Just Another Day in Santa Fe

Today, we slept in. I slept with the back door open and woke up to the clean air, breeze, and the birds singing.

We went to do a little more shopping. I stopped in a little dog bakery called Teca Tu and picked up a little surprise for my doggies. They are taking their vacation at our Vet's place for the next several days. They deserve a treat...I hope they have been good!

Millie and Luna this is waiting for you, little cactus dog bones! Oh, and of course you will have to share one with your cousin Max!

After our shopping we went to La Boca, I was waiting to go back there! We went for their half price tapas hour. The tapas are delicious...we also had a little sangria to go with it. I wish I had a menu so I could say more about the tapas we ate. I guess you will just have to go and taste it for yourself.

Here is a little peak at what we ate. Of course, it is mostly half eaten. I was so excited about the food that I forgot to take a shot of it before we dived in. Its nice because they bring the tapas out one at a time and everyone shares so we pretty much got a little taste of everything. The happy hour prices are great too. So, make sure to go between 3 and 5pm. Many of the restaurants close between that time so La Boca has really got something going on by staying open and offering happy hour prices.

My mom ordered the dish that was featured on Giada's Weekend Getaways. It is pasta stuffed with crab (I think) with a wonderful cream sauce. It was to die for!

I think the thing that I love most about Santa Fe is the architecture. It has been maybe about...15 years since I have visited here. Now that is hard to believe and makes me feel rather old. I was probably a freshman in high school and I really do not remember the fantastic architecture. There are fabulous adobe houses and adobe churches. Well, I guess everything here is adobe. Shopping malls, grocery stores, gas stations, houses, restaurants...everything is adobe. That, I did not realize and I think it is just wonderful!

Tomorrow, we are driving to Taos. There is a place that sells hand spun yard. They may even have spinning wheels for sale. I think I may see a spinning wheel in my future!

Cheers!

I Love Jewelry and Candy

One of the most wonderful things about coming to Santa Fe is all of the wonderful Native American jewelry. I love silver and turquoise, so I guess that I am in the right place for it. I like unusual jewelry...and it has to be big, I wonder if that is the "Texas" in me, that is probably the only "Texas" in me. So, on my quest for big and unusual jewelry, I happened across this from the Rocki Gorman Studio.

I think it is the most beautiful ring. It is exactly what I was looking for but did not know it. Thank you Mama.

Here is my collection of jewelry so far...I am very proud of it. Thank you Mama and Daddy!

Today we did some shopping. A few of the places I went to were Santa Fe Hemp, where I purchased the shoulder bag from Nepal. I also went to the pinkoyote, where I bought one of their signature pinkoyote t-shirts.

The place that I was looking the most forward to was Todos Santos, the most fabulous chocolates and confections store in Santa Fe, with a Dia De Los Muertos theme. It is so charming and a must see if you are in Santa Fe.

I will certainly go back at least once before we leave. The candy is so unusual and cute, have you ever seen a chocolate lady bug? She is made of dark chocolate and raspberry. The mushroom is full of caramel, and the square is a toffee bar. The stick is caramel with a chocolate and nut coating. I am eating the toffee bar right now and have already bitten the head of the lady bug!

Well, stay tuned for more of my vacation experiences!

Cheers!

Santa Fe!

I am having so much fun in Santa Fe. My parents and I drove up here on Saturday. We arrived right about 3:00pm after an 11 hour drive. We are staying at the Sky Island Casitas. When we got here we were so taken by the fantastic casita that we were going to stay in for a week. We walked all through the casita and ended up on the upper level balcony, however, we also ended up locking ourselves out up there. In the end, my dad ended up scaling a wall to free us, so...it has been quite an adventure! The view is absolutely amazing!

This is the balcony we managed to lock ourselves out on but, with a view like we have here, how could you even care?

The view is even more spectacular at night. The clouds are so light and fluffy and the colors of the sunset are unbelievable.

We have a great little patio, where we plan to have many a party on the patio.

On Sunday we had brunch at The Chocolate Maven. I saw this on Giada's Weekend Getaways and had to go! I had the great start breakfast. It is plain yogurt, their wonderful homemade granola, and fresh fruit. It was so yummy that we purchased some of their granola and then went to Trader Joe's to get the other ingredients. After breakfast we went to the Museum of International Folk Art to see the Needles and Pins Exhibit. This was a wonderful exhibit with sewing, stitching, and knitting artifacts from over 100 years ago. After that, we attended what we thought was going to be a demonstration on how to make marbleised paper, boy were we ever wrong! Now, for my disclaimer, let me say that I have nothing against those that like marbleised paper or those that even are passionate about it and collect it but...none the less it was not my cup of tea. I know "to each his own" and whatnot. I also know that I do things that others think are a bore. This lecture was on the history of the paper itself, not on the actual making of the paper, like we thought. Well anyway...my dad has this talent of being able to sleep through all he is not particularly interested in. My mom is totally aware of this and told me " don't you let him snore". I was sitting next to him so I had the privilege and responsibility of keeping him from embarrassing us. Let me tell you, I was doing and excellent job...I really was but....the whole endless talk of paper was sucking me in to this deep abyss of nothingness and I was overcome with boredom. It was like I was almost in a trance and then...the most horrid yet awfully hilarious thing happened....right when the lecturer took a pause in his speech, yes...my father managed to drum up the loudest snore you have ever heard. It echoed throughout the auditorium. It was so loud I myself cannot even imitate it. It was one of those snores that was so loud it woke himself up to the point he was not tired anymore. It took all that I had in me not to DIE laughing. I tried not to look at my dad because I knew that he would have started laughing too, not to mention my mother! I honestly though that she would be mortified but she thought it was funny too. So, I guess we all struggled throughout the last 20 minutes not to bust out laughing and make a mockery of the whole event. So, needless to say, this vacation has been rather entertaining from the very minute we got to Santa Fe.

This is an incredible sculpture that is located in the Museum atrium.

Today, Monday, we attended the Santa Fe School of Cooking Culture Tour (the picture to the left is the cooking school classroom). It was fantastic. We Started out at the Cooking School and the Director of Culinary Arts, Rocky Durham, was our tour guide. They prepared us green and red chile enchiladas to taste, they were wonderful and we all received a copy of the recipe. I will certainly be cooking this when I get back to Texas.

We then walked to Los Mayas Mexican Restaurant where we had chips, salsa, a margarita, and the most wonderful stuffed poblano pepper I have ever tasted. It is called "Chiles en Nogada", meaning chiles in walnut sauce. It was stuffed with pork, plantains, and a number of things I cannot remember. The walnut sauce was wonderful, it was almost like dessert, just melted in your mouth. The owner Fernando even played a song for us on his guitar. It was fabulous.

After that we walked over to The Institute of American Indian Arts where Walter Whitewater served us Pinon Chile Beans. He talked of the Navajo culture and how the men do not cook, however, he prepared the most wonderful dish. The flavor of the beans were so savory. He even sang us a beautiful song. I was absolutely amazing!

After we ate our chile beans, we walked over to La Boca (Giada went there too on her weekend getaway) and met Chef James Campbell Caruso. We ate tapas and drank wine in the most intimate atmosphere. The tapas were wonderful! I think I may be able to convince my parents to go back for a little happy hour with wine and tapas, can't beat that after an afternoon of shopping.

Our last stop was the Coyote Cafe where we met Chef Eric DiStefano. I have to admit, this was my favorite stop (that is me, in heaven, at the Coyote Cafe. Our tour guide and chef extraordinaire, Rocky, is chatting some people up behind me). Chef Eric served us crab cakes....I thought that was it but then he brought out spare ribs! I was in heaven. The food was absolutely wonderful, not to mention he also served us white wine to go with our crab cakes and then red wine for the ribs. It was the most amazing afternoon. We met many really neat people, learned the history of Santa Fe cooking, and ate so much food we needed a wheelchair to carry us out! If you are ever in Santa Fe, this cooking tour is an absolute must. You will have the best time imaginable!

My dad played golf while my mom and I went on the tour. After the tour was over, we met my dad at the La Fonda Bell Tower for a drink. Then, off to the Pink Adobe we went for dinner and more drinks.

The fun will not end here! I have 4 more days to go!


Cheers!

Annual Herb Fest, My Favorite Fabric Store, and Stephen Marley

Yesterday was the annual Botanic Gardens Herb Festival If you click on the herb festival link you can see my sister and I in the photo on their website! We are on the right hand side of the picture checking out the herbs. I buy herbs from that booth every year. They have lovely herbs. I also love to stop by "Our Thyme Garden". I have been going to the Herb Fest with my mom for several years and "Our Thyme Garden" is always our first stop. They have wonderful herbs. They also sell other things including the most fantastic herb oil. They also sell delicious lemon herb tea bread. Last year my sister and nice went and it was so much fun. Unfortunately, they had car problems on the way here from Arkansas and were a little delayed so they were not able to make it.

After the herb fest my mom and I went to have lunch at Blue Bonnet Bakery. I had their famous chicken salad and it was so tasty!

After that we went to the Cabbage Rose, my favorite fabric store! It is hard to go in there and not purchase anything. Fabric can certainly be an addiction.

A little sneak peak at some of my new purchases. I have many ideas on what to make with the fabric! I am going to Santa Fe in a few weeks so, when I return, I am going to get to work and start sewing up a storm. My Etsy needs a little boost as I am ashamed to say, I have been a bit neglectful.

To top the night off, some friends and I went to see Stephen Marley at House of Blues in Dallas. It was a fantastic show. I finally got smart after all of these years of concert going and brought my camera. I got some great shots and even took a little video footage. I have seen him in concert before. He has this guy that waves a flag the entire time but this year he also brought out a child that appeared to be his, not too sure about that though. This had to have been the cutest kid I have ever seen, well...aside from my niece Violet. He was waiving that flag like a champ but...he poked himself in the eye and started to cry. Someone behind the stage consoled him and he got back out there and finished waiving that flag until the very end. Too cute!! If you are ever in Dallas, House of Blues is a great place to see a show. It is very spacious. Just beware, you will pay about $6.00 for a beer!

Until next time, Cheers!

Saturday Afternoon and Beer

Today I went to the Rhar & Son's Brewery. I highly recommend it as a fun thing to pass the time on a Saturday afternoon. For those of you with young ones, this place is even family friendly! I am not too much of a beer drinker, I do prefer my wine and rum but....I was pleasantly surprised! This beer is very good! I'm a light beer kinda girl so I went with the "Cats Eye" which is dedicated to the Fort Worth Cats, a local professional baseball team. I also like their blonde lager, it is nice and reminds me of the summer for some reason.








































Anyhoo, what you do is arrive to the brewery at about 1:00pm. Then get in line to pay five bucks and you get a nice pint glass (about 4 to choose from) and 3 beer tabs that you can cash in for beer! Five bucks for a glass and 3 beer refills is a nice price. It lasts until about 3pm and they provide food and live music. You may also run into a few people that you know much like I did. It really is a nice relaxed way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

When I got home after my afternoon of beer tasting, I made beer bread from a recipe off of the Rhar website. I am going to take to to a BBQ tonight at a friends house.

Cheers!!!! Happy Mother's Day!

Hello Again!

Well, it has been a month of Sundays (as my Grandmother would say) since I last posted, literally! I have had quite a bit going on. Something I am very happy with that I recently accomplished was rejuvenating my winter ridden garden. I raked the leaves that had fallen into it, planted flowers, laid down new soil and mulch and TA-DA......a fresh new garden! I love this time of year, thing start to bloom and everything is green again and full of color. The weather is nice...not too hot and not too cool, just perfect. It is perfect weather for sitting on the porch in the afternoon drinking hibiscus tea or sitting on the porch in the evening drinking a rum and coke with a friend! Here is a little peak into what I have done so far. I also potted flowers. I love Gerber Daisies so I potted a few of those. Zinnias also do really well in Texas so I planted a TON of them...among a few other things. Anyhoo, here are a few pictures of my WIP!

My climbing rose bush that I planted nearly 2 years ago is absolutely beautiful. The roses this year are HUGE! Here is a picture of one that I clipped and brought inside my house to enjoy.

I needed a little pick me up a few weeks ago so...what better pick me up than a new purse! I seriously can never ever have too many purses. I am going to start working on a new bag inspired by Amy Karol

I love me some Anna Maria Horner fabric! Her new line is wonderful.

Well, that is pretty much what I have been up to. I plan to start cranking' out some sewing and to also start posting new items on Etsy, for real this time!

Cheers!

Winter Wonder Land?

Well, this is Texas folks....and it is snowing...in March. Normally Spring is starting to set in and it is nice and sunny. The naked lady bulbs in my garden were even beginning to bloom. The daffodils were already in full bloom. My lavender and aloe were also starting to bounce back from the winter. But, I can't say that I am surprised really. There is that saying we have here, "Don't like the weather, then just wait a minute". Okay so, on Monday it was like 75 degrees. Then on Tuesday we had snow...just a nice light snow, nothing big. Wednesday..in the 60's and sunny. Today...first we start with rain in the 40's and end up in the low 30's by mid afternoon (and the temperature just keeps dropping) with snow and huge sleet like I have never seen before. Then we ended up with snow the size of a quarter and that just does not happen here. It was nice because I got to leave work early and will probably go in late because the roads will be icy and slippery in the morning. Now, I am going to cozy up with some hot cocoa, watch the food network, and do a little embroidery.

These are, not so great shots, of the snow. This past weekend was so nice that I got birdseed for the birds but, as you can tell there is not a bird in sight. They are too cold!

Maybe I will make some chili tonight for dinner, that sounds warm and yummy!

Cheers and stay warm!!! :-)