Goooood morning! (or evening, afternoon, whenever you may read this). I do hope you are having a great week. I’m excited in this post to share a couple more date nights we had over the semester!
First up was Clark’s Oyster Bar on the evening of October 26th. This is an Austin favorite. Any time I ask for restaurant recs this one almost always comes up!
I knew I would love it based on just how cute the exterior of the building was. I would like to go back during the day to get pictures of the bright yellow striped canopy too.
Even though they had reservations booked for the evening I called several hours prior to see if we could still get a spot at their oyster bar. Luckily, they had a spot! That’s one of the biggest lessons I have learned in my 20s- “It doesn’t hurt to just ask!” (well, in most cases, hehe).
We decided to split some oysters and french fries with a glass of crisp white wine. It was a tremendous combo!
These fries were seasoned with rosemary and had such a distinctly delicious flavor. I have never had fries like them before. The mound was so large, but the fries were so skinny, it was a bit of a feat figuring out how to tackle it… but….where there’s a will there’s a way!! Can I get an Amen?
On October 30th I ate one of my favorite dinner bowls of quinoa, tofu, coconut oil, roasted zucchini, some yogurt Bolthouse ranch, kale and hummus.
On November 1st we had butternut squash pasta with mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, and I believe we added a little Lightlife chicken. I may have used regular for Deej.
November 2nd we were able to sneak in another date night. The first half of the semester we hardly spent time together and realized how intentional we have to be with carving out time together. It’s so important, and while it may not be realistic to do something every week we are going to try to aim for every other week- even if it’s just a coffee date, brunch, a picnic in Zilker– just something intentional!
This evening we were craving Mexican. We found Gabriela’s and decided to make the trek on foot there. We passed through 6th street which is notoriously known around here as “Dirty 6th”. I thought it had its name from the fact that it’s the main college party street… but as we walked through we realized it quite literally is dirtier and grungier than most other streets in town. We did walk through at a more “tame” hour, so I’m sure we didn’t even see the spectacle that is dirty 6th late into the evening.
Gabriela’s is tucked away on a side street, but so adorable and inviting!
Since we went at a fairly early hour we were seated immediately. It is so much easier to go out to eat here than in the Bay Area. It was always a project to get into a restaurant there, especially on the weekends, so this is a very welcomed change.
We started with their famous queso. It was just a big cast iron pan of flavor. Holy maloly… the only thing is as time passed the queso congealed a bit as it cooled which made it difficult to dip the chips in after a while. El Alma’s is still my favorite, but this is still a must-order if you find yourself at Gabriela’s.
I was listening to a comedian special recently and she said how when we take pictures of food with flash it looks like we are holding our food hostage, lol!!! It’s so true. Oh well, gotta do what you gotta do in super dim lighting, right?
So here are my hostage veggie tacos with pretty much an entire avocado. These were tremendous!
And DJ’s prisoners were their tacos de carne asada with marinated rib-eye steak with caramelized onions and aguacate. Topped with cilantro and tomatillo salsa. He loved them!
November 3rd I walked my usual loop around Ladybird lake.
I also discovered I like putting Dateline on in the background while making flashcards. I go through phases with True Crime and usually get into it more around Halloween season. I had never watched Dateline before and gave it a go. I was hooked!
November 6th I enjoyed these cornbread crisps with some vegan tofu stew. I LOVE the cornbread crisps. Mmmm mmm.
On November 5th I grabbed a cup of joe from Starbucks and walked on the trail while studying flashcards on my Quizlet app on my phone.
November 7th I camped out at Starbucks to get ready to take an exam the next day.
November 8th I made us Lobster Ravioli for dinner- WOW, this was good!
November 10th I woke up extra hungry. I whipped up eggs with lots of veggies a slice of Laughing Cow swiss cheese and a slice of toast with cottage cheese, jam and hummus on the side.
That afternoon on a walk we noticed the leaves were starting to change. The leaves definitely change later here than in the midwest.
We saw a group playing some water game in kayaks. We stopped and watched for a while- it looked challenging!
On the second half of our walk around the lake we did a double take and realized a couple was out walking their pet ponies. Casual.
Below is a flatout flatbread with veggies, tofu, hummus and ranch.
And that’s a wrap for this post! Har-har.
Questions for you:
- How is the start to your new year going?
xo <3
