nutella, pumpkins, prosciutto, oh my

There are certain places that make you feel right at home. You know you're at a place like this when you have that warm, fuzzy feeling and just feel really content in the moment. We went out for a late afternoon "brunch" on Saturday with our roommates and experienced just this at Blue Dahlia Bistro. It was sweater weather in Austin, which made the restaurant's warmth even more appreciated. We sat at a long wood communal table decorated festively with miniature pumpkins in the center of the small space and were greeted by a delicious French menu, with everything from croissants and baguette to open-faced tartines and the soupe du jour.

And we certainly took advantage of that menu. We sampled the tomato soup and the corn chowder as well as the prosciutto mozzarella tomato tartine and a mesclun salad. Each dish came with fresh baguette on the side, which may have been my favorite part because the table also had glass jars of Nutella, raspberry jam, and marmalade to spread on the bread.

One of the things I really loved about Blue Dahlia was how much it reminded me of one of my favorite breakfast places in New York called Le Pain Quotidien. It has the same artisanal French breakfast and lunch items and the communal, bakery atmosphere is also very similar, but I loved how it had a certain vibe of classic Austin.

Olivia 

Blue Dahlia Bistro | 1115 East 11th Street | Austin, TX | 78702 | (512) 542-9542

{photos by Olivia}

an in between adventure land

The airport has always been my second home.  I have been flying on my own since I was 5 from DFW to LGA. The innate nature of the airport has dissolved into my being. People from all over the world come to this little place to find their next adventure somewhere else. The frenzied excitement of passengers taking a break from reality to venture to a fantasy land of vacation, the business people just enjoying the few hours of calmness before they are forced into the chaotic hustle called life, and the lovers with half their hearts anxiously waiting to feel whole again. The airport is a place of paused adventure. It’s an in between. The hardest part of the airports heart is the goodbye center. It’s the part that has made saying goodbye so much harder. It’s the baby girl embracing her fathers uniformed leg begging him to stay in fear he won’t come home to kiss her goodnight. Its standing on the curb with the love of your life forcing yourself to face the person you can’t live without is the person you have to. Its leaving a trip that inspired the rest of your life. The airport is the in between to the hellos and goodbyes, reality and fantasy, and adventure.  This place is my in between adventure land. 

Lauren 

{photos by Lauren}

life is grand

{seasonal flowers from whole foods}

Life is grand. Over the course of the semester, this has become our motto. In the scheme of life, we have realized that each little insecurity, bad grade, or lonely night is cancelled out by the hundreds of happy, fun, spontaneous, and exciting moments that make us smile each day. On this Monday, these are the things that we can look back on from our weekend that proved to us that life is truly grand.

{cute restaurant discoveries - Blue Dahlia}

{new llama iPhone cover from Madewell}

{sweet reminder on a tea bag}

{perfect mini pumpkins}

{elephant sugar cookies about to go in the oven}

float

You know when you slowly wade into the ocean and you’re in the shallow and the waves seem to pummel you back? You’re trying to just get past the first few swells and make it into the clear blue glass that lies ahead. Friday is that stillness for me and sometimes I just need that push to get me past that 4 foot wave that looks like its going to pull me under. So yesterday I treated myself to Milk and Honey for a haircut, a pick-me-up to get me into the clear blue. 

By the end of the week I feel like I’m drowning and I’m searching for a bit of hope to get me to the surface. Milk and Honey was my floatie. A cup of tea, a trim, and new outlook vanished my troubles. Not often can we look in the mirror and feel beautiful. So why not treat yourself to feeling special and beautiful. Do something that makes you feel like the waves are small. Take each day as it comes and if you ever feel like your drowning grab a floatie. Forget your problems for an hour and do something for you because we never do. 

Lauren

SALON by milk + honey | 237 West 3rd Street | Austin, TX 78701 |  512.236.1115

{photo by Lauren}

take me to elizabeth street

I think it's safe to say that turquoise and bubble gum pink is my new favorite color scheme. And that Elizabeth Street Café is my new favorite restaurant in Austin (I'm sorry Hopdoddy, you'll still always be my first love). Every detail of the cafe makes me smile; from the floral wallpaper behind the bar and unique floral prints of the waitresses' wrap dresses, to the cute checkered trays on each table, and the very idiosyncratic antlers on the way to the bathroom, which caught me by surprise and made me smile bigger. 

This French-Vietnamese establishment is the best of both worlds. I have now been for dinner, breakfast, brunch, and dinner again to introduce this little heavenly cottage to Lauren. Each experience was different, but just as lovely. A French boulangerie-patisserie by morning, Elizabeth St. offers buttery croissants, fresh baguette, and the best macarons I've tried in Austin; light and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with unique and tropical flavors changing daily. As the day draws on, Elizabeth streets transforms into a lively Vietnamese noodle house serving dishes such as traditional pho, mouth watering pork belly buns with just the right amount of cucumber and hoisin sauce, and housemade spring rolls paired with savory sauces. The combination of cultures makes for a fun, upbeat, and delicious experience.  

And can I mention one more thing that makes me extra happy? Their "grandma chic" branding, by Föda Studio, is beautiful! Logo, menu, and signage. I'm in love. 

Olivia 

Elizabeth Street Café | 1501 S. First Street | Austin, TX 78704 | (512) 291-2881

{photos by Olivia}

we fall apart to fall back together

Your heart will be broken and it will hurt like hell but it only takes one moment of pure happiness to know you will be okay. The hole in your heart will always be there but it will get smaller and smaller and soon it will be so tiny it will only be a memory. Love is amazing and regretless and painful and every emotion and nothing all at the same time. We will all be broken and paralyzed but its okay. Life will go on and it will go on without you. Feel the pain, experience it over and over again because you will grow stronger and grow up and in the end that’s all that life is really about. Its about growing up and becoming who we are and learning that its okay to be exactly who we are and experience every emotion that life offers us. And sometimes that paralyzing heart break will leave us feeling totally immobilized but try to move, try to get up, try to experience that one moment that will show you that you will be okay and you’ll be truly happy and you will be okay. Your heart has to break to grow back stronger.

Lauren

{photo by Lauren}