Ruta Maya
The Ruta Maya coffee house on S. Congress is a great place to get organic coffee. Especially if you have children. They not only specialize in coffee, they have lots of programs for children, such as yoga, puppet shows, a play area with books, toys and computers for kids!
It’s also a nice place for adults with their great concert series. Last night we happen to get there for a benefit concert. I was concerned when I walked in and saw the hundreds of little kids running around that I had gone to the wrong place for a date with my husband. I found out that the concert benefitted a music program for preschool children, which is probably why it was so packed with kids. Also, there was a second level where adults could go and sit without being disrupted by the children. (We chose to sit there!)
The first singer got up to sing and I kept recognizing a lot of the tunes and even some of the songs. He kept making mention that he had written the songs with this person and that. So, I began getting more and more curious about him. I came home and googled him and found that he is in the band Fastball. They sing one of my favorite songs, The Way. It was exciting to see someone of his caliber be the first person sing at a concert at a local coffee house! I hope I will get to see him again.
They also had a guy sitting in the shop with lots of pretty scarves. Being somewhat of a shop-a-holic, I had to go and check them out. He told me that the scarves were imported from Madagascar and that to purchase one gives a donation to Madagascar, (or something like that). The scarves were pure silk and they were really nice. That morning, I had just been thinking that I needed a scarf, so I bought one! He is going to send me some kind of tax form in the mail. So not only did I get something I liked, I did some good in the world too! 🙂
I also want to mention the coffee from Ruta Maya, since that is their primary job! 🙂 I got a Machiatto. Every so often, I have to try a Machiatto when I go to a coffee shop. When I was in Italy, I became so addicted to Machiattos that when I came home, I immediately went to a coffee shop to have one. I was depressed when none of them turned out to be the same type of drink. Well, that has all changed. I have finally found a Machiatto that closely compares! It’s not EXACTLY the same, but it’s close! I’m sure that the rest of their coffees are just as good! I definitely recommend this place for coffee and entertainment!
Ross’
“Up against the wall, a red-necked mother…” sang the band as we walked into Ross’ on Lamar. We were on our way home from Central Market, (for the second time in a week), when we decided we better get something to eat before we go home. We looked over and saw neon lights announcing Ross’ restaurant. Intriguing. We decided to stop.
We were excited that they had live music as we walked up to the place. There were three older gentlemen on a stage singing country music. Not really our type of music, it can still be a fun experience to watch! This band of guitar playing seniors were reminiscent of listening to Merle Haggard with his old country flair.
The food at Ross’ was kind of home-cooking style. I’m trying to diet, so I ordered the grilled chicken dinner. It came with a choice of vegetables and I chose broccoli and salad. Mike ordered the pork and fries. (Embarrassingly, he chose to sit next to me while we waited for our food, rather than across from me, but he wanted to watch the trio, too…
I got a HUGE chicken dinner. They do not spare food at Ross’. The chicken had lots of spices and almost tasted like a steak rather than normal dry chicken. I’m sure that this meal wasn’t REALLY dietary! It also came with Texas Toast. I haven’t had that in years!
Overall, it was a good experience. The people that work there are VERY friendly and welcoming. The biggest complaint I have about the place was the Aggie knick knacks that the place had displayed. BOO Aggies!
Central Market and tea
Central Market has to be the most fantastic grocery store in the world. We finally went to the one in Austin on Lamar. I have only been to the ones in Dallas in the past and I truly enjoyed the experience there, but I have to admit, that I like the Austin one so much better. Their restaurant is nicer and the store has a more small grocery store feel than the other ones I’ve been to, even though it’s probably just as large.
While I was there last night, I decided I was going to become a tea drinker! I bought some Mighty Leaf Tea to start out my new drinking regime. I was so excited about it, that I even dreamt about how good the tea was going to taste. I thought about it all through my morning routine. Then when it was time to eat, I decided that I would wait until I got to work, so I could show off that I was a tea drinker. I got to work this morning and realized that I had forgotten the tea at home. No tea today. I guess tomorrow I will start the tea drinking!
Austin Group
I have created a group, so we can talk about Austin. Feel free to join even if you don’t live in Ausitn!
Click to join Austin-Blogatorium
Pei Wei
As much as I like to spread the word about Chopsticks Wednesday, I have to admit that I’m not really a fully practicing member. Usually, I forget or just figure it’s too much work. I’m really not very good at eating with chopsticks. However, with the New Year and all, I figured it was time to turn over a new leaf. While I was at the airport on Monday, I chose to eat Chinese food and I thought I’d try the chopsticks, even though it wasn’t a Wednesday. I was amazed at how much better I had gotten with them.
So today, given a choice to eat at Chipotle or Pei Wei’s, I jumped at the opportunity to show off my new skills! We ate at Pei Wei’s over on Parmer. I ordered the orange beef, which is my favorite. As usual, it was really delicious and I proceeded to pig out! I have to admit, that as far a chain restaurants go, Pei Wei’s is one of the best!
I went with three other converts and we all enjoyed eating our food with their wooden chopsticks. We are all at varying levels of expertise with the chopsticks, but none of us went home hungry! We had a great time taking pictures of ourselves, so we could post them on the group site, to prove that we are participating in our newest low pressure weekly holiday!
Chopsticks Wednesday
I wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow is Chopsticks Wednesday. In case you don’t remember, you only eat with your chopsticks on Chopsticks Wednesdays. Makes sense, right?
If you want to make this fun, you can post what you ate with your chopsticks in the comments section of this blog. You can also join the group of chopsticks fanatics through this link.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
We made it back safely to Austin! I have to say that I really like the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. It is probably the nicest small airport that I have ever been in. It’s set up really well. They have great little shops there. All the food in the food court is based on Austin area restaurants. Mike ate at the Salt Lick and I ate at Matt’s El Rancho! I got the Bob Armstrong dip, which I have to say is much better at the actual restaurant, but that’s to be expected.
The airport also has cute little stores that have Austin specific things. They even have an Austin City Limits store, where you can buy cd’s or dvd’s of past artists that have performed on ACL.
Another great thing about the airport is that they got our luggage out really quickly. Usually, you have to wait around for about 20 minutes before they start unloading. This is not the case in Austin. By the time that we got to the baggage area, the luggage was already coming out.
The airport is doing their part to Keep Austin Weird!
Mexico
We went to Progresso yesterday. It was so much fun. I love going to border towns to walk around and look at all the things they are selling. It ranges anywhere from boots to magnets and then add some more stuff! All that stuff always throws me into a buying frenzy! Mike’s cousin bought a little bit of everything while there. I got some new movies, a pancho, a magnet, and silver hoop earrings. Mike got brandy and kalhua for his dad.
I think we are going to go back today so I can get a few more souvenirs before we go home tonight. Unfortunately, the rumor is that starting today you have to have your passport to cross over the border. Mike brought his, but I didn’t. I’m going to be really sad if I can’t go back. That will mean that we stay home and watch sports all day. BOO!
Relaxing
We haven’t really done too much while here in McAllen. We did go to Hooters to watch the UT game. We ended up leaving early and watched the rest of the game at home! UT won, so that was good!
We also ate some really good tamales. I’m not sure where they came from, but they were delicious. I had never had cream cheese, jalapeno tamales before. I hope I can find some in Austin.
Today we are supposed to go to Mexico. I’m super excited because this is the first thing this weekend that we are doing that I want to do! I haven’t been to a border town in years. This should be interesting! 🙂
McAllen
Yesterday, we flew to McAllen to see my husband’s cousin, wife and baby. We flew Southwest because my sister-in-law gave us free tickets. I haven’t flown Southwest in a long time. They do a cattle call type seating arrangement. Noone knows where they’re going to sit until they get on the plane. We were second to last getting on the plane, so I didn’t think I would even get to sit with my husband much less get a good seat! Well, we’re walking down the aisle and I see two empty seats down the way. I begin thinking about knocking down the people in front of me to get to the seats before them. But, I don’t have to. Noone picks these seats. As I get closer, I realize that they are EXIT seats! YIPPPEEEE!! Not only do we get to sit together, we get lots of legroom! The flight was kind of turbulent, but we got here safely!
Last night we went to eat at Outback Steakhouse. It was ok. It was fun just being with family! 🙂
Fabulous after FIFTY 