layover in denver

These are the faces of a family who woke up at 4:30am, have already flown two hours from Austin to Denver and are one hour in to a two hour layover in Denver. 

a cow town

Before we moved to Austin my sister-in-law gave the kids a book called This is Texas. Today we visited Fort Worth, and for the first time I felt like this is Texas. Although it's a little bit theme-parky with the Cowboy Hall of Fame and daily cattle calls, getting that close to actual longhorns--I think I violated the "stay back 20 feet" rule--made me feel wild-westy. The dirt roads and 85 degree morning also helped.

Scout and I waited while Alex and Catcher attempted the Cowtown Maze. They made it out in 19 minutes, which felt like a long time to me, but the woman who awarded Catcher his prize at the end said 12-20 minutes is average. Nice work, guys.

Check out the size of those horns. The way they curl around reminds me of that guy in the Guinness Book of World Records with the longest fingernails [shiver!].

room with a view

Today Alex is in Queens, NY, and this is the view from his hotel room. I'm starting to think that maybe I should travel with him because I know there's good blogging material to be uncovered in places like Jamaica (Queens), Itta Bena, Mississippi and Norman, Oklahoma. We can even bring the kids along and maybe start a reality show of our own: Room for Five or something like that...

city with a view

On Sunday the family went out on a little drive and stumbled upon Mt. Bonnell, which overlooks Lake Austin and has the best view of the city. How did I not know about this? I can't wait to go back for a picnic lunch and an uphill hike that's short enough for the kids to manage yet long enough to wear them out for the day.

spies like us

Our former neighbors in Charlotte sent us this picture of the lot that was once the house of our crazy next door neighbor Andy. It's gone, but our little white house still stands. It will probably be sandwiched between two behemoths now, which makes me even happier that we got rid of it when we did.

greetings from hell's kitchen

Alex is in New York for 48-ish hours, so he took a moment away from work to snap this photo of our old hood (Alex: if you're reading this and it's not too late, I wouldn't mind a cornmeal lime cookie from Amy's...thanks! p.s. I know you were there for coffee this morning). One of the things that I love about New York is that it's constantly changing yet stays the same. Even though the best restaurants and places to be seen change quicker than a cabbie's shift, the pace and energy of the city are unmovable. This picture could have been taken in 2005 when Alex and I moved out of our apartment or in 1999 when I first arrived in New York. The same could be said about this snapshot of the door to our building (below).

416 West 47th Street is where Alex and I started our lives together--first in 4D and then 2C. In 4D Alex used a mini screwdriver to painstakingly assemble a build-your-own wardrobe from Bed Bath & Beyond. He made deadly margaritas and we ate pounds of guacamole. He once hid in the shower when he heard me clomping up the stairs from work one evening, and I've never been so scared in my life. In 2C we cleaned 40 years worth of grime off the windows and hosted the best Christmakuh party ever. We painted the walls red, green and orange, and I threw my engagement ring at Alex one morning when I wanted to prove a point. We read the Sunday times and listened to CD's while falling asleep at night (on the CD player Alex bought me the first Christmas we spent together). We came up with the name Catcher that we would someday name our future child. We ate the wedding cake that we were supposed to save for our first anniversary the night before we left for our honeymoon, and six months later we said goodbye to New York from the U-Haul parked in front of our building.

We've started a family and made a second major move since that balmy July morning, but the traffic remains and the cabs are still yellow in New York.

mac attack

Roadfood

When we lived in Charlotte there was this great dive, Lupie's, just seconds from our home that introduced me to the best winter comfort food of all-time: chili mac. Admittedly I can be somewhat of a neophyte when it comes to all things food-related, so cheese (hold the onions) on top of chili on top of spaghetti with a side of cornbread was new to me when we took the plunge from the Northeast to the South in 2005. Three years later chili mac became my go-to comfort food when I was pregnant with Catcher (winter pregnant, not middle of the summer pregnant) and it satisfied my cravings with Scout, too.

This January has been sunny and beautiful in Austin, and I haven't thought of chili mac once...until today. Thus far my late-stage pregnancy indulgences have centered around milkshakes--specifically of the peppermint variety from local burger stand P. Terry's. But today was rainy and cold. I use the term "cold" loosely because it was 62 degrees; however, compared to the 75+ we've been enjoying the past week, it was cold. And I wanted chili mac. I'm sure in the place where chili is the official state food I wouldn't have to look long to find a decent bowl of chili mac, but you can't beat the mismatched dinnerware and mason jars from Lupie's. 

snapshots from the road

This weekend during his trip to Austin, Alex discovered what is sure to become my new favorite coffee shop: Ruta Maya. Here are the things I already love about this place without ever having seen it in person 1) it abandons the Seattle coffee shop mentality of dark rooms and cozy spaces for a wide open, warehouse look featuring industrial furniture and exposed ductwork 2) it serves organic, shade-grown coffee 3) there's free music performances for kids on Sunday mornings and 4) Ruta Maya offers free yoga classes with a cafe purchase of $3 or more [note: number four is spoken by the future, hippie-Austin me].

austin sky

This is the view from Alex's hotel room in Austin right now. I know everything looks cooler when the sun is setting and there's a vintage-y window reflection thing going on, but it still looks pretty awesome, verdad? Tomorrow morning he has a 7:00am swim date at Barton Springs (images below). So what if it's 100 degrees if you can go swimming here, right?!

scouting season

Alex is about to board a plane headed to Austin, TX. As luck would have it, when assignments came down for college baseball playoffs this week, Alex was handed Austin. So in between 12-hour work days and catered lunches in an 18-wheeler, I've picked out a few houses that I would like Alex to check out while he's there. Actually, I'm really more interested in neighborhood (or street) reports at this point, but I'm really looking forward to all the great images he's sure to capture on his new iPhone 4.

In the meantime, I've done a little research on my own and have discovered some great places I can't wait to check out once our ship has sailed.

Malaga Tapas Bar

by george

Zilker Park

Barton Creek Farmer's Market

Annie's Cafe Bar

Jo's Coffee

the six year itch

Hot Dog Stand, New York

After graduating from college, following a 6-month journey backpacking through Europe, I moved to New York City where I lived for six years. While I was there, I lived in six different apartments. I never thought about it until I started typing tonight, but the number six seems to be figuring prominently into the story that's about to unfold. By now you know the drill, I dated six guys (kidding) in New York until I met the one who would eventually become my husband, and together we moved to Charlotte, NC. Incidentally, we had to drive through six states to get here.

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Fast-forward to present day, and we've been living in Charlotte for six years (but thank goodness we do not have six kids). I don't have any other interesting "sixes" to share about Charlotte--although our address is 2612--but suffice it to say, we're ready to skip town. That's right. We're not just ready to be out of this house, but we've been thinking about a new place to plant our feet. Or maybe I should say we were thinking about a new place to plant our feet until things just seemed to suddenly fall into place last week, and we made the decision to move. The die has been cast; July 29th is our last day in Charlotte. Forget about selling the house (although it would be nice to have it off of our minds before we go) and forget about waiting around for life to happen. When you know, you know, and it's time to go.

So where exactly are we going?

Wish us luck. I'll keep everyone posted as we pack up and move, of course, and I'll finally have the blog I always wanted. By the way, we have another showing tomorrow. I think this brings us to 9 or 10, so maybe the house will be sold before we leave (stranger things have happened, right?). Either way, I'll have an experience to write about.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, we don't have a home or jobs in Austin (well...Alex is self-employed, so it doesn't really count) but that's how we roll.