Somnio's Cafe

Thursday in Austin! My body hasn't been cooperating, and sleep: not so good the past couple of nights But I worked and worked hard, as I'm wont to do, in this case until 8pm. I learned something though, while working at the Austin History Center. Wanna know what it is? I'll show you!

You're thinking "pretty" right? Or interesting? Let me give you a close up.

Yup, you read that right. That there is a little exhibition from the Texas Barbed Wire Collectors Association. The little signs under the different types of barb wire detail the name of the creator, the name of the wire specifically and when it was patented, as well as who donated it. But most importantly, you didn't know there was a Texas Barbed Wire Collectors Association, did ya? Because you thought there was only one barb wire and that is barb wire! It's okay. I didn't either. Thank you, Austin History Center!


In any case after work Matt, Natalia, Ben, Virginia and I put ourselves in the hands of Bill, Matt's friend, who suggested we'd go to Somnio's Cafe. And so we did.

Little tiny place. Since it had been raining and the tables in the yard were wet we stayed inside. Appetizers all around! Enter the Spicy Shitake Pan Fried Dumplings.

And Sweet Potato Fries

People, let me tell you two things I love: Sweet potato fries, and dumplings. These made my belly sing. Since Somnio's is BYOB we brought along some local blonde ale.

And it was much better than the Bootlegger Brown Ale that they drank at the other side of the table. Finally, my entree was the Spicy Singapore Vermicelli Bowl, with Tofu. That consisted of stir-fried carrots, onions, egg ribbons, vermicelli, green onions, cilantro, and a yellow curry sauce. (YUM coconut milk!)

My puny camera does not make that meal justice.

After all of that I requested to be rolled over to my room and skipped the rest of the evening's plans. Yup, I went to bed at around 10:45 pm. Deal with it people! Listening may be an act of love, but it is also draining. Friday Pride starts in Austin, and if it weren't for some plans I have in NYC I would be changing my flight so that I could see their Parade on Saturday Night. In the meantime - to listen some more.

Un chín de Sazón

Hump Day, y'all, was OK. Began with a no-show at work, which is not my favorite situation, but after that the day went by fairly quickly - with the help of an ibuprofen or two.

Natalia came to meet us at the end of the day and after breaking down the equipment and a couple of pit stops, we went off to find another swimming hole. 

 
This one was a bit more accessible and also part of Barton Creek, but just higher up and next to a man made pool that harnessed the spring a little. Since it was cloudy and the water was colder up there, I decided to just enjoy the shore with Natalia while Matt swam. Although we did get our feetsies wet at some point.

The swimming and relaxing was cut abruptly when some ominous clouds started to move in. We hightailed it to the hotel and Natalia and I watched Toddlers and Tiaras in TLC. It really is like looking at an accident wreck - you really don't want to look, but you can't take your eyes away from it. It was a little disturbing, to say the very least. Just as we watched, the clouds made good on their promise and an awesome thunderstorm started - quick and loud and bringing in the fresh air and even a power surge that left us in darkness for a short bit.

When the rain moved on a bit (lightning kept going) we headed for dinner. Natalia's choice? Real Mexican food. "None of that Tex Mex Stuff," She said. Given that Natalia grew up in Mexico, we believe her when she says she knows the difference and where to find the goods. Enter Sazón.

Which of course, made me think of mi Cariño, but also made me think "YUM." And Yum was right, the food was delicious - and without all the dairy that makes Tex Mex a pain in the butt. Because you see, in the past month I've been having a lot of Tex Mex food that I've been calling Mexican food. Bad me!

I went for Alambres de Res, which is grilled bits of beef with peppers, pineapples and onions and charro beans in a bed of rice and bits of bacon and peas. I opted to not have the guacamole salad and instead chose a Corona.

Add some extremely fresh corn tortillas and my belly was happy indeed. We spent the rest of the evening sharing Rage Stories and Driving Stories (I didn't have that many to share), before I decided to skip on the bluegrass concert that was happening later on and went back to my room.

In any case, I write this on Thursday morning and I'm not sure what the day holds for me, but I hope it involves un poquito de Sazón in one way or the other.