New York City trip recaps are coming!
I’ve been editing photographs, going through memories and stories, picking out just what I think will be super fun to share with you guys…
In the mean time, I’ll leave you with this epic photo editorial entitled:
A Mother and Daughter Encounter the Hardest Breadstick in the World
The Recorder
The Violin
The Devil
The Alien
The Handlebar
The Stogie
The Wand
The Skeptic
The Flute
The Hitler
The Bunny
The Dali
The Freak
The Parisian
The Candy Cane
The Cruella
The Jaw Breaker
Austin Trip: Day 3 (+4: journey home)
Friday in Austin!
We woke and went to our continental breakfast, which was NOT as exciting as the first day… the fruit selection was WAY limited (only pineapple, and honey dew by the time I got there) and the main course was a ham and cheese croissant, which was yummy, but not “light” in anyway. Not to mention that ham is such an loaded choice, I mean, there are a lot of groups who won’t eat pig… just my thought.
Anyway, after breakfast, we did our session thing, I attended a particularly FASCINATING session by the FAB Paula Kluth, about Autism, and how to be more accommodating to individuals on the spectrum, in and out of the classroom. 
It was a TEN in my book.
We hit up Fresh Choice for lunch for some much needed green. I really don’t like salads, and the veggies were all raw, and not what I was looking for, so a little salad, a 1/2 cup serving of lentil soup, most of a tiny ‘tato, and cornbread(!) was delish.
After conference festivities were completed for the day, we decided to hit the pool again before getting ready for dinner. Lindsay and I were going to have dinner together, while Laura met up with an old friend, so we swam, showered, and got ready for the night.
Lindsay and I went to Baby A’s or Baby Acapulco’s, which was another great Mexican food spot. I got my usual, and it was very, very good, but my favorite was still el marcado’s. 
At this point, we’ve missed a history making 12”+ of snow in our home town, and were pretty darn grumpy. We really wanted to be home with our family, and morning and the ride home were looking pretty promising.
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We decided NOT to set the alarm in the morning, but to wake when we woke, dress, pack, and hit the road. We checked out of the hotel at around 9:30-9:45, and made our way to 620 cafe and bakery in Round Rock. It was pretty adorable, but I have to admit. OUT OF CONTROL portions…
This is what my plate looked like before I ate:
And this is what it looked like once I’d been STUFFED:
Anyway, we drove through the snow as we headed north, but by the time we got home, so, so much of the record breaking snow was melted. 
Sad.
I was overwhelmingly glad to be home. I love traveling, but I missed Daron, and my cats, and I really hated to miss the snow.
All in all, only a meeting with MizFit would have made the trip better, it was a blast.
Hey guys, I left you last after my continental breakfast at the hotel on Thursday morning… After that, my counterparts and I did our conference thing, but you don’t want to hear about that, you want to know about the fun, Austin stuff!
We went to a place called Hot Boiled, which is a Cajun/Creole/Vietnamese fusion restaurant. It was very small, and in a shopping center, but we were pretty happy with the food, I’d say. We started with grilled chicken springrolls with a traditional peanut sauce.
Cut into 6 pieces, we managed to have yummy noms while waiting for the rest of our food. I got a vegetarian rice noodle lo mein with broccoli and celery. It was SO much food, I felt like I ate, and ate, and ate, and there was still a whole plate left over.
After some more conferencing, we decided we needed to make an EMERGENCY BATHING SUIT RUN, and hit the pool. We soaked in the hot tub for a while and then, I realized I had an untapped resource with me!
Laura was a swimmer and swim instructor in high school and college! And as someone who thinks a sprint distance tri might be fun to do at some point, I should learn how to properly swim.
It did NOT go well. haha.
Needless to say, swimming is an art, and one that I had NO idea how to do properly. We ended up at the side of the pool on the steps, because I need to back up THAT far. I mean, I can float and waggle my body parts to propel myself through the water, but a true freestyle stroke, with the right head turns, and actually BREATHING, is definitely hard.
I pretty much spent as much time LAUGHING as I did trying to swim. haha.
After that, we went to the most AMAZING burger place I’ve ever been to, Elevation Burger in Austin on Arboretum BLVD was unreal. We had organic grassfed beef burgers, fries cooked in olive oil, (and most of a hand spun, to-die-for chocolate shake)
One of those amazing chances to splurge while still making a few small choices that improve the experience. It isn’t health food, it isn’t even particularly healthy at all!! It could be worse, much worse… but it could NOT have TASTED better, I assure you. I had a burger with ketchup, mustard, cheese, caramelized onions, and pickle. HOLY YUM.
(I also learned laura-in the center- is a fry dipper, who knew!!??)
Not me, I like my fries doused in only ketchup, thankyouverymuch.
Good morning, ATX!
Hey guys, It’s a lovely morning in Austin, and apparently a snowy and beautiful morning in my home town, Denton, too!
The three of us teachers, were rousted this morning, earlier than we planned with 3 simultaneous notifications that our district would be closed due to the significant snow!
Meanwhile, we’re down here, NOT having a snow day, ready to go and learn all about special education advancements!
We’re glad to be here, but we would have also been glad to be cuddled up at home, having a snow day.
My hubby sent me a photo of the snow, look how beautiful it is there… I really wish I could see it.
The conference promised us all “continental breakfasts” but I was so pleased to wake up and see some actual warm food! I had the vegetarian egg scramble (eggs, peppers, potato), a few strawberries and a slice of pineapple (the honeydew was definitely not edible, unfortunately. It was supposed to be breakfast tacos, but I skimped on the tortillas, and saved the calories for the 2% in my coffee.
We’re going to head out to some sessions now, but I’ll be back later with more gut-wrenchingly exciting happenings.
Good morning, friends!
I want to thank you for the outpouring of support I’ve received via comments, twitter, and forum discussions regarding my article, when they STOP mentioning it. (Click here to read) The topic is so important to me, and I”m glad to know that it is meaningful to others too.
On to the roadtrip!
I’m in Austin this morning, at a teacher’s conference, and yesterday was the big trip! We’ve already had quite a wonderful adventure. Lindsay and Laura got to my house at 11, and we hit the road.
Our first notable happening (if you don’t count the 1.5 hours of rapid-fire-get-to-know-you-better conversation, is a Texas GEM that almost everyone who has ever traveled from the Metroplex the ATX knows about.
CZECH STOP!
The Czech stop is a haven for kolaches and other amazing pastries. It is a right of passage, of sorts. If you’re going to ATX, you stop at czech stop and get a yum yum. I picked up a strawberry and cream cheese danish, and ate about half of it. Best $.99 I’ve spent in a long while.
We kept on trucking down the road, through a little bit of sleet, (and getting out of the way of 2 HUGE hay trucks that were raining down rubbish on my precious ride) and got to Austin in Great TIME.
We checked in at the hotel, picked up our conference materials, and set out to have dinner with Laura’s Bro.
We stopped at a place called, El Marcado (South) and I fell in love with Austin all over again.
This little menu disclaimer made me REALLY happy! They had a DELISH looking vegetarian selection, allowed for items to be prepared dairy free, and use no animal products (read: LARD) in their delicious sides!!
I ordered my standard, and my FAVORITE thing ever… 2 Verde Enchiladas (Prepared Dairy Free – meaning not smothered in Sourcream sauce and cheese- cause anyone who knows tomatillo sauce like I do, knows that tomatillo needs no other accoutrements taining its glory!) which was served with their Tex-Mex beans and rice (both animal byproduct-free! yay!)
I didn’t love the rice, and left that, but I positively DEVOURED the enchiladas and beans. The verde sauce was literally the BEST I’ve ever had… and I’ve had a lot! I wish I could eat there every day, because it was THAT good. YUM. YUM. YUM. (sorry for the excessive CAPS-for EMPHASIS, but this is serious foodgasm business, people. )
We were there for literally 3+ hours, talking about all sorts of things. Laura’s brother was a great conversationalist, and we had a great time.
The prices were great too, my plate was under $8! Laura and her brother tried a beverage, that I didn’t try, called a Mexican Martini… 1 shaker yielded each of them, 4-5 drinks! All for four bucks! that’s a good deal!
The waitstaff was so nice too. Our waiter even photobombed us, without shame… Austin is a great time.
After saying goodbye to our host, the girls went and picked up a couple of emergency items,
and after a few more HOURS of conversation, we finally hit the sack.
All in all, a fantastic first day in austin.
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