Sense Appeal XIX

for the eyes:

Hit the halfway mark! Two years down, two to go. Congrats to any and all grads! 

for the mind:

With the start of summer dawning on us post Memorial Day, 'tis the season of travel for many. While I have no international travels on the itinerary, I have several friends spending time all over the globe--Jenny has been visiting World War II sites as part of the Normandy Scholars Program at UT; Sara, Ceci, Kat and Molly are in Barcelona; and Caro and Merl will spend a week of July in Africa.


But, the ultimate globe trotter award goes to Nicole Halliday who spent 106 days traversing land and sea for the spring semester. She kept a blog to document her adventure, and she doesn't shy away from exposing the good, bad and the ugly of the journey.


She says she saw the "best and worst humanity has to offer." She was "ripped off, stereotyped, misguided and cursed at," but she also saw "how far an act of kindness from a complete stranger can carry with us."


She makes a point that I think is important to realize about travel: it's often over-glamorized. With travel comes a lot of unexpected curve balls, anxiety, tension, decision-making, and unfamiliarity.


In the same vein, travel provides a wealth of growth, discovery, memories,


humbling, and enjoyment.


In her final post, she writes a letter of gratitude to her parents for providing her with the incredible experience that Semester at Sea had to offer. In it, she reminds us that "the bumps along the road are all part of the journey." So, to all you travelers this summer I leave you with that and the link to her blog, to which you all should pay a visit to! 

for the ears:

Not unlike most music lovers, I like to know who the up and coming artists are; but, sometimes I find myself irritated by the unspoken competition amongst people to "discover" new bands, which has only been further fueled by the recent music festival fad. In those moments, I find old tride and true classics especially appealing. I got a taste of my parent's generation of music at the Paul McCartney concert with my dad in Austin last week;  but, instead of the Beatles, Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, and Counting Crows made the soundtrack to my childhood mostly due to my older siblings' influence.


All of these bands have managed to stay relevant, as evidence by the nearly sold out concert for DMB I went to in Dallas. It's hard to narrow down my favorites, but I'll always love "Grey Street", "Where Are You Going", and the song I always turn to if I can't fall asleep--"Crash Into Me." 

fashion for feel:

The typical construction of a handbag is fairly simple: an open compartment attached with a strap as it makes your shoulder a temporary shelter. However, as of late, I've been attracted envelope clutches. I like how it forces me to keep my belongings to a minimum, as most will only accomodate for a lip gloss, iPhone, credit card, and some spare cash 'til you hit max capacity.



The varieties in shape, material, color, texture, and even price are plentiful these days. It's the perfect opportunity to purchase a bag in a non-neutral for summer if you haven't already done so, like the turquoise python bag pictured above. 

for taste: 

"What it do, Htown?!?" claims the friendly greeting on the main page of Eatsie Boys website--a food truck turned brick and mortar restaurant in Houston's Montrose area. I'm lucky to be number seven of seven for a whole buncha reasons, but lately I've been especially spoiled with lunch and dinner dates with all of my siblings. My return home this summer is brief as I make my way back to Austin in early June, so I'm fitting all the visits in one by one.


My brother Jimmy, the ultimate foodie in the family (though we'd all like to claim ourselves to be foodies on some level) took me to Eatsie Boys and we devoured our sandwiches as we caught up. After scanning the menu up and down, he decided on the sabotage which was an original from their popular "Intergalactic Food Truck."


In it was slow-roasted pork au jus, braised greens and provolone on a baguette. I went with a girlier wich, the sure shot, which had oven roasted turkey, arugula, brie, pear, strawberry jam, and house dijonnaise all also on a baguette.

On a not-so-fun note, I've been dealing with some technical difficulties with my URL domain for the past week or so, which has only prolonged my already extensive absence. I plan on tackling the issue head on tomorrow, but for now, please go to bridgetsowndiary.blogspot.com. I hope BOD will return to its home at bridgetsowndiary.com soon!

Happy, happy Memorial Day. Enjoy the shortened week!