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Ladies and gentlemen the time is finally here. Tomorrow morning I'm putting myself on a plane to go home to arguably one of the best places on earth. 

Austin, Texas y'all. 

While I am used to being away from home and part of the reason I chose to school in NY... I am not used to being away for over 6 months. While I pride myself on my ability to be a girl in her early 20s that can march to the beat of her own drum, I just need to go home. This time it's about family for me. I have a niece waiting for me to become her Godmother on Saturday, a sister who I haven't seen since the end of February, and two pups that I need kisses from! It's time to surround myself with the people who have been there for me my whole life...and eat a lot of good food. 

If you know me at all I am a Texan through and through and I will always stick up for the Lone Star State. Yes Yankess, I am looking at you.... I invite you to Texas so you can quit thinking it's all farms! Needless to say, it's about damn time for my return, even if it's only for 5 days...sigh. What's even more crazy is that after those 5 days my mom and dad will be joining me back here in Rochester to help get me settled in my new place so I can start my SENIOR YEAR of college...WHAT. Yeah, I am going to postpone my anxiety about that for later.

Besides family, my bed and my dogs I am looking forward to FOOD. Yes, food. I love food. I especially love the food I can find in Texas. 

Things at the top of my "To-Eat" list include:

Chuy's Tex-Mex

Z Tejas

Salt Lick Barbecue

Homeslice Pizza

Saltgrass Steakhouse

Tio Dan's Puffy Tacos

Round Rock Donuts

Juan in a Million

...the list goes on. I'm not even worried about the potential 5 pounds I will gain. When in Austin, right?

4th of July Weekend Pt. I - Rhode Island

We arrived in Portsmouth, RI around 1 AM on Wednesday night at my grandparent’s place. This is the third time I've road tripped there from Rochester and every time it’s at night. One of these days I will learn that this is a bad idea. For some reason the last two hours through Massachusetts and Rhode Island are brutal. Somewhere between the low (45-50 mph) speed limit and the lack of lighting on the highways—one begins to feel like they are on a journey to nowhere.

I woke up on the 4^th exhausted but excited to spend some time with my family. My grandparents were scheduled to fly to Spain for the rest of the summer at 5 pm out of Boston so we had a few hours to spend with them before they left. My grandmother is a wonderful woman—preparing to spend more than a month away in a different country always involves a lot of work however, she managed to wake up and make one of my favorite traditional Spanish dishes so I could have a taste of Spain before she left.

I have never had paella in a restaurant in the United States—ever—just what my grandmother has made. So I can’t even make a recommendation on where to try it or get it if you can. I can suggest that if you are ever in Spain at a restaurant that serves family-style (most do), this is a MUST HAVE. Traditionally paella has some clams in it along with chicken and shrimp but for the sake of time this one only has chicken and shrimp in it. Either way, it is still delicious.

While my dad drove my grandparents to the airport in Boston we killed some time in Newport just hopping in and out of shops and enjoying the scenery. On the way into town my uncle took us on a little detour to see the Newport mansions on Bellevue . If you are ever in the area go check them out, they’re unreal. I have never actually taken a tour of one of them, we always drive by, but just looking at them will make your jaw drop.

It was HOT in RI this weekend. Even as a native Texan I struggled. Dry heat is one thing…but heat + humidity is a whole other ball game. The heat called for a stop in the White Horse Tavern. My mom was told by a man on her plane that she should go check it out. Constructed in 1652, the White Horse is one of the oldest taverns in the United States. I’m not sure if it was because we heard it was awesome and I set a mental expectation for it but I honestly thought it kind of sucked. The actual tavern itself had a cool atmosphere, you could tell the place had a ton of history and the way it was shaped was neat…but food/drink wise I give it a C. There were maybe 5 beers on tap—I would expect a lot more—and the little pizza we ordered was far from your normal bar pizza.

My dad returned from Boston and grabbed us from Newport. Unanimously we decided that before continuing July 4^th festivities that we needed a nap. We returned to the condo and all 4 of us were OUT. An hour later we were ready to go. We threw on our swim suits and headed to a friend of my Aunt and Uncle for a little BBQ and water fun on the Sakonnet River. Nick and I hopped on the two person kayak and took it for a spin. We kayaked around the mini island in the bay and watched Olive, the newfie, swim.

On the Sakonnet River

After the sun went down we headed to watch some fireworks! The show itself was kind of slow but after finding out that it was put together by donations it made more sense. Despite how slow the fireworks were, the finale didn't disappoint!

All in all it was a great first day of vacation. Part II to come tomorrow!