Candle Factory

I looked up the Candle Factory on-line just to make sure they were open before I made my 30 minute trip there. It says it is open 361 days a year on their website. Excitedly, I drove out to Georgetown in hopes of finding the perfect candles. When I got there, I noticed that there were no cars out front. I drove up to the front door to read the sign: CLOSED!!!! Can you believe it!? It is going to only be open on the weekends from now until they move. Where are they moving? I guess I will have to try again another time! Maybe this weekend.

While I was out that way, I went to the Round Rock outlet stores. They didn't have ANY candle shops. I didn't get anything while I was there. They did have some pretty good stuff, I just wasn't in the mood to buy!

Fredericksburg

When in Fredericksburg, one must eat German Food. I had a schnitzel burger at the Auslander. My friends had Opa, which is some kind of sausage. The food was good and the company was even better.

There are wine samplings all over the place, but we only tried the Mead. I had heard of Mead before, but had never tried it. For some reason I pictured it being a really heavy drink, the type you can almost chew. But, it's not. It is made of honey and it's pretty sweet. It was alright for tasting, but I would probably not want a whole glass of it.

We also shopped and bought matching t-shirts at the Spunky Monkey. What a great name for a toy store!

I definitely suggest taking a road trip to Fredericksburg, if you have the chance.

Luckenbach, Tx. Population 3

If you haven't gone to Luckenbach, it's time! This is a quaint little watering post with about three buildings. The Post Office has a bar in the back room and two fun Postmen/Salesmen in the front room. They are all very accommodating to tourists and will take pictures of them and with them. The Post Office actually is operating and a post card can be sent to all the loved ones. I bought a couple of t-shirts, a cd, and a koozie while I was there. They also have a dance hall, which I hear is quite popular. It's definitely a must if you are planning a Central Texas road trip!

Road Trip

I've been in the Austin area for about 2 years now and still haven't been 30 miles away from where I live. Tomorrow, I'm taking my first day road trip. The plan is to go to Fredericksburg and Luckenbach. I'm not sure what we'll see, but I'm looking forward to the fun!

Identified

My snake has been identified. It is a Rat Snake. It's non-poisonous, but it will bite if cornered. It eats rats and mice. I hope he doesn't mistake my little chihuahua for a rat!!!

Wildlife

Here are some pictures of the wildlife that I found in my yard.

Drive-by

I was subject to a drive-by statue dressing yesterday. The horror of having your statue defaced in such an inappropriate manner is just too traumatic to discuss. The only way to explain the horror that I experienced is to post a picture.

Thanks friends! My poor statue is even more confused about his sexuality than he ever was before!

Suround Sound

We now have suround sound in our house and on our patio. If I could only figure out how to use it, I could be watching a movie, t.v. or listening to music in suround sound.

Yippeeee!

We're pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to The University of Texas at Austin. We recommend that you contact your graduate adviser as soon as possible. It's a pleasure to welcome you as a graduate student.

Manor Downs

We love to go to the horse track. That is one of the things we miss about the Dallas area. We found out that there is a small horse track in Manor, so we had to go. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that Lone Star Park does, but the horses run around in circles just the same. It's almost like being at a minor league game. My husband won about $250 on an exacta, so he didn't seem to mind!

South By San Jose

The Small Stars at Jo's.

SXSW sort of

Here are pictures from concerts I went to this week. These are from Roky Erickson's Ice Cream Social. Favorites from this concert include Black Lips and Spoon.

The Domain

Austin is finally turning into Dallas. They've now opened a shopping center that just REEKS of Dallas over on Mopac and Duval called The Domain. It's a nice outdoor mall with a Neimans and Macy's. You can buy high end purses, clothes and much much more. We ate at the restaurant Kona Grill that was good but very "corporate". I'm excited about a new place to shop and eat, but a little saddened over what this place represents. So much for keeping Austin wierd!

Furniture needed!

I need the following pieces of furniture in order to have things the way I want them: coffee table, kitchen table and sofa table. I went to a couple of stores today and didn't find anything. Where are the good discount furniture places? I want nice furniture for a good deal.

Mean-Eyed Cat

Johnny Cash seems to be the central theme of the Mean-Eyed Cat on 5th and Mopac. He's on all the walls and on the Juke Box. When I was a little, Johnny Cash was my favorite singer. I loved "A Boy Named Sue" because it was such a silly song. (It was written by Shel Silverstein, so that kind of explains it for me now!)

The Mean-Eyed Cat is one of my favorite places to go because it has a nice patio that's not so loud that you can't talk. However, their picnic tables are pretty uncomfortable and I felt like I was hunching all night. I liked that they have Mexican blankets all over the place that you can sit on or wrap yourself up in if you are cold.

I saw a sign out front that said someone was moving, but I'm not sure if it was them or another business nearby..

There's no crying in baseball!

It's been a long time since I went to a girl's softball game. Probably the last time I went to one, I was playing. Hmmm...That's been about 30 years or so... Anyway, I think they must've changed the rules or something. We used to have to pitch to the other team and they pitched to us. At this game, our coach pitched to our team and the the other coach pitched to his team. When did that happen? Why did that happen? When do the girls start pitching for themselves? It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went.

Ready to break free!

I haven't had much of an opportunity to go anywhere in Austin lately. I moved two weeks ago and then last weekend I went out of town. Next week is spring break, so I need something fun to do. I would love suggestions from anyone that would like to share. I'm going to be on my own a lot, since Mike has to work, so I need thing to keep me busy. If anyone wants to volunteer to help keep me occupied with things to do, give me a shout out! :)

Tollway

This weekend I had my first opportunity to go on the new tollway (with my toll tag.) I rode on it one other time without the toll tag. At that time, I was amazed at how expensive it was! In Dallas it's $.75 per stop and a discount if you have a toll tag. (I don't know what the discount is, though.) Having a toll tag gives you a 10% discount here in Austin. Even with that, it's REALLY expensive. $1.35 per stop is the discounted rate.

I'm still not sure how far the tollway goes. I hopped on in Georgetown and got off on 290. I don't think it goes much further than that. The sign says it goes to Austin or Waco. I don't know why it says it goes to Waco, because it doesn't. It goes to Georgetown. False advertisement.

The only thing really nice about the road is that no one else was on it. I paid to have the road to myself. I guess that's worth something.

grooming

I'm going to Dallas this weekend. Jack needs a good grooming. His hair has gotten so long and he is kind of shedding in my new house. He's going to get his summer cut in March. I'm sure he'll be fine. We are in Austin. I really don't expect any deep freezes or anything.

I called the Pet Boutique in Dallas to set up his appointment. When they heard his name, they said, "That's Mr. Brown Dogs brother, no I mean cousin." How do they remember that kind of stuff. I've seen his file. It doesn't mention Mr. Brown Dog. Why does everyone like Mr. Brown Dog? What's up with that?

Obviously, I can't take him to Dallas everytime he needs a haircut, so if anyone knows any good pet groomers in the Austin area, feel free to share!

Keys

Mike locked his keys in the truck this morning. I vaguely remembered that my phone service used to have roadside assistance attached to it when I was in Dallas. So, I looked it up on the internet and it looks like we have it here too. I am paying an extra $2.99 a month for this service and I'm not really even sure why I chose to pay extra, because that really isn't in my nature. However, I'm sure thankful that I did! Thank goodness Cingular offered this option!

Jack

Jack loves his new yard! If only I could get the grass off before he comes in the house!

My Life Issues

It's funny how one minute you can be panicky and think that everything is crashing around you and then the next you can feel really great about the direction that things are taking. I think because of my recent home purchase, I started obsessing on the fact that everything could all fall apart and we would be unable to make ends meet. I guess I just had to put everything in perspective and realize that something could happen, but it will all work out in the end.

My sister said I was panicking because I've never had to work too hard for anything and I have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. I really don't think that is the case. I work on making things happen for myself. Some things come easier than others, but they all come because of things I put into place. I have had several let-downs, but looking back, they have almost all been in my best interest. Sometimes it takes a long time to realize that!

I've been self-obsessing for a while now. It's time for me to move on to obsessions about other things. I just don't really know what I should focus on right now. I should really obsess about unpacking, but I'm just plain tired of it! Maybe I should obsess about getting my weight under control! Oops! I think I'm back on self-absorption again.

Unpacking

I didn't realize how much STUFF we had. This house doesn't have the same amount of storage space or places to put knick knack things. I can't even have a garage sale to get rid of all the extra things until the neighborhood decides to have one. We only get two a year and everyone has to do their garage sales on the same weekend. We can't even get into our garage and our house is already full.

A couple of things got ruined in the storage place. I'm going to have to get a new coffee table and a couple of other things. I think it was time to get a new coffee table anyway. My husband said it looks like a new house with old furniture. It really isn't that bad, but our stuff doesn't fit the way it did in Dallas. We'll work it out though.

I was very lucky that my in-laws and husband's cousin came to help. I didn't have to rewash any dishes or glasses. That was a good thing because I didn't realize how many of those we had. My mother-in-law was getting on to my husband because some of the glasses still had price tags on them. I think that those were the ones that were left to me by my mom when she moved out of our old house! lol! I don't think I've ever actually bought any glasses. :)

I can now see why moving is one of the top stressers. I've never been one to freak out, worry much, or have panic attacks, but I can see that happening! I'm trying to keep everything into perspective. It's all going to be fine!

Move!

We finally closed on our house yesterday. Everything went great and I decided that I wanted to stay in the house immediately. We loaded up our truck with clothes and necessities and headed on to our new home. Have you ever noticed how nothing makes your stuff look like crap more than putting it in the back of a truck? Well our stuff was no different. I almost wanted to throw it all away and start over. I won't, of course, but if I were rich...

We set up our air mattress, put away all the stuff that would fit in our truck, mostly clothes and shoes, then went out to dinner. We have no pots and pans, so we didn't get to eat in our new home, but it wouldn't have mattered, we have no refrigerator, table, plates, forks, or anything else for that matter!

We finally went to sleep and proceeded to freeze to death because we don't know how to work the air conditioner. All in all a great first day/night in the new house! I can't wait until all our stuff arrives tomorrow!

It's my life!

I've been trying to come up with some new ideas of what to blog about. Lately, I haven't gone anywhere new in Austin. (And, now that we are buying a house, we will be too broke to actually go anywhere anyways!) I got one suggestion in a comment to write about them, but since they are anonymous, I don't know who they are! LOL!

This week is really a stressful week for me. Today was TAKS, tomorrow I am closing on my house, we're moving, and this weekend I'm supposed to take some kind of assessment for the doctoral program. Why does everything have to happen at once? It never fails!

The moving would not really be so bad if you didn't have to get all new utilities services every time. I'm beginning to be a pro at this since this will be my third (and hopefully) final move in one year. It's crazy that even though I haven't moved more than 20 miles each time, there have been completely different utility companies at all three places. This means new deposits each move. (I was very lucky in my old house to get to just assume the payments on the utilities that were already there, so I never had to go through this until a year ago!)

Blogging

I went to the Magnolia Cafe today for breakfast. We went to the one on Congress. I've been wanting to go to one for a long time, but the last time I tried the line was too long. This time I had just minutes to wait before I got a table. I got the breakfast tacos, of course. They were really good! The best part of the breakfast was the orange juice. It had to have been made fresh. I wish I would have ordered a large!

I haven't been blogging much lately. I haven't gone anywhere in Austin lately, and I've been really busy at work and at home. I'm not even sure I want to continue with this blog to be honest. I think I may want to change the focus and blog about something new.

New House

My new house is almost liveable! It looks like they have already done the majority of the work. They mostly have touch-up things to do to get it ready for us. We are supposed to close mid-February! I can't wait!!!!

Genuine Joe Coffeehouse

A sign on the old green house says that Genuine Joe's Coffee on Anderson Street is the best coffee in North Austin. With a sign like that, you can't help but want to find out! So, my husband and I made another stop on our never-ending quest to find the best coffee in Austin.

The barrista's seemed a little clueless when we made our order. I was really concerned that not only would the coffee be terrible, but we may never see it or our food order. But, much to my surprise, we not only got the right order, but it quite possibly could be the best coffee in Austin. It definitely deserves my vote for the award for best coffee in North Austin at this point in our journey! (Of course, I haven't had coffee from every coffeehouse in Austin, but I intend to try!)

Pluckers

I have one word for Pluckers in Round Rock, LOUD! They have TV's showing different sports, loud music, loud people in the bar...It's an all around fun place to be on a cold, rainy Friday night. We went there on a Friday night and it was PACKED! We had to wait about 20 minutes or so to eat CHICKEN WINGS!! Can you believe that?

The first time we went there, I could barely eat my medium chicken wings. They were REALLY hot. I think that they messed up my order and gave me the super hot ones instead. But, last night I got the same thing and they were perfect. So far, this is the best chicken wing place I've been to in Austin. (I think I was spoiled in Dallas living so close to the best chicken wing place ever!)

My husband wants me to write things about prices, parking, if I'll be back, etc. I don't ever look at the prices, so if you want to know the prices, you can always go to the home pages of the restaurants. I'm not advertising for the places I write about, just telling you about where I've been. If they want to advertise more on my page, they can conact me through email. lol! Parking was pretty good at Pluckers, but since it was so crowded, it was a little tight! I recommend Pluckers, so that means I'll be back! Happy Mike?

Romeo's

Since we moved to Austin, my husband has been wanting to go to Romeo's on Barton Springs. So, what do I do? I go there on Wednesday's snow day with my friend Natalia. Now you may be wondering what I was doing at an Italian restaurant on Chopsticks Wednesday, but there is no need to worry! As you can see from the picture, I brought my own!

I got the eggplant parmesan and Natalia got the tortellini. They were both delicious. The worst part of the meal was trying to eat with the chopsticks! :) I had to use one stick to stab the food so I could cut the eggplant. It was really quite amusing. My salad eating was kind of funny too! But, once I got into the rhythm of the chopsticks, I was pretty good!

Even though there weren't many people there, the service wasn't very good. Maybe she was scared to come and serve us since we were both sitting there eating with chopsticks instead of traditional forks!

Zilker Park on ice

After being stuck in a TINY apartment for the last couple of days, I decided to venture further away from home than the area Starbucks. So, I met my friend "Natalia" and after eating lunch, we went to Zilker Park to take some pictures of the winter freeze! I love going to Zilker. Not only is that where the party at the Moontower was filmed, it is also the location of the Trail of Lights and ACL! It sure looks beautiful under ice!

Purple Uggs

For those of you that read my myspace blog, sorry for the repeat. I'm bored!

Last summer, I found some purple Uggs at Marshalls for $18.00. How exciting. Uggs normally cost around $100 or more. All the stars wear Uggs. I need these Uggs, I said. So I bought them. My husband laughed at me and said they were the ugliest shoes ever. It never gets cold in Texas, so they serve no purpose! UNTIL this week! I remembered my Uggs this weekend and wore them out to eat at the Driskill. My feet felt warm, and I laughed when I saw several children running around barefoot. Maybe I was overexaggerating the chilliness as usual. But, I was wearing my new Uggs!

Today, I took my dogs out and decided to unscrape the ice off my car. I put my Uggs back on and proceeded to walk across the apartment complex! How empowering it was to walk around with warm feet amongst all the ice. Now that my car was de-iced, I felt like it was a great time to venture out of my apartment complex, that I had barely left since the ice began.

I made my way up to the closest Starbucks and sat there for about an hour drinking coffee, studying and wearing my Uggs! I even felt comfortable enough to take off my jacket, since my feet were still warm. I'm sure that everyone was jealous.

Now I'm back to the warmth of my apartment, bored to tears, writing about shoes and wishing that I could find somewhere else to go wearing my purple Uggs!

Chopstick Wednesday Reminder

Even though we are having another snow day, we still have Chopstick Wednesday to look forward to!

Snow Day

How did you spend your snow day? I stayed home and watched movies all day. Did anyone do anything productive or interesting?