Louis and I recently visited the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio, which is something I’ve been wanting to do since we moved here. It has been here since the late 1800s first serving as a limestone quarry and eventually transforming into the beautiful garden it is today.
The entrance sign was changed to read “Chinese Tea Garden” during WWII due to the stigma against Japanese Americans at the time and was never changed back.
We were driving around exploring one Friday afternoon and conveniently wound up right by the Japanese Tea Garden. We parked by the San Antonio Zoo and strolled over to be greeted by beautiful stone structures and a winding vertical path leading to the garden.
At the top of the hill sits a tea room and café: The Jingu House. We followed the path up to see what laid on the other side of the tea room.
We weren’t expecting much, but I can honestly say the view took our breath away. At the top of the hill, the quarry opens up to a massive yet intimate area surrounding bridges, trails, waterfalls, and koi ponds. All I kept repeating was that it felt like a hidden oasis.
We climbed down from the top of the hill and found a shaded stone bench to enjoy the breeze and the view. It would have been the perfect spot to relax with a good book.
This stunning gazebo shaded us as we relaxed in our secluded spot. The pictures cannot do the beauty of the architecture and surroundings justice.
Once we had our fill of the view, we decided to climb down further into the quarry and admire the trails and koi ponds up close.
The pathways wound up and down showing off the various plant life and offering several different viewpoints to admire the sunken garden. There were scalloped bridges, winding stone walkways, and limestone steps.
After we walked the entire perimeter of the tea garden, one pathway led us up to a walkway lined by a canopy of trees. It was a truly dreamy spot that felt like something out of a storybook. This long, shaded path actually led all the way down to the San Antonio Zoo.
I was in heaven.
Once Louis was able to drag me away from the tree canopy, we walked along a unique wooden bridge to a private gazebo overlooking the original stone chimney from the early 1900s. It was a quiet, relaxing spot.
After we ventured back to the main sunken garden, Louis purchased a sweet strawberry hibiscus tea from The Jingu House. It was one of many delicious looking tea combinations.
Our adventure to the Japanese Tea Garden was an unexpected surprise. The entire area is a beautiful oasis of plants, ponds, and pathways that really felt like an escape from the city. I’m thankful San Antonio has made a conscious effort to preserve such an exquisite spot. If you want to explore the Japanese Tea Garden you’ll be happy to know it’s free! Also, I would try to visit on a weekday afternoon like we did to avoid any crowds and experience the garden in a more relaxing manner. We can’t wait to return!
Howdy y’all! Remember me? Sorry…I’ve been MIA (no, not the singer/rapper M.I.A.) for a minute! Don’t fret. I’m back.
I wanted to share a pretty cool, new (to us) spot that hubbs and I explored a few weeks ago: The Pearl in San Antonio. We moved to San Antonio almost 2 years ago from our beloved Houston (where our families live) with the attitude that San Antonio would never be as good as our hometown. While that may still ring true, we recently decided to abandon our bitter attitude towards San Antonio and start exploring! I’m hoping as we venture throughout the city together, I can share our experiences here as Night Al Migrations. I’m sorry…I love a good theme, so I’m sticking with the bird idea here.
Our goal was to branch out from typical tourist spots like the River Walk and find other cool locations around the city. When we visited Bakery Lorraine for our anniversary, we drove through an area known as The Pearl. The Pearl is a grouping of restaurants, shops, and lofts in buildings that originally housed The Pearl Brewery. We recently made a trip there to enjoy lunch and browse around some of the stores.
We arrived around one o’clock on a Friday afternoon and headed to The Granary for some BBQ. (Side note: I instagrammed the picture above and misspelled “Granary” in my caption. So embarrassing.) The Granary is located in a charming house from the 1800s and is covered with rich wood, unique lighting, and handwritten chalkboard menus. They also have a dog-friendly, wrap-around porch, which was a nice touch! We got our drinks first (glass bottle Coca Cola for me, house-made root beer for Lou) and waited a few minutes for our meal.
We weren’t too intrigued by any of the sides, so we each got a chopped beef sandwich and 1/2 lb of beef brisket to split. The Granary is big on only serving humanely raised meat (humanely raised to be slaughtered for our lunch…contradictory?), and it showed in their prices! I can safely say though, that their chopped beef sandwich was one of the best I’ve ever tasted! It was on fresh baked bread, and their BBQ sauce (which is a crucial component for me) was super tasty. However, the brisket was marbled with LOTS of fat, which we’re not fans of. I can’t recommend it if you prefer lean brisket.
Once we finished lunch, we decided to walk around and explore some of the boutiques and shops. One of the boutiques we went into was Leighelena, which contained a mixture of vintage boots and clothes, handmade jewelry and various gifts and decor. It was kind of like a vintage, western Urban Outfitters? They had a ton of unique pieces and some really beautiful jewelry.
Another favorite store of mine was The Tiny Finch. They had some of the most beautiful home decor unlike anything I’ve ever seen providing several one-of-a-kind pieces. We popped in a few other shops including Ten Thousand Villages (pictured below), which contained pieces from around the world created by various artisans. Each store we visited was distinctly different and offered special pieces you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.
In fact, The Pearl was so unique, I was kind of worried we weren’t hip enough to be there! Stupid, right? The Culinary Institute of America also has a campus at The Pearl, so, obviously, there is no shortage of adventurous (and pricey) restaurants. They have everything from an authentic Mexican street food ice house to a kosher vegetarian restaurant to a seafood and oyster bar. There’s something for everyone! Be warned though…most of the restaurants aren’t for picky eaters. Louis and I are pretty boring when it comes to food, and several of the restaurant menus require much more sophisticated palates. 😉 Like I said…we may not be hip enough for The Pearl…haha!
The Pearl has incredible lofts on site that would be a dream to live in! They are also in the process of renovating the historic brew house into a luxury boutique hotel. In addition to all this, they host a huge Farmer’s Market every weekend, which brings in tons of local vendors. I think The Pearl is on the brink of being really popular. I’m sure within the next couple of years once all of the storefronts are occupied and the construction and renovations are complete, the area will be booming. We had a great time exploring it, and I can’t wait to see how it grows in the future! If you’re a local, or you visit San Antonio, add The Pear to your itinerary for some unique food and shopping!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend celebrating Easter, and I’ll be back next week with some more Beauty Blurbs and posts!
Praise the Maker! Louis and I found a super yummy snowcone stand close by us! The good/bad news is they accept credit cards, so we are ALWAYS able to get a snowcone! Think about it…the only downfall of most neighborhood snowcone stands is that they’re cash only. Not so in San Antonio, folks. They are SERIOUS. about their cones. We were at Barnes & Noble one Saturday (because we are super cool and adventurous), and we stumbled across this beauty.
The Frosty Frog
This lovely establishment, The Frosty Frog is apparently in this very spot from February to November, so we have plenty of time to enjoy snowcones! On our first visit, we both enjoyed some delicious shaved ice. We tried to respect San Antonio’s roots when ordering. Louis went full on Mexican and ordered lime, and I went full on fake sports fan and ordered The Spurs Trio (for an extra $.50 might I add…).
So psyched for our snowcones!Lime & Spurs Trio (blue coconut, banana, and strawberry)
The ice was shaved super thin, and they had just the right amount of juice on them! For $5, it was the perfect Saturday treat. So perfect in fact, that we went back the following Saturday.
This time, Louis tried Spiderman vs. Hulk (strawberry & lime) because he is a child in an adult’s body (which is one of the many reasons I love him), and I was boring and got the exact same thing again…
Louis’ snowcone is a gross color, and mine is beautiful…again.
A fun fact about this trip to the snowcone stand is that about 15 minutes into enjoying our cones in my car we started to hear a buzzing. Apparently a bumble bee wanted to enjoy in our snowcones with us and decided to be a stowaway in Louis’s hoodie. After jumping out of the car and dropping our phones on the ground and yelling (and being seen by several bystanders), we chilled out and enjoyed the rest of our cones.
Not to have our most recent experience be an embarrassing one, we decided it was only right to go back this Saturday and enjoy The Frosty Frog again.
NOM.
This time my handsome hubbs got Watermelon and Lime, but they added some weird powder to it. Apparently pouring this stuff into snowcones is the norm in San Antonio?
Yuck.
I finally branched out and got half Blue Raspberry and half Pineapple. I had to text my sis a pic of my snowcone and torture her a bit because she loves all things pineapple. Sorry, Ames. 🙂
Don’t worry, we’ll be taking a break from The Frosty Frog this weekend because we’re FINALLY going home Saturday for sweet Henry’s baby dedication! Hooray! Can’t wait to see my family! Oh, and remember how we were at Barnes & Noble before our first trip to The Frosty Frog? I just might have been picking up a little something for my sweet nephew…
A little something for Henry perhaps?
Check back next week for an update on our wonderful weekend at home!
Massive readership! I am so sorry I haven’t blogged in a few weeks. That is partially because…I got a JOB. I know, I know. Finally putting my college degree to use (sort of). Basically, I handle all of the lease returns at a company in San Antonio that rents out office equipment like copiers and printers. I’m about to finish my fifth week here, and I’m currently about 34% sure what I’m supposed to be doing.
The company is in the middle of preparing to move, so things are a little hectic. In total, I’ve probably gotten 1 hour of face time with my boss since I started…five weeks ago. My training is a little big lacking. The other thing lacking? My motivation. Said move will put the company that is currently 5 minutes from my apartment over an hour commute away from our apartment. That said, I may be cutting my career here short close to the time of the move. Worst employee ever, I know.
The one thing keeping me here is the fact that hubbs said all of the money I make can go towards a trip to Disney (-land or World we’re not sure yet!). Disney fanatic that I am, I will work here as long as possible…or at least until I save up for our Disney Premier Passports. Hey, I can dream, right?
Anyway, as I’m probably a couple weeks shy of giving my 2-weeks notice, I figured I would recap some of my time and experience here.
1) My boss (from here on known as ‘T’), is an Austinite who wears rings on his pinky, thumb and pointer finger, has a daughter named after a brand of car, and has a chin strap beard similar to this one that I always one to ask him how hard it is to shave. T’s girlfriend also works here, and this week he let her have my office to “have a quiet working environment.” I had to carry ALL of my office supplies over to his office and work there while she relaxed in my office. I mean, it’s fine. The worst part was probably the fact that no less than SEVEN men walked by T’s office, did a double take when they saw me, and commented something along the lines of, “Wow, T! You sure look different.” And I had to be polite and laugh at each one because they all thought they were SO original to come up with SUCH funny joke.
Me after having to laugh at the same joke for the 13th time.
2) I’d also like to mention one of my coworkers, who I will refer to as ‘K.’ K is one of the most unique, ridiculous people I have ever met. He is 45; when I met him I thought he was 60. He is a self proclaimed “former hippie” that wears several necklaces and bracelets not unlike this along with a 4″ wooden cross on a silver chain. This is all set off with a gray ponytail and a pocket tee holding a carton of cigarettes. K is a TALKER. He LITERALLY (said as Chris Traeger) talked to me about Vikings for 45 minutes last week. Things I know about K that he has told me in the past five weeks:
He put down a stray cat named Kitty last week because of cancer
He met his wife on the internet, she works at Hallmark, and they just cut her hours
He went to high school in New York even though is parents moved to Florida
He cusses a lot
His neighbor’s name is Donna. She used to work at USAA, hates children, and wants him to repair her fence.
Even though his father had cancer and a heart attack, K is convinced doctors killed him with pain medicine
He likes Chicken McNuggets, Panda Express Orange Chicken, and Dr. Pepper
He watches Duck Dynasty, “some car show,” and Living Dead
I know how much is car insurance costs, and that it just raised $4
He believes in Zodiac, horoscopes, and that he posses all of the personality traits of his sign (Libra)
He didn’t go to college, but he knows he would have succeeded because his wife always tells him he’s smart, and he completed an A/C Repairman year-long online course in only 4 months (also because his Zodiac sign is considered “very intellectual and [he’s] been known to get deep a time or two)
He has a “photogenic” mind
He has a step brother in prison for murdering someone
He tells me lots of stories about himself always including, “So I says…”
I could go on. I’ve even “jokingly” said, “Don’t you ever work? You sure spend a lot of time in here talking…” to which he responds with a laugh and continues his constant stream of information. (Side note: I started writing this blog on Thursday afternoon, and I couldn’t finish it because K came in at 4:40 PM and talked to me until 5:02 PM)
3) I have my own office, which is a huge blessing. It has allowed me to do things like write this blog post at work. Right now. What? I already made it clear above that I’m not campaigning for employee of the year here. Below is a panoramic shot of my office.
Welcome to my lair.
Another high point of this job, is that I can basically wear whatever to work just short of sweatpants. I say just short because I work a sweatSHIRT to work the other day. With a sports bra. I’m sorry, but NO ONE comes to my office. I do my makeup and try my best to look cute most days, but every once in a while, I just wanna wear a hoodie. So sue me.
I wore the outfit below on my first day of work, and I had to get Louis to bring me flats when we met for lunch. Little did I know, I would be getting a tour of not only our entire office building, but the warehouse as well, from T who I’m pretty sure is an Olympic power walker in his spare time. I thought my toes were going to fall off. Since then it’s been Toms and sandals (okay…and hoodies) for this girl.
Should I ever complain about working? Definitely not. I have a job making okay money where I can wear jeans and hoodies and blog in my private office. Yet, still I find myself making this face from 8-5.
A big part of me definitely misses my days of sleeping in, browsing Target for hours, and having homemade baked ziti fresh out of the oven for Louis when he gets home from work. If all goes according to plan, life will be back to the way it was soon enough though!
Happy Easter! Louis and I had a busy, fun Sunday celebrating the day Jesus rose with church, fajitas, and hunting and dying eggs! Here is a photo recap of our day!
We started the day with visiting the movies a new church, Mission Church. I found a flier for the church by our apartment mailboxes, and (since we have been visiting different churches since we moved here) we decided to give it a try this Easter! The awkward part? They meet here:
So…yes. Louis and I spent the first few hours of our Easter at a movie theater that would be screening The Hostmoments after the last worship song. It was a little bizarre to be sitting there with our feet sticking to the floor while listening to the gospel, but the pastor (an Aggie grad! Whoop!) gave a great message, and we really enjoyed the service overall.
Heading to church!
After church we decided to have a celebratory Easter lunch, and headed to Pappasito’s for some of their delicious fajitas. I acted like a 7-year old and asked Louis to take a picture of me with the Mexican Easter Bunny. Of course, not before I spilled salsa all over my shirt. We got seated in the back banquet room at a table for 6, so it was nice and quiet and we had an awkward amount of room to spread out.
I ran into the Easter Bunny at Pappasito’s…I also spilled salsa on my shirt.
After a delicious lunch of fajitas at Pappasito’s!
We headed home from lunch for a rousing Easter egg hunt! No Easter is complete without hunting for some candy-filled plastic orbs! The fact that we live in an 800 square foot apartment made the hunt a little difficult, but we managed to find some excellent spots for hiding! Louis hid a dozen eggs for me, while I was quarantined to our bedroom, and, after I found all my eggs, I hid a dozen for him!
Basket in hand…ready to hunt! Also, after I changed into a shirt that did not have salsa all over it.Somehow I ended up on the floor twice during our Easter egg hunt… #klutzOur baskets with our eggs!Loved my little felt Easter basket!Camouflaging one of Louis’s eggs in the pocket of my Anthropologie apron form Amy!Ready to find his eggs!Louis found the egg I hid in the candle! (with a little “You’re getting warmer…” help from me!)Snail & Monkey baskets!Where’s the egg?Post egg hunt!
All of our hunting worked up our appetite, so Louis requested a sweet dessert. We headed down the road to Marble Slab for a snack! I was craving Sweet Cream with gummy bears (seriously, I acted like a child all day today…), and when I asked for gummy bears, the employee looked at me like I was an idiot. “We don’t have gummy bears at this location.” BLASPHEMY. I settled for Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, and the world did not end.
Marble slab deliciousness.While Louis and I ate our ice cream in my car, this guy got in his car and started BLARING rap music and singing along. So awkward.Yum!Marble Slab for dessert! Excuse the huge pimple on my cheek.
After our snack excursion, we returned home for another Easter tradition…dying eggs! Usually I have great goals for my eggs every year, and they end up looking super rough. This year though, Louis and I made some pretty beautiful ones if I do say so myself.
All lined up and ready to dye!The “<3L” egg was my first of the day!This is part of my header, but I was so proud of my egg!Louis’s amazing rainbow egg!So proud of my striped eggs…and sorry for the WHACKO hair.Our beautiful creations!
While we boiled our eggs and waited for them to be ready to dye though, I got to FaceTime with my family who were celebrating Easter together in Houston! They were so hilarious and fun to catch up with. Their day included church, ribs, and an indoor egg hunt due to rainy weather. The most special part of the day though, was celebrating Henry’s 1st Easter! I loved seeing their updates all day on Instagram, but it was so much better being able to chat with them and see them for myself! My mom even gave me a tour of the house to show me her Easter decor and delicious homemade desserts!
Mom giving my dad bunny ears on Easter 🙂 They’re so goofy.Trav & Henry waking up from a nap! (Just Henry…I don’t think Travis was sleeping.)He’s going to skip crawling and just walk. (with a little help from Mommy!)Lolli & Henry!
It was weird celebrating Easter away from our families this year, but the drive to and from Houston is a pain when we both have work Friday and Monday. I know we’ll get to make some trips home in April and May, so that made it worth staying here and doing laundry and cleaning and doing dishes getting rested up for another work week bearable.
