Welcome to 2010

So 2010 finally got here, I came in a flying car. Did you? Ok so maybe we don't have flying cars, but Claire and I do have our own business! So that is a pretty big step right. Rather than talking about our plans for 2010 I wanted to do a recap of 2009.

Our year started off with a wonderful week vacation in Amarillo where Claire and I got to visit with friends and family. In early February we took a tour of the Texas wine country with Howie and Jenny. March came along and I was happy. March is one of my favorite times of the year because of two things: my birthday and SXSW. For my birthday we went and visited friends in College Station. We played some board games, frisbee golf and ate German/Irish food. Then for the next two weeks life was all about SXSW. This is probably one of my favorite things in life. Tons of bands descend on Austin. Claire and I enjoy 3-4 days of free shows from our favorite bands and new bands we hadn't heard of. This year we were joined by Michael and had a wonderful time.

By the time April rolled around we were spending most of our time hanging out and planning things for Emily and Charlie and the arrival of their baby, Laith. We were also making a full blown plan for our trip to San Francisco in June. In early May Laith arrived and he was a precious little baby. He was Claire's first experience with birth and I think she learned a lot and was happy to have shared it with Emily.

In June we got to go on the vacation of our lives. Claire and I spent a week in San Francisco and the surrounding areas. We saw everything from the wine country to Berkeley to the trolleys to Golden Gate to nearly the whole city. Plus we ate some of the best food of our lives (see: Little Star Pizza, Genki Crepes, and Avatars).

By the time we got back we were completely worn out. At this point Claire and I had been working for Red Orbit and Bill Miller, respectively, for the whole year. I was sick and tired of the way Bill Miller was treating myself and the other managers and started the wheels turning in my head of ways I could get out. Of course nothing came of it until later in the fall. During the summer we got to enjoy a weekend with all of Claire's college roomies and spouses (minus Kam and David).

In Early september Claire and I came up with a solution to my work situation. Quit...that's right. When the rest of America is holding on desperately to their jobs I just up and quit. Didn't really have a plan other than this faint idea of a business plan. I think I just had it and said I'm done. I hoped for the best and well...so far so good. Soon after quitting Claire and I launched WholeNine Lifestyle Management. We got ourselves a bunch of goverment documents that said we were a business and went for it. I had always wanted to cook for people on a personal cook to family level and the personal chef side of WholeNine allows me to do that. Claire wants to design, decorate, and organize people's homes and this gave her an outlet for that. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around we had thrown our Launch/Re-Launch party at Obees and were officially under way.

We spent Thanksgiving with the Rajehs and enjoyed a delicious feast and some down time with our wonderful friends. Then it was all business in December. We handled a garage sale for some clients, did some Christmas card photo shoots, and did some small handy man work for another set of clients. By the time Christmas came around we had been on an emotional rollercoaster. Who knew running a business would be so fun but so tiring (I guess everyone knows that).

For Christmas my family came into town. We relaxed exchanged gives and generally did a lot of nothing, which was wonderful. For new years we kept it mellow with the White's and this last weekend we visited Claire's family in Tyler. Now with all that out of the way I wish everyone a wonderful 2010 and we plan on telling you our wonderful stories more often this year. Most likely we will transfer over to our WholeNine blog. We couldn't be more excited for what this year has in store for us. We are going into our 4th year of marriage and our first full year of business. I think it will be a great year!

out

Sorry for the long absence. I assume we will be back someday but for now you might just have to call or email us to get our attention. Work has been overwhelming for me and Claire is just trying to keep up with work and everything else that demands her attention.

We will update about our summer though, at least I think we will.

Also it's hot in Austin. 2 months of 100+ weather is no good.

golden gates and cable cars

We finally made it in to San Francisco on Monday. Monday was beautiful. First we traveled down into Muir Woods to see the Redwoods and they are big! At first we didn't think they were even going to be as big as the piney woods in east Texas.


We were wrong. They are pretty amazing trees and it's understandable why people make trips out to see them and walk among them. We stopped up on Hawks Hill to look at the Golden Gate Bridge then drove down to Point Bonita and walked over to the light house out on the edge of the continent. This was by far the best view we will get the whole time we are here. It was breathtaking and amazing. Just as we were driving up the hill it started to get foggy. It was simply amazing. We were both in awe that something like this existed and it isn't all that talked about.


The Golden Gate is an amazing structure but the Lighthouse has the real views. You can look back at the bridge, or off into the ocean, or down at the waves crashing on the rocks. It almost feels like you're off in New Zealand. It was a surreal afternoon.




Then we took the scenic drive back, made a stop at Sausalito beach and headed through a tunnel to get back to the bridge. We made one more quick stop at Fort Point for one last look at the bridge. Then we made our way over to our hotel which is awesome and just west of Downtown and Union Square. We are staying at Hotel Vertigo (which was once the York Hotel, which was the building called the Empire Hotel in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo). It has recently been renovated (well halfway, they haven't finished yet). We both think it's got a lot of character. It's definitely a cool place to stay.


That night we made our way down into the mission, which turned out to be quite an experience. Lets just say its a very diversified and not the safest feeling place at night. First we headed over to Bi-Rite to try the famous Ice Cream. It was pretty good, actually really good. But, I have to give Austin credit on this one. We both felt like Amy's Ice Cream was a better experience and was more fun to go to. After that we walked over to Weird Fish were we waited for our table outside on a bench. Well we enjoyed the people watching until we were approached by a really, really drunk hobo who was preaching on love. At least that's what we think he was talking about but being Hispanic and drunk, he was a little hard to understand. Oh well, we got a good laugh out of it before dinner. Weird fish didn't really meet my expectations. It was a cool place but the food wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be. Oh well so far we were striking out in the SF food scene.

The next day we attempted to eat breakfast at Mamas in North Beach only to find a line at 9am on a Tuesday that was about 30 people. Instead we opted for Cafe Greco and had some good coffee/chai and a smoked salmon bagel. We did the normal peir 39/fishermans warf tourist thing and enjoyed the seals for a while.


These guys are loud and boisterous. They just lay around and yell, climb on top of each other, and fight. We could probably have stood there for a couple of hours watching these guys.
We checked out Ghirardelli square and had a cupcake at Kara's Cupcakes (Delicious -watch out Sugar Mama's). Then we headed to the Ferry Building (The last operating World Fair Building) and strolled through the farmers market. Snacked on fresh cherries and fruits. We had lunch there at the Slanted Door (also good, very fresh, but not up to expectations). Maybe our expectations were just too high. After visiting a few shops and riding a bus through Chinatown we ended up strolling around in some cool galleries and checking out Union Square. It was busy and full of tourists. I think it is one of those things you have to do while you are here but I don't really care for the hustle of it. For dinner we headed over to Little Star Pizza, who gets the Best Meal of San Francisco Award so far, and is way up there in our Top Pizza places ever list.


The pizza had this thick, crunchy cornmeal crust that held all the toppings in place. It was deep dish but you could it eat with your hands without it all falling off the crust. Perfect, woo...it was good. We then walked over to Alamo park to check out the Painted Ladies and the "Full House" houses (although it wasn't actually the house they lived in). We took a few fun pictures and enjoyed the scenery. Claire was enthralled with the detail of all the Victorians. This area is a stark contrast to the mission area.



More coming soon!

sonoma, muir woods, and the golden gate bridge

So far it has been a whirlwind of a vacation. We have packed in about a week's worth of vacation in two days. Two days ago we ate at La Note for breakfast, shopped around Berkeley, ate at Chez Panisse for lunch, tasted at The Cheese Board, explored Berkeley campus, did a tour of the Pyramid brewery, and ate dinner with Shawn and Mandy. We got to see little Sutton for the first time and that was exciting. Thanks to Rick (Claire's Dad) we got to enjoy a nice dinner out with them.



Then yesterday we headed up to Sonoma. Beforehand we checked out the Alameda Aniques by the bay.


It had an awesome view, and Claire was in heaven with billions of vendors selling old antique stuff.


Surprisingly, even I enjoyed myself. Then we began our tasting at about 8 wineries (I think that would make Howie proud). Our favorites were Kaz and Imagery. Imagery does a unique artists' label for each bottle and Kaz is the smallest in Sonoma. Both had great wines and at Kaz the winemaker is the pourer so it was fun to chat with him. Before anything we stopped at Cornerstone Gardens, which is about 15 different intepretations of the word "garden". It includes a dead tree covered in blue christmas balls.




After that we had some amazing and delicious sandwiches at Angelo's Deli. That place is a great cheap lunch stop in Sonoma. From there on out we did our winery tour.



At Benzinger we did a awesome tram tour and then by about 6 we were worn out and ready to head back to our hotel in Tiburon. The hotel turned out to be awesome. It had a 2 person Jacuzzi tub in the room. Very sweet!

For our last stop of the day we headed over to Sausalito for Sushi. Although it was slightly disappointing food it was still good to get some food before bed (We might have made a stop afterwards at In-N-Out Burger for a burger and a shake). Today we are off to Fred's coffee for breakfast, and then we are sightseeing at Muir woods, Sausalito, and the Golden Gate bridge. By tonight we will be in San Francisco. Woo Hoo!

sonoma

Its 6am day 3 and we are about to be off to Alameda Antiques by the Bay. Nothing there under 20 years old. Claire is excited. Then we are off to Sonoma for the day for some wine tasting.

I don't have pictures up yet for yesterday but we did a lot of shopping at CB2 and Urban Indigo and a few other places. We had breakfast at La Note, lunch at Chez Panisse (INCREDIBLE, in the top 5 meals of my life), and dinner with the awesome Shawn and Mandy at Levende East. It was a good day, a very good day. I should be back soon with more pictures.

twin peaks and dosa

We got to San Francisco at around 7pm on Friday night. On the recommendation of our fellow passenger and San Franciscan (who was once a Texan, and also had a very unique proffesion) we rushed through renting the car to get to the top of Twin Peaks to catch a great view of the city. If you can't tell from the following pics then let me just tell you it was AMAZING. It was the perfect start to our vacation and I couldn't have found a better view of this city.


After traversing the steep hills to get to Twin Peaks we made our way down into the mission for our planned dinner at Dosa (Indian Food). It was excellent food. We started with a teeny-tiny $9 cocktail, it is expensive here! Then we had a couple soups, one was a spicy tomato broth, the other a creamy, smoky cauliflower dish. Of course we had to actually have the dosa at Dosa. So we went with the traditional masala dosa and added an extra 5 chutneys. All in all it was delicious and we were stuffed and exhausted. We were going to attempt dessert but both were way too full. So we headed across the bay bridge to our hotel in emeryville. Then it was night night.

Today we are off to La Note for breakfast, then we are gonna check out all the shops in Berkeley. Were also gonna hit up the Berkeley Campus, the gate at Pixar, just for a picture, Pyramid Alehouse, Chez Panisse, Beard Papas, The Cheeseboard, and CB2. By the end of the night I am sure we will be exhausted but it will probably be our only chance to see Shawn and Mandy, so we are having dinner with them at Levende East.

california here we are

We arrived safely in San Francisco today. Now we have 8 more days! I couldn't be more excited to be off from work and at a place that has so much going on as far as shopping, food, tourism, culture, and a just plain cool factor. Not only are we going to SF but we are doing one day stops in Berkeley, Sonoma, and Saulsalito/Muir Woods. I have a about a billion places that I want to eat and Claire has a billion she wants to shop at so combine we have a jam packed 8 days. If you are really curious you can check out our google map for our trip. Just go here. Don't be too shocked. If you know Claire and I you know we had to plan every detail of the trip and this map is proof. I think we both plan on trying to update while there and allow you to travel with us through photos!

cuts so throwed

I am sad to announce the closing of our neighborhood barber shop "Cuts So Throwed". I am not sad because I went there, nor would I go there. I am not sad because I have any idea what Cuts So Throwed means or refers to within the culture that it stands for. What I am sad about is that I can't drive by this local establishment every few days and laugh at my naievity of a language and culture that is foreign to me. Regardless of my cluelessness I will now present to you things that I have found in the last year and things coming up in the next few weeks that I think are "So Throwed".

Feel free to check out the links as I am sure you won't be dissapointed. We will possibly expand on each of these subjects in the future or maybe have a "So Throwed Two" edition.

Food
Tomunchi so throwed: The best yogurt place in Texas. Also the one place that can put me in a good mood instantly.

Obees so throwed: The best deli in Austin serving up traditional deli fare and world class meditternian items as well. Run by the amazing Charlie and Emily.

Polvos so throwed: The best Interior Mexican food this side of the interior of Mexico. Try the Guajillo Fajitas.

Thai-Fresh so throwed: Amazing Thai food prepared by the awesome Chef Jam. She also teaches cooking classes in the Thai-Fresh kitchen. We took a class with her and the Tipsy Texan and it was awesome.

Music
Barcelona so throwed: They just released a new album and it is great. Check it!

Mumford and Sons so throwed: We discovered these guys during SXSW and they are amazing. Haven't stopped listening to them since.

Seabird so throwed: Discovered these guys a while back. Saw them for the first time during SXSW. They had one of the top two shows during the whole festival.

Lex Land so throwed: Amazing, amazing vocalist. Incredible live. Her recorded music doesn't do her justice.

Events
Resident Hero so throwed: In Austin, May 22nd-23rd. It's actually just Ryan White acoustic but it will be incredible.

Paper Route so throwed: In Austin, May 20th at the Mohawk. Great Electronic/Rock out of Nashville.

Laith so throwed: Our dear friend Emily should be having a baby any minute now! Laith Rajeh will join us soon!

San Francisco so throwed: We are vacationing there Jun. 5th-13th. Can't wait for Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Shopping, The Ferry Building, Wine in Sonoma, The Mission, and everything else about this city. The food: A16, The Slanted Door, Chez Panisse, The Creme Brulee Cart, and most importantly Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream.

zoom-zoom

We have been a bit slow about getting up some pictures of our new car. But here she is:






Some of my favorite features:
Auto Audio Leveling: The volume of your audio automatically adjusts to the speed of the car.
Red lights on blue background during night driving.
Auto/Manual..It has the speed shift for when you want to feel sport and do the shifting.
Super comfortable seats.
Great Gas Mileage.
Very sporty look and feel for a 4 cylinder economy class car.

I can't say enough how much we love our new car. We are very thankful we were able to purchase one at a great rate and just have the general means to get a new car. Sometimes blessings are small. Sometimes they are really big!

vino

I finally had a three day weekend. Claire and I decided to take full advantage of it too. In early February the Central Texas Wineries get together and do what is called the Wine Lover's Trail, which is basically a self guided tour of all the wineries around the hills of central Texas. However, since Claire and I waited til' the last minute to buy the 30 dollar ticket we missed out on some of the extra treats that you get when you a "official" part of the tour. Howie, Claire's cousin, assured us there would be no need for a ticket and we would be able to taste for free or for a minimal fee at most of the wineries. This ended up being true.

So on Saturday the 7th we loaded up with Howie and Jenny in our Jeep with some crackers, cheese, and no map at all. Luckily Howie has recently become a wine connoisseur and has visited most of the wineries about 5 or so times and has it all mapped in his head.


The first stop was Spicewood Vineyards. The place was pretty nice. Since this was the first time I had been on any wine tasting I didn't really know what to expect. So it was nice to find a relaxing, unpretentious place to sit and chat while tasting. The best wine they had was the Semillon.


After that we headed through the middle of nowhere to McReynolds Wineries where we found one of most entertaining hosts of the whole trip, lots of good chocolates and snacks, and some dogs. Jenny said she judged a winery by how cute the dog they had was. McReynolds is a experience. Wasn't really impressed by the wine but it was fun to listen to this lady talk about everything while tasting.


Next up was Texas Hills Vineyard. They have a incredibly nice building and set up but it was jam packed full of people and so the tasting experience was somewhat rushed. Claire and I have had their Orange Muscat before and it is delicious.

On our way into Fredericksburg we hit up Perdenales Cellars where we debated whether this Buffalo was wearing a blanket or just had a white stripe.


He had a white stripe, it turns out. Becker Vineyards, Grape Creek Vineyards, and Woodrose Winery were also on the way into town. At Becker there was a HUGE! tree by the vineyards. Notice the tiny human being (below the tree) photographing this giant of nature.


I think we did a total of 9 wineries the first day, which I thought was a ton but Howie said he has done more. Like I said he is a pro. Grape Creek was probably our favorite of the day as they had some really good white wines and nice hosts and facilities.


Although it was about 3pm when we got into Fredericksburg no one was hungry for lunch because we had snacked on cheese and crackers while driving. MMM...Beemster Vlaskaas is so good! Once we found our awesome Bed and Breakfast, Das Garten Haus, we unpacked and headed into town to check out some shops.


Our first stop however was for ice cream at The Clear River Pecan Company. They had some fun hats which Howie and I proudly modeled.


More importantly they had tons of varietals of homemade ice cream and all I can say is YUM. We walked around on main street and checked out some of the design stores that Claire enjoys as well as the toy store, dog store, and the famous Rustlin' Rob's gourmet foods.


They have thousands of sauces, jams, dips, etc for the tasting. So even though no one was hungry we managed to eat ice cream and a billion dips. Since we were planning on having a nice dinner later that night at The Nest (reviewed at my other blog) so we tried not to stuff ourselves. Anyways, after wandering around for a bit more we headed to the Fredericksburg Winery on main street where you can taste like 10 wines for free. Howie and I got started on this while Jenny chatted on the phone outside and Claire attempted to go to a store she'd really wanted to visit, Red, which was closed. She joined us eventually. I decided I liked almost every wine they had and so it quickly became one of my favorite wineries.


By this time we are all exhausted so we head to the B&B to chill for a bit. Our dinner spot, The Nest, happened to be across the street from Das Garten Haus so we just walked on over and had a very interesting dinner to say the least. We had steak, scallops, and lamb. Claire just had soup but was satisfied and the soup was actually one of the best plates on the table. The restaurant was nice and tasty but service just wasn't up to par. We were all pretty tired after that so we headed back to our rooms and relaxed, watched some TV, made coffee, snacked on toffee and sat outside on the patio for a bit.

DAY 2
In the morning we got up for our first ever Bed and Breakfast experience. It was incredible actually. The food was superb, most notably the pear baked in cream. We chatted with some other guests for about an hour and enjoyed a relaxing morning with coffee and incredible food. There is just something about rolling out of bed in your pajamas and walking down to a table prepared with delicious homemade food.


As the everyone got ready Claire and I took photos of our B&B. Then we headed north to visit another 4 wineries before heading home.


We visited Fall Creek Vineyards which really is in the middle of nowhere but they had some really cheap, good wines. After that we dined gourmet at Dairy Queen. At Alamosa Wineries we stopped and hung our for a while. We bought a bottle and drank it out on the patio. The wind was like west Texas and was blowing 100 miles an hour. It was still nice to take it slow rather than rush from winery to winery.


We visited two more wineries, Texas Legato and Pillar Bluff, before the day was over. Pillar Bluff had the most amazing blue cheese dip. It outshone all of their wines. Howie has the recipe and someday we will have to re-create it.

We finally headed home after a whirlwind of a two day trip. Having Howie as a guide was fantastic as we didn't really have to worry about finding the places. He only had us take a few wrong turns, which only resulted in minor bickering.


It was a lot of fun to taste and learn about all the different grapes and the wine making process. I would probably take it a bit slower next time and just do a few select wineries and hang out in Fredericksburg. I had a blast just hanging out with Claire, Howie, and Jenny. We fought over Buffalo in blankets, wrong turns, Howie going paparazzi, whether Claire wants salad or not, and probably a multitude of other things. Those little things are what make trips like this so much fun and so memorable though. It is great to get to do things like this with good friends because you can always go back and laugh at the demanding waitress or the crazy wine hostess. The wine, the company, the food, and the Texas countryside were all great. I can't wait till the next time around.