Mind Reading

October 28, 2009 in the boy | Tags: , | Leave a comment

On Sunday night I needed to go to the grocery store and usually Dave and I run our errands together. Not really sure why, I guess partly because we always have, partly because we [brace yourselves] just like being together.

And then, for no reason and not even sure why I was saying it, I said, “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Are you sure?”

“Seriously? You don’t want to go? Because I wasn’t even sure why I was saying it.”

“You were reading my mind.”

“Yup. Guess so.”

“Read it again.” Dave closed his eyes tight and put a finger on his temple, as if to transmit to me a message.

I laughed, no idea what to say, so I said, “Okay, fine, babe, I’ll bring you home some chocolate milk.”

Dave stared at me open-mouthed.

“What?”

He kept staring.

“Dude, you’re fucking with me, I didn’t read your mind.”

“I was thinking chocolate!!”

He continues to be impressed. But it’s not that incredible. Between sex and biking and chocolate, I had pretty good odds. Not that I thought about that at the time. Maybe I did read his mind.

In related news, it’s apparently National Chocolate Day.

Home

October 26, 2009 in ATX, bike, doggies, h-town, non-/consumerism, workahol | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

So a few hours ago we signed a lease on a cute 2-bedroom duplex on the near-east side. It was our favorite place of all the places we saw but they supposedly didn’t allow dogs. So we begged and pleaded and the owner agreed to meet our dog and promptly fell in love.

We filled out the app and crossed our fingers and toes and legs and arms and hairs. Days went by and we’d drive by the street saying, “Come on, duplex!!” I’d drive home and whine that I want to be home NOW, HERE, AT THIS LIGHT, I don’t want to have to drive across Airport, whose light timing at the intersection with MLK is some of the worst city planning I’ve seen. 5 cycles during rush hour? Really?

And then we got the word that it was ours! It’s a recently remodeled 2 bedroom, 1 bath with sage green paint in all the rooms (so no painting!), gas stove, central A/H, ceiling fans in all the rooms and (faux, I think) hardwoods. The owner lives in the front part and we’ll share a laundry room. The backyard is all gravelly landscaping with some fresh soil by the door for me to grow a tiny herb garden. The living room/kitchen is a huge open space so we’ll get to be creative with that space, maybe dividing it up, etc.

I’m SO EXCITED to get our stuff back. We go back to Houston this weekend for a quick work trip for me and I think it will be weird. I still don’t really feel any ownership in Austin, but I also don’t feel like I miss Houston, with the exception of my friends and Anvil. I’m still living out of a suitcase so I’ll just be putting different things in that suitcase when we go to Houston. And I’m so tired of the same 5 shirts I can’t even begin to express it…

They say home is where the heart is, but I am beginning to suspect that home is where you can decide that you want to wear tights and boots and can do that without running to Target. Home is where you can use that classy raincoat, find an old photo, or decide to go camping. Home is where you don’t have to do laundry every other day because you have more than 2 pairs of socks and 3 pairs of underwear. Home is where you can ride your bike to work or wear purple eyeliner or use that bath bomb you’ve been saving.

On the OTHER hand, home is also where we don’t have a TV stand because we decided we didn’t like the old one and left it by the curb. Home is where we have a 2nd bedroom but no 2nd bed. Home is where we have no desk because we sold it. Home is where we will be figuring out where to put all the books we had on the built in shelves at our old place.

And I’m looking forward to it because once we’re settled I imagine Austin will start to feel like home.

Nope. Not Jealous.

October 19, 2009 in non-/consumerism, product | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

“I think I’m going to have to unfriend my friend [SallyMae].”

“Who?”

“Remember the girl I used to know and I friended her on facebook and she was on vacation in Greece?”

“Oh, yeah. Why?”

“Look. Photo album of ‘New Fun Ride.’” (aka silver Mercedes SL 600 convertible.)

“Jesus. Not even a 500, had to go for the 6.”

“Dude. Look.” (I point to the taillights of the other car, the one in the garage.)

“CCCCWWWWWHHATTTT??? HER HUSBAND DRIVES A FUCKING FERRARI?”

“I guess she drives the sensible car.”

“Dude. I’m unfollowing Keaton Branch because I can’t unfriend HER.”

New Hobby?

October 18, 2009 in Austin, doggies, food, h-town, product, running, the boy | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

So Austin has all this stuff Houston doesn’t have. Like, extensive greenspaces and terrain. Our first weekend here we took Ike hiking on the Zilker greenbelt and I was like, “You know? I’d enjoy taking him trailrunning down here.”

“Oh,” you think. “She thinks she’s going to start running again. Haven’t we tried this before?“

Yes. But that was BORING running. Who wants to run on pavement? Alone. With nothing but your iPod and self-doubt. YAWN. This will be different! It’s pretty! There are rocks to avoid! And waterfalls (apparently- I haven’t gone that far) and birds and squirrels and trees! And Ike! He loves to run so it’s fun to run along with him. He’s a pretty good motivator. Plus, the faster we run, the less he’ll bark at the other dogs we pass.

So I bought some running shorts at Lululemon. And 3 weeks went by. In my defense, it rained a lot and I never wanted to go after work. Today was pretty so we went. In all, we walked/jogged 3.5 miles. 1 full hour. (So no 6-minute mile here!) I obviously walked more than I jogged, but I still got my heart rate up several times. And I was pretty dehydrated b.c I got a headache halfway through. I was like, “Should I run through it? Does it work like that? Can I Days of Thunder a headache?” I kept going. The headache stayed until I got home, ate lunch/dinner and drank some water and iced tea. Oh, I love you, South, and your iced tea!!

[Note: We have iced tea in Houston, and I'm sure it's just as good, but for whatever reason, I hate the water in Austin. I think it tastes like lakewater. And everyone drinks the tap water like it has no flavor at all and they're all crazy. So instead of being unhealthy and drinking soda, or pretentious and drinking sparkling mineral water, I've been ordering iced tea at restaurants. And I'm getting more accustomed to the flavor of the water, but still not there yet.]

So I think this is a fairly sustainable hobby, for me anyway. I’m not doing much else (athletic), so it feels good. (She said as she dipped her french fry into the mayonnaise.)

In other news, we’re filling out an app for a cute 2 bedroom duplex on the near east side. Knock on wood that it works out and we’ll be moving in in 2 weeks. (Huzzah! I can wear more than the same 5 outfits!) And Dave had an interview on Friday- the first one he was excited about. But it didn’t work out and he got an even better lead yesterday afternoon, so keep your fingers crossed for that, too.

Ike is laying with his head on my lap because he is exhausted from his long weekend, which has included laying in the morning sun, jogging, and visiting state parks.

IMG_0815

Not Homesick… Yet.

October 12, 2009 in ATX, h-town | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Today at work I offered a lot of feedback on a new building we’re building in the exact neighborhood I just moved from. It was fun. I talked about the culture and found photos on Google and Flickr that represent my old hood. And I wondered why I wasn’t homesick. Maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t unpacked. I still feel like I’m on some kind of very strange extended vacation wherein I work a lot of hours. Like, any moment I’m sure I’ll drive by the chapel to St. Basil at the University of St. Thomas, it’s just that I haven’t driven that way recently.

Odd.

The Old Apartment

October 11, 2009 in Austin, h-town, non-/consumerism, the boy | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

I never intended to move once a year, but here we are.

This move has quite possibly been my best and easiest move yet. Last year we had the Worst Move Ever and this year it was smooth sailing. So far. Knock on wood. It’s only half over.

The week we moved, Dave worked through Tuesday and I worked through Wednesday. Thursday we packed, Friday we loaded the pod in the morning, the cleaning crew came by at noon and we were completely finished, ready to load the Civic with our suitcases and bikes by 5pm Friday. We went out with 40 or so of our closest friends that night and left by 10am Saturday morning.

!!!!

I knew it was ambitious even as it was happening but it went exactly as planned. Saturday and Sunday at Camille’s we pretty much slept. I was surprised at the time at how tired we were, but in retrospect? Makes total sense.

My original plan here in Austin was to wait until Dave found a job to get an apartment, but the job market is appearing to be more saturated than we intended. And seeing as how today the temperature didn’t get out of the 50s, I might be needing some of those warm clothes that we have in storage. I have to say that’s the hardest part, being like, “Free tickets to ACL in the rain? Sure, I’ve a rain coat and galoshes! . . . in storage.” Or, “It’s cold in my office, I should bring a jacket. Like the one I have in storage.”

And we’ve got it good here. Camille has been the most awesome hostess and financially speaking it would be wise to stay here until Dave was gainfully employed. In reality, I didn’t take a pay cut coming here, we’re not poor and there’s something to be said for your own space. And hand mixer and earrings and shoes and recipes and candles, etc.

So we’re looking at a move in date of around 11/1.  And I saw my fair share of uncute places is nice neighborhoods today. And cute places in decent neighborhoods. pretty sure we can’t afford cute places in awesome neighborhoods.

So in honor of finding the best place I’m posting some photos of our old place for you to enjoy. I took them on the day we left.

I’m Alive!

October 8, 2009 in ATX, blog, design, doggies, the boy | 1 comment

I have been admonished by 2 of my best friends within 12 hours of each other that I’m not updating my blog enough. Or at all.

Quick update!

1. The new job is great! I love doing design work all day! I love the people I work with!

2. Ike is good and seems to like Austin. He goes to the dog park more, which he likes. Our new fave park is Red Bud Isle, which is just an island dog park with lots of places to swim. Ike hates water and only barely tolerates most dirt or grass (mud is OUT of the question) so when the dogs he’s playing with go jump in the water, he’s all, “Oh wait. Never mind. You’re weird. Where are my parents?”

3. Ike definitely likes Camille, who will wrestle with him and he’s constantly seeking her attention with his squeaky squirrel so they can play.

4. I’m used to getting out of work at 4, so getting home around 6 has kind of thrown me off. I feel like we barely have time to watch our TV shows on hulu and then it’s bedtime.

5. Dave hasn’t found a job, but not for lack of trying and certainly not for lack of being awesome.

6. Even still, we’re tentatively looking at getting our own place by 11/1.

7. In lieu of a more in-depth post, I’m giving you 2 videos. One is of Ike falling asleep on warm sheets we’d put on the bed not 10 seconds earlier.

And then there’s this one of a sort of skateboarding neon night tetris.

Runaway

September 22, 2009 in Austin | Tags: , , | 2 comments

Today Dave called me to tell me Ike had run away. Our apartment people had been installing and painting new doors. They’ve been doing it since last week and Ike’s been cool with it. Just chills in the apartment while they work.

Today not so much apparently. The maintenance guy called Dave to say that Ike had run out the back door and they couldn’t catch him.

I picked up Dave and we headed home. I dropped Dave off and drove the route Ike and I normally walked. I was thinking that I was sure he’d end up hack home. He’s a smart dog and he hates the rain. But I started to regret that we’d never put a personalized tag on him. He’s microchipped but what if no one checked? And he’s apparently a purebred Iggy, so you could buy TONS of crack from selling him. If I had to drive to Austin this weekend not knowing what happened to him, I’d cry the whole way.

I get a phone call from Dave. Ike was under our covers. He did run away but apparently changed his mind while the maintenance guys were combing the neighborhood and he came back and got under the covers where it was warm and dry.

Just like always.

Letting the Creative Monster Drive

September 20, 2009 in Austin, babies, design, life list, product | Tags: , , , , , , , | 3 comments

A couple of weeks ago I looked at my life list and decided to see what I can realistically tackle. I’m not paying off debt or kayaking with whales anytime soon. And one WAY overdue thing is Anoop and Neha’s wedding present painting.

Since the beginning, I’d had the vision of a tree. Some awesome painting in all the Neha colors: sage, teal, deep green, gold, navy, etc. I even knew where I wanted it to go. They have a blank wall in their stairwell that leads from the main level up to the bedroom level. Initially I’d considered doing a painting of the same size in each of their 3 stairwells. (They have one of those stacked townhomes that’s garage, living level, bedrooms, and patio.) I thought it would be cool to do all the parts of a tree, maybe kind of abstract: roots on the bottom floor, branches in the middle staircase, leaves at the top.

But then I got realistic and it had been almost 3 years since they got married and I hadn’t done ONE painting for them, odds were I wouldn’t be doing 3.

About a year ago, I went to Texas Art Supply for . . . something and ran across these watercolor boards that had a “cradle” so they already looked framed. I loved them and immediately knew I wanted to use them for Neha and Anoop’s gift. And then, you know, a year went by.

So I sat down a few weeks ago with my water colors and worked on a sort abstract painting of a tree. I didn’t like it. I put all my art supplies in the corner of the room. (Not put away, mind you, because I needed the reminder of what I should be working on.) Then I got this job in Austin and was like, Okay, if I don’t do it now I’ll never ever do it.

I went to Texas Art Supply on Friday to get the Aquabords. But I couldn’t envision it. Here’s basically what I went through before I came up with the final idea. This, by the way, is like my favorite thing ever: to walk around in an art store looking at textures and colors and papers and designs and playing with options in my head until the light bulb goes on.

- I’m thinking about 2 or 3 separate paintings that hang together and make up one image or one idea. But the Aquabords with the 2″ cradle don’t have sizes I like.

- I wander around looking at handmade nepalese papers.

- I go to the stationery area and look at thin papers that are super delicate, almost like pattered dryer sheets. I keep walking by a huge display of cards and “pouches” by this company and I LOVE them but it’s highly distracting. I envision Neha’s present to be full of rich colors and intricate yet subtle textures. NOT a clean vector image and lots of white space.

- I’m back at the Aquabords. I give up on the ones with a cradle. I decide to get the flat Aquabords, one 9×12″, one 16×12″ and two 7×5″ that will all create a long rectangle when hung on the wall 2″ apart.

Excellent. But I still have no idea what I’m going to do.

- I go back to the papers to see what I want to use for layering texture. I look at some of the Marsupial designs and decide that that’s what I’m using for inspiration when I design Keith and Sarah’s wedding invite. While in the paper, I decide that this is too much pressure, why don’t I just buy ONE small Aquabord, go home, paint ONE and see how I feel after that?

- Relieved, I put back all the Aquabords and paper and get one 4-pack of 4″ square Aquabords. I look at the Marsupial designs again. I wander over to the rubber stamp section to see if I can find inspiration there. Looking for maybe a tree. I don’t find what I’m envisioning (what? no Tord Boontje style tree branch stamps?) but I do see a big stamp of a pine tree branch.

- It clicks. I will paint a bunch–like 20 or 24–of these 4″ square Aquabords with shades of teal and then stamp the pine branch on them in gold.

And I laugh, because deep down I’m a graphic designer. All my lofty visions of texture and color and watercolor paintings are coming down to a bunch of squares with a repeated pattern. And it’s the first time this project has felt RIGHT.

So I went home and the next day did the whole thing in a few hours. Here are some photos.

IMG_6183

IMG_6182

And that’s that. At the end I decided to make the edges gold to give it a more polished look. And I’m happy with it. I think it’s going to look awesome in her stairwell.

As a side note, I haven’t given this to her yet. There’s every possibility she could read this before we have dinner in 2 hours, but I doubt it. She’s got a 6-month old.

Sold!

September 17, 2009 in Austin, babies, blog, fishies, h-town, life list, non-/consumerism, the boy | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 comments

HOLY CRAP I JUST WROTE THIS WHOLE BLOG POST WITH PHOTOS AND LINKS AND EMOTIONS AND EVERYTHING AND IT WAS AWESOME AND THEN WHEN I PUBLISHED IT? IT WAS BLANK.

HEADS WILL ROLL!

Jesus H., I don’t even know where to start.

Fucking hell. I sold my fish tank. And all my fish.

The end.

UPDATE: I’m kind of over the whole losing-the-post thing. So here’s the long version.

In an effort to have an excuse to buy cool new shit pare down the junk in our lives, Dave and I have been getting rid of stuff before we move. He sold his Wacom tablet and gave away his desk. I got rid of a bunch of clothes and 13 pairs of shoes. It’s the best part of moving.

I was a little worried about the aquarium. It was one of the bigger headaches of our last move (due to the power being out) and having to transport it at the last minute, losing my shrimp because they escaped the ice chest they were in, trying to fit its bulky size in my Civic, etc. We’ll be bringing enough things to Camille’s house without having to worry about setting up a 30 gallon aquarium.

Dave said, “I’d just sell it.”

And then I punched him.

I really didn’t. Of course he would- he didn’t change the water, he didn’t buy new filters, he didn’t feed them or really notice they were there. He didn’t run out and buy a net for the angelfish fry. Twice.

I didn’t really realize this until after I sold it but other than move it, do water changes and buy new supplies, I hadn’t done anything to the tank in over a year. I didn’t get new fish or new plants. It was getting a little stagnant. So to speak.

My real motivation for selling it was (aside from not dealing with the hassle of moving it, which was a BIG MOTIVATION) what else? Shopping! If I sold it, I could buy a new one! Now I’ve done the whole big freshwater tank with live plants and angelfish thing. It’s time to move on to saltwater. And there are TONS of saltwater tanks on craigslist!! And it just so happens that owning a saltwater tank is on my life list. How about that?

So once we get settled, keep your eyes peeled for posts about coral and water chemistry and my whining about how expensive it all is.

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