Cat Turned 30

Our friend Cat, who was one of my roommates in college, turned 30 a few months ago & in our favorite fashion, celebrated her birthday with a Harry Potter themed party. As you might know, we heart, heart, HEART, Harry Potter anything, so we were super pumped for her B-day! 

See Cat above as Bellatrix Lestrange.  

 

I'm sure you can tell because of the super high quality photo above, but Zachary went as Professor Snape & I went as Rita Skeeter. Please see the bright green beetle ring above. I'm quite proud of that find. You may recall that Rita's animagus is a green beetle. Also, please see that huge feather pen & that curly Rita Skeeter hair that made us late to the party. Turns out, I don't own a curling iron so I had to get creative & burn a few fingers by using my hair straightener.

These other photos are all stolen via the Facebook event, so they're much better. Check out Narcissa Malfoy & Professor Trewlaney above. Pretty amazing costumes, eh?My brother was our plus one & made sure to dress up for the festivities. Can you guess who he is? That's right, the rugged Quidittch World Cup champion, Viktor Krum. 

 

Tonks made an appearance, as well as, some dark marks, Hogwarts letters & several other characters. It was a fun night full of homemade butter beer, pumpkin pasties & some empanadas, that I couldn't get enough of, that I'm sure also had a very on theme name.

Thank you Cat for turning 30 & blessing us with your friendship! We're so thankful for you!

Please forgive the terrrible spacing of this post. This post & it's spacing will be the end of my sanity if I don't walk away and say it's fine as is, crazy spacing and all.

Arturo's Underground Cafe

  I always have that dilemma about whether to share or not to share my most favorite secret places. There's always that tension, right? I'm sure that's what people living in gorgeous tropical places feel. "Share this gorgeous location with the rest of the world because how can you keep this beauty to yourself?! Also, they'll probably come because it's so beautiful & it would really help us locals financially." This is the the very serious, hard dilemma I'm in right now, people. But I just can't keep too much of a good thing to myself, so I'll spill. Arturo's Underground is the best, THE BEST, brunch you will ever eat in downtown Austin on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Don't listen to any other list of "best places to eat brunch". If Arturo's isn't on it, just exit the page. This is the best! Just trust me!    Most people I ask, "Have you ever been to Arturo's?" answer no. Most have never even heard of it. Of course, this makes the lines shorter to just a 10 minute wait vs the gajillion minute wait of other downtown Austin brunch spots. It also keeps that special feel to this hole-in-the- wall coffee shop by week brunch spot by weekend place. It feels like our own little brunch spot where we can tuck away from the rest of the world. Part of me wants to keep it this way. But then there's this other part of me that wants to stand out on the street & insist to all who drive by to come in & taste of the deliciousness! It must be shared! And, a locally owned business making such good food, don't you want to support that?! Don't you want their business to grow? They deserve it. They're making masterpieces. I want them to succeed! And so, I'll shout it from the rooftops, metaphorically that is. Go to Arturo's Underground Cafe. Just go. Also, did I mention that they have mimosa carafes? And free hot cookies Sunday mornings? Here's what you must, MUST, order. Their El Diablo & their Carribean French toast. The El Diablo combines everything that you could ever want in a Texas brunch; thick buttery toast, spicy jalapenos, poached/fried? eggs (don't know, just good. good eggs), hollandaise sauce & delicious home-style potatoes. The Caribbean french toast consists of thick slices of bread, toasted pecans, caramelized/bourbonized (What is this delicious syrup?) & bananas foster. Zachary & I get both & split the two. We can never decide what we like best. They're both just too good. You eat a little sweet & long for the spicy. You eat a little spicy & long for the sweet. You just want it all.    Check it out your next Saturday free! You won't be disappointed. :)    314 W. 17th Street  Austin, Texas Brunch is Saturday & Sundays  
**As a side not, we've only ever ordered these two dishes. They're so good we never want anything else! So, that's all I can really speak on. I'm sure the other food is great, too.

Mozarts w/ Nicole

Are sweet friend Nicole just moved home from China! We know everyone there misses her but I'm we're so happy to have her back! Nicole's lovely mother, Kathleen, & my mom were coworkers before Nicole & I had ever met. My mom & Kathleen always connected on the fact that their daughters both had hearts for China. One thing led to another & Nicole moved to Qingdao, where we lived. It was an instant connection! She became one of our closest friends & like our family in no time. Nicole even lived with us for a few months. All that to say, we love this girl! Having her home now reminds me of our time catching up last year when she came home on winter holiday. We had a coffee date all together in Nicole & I's hometown, Austin, at Mozart's! We LOVE Mozart's & the best part about this fun lake side coffee shop is that Chara can come with us any time we get that craving for Mozart's homemade cheesecake. Mozart's is on Lake Austin which always makes for a beautiful view. It's super idyllic studying or working on Mozart's patio, watching the ducks swim by & enjoying the Texas sunshine.   It was a sunny day so the pictures we got weren't the greatest but the memories still were. :) Looking forward to more Mozart's coffee dates with Chara & this chica. Love you Nicole! So glad you're home.