Back In Time: Memorial Day Weekend Part 1

Look who came to Texas!

My sister and brother-in-law came to Texas Memorial Day weekend :) He planned it all and Bridget had no idea that it was happening. He told her they were going to a good BBQ place......and then drove her to the airport! I was so excited for the visit and it was hard not telling anyone beforehand so not to ruin the surprise. We picked them up at the airport on Friday night and there was much chatting and then a quick tour of the house before bedtime.

Next post, I'll show you how we enjoyed the first full day of the visit.

Exploring Austin with my Mom on 2/28 - Part Two

More exploring! We parked right behind Wahoo's Fish Taco so I took a picture and texted it to Josh. Josh ate at Wahoo's in California every time he went there for business with Apple. He's said so many delicious things about it, that I really am excited we have one that I can finally try.

This soda and candy shop had so much delightful sweet things! I found Chocolate Covered Pop Rocks mmmmmmm. The soda jerk hadn't heard of Green River but I bet I could try to find it around here somewhere. I wonder if it's just a midwest soda/soda syrup thing?

I think these sunglasses I found in an antique store would make a fun mardi gras mask! There was more than one pair like it so if anyone wants me to send one to them....hehehehehe :)

Driving north again, up 1st St, cloudy sky but it barely rained and the sun peeked out here and there all day.

I liked how this church looked. As you can tell, I just clicked away from the passenger seat at everything that looked cool as we went along :)

Mom and I stopped at the biggest JoAnn's Fabric on the way back to the house and then checked out a store called Sam Moon Trading in the Arbor Walk. We walked into Sam Moon and just stopped because it was a crazy huge place full of knockoff looking purses and tiaras and wigs and hair clips and all sorts of crazy. There was a huge wall of rhinestone belts. And like 30 different kinds of flowers to put in your hair.

I am glad I had a chance to wander around town with Mom :)

Exploring Austin with my Mom on 2/28 - Part One

My Mom drove us downtown with the idea that we would drive around and site see and go wherever we felt like. I liked that idea since I haven't explored downtown Austin much at all. We drove down 6th street first and saw a bunch of bars and music venues.

We saw this Segway tour a few times as we turned up and down whichever streets we decided on.

Random buildings!

Taking pictures as we drove south I think....

I heard that South Congress Street had unique shops and as we got closer to that area of town the amount of people out and about on a Tuesday afternoon definitely picked up.

Look at this cool old brown truck!

We didn't stop in this costume store but we did stop farther down the street and found a place to with 30 minute parking.... to be continued.....

On Wednesday 2/8 ....

In Texas you need to have your car inspected before it can be registered. When we got here, Josh's car passed inspection just fine but mine did not. Not too bad seeing as my "new" car is a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix we bought from our neighbors in Iowa about a month before we left town.

At least you have 15 days to make needed repairs and can get the car reinspected free. So off I went Wednesday before lunch to have my car rechecked. I drove down to Youniversal Auto Care in East Austin and they poked my car and took parts off and put other parts on. It was going to be a few hours wait so I walked down the block to a Brazilian restaurant.

I tried Rio's Brazilian, and sat inside since it was breezy out. Their courtyard was really cute and bright. The inside was cozy and bright too.

I can't recall ever eating Brazilian food before so I picked a combo. First came out some cheese breads, or Pão de Queijo Trio. There were signs on the tables how you could get their cheese breads at Whole Foods to bake at home so I figured it'd be something a ton of people like. The red one had roasted red pepper, the green is basil, and the white is plain but they all have parmesan cheese inside and sprinkled on. I liked them even though they were chewier and stretchier than I thought they'd be.

Then I had a Salgadinho called Risoli de Camarão. A Salgadinho was a savory pastry like a crispy empanada with panko breading on it. Very tasty with shrimp and garlic and a spicy tomato sauce for dipping. I would definitely get this again and also try other versions!

And because I still had an hour to wait for my car, I had dessert. The waiter recommended the Pastel de Banana, a banana empanada pastry with lots of cinnamon, which they also serve for breakfast. I don't think it comes with ice-cream with it for breakfast (though that is an excellent idea....)

Walking back to get my car, I heard delightful chirping and looked up. It's a Quaker Parrot nest! There are wild adorable green parrots living in groups around the area! The day before I was inside PetSmart getting some pet supplies and Josh was waiting in his car. He was really surprised to see parrots foraging around on the ground for food! When we left I saw some breeding pairs fly high overhead. I was excited to see this nest just as I was walking along the street the very next day! There were about 6 or 7 parrots flitting around adding more twigs to their nest and squawking at the smaller finches that were trying to sit on their nest.

What People Say About Austin

When we tell people where we are moving they say...

"Whoa Austin is coooool!"
"Austin is like the best place ever!"
"You'll like it because there is a lot of music!"
"Oh it is so warm in Austin! I'm jealous!"
"Yuck it is so hot there, you're going to miss the snow!"
"I want to move there! Lucky!"
"I'll trade you places and I will move there!"
"Houses are so cheap there"

But after awhile it starts to sound like
"Austin is amazing! Geckos dance around little bonfires making s'mores and there is magical music dust flying through the air and artist is the highest paying profession there and you are going to melt into a puddle of goo in July!" :)

Don't get us wrong we are excited about moving to Austin but we had some really great times in Iowa and we'll miss our family and friend. Everywhere is what you make of it :)

And for the most part people are being nice about where we'll be going but some people act like we're moving to sparkle awesome town extreme!!! And others insult it to make us feel bad about leaving maybe? All in all we are excited and I look forward to geckos dancing around.