fed

After an interview yesterday afternoon, met a friend of friends (gotta love facebook connections) for dinner at a delightful cafe.  I had been here last summer and was just as pleased with this year's menu.

It was nourishing to have good food with a good conversation.  Happy Friday!

eat, drink, stay

The Chronicle is a treasure of a weekly paper that comes out every Thursday here in Austin.  Since moving here, I've tried to do at least one thing per week from their pages and this week finally brought me to Austin Terrier.  And I can say firmly that the trio of fries lived up to it's review.  In fact, most of them are in my fridge to become part of Sunday's brunch.  I also had the tomato/basil soup, which isn't quite so photogenic.

After that yummy nosh, popped down to BookPeople to hear NPR commentator Marion Winik NPR read from her newest book Highs in the Low Fifties~ fitting nicely with my unplanned week of memoir reading.

Perfection of an afternoon/evening.

living, transformed

 What a marvelous contrast to my former parking lot~to go from screaming couples and thug car stereo thumping~to watching Bambi frolic across the tarmac.  V. nice.

 Of course I can say that freely as my garden is on the third floor and safe from their grazing.

Wait for me!  Wait for me!

snackage

Not sure what is in the bog water in which these cranberries were grown, but dipped in dark chocolate, they make a delightful pre-nap nosh.

mellow

Apologies for the radio silence lately; days have relaxed into a soothing routine of hiking,

swimming,

reading in the shade,

 & a whole lotta eye-resting, aka napping.

A fun surprise in today's post as well as a penny found on the walk to the mailboxes.

I was going to hang some curtains until his lordship decided to take his afternoon nap upon said draperies.  Lovely somnolent & drowsy days of July.

red, white and...

Baby red potatoes getting ready for transformation into potato salad.

 Two cents found!

Sorry, no blue for the final shot of this trio~maybe today I'll find something blue.  Decided to begin early with the picnic food~as the 'big shots down at the hot dog factory and the big shots at the bun factory got together and decided to rip off the American people'.  (Name that movie!)

Baking raspberry brownies to take to one of the very few vegetarian grill parties in Texas.  It's a bit hazy this morning; hope it clears in time for the symphony and the fireworks.

Happy 4th!

all aboarrrrrd

Some Thomas the Train pasta delivered to the west coast 'phews.

leapin' lizards

 While I'm sure there have been clouds everywhere I've lived, I seem to be noticing them more lately.    And while there's something (what, I'm not quite sure) to be said for the Protestant work ethic, there is something delicious and decadent about lazy days with no structure.

Random lawn chair out in the middle of the trail.

I love that in about 30 seconds of hiking out of the parking lot,  it's all nature.

This skittery little guy gave me the stink eye for even trying to get his photo, but he did hold still long enough for this pose.

in life

Amen.  

Happy July!!

one year anniversary

I've now been in Texas for an entire year~and what an adventure it has been!  Maybe it hasn't been much different from any other year of life, but there's something about changing everything in the outward life that alters one's perspective~both inner/outer.  When everything is new, perhaps it it more memorable.  There's a slight chance that I write a more lengthy and coherent piece later this week.

I am now about hour five into my summer vacation and the temperature is still sweltering, so it's an evening for languid thoughts and light reading.  I did splurge on this gorgeous soap from World Market this afternoon to celebrate both marking the first year and the beginning of a break.

'We do not remember days, we remember moments.'  

~Cesare Pavese

I'll Make a Man Out of You

While it was an interesting week which polished some new skills for me, I am deeply glad to be done with the score of Mulan.  The songs were not that interesting the first rehearsal and after 20 solid hours of the same three songs, I'm ready for some new repertoire!

This is the Kelberg Stage where we did our performances yesterday.  Had a good cardio workout during the second showing when I realized that I was MISSING a page from the score~yes, the page with the wonky rhythms and unintuitive key changes.  And to add to the excitement, the singers decided to gallop through the tempo.

Good times.

The entrance doors to the photos of the big blue theatre I keep posting.  It was locked up, or I would have given myself a tour of the facility.  Maybe I'll volunteer to usher there so that I can see inside this next season.

Incredibly happy flowers flourishing in the sunny heat of this week.

the dinner special

I lied.  I did take a shot of my food from last night.  It was DELISH as one of the Ya-Ya's (reference from  The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood movie) would say.  Have been driving past Aster's for a solid year now and this was my first foray into the place. 

Teensy turquoise shack-like appearing building~complete with lattice for windows and astro-turf for ground covering, serving one of the best meals that I've eaten.  What a happy discovery.

It was also nice to spend more time with friends of friends~while it's a global world, I'm finding it to be interwoven and connected in unexpected ways.

And it is with a bit of relief that I say good-bye to this week of double shifts at the theatre intensives.  It's been good for me, for professional net-working and my bank account, but my soul is ready for a bit of summer break.

whimsy

It's been awhile since I've seen a whimsical bathroom, but during today's rehearsals (we're finally in the actual theatre space, instead of the icky trailers) I found this very fun light above the sink.  Off for Ethiopian food~will most likely spare you photos of that~as delicious as it is, it isn't the most photogenic of foods.