29

This weekend I celebrated my birthday for the first time in Austin. I invited friends old and new out to a bar and was pleased at how many people were able to come despite the bitter cold and crazy flu/cold/plague epidemics going around. It was a little bittersweet because I missed some of the dear friends who have celebrated with me in pervious years, but it was still a lot of fun. We went to a cocktail bar to have expensive drinks and expertly paired them with food from trucks across the street.

Equally exciting, my parents came for a visit on Saturday. They were the first people (and possibly the last) to stay in our new(ish) place. It's definitely set up a bit better for guests than our Astoria apartment, as we have a proper guest bedroom now. (Well, guest bedroom/office). Unfortunately, the weather while they were in town was both cold and dreary. Such are often the woes of having a January birthday. Thus, their visit was mostly spent inside our apartment chatting with occasional breaks to go to restaurants and eat delicious foods. On Saturday night, we went to a place in South Austin called Lenoir. It's absolutely tiny on the inside and operates on a prix fixe menu exclusively. They do a lot of cool fusion foods with some Indian and French influences, but all with local Texas ingredients. Because there were four of us, each getting three courses, and because it was a rather small menu, we were able to try basically the entire menu. Would definitely recommend!

The only picture I got of the three of us this weekend. Or rather that Sam got. 

We made edelskivers on Sunday morning because my sister gave me an edelskiver pan!

On Sunday, after a final brunch, my parents returned to Houston, and Sam I were left feeling a bit sluggish. Due to being sick last weekend and then pretty terrible weather all week, we hadn't really left the house much in quite some time. Even though the Sun was still no where to be seen, it was at least a bit warmer on Sunday, so we decided to go for a walk in McKinney Falls State Park. Turns out they charge $6 a person to get in. Since we drove all the way over there, we decided to pay it anyway, and then made our walk more of a multi-mile hike to justify the expense. Was nice to get some fresh air after being pent up inside for so long.

I instructed Sam to throw his head back as if sunning himself on the rock. This is what I got. 

All in all, it was a lovely birthday week. Here's hoping 29 is as wonderful as 28!