I love this town.

I love it here. Today I went to the YMCA with Lori and worked out - love the Y here. Sitting on the stationary bike is so much nicer looking out at the city and beyond that, the bay. Then I made the BEST OMELET EVER. Goat Cheese and Tomato with herbs fresh from my "garden" (aka my porch).
Following the consumption of the best omelet ever, I headed down to Fairhaven to visit my favorite shoe store. I was hoping they would say: "We need you! Come back to work!" what they said was: "We will probably need you in August or September," Which is actually just fine with me.
I continued to wander around Fairhaven, stopping in Village Books, and not buying anything, which I think is a major accomplishment. I peeked into Pacific Chef, looking for canning supplies, and discovered that they were hiring. So I dropped off my resume and chatted with the manager a while. Cross your fingers for me - although working in a kitchen store would be almost as bad for my bank account as working in a shoe store. Mmmmm kitchen gadgets.
I had heard that Avenue Bread had gluten-free bread so I headed there, next. I bought a loaf, I've yet to taste it, but it looks pretty good. They had gluten-free polenta cranberry cakes which I had to try, along with a cup of coffee. I sat there and read The Cascadia Weekly and What's Up Magazine, checking out what's going on in town. Tucked in the pages was an ad for Fairhaven Pizza's new gluten-free crust. Seriously? I love that place. I love pizza. Life is good.
Now, continuing to unpack my apartment... I'm almost there, I promise!

And that was January....

Howdy, friends. Long time no update. I've been alternating between too busy to post and unable to think of anything good to write about, but it's been over a month and so I guess it's time for a quick recap of the last few weeks.
We had a lot of snow. Seattle cannot handle that much snow, everyone freaked out and the city pretty much closed down. Not just the city of Seattle, but the greater Puget Sound Area. It was insane.
I got to work at a SCT break camp (unfortunately only one day, because of that pesky snow) and it was wonderful to see my beautiful friends as well as see the fantastic performance of The Wizard of Oz. I missed SCT like you wouldn't believe.
Christmas was snowy and crazy.
January 5th I started my new job. I'm working at an elementary school in Bellevue, where my mom works as well. I'm a one-on-one aid for a 1st grader who has Cerebral Palsy. It's challenging but rewarding and for the most part a lot of fun.
Being back in the Northwest is great. I do miss a lot of things about Austin - not having to make sure I'm wearing at least three layers, one of which is waterproof; The Flying Theater Machine and all the people involved in that; BBQ; Talleri; my cute house; walking to the corner store.... lots of stuff. But being back here is wonderful. I love walking around Capitol Hill with my best friend and going to shows in Ballard and being at Seattle Center and with my family and hearing seagulls and smelling the ocean. It's definitely where I belong.

I still have a bunch of photos that I need to upload and post from the drive home from Texas, but the one thing that seems to have been lost in the move is my camera case, which contains my cord to connect my camera to my computer. Bummer.

As for things to come, I'll be 25 in two short months, I'm going to Las Vegas at the end of March and Maui via Portland in April. I'm also planning on going to New Orleans for Thanksgiving - 2009 is going to be the year of travelling! Hopefully the first in many to come. My big travel goal is to go to Ireland before 2010 is over.

I'm going to a superbowl party tomorrow and I realized I have no idea who's playing... oh well, I'm making guacamole and that's all that's important, right?

Happy February!

Road Trip!

It's 60 degrees. So WHY AM I SO COLD?
This is insanity.

Dallas was fun. As promised, pictures and details:

We left at about 7:30 am. Still dark. I think we are both total rockstars for getting up and on the road that early on a Saturday.

We stopped at Whataburger for breakfast. I'm not usually a fast-food person, but I've heard that they have the best breakfast sandwiches you could ask for, and it was pretty damn good. Plus I love those little fried hash brown things you can get.

greasy deliciousness

It's a loooong drive from Austin to Dallas. Long and flat and... that's about it. I looked at the map and discovered that we would be driving past Italy, Texas. We decided we really must stop in Italy. So, we pulled off the freeway, and immediately discovered this:

It's a UFO!!!

So of course we stopped and looked around. Turns out, the Pegasus is for rent or sale. It used to be an arcade/ice cream shop/mini golf course. I want to buy it. Too bad it's in the middle of nowhere.

Side view of the Starship Pegasus

Road trips were invented for this shit.

To infinity.... and Beyond!

Aliens! Or, bored teenagers?

After that brilliant discovery, we drove into Italy, Texas. The only thing Italy, Texas has going for it is the name. Also they apparently once had a good boys basketball team.

1997? 1987? Who knows?

The rest of the town looks like this:

Italy, Texas. Nothing happens here.

Why are there so many cities with names like this in Texas? I know there's also Odessa... people missing home back when Texas was being settled?


Onward we moved. We made it to Dallas at about 11 and went to the Farmer's Market.

Yeah, that's me and a tractor.

Pretty produce
Okra. Very pretty. Not very tasty.

Talleri bought corn. Yum.

I want to live this farmers market. I realize this is an unrealistic dream, but a person has to have dreams.

After the farmer's market, we went to the Dallas Children's Theater and got a tour from one of the staff members. They have been in the building for about 4 years, so it is really neat to see such a new space. We then got to see the show, Lily's Purple Plastic Purse.

...SCT is so amazing, it's really hard to see Children's Theater anywhere else and not judge it very harshly. I know the script is great, Kevin Kling, who also wrote Busytown, (and who I think is an amazing genius and is how I daydream my Minnesota family to be) wrote it a few years ago, and it premiered at SCT. So the potential for awesomness is there. However, I was disappointed. (Sadly though, not entirely surprised.)

After the play, we went to Cafe Brazil, which I had been told was not to be missed. We stuffed ourselves silly with delicious food, then drove around until we found the Dallas Theater Center, where I have applied for a job (which I hope to have news on this week.)

The DTC building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

As it was Saturday, there was a matinee of the current show, so we walked around a bit. The theater is right next to Robert E. Lee Park. Yeah. Welcome to Texas.
The park has a creek running through it, and turtles live there. Very neat.

Turtle!!!

We picked up a bunch of literature on the new Dallas Center for the Performing Arts being built in Dallas while at DTC, and decided to go check it out. The Dallas Theater Center, the opera, and several other performing arts groups will be moving there when it is completed in October 2009.
It's a pretty freaking big deal.

The building in process.

I had been looking on Craiglist at apartments in Dallas, and found some cute affordable ones in The Bishop Arts District, so that was our next stop.
What a freaking adorable neighborhood! Had I thought to Google it beforehand, I would have known what to expect, but as it was, I was pleasantly surprised. Obama signs could be found in many front lawns. The little shopping area is full of cute boutiques, restaurants with delicious smells, and quirky little shops like The Soda Gallery, a store full of every kind of soda you could imagine. In addition to soda, the store also housed a comic book shop. I had never been in a comic shop before, and I think that's probably a good thing. They have Shaun of the Dead comics! And then there was an action figure and the guy and I talked about Simon Pegg and he told me the name of his business was Boomstick Comics and I loved it all. So, if (and it's still a big IF) I do move to Dallas, I have found where I would want to live.

Now I have Simon Pegg in my bedroom!

Then began the drive home. Our one stop was at The Czech Stop, a Czech themed convenience store in West, Texas. I purchased two Kolaches,* an energy drink, and a ridiculous straw cowboy hat that says "TEXAS."

The End

*Kolaches are very big here. They are delicious in that greasy weird way, and I can't quite figure out why they don't exist in Washington.

Things are moving forward...

First off, I gotta say how much I love the new Genius Playlist in iTunes. You go, Apple. I'm listening to music I forgot I had.
And speaking of music, I bought the Fleet Foxes album today. Total impulse buy as I was buying coffee at Starbucks on my lunch break, but totally worth it. My iPod radio adapter doesn't work very well here (I'm thinking because it is so flat, so there is a lot of radio interference?), so I need CDs to listen to. Of course, since all my music is on my computer, I left all my CDs back home. So I need CDs in the car, otherwise it's listen to NPR talk about Sarah Palin or the bailout, both of which I'm sick and tired of hearing about.
Also, buy the Fleet Foxes album. It's amazing. Listen to the music on their myspace page, and tell me you can resist it.

I have a job interview on Monday - to be Assistant Manager of the box office at the Zach Scott Theatre here in Austin. I'm also currently (taking a break from working on) applying to the Dallas Theater Center, for an Education Associate position. It would be really cool, and something that fits right in with what I want to do with the rest of my life, but it would also be in Dallas, not Austin. I know I already moved 2300 miles so really, what is 200 more miles? But it's a scary thought to pull up what tiny new roots I've started planting here.
However, I'm still doing it, because I refuse to let the opportunity pass me by.
I really miss working in a theatre.
So cross your fingers/say a prayer/think happy thoughts for me on Monday at 5pm my time (that's 3pm for most of you)!

Tomorrow I'm going to a big outdoor garage-sale thing and trying to find a place to wash my car. You'd think after a month I would be able to find my way around this town but I'm still pretty much lost. Yet another reason to be terrified to move to Dallas. I'm sure it's just as not-like-Seattle as Austin is.

In the great tradition of Brynn Hambly, I've decided that this here blog will be the best way to keep all you friend, family, and fans (I must have fans, right?) up to date on my big adventure - aka the big move from Seattle to Austin.

I will be flying into Austin on Wednesday , August 27th. Buying that one-way ticket was pretty amazing. (Round trip tickets to Austin are not that expensive - come visit me!) I have a place to live, but will be spending all my time trying to find a car as soon as I get there so I don't have to rent one for very long. 

I will be starting my job on September 2; I'll be working at the Primrose School of Vista Ridge, in Cedar Park, just outside of Austin. I'll be the lead teacher in the 18-24 month old class. Teeny Tinies, puppets, snack, and nap. How could that not be awesome?

I'm currently trying to get rid of almost everything I own. It's hard but also feels really good. It's amazing how much stuff a person can accumulate, even when you move as much as me. Tomorrow is the big trip to the storage unit. I'm a little stressed. There's stuff there I haven't seen in two years. But it's a good feeling, knowing that I'm going to get to Austin with a suitcase (or two's) worth of stuff. Starting over, clean slate. 

And now a question for you fans:

When I went to Austin in June, I was pretty much murdered by mosquitoes - does anyone know of a good repellant that isn't as toxic to people as it is to bugs? If so, please inform me. I do not like mosquito bites. Thank you.