Hey all! Thank you tons for the warm welcome back 🙂 I’ve gotta say, I felt a bit more myself since publishing that post! I had high hopes to get a bunch of posts done and be more present around here- and wellllllll, surprise, surprise…. that did not happen. But we did enjoy our time between semesters and started our new ones about two weeks ago. I am actually temporarily living in Fort Worth right now at my mom and Pete’s to complete a clinical rotation. I found out last Friday my placement was official, packed over the weekend, did the mini move on Monday, picked up my badge on Tuesday and started on Wednesday! I am aiming to finish up the rotation by the end of October to start my next one in November. I miss DJ sooo much, but he is going to stay here next weekend when I do the “Virtual” Boston Marathon, and I’m planning on visiting Austin the weekend after that.
A bit more about school…finding clinical placements are already tough, and during the pandemic, it’s been extra extra tough- so I’m thankful to have one at all, even if it means traveling some. This semester I am in pediatrics and obstetrics. I L-O-V-E my pediatrics rotation so far. I have been also so enjoying this time with my mom and Pete. I kinda feel like a teenager again- lol. I go into my room to study when not at clinicals and pop out when my mom says “dinner’s ready!” (I feel spoiled with her cooking!).
So continuing on in the recaps, we are now entering into late March (It’s comical how far behind I am, truly). This is a little hodge-podge variety post of some of the Austin restaurants we tried around that time. We first decided to try out some local BBQ, and Black’s BBQ is one of the favorites around. We tried a few different sides, and DJ tried some of their meats.
Overall, it was yummy, solid BBQ for suree- but I think Terry Black’s is still our favorite we’ve had yet!
That Sunday we watched church. It’s interesting because now whenever talking with friends it’s either “listened to church” or “watched church” since ours hasn’t opened back up yet. I think of all things, I cannot wait for Church here to resume.
On one of my walks that week I saw this… yikes! I have seen several snakes like this in the area. At first I thought it was fake- but nopeee.
And it’s not Lady Bird Lake without spottin’ turtles. DJ and I crack up at this picture because the one turtle is just doing its own thing and chillin’ at the top of the log. It does not have a care in the world.
More great eats! I think this was leftover BBQ with brown rice and veggies.
That week I went on a walk down South Congress- one of the busiest places in Austin (usually). At this time it was absolutely vacant and kinda eerie. I don’t think any other point in time this picture would be possible.
This picture below is from Joann’s, mentioned in one of my last posts- it is unheard of to see this place empty, and there was not a soul in sight.
Later I made us some tortilla pizzas with vegan sausage- gosh these were good!
Even though we are just inundated with seeing these types of signs all over now, I want to document them here and there- as we are currently living history.
March 27th was my Mom’s birthday. If this was any other year, we would have certainly drove down to Forth Worth to celebrate. It was great to be able to at least Facetime with her for a little bit & celebrate from afar!
To finish out our March, we ordered from Henbit. We tried their smokey broccoli, a Waygu burger for DJ, and I had my eye on their desserts with their famous monster cookie with chocolate chips, pecans, white sonoran wheat, lemon zest and their basque cheesecake.
DJ loved the burger!
This is one of the greatest cookies I’ve probably ever had. I wasn’t sure what to think of the lemon zest when I read it in the initial ingredients, but the addition made this cookie. I actually froze half of it, and enjoyed eating it frozen even more than warm.
Contending for a first spot of all cheesecakes is this basque cheesecake. It looks burnt on top, which is intentional. Again, I was not at all sure what to expect with the flavoring, but it was exquisite. The creaminess and subtle burnt flavor blended well to create a beautiful dimension of flavor. Certainly, this is the most unique cheesecake we’ve tried and easily one of the best!
Another breakfast kick I’ve been on is the avocado toast w/ EBTB seasoning & a side of grapefruit slices. I definitely go through phases with grapefruit.
We also went through a phase with making different Thai dishes with a red curry base. I usually mixed tofu into mine and chicken into DJ’s. Mmm mmm.
Aaand we are now strolling into April with a walk downtown.
Later that day we decided to try out Chilantro, a Korean BBQ inspired restaurant that I’d been hearing a lot of buzz about. It has a flare of Mexican cuisine inspiration as well. Fun fact- it was actually on Shark Tank!
The main thing we wanted to try were their Kimchi fries. They actually surpassed our expectations- they were insanely good. Dangerously good. And they had a nice little spice! I could actually go for some of these right now…
DJ ordered some tacos, and I had their tofu bowl. The tofu is so good. This is something I crave from time to time. When I returned from New Orleans, it was the first thing I ordered.
I think it was around this time that my clinicals were put on hold for the spring semester. We still had classes, but the learning is most important in the clinical setting. Thankfully, those hours were able to be made up. I am so full of gratitude that despite everything going on we have been able to continue in our respective programs. Just gotta keep trudging through until Spring 2021!
Question for you:
- Fall is in the air!!! What are you looking forward to most with this season coming up?
xo <3
