Austin is Spaztastic!

#34 - do something Austin-y

Last weekend was a unique experience for me - I had the house to myself and nothing on the schedule for the entire weekend. This is so unbelievably rare for me. And even though I planned on camping out on the couch in PJs all weekend eating mac n cheese and ice cream, I found myself itching for something more by Saturday morning. So I called up my friend Monica and we ended up hanging out and knocking some 101 goals off the list.

1. Four Hands Sale

Who knew a furniture sale would be so awesome? But it really was. Four Hands is a wholesale furniture company, so they aren't usually open for the public. However, several times a year they have a big warehouse sale and you can buy leftovers for great prices. Monie went with me to see what all the fuss was that we'd heard about. All I can say is "Damn, wish I was a lottery winner so I could buy everything they had there!" I couldn't believe the awesome prices they had for such quality furniture. It's hard to find solid wood furniture pieces these days - and for the normal price as the crappy furniture - it was amazing. So now that I know what to expect - I hope to have a bank account full and ready for spending when they have their next sale!

Chandelier Monie was drooling over.

2. Saw Spasmatics in Concert
After spending the whole afternoon together, Monie and I just hadn't had enough of each other. So we headed downtown to Cedar St so she could enlighten me to the fabulousness that is the Spasmatics. I've been to many concerts in my day, but I'd have to say that this was my second favorite concert ever (no one will ever beat Willie Nelson).

Meet my new crush - Geoffrey on the bass (on the left)

Who knew nerds could be so popular and cool and have groupies???? You just want to pinch their cheeks. I seriously can't wait to go see them again. It's so brilliant and strange and funky and weird that it has to be considered Austin-y. Wanna see them for yourself? They play at Cedar St every Wednesday night - go check them out!

The gravy on the night: they sang my favorite song (please watch the original video just so you can see the grown men in black diapers - gotta love the 80s).

Monie and I after a long day of taking in Austin

Fall is Here...

....and so begins the busiest time of my year. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Over the past 5 years (since I've been with Chris) I've had to re-fall in love with this season. I've always been a warm bodied person - drinking in the warmth of the sun in the summer. But I loved fall too for various reasons - Aggie football, get to wear long sleeved clothes, not dying of heat when I get in my car, can walk my dog outside, get to make comforting foods like chili, etc.

But then there were a few years where I just loathed this time of year. Why you ask? Because for some crazy reason I married into a Christmas tree growing family! I don't know how many times I've asked myself over the years, "How come you couldn't marry into a lazy family??? Why do they have to be so productive???" The answer (I now know) is - passion.

It's the passion that Chris' parents have for the farm and the Christmas trees and the pumpkins and school kids and the families that come out to visit the farm. And the past couple of years I've grown to feel that passion myself. So now, instead of complaining that I don't have any time to do anything in the fall, I.....oh who am I kidding...I still complain. I'm the queen of complaining! Just ask my husband.

Look at how my weekends play out between now and 2009:

Sept 27 - My birthday! Woohoo!
Oct 4 - Our 2nd anniversary - weekend up at the lake house
Oct 11 - Great Pumpkin Hunt
Oct 18 - Great Pumpkin Hunt again
Oct 25 - Great Pumpkin Hunt and again
Nov 1 - Monie's party/most likely recovering from sinus infection I got while working on the farm
Nov 8 - WURSTFEST!
Nov 15 - Hopefully visiting my adorable nephew in Sugar Land that by now I haven't seen in ages and probably has totally forgotten all about his favorite Auntie Katy
Nov 22 - Only free weekend (so far it's free but I'm sure it'll get filled with something)
Nov 29 - Thanksgiving weekend up at the farm/actually get to watch Aggie vs t.u. game this year since it is on Thanksgiving instead of when the farm is open
Dec 6 - VERY busy weekend on the farm
Dec 13 - Christmas tree farm
Dec 20 - Still at the Christmas tree farm
Dec 27 - Probably in Sugar Land celebrating Gavin's first Christmas
Jan 3 - Whew...it's finally 2009! Am I still alive?

p.s. - Please come visit me on the farm. It's the only way I get to see my friends and family (besides in laws) this time of year.

Girly Movies

It is a VERY rare occasion that I get the house to myself all weekend long. While I'm often out abandoning my husband on weekends to travel to see some friend or family member, he's the type that just wants to stay home. So when he left this past weekend for a seminar down in Corpus - I took FULL advantage of this opportunity.

I had my PJs, mac n cheese, bottle of wine and ice cream on hand to help me through the weekend. I plopped myself down on the couch and settled in to catch up on various girly shows on DVR (Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, 90210, etc - yes I still think I'm 17 on the inside).

I also made sure to watch as many girly movies as I could while Chris was gone. Little trick - have you tried the Red Box before? If not, don't be intimidated by it like I was at first. It's easy. Red boxes can be found in places like McDonald's and Wal Mart. They have all sorts of new release DVDs that you can rent for $1 a day. You just swipe your card, pick a movie, watch it and return it to any Red Box location by 9 p.m. the next day. If you keep it longer than that, they just charge you another $1 a day. It's so simple and cheap! So this weekend I rented 2 girly movies from the Red Box.

(ppssssttt - I also saw Mama Mia! again this weekend but I won't count that towards my 100 movies. Just couldn't stay away from it and all its ABBA glory)

1. Made of Honor

With McDreamy in the movie, it has to be good, right? Well...it wasn't bad. But let's just say I'm glad I only spent a buck on the movie. I think if the ending hadn't felt so rushed, it might have been better.

2. What Happens in Vegas

I liked this one a lot more...but not like "rush out to buy it on DVD" more. Let's just say I was happy I saw it and it totally fulfilled my need for a cheesy romantic comedy.

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I also saw a bonus movie this weekend. Wasn't planning on it, but when I saw Annie Hall was going to be on AMC Sunday afternoon - I had to make sure I watched it. It's one of those movies you always hear about and know that you aren't cool until you've watched it. I have to admit, I was a little nervous - afraid I wasn't smart enough for the movie. But that was silly - I loved it.

Top 10 reasons why I love Annie Hall:
10. The part where Alvy and Annie are having a conversation and there is subtitles of what they're really thinking - reminded me of the first Wayne's World movie when Wayne and Cassandra have a similar scene. Then I felt silly for remembering that...and comparing one of AFI's 100 Best Movies to Wayne's World...
9. How Alvy grew up in a house under a roller coaster
8. Wasn't expecting to see Paul Simon in the movie
7. The fast dialogue
6. The scene where Annie and Alvy are visiting their separate therapists at the same time and both therapists ask if they have enough sex and Alvy responds "hardly ever - maybe three times a week" and Annie responds "constantly - like three times a week!" It was like looking into a mirror. haha
5. That Christopher Walken is creepy - even in a romantic comedy
4. The scene where Alvy is killing the spider the size of a Buick in Annie's bathroom
3. That I still don't know why Alvy and his agent call each other Max
2. "Love is too weak a word for what I feel - I luuurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F's" - Alvy
And my #1 reason...when Alvy sneezes into the canister of cocaine and it goes all over the place. hysterical!

Only in Texas

All us Texans have to deal with the stereotype that we ride our horses to work everyday. It's so annoying to travel somewhere and someone asks how many horses you own. The answer is zero....unless you talk to my husband, to which he says "I have 345 horses pulling my Hemi Dodge Ram, baby!"

Well some people have to go and ruin this stereotype for everyone.

Just yesterday I was taking some back roads home (and by back roads I mean Manor/Springdale instead of HWY 183) to avoid a traffic jam. As I'm driving along this road in the middle of the city I notice something odd on the sidewalk up ahead and almost peed my pants it was so funny to me.

My only thought was "Why don't I have my camera with me when stuff like this happens???"

What I saw was...a man...commuting home from work...on his horse...on the sidewalk.

Okay maybe he wasn't really commuting home from work...I don't know him so I don't really know. But it was rush hour and he was in a residential/commercial area - not some ranch. So I'm going to make the broad assumption that he was ruining the stereotype for the rest of us because it makes the story better, okay?

It was pretty funny to see though.

Good ol Austin, Texas.

You just never know what you're going to see when you wake up in the morning.

However.....I will really pee my pants if I ever see this going down the sidewalk:

photo from Internet

#34 - Do Something Austin-y

Congress St. Bridge bat watching!

Image from online since it's hard to get a good shot with my crappy camera at dusk.

If you haven't done this - you should - now - seriously get in your car and drive to the Congress St. Bridge tonight. It's so much fun and it's FREE!

Last week Chris and I met the rest of the Walterscheidt clan at the Statesman park for a picnic and bat watching. We had Hooter's wings for the picnic and something about Chris' parents going into Hooter's to buy wings just cracks me up.

As the largest urban bat colony in North America, there are up to 1.5 million Mexican free tail bats that fly out of the Congress St. Bridge each night to go find food and eat those pesky mosquitoes (sure could have used a bat nearby when the mosquitoes were biting the heal of my foot this past weekend...ouch!).

Anyway, living in NM for so long I shouldn't be that impressed with bats flying at night. After all, I've seen the Carlsbad Cavern bats before. But there's something about 1.5 million bats living under a bridge that I drive on all the time that is just so cool. Plus, it's right in the middle of town and not out in BFE like Carlsbad is.

This was the second time I'd seen the Austin bats and it always amazes me how many people show up to watch this each night. Last time we went on a random Monday night. This time we went on a Thursday night - school night both times. And yet there are tons of people just standing around waiting and taking photos.

It was a lot of fun and next time I want to stand on the bridge instead of sitting on the sidelines. They seem to fly out of the north side of the bridge, fly over the bridge and head south...so how cool would that be to have them fly over you? Well, cool until one poops bat guano on your head. Ever smelled bat guano before? Ew.

Note to self: bring a rain coat just in case.

#38 - try a new restaurant

Last week Chris and I hoped in the truck and headed over to Lowe's to pick up some stuff. After we decided to head to dinner but didn't know where to go - so we started driving. Ended up at Hill's Cafe on S. Congress. It's one of those places I've always wanted to try since I've heard so much about it but never remember to suggest. So I'm glad we finally were able to stop in.

For those that don't know...Hill's Cafe is owned by KVET morning DJ Bob Cole and is the location for the KVET free summer concert series. I've wanted to go to several of the concerts too but haven't made it yet - hopefully sometime soon...

Anyway, the place is definitely down home Texas cookin'. At the end of the night I'd have to say I was just "eh" about the food though. Everything seemed to be fried....so I felt guilty eating there. The onion rings get a thumbs up - and I'm hard to please on onion rings. The fried pickles were my favorite part - they were pickle spears so that was unique. The mac n cheese wasn't good at all - which surprised me because usually places like that have amazing home cooked mac n cheese.

But my biggest disappointed was with the chicken fried steak. I don't normally eat chicken fried steak (unlike my husband who must order it if it's on the menu). Since it said it was the official chicken fried steak of the Austion Rodeo I thought it would be good. I was mislead - guess I shouldn't have read that to mean it was the best. It tasted more like dog food to me (not that I know what dog food really tastes like). I could barely eat it. It holds no candle to the Gristmill's chicken friend steak...now that is some yumminess! I think I should have gone with the Hill's burger - which does have a "best" title in it....voted best burger in Austin (I think by Statesman former food writer Dale Rice).

Anyway, I'd go back again...especially to go to one of the concerts...but I won't be twisting any arms to get there.