediately thought, hmmm.. cuter than Fredericksburg, Texas (another cute quaint town with lots of shoppes)? Can’t be.

Salado is cuter! I can’t wait to go back to either shop for home decor or for Christmas gifts. There’s a fantastic store of home decor called Horsefeathers. Jamie said her sister decorated her whole place from this store and I can completely see why? Charming stuff. I usually admire things from Crate&Barrel, and Pottery Barn and the likes but they’ve never made me lust after planters and paintings like Horsefeathers did. I actually longed to have an entry table so I could buy a few of their things to display. Also made me want my own house. I tend to be lazy to decorate since I end up moving every year.

We saw this frame and declared it our motto for the day.

Follow your heart

We both liked this painting.

painting

What Horsefeathers looked like from the outside.

Horsefeathers

So we were dolled up for our wedding and both wore stilettos. There was a lot of gravel and cobblestone and stepping rocks to walk on. We looked out of place. The owner of Horsefeathers actually mentioned to me, “You look very nice.” Cracked me up, we looked so out of place. So we walked the street of boutiques and shops. Here’s another lovely store.

For lunch, Jamie took me to the Ambrosia Tea Room. Ambrosia Tea Room is inspired by Audrey Hepburn. Her beauty tips are on the menu and framed in the bathroom.

See? Framed in the bathroom.

Audrey Hepburn

Also on their bathroom wall.

Audrey Hepburn

The whole tea house is decorated with clothes, hats, and shoes, hanging on the walls and ceilings.

Ambrosia Tea Room

Ambrosia Tea Room

My lovely date.

Ambrosia Tea Room

We shared a lot of life stories yesterday . It’s crazy when you get to know someone and are blown away by all the threads of which they’re made. Resilience is an awesome thing.

Then we drove back to Austin, did a few errands together and then I took her as my plus one to Selina’s bbq. I haven’t seen a lot of the people there in a long long time so it was a nice reunion. I used to see some of the guys out every weekend. They called me out on that but what can I say? It was fun times with good food, good company, good dogs.

One of my favorite part was Ryan telling me, “Linda…..I don’t know where she keeps the candles….”

I laughed and we poked around all the cabinets. We found some candles but it was a 2 and a 6. She’s 25 now. So we tried to fashion a 5 out of the 6.

I’m laughing as I type this. At one point the 6/5 cracked so he had to melt the pieces back together.

But we did it!

This is part of the group before the cake came out.

Cake! I adore this picture. Very tender and sweet. Sigh.

Cutting the cake.

Selina and some of her bridal party.

Book Review: The Art of Loving

I’m about done reading The Art of Loving, a philosophy/psych book recommended by Dave last week over bubble tea and tofu. Quick read. Erich Fromme. The one thing that intrigued me was his idea that our parents are our models for conditional and unconditional love. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that parents are our models in life and love. I know in love, I have a horrible atrocious habit of being over-accommodating and I know this is from years of programming from my momma. This is how she shows her love, catering to people hand and foot. Course this made her an easy target for Takers. Luckily, I recognize this in her now and in myself so I get to work on it. But Fromme takes it somewhere I’ve never thought.

He said our moms are our models for unconditional love. Mothers love us just for being. Just for breathing. Just for existing. Dads are our models for conditional love. They are the ones who discipline, set codes of behaviors and so forth. He said if we develop healthily, we learn to be our own “moms” and our own “dads”. We learn to love ourselves just for being ourselves and we learn to set conditions for ourselves to help guides us through life. I just found that SO interesting.

I shared this with Mary Ellen and she said she liked the idea but pointed out it was a bit dated with the gender specific roles. Nowadays it could be 2 dads, or a grandma, etc who serve as our model of conditional and unconditional love. She also pointed out that she can imagine girls getting the unconditional model from their dads and vice versa.

Neat right? I don’t really know how I feel about it, but it struck me. Mary Ellen said it was probably the universe trying to tell me something. Me reading that, my talking to Mary Ellen’s mom last night and how she ended the conversation telling me to “love yourself.” Finally, talking to my daddy yesterday and how we’re keeping a secret from mom right now. She almost inadvertently tricked me into outing myself.

Speaking of mom and love. A couple of weeks ago I was in Houston for Dad’s birthday. Mom made me bánh cuốn. It’s so fricking good, especially in the summer. It’s basically a rice flour thin crepe filled with minced pork and various other ingredients. Usually served with bean sprouts, cucumbers, and a dipping sauce that’s made out of lime, fish sauce, sugar and water. Just trust me, it’s good. I’m craving it. Here’s a picture of my momma’s….


bánh cuốn
The brown things are caramelized onions. Mmmm.

I leave you with some quotations from Art of Loving.

“Love is the active concern for the life and the growth of that which we love.”

“One loves that for which one labors, and one labors for that which one loves.”

“One neglects to see an important factor in erotic love, that of will. To love somebody is not just a strong feeling. It is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise. If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever. A feeling comes and it may go. How can I judge that it will stay forever, when my act does not involve judgment and decision?”

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Daddy’s Rose Garden

A great man and his roses and some quotations about roses from great men. I’ve read something from all the men quoted and my dad just finished a journal I gave him to write his life’s story. Cannot wait to read that too.

The roses under my window make no reference to former roses or better ones; they are what they are; they exist with God today. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.” – Dale Carnegie

Can anyone remember love? It’s like trying to summon up the smell of roses in a cellar. You might see a rose, but never the perfume. -Arthur Miller

The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses. – Ovid

Tomunchi

There’s this new yogurt place down the street from where I live that I’ve been meaning to try called Tomunchi. I finally found a buddy to go with me tonight. It was delicious and self serve! You get a cup, get whatever flavor yogurt you want and whatever toppings you want, weigh and then pay. Sweet deal.


Tomunchi

I got plain yogurt, Heath toffee crunch yogurt, mango yogurt, and taro flavored yogurt. Toppings included my usual mochi when it comes to yogurt toppings, chocolate chips, also a usual for me, mango and strawberries. It was delicious. Next time I’m just sticking with the Heath toffee and the Taro.


Tomunchi

Jamie on her toppings: “I’m not going to even bother with that fruit mess”