Day: 375
High Temp: 96F (yay! it's not in the triple digits anymore!)
In an effort to continue celebrating my one-year anniversary in Austin, I bring you the somewhat anticipated (at least by Adam Simon) queso blog! Below, in my humble opinion, are the three places you have to hit if you want to eat the best queso in Austin.
It may come as no surprise to you that I love cheese in pretty much any form. From fried mozzarella sticks to the squeaky cheese curds of Wisconsin, to the sharpest and bluest blue, I love it all. When we were planning our move, I was excited to read about the reverence with which Austinites approach queso. I decided I wanted to try it all, but unfortunately, my year's research was by no means exhaustive. There are plenty of places I ate at this past year that have queso on the menu that I didn't try (do you really want to order queso at an Italian place?) There are probably dozens of places I haven't even heard of that serve a mean queso, but here is the best I've come across so far. And I promise to have fun exploring all the other queso the city has to offer in the years to come.
If you like it classic...
You have to try the queso at Maria's Taco Xpress. The queso here is smooth and rich with just a hint of spiciness. It tastes exactly how liquid cheese should taste. Served with a big pile of fresh tortilla chips, it's so good. I should also mention this place has a killer pollo guisado taco, nice and tart margaritas, and more quirky Austin ambiance that almost any other eatery I have been too.
If you like it chunky and spicy...
Go to Torchy's! If you are visiting us, Tom will probably insist we go here anyhow, so why not order the Green Chili Queso while we are there? This queso has a nice cheesy base, but mixed in you will find a hearty portion of chopped green chilis. It's all topped with cilantro and a dab of their diablo sauce. The result is a spicy (but not too spicy), chunky dip and I personally could eat as a meal. The flavor is amazing, and is unlike anything I have found anywhere else.
If you like it with other stuff...
The venerable Kerbey Lane Cafe is the place to go. When I first started at UT, my boss was giving my tips on where to eat around town. Upon learning that I had never been to Kerbey Lane, she told me that I had to go, and even if I was there for breakfast, I had to get the Kerby Queso. Boy was she right. The queso itself is actually quit thin in consistency compared to most others in town. It is also noticeably paler in hue (most are orange). Don't let the thin consistency and pale color fool you. This queso has an amazing smoky flavor that is a show stopper. And if that weren't enough, they ladle it over a big mound of creamy guacamole and top it all with fresh pico.
I had originally envisioned this blog as a top 3 or a top 5, with me ultimately naming one queso "the best" but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I could not pick just one favorite, because they are all so unique and delicious.
I am toying with the idea of doing more Best of Austin blogs, but am not sure exactly what to write about. Best BBQ? Best use of Avocado? Best Tacos? I am particularly interested in finding the best brunch, as that is what I am missing most about Chicago recently, but I haven't found many good brunch places yet. A blog would be a good excuse to do more exploring, though. It's all food related but I am sure there are other things I could explore... What do you think?
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Anniversaries
Day: 366
High Temp: 102F
Yesterday Tom and I celebrated two rather momentous anniversaries. It was exactly a year ago yesterday that we arrived to Austin, Texas to begin this crazy adventure. Coincidentally (and more importantly, I think) it was also our 7 year dating anniversary. We figured it would be the last dating anniversary we ever observe (given that soon we will have a wedding anniversary to celebrate instead) so we wanted to do it up right.
We headed down to our old neighborhood to have a celebratory dinner at South Congress Cafe, a hip fine-dining place that we happen to have a gift certificate to. (My co-workers at TimeLine gave us a generous gift certificate to this place as a going away gift, along with a membership to AMOA which I have gushed about here.) We had a fabulous meal, and spent the time reminiscing about our past, talking about the upcoming wedding, and marveling at the fact that moving to Texas had neither killed us, nor our relationship.
Oh, you want me to tell you what we ate? Well... okay, if you insist!
We started with the special appetizer of the night, Escargot. It was a huge portion (like a dozen at least), well presented in a puddle of melted butter, with a thick dusting of some sort of strong, dry cheese over top (it was an off-the-menu special, so I cannot recall exactly what type of cheese, but think of a really good parmesan or pecorino.) It also had red pepper flakes in it, to add some heat, and a ton of garlic. It was Tom's first escargot experience, and he liked it. It makes me so happy that he is adventurous when it comes to food and is willing (and often excited) to try something new.
Tom ordered the Bacon and Goat Cheese Stuffed Quail, and I had the Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Chipotle Cherry Sauce. The quail was great, and the stuffing was amazing. It was served with a blackberry gastrique that Tom found a bit too sweet, and was over fingerling potatoes and Brussels sprout hash. I thought the brussels sprouts were a little under cooked for my taste, but over all it was a really nice entree. My duck was incredibly smoky with a sweet cherry sauce over the top. Again, I think this sauce was maybe a little too sweet (I couldn't detect any chipotle in it at all) however the mashed potatoes it was over were really lovely and spicy. When I got a bite with everything, it was a great balance, and reminded me of a fancy Thanksgiving dinner.
We ended the night with the Dried Cherry and Pecan Bread Pudding. Don't worry, it was served with Amy's Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream AND a bourbon creme anglaise-type sauce. It was delicious, and a very large portion. Happy anniversaries to us!
High Temp: 102F
Yesterday Tom and I celebrated two rather momentous anniversaries. It was exactly a year ago yesterday that we arrived to Austin, Texas to begin this crazy adventure. Coincidentally (and more importantly, I think) it was also our 7 year dating anniversary. We figured it would be the last dating anniversary we ever observe (given that soon we will have a wedding anniversary to celebrate instead) so we wanted to do it up right.
We headed down to our old neighborhood to have a celebratory dinner at South Congress Cafe, a hip fine-dining place that we happen to have a gift certificate to. (My co-workers at TimeLine gave us a generous gift certificate to this place as a going away gift, along with a membership to AMOA which I have gushed about here.) We had a fabulous meal, and spent the time reminiscing about our past, talking about the upcoming wedding, and marveling at the fact that moving to Texas had neither killed us, nor our relationship.
Oh, you want me to tell you what we ate? Well... okay, if you insist!
We started with the special appetizer of the night, Escargot. It was a huge portion (like a dozen at least), well presented in a puddle of melted butter, with a thick dusting of some sort of strong, dry cheese over top (it was an off-the-menu special, so I cannot recall exactly what type of cheese, but think of a really good parmesan or pecorino.) It also had red pepper flakes in it, to add some heat, and a ton of garlic. It was Tom's first escargot experience, and he liked it. It makes me so happy that he is adventurous when it comes to food and is willing (and often excited) to try something new.
Tom ordered the Bacon and Goat Cheese Stuffed Quail, and I had the Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Chipotle Cherry Sauce. The quail was great, and the stuffing was amazing. It was served with a blackberry gastrique that Tom found a bit too sweet, and was over fingerling potatoes and Brussels sprout hash. I thought the brussels sprouts were a little under cooked for my taste, but over all it was a really nice entree. My duck was incredibly smoky with a sweet cherry sauce over the top. Again, I think this sauce was maybe a little too sweet (I couldn't detect any chipotle in it at all) however the mashed potatoes it was over were really lovely and spicy. When I got a bite with everything, it was a great balance, and reminded me of a fancy Thanksgiving dinner.
We ended the night with the Dried Cherry and Pecan Bread Pudding. Don't worry, it was served with Amy's Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream AND a bourbon creme anglaise-type sauce. It was delicious, and a very large portion. Happy anniversaries to us!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Who we gonna root for? Round Rock Express!
Day: 360
High Temp: 101F
Saturday night Tom and I joined our friends, the Mannings, for our first ever Minor League Baseball experience. We traveled just outside Austin to the Dell Diamond to see the Round Rock Express take on the Fresno Grizzlies. When we arrived at the Manning abode, little Fin (adorable five-year old superhero enthusiast) yelled, "who we gonna root for?" To which us grown-ups replied, "Round Rock Express!" We did this many times over the course of the night, much to Fin's delight.
I am not a fan of the Houston Astros, the club for which the Express serves as AAA affiliate. That said, it is amazing how willing to overlook this fact I was in order to join in the spirit and root-root-root for the home team. It was a great night, and a great game, with the Express beating the Grizzlies 4-1. I could literally write pages about how much fun we had, but here are the highlights:
-The stadium! The Dell Diamond is a gorgeous place to take in a game, and it's so intimate. Intimacy work well for art and sports, so it would seem. I am now a huge enthusiast of AAA ball for this reason alone.
-The beer! A 24 ounce Shiner was only 6.50. Nice!
-The nachos! Allowing for the standard ball park queso, there was a serve yourself tub of pickled jalapenos which put these nachos into a new class of yummy.
-The pitching! The Express pen was able to keep the Grizzlies to 1 run, and really, for both sides it was a tight game.
-Spike! Spike the Express mascot, is hound dog dressed up like an old school train engineer. Fin and his mom Courtney took a trip to the Express merchandise store around the 6th inning and brought back a miniature stuffed Spike. Fin and I spent the next two innings creating a super hero story that included Spike as the central good guy, but also featured his side-kick Needles, and his arch-nemesis Steelman!
-Kiss Cam! Yep, we were on it and that was funny.
-The Eyes of Texas? Yeah, so between innings... maybe 3 and 4... they played the UT fight song. I actually noticed that more people seemed to be wearing burnt orange than the Express' Navy and Red earlier in the game, but this was hilarious. With fingers in longhorn formation, thousands in the stands sang along to show their... longhorn pride I guess.
-An actual train! Giving the team it's name, the train runs really close to the field and we heard its whistle at two different points during the game. When this happens, they play the opening lines of "Folsom Prison Blues" over the stadium PA.
When Tom and I were first planning our move to Austin, I actually thought quite a bit about Austin's lack of professional sports. I spent the first 28 years of my life in St Louis and Chicago, two seriously baseball-loving cities. I wondered what I would do so far from a major league team. What I have now learned is that Minor League baseball is a great substitute for the Majors. I will no longer look down upon all those many small towns that are home to, and genuinely love, minor league teams.
High Temp: 101F
Saturday night Tom and I joined our friends, the Mannings, for our first ever Minor League Baseball experience. We traveled just outside Austin to the Dell Diamond to see the Round Rock Express take on the Fresno Grizzlies. When we arrived at the Manning abode, little Fin (adorable five-year old superhero enthusiast) yelled, "who we gonna root for?" To which us grown-ups replied, "Round Rock Express!" We did this many times over the course of the night, much to Fin's delight.
I am not a fan of the Houston Astros, the club for which the Express serves as AAA affiliate. That said, it is amazing how willing to overlook this fact I was in order to join in the spirit and root-root-root for the home team. It was a great night, and a great game, with the Express beating the Grizzlies 4-1. I could literally write pages about how much fun we had, but here are the highlights:
-The stadium! The Dell Diamond is a gorgeous place to take in a game, and it's so intimate. Intimacy work well for art and sports, so it would seem. I am now a huge enthusiast of AAA ball for this reason alone.
-The beer! A 24 ounce Shiner was only 6.50. Nice!
-The nachos! Allowing for the standard ball park queso, there was a serve yourself tub of pickled jalapenos which put these nachos into a new class of yummy.
-The pitching! The Express pen was able to keep the Grizzlies to 1 run, and really, for both sides it was a tight game.
-Spike! Spike the Express mascot, is hound dog dressed up like an old school train engineer. Fin and his mom Courtney took a trip to the Express merchandise store around the 6th inning and brought back a miniature stuffed Spike. Fin and I spent the next two innings creating a super hero story that included Spike as the central good guy, but also featured his side-kick Needles, and his arch-nemesis Steelman!
-Kiss Cam! Yep, we were on it and that was funny.
-The Eyes of Texas? Yeah, so between innings... maybe 3 and 4... they played the UT fight song. I actually noticed that more people seemed to be wearing burnt orange than the Express' Navy and Red earlier in the game, but this was hilarious. With fingers in longhorn formation, thousands in the stands sang along to show their... longhorn pride I guess.
-An actual train! Giving the team it's name, the train runs really close to the field and we heard its whistle at two different points during the game. When this happens, they play the opening lines of "Folsom Prison Blues" over the stadium PA.
When Tom and I were first planning our move to Austin, I actually thought quite a bit about Austin's lack of professional sports. I spent the first 28 years of my life in St Louis and Chicago, two seriously baseball-loving cities. I wondered what I would do so far from a major league team. What I have now learned is that Minor League baseball is a great substitute for the Majors. I will no longer look down upon all those many small towns that are home to, and genuinely love, minor league teams.
Friday, August 6, 2010
What a Family Looks Like
Day: 356
High Temp: 102
I have been thinking so much about family, last names, home and marriage in the past few weeks. Tom and I are just about 2 months out from our own wedding day, and these things are just a constant point of conversation.
We are in a house now, which makes us feel more grown up, and like a family. I cannot explain why. But it does. And I cannot tell you how happy I am that we will come home after our wedding to this little house. Not an apartment, but a house. We don't own it, and it is highly likely that at some point (perhaps if/when we leave Austin) we will find ourselves again in an apartment. But for now, it's a house, and that feels like a real change.
We are also still debating the last name thing. It's a conversation we have been having for many years now, and for the first time this week Tom told me he wants us to have the same last name. It's old-fashioned, but really sweet. And it seems like with how far women and society have come in terms of feminism, us ladies don't need to hold on to our own last names to hold on to our identities. At least that is how I am starting to feel. And as I sat there talking with Tom, looking at him as he said he wanted us to share a last name, I realized that this was one thing I was happy to do for him. So now I am settling into the idea that come October 9 I will no longer be known as Lindsey Becker. Crazy!
The whole inspiration for this little post was this most amazing portrait of a family that I came across today on Marvelous Kiddo by way of the fabulous Snippet & Ink. Talk about discovering what a family looks like!
High Temp: 102
I have been thinking so much about family, last names, home and marriage in the past few weeks. Tom and I are just about 2 months out from our own wedding day, and these things are just a constant point of conversation.
We are in a house now, which makes us feel more grown up, and like a family. I cannot explain why. But it does. And I cannot tell you how happy I am that we will come home after our wedding to this little house. Not an apartment, but a house. We don't own it, and it is highly likely that at some point (perhaps if/when we leave Austin) we will find ourselves again in an apartment. But for now, it's a house, and that feels like a real change.
We are also still debating the last name thing. It's a conversation we have been having for many years now, and for the first time this week Tom told me he wants us to have the same last name. It's old-fashioned, but really sweet. And it seems like with how far women and society have come in terms of feminism, us ladies don't need to hold on to our own last names to hold on to our identities. At least that is how I am starting to feel. And as I sat there talking with Tom, looking at him as he said he wanted us to share a last name, I realized that this was one thing I was happy to do for him. So now I am settling into the idea that come October 9 I will no longer be known as Lindsey Becker. Crazy!
The whole inspiration for this little post was this most amazing portrait of a family that I came across today on Marvelous Kiddo by way of the fabulous Snippet & Ink. Talk about discovering what a family looks like!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Adios South Austin Commute
Day: 349
High Temp: 97F
Yes, I am sorry. ANOTHER post about moving. I feel like I have been obsessing about moving since we got here a year ago, but this probably is not my last moving-related blog entry. I still don't have any pictures of the cute new Mint House to post. Did I mention the Mint House has dark teal trim? Only in Austin...
I think I have joked before that it doesn't take any longer than 10 minutes to get from any one point to any other point within the ACL (that is Austin City Limits to those of you not in the know). That may be an understatement, as my daily commute to campus, via Elly, is at least twice that. It's a fairly easy and fast 20 minutes in the mornings (what, no one else but me has to be in the office by 8am??) By 5:20 in the afternoon, when I hit the intersection at Congress and Cesar Chavez, there is a full-blown, mini-urban traffic jam situation happening. I always sit through at least 4 light cycles at that intersection before I am able to make my left turn. On a normal traffic day, it takes me about 30 minutes to drive the 3 miles home.
By most urban standards, it's probably not that bad. For Austin, it seems kind of ridiculous. The whole problem is that I have to drive THROUGH downtown to get to campus.
Well ladies and gents, after today's commute, that will no longer be true. You see, we are moving north of campus, and that means I only have to drive through quiet residential neighborhoods to get to campus! I drove the new commute last night afterwork because I had to go pick up a package at the Mint House. I was in Elly by 5:12, and pulling into our new driveway by 5:19. I kid you not, in what should have been the full throes of rush hour, it took me only 7 minutes to get home. In truth, the new house is only .2 miles closer to campus than our current place. But not having to drive through downtown makes all the difference.
There are lots of things I will miss about South Austin, mainly this, this and this. However, spending less time in my car every day, and more time with Tom and the Home-doggy are worth being farther from my favorite tacos. I can always visit those places on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
High Temp: 97F
Yes, I am sorry. ANOTHER post about moving. I feel like I have been obsessing about moving since we got here a year ago, but this probably is not my last moving-related blog entry. I still don't have any pictures of the cute new Mint House to post. Did I mention the Mint House has dark teal trim? Only in Austin...
I think I have joked before that it doesn't take any longer than 10 minutes to get from any one point to any other point within the ACL (that is Austin City Limits to those of you not in the know). That may be an understatement, as my daily commute to campus, via Elly, is at least twice that. It's a fairly easy and fast 20 minutes in the mornings (what, no one else but me has to be in the office by 8am??) By 5:20 in the afternoon, when I hit the intersection at Congress and Cesar Chavez, there is a full-blown, mini-urban traffic jam situation happening. I always sit through at least 4 light cycles at that intersection before I am able to make my left turn. On a normal traffic day, it takes me about 30 minutes to drive the 3 miles home.
By most urban standards, it's probably not that bad. For Austin, it seems kind of ridiculous. The whole problem is that I have to drive THROUGH downtown to get to campus.
Well ladies and gents, after today's commute, that will no longer be true. You see, we are moving north of campus, and that means I only have to drive through quiet residential neighborhoods to get to campus! I drove the new commute last night afterwork because I had to go pick up a package at the Mint House. I was in Elly by 5:12, and pulling into our new driveway by 5:19. I kid you not, in what should have been the full throes of rush hour, it took me only 7 minutes to get home. In truth, the new house is only .2 miles closer to campus than our current place. But not having to drive through downtown makes all the difference.
There are lots of things I will miss about South Austin, mainly this, this and this. However, spending less time in my car every day, and more time with Tom and the Home-doggy are worth being farther from my favorite tacos. I can always visit those places on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Time Flies
Day: 345
High Temp: 93F
Good lord, where did the last two weeks go!? I was shocked to see that I haven't posted anything since July 12. Part of this time lapse can surely be accounted for by the fact that Tom was out of town all last week. This meant not only did I have to (once again this month) play single mom to Homer, but I spent much of my free time running errands, packing and cleaning, all in preparation for our move next weekend.
It seems like yesterday that Tom and I got the good news from our friends Zach and Adrienne that they would be moving here at the end of the summer. Guess what, they get here NEXT weekend! And, I am getting married in two months. Forget the last two weeks, where the heck did my 17 month engagement go?
So here is the deal, Tom and I are leaping our way closer to that year-anniversary mark, and despite time flying, I have had the opportunity (and inspiration) to think about where I am at, where I was a year ago, and all the excitement to come this year. It has been a really rough year in a lot of ways. There was the 4 month stint of unemployment, the constant anxiety about my inability to make adult friends here, my frustrations with my living situation and just the general sense of feeling on the outside of life, while everyone else around me seem to be living in it.
I have already told you how excited I am to be moving into a real house (with a yard, no one above me, vegetable garden, etc!!!) With this exciting event impending, I have made up my mind about one thing: I will embrace Texas for all that it is, the good and the bad.
Today, I say, NO MORE moping. I am going to embrace this change of living situation as an opportunity for an attitude adjustment. When my job is boring me to tears, I will just remind myself of the anxiety of having to pay rent several months into unemployment. When I start to feel like a looser for my lack of friends in Texas, I will remember how much better it can be to have one close friend you can talk about anything with than many acquaintances you can't really relate to. When I am missing the snow of the midwest, I will just think of how lucky I am to not have to walk my dog in January wearing a sleeping bag coat, galoshes, mittens a stocking cap AND earmuffs. Missing those fall leaves? Well, there is lettuce in the garden, and broccoli, and it's November!
Tom and I are getting married in two months, and just 3 months after that I turn thirty. I have spent the last year of my life feeling sorry for myself and I am tired of it. I wished away this last year, anxious to get to the wedding, to get the heck out of the lame apartment and to be at a place where I just feel settled. I am now realizing that settled is just as much a state of mind as it is time gone by. I am there, or at least I will try my hardest to be.
I saw a bumper sticker in the Hobby Lobby parking lot on Saturday that said, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as quick as I could!" And I just thought to myself, no matter how positive I am going to be about this whole Texas thing, I am not sure I will every be that person. I am just hoping for, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I live here now and that's not so bad!"
High Temp: 93F
Good lord, where did the last two weeks go!? I was shocked to see that I haven't posted anything since July 12. Part of this time lapse can surely be accounted for by the fact that Tom was out of town all last week. This meant not only did I have to (once again this month) play single mom to Homer, but I spent much of my free time running errands, packing and cleaning, all in preparation for our move next weekend.
It seems like yesterday that Tom and I got the good news from our friends Zach and Adrienne that they would be moving here at the end of the summer. Guess what, they get here NEXT weekend! And, I am getting married in two months. Forget the last two weeks, where the heck did my 17 month engagement go?
So here is the deal, Tom and I are leaping our way closer to that year-anniversary mark, and despite time flying, I have had the opportunity (and inspiration) to think about where I am at, where I was a year ago, and all the excitement to come this year. It has been a really rough year in a lot of ways. There was the 4 month stint of unemployment, the constant anxiety about my inability to make adult friends here, my frustrations with my living situation and just the general sense of feeling on the outside of life, while everyone else around me seem to be living in it.
I have already told you how excited I am to be moving into a real house (with a yard, no one above me, vegetable garden, etc!!!) With this exciting event impending, I have made up my mind about one thing: I will embrace Texas for all that it is, the good and the bad.
Today, I say, NO MORE moping. I am going to embrace this change of living situation as an opportunity for an attitude adjustment. When my job is boring me to tears, I will just remind myself of the anxiety of having to pay rent several months into unemployment. When I start to feel like a looser for my lack of friends in Texas, I will remember how much better it can be to have one close friend you can talk about anything with than many acquaintances you can't really relate to. When I am missing the snow of the midwest, I will just think of how lucky I am to not have to walk my dog in January wearing a sleeping bag coat, galoshes, mittens a stocking cap AND earmuffs. Missing those fall leaves? Well, there is lettuce in the garden, and broccoli, and it's November!
Tom and I are getting married in two months, and just 3 months after that I turn thirty. I have spent the last year of my life feeling sorry for myself and I am tired of it. I wished away this last year, anxious to get to the wedding, to get the heck out of the lame apartment and to be at a place where I just feel settled. I am now realizing that settled is just as much a state of mind as it is time gone by. I am there, or at least I will try my hardest to be.
I saw a bumper sticker in the Hobby Lobby parking lot on Saturday that said, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as quick as I could!" And I just thought to myself, no matter how positive I am going to be about this whole Texas thing, I am not sure I will every be that person. I am just hoping for, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I live here now and that's not so bad!"
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Mint House
Day: 331
High Temp: 91F
Is it possible that come August 1, Tom and I will be living the Austin dream? Tom just got a phone call from Mrs. Maylene Bird who told him that she and her husband would like us to rent their too-cute-for-words, mint green 2 bedroom house in the Hyde Park/North Loop neighborhood! I am going to pick up the lease tonight after work. I am so happy, and so relieved that I am near tears right now.
So, what does this mean? Well, there are a lot of unknowns. We have never rented a house before, but I do know there are a lot of things to look forward to and be grateful for. For instance:
-We have just 3 more weekends in our current, little apartment! And because we are going out of town this weekend, that means just two more weekends of the drunk, douche-bag neighbors waking us up in the middle of the night! Also, did I mention no one above us? No one below us! No shared walls with anyone!
-Homer will have a yard! A nice, fenced-in yard to run around, play fetch and chase bugs in!
-We will have a guest room! We have already had five sets of out-of-town visitors since February (how amazing is that?) Now, Tom and I will be able to offer our guests their own space, instead of our aerobed put up in the living room.
-I won't have to leave the comfort of my home to do laundry!!! There is a little utility closet just off the living room, and it is equipped with a washer and dryer that come with the place! I have not experienced such a luxury since moving out of my parents home 11 years ago.
-I will have dinner parties! The kitchen in this house is HUGE, and our dining room table will fit so nicely underneath the adorable little vintage chandelier in there.
-I will have a garden! The house is on one half of a double lot. The owners have a garage/storage building on the back of the other lot, and there is also a raised bed garden. The other lot has it's own fence, but the owners said we can use the garden if we want. That means veggies for us on the other side of the fence from Homer! Did I mention that the other lot also has a fig tree on it? Jam!!!
-Austin Charm! This place is one of a kind, for sure. It was originally two tiny houses that someone in the 1950's moved to this lot and put together as one. The whole outside was re-done, so it looks cohesive, but the interior still has tons of vintage touches from the original houses. Aside from the chandelier mentioned above, the bathroom has an original claw-foot tub, and the whole house has original hardwood floors, nicely refinished. Did I mention the blue cabinets in kitchen and the glass door knobs?
-We will live in a great, safe, neighborhood that puts us even closer to campus than we were before. We are also within a 5 minute walk of: Flight Path Coffee, Foreign & Domestic, The Parlor and a trio of beloved vintage shops: Room Service, Blue Velvet and Hog Wild. And we are within a 5 minute bike ride to the heart of Hyde Park, and a few more great restaurants: Mother's Cafe and Garden, Julio's Cafe and Quack's Bakery!
When Tom and I were planning our move to Austin last summer, we had dreams of renting an affordable house with a yard. Those dreams were soon dashed by a few leasing agents, bad timing and our own lack of understanding of how Austin "works." This year, although we were learning as we went, we were determined to find what so many of our friends here have... A nice little house. I personally think we got even more than we expected, and I am excited to sign the lease, and start making plans to move. And now, I am just curious about when y'all are coming down to visit!
High Temp: 91F
Is it possible that come August 1, Tom and I will be living the Austin dream? Tom just got a phone call from Mrs. Maylene Bird who told him that she and her husband would like us to rent their too-cute-for-words, mint green 2 bedroom house in the Hyde Park/North Loop neighborhood! I am going to pick up the lease tonight after work. I am so happy, and so relieved that I am near tears right now.
So, what does this mean? Well, there are a lot of unknowns. We have never rented a house before, but I do know there are a lot of things to look forward to and be grateful for. For instance:
-We have just 3 more weekends in our current, little apartment! And because we are going out of town this weekend, that means just two more weekends of the drunk, douche-bag neighbors waking us up in the middle of the night! Also, did I mention no one above us? No one below us! No shared walls with anyone!
-Homer will have a yard! A nice, fenced-in yard to run around, play fetch and chase bugs in!
-We will have a guest room! We have already had five sets of out-of-town visitors since February (how amazing is that?) Now, Tom and I will be able to offer our guests their own space, instead of our aerobed put up in the living room.
-I won't have to leave the comfort of my home to do laundry!!! There is a little utility closet just off the living room, and it is equipped with a washer and dryer that come with the place! I have not experienced such a luxury since moving out of my parents home 11 years ago.
-I will have dinner parties! The kitchen in this house is HUGE, and our dining room table will fit so nicely underneath the adorable little vintage chandelier in there.
-I will have a garden! The house is on one half of a double lot. The owners have a garage/storage building on the back of the other lot, and there is also a raised bed garden. The other lot has it's own fence, but the owners said we can use the garden if we want. That means veggies for us on the other side of the fence from Homer! Did I mention that the other lot also has a fig tree on it? Jam!!!
-Austin Charm! This place is one of a kind, for sure. It was originally two tiny houses that someone in the 1950's moved to this lot and put together as one. The whole outside was re-done, so it looks cohesive, but the interior still has tons of vintage touches from the original houses. Aside from the chandelier mentioned above, the bathroom has an original claw-foot tub, and the whole house has original hardwood floors, nicely refinished. Did I mention the blue cabinets in kitchen and the glass door knobs?
-We will live in a great, safe, neighborhood that puts us even closer to campus than we were before. We are also within a 5 minute walk of: Flight Path Coffee, Foreign & Domestic, The Parlor and a trio of beloved vintage shops: Room Service, Blue Velvet and Hog Wild. And we are within a 5 minute bike ride to the heart of Hyde Park, and a few more great restaurants: Mother's Cafe and Garden, Julio's Cafe and Quack's Bakery!
When Tom and I were planning our move to Austin last summer, we had dreams of renting an affordable house with a yard. Those dreams were soon dashed by a few leasing agents, bad timing and our own lack of understanding of how Austin "works." This year, although we were learning as we went, we were determined to find what so many of our friends here have... A nice little house. I personally think we got even more than we expected, and I am excited to sign the lease, and start making plans to move. And now, I am just curious about when y'all are coming down to visit!
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