(not quite) 48 hours in Austin

So before all the madness of football season started, I decided to make one last trip to The State Capitol. I needed a little something to refresh me, and I knew that now that I too am coaching, it will be a long time until I get to leave town again. (at least until the end of football season!) I got to Austin Sunday evening and had dinner with Zac's mom and Tatem and Scott and Ellie. We went to Jason's Deli, which I love and miss terribly. It was so yummy! The best part of the night though was watching Ellie and seeing how much she has grown/developed since I last saw her! Here is a cute video of her reaction when her Grammy walked in the door...so cute!

I gave her a pink tutu, since every little girl needs a tutu, and it was pretty precious, if I may say so myself! She also likes the way the tulle feels on her tongue, hehe! I love the picture of Ellie sticking out her tongue, because I can see her making this exact face at age five (and maybe ten and fifteen?) Too cute! Already so much personality! I had an amzing chat with Tatem at the end of the night. Shout out to her because she just got her certification, and she is officially a counselor/therapist now! :) She finished her masters a long time ago, but there are tons of supervised hours you have to fulfill, and now she is done! Yay, and Congrats Tay! She is such an amazing listener, and I always feel like I can have the deepest conversations with her. Everyone needs someone like that in their life! :) Sunday night when I got home, the good conversations kept on flowing. Mom and Papa and I stayed up late talking about their weekend in Houston with Baw and the Bartletts, my childhood, parenting, and all sorts of random topics. I went to bed (late) in a very happy state. There is nothing quite like being surrounded by family. Even though I have lived here over a year, Austin still feels like "home" to me.

Monday morning Mom and I woke up and of course had to go shopping. (It's what we do best!) We went to The Domain and I got a new case/cover for the iPod Zac bought me for my b-day. I wanted to buy some, but did not like any of the headphones they had at the Apple store (those little "ear bud" things that come with the iPod don't fit me), which was actually fortunate, because when we got back home, I had gotten $35 worth of Best Buy coupons as Reward Points for buying our new laptop there. So in the afternoon we went to Best Buy and I got new headphones and a $15 iTunes giftcard. We are always buying new music, so I figured that would be something we would both get to use. Aren't I thoughtful? Mom and I ate at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe for lunch and it was just as good as I remembered. There are two things on the menu that I love there and since I couldn't decide what to get, we ordered both, and Mom and I shared them. (the Chicken Ceasar Wrap andthe "Zorba the Greek" pesto pizza...I highly reccomend both of them!) We went to JoAnn's craft store and spent way more time than we needed to in there, but who couldn't....there is so much to look at. I get inspired everytime I enter a craft store. I have finally gotten smart enough not to buy stuff I don't need that exact day, because the inspiration usually wares off before I make whatever it is I had dreamed up, then I have all these random craft supplies in my pink room.

That afternoon, we went to Ancient Arts, the clinic my Mom's best friend Katie (who also happens to be the woman who potty-trained yours truly) owns and works in. She gave me an amazing treatment! I felt so relaxed, I felt like I was melting into the table. If you have never tried acupuncture, do it! It is a miracle! I used to get it once a week from Katie's son Matthew (my birthday twin, but five years older) when we lived in Austin and I have never had less problems with my reflux, arthritis, and digestive stuff, as when I was getting acupuncture. Zac got tendonitis in his shoulder one time from lifiting weights too much and he hurt for a long time because he was not thrilled with the idea of needles, but when he finally came around, he was completely better in like 2 sessions!!! (and by the way, you can't feel the needles!!) Man, if a blogging award was given to the person who gets sidetracked the most, and goes off on tangeants, I think I would win it. Sorry for being all over the place. Okay, back on track...anyways, I enjoyed my visit with Katie and her wonderful skills. After we left Katie's office, we went to see her daughter Shauna (Liz's BFF growing up) and her new baby Wesley. He is about six weeks old and I hadn't met him yet. He is SO precious. Here we are together, with my hair falling in my face. Isn't he precious? Hanging out with Ellie and Wesley makes me have baby fever! Sigh...when I graduate college, I plan on joining the Mommy Club SOON after! :)

For dinner that night we went to Santa Rita, one of Zac and I's all time favorites. (If you ask Zac though, it's called Santa Maria, haha!) On Monday nights they have Fajitas For Two for the price of Fajitas For One, so we went there many a Monday evenings for dinner. It is one of those all around good Mexican food restaraunts because they have great queso, enchiladas, and drinks too. :)

Tuesday I had lunch with Eli at Whole Foods. It was great to see him and hear about his recent trip to Philly/NYC, and the chicken salad was pretty amazing too! :)

Okay, I just found this post that I started earlier last week. I guess I was planning on adding more, but since I am short on time and this is already a little late anyways, I am just going to post it as is. Basically, I had an amazing time in Austin!