Showing posts with label Restaurant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Restaurant. Show all posts

Monday, December 5, 2011

Val Came to Visit!

Sometimes you just need some girl time. Val needed to get some fresh air, and apparently there's none better than the air your best friend is breathing. So she came to San Antonio, and we did the rounds:

The Cove.


The Alamo.


Cacti behind the Alamo.


The Riverwalk.



An interesting photo opportunity on the Riverwalk.



Girl's night in, with snacks and an episode of Star Trek: TNG!


Lounging around on the couch!


Chocolate chip & banana pancakes, and pepper-bacon!


Pizza at Home Slice in Austin!



Meandering around downtown Austin!




Looking pensive!


Much-needed girl time: success. ^_^

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Fogo de Chao

In April, my dad came to visit and treated Brandon and I to a fancy dinner on our 3-year dating anniversary. The restaurant he took us to is called Fogo de Chao. It's a Brazillian steakhouse. It was amazing, and it's exactly the sort of thing Brandon and I would never be able to afford on our own, except, apparently, during restaurant week.

My friend Rasika from lab told me about restaurant week when it was already about half over. So, Brandon and I looked up the menus of some of the restaurants participating, and decided finally that our money was best spent going back to Fogo de Chao. Christine came along too, and we had a blast.


I had just that week lost barely enough weight that I could squeeze back into my skinny jeans, so I wore them. And yes, those are high heels. Very high, actually. This is a rare event for me, especially since I injured my back.

We didn't get a ton of photos of the actual dinner (we were too busy enjoying it). But here's a blurry Brandon:


Having been there once before, we knew the drill, and we were able to take more advantage of the experience than before. The waiters apparently come over to your table in a specific order, starting with the simplest cuts of meat (chicken and sausage) and ending with the finest (NY strip steak, filet mignon). We advised Christine of this, and we all turned down the first several meats in favor of waiting for the finer cuts of beef. It worked like a charm, and we all got seconds of the filet mignon.

I caught Christine texting at the table.

Deer in headlights.

After dinner, I decided I wanted to have a drink with dessert. I thought this might be a fun occasion to try cognac. We got the waiter's opinion, and I ordered something he said would be relatively mild (also affordable). Brandon took a series of photos that I think he should sell to the restaurant as stock photos for their website:




Christine with her girly cocktail while I test the cognac.

Christine tried a sip of the cognac, and thought it was disgusting. I loved it.


When we left, we got some photos out in front of the restaurant, where you can see the meat cooking in the front window:




It was nice that restaurant week made this adventure affordable. It was still a bit of a splurge, but definitely worth it. The hilarious point of the evening was Christine's reaction. She has made a habit of making fun of me when we go to nice restaurants because I - apparently - make faces when I eat. I tell her I'm just savoring the food, but she insists on making jokes. Well, Christine enjoyed Fogo de Chao so much, she started doing the same thing. So I got a chance to make fun of her and get my revenge. But really, I can't blame her, the food was SO GOOD.
It was definitely an evening well spent.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Family!

Apparently I give just enough hints on my Facebook as to what I'm doing to be annoying, but not enough details to satiate my mother's appetite for information. She insists - no, DEMANDS! - more photos of Brandon's family. And here they are.

We went to the Alamo!


And hung out in the courtyard!


We went to a flea market!



There were silly hats!

And action figures!

... One of which, Brandon bought!

We went to Rudy's BBQ!



Brandon's sister arrived!
Then we went to Mi Tierra's downtown!

Reading the menu!

Dos-rita!

Mariachi bros!

Attempts at getting photos of the whole table!

Crazy decorations!


The whole gang!

Next week, on Texas blog: More Texas!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Parents!

Guess who drove the full 1,354 Miles to see us? Brandon's parents! (And yes, I *am* very excited about being able to use that line.)

They got in town late last night, so we went to Lulu's for their famous 3-Pound cinnamon roll. We've been to Lulu's before, but we didn't blog about it because we wanted to keep at least one thing a surprise for people who come to visit us. And a surprise it was!

Kathleen cracks me up.

Ta daaaa!

Brandon's mom, Kathleen, is pretty much my #1 commenter here on the blog. So it's sort of hilarious (and fitting) that now she's finally on it herself!

Brandon's parents will be staying a full week, and his sister arrives on Tuesday. She'll be staying about a week and a half. So we'll be balancing work and sightseeing and family time over the next couple weeks. I'm pretty excited. ^_^

Yaaaay family!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

My Dad Came to Visit! On Our 3-Year Dating Anniversary!

It was a coincidence, but it ended up working out really nicely. I know I said I was going to cook for my dad, but our plans changed back and forth multiple times. In any case, we ended up going to a restaurant downtown called Fogo de Chao. It's a Brazillian steakhouse, where your first course is a salad bar, and the rest of the meal consists of waiters coming to your table with various cuts of meat, wonderfully displayed on... well... basically, swords. Anyway, everything was delicious and we had a great time. Photo dump!





Honestly, it was great to just hang out with my dad and catch up. It was relaxing and fun, we talked about everything and nothing - and I was reminded that Brandon gets along great with my family, which (WARNING: MUSHY STUFF) really warms my heart. It was so nice of my dad to take us out somewhere nice for our dating anniversary. And: if you love red meat, if you ever get the chance, try a Brazillian steakhouse. It's a really cool experience (not to mention, delicious food).

Thanks dad for visiting, for treating us, and for supporting us. You rock. ^_^