Marrows and Herbs

So, I realized that I spend more time with Alisa and Jeff than anybody else in Austin and I haven't even put a picture of them in the blog blog. Bad, bad blogger!!! (Shut up, Cory.)

So, here they are at Lambert's, a fancy bar-b-que place where we all ate salad.




Jeff was obviously still hungry...







Twice now, I have had the pleasure of Tuesday dinner at Joe Bell's house. He has open dinners at his house every other Tuesday. Before we eat we play this french game that I don't remember how to spell. You basically throw metal balls at a little plastic ball called the pig and whoever gets closest wins. We do this while drinking very tasty wine that Joe makes himself. Once it gets dark and we get hungry we go inside and eat a delicious feast that Joe Bell cooks and fancy conversation is had.

This is Mr. Joe Bell.






This is an action shot of Alisa throwing...




This is me pointing out my game winning ball and the pig.



This is Jeff, intimidated by my athletic prowess.



This is me in action. It's getting dark. Time to eat!!!!



Look! These are my herbs that I just "planted" 12 days ago!!!!

Wedding showers and my new garden!

Michelle got tons of presents at the shower given for her last Saturday. See how excited she is about them?

Here are the Moosh and Craig at a Sunday brunch given in their honor.



They look good!


So, my Mom got me an Aerogarden for Chanukah and now I'm going to grow my own delicious herbs in my dark little condo! I just "planted" the pods. I should see sprouts in 4 days!

At long last....

Are you still there? I know I've been very bad about posting. I've had a very busy couple of weeks. Here's an update starting with my... and this should be read in a whisper... 30th birthday.

Luckily, my girls came all the way from New York to help me celebrate. This is us in front of Vespaio on my birthday. It was ridiculously delicious!

We drank lots of wine...


...well, I did anyway. Hey, it was my 30th birthday.


My Mom, Popi, David, Jacob, my Tia Jave, Amy, and Jenna came to Austin for my birthday too.




I think we all had a really good time!


Lucky for all of us, David played tour guide and led the tour around Austin. If left up to me, all the girls would have seen was the HEB, the Costco, and the building where I got my flu shot.




On Saturday, we went and had BBQ at the County Line for lunch. The ladies enjoyed the sun on the back patio by the water. It was beautiful out! Austin in January.



That afternoon we went to a UT basketball game. Here are the girls sporting their Texas pride. Go Horns!


Here are Mom, Amy, Jenna, and Jason before the game. Hook 'em!!!


I hope you enjoyed these highlights from my birthday weekend. Well, now it's getting late. Stay tuned for pics from my grandfather's 90th birthday in Vegas! Makes 30 seem like nothing, huh? Here's my favorite picture. It's my Mom about to give Papa a kiss on the cheek.



See ya!

Tongue Gallery

Turning 30 is hard...

Amy is only 25, but thinking about one day being 30 makes her sad too.





Just kidding.

Cake!!!!

I made this cake last weekend for my dad's birthday. It's called a tuxedo cake. I think it looks more like a volcano. The inside is chocolate cake. Yum!











In other cooking news, I roasted my first beet this past Monday. It was delicious, although next time I think I'll roast it longer. I ate it in a salad with goat cheese, garbanzos and green onion, a surprisingly tasty combination. I wish I had a picture, but I don't. Next time.

I wonder what beet cake would taste like? It would be a pretty color I bet!

Okay, smell you later!

Happy New Year!!!

I'm back and posting again. It is Saturday night and I'm in my apartment watching a rerun of SNL. Christina Aguilara just sang with Tony Bennett. It was quite enjoyable... Oh, now they are waving goodbye and Paul McCartney is there too. Wow, is my Saturday boring. And by Saturday, I mean my life.

Oh, poor Stephanie. Look! Here is what I look like on this mind numbing evening. As you can see, I am holding the camera with one hand as I pretend to "blog" with the other.

Nevermind that still unpacked box in the background. I am determined to have it unpacked (or hidden somewhere) by the time my girls come to visit from NY at the end of January. I got "Martha Stewart's Housekeeping Handbook" for Hannukah and I plan to learn from Martha the secrets of keeping a tidy and well organized home. Messy, disorganized genes be damned!

Okay, so here are some photo highlights of my winter break so far...

First, I went to Dallas to see the Moosh and Craig and to pick out bridesmaids dresses for their wedding. The one we ended up picking out is awesome! I would tell you about it but then I might lose my Maid o' Honor title and I've been working on that one my whole life! I'll never tell. Here is the Moosh, Craig and me:


Then, when I got back from Dallas, I celebrated being done with my first semester with a night out on the town with Devin and Byron. Here is Devin in front of that horrendous building downtown:

Here is me after a bit too many cocktails:

And here is Byron at the Irish Bar where we ended our night:

Sadly, I just cannot keep up with these boys anymore. That last picture of Byron was taken after they ordered me an Irish Coffee because I was passing out at the bar. You can see the empty glass at the bottom of the picture. It was pretty yummy. It kept me up for about another 10 minutes. So, they ordered me another....

Okay, lets move on before an intervention is called...

Now, it is time for Hannukah. Also know as THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS!!!!!

Please don't ask me why. You may defer all of your questions about Judiasm to Jeff. That is an inside joke between me and myself....and Jeff, if he thinks it's funny. If not, I take comfort in the fact that I am laughing.

Okay, moving on...

Oh Hannukah, oh Hannukah, let's light the Menorah!


Yum! I helped to make these Latkes. They were pretty damn tasty if I do say so myself.


Ooh! Not fast enough!!! Here is Lily giving Jenna a special Hannukah present:


Well, after the Festival of Lights, I hung out in Laredo until right after New Years. I returned to Austin this past Tuesday, just in time to catch Jack before his visit to Austin ended. Here he is with Sam and Sarah Ann.


Okay, well that's my winter break so far. I still have personal statement letters to write for my graduate applications. Yuck. I don't think Graduate School is yuck, just the silly personal statements. It's like, just look at my grades and stuff, bitches. Why you gotta go and make me write a "Why I want to go to Grad School" thingamajig? Like they even read that shit.

Oh, did I mention that I got a 4.0 this past semester? Well, I did. So, take that. As it turns out, I am a genius. That is right, A GENIUS.

Okay, now even I think I'm obnoxious. An obnoxious GENIUS.

Goodnight!

(Oh, and Happy Birthday Sam and Ashley!)