NamastayGrapeful

I have been reflecting on my time in Texas since I have been in Washington for over a month. While I can say I am happy to be out of Texas because for me personally it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I felt very landlocked because I was so far away from sooo many cool things. I was 3 1/2 hours away from most of the major cities and then it was 6 hours to Houston. I was 4 1/2 hours away from family that I wish I could have spent more time with but I was thankful for having both of the holidays with them as well as some other fun activities. I just wish I could have been closer.

I had a very hard time adjusting to Texas life. Or I guess I should say moving away from home was very hard. I was in an area that I was not very happy about. For some reason I felt trapped and I felt like my time in Texas was going to take forever! It didn’t, it flew right by and I am oh so happy about that. I was so paranoid about Rattlesnakes, Scorpions and Tarantulas and I actually survived Texas with only seeing a baby Tarantula.  I wasted money on stupid traps for these spiders and Scorpions because I was so freaked out by them. Never used the traps once. I dealt with more black widows than anything else. As well as the weird cockroach like bugs that constantly got into the apartment. They were very strange looking and they would die right away pretty much because our apartment was sprayed. That also bugged the health nut in me. I had to have my apartment sprayed for bugs and scorpions once a month. That can’t be that healthy to have those chemicals in your home.

I cried so many times in the first few months of being there. I know it may sound pathetic but I am a routine girl and also a comfort girl. I like the things the way I had them in NY. I was having some family issues back home and then acclimating to this new area so it was just a bad combo for me. I was trying to deal with my vertigo as well. I have anxiety when it comes to change for sure. I think that’s what caused a lot of the upset. I missed my friends so much. I still do because I have been away from them for almost a year. I seriously have such a good group of friends back home. I can count on them for anything. They’re a big reason why I am drawn to moving back to NY and not moving to a different state like I would like to.

But I realized I came right out on top like I thought I would. I was dreading this change but something just told me this was going to make me grow as a person and boy did it do just that. I leaned on God a lot during this all. And it helped me so much. I met some really great people. I met Kam who became a really good friend of mine after just one hair appointment with her. I became friends with the woman that did my massages, Stacey. We always had a good time. The woman who would do my facials, Beverly, was amazing as well. She treated me so good. I miss them all so much.

While I didn’t complete everything on my bucket list for Texas I sure did see a lot. I am so so thankful for my time in Texas.

Here is what I completed on my bucket list! I think I did a pretty good job for where I was living and the work schedule we had. I had added a few to the list as I was there.

1. Learn to Texas 2 step
2. Try honey butter chicken biscuits from Whataburger
3. Have Whataburger
4. Have donuts from Shipley’s
5. Visit 6th street in Austin
6. Visit Fredricksburg for the wineries, shopping, Enchanted Rock, Pedernales State park and rattlers burgers.
7. Visit Wimberly for shopping and eating as well as floating the Blanco river of San Marcos.
8. Gruene and go to the pottery festival and check out Gruene Hall to see the professionals 2 step.
9. Texas State Fair in Dallas
10. Road trip to Buckee’s for Beef Jerky.
11. Fort Worth for the Stockyards
12. Dance at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth – didn’t dance but I visited!
13. Fort Worth Zoo
14. Shiner Brewery
15. Float the Guadalupe River
16. Messina Hoff Winery
17. Aggie Football Game Gig’ em!
18. Visit hippy hollows in  Austin
19. Eat at Oasis in Austin
20. The Alamo
21. The River Walk
22. Eat all the delicious BBQ and Mexican food
23. Blue Bell Ice Cream
24. Fixer upper! Do all the things in Waco. – this I am most sad about 😦 
25. Babes doughnut co.
26. Visit Houston
27. Visit San Antonio 
28. Visit Fort Worth

A few photos from Texas and photos of ones that were on the bucket list.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Cheers!!! 🙂

If you ever find yourself in San Angelo Texas I hope this post helps you out. I lived in San Angelo for about 9 months. I found a few restaurants I liked and a few other places outside of food. Spa anyone? I tried to get as many pictures as I could of the places.

Here are couple of my favorite places.

Restaurants:

Twisted Root Burger Co.

Twisted Root has some bomb burgers. Unique combinations for sure. They have awesome sweet potato chips, fried pickles and fries. I haven’t had a bad burger from there. And they have gourmet milkshakes as well as some boozy milk shakes. They are delicious!

Zero One Ale House

If you like craft beer this is the place for you. They have a great food of all varieties and really good craft beer. Texas in general has quite the arrangement of craft beer. I enjoyed it very much while I was in Texas.

Cork & Pig

This was my favorite place. I would eat here every night. I loved their wings, pizza, salads and steak. They had a great cocktail list, beer list and wine list. This is definitely my favorite spot in San Angelo.

The Grill

The Grill was so convenient for us. It was a minute down the road from our apartment. I liked there food and the cocktail menu. They had great happy hour specials for cocktails. They would also do seasonal cocktails. I wasn’t overly obsessed with there food but it wasn’t bad at all.

The Concho Pearl

The owner of this restaurant Kellye is a sweetheart. She actually catered a lot of our events at work and everything was always delicious. She has this restaurant as well. She knows how to throw down in the kitchen for sure.

Latest Scoop

I scream you scream we all scream for?….. ICE CREAM! Home made ice cream and different flavored waffle cones. It is all to die for!

Fiddlestrings

There were a few bars to go out and listen to music and drink. I really liked this bar because they had a great outdoor section. Definitely a good time.

Christoval Vineyards

I saved the best for last. Oh my gosh… the grounds of this vineyard are straight out of Europe. They are beautiful. I couldn’t believe it when I was walking through. I felt like I traveled somewhere else and I wasn’t in west Texas. Even on their website it says “Come experience the Rhone Valley of France right here in West Texas.”

Secret Vineyard Day Spa

Secret Vineyard was my favorite place to go for a massage. I went to the same person while I was in San Angelo. Her name is Stacey and she does an awesome job. She reminded me a lot of the 2 people I saw back home in Buffalo. So she made me feel right at home.

The salon I was going to doesn’t have a website. But they do book through Vagaro if you use that app. Its called Burlap and Paisley. It’s such a cute place. The interior is very Texas like. Rustic and bright colors. It is located on 322 N Chadbourne St.

Reflections Day Spa

I was getting facials once a month back home so I wanted to continue while I was in Texas. I started seeing a woman named Beverly. She always did such a great job when ever I saw her. She really helped me clear up my skin and she always took such good care of me. If you go, there are 2 buildings. When you pull in its the one on your right not your left. I made the mistake of going into the salon first and I sat there for a few minutes and no one could figure out where I was supposed to go until someone finally connected the dots.

Wild West Wax

I found a great place to get my eyebrows waxed. Lynda did my eyebrows once a month. She is very good at waxing. She also books through the Vagaro app as well. I think she was going through a name change as well. It may be under Sunset Strip now.

Nobilitea

Since I am a huge tea drinker, I was so excited when this place opened up. They have a huge variety of tea. They also had specialty drinks like the one pictured above. I hope more nobilitea stores open up around the country.

Those are my favorite spots in San Angelo! I hope you enjoyed this and it was helpful if you are ever in the area. Cheers!

Bibliography:

“Home Page.” Christovalvineyards, http://www.christovalvineyards.com/.