to the question: Is there a Texas version of Moose Tracks ice cream?
Not surprising, really. There does seem to be a Texas (and Texas-sized) version of almost everything. But now I know that I can *definitely* move down here and be happy.
The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas…
Friday was Kayla’s day off, so we made coffee and cinnamon rolls, chilled out in our pajamas, and talked for most of the morning. Later on we went out, but deciding to avoid the craziness of downtown – Austin City Limits is this weekend – we went window shopping at The Domain.
**Yes, I’m in Austin during ACL, and no, I’m not here to see any shows. (From 2000 miles away, I think I just heard my brother faint.) Maybe next year.**
Anyway, we walked around looking at clothes that were WAY out of our price range, and in our fruitless search for cute flats, we found these incredible shoes at DSW. Straight-up Jersey Shore-style leather and chain strap sandal booties. They were something else…and Kayla did look pretty hot in them.
to: Stephen
6:07PM Fri, Oct 8
I’m on my way to an honest-to-God Texas high school homecoming football game. YEEHAW!
Friday night, we went back to Buda for the Hays High School homecoming game. Kayla’s friend Ashley (who owns the cutest little shop in downtown Buda) is also the daughter of a coach, and sister to one of the receivers, so she scored us some tickets to the game.
Football is big here in Texas. I knew that, but it’s still kind of hard to grasp when you come from a region that does neither football or school pride on a particularly large scale. Last night was only the second high school football game I’ve ever been to, and this game was bigger, brighter, and better by far (sorry, Spaulding). It kind of felt like I was in a movie.
Thanks to my mom, I have a fair understanding of the game of football, and could at least follow the ball and cheer at the appropriate moments. Every time the Rebels scored a touchdown, the marching band would play “Dixie” and we’d stand and clap. In all the Rebels scored six touchdowns to win the game, including one almost-70 yard run by Ashley’s brother. I cheered until my throat hurt.
Afterward we went to Sonic for milkshakes (my first Sonic experience) and home for sleep. Oliver the kitten continues to be my snuggle buddy/dread chewer. Today was another big day, but that update will have to wait until tomorrow…
I slept in yesterday morning, and stayed in my pj’s until nearly noon. Brewed some coffee, wrote an update on the blog, and took photos of Oliver.
It was a good morning.
I went out to lunch at Terra Burger (el yummo) and met up with some moms from the Gentle Christian Mothers online community. I’m not a mom (yet), but I’ve been a part of the forum for over five years, and in addition to being a great resource, it is also a wonderful community of women that I love dearly.
So, yes, I am one of those people who goes to strange cities to hang out with people I’ve only known online. And you know what? It was great – we talked for over two hours.
After lunch, I did a little more shopping. Found three awesome shirts at the Goodwill Retail Store, and tried in vain to find some cute flats. It’s been too warm to want to wear sneakers and my flip flops just aren’t cutting it. Kayla and I might go to Plato’s Closet today, so hopefully I can find something there.
I got myself stuck in rush hour heading down to South Austin to meet Kayla at work. Back home, “rush hour” means a bit of stop-and-go traffic down Main Street; here it’s bumper-to-bumper for miles. Thank God for good radio stations.
From work, Kayla and I headed to Buda, a really cute little city just outside of South Austin. We walked around downtown Buda for “Ladies’ Night”, a sort of open house where all the local shops set out food and drinks, and have silent auctions to raise money for charity.
We ate dinner at a little cafe called Casa Alda. I had a “breakfast taco” with bacon, eggs and avocado. I’m learning that a lot of the things-you-must-do in Austin mostly involve food.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you.
So another excellent day in Austin, and I’ll have more updates and photos tomorrow. Missing home, but…loving it here.
Highlights from yesterday (Wednesday):
- Had an uneventful trip with very little down time, which was kind of nice, though my legs ached from walking across the Charlotte Airport to reach my connecting flight. The first half of the trip I started to read Families Where Grace Is In Place, which I am loving, and for the second half the the trip I listened to The Moth podcast, which is equally excellent.
- Ate lunch at the Magnolia Cafe. Very funky little restaurant, and I commenced my Austin experience with tilapia tacos- totally delish.
- Spent most of my afternoon clothes shopping. The shirt I wore to Austin was literally the only shirt I brought. I haven’t really been clothes shopping since before my trip to Africa…over a year ago. And the shirt I was wearing was one that I bought in Africa. Somehow buying new clothes has consistenly been pushed to the bottom of my To Do list, to the point where I just wore through everything I owned. Solution? Check out some of Austin’s clothing shops. First the Buffalo Exchange. Got an awesome shirt there for $8.50, plus some bracelets and earrings. Felt very chic. Then Thrift Town, which is a lot like a big Goodwill, with really great deals on clothing. I got another shirt there for $4. I still need a few more things, so I’ll probably check out a more stores today.
(In desperation I tried shopping at Wal-Mart, thinking that they had to at least have some generic t-shirts. NOPE. Apparently Wal-Mart only sells to teenage girls and plus-sized women, and I am neither. Boo on you, Wal-Mart.)
- Drove without incident all around Austin, and then got lost in Kayla’s apartment complex’s parking lot.
- Went to a screening of Zach Galifianakis’ new movie It’s Kind of a Funny Story. It’s kind of a sweet and funny movie but, given the subject matter, it’s also pretty serious, and some of the humor comes uncomfortably close to mocking the mentally ill. But on the whole, it was a creative and well made film, and Zach was really excellent in a fairly serious role. A few of us were talking at the end, and it seemed like the message most people got from the movie was that “everyone has problems”. But I think it’s more than that. I think the real truth is that everyone has a story. Not only problems, but gifts. Not only hard times, but good times too. To me, the real message of the movie was that we each have to find whatever good there is amidst whatever bad stuff we experience, and choose to follow the good.
- Had ice cream at Amy’s after the movie. It’s Austin’s version of Cold Stone Creamery, which I’ve never been to, but can probably be best described as pizza-parlor-meets-ice-cream-shop. The guy behind the counter was literally throwing my ice cream into the air. Since my favorite flavor is Moose Tracks, and there doesn’t seem to be a Texas equivalent (Longhorn Tracks?), I made a mix that came close. It was pretty yummy. Eating ice cream, outside, in October at 10 o’clock at night: it’s just not something we do in New England.
- Spent most of the night snuggling with Oliver the kitten. He’s an adorable little purr-machine who likes to sleep right next to your face. Which was fine, until he decided that my dreadlocks were rope toys made just for him, and as a result, I now have a fair amount of kitten spit in my dreads. The best part about Oliver is that he has the sweetest, most innocuous little mew. Kayla was worried that he might keep me up, but after living with Stephanie the Decibel-Shattering Wailing Banshee, it didn’t bother me one bit.
…and Oliver just got himself stuck behind the DVD shelf, knocking most of them onto the floor as he scrambled to escape. I should probably clean that up.
More tomorrow…
