what a great weekend. after a lazy friday filled with pizza and ice cream (don't judge me), we woke up saturday unusually early. like earlier than i normally wake up during the week. ugh. so it seemed like the perfect time to get a run in and enjoy a nice breakfast before we headed to austin. instead i chose to stay in bed, snuggle with the puppies, and eventually get my stuff ready to go. and no, i didn't eat the healthy stuff at home before leaving. we went to taco bueno. worth it? yes it was. their black bean burritos are just nothing short of delicious. so we took off around 1 for the big city. i packed my bag of toys- two books (one i'd already packed and one brand new one my mother-in-law got me an hour before we left), a magazine, and 100 skeins of yarn for a hat. i was excited and fearful that car sickness would prevent all of these things from being accomplished. then alex informed me that i would be driving. so my toys went in the back. the good news was that my ipod got to move to the front. we made the trek down south- me singing along while alex drifted in and out of sleep. we checked into our swanky hotel. i'm sure you've heard of it. the super 8? that's right. the doors are outside, so you don't even have to worry about finding your way through the inside of the hotel. weird smell in the bathroom? why yes, it had that. cards that don't really unlock the door? that's right. we remembered that we were only going to sleep here, and dropped off the stuff and headed out. 
we picked up my friend claire that i used to work with. she's a freshman at ut and i am attempting to live my life through her. she reminded me which dorm she lived in and offered to give me directions. ha! like i needed directions around that campus. i lived there, after all. we headed down mlk and i was ready to turn right onto speedway in front of jester. but then i saw there wasn't a street there. the blanton art museum was there. no problem. i went a few more streets and turned onto university. see, i knew what i was doing. i'll just park in a 15 minute spot while we wait for claire. what's that? you need a university permit to do that? i don't have one because i haven't lived on campus in 8 years? that's right. so we drove around awhile. that was our plan all along. so we finally met up with claire and hit a few hot spots on south congress. yes, i did drive past my old apartment on the way to remember the old days when things were normal and there weren't new buildings everywhere to confuse me. allen boots was still divine, even if they didn't have the perfect pair that i never knew i wanted and would never have found if i hadn't gone in. uncommon objects was still a meca of treasures. if anyone wants to give me $495 for a blue lamp, that'd be great. or even just the $85 for the smaller one, i'd take it. just think about it for a while and get back to me. we drove on to mr. natural's. oh how i have longed for mr. natural's. strangely i think this was my first time to eat there at night. they close at 8 and aren't open on sundays, so i usually hit it up for the lunch special. i was really nervous about how to even order. lucky for me, they have the dinner special, which is the same as the lunch special. whew, that was a close one. spinach salad with avocado dressing. ridiculous rice and beans. and two tofu sunflower tamales. yes, they sound disgusting. yes, they're pure heaven on a plate. i could have eaten 13 of them. i stopped at 2. and somehow found room in my ever growing belly for some german chocolate cake. perfect. from there we headed downtown. yes, i tried to turn left into a non-existent street. yes, i used to go there every week and should have known that the street doesn't exist there. yes, i was having a lot of trouble. we parked a few blocks away and walked in the near freezing weather to mohawk. nobody told us it would be that cold at night. and no, we didn't check the weather before we left. so we waited outside for about 15 minutes for someone to let us in. we found warmth for a moment while we helped joy and nathaniel load their equipment. then we had to stand outside again. but we got in (i got in for free- thanks ben!) and found a spot to hang out.
i had a great time. i got to see a few of my friends and catch up. claire and alex, on the other hand, got to sit there while i hung out with friends. they were good sports, though. and the music more than made up for their time. i got a wonderful new sad accordions hoodie. plus i of course got the new ep (and a debut cd for claire). it was a really great show. fun to see old friends and a few old faces (that i wish were friends). really great music. sacrificial chumpsucker diatribe and inside out are my faves. also big congrats to ben for his song fallen czars and some amazing cover art. it's been a joy to watch this band transform over the last several years. they're really talented and i'm so proud to call them my friends. we left not too long after they finished up (i was thrilled to see everyone but hated making alex and claire sit through my fun time). we dropped claire off and headed back to the hotel to sleep. i'm not used to staying up past 10 anymore. the next morning we abandoned our plan to run town lake thanks to the 40 degree weather and wind. we did something new for both of us and drove around to the west side of town in search of mt. bonnell. after making the mistake of listening to alex's suggestion to "turn this way" when he has even less clue about where he is than normal, we got lost. normally not a big deal, but i was up really high in the winding hills around austin. i don't do well those conditions. my palms were sweaty. my heart was racing. i couldn't have been more happy to see the lake at lake level. we figured out where we were and found out where to go. totally worth it. breathtaking views of north austin's gorgeous homes in the hills surrounding the lake. beautiful views of the city itself. not so beautiful pictures, but whatever.
we timed our drive perfectly and wound up at shady grove just as they opened. at this point the sun was shining and we enjoyed a fantastic meal outside as we watched families walk past on their way to the kite festival. it was the perfect day in austin. no, we didn't enjoy town lake's fabulous trails, but we got to see parts of the city in ways we never had before. and we got to enjoy a beautiful day with a delicious meal in a city i love (not to mention the great music from the night before and at lunch) . couldn't get much better than that. we left happy, our bellies filled with nachos (i know, they seem like they'd be boring but they're so stinking good), green chile burritos, and peach cobbler. mmmm..... peach cobbler. we hit the road (zune on- alex was driving) and headed home. i managed to get a whole chapter read in my book. and that was it. not very productive. made a quick trip to the czech stop. they were crazy. lines around the store for kolaches. we stuck to their packaged goods to save an hour. we made it home and suffocated the puppies in hugs. i always miss them way too much. spent the afternoon actually being productive in the yard. alex hacked away at some overgrown trees while i clipped at the vines and thorns. he accomplished a lot more than i did. after a quick dinner of black bean soup and leftover cake i passed out at 9. perfect end to a wonderful weekend.
we picked up my friend claire that i used to work with. she's a freshman at ut and i am attempting to live my life through her. she reminded me which dorm she lived in and offered to give me directions. ha! like i needed directions around that campus. i lived there, after all. we headed down mlk and i was ready to turn right onto speedway in front of jester. but then i saw there wasn't a street there. the blanton art museum was there. no problem. i went a few more streets and turned onto university. see, i knew what i was doing. i'll just park in a 15 minute spot while we wait for claire. what's that? you need a university permit to do that? i don't have one because i haven't lived on campus in 8 years? that's right. so we drove around awhile. that was our plan all along. so we finally met up with claire and hit a few hot spots on south congress. yes, i did drive past my old apartment on the way to remember the old days when things were normal and there weren't new buildings everywhere to confuse me. allen boots was still divine, even if they didn't have the perfect pair that i never knew i wanted and would never have found if i hadn't gone in. uncommon objects was still a meca of treasures. if anyone wants to give me $495 for a blue lamp, that'd be great. or even just the $85 for the smaller one, i'd take it. just think about it for a while and get back to me. we drove on to mr. natural's. oh how i have longed for mr. natural's. strangely i think this was my first time to eat there at night. they close at 8 and aren't open on sundays, so i usually hit it up for the lunch special. i was really nervous about how to even order. lucky for me, they have the dinner special, which is the same as the lunch special. whew, that was a close one. spinach salad with avocado dressing. ridiculous rice and beans. and two tofu sunflower tamales. yes, they sound disgusting. yes, they're pure heaven on a plate. i could have eaten 13 of them. i stopped at 2. and somehow found room in my ever growing belly for some german chocolate cake. perfect. from there we headed downtown. yes, i tried to turn left into a non-existent street. yes, i used to go there every week and should have known that the street doesn't exist there. yes, i was having a lot of trouble. we parked a few blocks away and walked in the near freezing weather to mohawk. nobody told us it would be that cold at night. and no, we didn't check the weather before we left. so we waited outside for about 15 minutes for someone to let us in. we found warmth for a moment while we helped joy and nathaniel load their equipment. then we had to stand outside again. but we got in (i got in for free- thanks ben!) and found a spot to hang out.
i had a great time. i got to see a few of my friends and catch up. claire and alex, on the other hand, got to sit there while i hung out with friends. they were good sports, though. and the music more than made up for their time. i got a wonderful new sad accordions hoodie. plus i of course got the new ep (and a debut cd for claire). it was a really great show. fun to see old friends and a few old faces (that i wish were friends). really great music. sacrificial chumpsucker diatribe and inside out are my faves. also big congrats to ben for his song fallen czars and some amazing cover art. it's been a joy to watch this band transform over the last several years. they're really talented and i'm so proud to call them my friends. we left not too long after they finished up (i was thrilled to see everyone but hated making alex and claire sit through my fun time). we dropped claire off and headed back to the hotel to sleep. i'm not used to staying up past 10 anymore. the next morning we abandoned our plan to run town lake thanks to the 40 degree weather and wind. we did something new for both of us and drove around to the west side of town in search of mt. bonnell. after making the mistake of listening to alex's suggestion to "turn this way" when he has even less clue about where he is than normal, we got lost. normally not a big deal, but i was up really high in the winding hills around austin. i don't do well those conditions. my palms were sweaty. my heart was racing. i couldn't have been more happy to see the lake at lake level. we figured out where we were and found out where to go. totally worth it. breathtaking views of north austin's gorgeous homes in the hills surrounding the lake. beautiful views of the city itself. not so beautiful pictures, but whatever.
we timed our drive perfectly and wound up at shady grove just as they opened. at this point the sun was shining and we enjoyed a fantastic meal outside as we watched families walk past on their way to the kite festival. it was the perfect day in austin. no, we didn't enjoy town lake's fabulous trails, but we got to see parts of the city in ways we never had before. and we got to enjoy a beautiful day with a delicious meal in a city i love (not to mention the great music from the night before and at lunch) . couldn't get much better than that. we left happy, our bellies filled with nachos (i know, they seem like they'd be boring but they're so stinking good), green chile burritos, and peach cobbler. mmmm..... peach cobbler. we hit the road (zune on- alex was driving) and headed home. i managed to get a whole chapter read in my book. and that was it. not very productive. made a quick trip to the czech stop. they were crazy. lines around the store for kolaches. we stuck to their packaged goods to save an hour. we made it home and suffocated the puppies in hugs. i always miss them way too much. spent the afternoon actually being productive in the yard. alex hacked away at some overgrown trees while i clipped at the vines and thorns. he accomplished a lot more than i did. after a quick dinner of black bean soup and leftover cake i passed out at 9. perfect end to a wonderful weekend.
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