Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Austin Slide Show

We jumped on the opportunity to get away last weekend and traveled to Austin, Texas. A long time friend of mine, Cheryl Ruhmann-Botelho, was celebrating her recent marriage by throwing an incredible dinner party at the Four Seasons. Although the wedding party was the reason for our trip, some of the other highlights of our stay were captured in the following side show. Hanging out in the hip SoCo (South Congress) district, dinning around town, a trip to the largest Whole Foods (a raw foodists dream store), time at the pool, watching the famous Austin bats fly and spending time with good friends made for a perfect long weekend.

I had an amazing entree/salad the first evening for dinner at La Traviata. You can see it in the beginning of the slide show for a visual. It was a beautiful combination of zucchini, green olives, pistachios, italian parsley, fresh mint. I ordered it without the pecorino but they substituted shaved jicama (brilliant). I'm guessing the dressing/marinade was a zesty lemon vinegarette. It was so delicious and fresh. I also had their special salad of the evening which was put together from local fresh produce. I wish I'd have gotten a photo of it's vibrancy as well.
Besides a brief run through the Saturday morning Austin Farmer's Market, our trip to Whole Foods at 6th & Lamar (their flagship store, attached to WF's corporate offices) was honestly my personal highlight of the trip. As a bonafide foodie and I nearly teared up when I arrived at the raw section of the store. Not only did they have a separate raw deli with impressive offerings (see the slide show), they also had a chef making raw dishes fresh to order. There was a class happening later in the day and I would have loved to attend that. The whole store was amazing and the salad bar made me want to rip my clothes off and dive in to the gigantic & numerous troughs of leafy greens. I've never seen such an impressive salad bar in my life. My husband was also nearly intoxicated from the sights and sounds all around us. Perhaps that's because he found the organic wine tasting area of the store rather quickly. If you get a chance to visit this mega store, please go check it out.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sooooo jealous!!! Why can't they have one like that here? Tulsa is just as hip as Austin!....kinda.

I'm so glad you got to get away and have a wonderful weekend. It looks like it was fab.

xoxo P

Anonymous said...

I'm so jealous too!! My sister and I took a raw food class in Austin last month but we got so lost around Austin we coundn't find the Whole Foods only a ton of H.E.B.'s. We took the level 1 Alisa Cohen class from Marsha's Raw Food Kitchen www.marshasrawfoodskitchen.com and it was a lot of fun. I love your blog and have added to ours. My sister Shalee and I statred a blog because were going to do the next challenge with Bunny. The pictures look great. You guys are such a cute couple and your skin looks amazing.

Danieal
http://2rawsisters.blogspot.com

Carrie Nicole said...

Oh wow, I think I would have teared up too. I get very emotional these days when I get to experience things that I am passionate about and love to my core (happened a couple of weeks ago as I drove into Carmel, CA.)

Just that store alone would be enough to make me move to Austin. I visited Austin with a college roommate a number of years back as we were both considering graduate school there. My friend ended up living there and I've always wanted to go back. It was just the coolest city!

Deika Elmi said...

so glad you had a great weekend Penni, Austin is great, I love that town. Its my new adopted hometown, my best friend Diane lives there and I go to Austin every year when I come home. I haven't been to the Wholefoods at 6th and Lamar but I've heard from others too that its amazing. You look so pretty, radiant and young in the pictures from your weekend. Have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend, love Dea xoxo

Lisa (Pixywinks) said...

WooHoo! I love that Whole Foods. It is amazing. I was so happy to discover they had that whole raw food section. We got a new one in Dallas about a year ago. They say it's bigger than the Austin one, but I don't think so. It is very nice tho.
I love Austin. Glad you got to experience the "weirdness"! I go every chance I get.
XO
Pixy Lisa

Lisa said...

Hi! I'm wondering what's the recipe on the top of the blog today? Looks amazing!!!!

Anonymous said...

So fun!! You are as vibrant as ever and your hubby looks happy as a clam. The hey cupcake airstream made me giggle. That is my dream machine! I thinke we need a girls trip to Austin in the future!

I am in Dallas right now. I took off with the kids yesterday and vowed not to return without a contract for a new home :) I head out with a new realtor in 10 minutes...and I believe God already picked the home for me. I am seeing it first.

MARYYX said...

Hey Penni - next time you are in Texas, feel free to stop by and visit! We are just off of I20, in the DFW area. It would be SO cool to meet you!

Next time we drive up to Kansas, I'm going to try to talk my husband into make a detour to Tulsa, too!

I've been in that Austin Whole Foods store - my two brothers live in Austin. Before my mom died, we used to go to Austin a lot. It is an amazing store.

I've been trying to get a job at Whole Foods for months - I'd love to have the 20% discount! No luck sofar - but I'll keep trying.

Love ya
maryyx

Anonymous said...

I always love it when you share photos of yourself and your husband and all that you are doing. It looks like it was a great time.

One day there will be raw bars like that all over the place! I giggled and visualized you jumping into the food all nekkid. ;-)

Lots of love to you, Penni!

Wendi
XOXOXO