~Know it's good now~

Cheesiness alert! :)  So I tend to listen super pop music while I'm working out, especially when I go before work and need an extra wake up call in a.m. (and before you judge, I KNOW that a bunch of you have Britney Spears and Destiny's Child on your playlist too, don't hate!).

Anyway, I usually put my iphone on Pandora to switch it up and the Kris Allen song Live Like We're Dying came on this morning and I started thinking about the line in the song that we've all heard a million times in life "We never know a good thing til it's gone" and how true that can be in so many aspects.  We spend soooo much time wanting more, waiting for the next thing in our life and not enough time focusing on the good in our lives right now. 

Maybe it's because it was Valentines Day this week and I'm still feeling the love, maybe it's the endorphins kicking in, who knows, but I'm feeling pretty blessed this morning and wanted to encourage everyone to focus on the good today.  Find a reason to celebrate something and have a fabulous weekend knowing that life is good!

~Discovering Dallas~

We spent the weekend after last in Dallas, which I’ve been wanting to get to since moving to Texas.  (Everyone constantly says that Austin is the best city in TX but I haven’t been anywhere else since moving here and I feel like I need to explore).  Anyway, a friend of Patrick’s was in town for work with his wife, so we drove the 3ish hours to Dallas to spend the weekend with them catching up, eating, and going out J

The highlights:

The ReUnion Tower:

I was advised by a friend to not eat at this Wolfgang Puck restaurant on top of the spinning ball  towering 560 feet over Dallas (the food is good, just not worth the price apparently).  However, it WAS worth going up and having a few drinks and taking in the view.  The outer perimeter of the dome spins slowly, so if you are eating or drinking at the bar in that section, you can take in a panoramic view of the city, which was beautiful.  The drink menu was amazing ( I highly recommend the Elderflower martini) and a great way to start our evening.

From here we moved uptown (Dallas is pretty spread out, you definitely cannot walk between downtown and uptown) and met another couple at Victor Tangos for dinner.  This popular tapas style restaurant was delish and so much fun if you like to share with others and try a lot of different things.  Literally everything we had was fantastic, but the lampchop lollipops, grilled octopus, and mini chicken and waffles were AH-MA-ZING!  I’d be here all the time if I lived there.

We ended our weekend with a tour of the 6^th Floor JFK Museum, which included features of his Presidency and of course the fatal shooting that took place from the 6^th floor in the Texas Schoolbook Depository in Dealy Plaza (the last picture below is the actual window Oswald shot from).  It is very well done and though everyone knows the history of the Kennedy assassination, it was fascinating to see the exact window where the shot was fired (the area is preserved to this day) and to see the artifacts surrounding the investigation.  Amazing that all these years late they still don’t have all of the answers.  Even more amazing was the video footage and media coverage on the world’s reaction to JFK’s death.  The impact he had on countries worldwide and personal impact on Americans was incredible and something you truly don’t see today.  Outside you can see two “x”’s in the road where the car was the exact moments the bullets hit.  Definitely worth the $13.50 if you are in the Dallas area (and this includes the headsets)!

I am still partial to Austin - even with the wonderful shopping at the Galleria ;)  Maybe that means it’s becoming home!  But Dallas is definitely a FUN city!

~Our 6 Month Austin Anniversary!~

Wow, I always thought that “time goes by faster the older you get” was just something that people said, but it really does!  January marks 6 months of being in Austin already!  In honor of that, I’m writing about my six most favorite things here so far:

1)       The Texas pride:  Okay, so this is not specific to Austin, but damn, Texans are proud of their state!  From the Texas star carved in the concrete on highway bridges, and “everything’s bigger/better” in Texas slogans (not to mention “keep Austin weird” slogans) on everything from billboards to t-shirts, to specialty Texas/Austin gift stores, these folks are proud of where they’re from!  The local grocery store, H-E-B even has tortilla chips that are in the shape of the state of Texas.  Not joking.   Obviously, I still think nothing is finer than Carolina ;) but the state pride is pretty awesome here.

2)      The people:  SO welcoming, nice, outgoing, friendly… I can go on and on.  I’d say we’ve been so lucky to meet so many awesome people that have become friends already but I think that it’s just how they are.  We’re celebrating Patrick’s birthday tomorrow night by going to dinner with ten others and I’m so grateful for the ease we had settling here with such great people!

3)      The Hill Country:  I had no idea until I moved here, but as soon as you are to the West of downtown, the roads are surrounded by gorgeous rolling hills.  It is stunning.

4)     The winters (or, the LACK thereof):  I never have an will never be a cold weather person, so I am a happy girl!  I haven’t worn a winter coat yet and was in shorts a week ago.  In January!!  We can take Sadie to the park, go on long runs/walks, eat outside, and never shiver!   To everyone living in snow flurries and bundled up, I know I’m rubbing it in but I just LOVE it so much I can’t help it.  I will take 100 plus degree days all summer in exchange for a 70 degree January any day.

5)      The location of our house:  I don’t know how long we’ll be in this specific location but it has been incredible.  We can walk to various restaurants, are close to the highway, and best of all, can walk or run to the pathway around Town Lake in less than 10 minutes

6)     Which is convenient because the FOOD is my next favorite thing….okay maybe my most favorite thing:  Seriously, the food trailers, the Tex Mex, the five awesome Italian restaurants I’m in love with… we are discovering new places every week!  Adding to my love is the fact that almost everywhere has a nightly happy hour ;)

 

Ladybird Lake trail

I can’t wait to see what the next six months have in store for us! 

~Recipe for a Happy New Year~

Happy 2012 Everyone!!  I posted this last year but I just love it so wanted to post again... lots of good resolutions in here!  Cheers :)

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Recipe for a Happy New Year ~ Anonymous

Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate, cleanse them completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; in short, see that these months are freed from all the past—have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time.

Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts. Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time (so many persons spoil the entire lot this way) but prepare one day at a time.

Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, prayer, meditation, rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing—don't do it), and one well-selected resolution.

Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor.

Happy New Year!!