Austin, TX

Austin is such a great city here in Texas. It's only about a 3 hour drive for us so that's a bonus. They have a great music festival there every year in the fall and we have been going for a while now and look forward to it every year! It has been a few weeks since we got back but as usual had a great time with friends and saw some great bands too...and there was one really awful band with a consistent pattern of explicatives. That was unexpected and even more unexpected that they scheduled that band to go on next to the kids stage. I think the children watching what was going on at the kids stage may have added a few new words to their vocabulary.

We found a great studio apartment that we rented which was walking distance to the festival. That beat years past for sure. So long La Quinta, you will no longer subject us to high transportation rates with a reckless driver leaving me wondering if I will survive the ride.

The food at the fest is always excellent. Tim Love represented too. I got down on that Love Shack burger. Of, course we can never resist a Boomerangs Guinness steak and potato meat pie.

Pies sooooooo good they require several trips to the register. Go to their website now and order some. It will be more than worth it. Plus, come to think of it, come on down to Fort Worth and go to one of Tim Love's restaurants.

Well, enough about food. The weather was great. In Texas, the weather is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. It rained on Saturday with a brief...yet heavy...down pour. Other than that It was really nice.

On Saturday, we left the fest a little early. Our dear friend that was at the fest with us is a Sommelier and just recently passed his test for Advanced Sommelier. He is pretty fantastic and can sniff or sip a wine and tell you what frigging year it was made. I am pretty dumbfounded about that one but yet he says it's easy. Anyhoo, his friend that passed the certification with him just opened up a very cool wine cellar where we spent the evening.

We also celebrated our anniversary that weekend. We stayed in Austin a few extra days after the fest to relax and enjoy the town.

We went to 24 Diner for lunch. It was delicious! Jeff had Chicken and Waffles, yum.

I had the pulled chicken breast sandwich. It had goat cheese on it. That's all I needed to know.

We walked up an down South Congress which has tons of shops, restaurants, quaint hotels, and coffee shops. There is the coolest antique store called Uncommon Objects. We were in there forever. They had tons of cool and strange things. I had to resist the urge to take pictures because of all the "no camera" signs. I saw other people do it but I guess I am too by the book, darn it. I just imagine sirens going off and the authorities tackling me if I do something bad! Ha!

We happened across a great hat shop called Goorin Bros. Jeff picked up a spiffy new hat.

This store is awesome. The minute you walk in it is like you have walked back into time. I could picture myself shopping for a hat in the early 1900's in there. I love how they wrap the hats up too! Check this place out folks!

We also happened across The Impeccable Pig. Super cute store! I got myself a nice new winter coat.

All the shopping worked up a thirst so we stopped at Jo's Coffee. Best coffee ever folks! I haven't had someone make coffee that good since I was a barista at a little old coffee shop in my under grad days called Coffee Haus. Word.

Then, it was back to the studio for a little relaxation to end our vacay and to crack open the bottle of wine our Sommelier friend gave us 2 years ago on our wedding day. Ah, the simple things in life!

 Thank you Austin. You delivered as usual.

Cheers!

La Vie Boheme

I just had the most wonderful weekend in such a long long time! I was on-call for my work for the past 7 days and as of 8 o'clock Friday morning I was free!!!! It started with hanging out with friends for Happy Hour on Friday. Then on Saturday my boyfriend Jeff and I went to the Flying Saucer to see our friends Pablo and the Hemphill Seven and got our boogie on to a little local Reggae music. On Sunday I decided to top the weekend off with RENT! I have waited for years to see RENT. I feel like I have seen it so many times before because my boyfriend and his cousin would always play the soundtrack when we all worked together at Coffee Haus in Sundance Square, downtown, slingin' cappuccinos and mochas.

I knew all the songs and the storyline without even seeing it. I recently watched the movie too and thought it was wonderful so... it was only fitting that last night on a spur of the moment whim, my friends and I went to see RENT downtown at Bass Hall. It was absolutely magical! The whole evening! I saw people that I have not seen in quite some time. I was thrilled. My friend Robert who I have not seen in what seems like decades was there. He works for the theater and when I went to pick up the tickets at will call he upgraded us! We had nosebleed section seats because on a spur of the moment whim, unfortunately that was all we could afford. Way up high on the upper level was where we were going to sit. The stage and performers would have looked like little tiny ants. But Robert, he put us on row A! Right up next to the stage we were! We cold hardly believe it! I could have reached out and touched the cast. RENT was just magical! It is one of those stories that helps me put things, including my life and what I do for a living, into perspective.

For 4 years I worked for a local AIDS organization. I owe a lot to working there as I learned so much and it helped me grow as a person and a professional. All of the stress and worry that came with the job paid off because I learned something so important. I learned to take life as it is and make something of it because our days are numbered. I learned that life is so precious and we should never take it for granted, no matter what we are faced with. Having worked with people with AIDS and watching them achieve their goals and live their life to the fullest in spite of the disease makes the little challenges and obstacles I experience seem so easy and meaningless. RENT was amazing! It was just absolutely amazing.