Rockport, Texas

Rockport, Texas, is a quaint little ocean-side town that my dad took Trey and I to one day during our extended visit to Texas a couple of weeks ago. 

The bait shacks along the harbor all had hand-painted signs. I love the look of simple typography and have a secret wish to paint signs like this for a living. However, I fear I'd starve if that was my livelihood, so perhaps I'll settle for making it a hobby.

 Here's a pic of Trey and my dad ducking out of a smelly bait shop. Despite the odor, it still looks delightful.

This photo of Trey was taken just as he was considering life as a shrimp boat captain. We would never go hungry with nets full of shrimp. In that case, I just might try the hand painted sign business. Kidding, folks -- only kidding. Sigh.

A Tour of Austin

 View of the Austin skyline from Lady Bird Lake

Last weekend Trey and I went to Austin and had the best time. Here's what we did:

Friday night: We drove in and picked up my old BFF Elizabeth and went to eat at Black Star Co-Op, which had the most amazing food. I ate the Fried Egg Sandwich with fries. Do get the fries -- ah-ma-zing. We also tried bacon toffee, and Trey enjoyed a beer sampler tray with four 5-oz. beers.

Later we met my cousin James and his girlfriend at the upscale bowling alley/entertainment venue The Highball. It has a groovy atmosphere with a dark, sleek 1960s men's lounge feel. Think dark, tufted upholstery, dark wood and retro-mod lighting. It's the kind of place where guys wearing fedoras and skinny ties should be sipping martinis. I can dig it.

A "gunsie" hand block printed by an Austin artist and shown at the Austin Flea.

Saturday: We attended the Austin Flea, which happened to be in front of The Highball. There were a few vendors -- some interesting stuff. Check out One Kolor Designs T-shirts.

The Trailer Park & Eatery

For lunch we went to the South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery. The food was amazing. We ate from all three food carts there: cake balls from Holy Cacao, the Democrat taco from Torchy's Taco's and the Greek dog from Man Bite's Dog.

After lunch we worked out for about an hour at the hotel gym and then met my dad, sister and nephews for another out door dinner at Mandola's Italian Market. If you go, try the gelato: almond, pistachio, strawberry and tiramisu.

Inside at Mandola's

Saturday night: Dad, Trey and I went to Town Lake Metropolitan Park. Saxophone music from a gazebo in the park drifted with the wind as we walked along the shore of Lady Bird Lake. The buildings that punctuate the skyline were lit, as we walked past dusk. Our next stop was SOCO (South Congress) where we browsed shop windows and stopped in Big Top Candy Shop. This place has just about every candy (even nostalgic treats) you can image and ... chocolate covered bacon. Yes! It's so good, too -- sweet and salty. There's also an old fashioned soda fountain inside.

Inside Big Top Candy Shop -- photo found online

Later Saturday night we had drinks at the Snack Bar on South Congress. The service was lousy, but it's a great spot for kicking back and people watching. We didn't eat there, but the menu looks promising, so it's worth a try later.

Sunday: Trey Dad and I made a morning pilgrimage back to Lady Bird Lake and the park as well as to the Trailer Park and Eatery. Later we visited my sister and family in New Braunfels -- home of Schlitterbahn and the Guadalupe River (go tubing for a day).

 Me and Dad

After driving back into Austin, Trey and I went downtown to take in a movie with Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Juan. The Alamo Drafthouse was showing "Your Highness," and if you're not one for dumb humor you probably won't like it. I was let down by the food at the theater (you can order dinner, coffee and drinks off the menu), but the overall experience was good. Our seats were the best in the house -- plush leather couches at the top of the small stadium.

A view from the Swan Dive

Afterward we went to the Swan Dive, a downtown bar that feels like stepping into the 1920s. The Moscow Mule was a tasty libation, and I'm interested in trying the Strawberry Jam. Everyone was dressed in period appropriate clothes. This is a bar I'm definitely going to patron again. Check out their website for better pics.

A Tale of Two Moves & Two Jobs

It's been a while, right? Well, there's a reason for that. My regularly scheduled life has been upended. It's a good thing. Trey and I moved out of our house a couple weekends ago. We rented it to a nice family from Houston with two teenage daughters. We're sure they will enjoy and take care of our home.

Now Trey and I are living temporarily with his parents until Trey graduates on May 21 -- six weeks. A couple days later he'll take the radiologic tech registry and we'll be off to Austin to find a job(s) and a place to live.

Another thing I've had to adjust to are my new jobs. Yep, that's jobs -- as in plural. I'm the page layout wizardess behind a local crime paper. I put together the 16-page paper every week now. It's great because I do my work in bed in front of the TV whenever I want.

And I'm also a personal trainer now! I work for a well-known chain of gyms in my area and in a matter of a week and a half I've gotten five clients. I expect I'll have another couple come on board by next Wednesday, which is awesome because I only get clients if I can sell them on training with me. I feel like I'm doing great! My hourly pay is unbelievable. If I'd have known about this 10 years ago ... :)

So that's about it for now. I'm biding my time as the countdown to Austin begins. Until then I'm planning a weekend trip to New Orleans and I'm learning a lot as a trainer. Basically, I'm happy that I've gotten my two work opportunities, but I'm brimming with excitement for our big move. Eeep!

Scenes from Warrior Dash

Scenes from the 3 mile obstacle/endurance challenge Warrior Dash. No sissies allowed!

Well, folks, in my last post I promised you info on Warrior dash, and here it is -- a video I shot and edited. The day of the race there were tornado warnings surrounding the area, and it threatened to rain until finally the bottom fell out. Trey and I were drenched on the way to the Jeep, and when we tried to drive outta there we got stuck up to the tire rims in the mud ... FOR 20 MINUTES.

Luckily a good Samaritan and his girlfriend stayed with us for just as long helping us get unstuck. Finally a few other good people joined in to push us out and we got going. Trey promised the guy we'd name our first born son after him. For reference, if I ever do have a youngling, the guy's name was Tyson.

Tornado sirens began to sound while we were still in the town. It was so creepy. As it turns out, there was actually a tornado in a nearby town called Rayne.

Day One: South La. Trip

 The park in front of the cinema at Perkins Rowe

Trey and I drove to Baton Rouge Friday afternoon where we stayed the night before he participated in the three-mile endurance challenge, Warrior Dash, in Norco, La. Norco is just outside of New Orleans, a 50 mile drive from Baton Rouge.

Doesn't the cinema clock remind you of "Back to the Future?"

We stayed at the Drury Inn for the second time. We highly recommend it for anyone who plans to stay in B.R. Anyhow, as we only had one night back in our former home town, we went to eat at my favorite pizza place -- Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. It was heavenly. Really, there are no words. 

Perkins Rowe

After we ate dinner we went in search of the Anthropologie store, which is located at the new Perkins Rowe outdoor shopping, dining, entertainment and living complex.

Another shot of Perkins Rowe. I'm pretty sure the upstairs portions of the buildings are apartments.

We had never been there and were blown away by how nice and expansive it was. There was nothing even remotely close to this place when we lived in Baton Rouge.

A grand chandelier in the entryway to the cinema

We stopped at Anthropologie, of course, Z Gallerie and Urban Outfitters where I got a funky hair piece/lapel pin.

I love the graphic quality of this simple sign.

An Anthropolgie window display

Anthropolgie window display. Looks like fun to make and hang.

 Trey inspects a glass bon bon in Anthropologie.

BCBG window display

 Z Gallerie display

 Z Gallerie display. Wouldn't it be strange and wonderful to have one of these tents indoors?

 Z Gallerie display. I love the idea of a cloth headboard, and these colors are very me.

Trey looks like a mountain man in this photo, but he shaved his beard tonight and now he looks like a boy.

After being slightly drizzled on as we walked from shop to shop, Trey and I stopped at the French food cafe La Madeline for a light dessert. See the roaring fire in the background? So cozy.

When I lived in Baton Rouge I worked in a clothing shop at the Mall of Louisiana. La Madeline had a location a couple shops down, and we were often given free boxes full of these fruit tarts. That night at the cafe I settled for one.

When we returned to the hotel, Trey and I took advantage of their gym, which we had all to ourselves. Yeah! We watched D.C. Cupcakes (one of my faves!) while we walked. I think that was one of the biggest perks of the whole trip, well, other than the food :)

In Part Two of this post I'll include photos from Warrior Dash. Woo hoo!

Snow Day

Louisiana, like most of the U.S., has been blanketed by ice. Trey got a snow day off from school today, and I am milking my paid vacation days before my last official day of work next week.

Above is the first thing I saw when I finally stepped out today around 3 p.m. Why we never use our garage, I will never know. Maybe it has something to do with all the junk still piled in it.

Speaking of things we don't need, Trey and I finally sold this 100-year-old post office box we've had in the corner as a decoration all these years. That same day we sold our Airstream and armoire. I must say, selling all of your stuff can be pretty great for the savings account.

So we've been celebrating a lot lately. This is a photo I took of Trey today at our favorite yogurt place.

This is me at that same yogurt place today feeling sheepish about the fact that, once again, I've cheated on my "diet." I'm going to workout now.

Happiness is a New Hobby

 Images from Hoop City Ca.

Today I caught up on my DVR watching and saw an Oprah show about happiness. The subject of happiness and what factors create the most long-lasting contentment fascinate me. I found through reading more on the subject today that one of the tricks to happiness is learning something new. Dan Buettner, author of the book "Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way" said that over time, the knowledge of a skill, be it art, another language or hooping (as I'll discuss in a minute) becomes more fulfilling.

Another interesting tidbit about happiness is that where you live contributes a great deal more to your happiness than other things like money might. Hooray for being Austin bound! Buettner says cities with wide sidewalks in a town center or places with sidewalk dining that bring the community together have the happiest populations.

So on the subject of learning new things for increased happiness, yesterday I took up a new hobby -- hooping. It's basically dancing while hula-hooping. I've seen it done before, but it didn't appeal to me to try until now. I found a hooping website where an Austin-based hooper happened to be featured. She's amazing, and I would love to be able to catch one of her fire hooping performances. Check her out in the video below, see what hooping is all about and hold out until the end if you want to see the fire hooping.