M A xx W Cimetière de Bracieux L L

Monday, September 25, 2006

One Year Down

Has one year really already gone by?

We camped in the sweltering sauna that was our Coleman tent at Pace Bend Park. Fought off scorpions in the showers. Saw a Great Blue Heron fly away from below us on a cliff. Watched The Last Kiss at Alamo Drafthouse. Laid around and watched DVDs while enjoying the beautiful flowers that Patrick surprised me with. Listened to a jazz band while eating pot roast al fresco, under the stars with a cool breeze.



Happy 1st Anniversary honey!


PS We weren't really on the cover of Texas Monthly. But since the 1st anniversary is "paper," I gave him a subscription to it and created our own special "cover."

ACL Photos

Photo Diary of last weekend:

Friday: Nickel Creek, Gnarls Barkley, Thievery Corporation, Van Morrison

I forgot my camera on Friday. :o(


Saturday: The Shins, Calexico, String Cheese Incident, Willie Nelson

The Shins



If you squint, you might be able to see Willie Nelson


What is a Willie experience without smuggling in something?
Our "Smart Water" (or juice of the Agave)


Brandi & Chris
I wonder what he's laughing at?


The Boys:
Tom (but some people call him Dan), Brent, Chris & Patrick


Enjoying Willie


Sunday: KT Tunstall, Jack Ingram, Matisyahu, Matt Costa (while standing in line for Kettle Corn), Flaming Lips, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Lauren & I enjoying KT Tunstall


Tracy and I are very proud of our ponytails while Matisyahu gets funky


Watching the Flaming Lips with Ben & Lauren...see the singer in the "hampster ball"?




Camping out for Tom Petty

Waiting for the rain to subside and ecstatic to see Tom Petty!
(or maybe it was the smuggled bourbon?)


A Fuzzy Tom Petty

Monday, September 18, 2006

The Cat is Out of the Bag

I can only imagine how hard it was for them to keep this a secret for a couple of months because it was incredibly difficult for us, especially when right after we were let in on the news, we spent the entire weekend with my side of the family. Discussions that weekend even included baby names for goodness sake and none of them had a clue what we were keeping from them. So, now that they have officially announced the news, I am so excited to say that Patrick and I are going to be Uncle and Aunt to his sister and brother-in-law's child.

Congratulations to the happy couple and their little-one-on-the-way!

Three Days of ACL

Friday: Nickel Creek, Gnarls Barkley, Thievery Corporation, Van Morrison
Saturday: The Shins, Calexico, String Cheese Incident, Willie Nelson
Sunday: KT Tunstall, Jack Ingram, Matisyahu, Matt Costa (while standing in line for Kettle Corn), Flaming Lips, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Unfortunately, we missed Guster on Friday and had to finally make some choices between certain performers during the three days, but all in all Austin City Limits Festival made for an amazing weekend. It was hot and steamy but the music and food made up for it. Taking a dip into Barton Springs proved to be an adventure thanks to these little guys, but at least we got to cool off. Really, no worries though, they were small and easily removable. Someone tried to tell us that they were the "vegetarian kind".... right, so why were they attached to my foot? We later confirmed that, yes, all kinds are carnivorous.

I was worried that I had been building up Hudson's Hot & Crunchy Chicken Cone over the last two years, but it was just as yummy as I remembered it. And they added the Hot & Crunchy Avocado Cone to their menu, which was just as tasty. The next cookbooks on our wishlist: Cooking Fearlessly and Fired Up, because I don't think I can go another year or two without a Hot & Crunchy something.

Thievery Corp made me want to take belly-dancing lessons, Matisyahu gave a shout out to the fans on top of the port-o-potties, and how often will you get to see Van Morrison perform "Brown-Eyed Girl" (or how I sing it, Green-Eyed Girl, thanks to Amy) live? Flaming Lips definitely put on the most interesting show, complete with the lead singer rolling out like a hampster in a ball into the crowd, while confetti and oversized balloons filled the air and dancers in Santa Suits and Purple Space Age Dresses boogied on stage. All three days were great, but we agreed that Sunday's lineup was by far the best.

After Flaming Lips finished their set, we rushed to the middle to grab a spot for Tom Petty and once we were there, there was no moving till the end of the show. Those of us who realized we were without beer or had to use the facilities would just have to wait, because if you left, and even made it back to the group, you most likely would not have a place to stand. When Tom Petty finally took the stage, he brought with him the cool wind and thunderstorms that we had been expecting all day. After about 3 songs, there was a pause in the set while drums and guitars were covered with tarps and the rain poured down. The seasoned festival goers, Ben & Lauren, pulled out their rain gear as we all huddled under a couple of umbrellas and finished off our smuggled flask of bourbon to keep warm. He promised that once the rain had passed, he would give us a long set, and that he did. Even his encore consisted of 4 or 5 songs.

My feet are tired, my shoulders are a little pink (even with multiple applications of sunscreen), and neither of us got much sleep last night before having to wake up for work today. But we got to spend three days listening to some great music, eating great food, and hanging out with great friends.

Pictures to come soon...

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Austin City Limits Festival



As far as I know, Patrick still hasn't picked out who he wants to see. And there are quite a few acts I can't decide between, so this ACL schedule will probably have some major alterations over the course of the weekend. You can also access it at the ACL Festival website and enter in my code: ACL221006. If you're coming to ACL this weekend, lets meet up and have a Hot & Crunchy Chicken Cone from Hudson's on the Bend and wash it down with some Sweet Leaf Tea and a side of Kettle Corn. I think I'm as excited about the food as I am about the music!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

2 days, 8 hours till Kickoff


My Buckeye in-laws are coming to Austin this weekend to participate in the Ohio State trek to the city which bleeds Burnt Orange. Patrick's mom asked us if we wanted to join them on the Buckeye Party Boat Cruise on Friday night on Lake Austin. My answer? "As long as I can wear Orange!" So, tomorrow night, Patrick and I will be surrounded by Ohio State alumni, decked out in Orange and White.

Austin is expecting an estimated 35 to 40 THOUSAND Ohio State fans to come in town this weekend. Just about every hotel room is booked and buckeyes have already started the invasion. Only 4000 tickets were allotted to OSU, so I can only imagine what the sports bars are going to look like this weekend...But with so many people buying UT season tickets just to go to this one game and buying individual tickets for thousands of dollars on craigslist, ebay or stubhub, I'm sure the stadium is going to be speckled with scarlet. But if those Buckeyes want to get a tailgating spot, they better start early because Longhorns have already started camping out to stake out their spots.

So, Horns: Come Early, Be Loud, Stay Late, and Wear Orange!