I love My Job...and Franklin BBQ

My office is a pretty fun place to work. We always try to find yummy/local places to bring into the office, like Gourdoughs on Congress and Sweetish Hill Bakery. This weekend is the boss's birthday, so when she mentioned reading the recent article in Bon Appétit Magazine, raking Austin's Franklin BBQ #1 IN AMERICA, we knew we all had to try it for her special lunch!!! So at 9:30 this morning a coworker and I embarked on what would be a very surprising trip to pick up the celebratory meal.

We left the capitol and headed to the Eastside where Franklin is located. We drove up and parked right in front although several people had already gathered on the small deck next to the front door. We joined the group only to realize we were #12 in line AN HOUR AND A HALF BEFORE THEY OPENED. No big deal we though thought, we found two cute retro, metal lawn chairs in the shade and parked it.

A few minutes later, after about a dozen more people were in line, an employee came out to inform us that we were not properly wrapping the line around the front of the building, and instructed us to snake the line in a different direction. This landed us in the sun. The hot, blistering, 100 degree heat. Fabulous. Just under an hour left to wait and there were 38 people in line.

As we stood there we learned that the first person in line got there at 8:45AM. Now, I have eaten Franklin BBQ before, and coming into this experience, I agreed it was worth the hype, but this outrage was beginning to make me wonder.

With 35 minutes to go and 50+ people in line, Lauren started asking people around us if they needed to use some of her sunscreen and had downed 3 glasses of water. The heat was starting to take its toll on us.

At approximately 10:40 a cute little waitress started walking the line asking for the total pounds of meat each customer would be ordering. When it got close to the number of pounds they prepare each day, bigger orders at the end of the line, are turned away.

The last 10 minutes were brutal. We were absolutely melting, and despite some mood music they turned on, it was miserable. But FINALLLY, at 11AM on the dot, the magical BBQ doors opened while over 100 people waited in line.

On the inside it was as though we stepped into some sort of BBQ paradise. The smells were so thick and delicious that all our line partners were instantly happy again.
When it was our turn at the counter Franklin himself was slicing the brisket and talked us through ordering for 15 people. It was seriously a gift from God when he sliced us each a "sample" piece to take down right there at the counter. And divine it really was.

I must stop here and say that I was born and raised about 10 minutes away from the world famous Salt Lick BBQ. Not only that, but my parents know the owner, some of the waitresses and all the security very well. If people tell me about a "good place for BBQ," I usually laugh at their ignorance. Salt Lick is King, always has been, always will be in my book.

Well until that juicy, melt in your mouth piece of "sample" brisket hit my lips today. At that moment, the wait was worth it and the Salt Lick king fell.

We loaded up the 10lbs of meat and 5 quarts of sides, and all the pickles and onions the server could cram into a container, and headed back to the the office-- sunburned, but happy.

We unloaded the BBQ goods on the office conference table and took to the feast. It was incredible. Everyone, including the birthday girl boss, agreed it was, in fact the best BBQ EVER.

(ps. I know that is  a terrible picture, but its the only one of the spread)

The rest of the afternoon was pretty quite. And I am not sure if it was the food coma or the damage the sun did to our energy tanks, but Lauren and I both left the office a little early today.

Bottom line: It's so great to work in a place where you can enjoy a big, happy meal as a group. And it's even better when that meal is the BEST BBQ IN AMERICA--even if it was a hot hour and a half waiting for it.  If you have a morning to spare, go wait in line at Franklin BBQ.

(and for the real play by play go to my Twitter feed, I LiveTweeted the whole trip! @SaraMarieK)
Happy Thursday everyone!!

xoxo Sara Marie

Blog-a-Roll

In my initial post I mentioned that I read all kinds of blogs every day. I also said I would share good finds from these blogs. Well, I lied. I haven't done it yet. And instead of making all these little notes of funny/cool/interesting/good deal type of stuff as I browse throughout the day, I thought I'd, instead, share a list, with some description/opinion, of some of my favorite blogs. I'll group them in different categories, so if you are into one, skip to the next, duh.  Here we go...

Everyday Stuff (mostly girly):

Booking It On The N- Obviously I have to start with the blog I first mentioned. This is the book review blog that my college roommate runs. She is a great writer and very informative. She reviews all different types of books and before any long vacations, I'd suggest checking her site out to get some ideas for relaxing reads on your trip. I have a list of 5 books right now from her blog alone.

Everyday Ellis- This blog is by a high school classmate of my sister. It covers everyday life, recipes, a little fashion, and lots of do-it-yourself projects. I like this blog because it fuels my ambition to do more crafty things like cooking from scratch and decorative projects for my condo. The Wino Wednesday is also helpful!

Life with the Barlows- This blog follows the life of a college classmate of mine. We were not close friends, but she played volleyball at Fordham, and through her blog I have realized we had similar experiences in NYC. It's fun to watch someone tackle "growing up" and "the real world," as I do the same. (Although she is married and expecting now, which could not be farther from my life, but she is still very creative with her layout and entertaining with her stories.)

Loving Wings- This blog is by a former colleague of mine and she is incredibly talented. She posts recipes and stories, but her specialty is definitely photography. She shares a lot of the photo shoots she does, and not only are the pictures exceptional, she is also very original.

Those are the sort of everyday life blogs I like to read. The next category of blogs is health and fitness. For allll of that, I go to Shape.com. It started when another college classmate of mine (Us Fordham alumni are just so damn talented!) started a blog on the Shape magazine website (she was an assistant editor at the magazine) called "Shaping up with Jenna." I loved the way Jenna took readers along on her journeys to accomplish goals. She was always in some kind of training program and it was nice to see someone else accomplish goals and work through injuries or struggles. Unfortunately, Jenna (but fortunately for her) moved over to Fitness magazine and is a Fitness Editor now, thus ending her Shape blog. I didn't have to look far though to find great replacements. Below are a few Shape blogs that are both extremely helpful and, as always, entertaining.

Health & Fitness: No description is really needed, one is nutritional, one focuses on workout tips and one is about fashion. If you can't figure out which is which by the title, you probably shouldn't cook, workout, or worry about your look because you have much bigger problems to deal with.

Fit Foodies
Working it Out
Style Diary

The next category is Current Events--mostly daily news, but also some rumor based information, and places to get my political junkie fix.

Current Events:

Drudge Report- This is my go to site for news outside of Twitter, where I follow all the major news outlets (like Fox News, CNN, etc). In the political world news generally leaks before it is actually reported on, and I have a rule, "If it is not on Drudge, it is not confirmed." haaa. I'm probably gonna take flack for that statement, but more times than not, it’s true, so back off.

Real Clear Politics- This is a good source of National political news. Lots of numbers and polling, but also pretty accurate.

Texas Political Info Blogs:
RightSideAustin- This is run by a former colleague, and while it is mostly cut and paste articles from other blogs/news sites, it's full of good information.

Willisms: This is also a former colleague. I like this blog/site because he goes beyond Texas, and beyond politics, at times and it is very well done. Lots of social media/marketing information here too.

PerryvsWorld: This blogs covers many of the rumors that fly around. Sometimes it's just the author’s opinion on such rumors, and sometimes it's proving/disproving them. Good stuff.

Statesman.com:
The Austin Newspaper site has several blogs that are helpful and/or entertaining each day.

First Reading: This is a local reporter that does a whole lot of cutting and pasting, but also links his daily articles from the print in his posts too.
Burka Blog: This is purely for entertainment value, unless you are a wako left winger. Most of his posts are angry rants, but since I've had the privilege of working with many conservative elected officials, including the Governor, it is fun to read his bogus/often incorrect/hilarious write ups.

Finally are my guilty pleasure blogs with celebrity gossip and reality TV info:

TMZ.com- Ridiculous, I know, but it's got alll the breaking news and mug shots of celebrities you could ever want. And while I don't care even a little bit about Lindsay Lohan (I assume California just let the girl self destruct rather than try and reform her), it is fun to read about Charlie Sheen's crazy "winning" and who the latest make ups and break ups are in Hollywood.

Jay Mohr's Real Housewives of New Jersey Blog- I know what you are thinking; "Ok now she's lost it." But this guy is hilarious. And after living in NYC for 5 years and actually attending college with two of the kids on the show, it's entertaining. Much like Jersey Shore. I lived among those crazy people and it’s fun to take a stroll down memory lane watching those crazy Italians stumble through life. Anyway, Jay Mohr's blog is so funny, even if you don't watch the show; you'll still laugh at his analogies and commentary.

That's it! Well actually, it's not, I could list even more (RedState, The Fix, Hot Air, Inside the Pink, etc) but this is already the longest post ever, so I'll stop before I lose even more readers. If you don't read blogs, other than this one obviously, try a few of these out, I promise you'll enjoy at least one of them, if not all. And if you do read blogs, add some, or one, or all of these to your rotation. If you are disappointed, fine, clearly we don't have the same taste, but if you do enjoy them, damn you have a great eye for talent.

xoxo Sara Marie

Weekend Review

I had a pretty good weekend folks. And after going over all of it in my head while I was getting ready for work this morning, I decided to share a few recommendations.

Friday the weekend started with Happy Hour at Eddie V's on 4th street in ATX. Awesome. We had a group of 7 or 8, and other than a waitress that was better equipped for the McDonald’s drive-thru than fine dining, it was good drinks, good food and good fun! (Happy Hour is weekdays at 430 and has great deals like $5 prosecco and cheap appetizers)

Next stop in the Friday night fun train (after a small gathering at my condo) was Shakespeare’s on 6th street. I'm not usually a big fan of Dirty 6th (as the East of Congress bars are commonly referred to) but this was an exception. We had a phenomenal time, and not just because we knew the bartender. Girl's night dance party is what it turned into, and after a detour to IHOP at midnight, where I became best friends with Bella our waitress, we slumber partied at my condo.

Saturday I headed up to Dallas to see my quasi little brother. The first thing we did was walk around the North Park Mall. If you are into all the most fabulous designers (read: expensive) then this is the mall for you. Also you must enjoy HUGE crowds. Obviously, after my dance party on Friday, this was not the ideal spot for me, so back to Bryan’s apartment we went where we napped and got some pool time in. Saturday night, we headed to Javier’s on the recommendation of my girl's night crew. It was delicious. We couldn't get reservations until 10pm, but it was well worth the wait. We had fajitas and margaritas, and both were exceptional.

For after dinner activities we headed to McKinney Street with the intention of hitting up Black Friar and Irish Riche Pub, but both were so incredibly crowded, that after waiting 20 minutes for a drink, we decided to call it a night and head home. I would not recommend that area on a Saturday night if you can't get there early or tolerate a lot of TCU/SMU frat daddies and their sorority picks of the week.

My final act of the weekend was to whip up a lemon chicken and veggie pasta dish with a butter/red pepper sauce. It was a tall order for me, but I got it through it with no major errors, and it tasted yummy. I will say, too, that my favorite part is that it's good cold too, so it makes the prefect lunch option during the work week. I suggest trying this out, or any pasta salad type dish, if you like taking your lunch to work.

So that's it... Eddie V's, Shakespeare’s, Javier’s, steer clear of North Park Mall in Dallas and McKinney St. late on a Saturday night, and try some lemon chicken with pasta... happppy weekend. And better yet, happy Monday.... here's to a quick week and big July 4th weekend!!

xox Sara Marie

The Fordham Network...

Last night I drove out to The Salt Lick to meet my parents for dinner. Somehow I got there early despite fighting traffic in rush hour. Anyway, I pulled into the parking lot and was waiting by my car when this couple pulled up in the spot next to me. The lady got out of the passenger's side and bolted over to my side of my car. She asked me, in a noticeably New York accent, "Did you go to Fordham University?" I immediately cracked a smile and proudly said, "Yes ma'am, I did." She had noticed my Fordham sticker on the back of my car and went on to tell me she had one son graduate from Fordham and two more there currently. Whoa. This is rare. I continued a small conversation with them for the next couple of minutes while I waited for my parents. I found out they were down from the Northeast attending a convention in Austin and decided to take the short trip out to try the famous BBQ. 30 miles out of a city that is over a thousand miles from their home, and our university, and we end up parked next to one another. Pretty awesome.

Happy Friday Yall!

xoxo Sara Marie

Ouch...

Two things I thought I would share with yall this evening...

1. This is a funny story.....Last night I played in a weekly flag football game. I've only made it to one of the three games my team has played thus far, so I was really excited to get out there and have some fun. Unfortunately, the game got a little too rough, and the entire right side of my body is stiff today. Yes, this is flag football, and yes I'm in pain. See sometime during my team's 40-something to ZERO loss, I collided with a teammate and ended up with a strawberry on my left shoulder, and bruises on both hips. In the collision I caught a knee in the right hip before flying into the air, doing a 180, and slammed against the ground on the opposite side I was hit on. Fortunately, I have a pretty fun team and we had a great time despite the butt-kicking and injuries. Tonight I'll just replace cross training with a hot, bubble bath to soak the sore muscles. Next week I'll watch out for my own teammates, oh, and try and score a few points.

2. The second thing is..... Southwest Airlines is running a special on ALL flights for another 24 hours. Depending on the distance of the flight, it will cost 40, 80, or 120 bucks each way. Just an example of what a great deal this is.... last month I looked at flights to Vegas from Austin (to go hang with my super cool sister) and round trip was over 450 bucks. Well today, round trip for TWO tickets to Vegas (later this fall) was less than 400. Whoa. People, be spontaneous and book a trip!

Now it's time for that bath...after I look up some hotel options in Vegas of course.


Happy Tuesday!

xoxo Sara Marie

I'm no food critic...

Ok this might be one of the more ridiculous posts ever, but I have to do it.....

My sister and I were sitting at lunch today with my parents. I got this delicious burger and on the side came pickles....bread and butter pickles....GROSS.... realllly gross. I told Emily, after smelling one and gagging, bread and butter pickles make me want to throw up. (see Dado, I told you I wouldn’t use the word "puke" hahhaha) Anyway, we started discussing foods we don't like. Before we knew it, Emily and I (who between the two of us we have FOUR degrees) were in a very intense conversation about not only disgusting foods, but also rare foods like scorpions on a stick and monkey brains. Now, this is a bogus conversation to have, but it's even more outrageous to have while eating lunch. In the end though we compiled a pretty impressive list of the foods that we'd starve before eating....

Before I list them, the criteria was simply that the food had to make us both cringe at the thought of it....

In no particular order....

1. Stewed Okra- Emily likes this but I'd rather eat the plate this is served on than the dish
2. Raw Oysters- Dado gave us some push back here, but Em and I agreed
3. Anchovies- Why do pizza places even ask if you want this included on the Sampler pizzas?
4. Liver and Gizzards- This sounds, smells and tastes horrible
5. Gaspacho- The inventor of cold soup is just stupid
6. Any food with Cumin- We realized this is just a spice, but it’s that gross
7. Luby's jello- crusty on the top and practically water underneath, ewww
8. Hospital food- Emily has had plenty and none of it works, ever
9. Sour Cream- Many people probably enjoy this condiment, but Kinney sisters DO NOT.
10. BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES- I don't think I even need to explain this, just wrong.

Happy Saturday folks. Mine is being spent with my family obviously. I hope you are having as much fun and really connecting with your loved ones on deep, meaningful levels as we clearly are over here in the Kinney family.

xoxo Sara Marie

Wally

Anyone who knows me, knows my dad. He has a larger than life character and almost everyone he meets likes him immediately. It's something about his good'ol boy approach to life that is contagious and makes everyone around him want to be more like him.

My dado, as I call him, has given my sister and me, and all the kids he has taken into our home, a lot over the years. But like most fathers, it wasn't the shoes and yankee games that meant the most over the years but rather the intangibles.

Two things I carry with me each day, I got from my dado. Whoa, that was by far an understatement. I carry a lot each day that I got from him but two particular things I'm really proud of and use as much as possible, is what I meant.....

The first is ambition. Dado not only taught me the importance of having ambition and always wanting more, but he showed me how it works too. He has a pretty remarkable life and got all of it with his own two hands. No matter what I do or where I go, from playing softball to working in the capitol, in places like New York City to right here in Austin, I will always be ambitious, and to Dado I owe that credit.

The next is a phrase he says to me, which I think of often.

       "Sometimes the best lesson is what not to do."

Today people are constantly searching for examples to follow when they could learn more, and do more, on their own if they take from situations "what not to do." In good times it's easy to follow someone else's lead. But after a poor experience most people walk away with nothing at all. A missed opportunity they assume. Well, not me. I try to find something to learn from, and more times than not, it's simply how not to act, or react, or respond. And that practice has been more valuable than simply replicating a good example.

My dado taught me these, and because of that, I'm pretty sure I’ll be successful in life. No matter what it is I'm doing professionally or personally I want to do the best job I can, that's my ambition. And when I fail or see someone else fail, I'm equipped with his lesson to benefit from that experience as well.

Those combined with the unconditional love (that I more than challenged a number of times in my life) is why my dado is such a great father.

So here's to you Dado, thanks for the love, the life lessons, and of course, all the shoes and yankee games too!!

I love you and Happy Father's Day.

xoxo Sara Marie

Tonight's Presidential Debate...

I was lucky enough to attend a presidential candidate debate back in 2008. It was surreal. Tonight's debate didn't have the same buzz. Maybe it's because we still have over 200 days until voters head to the polls like I mentioned earlier, or maybe it's because the candidates could not have been more boring. Well, maybe not all the candidates. But with 7 on the stage, there should have been, at least some, fireworks; and other than a sparkler here or there, it was a dark night up in New Hampshire.

First and for most I have to comment on the set up. Questions were asked from the audience, John King-the moderator, and via town halls being held all over the state. Each candidate had 30 seconds to answer which was, maybe once, actually adhered to. This seems like a good idea to keep questions moving quickly, however, it ended up just adding John King's continuous grunting and stammering to interrupt the candidates as they rambled past their 30 seconds.

Additionally, I must say something about the totally ridiculous "This or That" section. This was CNN's way of exiting to commercial breaks and welcoming back the audience from the same breaks, and included only questions that pitted one thing against another for the candidate to chose between. LAME. Some examples were asking Congresswoman Bachmann if she preferred Elvis or Johnny Cash. (She answered both, nice and safe) and businessman Herman Cain if he liked deep dish pizza or thin crust (answer: deep dish) Come on CNN. This is a PRESDIENTIAL debate, act like it. One tweet I saw during this part read, "if he answered, "this is a stupid F****** question" he'd have the nomination in the bag." That pretty much sums up my opinion on "This or That."

So on to candidates..... I figure there are a number of ways I can go about giving my thoughts. I can go over all the different issues, or each question, or candidate... I choose to just give you my thoughts on each candidate....and I'm going to go in the order in which they appeared on stage....

Rick Santorum: This guy is an SNL character waiting to happen, except he won't ever be relevant enough to joke about him on the show. He talks from the back of his mouth if you can even imagine what that looks and sounds like. He has some standard conservative answers to general questions but absolutely zero sizzle. I'm not sure who convinced this guy to run for President, but he doesn't have a shot in hell.

Michele Bachmann: This lady HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK. She started out a little awkward when she decided (after the introductions, and during the first question) to announce her campaign for the presidency. Before hand she had simply formed the exploratory committee. It was strange timing, and I sort of dismissed her right then. Boy was I wrong. Bachmann got stronger in every answer she gave. She hit Obama hard and didn't dance around any of her answers. I was seriously impressed and will be paying much closer attention to her campaign.

Newt Gingrich: I'm not sure if it was his plan or not, but he seemed to be laying low throughout the debate. His answers were noticeably shorter than all the other candidates (this is rare for him) and he never got too worked up over any particular topic. I've seen Gingrich give a pretty good speech. (Texas State Republican Convention 2008 in Houston) He was very energized in his "Drill here, Drill now" moment and it was exceptional. The Newt from that speech was not on stage tonight. I will say he did have sound answers on immigration.

Mitt Romney: The obvious front runner, apparent not only in his center stage position, but also in his ability to take charge of the conversation. He looked and sounded very presidential; not that anything out of his mouth was gold, cause it wasn't. Mitt reminds me of a phrase my boyfriend uses a lot, "It makes sense if you don't think about it." This guy will go the distance where the primary is concerned (i.e. he won't be dropping out) but probably only because he is a good fundraiser and has personal wealth to supplement a lagging campaign.

Ron Paul: Ok, I hope my mother does not kill me, but Paul did well. Not well enough to be a significant candidate for president but way better than I've seen him in the past. Although, it's most likely because he was answering normal, rational (well rational outside of the "this or that" section) questions. He was not ranting about black helicopters or conspiracies. That side of Ron Paul will keep him in third party numbers throughout this election cycle.

Tim Pawlenty: Man did this guy choke. Somewhere Nick Ayers is pissed. After launching some heavy hitting videos and a strong appearance on the political Sunday morning news outlets, TPaw tanked. This past weekend he chose to use the term "ObamneyCare" when referring to ObamaCare because the President admittedly modeled his national plan after Romney's state plan. In tonight's debate he avoided the term as though Mitt was the middle school bully he didn't wasn’t to face in person. WEAK. Nothing would have been more impressive than for one of the candidates, like TPaw- who showed some potential, to really go after Romney on his home court. FAIL.

Herman Cain: This guy is a joke. I heard in the first debate down in South Carolina (I didn't watch) that he came out guns blazing, but either someone lied or a different man was on stage tonight. Something about his grandmother when talking about Libya, mentioning his grand kids when asked about jobs, and flip-flopping on TARP is gonna keep this guy in the race for another 5 minutes and that’s it. Did I mention he has zero experience and made his career owning a Pizza company? Yah.

Overall I'd say the obvious winners are Bachmann and Romney. Bachmann really set a much louder and stronger tone than I ever imagined from her, and Romney avoided any formidable attack.

I think the most important thing to take away from this debate is that we are still at square one. Bachmann is going to put up a good fight and Romney can beat most of the people on that stage, even if Newt and Santorum stay in for the long haul to January, but mark my words, none of them can beat President Obama or his bank account. What this means is, we need to pay attention to those still not in the race. There are some very strong contenders who are still on the sidelines, and several of them, could be real game changers. If you add Giuliani, Palin, Huntsman or Perry to that stage tonight, not only is it a completely different conversation with different winners and losers in the primary, but the outlook on November 2012 changes too.... and it's brighter.

That's my opinion, take it or leave....

xoxo Sara Marie

Happy Monday!

Tonight, a friend and I will begin our training for a Fall marathon. It's been a goal of mine to run a complete marathon (26.2 miles) before my 27th birthday. Well, November 9th of this year, I turn 27. Time to kick it into gear. Our official four-month training plan won't start for another few weeks (the race is Oct. 23 in Fort Worth) but we have decided to do a little pre-training in preparation. 4 nights a week and 2 mornings a week, Lauren and I, will be running and cross trainning. This doesn't sound too entertaining, but keep in mind, this program is going to require lenghty runs in VERY hot weather and along a trail that is full of Austin weirdos....

Tonight is also the first Republican presidental candidate debate in New Hampshire. I certainly don't think this is going to be a blockbuster event by any means, but I do think it will be interesting. I also don't think this debate matters much for the potential Republican nominee but more for the guys that will eventually drop out. Bad performances this early (or continued problems for candidates like Gingrich) could lead to early departures. Confirmed participants are Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Herman Cain.

Now, because I'm sure everyone has better things to do on a Monday night than watch a debate for a race that is still 246 days away, I'm gonna watch for you. Actually I would watch no matter what, because I'm a dork. But I will go beyond dork tonight and take notes and write up  my thoughts on the debate, and the Republican field of candidates as a whole, soon...

Until then... Happy Monday folks!

xoxo Sara Marie

People

As this blog begins to take shape, I think I will be posting about people often. Not just particular people but generally speaking as well. Today, it's both....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KINGSLEY!!!

Kings, as I call her, is one of my greatest friends. We met in elementary school and have been friends ever since. I can even remember her 6th grade birthday party like it was yesterday... .... Happy Birthday dear friend, and may we celebrate many more in the future!

Birthdays are a pretty standard time for reflection. Kingsley and I have had one heck of a friendship too. We've been through it all and are still here to laugh about it today.... I can't say that for all my friends through the years.

I'm lucky, and you are too, if you have even a handful of people to call good friends. I mean really good friends. The kind that you call at 3AM because you are having a quarter-life crisis, or the kind that can convince you to do literally anything just because "it will be fun." And obviously the kind that are there for you not just when you fall, but every single time you fall, and need some help up.

I've had all sorts of friends throughout my life. Living in a couple different states, going through college, graduate school, and a couple of campaigns keeps the turnover of people I meet and hang out with high. It also makes maintaining a true friendship hard. But fortunately for me, I have people, like Kings, who have stuck by me.

I was planning on going a little bit further into what it means to be friends and how friendships end, but it's Friday.... And that's stupid because friendship means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

So instead I'll leave you with this...

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." -- C. S. Lewis

I like this quote and if you have close friends who add value to your survival you are blessed.

Enjoy the weekend, I know I will....

xoxo Sara Marie

Texas vs. California

Lately there have been so many comparisons between the Golden State and our very own Lone Star State. It's no secret that Texas trumps Cali in almost every measurable category. Ok, that's a bit bold, but it seems every study that comes out, or most surveys done by pretty reputable sources show that, at least in the last 10 years, Texas wins. From number of Fortune 500 companies, to newly created jobs, and from exports/imports to 2010 census data Texas comes out ahead.  And while these types of reports are great for evaluating the overall success of a state, they don't do much for the everyday person, already living in either state. I guess what I'm getting at is they don't indicate who does everyday life better.

Well, I just spent a few days out in Cali and this is my account of the adventure.....

I flew into LAX on Saturday and rented a red Jeep Wrangler. The first stop was In N Out burger. POINT CALIFORNIA. (Although, the Dallas area did just get the first In N Out in the Great State)…..This trip was starting out with the bar set very high.

The road trip began on the 405, headed for Santa Barbara. I anticipated a beautiful, coastline drive north. Top down would have been ideal, but it was 60 degrees and drizzling.  FAIL. The traffic on a Saturday evening, getting out of LA, is flat annoying. It wasn't bumper to bumper but just enough to slow down the trip. That, coupled with terrible signage on the Hwy, made me miss HWY 1, and kept the road trip a considerable distance from the coast. It wasn't until over halfway to SB, that I could see the cliffs I remembered from Laguna Beach and The Hills. While Texas does have its fair share of traffic, especially in drizzly weather, our roadways just seem more organized and easier to navigate. Point Texas.

Night one in SB was simple, checked into the hotel and hit a few bars down on State Street. Santa Barbara is different than I imagined. It is a college/surfer/touristy town, which makes for an interesting mix. There were surfer dude bars, dive bars that are not even named, but full of frat daddies and their blonde sorority-lettered girlfriends, and finally cute, quaint bistros and steakhouses with pricey drinks and patios.

Sunday morning started with a breakfast that put to shame most other breakfasts I've had in my lifetime. It began with nice, big counter to sit at. I love sitting at counters. I'm not sure why, maybe because it immediately feels retro, welcoming, and out of the ordinary. Next was the second meal of the trip that really blew my mind. Let me give you some background first though. I am a HUGE fan of Maudies in Austin. Even more so, Maudies' chilaquiles. I order them anytime I dine at any Maudies before lunch time, and this occurs often. I would venture to say this is among my top 5 favorite meals. So you can imagine my combination of excitement and hesitation when I saw " chilaquiles " on the Specials board hanging above the counter. At first, I didn't even open the menu, then after fearing it could ruin my favorite meal, I browsed my other options. I saw plenty, but just couldn't stray from enjoying one of my faves on vacation. I ordered the chilaquiles. They were OUT OF THIS WORLD. Maudies is good at what they do, but not as good as the Cajun Kitchen on De La Vino in Santa Barbara. Point California.

From breakfast to lunch was spent shopping for small jackets because apparently in June in California it rains...a lot. Who knew? Not me. Anyway, after walking around all morning and part of the afternoon it was back to the jeep and back on the road. This time the destination was little further up the coast near UC Santa Barbara to find the original Freebirds burrito shop. Aggies, chill out. You were not the first, look it up. I thought so too, but after a looking it up, you'll see, Freebirds was started in Santa Barbara, California by two raging hippies, and after their success with the college crowd they researched the biggest "college towns" in America. They chose College Station, TX as location #2. Now, if you haven't been to a Freebirds, just imagine a crazy, tin foil decorated hippie hang out. It is extremely environmentalist friendly and a perfect fit in, say, Austin, TX. Certainly not College Station, TX but again, when considering college crowds, Aggieland is prime. So when I saw the bare bones Freebirds Original I was a little shocked. It was so simple. More like a Chipotle spot with no frills. I ordered a regular on wheat (no list of tortilla choices here like most locations) and watched as Carmen, the burrito maker, PILED on the black beans, rice, chicken and guacamole. Her burrito making skills takes "liberal" to another level. My boyfriend (big guy, 6'5, works out often, and naturally eats easily 3 times as much as me) could not finish his Monster sized burrito because of Carmen's generosity with the toppings. So at this point in the trip Maudies and Freebirds have been out done by the Golden State.

After a nice ride back down to the State Street area with a stop in a beautiful neighborhood to explore a secluded staircase down to the beach in the pouring rain, day two ended with dinner on a pier just as the sun set and a few more of the diverse bars in downtown.

Monday, day 3, began with an ok breakfast at a local spot called Max's. I'm not sure if it was the chilaquiles the day before or what, but Max's just didn't impress me too much. On a much better note, the drive out to Wine Country, the destination, was incredibly impressive. I've heard that the rolling hills of Cali can sometimes be compared to that of the Texas Hill Country. Negative. California's hills are mountains. And while the smaller rolling hills, soil, and climate are all similar, the views are on a different level in CA. At one lookout point the view included hills, mountains, a vineyard and the ocean. The Texas wine trails are certainly on their way to being a successful, and noteworthy, industry but they still don't have much on California wine country, and I only saw Santa Barbara County, not Napa.

The two vineyards I experienced were Gainey Ranch and Brander. Gainey was interesting because we took a tour and got a lot of history. Brander had better wines. Both are well worth the drive and I'd recommend to all. To make the trip out a little sweeter, my boyfriend played a little blackjack at the small Casino between the two vineyards and in one game ended up four aces wide and won on all. I’m not sure I even typed that out properly but it was pretty lucky and we walked away winners. No gambling in Tejas, California wins again.

In celebration of the blackjack win and the last night in SB, dinner was at a trendy spot in the harbor. Waterfront Grill has a heated patio and delicious food. After ordering some of the local wine and the perfect fish dinner, it was back down to State Street for dessert and some champagne. Holderon's was the perfect spot, where I found myself seated at a counter again, this time enjoying a trio of desserts and some Spanish cava. If the competition was based solely on food and drink Texas would be in real trouble even with gems like the Salt Lick and its deep roots in Tex-Mex.

The final day was spent driving back to LAX and hanging out in the Santa Monica/Venice Beach area. Venice is an interesting array of hippies, bums, and surfer dudes. But I guess that is the case with most of California. Venice is maybe a greater concentration of all three. I made my way in and out of the different types on a beach cruiser bicycle and eventually ended up by all the monkey bars, swinging rings, and carnival on the pier. It was a beautiful, hilarious, and relaxing tri-fecta end to my California adventure.

Highlights were the food, drinks, and overall atmosphere. Drawbacks included traffic, unpredictable weather and prices were high (almost 40 bucks a night added in taxes).

If I had to pick a winner, I'd say Texas. Not just because Austin is easier to navigate than LA but also because I eat more than just chilaquiles. I would love to drink the Cuvee Natalie from Brander Vineyard every day, but a good margarita from Matt's El Rancho is pretty hard to beat too.

Bottom-line: I'm a Texas girl and I love seeing The Great State kick some California butt when evaluating state economies and growth. But I will spend some vacation time and money in California from time to time despite its inferiority because as far as vacation is concerned, Cali scored some major points with me.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip....enjoy....

xoxo Sara Marie