Denver, CO

Time to do a trip update! I went to Denver in January to visit my friends Ali and Christi who recently moved there from Houston. Denver has been on my to-do list pretty much since I moved to Houston because the airfare is super cheap (my ticket was $98 rt) and my friends Jane and Brian moved there right after they got married in 2008. Man, am I sad I waited so long to visit this awesome city! I love me a liberal-minded eco-friendly place and Denver definitely fits the bill. There are so many outdoorsy recreation options and if you're not into the outdoors, you can sit inside by the fire admiring the views of the mountains. Such a beautiful place! Here's my trip:

First evening after arriving in Denver we went to Pizza Republica and I ordered a Pizza Giacomo. I also had a delicious blueberry beverage whose name I cannot recall. I can hardly ever resist pizza, but this was exceptional pizza. Pretty sure I ate the whole pie by the end of the weekend.

 Views from our host, Bernie's apartment:

We went snowshoeing on a trail that Christi found to the lost lake. Luckily, they chose an easy-moderate trail for me because I don't see much elevation or inclines in Houston. I had an excellent experience for my first time snowshoeing. It was a bit windy, but it was sunny and beautiful. And we got to meet lots of pups along the way as they hiked with their people.

At the trailhead:

Headed up the trail:

Don't worry folks, the Lost lake has been found:

After all that trekking we were pretty hungry and stopped in Boulder for some eats at the Boulder Cafe. I got a hummus plate, sweet potato pecan biscuits, and some white chicken chili. Turns out I ordered way too much, the white chicken chili was deliciously filling. The pecan biscuits were irresistible, and the hummus was simply ok.

Once we made it back to Denver, we ran some errands like renting my skis and showered up for dinner at Root Down. Now folks, I like to eat at lots of neat restaurants whenever I visit new cities, but this place is hands down amazeballs. It's located inside an old auto body shop and appears to be packed every night. Their policy is to try and be as organic and locally-sourced as possible, which I fully support. We ordered lots of fun things: Asian pear and spaghetti squash salad (the best salad of my life), seared Colombian arepas (my first arepas ever, but I have a feeling they'll be hard to beat), and the organic butternut-ricotta gnocchi (most amazing combo of flavors). The drinks we enjoyed were also beyond amazing. The whole night couldn't have been more delicious or fun, so glad we were able to get a table!

 Clearly my camera was on the wrong setting, sorry for the blurriness:

To cap off the trip we went skiing at Vail. I learned to ski as a youngin in ski school and have skied often on the East Coast, but Vail is a whole other animal. Not to mention it's been years since I was even on east Coast powder. I managed to not blow out my knees, which I consider a success! Another win: Jane and Brian were able to meet up with us on the slopes! I can't believe I haven't seen Jane since her wedding! Like I said, I need to get to Denver more often. Also, I didn't take any pics on the mountain because I was too terrified of either dropping my camera or accidentally skiing off a cliff, but here's what I managed to get at out lunch break and from the parking lot:



Must return ASAP. Thanks a million to Bernie, Ali, and Christi for hosting me on this quick trip and to Jane and Brian for the impromptu meet-up on the mountain! It was soooo good to see/meet everyone!

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!