Days off and dazed out

After working several 12-hour days over the last couple of weeks, I got a couple of much needed days off. One was a day of fun, and one (today) is a day of rest. Sometimes you just need a little of both to keep you going.

For our day of fun, Candy and I hit the towns. Yes, thats towns with an 's'. We had something very exciting in store for us in San Antonio (we'll get to that later), so we decided to make a day of it and treat orselves to things that we normally don't get a chance to do. First, we slept in. This is very important, because on most days we are up and out of the house by 8am. Once we were up and moving about, we went to Bouldin Creek for brunch. This is a rarity we got to treat ourselves to, and one that I think everyone should enjoy sometimes.

I had the special: tofu scramble with leeks and bacun bits, with cinnamon-raisin toast and orange marmalade. Very noochy. Best with an endless vintage mug of fresh hot coffee.

Next up, a trip to the library where I had a big stack of books waiting for me (A Confederacy of Dunces, Last Exit to Brooklyn, One Hundred Years of Solitude), then the bike shop for some lights, and then thrift shopping. We finally got around to the coolest little East end thrift store, which is only about 2 mile from our house called Treasure City Thrift. They hold alot of fun parties, and have some pretty cheap clothes. I left with a simple long sleeve shirt, and a vintage button up. I found alot of cool stuff to decorate my bathroom with at Goodwill, a cheap 10 cup coffee pot at Savers, and a couple of cute winter items. Candy got a couple of board games (Pop-up Video, and Wheel of Fortune) for our weekly game nights. Phew, after all of that it was time to head to San Antonio.

Our first stop was for dinner. We were looking especially forward to this dinner, because it would be at a new restaurant in town, and the only vegetarian restaurant in S.A. called Green Restaurant. I had been looking (and drooling) over the menu online and could not wait to try it out. It was a cute little cafe/diner type place, but with a lot of ambiance. You order your food at the counter, then drool all over the dessert case (all desserts are vegan) and then sit down at one of the various booths and wait for your food. Everything sounded wonderful so we decided to split a few things.

We started with a delicious sounding salad that applealed to our curious side. A bed of fresh spinach, with sliced crisp green apple, dried cranberries, and cinnamon spiced pecans. Originally served with blue cheese, we opted out and accepted the offer for crumbled tofu, on the side. All salad dressing are vegan, and we decided on the Orange Vinagrette. The entire salad was delightful, and very refreshing. I enjoyed the added texture of the tofu, but it would have been fine without it.
Our entree was a huge hit. We had the "Chicken fried" wheat-meat plate, with brown gravy, herbed mashed potatoes, and green beans. When given the option, who could say no? It certainly appealed to our down home side. The wheat meat was one of the best I have ever had. Perfectly breaded, not too chewy, and down right homey with savory mashers and gravy. The beans were..beans.
Some rolls on the side. Actually, they were a little more like buttermilk biscuits, but not as biscuity. Either way, they were perfect for soping up gravy.

And, of course, we simply could not pass up dessert with such a welcoming selection- fruit cobblers, cake, chocolate brownies, soy ice cream. Of course, we went for a classic- chocolate cake with mocha buttercream icing. Mmmm!

Now, why in the world would we leave lovely Austin to visit an unfamiliar city for just one night, you make be asking. Well, like I said previously, we had something very special waiting for us there. For one night, and one night only, we had tickets for two Orchestra section, row R seats to see the lovely Tori Amos!
(This is where I get all crazy fan on you. How in the world do I add a cut tag?)

We originally bought the tickets many months ago to see the show in Austin. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled last month, and rescheduled for S.A. No problem for us, because it is just a one hour car ride away. We were happy to make the trip. I hadn't seen my favorite artist in such a long time. I was so ecstatic by the time we got into the theater and sat down, I had to have a glass of red to keep myself from jumping up and down. Although, I did make quite a mini scene by squealing when we sat in our seats and I realized how close we were.

The concert was held in the Majestic theater, the same theater we saw R.E.N.T in a few months back. It is one of the coolest theaters I have been to, and was the perfect setting.

Tori always has very original, and usually little heard of people opening for her. This time was no different. Yoav was the opening act, with himself and his two guitars, he really set the mood. He had a very melodic voice (reminding me of the lead singer of Tool, just less..Tool-y.), and used his guitars to make various different sounds. He also had a great stage presence, and talked to us between songs.
We were super excited waiting for Tori to come on stage. I always feel this great rush of excitement, mixed with calmness, and butterflies before I see her live. I once read that before each show she burns sage back stage, which I think has something to do with these feelings.

She entered the stage as a great presence, and the rush from the crowd was astounding. Never have I witnessed the excitement of adoring fans like I do when I am at a Tori concert. It was very cute how she came on, smoking a (fake) cigarette, puffing away and blowing out smoke. We were just discussing on the trip how careful singers are about their voices, never smoking, eating non-musus forming foods, and sometimes even going without speaking when recording. I thought it was amusing that she chose to enter this way, and it really set the mood for the show. Her tiny presence behind her enormous piano is deceiving...

In her sparkly, one piece jump suit. Just imagine her jirating on her bench, and busting out tunes on the keys while simultaneously singing sex into the microphone. Holy mother...

She played a large mix of songs, spanning from the early days (pretty good year, precious things..) a few covers (New Age, and one I didn't recognize) to her latest album American Doll Posse. I especially loved when she talked to the audience. She had some funny stories involving wine, which are always fun to hear. It was a fantastic concert, and I left exhilarated. I also left with an ADP poster, and a T-shirt I can't wait for the next tour!