Monday, March 31, 2014

she's everywhere



cat in the bag


Sue,  there's cat hair on your towels.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Friday, March 28, 2014

and of course...the food



tempura fried green beans with Sriracha mayo


and ricotta filled ravioli in carrot sauce at the stunning Contigo







 the outdoor dining room at Contigo


Bánh mì at Elizabethtown Cafe


Tex-mex "Migas" is egg scramble with crushed up tortilla chips mixed in - delicious!


Blackberry pancakes at Magnolia Cafe


Thursday, March 27, 2014

tourists and proud



big mosaic of Texas on the floor at the airport


Amy with a fresh Sugar Daddy at Big Top Candy Shop


Boots a plenty at Allens Boots


We spent an evening exploring Rainey Street, which is a residential part of town where all the historic houses are bars and restaurants.  We had never seen anything like it and it was one of our favorites


They are all separately owned and each has it's own theme or style, and most have back gardens


We had a drink at the beautiful Lustre Pearl

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Barton Springs & Zilker Park



Barton Springs is a naturally fed spring in Zilker Park that has miles and miles of trails, activities, plus you can swim in it.  We spent half a day exploring the grounds and discovering lots of amazing things


The art deco changing house at the pool


everything was built in this heavy, tan brick and the whole place looked like a retro movie set





they were doing lots of landscaping


University of Texas rowing teams


their training rowing machines


You can rent a canoe or paddle board


These ones looked like Bomb Pops

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Tex me up


The vintage shopping was first class in Austin.  I will be getting my Clint Eastwood on with not one, but TWO wool ponchos


Polyester tiered disco dress and, why yes, that is a tie-dye leotard


vintage snake-skin sandals - maybe a Texan wrassled a snake to make these?

Monday, March 24, 2014

Austin smells really good


trail at Ladybird Lake, Austin,TX
I'll be writing about my amazing trip to Austin this week.  The whole city has a fresh, verdant scent.  It smells of cedar and juniper and earth, which I was so pleasantly surprised to discover


There are great tailed grackles everywhere, and they have a crazy, exotic call, which you hear everywhere you go.  I found them very beautiful. 


The landscape of Austin felt like a mix of California, Hawaii and Mexico. There were palm trees and lush flora, like these trees, which were full of little tangles of branches


There is a large colony of Mexican bats that nest underneath the Congress Bridge, which was near our hotel


They hadn't migrated back yet, but we talked to locals that said you can watch them every evening going out to hunt

Thursday, March 20, 2014

TX



I am headed to Austin for a few days so will post when I return!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I love Steve


I got this e-mail from my brother Steve the other day.  It was probably intended to be a stupid forum post, but he is a great writer and I like his forthright style and self aware honesty.   He's talking about the show True Detective. Love you, Beeb!

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"Just finished last night. Can't get the season's soundtrack out of my head.  Here's link if you want lonesome guitar, wailing vocals, or clap/stomp gospel and much more --  Boogie Down Productions stuff,  the Melvin's. Great collection. The deep south continues to fascinate/scare me -- charming yet creepy.

The sketchiness vibe about the deep south True Detective gave me is similar to the fear of swimming in open water Jaws gave me as a kid -  unreasonable suspicion and fear. heh.  But wow, Great show..."


Sunday, March 16, 2014

Saturday, March 15, 2014

LFF



Little Fleet Forever!

The plates at their spectacular beer & cheese pairing night Thursday, March 13th.  Terra Firma Brewery and Boss Mouse tasted great together at The Little Fleet

Cheese & Beer Pairings
Cheese Curds and Little Fleet’s St. Sue Cocktail
Rosemary Montasio* w/ Little Honey Ale
Chive Montasio w/ Once Upon a Tyne Brown Ale
Black Peppercorn Montasio with Tai Chi Seven Spice Stout
Sweet Swiss with Soul Butter Triple IPA
Aged Ricotta w/ Marmalade with Hoodwink Orange Marmalade Wheat

Thursday, March 13, 2014

best bulk



The weirdest selection from Dylan's Candy Bar bulk candy department

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

bird's eye frozen view



Sunset from the top of the Grand Traverse Resort overlooking the frozen solid East Grand Traverse Bay

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

sky study #105



Sunrise March 5th, 2014 - it was -8 degrees that morning

Monday, March 10, 2014

what are you doing Thursday?



Come join us at The Little Fleet for an evening of beer & cheese tasting

Sunday, March 9, 2014

spice graveyard



My Mom & Dad cleaned out their spice cabinet of "things they didn't use" and gave them to 
spice-oholic me, to adopt or discard.  Some of these are from our house in Detroit, for real:  check out "Frank's Rubbed Sage" (bottom row, 3rd from right), the Spice Islands Coriander, and the vintage tin of Durkee Turmeric.   I kept all of it.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

hooray for March 8th



It's a great day to be a Pisces


You know how the famous people you share your birthday are usually old presidents or obscure TV actors?  Amongst those folks, I also get Cyd Charisse...


and Kat von D

Friday, March 7, 2014

-18 below



And Winter slumbering in the open air,
Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!
- Samuel Coleridge


Thursday, March 6, 2014

An aurora of birds I have dreamt of



tracks on the deck Sunday, March 2nd
 

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

cozy Cozy



nestled in the pillows

Monday, March 3, 2014

the float



I never, ever get sick of watching Animal House