happy 4th to us

Don't worry, I know I didn't post yesterday.  It was totally on purpose.  Linz and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary last night.  We went and stayed at the Driskill downtown and had a great time.  So blogging was put off for a night.  I'll double up tomorrow so that we are all square.  Deal?

First off it rained big time.  So when we were outside, it was just to run between the hotel and the car.  We had diner out in Dripping Springs at the Wilson Appliance store.  The Human society was doing a fundraiser and had 5 different food trailer chefs cooking up meals.  It was fun to mingle, drink wine, sample amazing food, and try to justify some really interesting silent auction items.  60 min cat massage anyone?

Then we went back and hung out at the Driskill bar.  We had so much fun we just stayed there.  Tons of people in town since SXSW started today along with the Austin Rodeo (the rodeo queens were staying at the Driskill).  Linz and I had several rounds of Bat-tinis, listened to some really great live music, and watched the south by hipsters merge in and out with the cowboys.

Bat-tini at the Driskill Bar, same place LBJ and Lady Bird had their first date.

Slept in the next morning and went down to the 1886 Bakery.  Everything was so good.  The fresh made pastries and the Illy coffee really hit the spot.  It was the perfect morning to go.  We had a booth next to the window.  It was in the low 40's and rainy.  The old windows were giving off there own cool temps while the strong coffee warmed you up.

Every time I go some where that serves Illy coffee, I get so excited and drink way too much.

We went back to the room for some reading and relaxing before heading to South Congress.  It was starting to pour down rain, but we couldn't pass up stopping at the Dock and Roll trailer on South First.  I don't know how many of you have ever had a lobster roll, but they serve them right, and they are so delicious.  Since Linz and I travel to Maine every year, I feel like I can say with some confidence that these are legit.  If you go, don't forget to get some of their different home made sauces on the side to put on the roll. So, so good.

We couldn't wait to take the pic until after it was half gone.  It is just too good.

After the roll, we headed to SoCo and final exchanged my boots at Heritage that Linz got me for Christmas that where a size too small.  Ended up finding some really sweet shark skin ones that where everything I had been looking for in a boot.  So next time you go out dancing with us, watch out, I'm bringing my A game.

Finished off the day by heading up to the Bovards to pick up Louie.  We hung out with the kids for a few hours before coming home.  You know I can't go too long without posting Louie pics, so enjoy.

Those Bovard babies love that Lou-man

He really misses us when we are gone

cool, no worries, it is what it is

-G-

pickles

A post about pickles??? Why? well because I have like 4 topics that I have been jotting notes about, they are good topics but they way have some political flair which may rub some readers the wrong way. In a quasi-redonk way this may help you understand me. So on to the pickles, which should explain what I am talking about.... I think.
So, most people in America eat pickles but do most pickle-eaters know where they come from???

I don't mean what town they were jarred in.  Or, which store they are from.  I mean what is the history of the pickle?  Well its actually been around for about 4,000 years when ancient people were preserving cucumbers.  Both Napoleon and Washington were obsessed with them.  And they are a pretty healthy snack.  But what difference does it make if you like the way they taste. Well..... to you it may not matter, but to me it does.  I never have liked pickles, for most of my life I thought they were pretty gross (which is a shame b/c my granny makes fantastic homemade pickles and I waited all these years to enjoy them).  I never did mind a little pickle juice, I always ordered my chickfila sandwiches "as-is" and took the pickles off later so I could get a little pickle nectar on my sandwich.

 

So, I was always OK with the flavor, I just didn't want to stick those weird looking things in my mouth.  But a year and a half ago we were having a big meal with the wife's family and I just decided to eat one.  And.... I didn't really like it all that much, but that didn't matter, I had cleared the hurdle of eating one, my first one at age 26 (I know sad).  So did I eat another one??? of course not, not until I could get home and google the history of pickles and find out if any historical figures had eaten them.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find out they were such an old food stuff.  Once I knew that, I went out of my way to eat as many different kinds, at as many different places as possible...... how else would you learn to like something?????

I did this same sort of thing with most seafood and with sushi.

Yes, I have eaten all the above creatures.  Why? Well to make it short. My first sushi(just raw fish, I still don't like the rolls) I ate b/c my friend Matt ordered some.  So, after trying it and finding out people had been eating it for 1000's of years I decided to like it. The lobster b/c my wife likes it and we travel to Maine every year, but mostly I just respect the claws(the only part of the lobster I actually like is claw meat, I give the tail to whoever wants it). The sea urchin???? well we were in L.A. for a long weekend and why the heck not??? The Uni will not be a repeat.
So what am I saying? Well to be honest it has changed since this post started.  At first it was more of a "I need to know the background of something before I can get behind it" which seems like it would make any view I have more substantive.  But as I write this out I realized something about myself, the above quoted words are a load of butt shark.  I don't really think everything out to the extreme. In fact what I realized is that I have changed quite a bit since I was a younger. I have gotten a little older and I got married.  Here is what this post helped me realize:
1. I am really open minded about things/people/whatever and I want to like it so I will give just about anything a try.
2. I need to find a reason to like this thing in my life.  Most things I like cause it is quirky or relaxing or they help people or it's fun or....... insert good thing about life here (it doesn't have to be logical).
3. Once I find a good enough reason I will choose to like/dislike something regardless of criticism unless you/it can appeal to my open-mindedness.
Here is the dirty little secret.... this is how we all are.  But, sometimes as we get older or have other priorities in life we loose touch with being open to new things.  If you notice the 3 things above, they are meant to be cyclical.  I think this is how we are supposed to be.  The funny thing about the pickle is.... I hate, I mean it, I can't stand cucumber, just everything about it tastes wrong.  So what is it that I really like??? The flavor, which is just a little marinade and a little time.