Kim's Christmas "Lists"

Wednesday, December 24, 2014
I know this is a Houston blog, and it's primarily a food blog, and sometimes I'll talk about my travels, but today I want to talk about Christmas!

I have some opinions.

(shocker).

The girl who put her Christmas tree up this year the Tuesday BEFORE Thanksgiving, who throws a log on the fire in 70-degree weather, who has a mini [talking] Rudolph figurine set, complete with $6.99 fiber-optic Christmas tree she bought at a Duane Reade in NYC 5 years ago perched on her desk by her computer at work? That girl has some opinions about Christmas. More specifically, Christmas movies and Christmas music. So here are my definitive completely biased opinions on the subject!


Top 10 Christmas Movies of All Time

1. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Why yes I'm referring to the 1964 claymation classic of course! With a cast of characters that includes Hermey the elf (who wants to be a dentist, 'natch), Yukon Cornelius, and the frightening abominable snow monster of the north, I can't get enough of this movie.

2. Elf. Will Ferrell in a giant elf costume causing mayhem throughout New York City? It's my dream come true. 

3. A Charlie Brown Christmas. I cry every time. Ev.ery.time.

4. It's a Wonderful Life. See crying note above.

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The 30 minute made-for-TV version from 1966. As far as I'm concerned no other version exists.

6. A Muppet Christmas Carol. Greatest line, as said by Gonzo: "And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die..."
 
7. The Holiday. When Kate Winslet tries to gas herself to death in her gorgeous English countryside home and then has a moment of clarity, opening her windows, slapping herself in the face, and saying "Low point!" in that adorable Kate Winslet-y way, I die every time.

8. White Christmas. Ugh, Bing Crosby, you slay me. 

9. Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas. And you thought you'd seen me cry during Charlie Brown and It's a Wonderful Life. HA.
 
10. Love Actually. While I wholeheartedly agree that this is actually a terrible movie, I cannot help but love it. (warning: link NSFW, albeit HILARIOUS.)

*Honorable Mention: Meet Me in St. Louis. No, it's not technically a Christmas movie, but it does feature the greatest Christmas song ever, as sung by one of the greatest female artists ever. But more on that in a minute.

Also, I'm not doing a "Top 10 Worst Christmas Movies of All Time" list because they're all good. Even the cheesy ABC Family/Lifetime/Hallmark Christmas movies with titles like Christmas Kiss, Moonlight & Mistletoe, and A Boyfriend for Christmas. Even those are WONDERFUL.


 Top 10 Christmas Songs of All Time

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, performed by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis (see above). This is Christmas in all it's perfect wonderment.

2. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, performed by Andy Williams. My sister Emily argues that this is #1. How can you not instantly smile when you hear those first few chords blast out triumphantly?

3. All I Want for Christmas is You, performed by Mariah Carey. I am still completely amazed that this song came out 20 years ago (excuse me while I go crawl into a whole and cry until 2015), and it's still such a beloved favorite across the board. Many other pop stars from the past twenty years (Britney, Kelly Clarkson, etc.) have attempted this, but none have had the staying power of Mariah.

4. Oh Come All Ye Faithful, performed by everyone in church. You know how during the chorus, everyone gradually gets louder on each "Oh Come Let us Adore Him" until they're basically screaming out the last one? I f'ing love that.

5. White Christmas, performed by Bing Crosby. See #8 above.

6. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, performed by Thurl Ravenscroft. I mean, the man's name is freaking THURL RAVENSCROFT. And with a lyric like "Your soul is an appalling dump heap, overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of rubbish imaginable, mangled up in tangled up knots!" how can it not be awesome?

7. This Christmas, peformed by Donny Hathaway. I realize this one is a bit obscure, but hear me out. Back in, I don't know, 1992? my dad impulse bought a CD titled A Jazzy Wonderland, featuring this song as the opening track (not sure who it was performed by-maybe Donny?). And it's magical. Do yourself a favor and put it on your Spotify IMMEDIATELY.

8. A Holly Jolly Christmas, performed by Burl Ives from the Rudolph movie. It's Holly! It's Jolly! I love it!

9. Christmas Time is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Tears. TEARS.

10. The entire NSYNC Home for the Holidays album. And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say probably more of you agree with me on this than you care to admit.
*Honorable Mentions: Go Tell it on the Mountain, performed by James Taylor, all of the Carpenter Christmas album, Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!, performed by Dean Martin, and Last Christmas by Wham...as performed by the cast of Glee or Taylor Swift (feel free to punch me). And Carol of the Bells, performed by the Transiberian Orchestra, because if you synchronize your outdoor Christmas lights to this, I will be your guaranteed best friend for life.


Top 5 Worst Christmas Songs of All Time

1. Santa Baby. Even Michael Buble couldn't save this one.

2. I'm Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas. I love children. I do NOT love this child.

3. My Birthday Falls on Christmas. I have a serious issue with whiny children singing about how terrible their lives are because of the lack of Christmas presents they're getting this year. Poor little Tommy, he won't be getting his XBox 480 this year, we all feel really sorry for you since you share your birthday with, oh I don't know, CHRIST, which should be an honor, but yes,we all feel very terrible for you. *Eye Twitch*

4. All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth. Well, at least this kid has more realistic expectations.

5. Suzy Snowflake. As a feminist, I can appreciate the attempt at a song which is the female counterpart to Frosty the Snowman. As a human with ears, I cannot appreciate how awful it is.


Top 4 Creepiest/Weirdest/Most Unsettling Christmas Songs of All Time

1. Baby It's Cold Outside. Let's break this down here.

The neighbors might think / Baby, it's bad out there
Say, WHAT'S IN THIS DRINK / No cabs to be had out there
 I wish I knew how / Your eyes are like starlight now
To break this spell / I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell

Women of Houston and of planet earth: If you have even the slightest inkling that someone has slipped "something" into your drink, please stop reading this blog and IMMEDIATELY CALL 911. 

Also, can we please get another romantic duet to start resurrecting every year with new artists, (preferably sans roofie reference)? I actually don't hate this song, but I don't need to hear a new iteration of it every year by a different combination of artists such as Idina Menzel and Michael Buble, the cast of Glee, or Francis and Claire Underwood (okay but for real how awesome would that last one be??).

2. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. I get it. Har har, mom's actually kissing dad. But the kid doesn't know this! And is the kid bothered by this? No! In fact, what a laugh it is! Ha Ha! WHAT A LAUGH TO WALK IN ON YOUR MOM MAKING OUT WITH NOT YOUR DAD. I guess a distaste for infidelity was imbedded in me from an early age, because this song used to legitimately upset me.

3. Under My Tree, by NSYNC:

No one else but me and you
Nothing I would rather do
Then hold you all through the night
Under my tree
Bring along the mistletoe
Keep the music nice and low
I'll show you how good it could be.
I wish that Santa could be here to see
It's beautiful
Under my tree

As previously stated, I shamelessly love the entire album, including this bizarre song, but even I can acknowledge its creepiness. I wish that Santa (who, as we've covered is none other than your dad) could be here to see....

4. Santa Claus is Coming to Town:

You better watch out.
You better not pout.
You better not cry
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town

Do you picture being alone in a dark room with Steve Buschemi or Willem Defoe or Jack Nicholson a la The Shining when you hear those lyrics? Yeah, me too. But don't worry guys, it's okay, because he sees you when you're sleeping, and he knows when you're awake! Hurrah!

And on that high note...

I wish you all a safe, happy, and warm holiday season, filled with hot chocolate, Charlie Brown, feminist snowflakes, and lots and lots of love!

Taco Tuesdays: Guadalajara Downtown

Tuesday, December 23, 2014
I'm in a bit of a holiday rut.

I know. Coming from the girl who basically IS Christmas (what does that even mean). I normally relish every peppermint-coated, egg nog-soaked, gingerbread-kissed (stop? got it) second between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this year I find myself wanting to plow through all of it. December has just been so jam-packed that I haven't really had a chance to watch Elf 67 times, which is a struggle, you know? I'm certainly not complaining because I'm at a super content place in my life right now, but maybe I just want Christmas to be here pronto, amiright?

Regardless, I still have managed to sneak in a few joyous festive moments! Like recently, my dear friend Meredith and I went to look at the Christmas lights on the old homes at the Heritage Society. And, we got to meet someone really cool...

Because we're adults and we do what we want.

But before we did that, we had dinner at Guadalajara downtown, and it was hella good!

My parents used to live downtown, so we would often walk over from their place to Guadalajara. I hadn't been in about 2 years, so it was great to go back!

To start, I ordered the sangria off of the Happy Hour menu, and Meredith ordered the spiked horchata, aka Liquidy Christmas Magic Down Your Throat. My sangria was okay, but it was a little heavier than I like it. Her Liquidy Christmas Magic Down Your Throat was velvety, smooth, soul-warming, and filled with a healthy pour of tequila and nine jolly elves. I'm pretty sure a few of those would definitely put me in the Christmas spirit!

(They might also put me in a bathtub wondering where the last five hours of my life went).

Well, that took a dark turn.

......

Chips! And salsa! And a drink on the menu called a Horny Iguana!

(Do I need to give this blog post a parental advisory warning?)

The Guadalajara salsa is top-notch y'all. They serve it warm, and flavor-wise it's definitely more earthy than sweet. Awesome.

To start we ordered the spinach and feta cheese sweet corn tamales, which for the record I LOVE. The creamy spinach and feta cheese filling is rich, sweet, slightly tart, and downright decadent.

This unique departure from your regular run-of-the-mill tamale is so delightful!

You probably could have lived your lives never having seen the inside of my tamale, huh? Apologies.

In general I like to change things up when I eat out. I'm typically not an "I found one dish I love and now I will only ever order that" type of person... Except when it comes to Mexican food. I find my favorites, and I stick with them. Pre-vegetarian days, I would always get beef fajitas at every Mexican restaurant I went to (I'm telling you, I still have dreams about the fillet fajitas at El Tiempo, GOOD LORD). And now that I'm a vegetarian, you can put money on the fact that I will always order some version of this:

A veggie-filled quesadilla of wonder.

This particular quesadilla was filled with cheese, mushrooms, and spinach. Ugh, and it was good. You know what bums me out? A soggy quesadilla. You know what this was? A not-soggy quesadilla. You know what else bums me out? A dry quesadilla. You know what this was? A not-dry quesadilla. Guadalajara has mastered the perfect balance of a crispy toasted quesadilla with moist <~~(invitation to hate me granted), flavorful contents on the inside. There were a ton of savory, smooth, veggies packed in, and the gooey plethora of cheese did not leave me disappointed. This was a darn good quesadilla. Meredith had a 3 taco sampler, and she dubbed my dish as the winner.

Guadalajara is a Houston chain, so with a few different locations, you've got options folks. The environment is fun, the prices are decent, and the food is quality. So ho ho ho your way on over!

#notsorry

Guadalajara Del Centro on Urbanspoon

Happy Hour at Oishii

Tuesday, December 16, 2014
I found the best Happy Hour deal in Houston.

Okay, well I didn't find it, I was actually a little slow to hop on the Oishii gravy train, but I'm so glad to have finally experienced it!

My friend Megan and I decided to check out this no-frills Greenway Plaza sushi spot for Happy Hour recently, and we were not disappointed.

Get this: $3 sakes (plus other various cheap drinks), and a list of about 25 $4/Buy One Get One Free appetizers. I mean, they're basically giving this stuff away. And it's great food to boot!

I started off with a sake, miso soup, and green salad. They give you quite a healthy pour for $3 worth of sake. The miso soup was outstanding - the perfect amount of saltiness, with TONS of seaweed and tofu. And the salad was your standard Japanese salad with tasty, flavorful, tart ginger dressing. Off the bat it was clear that despite incredibly low prices, they do not skimp on quality or quantity!

Next up I ordered the kanpyo roll and vegetable tempura roll.

The kanpyo (squash) roll, I'll admit, was pretty unexciting. The squash had such a mild flavor that the rice really took over. It wasn't terrible, it just needed some more pizazz.

But the veggie tempura roll was delicious. It contained a healthy amount of vegetables in the filling and had a delightful light crunch to it. I ate every bite!

Even though we were pretty much full, we had to order more (since let's be honest, everything was basically free!). So we split the vegetable tempura and the vegetable tempura roll (yes again, because I wanted her to try it).

The vegetable tempura was outstanding. The tempura coating was light, buttery, and flaky. It was not super crunchy, but it definitely was not soggy. The vegetables inside (onions, carrots, zucchini, broccoli) were popping with silky flavor, and shone beautifully through the exterior coating. It was absolutely superb!

Oishii is such a great little spot - Be sure to get to Happy Hour early because as we were leaving there was a substantial wait. The service is fast and friendly, the food is tasty, and the prices are incomprehensible. I think our bill came out to $11 a person!


Tempura.for.days.

Oishii Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar on Urbanspoon

Just Dinner on Dunlavy

Thursday, December 4, 2014
I have a little story about how the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

My parents have been telling me for the better part of two years that I have to eat at Just Dinner on Dunlavy. "It's so romantic!" "It's so cute!" "The food is great!" "It's BYOB!" "It's totally affordable!" "If you don't go now, we will actually disown you and never again acknowledge you as our offspring!"

(if only I were kidding about that last one).

So after hearing/enduring all of the praises mild threats, I finally made reservations for the bf and I to have dinner there the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving at 7:00.

"Mom, Jon and I are going to Just Dinner Wednesday night at 7:00!"

There was a long pause. Then my mother started laughing. "Wednesday night?" (yes) "This Wednesday night?" (uh-huh) "As in Wednesday the 26th, your father and I's anniversary?" (uhh..yes?) "We have reservations there at 6:45."

I promptly changed our reservation to 8:00.

And boy did we confuse the restaurant staff with their having two reservations under the name "Ogonosky" in one night, let me tell ya.

But my parents were absolutely right - Just Dinner is housed in an old, completely unassuming, charming bungalow on Dunlavy and Welch. With no more than roughly 20 [fashion magazine-lined] tables in the place, it's incredibly intimate and romantic. And delicious!

And with a BYOB $10 corking fee, I was totally game! We brought a bottle we had acquired from our trip to the La Cruz de Comal winery we visited earlier in the month, and we enjoyed every last drop!
 
They started us off with these complementary crackers and creamy dipping sauce, which I believe was a combo of pesto and hummus, and which consequently sent me into a giddy tailspin. It was a lovely way to start everything off.

I told our incredibly attentive and friendly server that I was debating between what I would like to start off with - the mixed garden greens or a side of the blue cheese polenta.

"Oh I  definitely recommend the mixed garden greens - that's what your mom started off with!"

Oy.

This was a good salad. But let me be clear - This was not a life-changing salad. When I read "pear, goat cheese, pistachios, and pomegranate vinaigrette" I was expecting something with a little more pizazz. It was definitely pretty to look at, but it was relatively ordinary tasting. I think perhaps it was a little heavy on the sweet stuff (pear, pomegranate vinaigrette). Possibly a stronger cheese or a different nut would have made me love it more.

Jon ordered the pork belly appetizer, and based on his reaction, I'm pretty sure that was life-changing.

I was also pretty sure that promptly after dinner he'd be leaving me to run off with a pork belly appetizer. And after having past pre-vegetarian life-changing pork belly experiences, I can't say that I really would've blamed him.

For my entree I ordered the stuffed collard rolls.

Filled with quinoa, black rice, and amaranth, and topped with a roasted red pepper sauce, this was a very unique and interesting dish. Coming form a Polish background, I was expecting something similar to golumpki (look it up, make it, and then give me some, thanks), but this was a much earthier dish. I liked the nutty flavors of the stuffing combined with the smooth zippy red pepper sauce, but I felt like the middle could have used something else to help bring it together a little better. Perhaps taking a cue from my beloved golumpki, the addition of a tomato paste would have worked well. I definitely enjoyed it, though I would probably order something different next time.

But THIS.

I went ahead and threw caution to the wind and also ordered a side of the blue cheese polenta because I'm a risk taker. This was life-changing. Guys, I died. I mean, I really died. I died, and left Jon, and rode off into the sunset with a bowl of blue cheese polenta because it was that good. The creamy, buttery, smooth, rich, decadent, savory, velvety, masterpiece of a bowl contains the secret to life. It's for sure in the running for one of the best things I've eaten in the past year. Marry it now (I told you the place was romantic).

After coming off of my polenta-induced high, I couldn't not order dessert. And after looking at the menu, I couldn't not order the gooey, rich chocolate cake which wouldn't not put me on another high and force me to use an offensive amount of double negatives. This cake was ooh-ahhingly, eye-rollingly, sensationally good. It almost, almost beat out the warm chocolate cake from Backstreet Cafe.

So grab your spouse, your significant other, your best friend, or your favorite bowl of polenta, and make a reservation for the most charming, romantic, unassuming, delicious spot in town!

Be sure to put your reservation under the name "Ogonosky."

Just Dinner on Dunlavy on Urbanspoon

Happy Hour at Sanctuari Bar

Tuesday, November 25, 2014
THANKSGIVING IS THIS WEEK AND I'M SO EXCITED I'M LOSING MY MIND!!!

You know what else I'm losing my mind over? The ri.di.cu.lous Happy Hour at Triniti's Sanctuari Bar.

But before we go any further, I suppose it's worth noting that my blog has a new address and new look! It's now living at www.adventuresinanewishcity.com! I'm super pumped about this.

Now onto Sanctuari!

First let me apologize in advance for the terrible quality of photos I've got going on here in this post. The ambiance of the place is super intimate and dimly lit, which is not conducive to my amateur photography skills. Just know that everything you're about to see was 1,000 times more beautiful that it appears!

(like that mirror).

If you haven't noticed, my good friend Megan is generally my go-to Houston Happy Hour partner in crime. So she and I decided to hit up the new and much-buzzed about Santuari Bar at Triniti last Thursday. I had been to Triniti once about a year ago, but deleted all of my photos in a fit of technological bird-brainedness, so I found myself visiting there recently with a clean slate, a new bar, and a fresh fall menu!

First off, Happy Hour isn't truly a happy hour without a few libations. And Megan was completely transfixed by the $12 mystery carafe on Sanctuari's Happy Hour menu. "What's in it?" she asked the bartender. "It's a secret," he said, with a gleam in his eye. And I'm all, "Okay, I'd like to order a gin marti-" and Megan's all, "WE'RE GETTING THE MYSTERY CARAFE."

So mystery carafe it was! We talked to the bartender about each of our preferences - She likes sweet, I like dry, is that impossible?, no, etc., and he came back with an amazing little concoction of hop gin, strawberry liquor, lemon, sugar, and prosecco, which he just made up on the spot. Light and sweet, yet dry, it was the perfect compromise and the perfect way to start out that happy hour.

Megan: Mmm, this is GOOD! Would you like to try the "mystery drink"??

(The bartender politely declined.)

(And no, we don't typically offer strangers a sip of our drinks. Apparently that's frowned upon).

Why, yes I took a picture of the super cool bathroom to show you! In the words of Canadian poet genius Bryan Adams, Everything I do, I do it for you...

Triniti is a pretty fancy Houston restaurant - one that would be a "special occasion" restaurant for me were I to dine off of their dinner menu. Luckily, like so many other fancy Houston restaurants, Triniti offers one helluva a food menu at Sanctuari during Happy Hour. AND there is a "small plates" section on Triniti's regular dinner menu that offers decently priced sharable food items.

We were faced with a wide spectrum of potential dishes to taste. Since we (undoubtedly) looked like two deer caught in a headlight, the super friendly manager came over and had an in-depth conversation with us about the food. After much deliberation, we took his advice and ordered three apps to share.

The first item we ordered was a mushroom flatbread that included potatoes, corn, and greens. And some sort of delicious caramely sauce (balsamic? chutney? love?). This dish was outstanding and so beautifully textured with different levels of flavor. It was tangy, sweet, and utterly decadent. I definitely 100% recommend ordering this as a starter if you go.

Oh, I just love french fries.

ESPECIALLY the herb frites at Sanctuari. Perfectly crispy and salted, they definitely stand out among the vast array of delicious fries in Houston. And the aioli served with them was tart, tangy, slightly spicy, and downright heavenly!

The last appetizer we shared was the tomato soup, served with a pimento cheese kolache (um, hello lover) and eggplant jam. I can think of nothing more brilliant and creative than a fancy grilled cheese sandwich with fancy tomato soup. The perfect little puff of an oozing kolache was the ideal compliment to the creamy, rich, soul-warming soup. The tomato soup was not too acidic, and overall it was quite the delightful nosh.

Still riding her mystery carafe high, Megan decided dessert was a good choice (I mean, is dessert ever a bad choice?).

We ordered their special fall dessert, which was a tart with a pumpkin pie-like filling, topped with a different assortment of goodies, such as pomegranate seeds (no I don't actually know the name of the dessert, or what else was on it, because I didn't write the name down, and it's not listed online, and I've failed you as a food blogger, and FORGIVE ME PLEASE.) But this was good. The dessert wasn't overly sweet, which I liked, and it was a subtly unique departure from your regular pumpkin pie (which for the record, I LOVE). I wasn't completely floored by it like I was with everything else, but it was smooth, comforting, and it definitely tasted like fall!

The Happy Hour at Sanctuari Bar really hits it out of the park. With everything we ordered, our bill came out to about $40, but with the delicate detail that went into each unique, innovative dish, the price should have been double or even triple the actual amount. If you're looking to try some of Houston's finest, most exquisite food on a budget, Sanctuari is definitely the way to go!

Wishing everyone a warm, love-filled, delicious, and happy Thanksgiving!

Sanctuari on Urbanspoon

Vacation Days: The Texas Hill Country

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
It's no secret that I love to travel and am by nature a forever-agitated nomad. But with the amount of cross country and international traveling I've been doing this past year, it's easy to forget that there are equally even more awesome places to visit right here in our very own Texan backyard! This past weekend I took a road trip to the beautiful Texas Hill Country with my boyfriend Jon to attend the engagement party of his friends Mark and Kelly. It was an absolutely lovely perfect weekend, so onto the pictures!

^ Because a Hot Bagel and a pumpkin DD coffee is what the start of vacation looks like for me. #duh

And as we all know, a Texas road trip isn't complete without a stop to see everyone's favorite beaver!

(aka: losing your significant other in the toy aisle)


Historic New Braunfels is already the cutest thing you ever did see. Paired with adorable Christmas decorations, I died a thousand happiness deaths.

And can we talk about how freezing it was this weekend? (My NYC friends so want to punch me in the face right now). But for real! On Friday as we were waiting for check-in time to get into our river cabin, Jon and I stopped off at Huisache Grill in New Braunfels to fuel up and warm our tootsies by the fire. The food was amazing, the building was so fah-reaking adorable, and omg FRIED BRIE. This place was awesome.

Check out the amazing view from the cabin we rented with Jon's friends Blake and Katie. We contemplated jumping into the river but decided hypothermia isn't all it's cracked up to be. The place we stayed at is called the Comal River Cottages, and again - Just awesome.

A trip to New Braunfels wouldn't be complete without a visit to Gruene! On Saturday we had lunch at The Gristmill, danced a bit at Gruene Hall, and did a little antique Christmas shopping. Even though it was cold and rainy, we were not deterred! The whole town is unbelievably charming and picturesque.

That night we attended Mark and Kelly's engagement party in Cibolo, which was a "stock the bar" party. It was so much fun, and I'm now convinced that stock the bar parties are the most genius things to happen ever. EVER.

That was our gift to them, but I can't take any credit for it since I'm a crafting disaster, and Jon is a twine and glitter ninja (He's also super happy that I just referred to him as a "twine and glitter ninja" on the internet. You're welcome).

I loved the whole weekend, but if I had to choose a favorite day from the trip it would have to be Wineday.

I mean Sunday.

We went to two different hill country wineries and had such a blast. First we stopped off at Dry Comal Creek Vineyards. We got to taste twelve (TWELVE!) different wines at this fun, laid-back winery, and once again I died and went to Christmas (what does that even mean).

 After Dry Comal Creek, we headed over to La Cruz de Comal Wines for another tasting. The vineyards and the tasting room are absolutely stunning. And the six wines we tasted were out of this world.

^Above two wine drunk photos taken by Katie.
If you're looking for a fun, interesting, romantic, relaxing weekend away, look no further than your own Texan backyard. I hadn't been in a very long time, and it was such a great trip. I can't wait to go back!

And if you think I'm not going to pitch a tent in the middle of a vineyard, you have got another thing coming to you.

*All photos, unless otherwise noted, were taken with my iPhone 5.
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