Santa Fe with Mom

 The first weekend of November my Ma and I went to Santa Fe for a little mother-daughter vaca. We stayed in a fun (but weird) hotel in the heart of the city. Everything was within walking distance so we got lots of fresh air and exercise. Along the way we feasted on yummy eats and beautiful Southwestern US views. There may or may not have been some serious shopping as well, but I’m not telling. Here is a pictorial synopsis of the trip:

First meal was at Anasazi, I had the duck:

And I believe my Mom had a mole chicken dish:

There were many interesting sculptures around town, here's my Mom with some fish:

My Mom with a gnarly tree she liked:

 Lunch at Rooftop Pizzeria  the patio overlooked the town, great rest stop int he middle of the day and delicious pizza! We had the No3: Grilled Chicken, Green Chile, Cotija and Asadero Cheeses and Toasted Pinon with Alfredo Sauce on Blue Corn Crust.

For dinner that night we went to Il Piattio, I had the River Trout (very good and well dressed):

For dessert I had pumpkin cheesecake (disappointing, no spice!):

We decided to take a drive to Taos one day and were treated with beautiful scenery along the way:

Rio Grande gorge on the way to Taos:

That evening we went to the recommended La Boca for dinner. We shared a few tapas and some paella (not my favorite paella ever, the chorizo flavor really permeated the dish and I don't really like chorizo)

Random turtle sculpture!

The main reason for our trip, Zuni store, Keshi:

 Buying Zuni Fetishes!

 Had so much fun, where we goin next, Mom?!

San Antonio Trip with Mom!

Two weekends ago I took a little trip to San Antonio, TX with my Mom. I've been to SA before with Christine, but we could only stay one night and I felt that there was probably more that SA had to offer. I was definitely right in that assumption! We had a great time shopping little antique shops, visiting the Alamo, cruising the riverwalk and especially tasting all SA had to offer! Here are some pictures from our trip (as per usual I didn't take as many as I should have):
It was the Anniversary of the Alamo battle and there were tons of reenactors around as well as a parade and this huge floral display of yellow roses in the shape of Texas (I took it on an angle):

Me and the roses (note: the wind was blowing like a million miles an hour, please forgive the hair):

Mom and I at the Alamo:

Inside the main building of the Alamo fort, you can see where the roof has been rebuilt:

Second half of the '6 flags that flew over Texas':

Token cannon pic upon exiting the Alamo:

Pearl Brewery complex:

Faux space needle in the SA skyline:


While in San Antonio we made a trip to nearby Boerne (pronounced burn-eee like journey). In Boerne there were tons of little antique shops and boutiques. Some of them were weird and contained mostly crap, but some were amazing. I personally hit decorating pay-dirt at: Cielo, The Alley on Main, and Barn Owl Collectibles. Def worth the 30 minute drive outside SA, oh and they have the most amazing little wine tasting/ wine bar called Boerne Wine Company-check them out!! Here are a couple of my shopping finds:



In addition to the mini-antiquing trip, Mom and I also went in search of Zuni fetishes (remember them from my Sedona, AZ trip??). The first store we went to had been closed and turned into a post office, major let-down. So, I fired up the ol Droid and googled us another vendor. The only other store that sold Zuni fetishes in the SA area was in Schertz, TX called Paul's Desert. It was literally the front two rooms of this couple's house, but they had some great pieces. My mom left with an amazing jet bear the size of my palm. Here are my goodies:


As far food goes we had some really spectacular meals. We went to Luke, Biga on the Banks, and Il Sogno. Luke was super yummy, I had pepper seared tuna and my mom had a pizza-like thing with caramelized onions and fancy cheeses. At Biga on the Banks we ended up sitting at the bar because their earliest reservation was for 9pm! The place was decorated very interestingly with dried gourds everywhere and some of the booths were made private with sheer curtain panels. My mom's meal came with truffled mashed potatoes and they were sooo delicious. I think I may have to work on procuring a black truffle in the near future. I believe our best 'dining experience' was at Il Sogno in the Pearl Brewery complx. They don't take reservations so we made sure to get there nice and early (we got there at about 630 and tables were filling up fast). Our waiter told us about the Antipasti bar and we were easily swayed into this appetiser route. They showed you an example of each antipasti option and you were to choose 3 or 5 options. All of our choices were delicious and perfectly portioned to share just a taste before our meals. We decided to split a pizza and split a pasta dish, so essentially we ended up with a 5 course meal (with the tiramisu at the end). We left with half a pizza, full bellies, and definite intentions to return (at least on my part). Check out this review from Texas Monthly if you want to hear more about them: review. I wish I had pictures to share of all our meals, but the restaurants were quite dim and nothing turned out clear.

All in all, I'm definitely becoming a huge fan of San Antonio and I can't wait to see what I find on my next trip (which is coincidentally already planned for April hehe).

I hope you've learned a little about San Antonio and be sure to let me know if you're headed there, maybe I'll join you! Also, read about a few of San Antonio's cupcakerys in my two previous posts. Enjoy!

Zuni Fetishes

So, before my parents met me in Sedona, AZ, they flew in to Albuquerque, NM and drove to Santa Fe, NM to spend the night. While they were in Santa Fe my Mom became enthused about Zuni Fetishes. They are basically carvings made from stone depicting different animals. Here's the official word from Wikipedia:

"Traditionally, Zuni fetishes are small carvings made from various materials by the Zuni Indians. These carvings serve a ceremonial purpose for their creators and depict animals and icons integral to their culture. As a form of contemporary Native American art, they are sold with non-religious intentions to collectors worldwide.

According to the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology as submitted by Frank Hamilton Cushing in 1881, and posthumously published as Zuni Fetishes in 1966, the Zuni world is made up of six regions or directions. At the center of each region is a great mountain peak that is a very sacred place. Yellow mountain to the north, blue mountain to the west, red mountain to the south, white mountain to the east, the multi-colored mountain above, and the black mountain below (Cushing, 1994:17).

Each direction is represented by a "Prey God", or guardian animal, and are listed by Cushing as follows: north - the yellow mountain lion, west – the black bear (represented by the color blue), south – the red badger, east – the white wolf, the sky or upper – the multi-colored eagle, and the underground or lower – the black mole. Each prey god is the "guardian and master" of their region with the yellow mountain lion being the elder brother of all animals and the master and guardian of all regions."

Basically, the way I understand it, the Zuni used to see a rock that somewhat resembled an animal and make a few enhancements to the rock to bring out the shape of the animal. They would then wear it in a pouch around their neck when they, say, went hunting (depending on what animal it was). If the hunt was successful, they would have the fetish blessed by their spiritual leader and a medicine pack (a bundle of other stones) would be added to the fetish as an honorary offering. So, my mom found a store that was selling some of these fetishes and got hooked. She then brought me in on the whole concept and I was also effectively hooked. So now the Wolfe family has a new obsession. I managed to compile a collection of 13, ridiculous, while I was in Arizona. Clearly we've lost our minds, but it's kinda fun and I should have all sorts of good luck in the coming year haha. Here's my current collection: