Spring Travels - Part II: Texan Adventure

Only a month late in sharing our adventures from Texas! Phew, I know I keep saying I'll get better about blogging but I keep lying apparently.  I feel like life has been moving in fast forward recently but not in a bad way.  And can I just state for the record that I have officially had this blog for over a year now! Anywhooo...back to Texas!

We went to Texas for several reasons: 1) We wanted a vacation! 2) We wanted to catch up with good friends! and most importantly 3) Rup turned 30!!!!

We started our trip out with our first Texan meal in Austin, TX at an authentic mexican restaurant recommended to us by our hotel.  Can I just state, I was in heaven the entire time we were in Texas because the Mexican is just phenomenal and I'm pretty sure I was Mexican in my past life...I can eat Mexican an infinite number of times per day, 365 days a year. 

 

We met up with our friend Seema in Austin for lunch, it was so great to see her! Although, we missed her husband Vaibhav who was working in San Antonio where the newlyweds live. 

After lunch, we set out for our first tourist stop of the trip...the Texas State Capitol! Rup is a big history buff so he was especially excited :) 

The cannons reminded me of my old stomping grounds at my alma mater William & Mary!

The Texas star was EVERYWHERE. 

Our next stop had to be the Whole Foods Headquarters because we absolutely LOVE Whole Foods, it was pretty amazing!

The next day we had an "active" day so that we could reward ourselves with lots of wineries & BBQ.  We started our trek with Mount Bonnell, it provided a great skyline view of Austin but the photos aren't as good due to the clouds.  Naturally we had to do yoga poses :) 

After a quick drive up to Lake Travis to look around, we came back to Lake Austin and kayaked for a while.  It was so relaxing and peaceful, not to mention a great arm workout! 

After cleaning up, we headed out to 6th street for some lunch and explored.  

One of our stops was the historic Driskill Hotel which was gorgeous! 

Shortly after it was time to reward ourselves with our Texas winery tour, one of the highlights of our trip! We stopped at a total of 4 wineries before dinner and were very impressed by the quality of the wine we tried at each one. 

We ended our day/winery tour at the famous Salt Lick Cellars which is both a winery and a famous BBQ joint. The BBQ in Texas is just as phenomenal as the Mexican. 

The next day, we packed up our bags, picked up our rental, and headed to Dallas, the second stop during our Texas tour.  Of course our very first stop was Arlington where the famous Cowboys stadium sits.  I highly recommend a VIP guided tour for anyone who tours the stadium, even if you aren't that into football! It is an amazing facility. 

 

 

 

After touring the Cowboys stadium we grabbed a bite to eat and headed into Dallas itself.  We stopped by the JFK museum to look around before meeting up with one of my best friend's Prutha for happy hour and dinner. 

It was neat and kind of eerie to be at and see the site of Kennedy's assassination.  Above is the view the snipper had before shooting him and below is the spot of his death marked by the X on the pavement.  

My best friend Prutha told us we had to have Chuy's while we were in Texas knowing my love for mexican food so we met her there and caught up that evening.  We had not seen her in a year and a half...too long!

This year I get to see her THREE times (Texas included!) Thank god for bachelorette parties and weddings ;) 

The next day while she worked, we headed to Fort Worth where she lives and went to the FW Zoo and water gardens before meeting up with her again. 

We finally met her at the stockyards in Fort Worth which was so fun, even though the weather was not cooperating! 

We happened to be around for the twice daily cattle drive and that was an awesome experience! 

After Rup bought his first pair of cowboy boots (yay!), she showed us around downtown Fort Worth that evening and the next day we said goodbye to Dallas (not for long!) and hello to Houston, TX - our third/final stop and where her finace Raj lives. We surprised Rup with birthday tickets to the Tigers vs. Astros baseball game which he was excited about! It was such a fun night and of course the Tiger's won :) 

Thanks to Raj, we had awesome front row seats!

The next day we hit up some more tourist spots and went to the Lyndon B. Johnson space center.  We are such nerds because we were having so much fun there that we felt like we didn't get to stay long enough! There is always next time :) 

After grabbing tasty Greek food with Prutha & Raj, the gals split off to go shop at the Houston Galleria while the guys relaxed (Raj actually had to go into work boo!)

That night was our final night in Texas and the eve of Rup's 30th birthday! We went out to Gloria's for a nice Mexican meal complete with Sangria of course. 

And I got Rup cupcakes for his birthday from the world famous Sprinkles bakery! For all of you Cupcake Wars fans, Candice Nelson knows how to make a good cupcake! 

We had a great last night in Texas and were sad for it to end!

Happy 30th birthday to my amazing hubby :) 

Ladies Book Club May Edition

Unfortunately I don't have a lot to say about this book that we had to read for May because I didn't finish it in time for book club, life kind of got in the way.  However, what I can say is that it is really really good and I definitely plan to continue reading it and finishing it.  It has been recommended by numerous critics to people who enjoyed The Help just to give you an idea of what kind of book it is.  Up for next month is Defending Jacob, another one that has made several best seller lists!  Fingers crossed that I finish it in time!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to the man I am proud to call my husband! So lucky to have had 3 years of wedding bliss with you and looking forward to many more!

Spring Travels - Part I: Boston, MA & Portland, ME

This is very long overdue seeing as we traveled to New England almost 7 weeks ago but isn't there some saying that goes "better late than never"? April and most of May has been a blur but I love spring time and I love traveling so I can't complain too much.  The first weekend in April we decided to travel to Boston because neither of us had ever been and two of my best friends live in or around Boston so it was a perfect weekend getaway. 

Rup & I are huge foodies when we travel and take advantage of the TV Food Map application which finds us restaurants in the area that have been featured on the Food Network (one of our favorite TV channels!) So we stumbled upon The Barking Crab just blocks from our hotel in the city and had our first meal in Boston.  

Can I just say, has anyone ever heard of buffalo scallops?! Because they exist and they are the bomb. 

Rup opted to try the beer they make themselves and it was tasty!

After a delicious lunch we headed over to the Boston Aquarium.  Side note, has anyone ever used CityPass? CityPass Boston was a perfect way to explore the main sites in a short period of time.  CityPass is only offered in a handful of cities around the country and we love it!  We used it to tour San Francisco and Chicago in a short period of time and I'd recommend it to anyone!

After the aquarium we were off to another CityPass site - The Old State House, also known as the site of the Boston Massacre

After touring the Old State House we headed over to Quincy Market & Faneuil Hall...

...where we found items like this:

We did so much walking around the city that when we stumbled upon Cakeology (a bakery featured on Cupcake Wars) we just had to stop and get a sweet treat to refuel. 

Our last tourist stop for the day was the beautiful state capitol building which sat right on top of a hill overlooking the Boston commons, a beautiful park we walked thru. 

After all our sightseeing and walking around the city, it was finally time to meet up with my best friend Emily.  I was so excited to see her - we have a very special friendship and have known each other since the 1st grade when we were 6 years old.  After all these years we have remained friends and she was one of my bridesmaids :) 

We also met her boyfriend Tylan at dinner, such a cute couple!

Nothing like some yummy Italian food, fine wine, and best of all - great company :) 

I'd say we had a very successful first day in Boston!

The next day we started with brunch on Newbury Street (the shopping district basically!!!) at Trident Cafe before another day of sightseeing & shopping. 

Emily had gotten us tickets for a Duck Tour which I recommend to anyone going to Boston, it is a great (& FUN) way to see Boston from land and from water since the buses go into the water for part of the tour. 

After our Duck Tour ended, Rup left to go take a tour of Fenway Park and that left us girls with nothing else to do except well shop of course!!!

Don't feel too bad for Rup about my shopping, he had a great time at Fenway :) 

Our time with Emily was coming to an end sadly so the last thing we did with her was the Skywalk Observatory (another CityPass attraction) which gave us a great panoramic view of the city. 

After we said our goodbyes we picked up our rental car and made the 2 hour trek up to Portland, Maine to visit my other best friend Janani who had just moved to Portland from Boston.  That night we watched Michigan play in the final four and WIN, but we just won't talk about what happened in the final game. 

The next morning, I woke up bright and early to get this shot of the beautiful Portland sunrise.  It was so worth it and I went right back to bed. Portland is a calm town where everyone seems so relaxed and laid back; I can see why if you woke up to a view like this everyday! 

We started off the day with brunch with Janani and her husband Deepak...

...where I had hands down THE BEST bloody mary I've ever had.  It was just so incredibly fresh and flavorful. 

The afternoon was spent relaxing as the girls went off to the outlets and the guys did some brewery tastings.  We napped and regrouped before getting ready for a night out. But not before we took some balcony pictures with the beautiful water view. 

After bundling up we headed out to happy hour!

Happy hour took on a whole new meaning in Portland as we headed to Eventide Oyster Company for some of the best oysters in Maine.  I'd never had oysters before so it was my very first time trying them.  We got a combination platter with a few different sauces.  

After our happy hour of oysters and drinks we were ready for a good meal.  Once again we opted for an Italian/Seafood place.  

I tried mussels for the first time here. 

And Rup tried the Maine lobster that he wanted (and LOVED)!

We cheered again to great food and even better company. 

The next day it was time for us to head home but on our drive back to Boston we stopped in Portsmouth, NH for a quick ride thru town and walk on the pier.  

When we got back to Boston we had some time to stop by another CityPass attraction - the Museum of Science where I didn't take any pictures.  On our way back to the airport, we took a quick detour to see :

Harvard's campus, 

The USS Constitution, 

and Bunker Hill! (remember that battle from 7th grade history class?)

We had a really great long weekend in Boston and Portland with great friends.  We saw so much in such a short period of time but the most important parts of our trip were those we spent with good friends and the memories we made.