My Last Week in Austin

This past Sunday was my official last day with Oak Meadow Baptist Church in Austin. And you know what? It doesn't matter how much peace I have about moving to Ft Worth and attending seminary. Leaving this church is absolutely one of the hardest things I have ever done. 

When I thought about moving away from Austin, I really expected to be sad to leave the "Austin-y" things. No more Alamo Drafthouse. No more Town Lake and gorgeous Greenbelts and Mt Bonnell. No more Kerbey Lane Cafe, Threadgills, Trudy's, Dominican Joe's, Torchy's Tacos, Hey Cupcake, or awesome food trailer parks (I could go on and on and on about Austin's food scene.) No more murals in every alleyway, art on the sidewalk, and local/original music everywhere you go. 

I am going to miss those things.

But this past week, while I expected myself to be making the most of my last chances to experience these things, I instead spent the majority of my time at the church or at an event with my students. 

There was a huge turnout last Tuesday for my last Tuesday night youth Bible study. I had a whole lesson planned out- we were on our last week of Jared Wilson's 7 Daily Sins. I had read and reread the chapter, created an in-depth powerpoint and reviewed discussion points. But when I was cleaning out my desk I found these nifty information sheets that I had forced the students to fill out for a game at our very first event two and a half years ago. They had questions like- how many texts do you send per month and if you could choose any superpower what would you pick? Now, 2.5 years doesn't seem like toooo much time but the difference between being 15.5 years old and 18 years old is pretty drastic! So we played the game again. It was an awesome way to end with something from the very beginning.

Whenever it came time to start the Bible study I put the book away and just turned to Ephesians 3:14-19

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, ¹⁵ the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

This is my prayer for my students, that they would truly understand God's love and that they would be rooted down in it.  And basically reading that prayer is all I could get out. 

We made chicken fried steak and played floor pong on Wednesday (my last Get LOW)

We went to Blazer Tag, had ice cream sundaes and played more floor pong on Thursday night.

And Sunday night, I beat everyone at bowling with my awesome skillzzz. Seriously, I got a turkey. It was legit!

(that's Josue ducking out of the picture)

I didn't do a lot of local, Austiny, artsy or original things in my last week in Austin. I think my heart knew what it wanted- to make the very most of the time I had left with the people who mean the most to me. Those students have my heart. I have to believe that God loves them more than I can possibly understand and He will be there, providing for and protecting my group. 

Easter and Other Happy Things

This Easter was so good. 

First off, I woke up on my own which never happens

and I had time in the morning to get cute, go get coffee, 

come back home and make breakfast tacos. And get to church early. 

It was beautiful.

It was the first year that I haven't been in charge of anything in a long time 

(besides making some costume accessories for our drama team).

Our church scaled back- 

no community Easter egg hunt, no sunrise service, no grand musical productions.

But I was so grateful for this. 

It focused our hearts away from the services and activities and onto our Savior. 

We took the Lord's Supper and had a drama about the Roman soldiers guarding Jesus' tomb.

There were only two actors in the production, and they did an amazing job!

But even without all the fanfare and glitz and candy and busyness

Jesus was glorified

His name was lifted up

and we were reminded that Jesus conquered death!

I got to wear this beautiful floral dress that y'all insisted I go back and buy

(When I went back to the store is was marked down from $35 to $19... score! 

Good things come to those who wait!)

Other miscellaneous, lovely things from my week:

I got to hang out with my brilliant and beautiful little cousins

They are seriously the best

We played Trouble, watched movies, and made puff ball animals. So fun!

Pretty new spring nail polish

Austin Restaurant Week date with my roomie at Botticelli's!

During ARW, lots of top-notch Austin restaurants create a menu 

highlighting some of their best menu items and offer it at a reduced price.

This is still more than I'd normally pay for a meal... 

and I felt poor sitting at the [white tablecloth-ed, multiple forks, 

extensive wine menu] restaurant

but it was way fun and definitely a culinary experience!

And you know how much I love food ;) 

seared sea scallop with grilled strawberries

roasted beet salad with fennel and Parmesan

mushroom stuffed ravioli with the best cream sauce eva'

white chocolate raspberry cheesecake

It was delicious. I was so glad I wore an elastic banded skirt. 

Bluebonnets!

I took these three guys to the Youth Ministry Lab at SWBTS 

and they were awesome and let me stop and take pictures in the bluebonnets.

How was your Easter? I'd love to hear how you celebrated!

linkin up! 

    

Austin Eats Tour Recap

(long post warning!)

So I have the coolest aunt ever and she refuses to buy us "useful" gifts. 

When my sister, Lindsey, graduated from high school, 
Aunt Robin gave her tickets to see Wicked (awesome!). 

And when I graduated from college, she gave me a certificate 
for two people to go on the Austin Eats Tour! 

(my mom and aunt, making fun of the way 

my sister and I pose for pictures)

If you can't tell, I love food. And I love Austin. 

So I was all kinds of excited about this tour!

I would have loved to do the South Congress tour, 
but they are only on Sundays and that's not an option. 
So instead, we signed up for the Downtown tour! 

(photo from Austin360.com)

It began at the Downtown Farmer's Market, 
where we were all given a bag and a bottle of water. 
I'm ashamed to say that I've never been to a farmer's market before. 
I am definitely going to be going back! 

Our first tasting was from Dai Due's stand. 
We had the sausage biscuit and gravy. 
Now, this was a staple breakfast at my house growing up 
so it had a lot to live up to!

It was fantastic. 

Everything made at Dai Due is locally sourced and very fresh.

I really like the flavor of the breakfast sausage, 

and the creamy gravy brought it all together.

We had some time to explore the farmer's market and just check everything out. 

They had everything from breakfast tacos and coffee 

to specialty desserts at the prepared foods area. 

The fresh produce looked amazing! 

I think in the future this would be a great brunch date- 

take the dog, grab coffee and shop the 

fresh goat cheese and locally harvested honey! 

(picture from bolapizza.com)

Before we left, we sampled at Bola Pizza. They had a super cool (mobile!) tiled wood fired oven and even more impressive pizza.  The cool thing about Bola is that they do the farmer's market and catering, but don't have a brick and mortar building! We sampled their Truffle Daisy, Polka Dot and Godfather pizzas. The Truffle Daisy was my favorite! 

It was chock full of fresh flavor!

After our pizza samples, we walked over to Hut's Hamburgers. I've seen Hut's before but never stopped in. The each sampled the Sink Burger- with lettuce, tomato, ham, cheese and hickory sauce, and a massive onion ring. 

Honestly, I'm not a big hamburger fan. 

If we must dine at a burger place, I normally get the chicken option. 

But, Hut's had really flavorful, moist hamburger patties. 

They also have Longhorn and Buffalo patties available, which are more lean!

The restaurant has a colorful history- 

especially the part about surviving a huge flood in 1981! 

That's where "God bless Hut's" originated.

All of the decor is very reminiscent of Arnold's in Happy Days and the retro theme is actually quite endearing. Check out the framed wallpaper and aged banners. I really like those dancing poodles!

After Hut's, we walked around the corner to Whole Foods (which ironically enough, got wiped out in that great flood of 1981). 

This was the first and is the biggest and best Whole Foods!

Now, I'm already a big fan of Whole Foods. I don't buy groceries there because I'm poor... but they have great prepared food counters! I've been known to get their pulled pork tacos (quite often) as well as their blended coffee. And gelato. And pastries! You get the idea.

First, we sampled three cheeses at the cheese counter. Mmm, cheese. We had a really tasty goat cheese from Dripping Springs that had honey and black pepper. Then, a brie with orange-cranberry jam, very festive! And last, a gouda! I'm not sure if I'd ever had gouda but it was great.

Some random shoppers came by and helped themselves to the cheese too. 

It was awkward. 

Then we sampled, the lean and moist brisket, and chicken and feta sausage at the barbecue counter. David really liked the lean brisket and I really like the moist brisket! And I got to take all the leftovers home!

Note- I was too busy eating to take any pictures of the barbecue goodness.

After Whole Foods, we walked to Walton's Fancy and Staple. It's an adorable little bakery/store/florist in a refurbished rail station. 

We sampled their "white trash mix", blueberry crumble, golden egg- a cinnamon vanilla cake, and cream cheese brownies. 

Oh and did I mention that Sandra Bullock owns it? 

And that SHE WAS THERE?! 

Yeah, she was super low key, feeding her cute little boy. 

I didn't even notice that she was there until someone else on the tour 

asked David and I if we'd seen her. 

And so we went back inside to "check out some cookbooks" and catch a peek!

Sorry, no pictures. She seems way too nice for paparazzi! 

Then we moved on to Frank, a gourmet Chicago-style 

hot dog and sausage restaurant.I didn't think this was going to be 

my kind of place. I'm not a huge fan of hot dogs. 

But their manager came and brought everyone coffee 

and explained the history of the restaurant.

They use Intelegencia coffee- it was excellent quality!

 two different sausage samples- this one had macaroni and cheese!

and... 

wait for it... 

Chocolate Covered Bacon.

So GOOD. 

Bad for your arteries though.

The salty bacon perfectly contrasted with the semisweet chocolate. I'd totally recommend it.

And then our last stop was at The Ginger Man, where they make in-house root beer!

I'd definitely recommend an Austin Eats Tour to any food or Austin-lover. 

It would make a great gift or a special occasion date! 

I would love to take some of my out-of-town friends on a tour.

Things to remember:

• Although everything is served in small portions, there is a lot of food. Be sure and activate your metabolism with a small breakfast earlier in the day, and don't overeat just to feel like you got your money's worth!

• It is a walking tour, so if you're injured or out of shape, just know you'll be walking several blocks at a time!

• The restaurants included in the tour rotate, so your tour won't be the same as mine.

• Sandra Bullock sightings not guaranteed!

• Talk to the other people on your tour! It's a great way to meet people.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Gypsy Picnic Festival

This past Saturday the Hey Cupcake! gang got to participate in the second annual Gypsy Picnic Festival at Auditorium Shores.

I didn't attend the festival last year (sadly) but this year I made sure to get there about an hour before my shift started so I could check out all the awesome food trailers!

There were over thirty five food trailers as well as live music, different activity booths and people picnicking with family and friends and pets all over. The weather was glorious- sunny but not too hot, breezy and clear. The wind did pick up the dust quite a bit... but since I was under a tent most of the time, it didn't phase me!

Some of my favorites were there (Torchy's Tacos, Gourdough's, Bananarchy, Holy Cacoa) and LOTS of trailers I haven't tried yet

There was TONS of great food there, but I stopped at Be More Pacific to try some Filipino-American cuisine. Really, it was the bacon fried rice that got me. I had to try it. 

I grabbed a Taco Libre- chicken adobo with Filipino sauce, elote corn, cilantro and lime- and chili powder?

It was very tasty- spicy from the adobo and chili and sweet from the corn.

and Bacon Fried Rice- rice with bacon, scrambled egg, yellow onion and green onion. So good. 

I had a really great time working at the Hey Cupcake booth- even though we always had a line, we kept it moving quickly!  We had a great team working the event.  Even when we were all disgustingly dirty and our feet were on fire, everyone kept a smile on their face the whole night. 

(photo by Seth Nyers)

And we won best dessert for the Pumpkinator! 

My dinner came from Mambo Berry- the Mango Madness Smoothie. It was a little pricey at $6 but I'd come prepared to shell out some cash to sample lots of food, so I was okay with it.  They also had a Strawberry Basil Smoothie, which won best drink... but I'm not totally sure I like basil. So I got mango.

The flavor was INTENSE, but delicious. It tasted very fresh and it was a treat I felt good about.

Overall, Gypsy Picnic was super fun.

Things I wish I'd tried:

86 This- Multi Tasker

Chi'Lantro- Korean Beef Burrito

The Peached Tortilla- Bahn Mi Sandwich

East Side King's Poor Qui's Bun

Tenderland's Battered Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

Cool Haus Ice Cream Sandwich- these looked so good while we were working up a sweat!

Looks like I will have to make it a point to try these soon!

Hungry Monday- Red's Porch

Stay tuned this week for a fun giveaway! 

But, back to our Hungry Monday feature for now!

Awesome view, great location, delicious food, friendly service, fun decor

What more do you need?

Red's Porch is located near the intersection of South Lamar and Hwy 290. It's kinda difficult to see from the road, but you can't miss their big sign!

At the end of their driveway, you'll see why it's called Red's Porch. 

There is indoor dining, but the draw is the giant porch with the fantastic view. I went for lunch during August and with the shade from the porch and the hard working fans outside, we weren't hot at all! 

There's also a funky lounge area at the entrance if you're waiting for a table.

So the location and set up are great, but the food is the reason I'd go back.

I ordered the pot roast (ok, so I order pot roast everywhere I go) and it was melt-in-your-mouth tender with a savory gravy and smashed potatoes. I like it when potatoes actually taste like potatoes so that was a definite plus. I also got the spinach casserole which was a mess of spinach and garlic and cheese. Intensely flavorful, but I believe I may try something new next time. I also sampled the chicken fried steak and macaroni and cheese, which were both superbly done. 

(personal photo)

At lunch time, there was no wait and our server was very helpful and friendly. There was a pretty decent lunch menu, but I ordered from the dinner menu and took half home with me. 

Check out more info on their website

http://redsporch.com/

(Unless otherwise noted, all photos from the Red's Porch website)

Hungry Monday- Mama Fu's

Don't wok. Run.

Mama Fu's is a Austin-owned, fairly-young business boasting made to order Asian food in a fun and casual environment. When you walk in there's bright decor and a clean, modern feel to the space. At the Triangle location, if you look carefully at the large dots on the wall, they have little sayings on them that are all plays on the word 'wok' (Because you're mine, I wok the line; Wok tall). I still chuckle when I see them.


Keep in mind that this is not "authentic" Asian food. However, the dishes are super tasty AND much healthier than traditional Asian cuisine. 


All of the dishes come with your choice of protein -chicken, beef, tofu, and shrimp, as well as veggie only- and can be cooked traditional, which is lightly breaded in potato starch, or wok seared, which has no breading and is the healthier option. In addition, each dish comes with white, brown or fried rice, or egg or rice noodles. 

The best part for me is that extra veggies are no charge, AND since they make every dish to order, if you don't like anything in the dish you can nix it or exchange it for something you do like. So, for example, when I get sweet and sour chicken, it comes with red bell peppers... but, I don't like those. So instead I get green beans and mushrooms and snap peas and carrots and whatever else sounds good that day. The vegetables are super fresh, also, always prepared the day of. 

So, if you're aiming for healthy eating habits, get your entree wok seared with brown rice and pile on as many veggies as you'd like! There's also an extensive gluten free menu with many gluten free sauce options. 


My favorite meal is probably Potstickers along with the Honey Seared Chicken with Brown Rice and every vegetable on the menu (except bell peppers of course).

Other recommendations include: Mongolian Beef, Sesame Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Pad Thai.

There are several area locations (and Mama Fu's has recently expanded to other states as well!). They have dine-in, take-out, delivery and catering options.  Check out more info at www.mamafus.com !