Such a Scamp

So apparently our dog Saci majored in making us feel like complete a** holes when we leave the house to go to work. She always knows it’s coming when we start getting ready in front of the bathroom mirror. She’ll come in and out of the bathroom with us about 5348925 times just to check that we haven’t left her yet. Then, when I make the last go round and make sure all the doors are locked and the alarm is turned on she runs (tail between her legs) into the office under the desk and stares at the floor…or at us with large pleading brown eyes. IT KILLS ME EVERY TIME. When I didn’t have a dog for about 2 years before Saci, not feeling the ever present guilt for leaving her at home was the only welcome side effect.

We go through this every year. CORRECTION, I go through this every year. Where I feel that it’s a good idea to turn our one dog household into a two dog household, for Saci’s sake…not ours. I then get on petfinder.com and find the PERFECT dog in so many ways. Well 3 outstanding ways to be exact:

1) SCAMP, it’s name is SCAMP…that’s my second favorite word in the entire English dictionary, second to “scrappy” (because c’mon, “scrappy” is a damn good word.

2) THAT FACE. I mean it’s just so pathetic and cute and pathetic and cute.

3) THOSE EARS. The one up one down thing just adds to the pathetic factor and gives it about 48935 awesome points.

Then I started throwing the idea around in my head for real. Picturing little Saci and little Scamp romping around the backyard together, playfully snarling at each other, curling up with one another on the big dog bed, and Saci teaching Scamp the correct begging procedures.

Ok, SOLD. I want this dog…so I called Alex knowing exactly what he would say, and then he said it.

“I realllyyy don’t want a second dog.”

“But think about Saci, she needs the company, they would enjoy each other.”

“It’s expensive.”

“But it’s cute.”

“There’ll be more dog hair, dog poop, and dog messes to clean.”

“FINE!!!”

The end. (except not, because I’m going to start calling Saci “Scamp.”)

The Best sandwiches in town are made at OUR HOUSE!

Last night Alex called me and told me he was at the grocery story. “Why?” I asked since we had a house chock full of food from our last visit not too long ago. He informed me that he had a hankering for a gourmet sandwich and was picking up fixings for the perfect sammie.

When he got home we got to work immediately. First things first…bake apple smoked bacon at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes until crispy. Once the bacon was done we started to assemble the sandwich of all sandwiches. Atop the ciabatta rolls (I kNoW!!) we stacked mesquite smoked turkey, aged white cheddar, BACON, dijon mustard, spinach/artichoke hummus, roma tomatoes, and baby greens. GAWWDDD IT WAS SOOO GOOD. And I’m kicking myself because Alex recommended me taking a picture of our delights right before we devoured them and I brushed it off. big mistake.

And for dessert, he picked up ginormo oatmeal raisin cookies that were warm from being just baked at the bakery. They were perfection!

fun, fresh guest bedroom

I’m constantly looking through design blogs like Design Sponge, decor8, Young House Love, and Decorology. The other day I came across this lively guest bedroom. Alex and I have been wanting to redo our guest bedroom for awhile now. However, the thought of picking up a paint brush and roller gives us nausea. Hopefully seeing stuff like this will just the extra push the two of us need. We’ve already discussed the colors we want on the walls and some of the furniture rearranging we’ll do. We just need a kick in the butt!

Our future child

Alex and I are always talking about what our future child will look like. Almost to the point where our friends think we’re weird. Needless to say we’re super excited for when that day comes that we get to meet him or her and see what features they get from the both of us.

My good friend Alec knows this and totally made my day today by posting this to her site.

And to top it all off this one loves dolphins…SO our child.

August Food Finds

So yes, I’ve taken a wee vacation from el blog. A friend recently said that we’re all in a blogcession. And I agree. Anyway, I thought I’d share some of the yummy new restaurants we’ve tried.

A few weeks ago, and then again this past Friday we joined friends at Momiji. A no frills sushi restaurant in Northwest Austin that boasts quality sushi at affordable prices. We’ve only been on Fridays to enjoy their $3 menu. But they also have half price sashimi, rolls, and hand rolls Sunday through Thursdays as well. So back to this $3 menu, there are drinks, appetizers, rolls, hand rolls, sashimi, and desserts all for $3. It’s pretty amazing. And the stuff is goooooood. This last time we went we each had our own appetizers (pork dumplings for me and shrimp (shumai) dumplings for Alex), three rolls (a sweet potato, spicy tuna, and eel roll to share), and fried bananas for dessert. And for all that we paid $19. We were so excited we wanted to sing afterwards.

We also tried Buenos Aires Cafe for the first time a few weeks ago with a friend. It’s on South 1st in Austin and is a wee little place with cramped seating, but I really couldn’t care about that after I walked in and saw the astonishing dessert bar. There was an array of cakes, tortes, and chocolate dipped somethings that all cried out my name in unison. Needless to say we all feasted on wonderful salads, inventive empanadas, and Argentine pot pies. And then of course we had dessert. The waiter made a mistake and brought us three desserts (one each) instead of just two like we asked for. There were two cuatro leches cakes (beat that tres leches!) and a dark chocolate and raspberry torte. They were all freakin’ to die for. However, the waiter charged us for all three. And he was so darn nice that we didn’t want to be losers and correct him. So we paid the extra five dollars and rolled ourselves out of the tiny cafe. Despite the bill hiccup we’ll surely be back.

My favorite won

Alex ALWAYS picks the winners of reality competition shows from the first or second episode. It’s really annoying, especially because I’ll pick my favorite to win then as well and to no avail they’re usually sent home 2-3 episodes later.

His streak is over and I seem to be getting better at this game. My two favs from So You Think You Can Dance were in the top two last night during the season finale and my fav WON. Jeanine, the winner, is so cute and bubbly and one hell of a dancer. She also looks a lot like one of my close friends, you be the judge!

oh orchid

This post is a bit overdue. But I wanted to gush about how wonderful Alex can be (ha). Last week when I was woozy from my flight home from Arizona (the plane was teeny and the landing was rough) Alex rushed me home to my awesome house that I missed oh so much while away and had cleaned it completely from top to bottom. Also waiting for me was this beautiful, purple orchid. I developed a thing for orchids awhile ago but could never justify buying one because they’re kind of pricey. Well now, I have one and her name is Olivia.

He also made me chicken kabobs on the grill with pasta and pesto. For dessert I was told about the cheesecake brownies he bought and ate before I made it home. But all was forgiven when he queued up Top Chef Masters for me to enjoy with a glass of sparkling water.

Apparently Buenos Aires is the place to go if you’re on a budget

I was haphazardly browsing homeaway.com because I was in daydream mode. I was picturing prancing around top notch travel destinations in the perfect outfit…no really I was. Then I stumbled upon THIS AMAZING APARTMENT in Buenos Aires’s Recoleta neighborhood. The location, furnishings, and views are all stunning and then I got to the crazy part…it’s $490/week and $1390/month in the high season. Yes, Alex and I could stay there for an entire month well under $1500. Prices like that are unheard of for me.

Now I just need to find some cheap air fare and some more vacation days. gahhhhhhh

Buenos Aires was already on the list of places I really really really want to go to…now it’s numero uno.

Last weekends accomplishments.

I’ve been a bad, lazy blogger…i know. So here’s a quick post so I feel better about myself and to gloat about our new landscaping. I know it’s not much but Alex and I are really proud of it.

After helping my brother and his fiance move into their new house last weekend we happened upon Agave Nursery and Landscaping and HAD to stop. Their greenhouse was amazing and filled with my favorite things…and we all know what those are.

Anywho, the next morning (while still sore from moving) we woke up at 7am and planted our new succulents and poured our new river rocks into the front flower bed. We first had to dig out all the previous mulch and plants we no longer wanted. We were done by 9:30 and did nothing but relax for the rest of the day!

Gay Pride say what?!?!?!

I threw a surprise birthday party for Alex this past Saturday evening. We had a great time trying another new restaurant and catching up with friends. When we left the restaurant we had no idea we’d be greeted with thousands of Austin’s finest done up in drag, boy shorts, chains, and more. It was Austin’s annual Gay Pride Parade that went straight down 4th Street into the Warehouse District.

It was so exhilarating and a great way to jump, skip, and dance off all the Mexican food and martinis I had just consumed! What I loved most was the free and open vibe that was exuded by all the participants…we spent the next half hour prancing around 4th Street and all the way to the parking garage. Great time!