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The Better Trip to Austin, Tx: Part III

March 24, 2015

Though this post is titled as part iii of my trip to Austin, it would more accurately be titled “My Time In Austin: How I Ate Everything In Sight.” But I chose to go another way for consistency’s sake. Most of the activities that I took part in related to food in some way shape or form. And if it didn’t relate to food, it was just in-between entertainment while we were waiting to get hungry again so we could go to the next must-visit food truck. Here are pictures of things I digested.
Breakfast sirloin taco from Taco Deli
Shrimp taco from Torchy's

The Better Trip to Austin, Tx: Part II

March 23, 2015

Sadly I’m back home in New York City where the air is chilly, and snow is still on the ground. However, my return means I’m not busy running around Austin, so I now have the time to share more photos with you!
Even with all the wonderful food and music that the city has to offer, my absolute favorite part of my trip was my visit to Rodeo Austin. The fair outside the stadium filled me with the glee of a 7 year old with access to carnival rides and cheap, processed carnival food. It reminded me of my days spent at Chuck-E-Cheese, only this time I didn’t have my mom riding my back to limit my cotton candy intake.
Until I sat front row at the rodeo, I was one of those people that unfairly judgmental of the Texas-cowboy-rodeo-horse-and-bull-riding thing. But now I can say I get it. Despite the fact that I’m not from Texas, I was enthralled. Before the main events started there were a series of smaller ones, one of which was Mutton Busting. I’d never heard of it, but now I will never forget it. It’s a sport where children (usually between three and six) ride on the backs of lambs and hold on for as long as they can. It’s the cutest and funniest thing you could possibly imagine. When I was at the rodeo, there was only one girl out of the 10 children competing, and she won. I was very proud. Call it feminism, call it my Barnard education, I don’t care because it was amazing.

The Better Trip To Austin, TX: Part I

March 18, 2015

For spring break me and my friends opted out of the typical Cancun vacation and instead chose to go home with a friend and dormmate who is from Austin, TX. Before this trip, I’d never been to Austin (or Texas for that matter), but I’d heard so many great things about the food and music scene. And since it fell on the week of South by Southwest, none of us could say no. My first 24 hours here have been amazing, and I already know 5 days won’t be enough to do all the amazing things this city has to offer.
We started the day with breakfast tacos (a totally foreign concept to LA/NYC me). Texas Honey Ham Company and they were delicious! Why isn’t the whole nation hooked on this? Instead, we are going about eating French toast and pancakes and thinking our lives are complete?! I got tacos with eggs, cheese, potatoes, and pulled pork. Even though it was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten, my stomach could not accommodate the greed of my eyes, and I had to give the second taco to my friend, Jenna.
After our breakfast tacos, we headed to Allen’s Boot Store which is so stereotypically Texas. When I was on the plane imagining what we would be doing to fill our week, shops like this are exactly what I imagined. I will admit that I went in thinking, “Yee-haw! I’m gonna get myself some boots!” These intricately designed beauties were such a pleasure to marvel over. The smell of new leather; the stunning designs; and the excellent craftsmanship were almost enough to have me bring a pair up to the register, but the $490 (starting) prices made me realize it probably wasn’t the best idea to invest so much in something I would never wear– no matter how great they’d look sitting in my closet next to my JCrew pumps.

The Better Milano Cookies

March 14, 2015

This post could also be named How I Told My Mom That I Dropped All the Cookies on the Floor and Thus Had Very Few to Spare, but that just seemed a little too lengthy. But it’s not my fault I ate most of them, they were just too yummy! When I lived in LA, I would read outside in my backyard with a bag of these cookies and a large mug of English Breakfast Tea, and it was paradise. Never would I imagine that perfection of Pepperidge Farms could be improved upon, but I’m so glad I was so wrong.
I love these cookies because they don’t require any fancy ingredients. And for something so delicious, you would expect them to take a lot more effort. Also, you will feel très sophistiqué when you serve them to your guests (or while you stuff them all in your face while watching Netflix).

The Better Headphone DIY

March 09, 2015

I’ve seen this DIY project around floating around Pinterest and various sites, so I’m not even going to pretend I came up with this brilliant idea. Anyone who knows me is well aware that I’m a big fan of things that are glittery, sparkly or the slightest bit shiny. Since I had these headphones laying around, I decided to give them a little bit of flare to match my phone case. For all you non-DIY folks out there, this only takes about 5 minutes of active participation so there is no reason why you can’t do this!
 Step 1: Remove rubber pieces from earphones
 Step 2: Tape off headphones so the spray paint will only be applied where you want it

The Better Homemade Chocolate Syrup

March 05, 2015

 Ever since I was in pre-school, my drink of choice has always been an ice cold glass of chocolate milk (on the rocks and preferably with a bendy straw). A lot has changed since those days of velcro sneakers and mandated nap times: sandboxes aren’t as appealing, and my pallet may be a tad more refined, but my chocolate-milk love remains. The average Joe may think Hershey’s chocolate syrup and some milk is all you need, but a real connoisseur, like myself, knows that homemade syrup is the way to go.