On November 20, my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun! 🙂  In celebration, we decided to take a trip to Austin with some close friends from Dallas, Nicole and Trevez.  We had a wonderful trip and LOVED Austin. I want to go back and see more soon. The hills and neighborhoods reminded me so much of L.A., which I found it to be very comforting since we just moved from there.

I wish I had more pictures, but honestly, they’re all food.  Sorry…  I’ll do better next time.

Day 1 –

We drove up 290 from Houston and it was a much prettier ride than I-10.  We passed through a few small towns, beautiful ranches, and I saw a sign for a Lavender Farm that I’d like to visit one day… and these beautiful trees along the road!

We were somewhere near Bastrop, TX.  It reminded me of a route I once took driving near Santa Barbara, CA a few years back.

Upon arrival, we changed clothes and ate dinner at Eddie V’s Seafood Restaurant.  We enjoyed our food; especially the brussels sprouts.  Of course it wouldn’t be a celebration without dessert.

Yes, it say’s Happy Birthday! The staff clearly did not communicate the correct occasion as we also received an anniversary card from the restaurant upon seating.  We laughed about it and just said “Thank You” as we ate our free dessert -Butter cake with Butter pecan ice cream up in flames.

Day 2 –

We ate breakfast at Magnolia Cafe.  The photos I took do not do it any justice, however, we enjoyed our food none the less.

After breakfast, we drove to Mount Bonnell and experienced this fantastic view of the city and Lake Austin.

Then we drove around the city for a little while and passed through beautiful neighborhoods.  For lunch we visited Stiles Switch BBQ.

I need to taste a few more items from this place, but the meat is the star here.  Very tender and flavorful.  I ordered a Frito Pie (Frito chips with beef brisket, BBQ beans and cheese – sans the onions and jalapenos).  OMG, it tasted so good… but I was full for hours!  I wanted to go straight to the gym.

Afterwards, we had a few hours to chill around the hotel. I visited the coffee shop downstairs and read a book from their cozy library near the lobby.

For Dinner we visited UCHIKO, a Japanese restaurant.

I have to say that this place is a stretch for my husband and I, but it really made our trip special.  The wait staff were awesome and we had the chance to meet the General Manager thanks to Trevez, who knew each other.  I definitely have to give myself a pat on the back for eating all of that seafood and not feeling sick to my stomach.

When I became pregnant with my son (4 years ago!) I lost the appetite for all things seafood, except for shrimp which had to be fried or I couldn’t eat it.  My taste buds still haven’t returned the same as before. We tried so many items I didn’t get a picture of every dish and the pictures I did get are not the best quality since the lighting is low in the restaurant.  Ain’t nobody had time to be changing the settings to get a good picture while everyone’s waiting to dig in. LOL

We ate raw fish and everything!  I just knew I would hate it, but I kept an open mind, braced myself, closed my eyes, and took a bite.  To my surprise, it didn’t taste like fish at all, nor did it have a texture I thought it would have.  Take a look at some of the sushi items here.

One of our favorite dishes were the thin slices of beef cooked over hot rocks…

Oh, and you know we had dessert!  I don’t know how we still had room to eat it though. These deserts were beyond anything I could’ve imagined.  Delicious and very fancy… with long descriptions and I can’t remember them all! =)

1. Ice cream and sorbet (pumpkin seed, cranberry sorbet, sweet potato); 2.  Fried milk, chocolate mousse and ice cream; 3.  Hazelnut cake, ice cream, and apples.

      

Yeah, I’ve got some work to do, but I’m on my way.

Oh, and kudos to my husband for eating sushi… and raw fish at that.  I would’ve never gotten him to eat this kind of food if I tried.  I’m proud of you, Babe!

Day 3 –

We ate breakfast at Kerbey Lane with a relative.  I ordered Cinnamon Beignet pancakes with fried chicken breasts.  My husband ordered an egg scramble with sausage and a biscuit.

Sigh… we ate waaaaaay too much and Thanksgiving was just days away.  Overall, we had a great time in Austin and I look forward to another visit.  Thank you Nicole and Trevez for showing us around.

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3 Things I’ve learned from our relationship (in no particular order):

1. Communicate about everything, even if it will be a hard conversation… and keep doing it.
2. Accept each others differences.
3. Find time for yourself and your interests.

Cheers to 6 years of marriage and many more to come!

Are you married or in a relationship?  What are some things you’ve learned? Please share, I’d love to hear from you.

Peace and Love!

Yasmin