Oh, Austin. You bring that excited flutter to my stomach, that familiar feeling that brings a smile to my face. After landing in Austin and being driven to mom's house, everything is still in its place (plus some additional newbies... a new skyscraper, a different billboard), and it doesn't feel like I've even ever left.Spend the first night at mom's -- it's good being around her again. How she loves to spoil me :) She shows me the clothes she's been accumulating for me, the sewing machine cover I desperately need, the slipper socks, etc. Work from home Thursday until 3 (let's be honest... probably not my most productive time of work), meet up with the P&G peeps back at campus after checking into the hotel. Good event.
THEN. TRUDY'S! The meal I've been craving for the past 6 months: Trudy's Chicken Stuffed Avocado with a Mexican Martini lovingly next to it. This is one of my favorite meals in.the.world. It's a combination of the knife sliding into the suiza sauce on the crusted breading and the ripe avocado filled with chicken. ~drools~. I had the wonderful company of some of my closest friends: Hussain, Clare, and Clay. I thank you for being part of this and providing me with wonderful warm company :)
Hussain (who graciously always ends up being my chauffeur when I'm in town) and I then meet up with the P&G recruiting folks for a wee bit at Baby A's. Karen is hilarious. I love her enough sober, but I may love her even more when she's a wee bit tipsy... We then head over to Hussain's to meet up with Joe, Christina, Jackie, and Brandon for some hookah. Oh Austin. I love you guys. There's something about y'all that grounds me well. Head back to the hotel and find my mom passed out in my bed.Awake. Work. Well, sorta. Steal breakfast for mom. Head out for lunch with the recruitees at Crown & Anchor and do our training for the organizations (turned out really well! Props to my co-presenter Balt who did an excellent job). Head to Z Tejas for dinner with the recruiting ladiez (Karen and Claire) -- ran a little late and unfortunately missed Andy's band perform at the Parlor. Thankfully, 99.9% of my friends head to Jackie's afterwards so I can lovingly see them all at the same time. UNthankfully, I'm hopelessly tired and cannot keep my eyes open long enough for a decent conversation. I had fun while I was still conscious and then Christina took me back to the hotel :)
Oh Saturday! No work! All play! Mom and I head down to Zilker Park to meet up with Emily and my beautiful goddaughter, Maya. How I miss Emily. We've been through a lot and we're so... grown up now (which is not the same as mature, let me point out). Maya is aadooorable -- full of life, scared of nothing, such a little tomboy. We let her dip her feet in Barton Springs (how I wanted to jump in so badly myself...) We say our good bye's and meet up with Hussain at the Flip Happy Crepes stand down the road. This little trailer stand is Austin in all its essence: so odd and quirky, yet deliciously wonderful. Even the hour long wait was worth it b/c of picnic table conversations. I had the lemon curd with blueberry sauce.
Mom and I shop our hearts out: Texas Thrift Store (my favorite thrift store ever), ROSS, TJ Maxx. How I miss ROSS too... At one point, about half my closet was from there. SUCH good deals. It's sorta like TJ Maxx, but better. and cheaper. Pizza dinner at home then I head down to 6th street for Carlos's birthday celebration (after meeting up with Hussain and Ruwan at Madam Mam's). Sixth street is not the same as it was in college... but I think that largely has to do with the fact that you don't run into people from your classes and your different friend circles anymore b/c most have moved away since graduation... However, this night was as close as it could get to that reminiscence: a good group of friends, even ran into Brooke, Scott, and some other drunkies (haha), watched awkward social situations, got INto social awkward situations, shots, dancing, singing at the top of our lungs. Ahh. One thing I miss about Austin that I wish Cincinnati had is the 6th street concept... where you can dangle in and out of bars with NO cover! Not feeling the vibe? Let's try next door. Before I know it, the bars are closing, I hug my friends good bye for now (come visit me, durn it!), and have a 1/2 hour trek home. Get home at 3, mom and I chat til 4, wake up at 5 am for my 7 am flight. Ouch. My fault. But totally worth it.Reading this post with a different set of eyes, it seems to ramble about nothingness. Chronological events. Uninteresting. However, with MY eyes, there are about 20 instances where my heart fluttered just reading this. Certain locations that bring back memories, events, people... Zilker, Crown, Madam Mam's, just to name a few. Wonderful Austin places that are associated with a chunk of my life that I'm grateful for. I felt like this trip gave me a good amount of time to absorb time with friends, family, and Austin places.
People often ask WHY I left Austin if I love it so much, or why I won't go back. Here's the thing... if life happens to place me back in Austin, I won't complain. However, if I have control of it, there are just too many places in the world that I have yet to discover that might make my heart skip. Wouldn't it be great to get those emotions in many areas of the world instead of just one?
No comments:
Post a Comment