Re-Visit

Facebook seems to have replaced my blogging. But I miss writing, so I'm going to try to ramp up over here.

In February, we celebrated Patrick's last birthday of his twenties by sending him off with a couple of our guy friends to play some golf while I attended a baby shower. Lots of golf balls were lost and lots of onesies were unwrapped. We then headed down to New Braunfels for dinner at The Gristmill and a Bob Schneider show at the historic Gruene Hall. And as excited as I was to finally get to see a show there, I don't know if I'll ever go back. I guess I'm spoiled by Austin's no smoking laws.

Early in March, after hearing some horribly sad news about a friend, a couple friends and I decided to take a self defense course. I had always wanted to learn how to defend myself in case something should happen, but it wasn't until Sabrina's death that I finally took the step to doing so, she was my catalyst. I still can't imagine what her close friends, family and husband went through and are still dealing with. I didn't take the class just for myself, but also in her honor.

From R.A.D.

Because of some crazy coincedence, we got to spend the last two weekends in March with my sister and her boyfriend Hagan. They came down here for a wedding and then a few days later, we went up to New York to celebrate our niece's 2nd birthday. That's probably the most time I've spent with Rachael since I lived in Arlington! I really enjoyed it and I'm loving that our relationship has grown into friendship instead of just being familial.

We got a behind-the-scenes tour of Food Network courtesy of Rachael, watched our good friend Emily knock a plant over, spied on Guy Fieri preparing for a taping, and ate some of the best food at Tom Colicchio's Halfsteak at Craftsteak. Lots of wine, food and catching up seems to make up most of our time in The City.

From New York Trip - Food Network

Our good friends Brandi and Chris, trekked down to the Big Apple with their one year old in tow to meet us while we were on their side of the country. Pizza, subway rides, bagels and dinosaurs later, we had to bid farewell. It was so good to see them and I'm hoping that another two years don't pass before it happens again.

From New York Trip - Brandi, Chris & Austin

The last day we were in New York, we got to dancey dance with our niece Sophie, a few of her best two year old friends and a bunch of their respective adults. We ate sweet-and-salty cupcakes that I am still craving and laughed at the the adorableness that are two year olds.

From New York Trip - Sophie's Birthday

I hope that I get to see more of our New York families and friends in the near future. Patrick and I do have a 5-10 year plan to have everyone living here in Austin. Just so you know!

Live at the Lake

We hopped up onto a half-wall overlooking the three infinity pools that blend into Lake Travis. Expensive cheap beers in hand and people watching. Laughing at the young drunk girls that keep slapping older men on the bums and stumbling into people because their not paying attention to where their feet are taking them.

The couple next to us has their 4 month old girl with them and are talking to another couple with their baby boy. The little girl seems so tiny, so tiny for four months. My niece seemed so much bigger than her, even at two months. I hope we do these things when we have kids, Patrick says we have to. We will have to get out of the house with the kids if we want to stay sane.

Waiting for the music to start, we stroll into some of the surrounding pools. Patrick teases me because I'm not fond of treading water in the deep end. We feel we could get used to this: Lakeway Resort pools, overlooking Lake Travis, with good music playing into the night. We go back to our perch on the wall for a bit and joke about the women decked out in way too much makeup and non-appropriate dresses for the poolside. Some of the music starts but it's no one I've heard of.

Finally, Bob starts to play, but he's doing a mellow set and only by the time we're ready to leave he starts to pick it up. We stay for a few more songs, then get out of there before all the drunk people leave and we decide we'll catch him at Antone's or Saxon another time. On our way home, a fire truck blares past us followed by an ambulance. Thank God we left when we did.

Birthday in NYC

Patrick and I spent my birthday weekend in New York feasting on tasty food and hanging out with our sisters and their respective others. We took advantage of as much free stuff as possible and while doing so got to see Dave Attell and a number of other comedians at Comedy Central Park Summerstage and Superchunk at McCaren Park Pool. We even got into the Modern Museum of Art for free!

Since Patrick and I had been to NYC a few times before, we tried to treat this trip as a little more low key than before. We didn't do as many touristy stuff and mostly just wanted to spend time with family and friends and eat and eat and eat. Eat a lot of good food. We didn't get into NYC until about midnight on Thursday night. Luckily Anytime was open and grabbed some amazing sandwiches there. On Friday, we went to eat lunch at Sea (where part of Garden State was shot) and Anna Maria's Pizza (where I ran after Eric when we saw him pass by the window) for a quick slice before the comedy show.

Sea

Rachael & Hagan took us all to a little place in the village on my birthday that had unlimited mimosa included with your meal at brunch. I thought I had 3 mimosas. I was later told that I had three full glasses, but they kept topping me off, so who knows how much I actually had. I felt pretty good the rest of the day. And since Rach doesn't want anyone else to find out about this place, it will go unnamed for now.

unlimited!

After stuffing our faces, we strolled over to have a long line greet us at Magnolia Bakery and grabbed up some of their famous cupcakes and banana pudding. Mmmmmmm...

Between Teddy's and Frank on Sunday, I think we did pretty good food wise.

Hagan & Rachael (our gracious hosts)

And in between all the eating and walking, we got to have some good times with Rachael, Hagan, Laura, Eric, Sophia, Nancy and Emily. It was nice to just hang out their places and relax for a few days. Watching Dexter, laughing because Patrick and I had so much trouble with those damn metrocards or just cooing at Sophie.

Happy Sophie

I'm sure New Yorkers don't, but I actually miss the subway. I miss not having to drive in traffic and being able to walk everywhere. And if there wasn't so much good food to be eaten, I would probably lose weight if we lived there. It would be so nice to live close to our sisters, the husband/boyfriend, and our new niece. But after hearing Hagan complain about places with no A/C, no dishwashers, high priced everything and waiting with bated breath to get down to Austin, I think I'm happy to just visit. Until next time New York!

New Music

I am loving this website I just found out about called pandora. You enter in some of your favorite artists and the website creates your own personal radio station that includes music that is similar to your faves. You can create multiple radio stations for all the different types of music you like and the different moods you are in. You can find my personal radio here.

Quoting my friend Tracy who was quoting Scrubs: "if my heart could sing it would be songs like these!"

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

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...

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!

The Lineup

The Austin City Limits Festival lineup has finally been announced! Patrick and I played all the scavenger hunt games on their website trying to figure out who we bought tickets to see and figured out 99% of the hints, but that was only a taste of all that are going to be performing. (Yes, we bought tickets, along with thousands of others, before ACL even released their lineup, crazy, I know.) We went 2 years ago and had an amazing time. We would've gone last year and even prevented some of our good friends from attending all because of the whole getting married thing. But, you know, I think it was worth the sacrifice. ;o)

I love how diverse the acts are and how much they really reflect Austin as the live music capital. There are definitely some big names, but I love so many of the 2nd and 3rd tier acts! And there are so many that I have never even heard of. I'm trying to listen to a lot of the unknown to me ones on Rhapsody, but there are just sooooo many! Everyone, please look at the list and tell me a couple of performers that we absolutely have to see. I don't think I can tackle this task on my own!

Nutty Brown, Trash, and Family

A couple of weeks ago, Patrick and I went with some friends to the Nutty Brown Cafe to eat and watch Monte Montgomery show. Good times, good times.

Tracy and Brent

Awww...Chris and Brandi

Tracy's bellybutton violated by Brandi's finger

Ruth Ann, Brandi, Tracy

Patrick fairly successfully dodged the camera that night.

The next day, we all dragged ourselves out of bed early to pick up trash on the cliffs by the 360 bridge as part of Austin Clean Sweep. We had 9 people who picked up 15 bags of trash in just 2 hours. Beer bottles, cigarette butts, wrappers, and even a couple of uniform shirts. Its amazing what people will just toss on the ground instead of in a trash can. How lazy can people be?

My parents came in town that afternoon and we spent our time eating, watching IMAX's Roving Mars (while listening to Patrick's and my Dad's commentary), listening to stories at NPR's StoryCorp Airstream and spending time outdoors since it was one of the most beautiful weekends we've had so far.

My Dad meditating?



What an amazing view


Mom and Dad Knudsen

(pictures taken where we picked up trash the day before)