Before I tell y’all (ok, so I tried to pull of a Texas accent) about my trip down south, I first need to introduce you to my newest addition.
Yes folks, that’s a beautiful Canon Rebel XS camera—my dreams officially came true this past Christmas. Thanks mom and dad! So of course Ms.Canon got put to work this past week as I toured Texas for the first time. And my Casio digital camera has officially filed for retirement.
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My gram and I left for Texas last Thursday. What seemed like a start to a nightmare (delayed flights, 4 hour bus ride, 6 hours layover in Minneapolis airport), finally led to waking up to some Texas sunshine Friday morning.
I thought it was so weird to see everything still decorated for Christmas minus the snow. Is it just me, or does Christmas just need snow?
Downtown Austin
I think I mentioned this before, but my cousin is opening up a bistro in downtown Austin on 6th street, so this trip was highly anticipated for me—I knew it would be a lot of things food related! She is starting from scratch in an old historical building.
It’s going to focus highly on brunch, appetizers, and a wide variety of wine. She is also renting out the bottom half for test kitchen needs! She plans to open in April..I can’t wait to see how it goes!
Starting a restaurant from scratch is no easy feat. I realized this as we paged through plans, forms, and more plans!
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Then my cousin knew I’d jump at the chance to visit the HUGE Whole Foods. When I say huge, I am not exaggerating! We spent at least two hours browsing, admiring, and of course eating at the famous hot bar.
Throughout our browsing, I bought this gorgeous kabocha squash..
I admired the gorgeous bakery displays..
Check out the gigantic salad bar!
Glorious grilled salmon!
Grilled salmon, grilled squash, sautéed broccoli. So fresh & delicious!
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And of course, a day spent traveling is not complete without some shopping. This was on the top of my list!
The All in One Bakeshop is the largest cake supply store in Central Texas. I had a few things I’ve been looking for, so I figured this would be the spot! It was a baker’s delight!
Cupcake toppers galore!
Every birthday theme imaginable!
Cookie cutters anyone??
Sprinkles, glitter, flavoring & more!
If you are ever in the Austin area, make sure to pay the All in One Bake Shop a visit! :-)
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And other must when I travel?
Self-serve frozen yogurt places of course!
Being that Minnesota has virtually none, I cram as many in as possible when I am in states that do!
The Yogurt Spot happened to pop up first on the GPS, so off we went!
16 flavors of pure goodness—so hard to choose.
After much debate, I decided on two kinds—cheesecake and pumpkin with some crushed grahams and a few strawberries thrown into the mix! Amazing!
Had to get the classic fro-yo shot!
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And then it was time to call it a night!
**Stay tuned for part 2 and 3 of my trip!**
Have you been to Texas? If yes, what did you do? If you haven’t, would you like to visit sometime?
