Family vacation. An ultimate oxymoron.

Hold off on plunging tomatoes at my head or stoning me to a state of unconsciousness. I have very fond memories of my family vacations as a kid, but in hindsight it is from the perspective of a child and I have a new found perspective of being a parent. Of toddlers. And a very hormonal teenager. All of whom I love.

But now I need a vacation.

It was a week of beautiful weather. I scored a bronzey tan which I'm totally gloating about like I'm a 13 year old pool rat again trying to gain bragging rights to a summer tan before going back to school. And I caught some sweet waves. On my body board. Conceal the snide laughs; I haven't tested the surfboard on Jersey waves for God's sake.

Our family of five ventured to a gigundous beach house shared with my parents, my in laws, my grandma and my youngest teenage cousin who contributed to keeping the balance among the teenage population. I cooked four fantastic Rachael Ray meals that will be added to the bangin' foodie list. But it was beyond exhausting on many parts, mostly because of the kids. I've realized how much energy is put into them even more so on vacation because as a parent I want them to enjoy the aura of the beach as much as I do.

I want them to point to every obnoxious advertisement being flown overhead by the puddle jumper planes, the military jets that rip past us, the tug boat too close to shore, the sand crab pinching my toe, and the dolphins jumping beyond the waves. But they don't yet, so I act as the motherly tour guide for the majority of the time. Sorry folks, it's tiresome. Especially if your kids want nothing to do with the above and really only want to eat piles of sand by the fistful causing ungodly sights and stenches in their Pampers, thank you very much.

Add to that: a week of spoiling, limited structure and discipline and you have yourself a picture of childhood anarchy.

I was sad to see the week end mostly because through it all we had a great time, but Jason and I were eager to get home. Half way through the trip home we were busy crooning along to Bob Schneider, Barenaked Ladies, and Dave Matthews incessantly when our SUV began sputtering on the Schuylkill Express outside of Philly. It's not our vehicle, but was graciously borrowed from Jason's oldest brother. The Yukon died in transit on the Schuylkill three times before we literally stopped 500 yards before the Conshohocken exit.

A lot of things went through my mind at that point, mostly all of them referring to dangerous statistics about highway fatalities to stranded vehicles. Every tractor trailer that passed in a blur of motion sent chills down my spine as its sheer power sent our 7-passenger vehicle rocking subtly. The view out my window led to a steep hill bordering Amtrak lines. I am a catastrophic thinker, and all I kept seeing in my mind were headlines about a family's vacation ending tragically on the Schuylkill.

I began retracting the thoughts I had about my kids. The "seriously isn't it bedtime for you kids, yet?" thoughts. I still do regret thinking them. Well most of them anyway. The teenager's request for a pink bra, no I'm sorry a Victoria's Secret PINK bra, was still not happening during day two of vacation and will not happen now either, mind you, and I don't regret the internal expletive thoughts I had after that little proposal. And I don't regret my reaction to my toddlers' baffling stunt where they managed to score dad's electric shaver out of the wall, shave off pieces of each other's hair, dismantle the mechanism, all in about ten minutes after I put them to bed for naptime on day three of vacation.

But all of the other grumblings I said under my breath out of exhaustion... yea those I totally regret.

And I still need that vacation. As if it were in question.

Sgt Pepper's, Torchy's and eight other reasons I loved Austin

I think it was literally after I unbuckled my "safety belt" in the plane in Austin that I could feel a different vibe of the city, and began to take on a new persona myself: Steph, and no longer Mommy. Half a country away from home, but I strangely felt at ease knowing our new home-away-from-home was only five minutes from the terminal with a cold Mexican beer and smokey homemade fajitas steaming. But wait! Our kids were not attached to our hips! My arms felt empty without a stroller to push, or diaper bag strapped to my back. My voice was not hoarse from its echoing mantra of "Mason. Stop. Peyton. No." Justine is a self sufficient teenager and requires little beckoning unless it includes a checklist of, "Homework? done. Dirty clothes? laundered. Showered? smelling like a rose." It's a broken record but doesn't require a droning voice and draining source of energy needed for toddler boys. How could this new place feel normal? Quite simply, I learned.

Yes. A second honeymoon. That idea could easily be followed by a third... fourth... maybe fifth honeymoon anytime soon. Just as soon as that stimulus check in debate could kindly float into our mailbox I would gladly hop a plane to Austin with Jason at a moment's notice.

Austin was awesome. And really, as a fellow Austinian commented to me and Jason as we awaited our flight in Baltimore, "Five days is plenty of time for y'all to fall in love with Austin." We certainly did. It wasn't even warm-- freezing by their accounts [all 60 degrees of it which is a heat wave to us Northeasterners].

Here are just a few reasons why you should book a trip to Austin and when you do try to hit up some of the recommended spots as I became a Tex-Mex junkie before leaving to come back to cow-pie country.

1. Citizens of Austin are just friendly. It's borderline weird to me for complete strangers to start talking to me in public as I'm wary of what they might sell me or how easily they pick my pockets only to find dryer lint. They are really just that nice.
2. You will soon realize how far behind your own community is in becoming a green town. Their recycling "bins" are as large as my trashcans, and their trashcan is as small as my recycling bin. Their roads are only littered with a few sparse SUVs, and the traffic is jammed with economy cars, and hybrids. Smaller is better and most people opt for that. Recycling is everywhere; farmer's markets abound with fresh-from-the-garden awesome food finds. Gardens are fairly common, and this leads me to number three...


3. East Side Cafe is unbelievable. It's a small restaurant based out of an old converted home. They have a large garden that produces a host of fresh veggies that make their way to becoming features on the menu when they're harvested. The flavors are fantastic from appetizer to desserts, and their adjacent gift shop has wonderful one-of-a-kind finds. It also happens to be the employer a favorite sister-in-law of mine, so perhaps I'm a bit biased.


4. Okay so a lot of the trip revolved around food. They have some uh-may-zing places that are great but won't break the bank. My favorite place was Torchy's. I insisted going there for round two after we ate lunch one of the days and I tasted the Fried Avocado Taco. Who knew you could fry avocado? The next day I enjoyed the Baja Shrimp Taco which was the best in my opinion. Hands down-- great bite to eat, and it was worth every penny of my ten dollar bill.
5. Bob Schneider. Need I say more? In addition to fabulous food, my brother and sister-in-law have found some of the best music in Austin and Mr. Schneider is the top of the list. Now, whenever I put his music in the stereo of our basement, it takes me back to Austin despite the toy-littered basement and two toddler maniacs running around me.
6. Going to the movies these days is enough to break the bank, but it was completely worth the money to see Seven Pounds [which I totally recommend] at The Alamo downtown in Austin. Obviously this has nothing in common with the infamous battlegrounds of the historic Alamo in San Antonio other that its shared name. This movie theater doubles as a restaurant, and serves up some delicious food. The lighting is dim, but worth the extra effort of focusing on food-to-mouth action and that on the big silver screen in front of you. Order up drinks, appetizers, and dinners as often as you'd like until "last call". Could it get any better than that?
7. Blue sky. Yea I know this is abundant just about anywhere, except for perhaps the smog-ridden areas of the good ol' USA, but the sky in Austin just seemed to stretch on forever. Colleen remarked to me one day that when they moved there, she couldn't get enough of the sky. It was so blue, and encompassed such a vast area that wasn't polluted with gray skies and smog. And I had to agree. Maybe not worth a $200 ticket to fly there, but I definitely enjoyed the perk of seeing it every day.
8. As mentioned a few numbers up, I fell in love with the fresh farmer's markets. The massive Whole Foods store was enough to be stifled by, but I thoroughly enjoyed walking from tent to tent at one of the farmer's market locations in town. We went at ten in the morning, but that didn't hold me back from enjoying some fresh Thai vegetarian egg rolls, red curry sauce, or chipolte pesto. The last on my list has become my obsession or sorts. Sgt. Pepper's pestos are fantastic. I purchased four containers, froze them, brought them home safely, and currently I am contemplating contacting the owner to send me more if I pre-pay in advance. From roasted jalapeno, to Serrano cilantro, to the less spicy black olive pesto, the flavors are amazing. The New Mexican red chile pesto lasted all but about four days in the fridge before I was tempted to lick the container clean. I wish there were an easier way to obtain it. GO GLOBAL Sgt Pepper's!
9. It was an odd feeling to literally feel like the oldest 26 year old on the Longhorn campus, but as a proud sister of a Longhorn graduate student we graced the UT grounds. Despite my insecurities, the college town is beautiful, as much as it is a tight knit community. I went to a small university, so really any campus over 15,000 students exudes an unparalleled camaraderie that I'm unaccustomed to experiencing. I would have loved to go to school there, but it was just as cool going there as a visitor.
10. Lastly, the best parts of Austin were hanging out with Josh and Colleen, and Jason. Reconnecting with my husband was long overdue, but just as much was missing out on my brother and his wife who at times just seem two damn far away. But that type of bonding can take place anywhere. It was just much more worthwhile to do this out of the proximity of our lovely darlings and instead in the comfort of their beautiful surroundings.

Cheers to Austin, finding family and regaining a marriage.