Fiesta continued

Another photo of one of the Duchess' dresses from the week...

On Thursday, the San Antonio German club throws a party for all of the Duchesses, their friends and their families. The German is a festive party that used to be held at the San Jose Mission in San Antonio, but now has been moved to the San Antonio Museum of Art on the San Antonio River Walk.

Friday brings the most fun of all of the days. Local schools have a holiday for the Battle of Flowers Day Parade down the main streets of downtown San Antonio. Not only to all of the local schools participate in the parade, but so do all of the Texas Cavaliers, the Duchesses, the Queen and Princess and other local organizations. The whole city comes together for this festive event.

As all of the duchesses pass by, the crowd yells "Show us your shoes" and the girls raise their long dresses to show the original shoes that they have chosen to wear for the parade. Most wear cowboy boots or some other shoes that have some meaning to them.

Friday night after everyone leaves the parade parties and gets freshened up, the Princess and Queen host a party known as the Garden Party. This year the Garden Party was hosted at Red Berry Mansion, an old estate near down town San Antonio.

Saturday night is the last night of Fiesta and its ends with another parade and the Queen's Ball - a black tie event that lasts from 7:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. at the Menger Hotel, a local San Antonio legend. During the Queens Ball, each duchess reserves a hotel room and decorates the balcony with their name and the inside however they please. They then invite all of their friends and family up to the rooms to watch from the balcony as they have a "mini coronation" - their dad walks them around the pool in their train and dress so that everyone can see from the hotel rooms. Its a really special event for both the attendees and the duchesses. Afterwards, the party lasts until the wee hours of the morning and at dawn everyone walks over to the Alamo which is across the street for photos.

The next day is Fiesta Ultimo, one last party that ends the week with a bang.

Fiesta is truly one of the most exciting times of the year for San Antonio, and I can't wait to be a part of it next year.

Viva Fiesta

This past week was an extremely fun and exciting time for my hometown of San Antonio. During the month of April, San Antonio holds a week-long party called Fiesta. Although its proves very hard to explain every time someone asks me about it, I'll give it a try. And although everyone's Fiesta experience is likely very different, I will describe what my family and I participate in throughout the week.

The official beginning of Fiesta this year was on Saturday, April 9 with the King's Ball. Fiesta began much earlier than usual this year due to the fact that Easter was so late. The King's Ball is a black tie event, hosted by the King of the Texas Cavaliers - a group of San Antonio men who have joined together in order to give back to the city. Each year, a new King is selected (King Antonio) and the King, along with the rest of the cavaliers, not only host parties and parades, but visit local elementary schools to talk to the children about the tradition of Fiesta.

On Sunday night, the Fiesta Fireworks take place. All of our friends and their families gather at San Antonio Country Club or another venue to watch the fireworks and participate in fun Fiesta activities.

Monday night begins the real fun with the Texas Cavaliers River Parade on the San Antonio River Walk. Each river barge is decorated with a different theme, honoring different groups and organizations and beads and medals are thrown to the excited crowds. Each year, we sit at the La Villita Arneson River Theater to have cocktails and watch all of the unique floats pass by.

Tuesday is the Town Club Party - an event that I have never been to, but is sure to promise a good time.

Wednesday is the most spectacular event of the week - the Coronation. During this event, all of the new duchesses of the Order of the Alamo are presented and the new Queen and Princess are crowned.

Each girl's dress weighs over 50 lbs. and is decorated to fit a certain theme such as the Ottoman Empire. This years entire court theme was the Court of Timeless Treasures.

more to come later....

LAVO

This past weekend, I made a quick little trip up to NYC for less than 48 hours for a few job interviews. Although it was a pretty hectic trip, my mom and I made time to try one of the newest (and best) restaurants in New York.

Only six months old, we had to make our reservations at LAVO at 6 o'clock (senior special ha!) to get into New Yorks new hot spot (Paris Hilton and one of the Kardashians recently had their birthday parties here). I've never seen so many people eating dinner at 6 p.m. in my life. The awesomely hip restaurant was already packed.

With it's sister restaurant Tao right across the street, this new Italian version has much the same atmosphere and turns into an all out nightclub after 11. Tao and Lavo both originated in Vegas, but have moved to NYC and LA.

We started out with a glass of champagne each and a bottle of red wine - we were determined to stay late enough to not look like the losers who got there at 6 p.m. After an hour of garlic bread and wine, we decided to start out with one of their famous 18" pizzas - it was not round, however, but oval - 18" long. It was delicious - not too crispy but not soft.

For our meal, I had the most delicious, light Dover Sole with a side of broccoli that I think I've ever had, and my mom had a bone in serloin - rare - with truffle fries. Everything was amazing.

We ended our meal with their specialty - fried oreos with a side milkshake. I was in heaven. If you ever venture to New York or Vegas - I highly suggest you make Lavo one of your stops. But make reservations early so you don't have to eat with the old folks!

Travel Wishes and Jet Setter

If I had the means to do whatever I wanted at all times, I would make Jetsetter.com my homepage and choose a new adventure each week. Invented early last year as a spin off of its sister site, Gilt Groupe, Jetsetter offers luxurious hotels for a short period of time at an unbelievably discounted price. While you must become a member to join and see the special offers, all that a membership entails is your e-mail address and a few junk e-mails every day - a small price to pay for the wonderful opportunities you get. A few of my favorites right now...

The Petra Hotel in Greece...

The Gotham Hotel, New York - a new little boutique hotel for an amazing price...

and an event experience...Lollapalooza in Chile, complete with VIP tickets and a hotel

And for a less realistic wish that doesn't appear to be on Jet Setter - - The Vik Retreats in Uruguay...

Estancia Vik

and

Playa Vik

a girl can dream...

Charlie Sheen

While many people may find the new and "improved" Charlie Sheen to be hilarious, I see it as a bad publicity stunt that will have detrimental effects on his family and children for years to come. I personally think Sheen is a selfish prick who lost his job so now has to make an idiot out of himself in order to make a buck.

We all know who he is...the long time star of Two and a Half Men who was famously married to Denise Richards and since has had what seems to be multiple mid-life crises. We heard about his little mis-hap at The Plaza in NYC late last year, yet I don't know if it was just me, but I had no idea how insane this guy is. Even if he is faking it to get some more money, its giving him a really bad name.

From quotes like "my daughters will realize how bitchin' I am and that I sign the front of checks, not the back," to smoking and drinking throughout the entire interview on 20/20 to having two "goddesses" live with him and his children, I personally think Charlie Sheen is an over all scumbag.

http://www.popeater.com/2011/03/01/charlie-sheen-drugs-goddesses-20-20/

Perla's

With its charming blue and white striped outdoor seating, I've been wanting to try Perla's for some time now. I had the pleasure of finally eating there for a late lunch on a beautiful Friday last week and I was not disappointed.

Deep in the heart of South Congress, this little gem is the sister restaurant to one of my old favorites, Lambert's, and also owned by Tommy Moorman, a fellow Alamo Heights-er and the brother of one of my close friends. Moorman opened Lamberts, a gourmet BB-Q restaurant on 2nd Street, in 2006 which turned out to be a huge success. They opened Perla's, which is mainly seafood, three years later in 2009.

While I probably wouldn't recommend Perla's to one who dislikes seafood, there are a few other options, but their main focus is around seafood and oysters. We sat outside on the wooden patio over looking the bustling SoCo and had mimosas and bloody marys while we had an appetizer of calamari with marinara sauce which was incredible. For my entreé, I ordered the Crispy Gulf Snapper a la Plancha which might have been the most delectable fish I've ever had. It was perfectly cooked with just the right amount of sauce and juices.

After an amazing lunch, we walked around SoCo to stores that you need to make sure to stop by: Kendra Scott and By George on Congress - they're both so cute!

UCHIKO

A few weeks ago, a few friends and I decided to try out the new Uchiko - the new sister restaurant to the famous Uchi. Let me say this first, we went on a Tuesday night, and there were only two empty tables in the whole restaurant...that should attest to how totally delicious this place really is.

We started with some tempura nasu - japanese eggplant crisps with some sweet chili sauce - Uchi's own version of chips and dip. Needless to say they were addicting and incredibly tasty. We also ordered the hot rock - wagyu beef served raw with an extremely hot Japanese river rock on which you cook the beef strips. We also got some grilled edamame which had so much flavor you didn't even need soy sauce.

Next we were served a little tasting from the chef - a slice of strawberry paired with a slice of yellow beet. I'm not a huge fan of beets, but because everything else had been so, so tasty, I decided to give it a try and I was not disappointed. The complimentary tastes exploded in your mouth for a special little treat.

After all of our various appetizers, we ordered our sushi rolls - the infamous Shag roll with tempura fried salmon, sun dried tomato and spicy sauce - simple yet amazing; the crunchy tuna roll with bigeye tuna, jalapeño, cucumber, aioli and tempura flakes; and the tiger cry with grilled wagyu steak, toasted rice and cilantro. I cannot tell you which was best because they were all so delicious. I could have eaten 4 more of each.

To finish our incredible meal, we ended with the fried milk. While it sounds a bit strange, it just might be one of my favorite desserts of all time after eating it. It comes with two tiny little donut hole looking things (the fried milk), a chocolate torte, some chocolate cocoa powder and some plain milk chocolate.

After my first time at Uchi, I want to go back until I can try every single thing on the menu, as I'm sure they are all equally as unbelievable as what I had on my first visit.