I love doughnuts. I grew up eating mostly glazed or cinnamon and sugar, and it wasn’t until later in life that I discovered fancy doughnuts like apple fritters and cake doughnuts with frosting and coconut sprinkled on top. Through it all though, some of the best doughnuts have been those that are freshly-made, still warm. Slightly crispy on the outside and steamy on the inside.

Once I read about a doughnut trailer on South Lamar called Gourdough’s and saw this blog post from my friend Kathy and this one from Foodie is the New Forty, I knew I HAD to go. (Also, mustached doughnut for the logo? Awesome). And wow. Warm, fresh doughnuts that you could tell were JUST made and then topped with deliciousness.

Ryan had the Mama’s Cake. I took one bite of it and was immediately transported to heaven. A doughnut.. filled with yellow cake batter and topped with chocolate icing. I mean, why have people not been doing this for years? Steph had the Flying Pig, which is a doughnut that is topped with bacon and maple syrup. Also very tasty. I had the Mother Clucker, which is a doughnut topped with a chicken strip. It was everything I thought it would be. And Josh had the Porkey’s (not pictured) which is canadian bacon, cream cheese and jalapeno jelly. His sounded gross, because it had jalepeno jelly which sounded disgusting, but the flavors were actually really excellent together.

To sum it up.. yum, yum, yum. Also, now I need to eat vegetables for the next few days to make my arteries happy.

Sometimes I forget how much I love Austin. Then I actually go to places like this, the real places that make up the city instead of the suburby outskirts and it all comes crashing back to me.

Last Friday morning Josh and I bundled up and headed to Mount Bonnell around 7:15am. It was quiet up there. And the city looked peaceful and quiet under the overcast sky. I know that if I were actually down in the city, it would be bustling with people heading to work. But it’s all a matter of perspective.

After that, we headed over to Mozart’s to get some coffee and pastries for a nice breakfast and a view of the water. Here is where I saw some of the the bustle of the city. That place was buzzing with people having business meetings, moms meeting each other for an early morning breakfast and a couple of people working on laptops.

Enjoy your city.

I’ve been super-busy this week and haven’t even had a chance to load up any photos onto my computer. I’ve got a lot of stuff to finish by Friday, and not a lot of time to do so. And so.. I leave you with a photo from the archives. This was taken on the Brooklyn Bridge, looking towards Manhattan from a trip I took to NYC in September of 2006. Sooo long ago.

Hint, hint, Austin weather. Wouldn’t lots of snow this year be so nice?

Photo from December 2008 in Seattle

On Saturday, my sister had her baby shower. She’s due in late January and doesn’t know if she’s having a boy or a girl yet (note the gender-neutral green plates and forks). I’m so excited to be an aunt, baby-sit and take photos of the baby once he/she is born!

On the way back from Michigan, we stopped in St. Louis for a night. Apparently we were visiting the same weekend as the state football championship.. and many of the people were staying in our hotel. Very loud, noisy smokers with beer/soda bellies. It was.. an experience.

Luckily, I think they had to leave early the next morning, and Josh and I took a nice little stroll around the arch and just a bit of downtown. It was quiet, overcast, and peaceful. A nice morning before our looong drive back to Austin.