backyard birthday plus Big Franks

I'm infinitely jealous of my sister's sunny backyard. So much so that after yesterday's perfect weather in the East Bay birthday hang-out I started looking on Craigslist for a new place to live. We have a charming apartment, I know this and so do all of you from the Apartment Therapy article. But we have no sun, no light, no outside space. And it's been a long rainy winter and spring this year. Waahhh, boo hoo, I'll shut up now.

hump day

I've got the kids this week while mom and dad are out of town. Not that I'm counting, but we're just about at the halfway mark here. Thankfully everyone's been sleeping through the night, but man-I have a whole new respect for stay-at-home moms.

let's work together

We've been talking about this for awhile, but for some reason it took forever to actually make happen. Combining two good things to make something even better!

high above

Not exactly Austin, but from our trip.

A16

This was only the second time I've eaten at A16 but if I could afford it, I'd be there all the time. I tried three different wines and although I'm totally paying for it today, I still think it was worth it. We didn't order the Pizza Margherita and I wish we had. It's the only pizza I've eaten that tastes just like Italy. There are other exceptional pizza's in the city, but I think it's the tomato flavor that A16 has managed to capture. Roasted fava beans and light-as-air ricotta gnocchi really stood out to me, and although I didn't eat any, I can tell you right now that the prosciutto tasting was brilliant.

a working vacation

Even though we were in Austin for 4 nights, we saw very little of the city. The fair was all day Saturday and Sunday and our big day for looking around was inhibited by lightning and rain. I managed to take a few pictures and when loading them onto my camera I noticed they were almost all alcoholic beverages. I swear we did more than drink, but it'd be hard to prove it.

my house is a mess

You would not believe the piles of dishtowels that are all printed, folded and tagged in our dining room. For the last few nights we've eaten dinner from the couch because the table was too crowded. The twine we have running down the hallway have been packed, but at last are empty again. With the exception of minor signage adjustments, we're ready for Austin.

garden party

It was a perfect spring day in my sister's garden.

printed

We had our last photography class this week, which was a field trip to Dickerman Prints. We spent a few hours tinkering around in Photoshop on any photos we wished to print and were given access to gigantic photo paper. I totally got carried away and printed this image out in a 28"x 40" version. It looks amazing and I can't wait to get it up on the wall.

caught

strawberries in a little cupcake box

must go outside

It's the third weekend in a row with glorious weather. We had rain all week, but today, wow sunshine. I went to the market first thing and bought 4 lbs. of asparagus to attempt pickling tomorrow. We received a jar as a gift over the holidays that was spectacular, crunchy and spicy and perfect. I want to try to re-create if possible. If they work, you'll get the recipe.
Did you see the new towel? I like having my words immortalized, but also Cristina did a nice job with the actual design. So far it's been printed in green and electric blue, but more colors are on the way.