45-degree angle

Yes I am here! Moved in to my place in Dallas on Sunday. Things are obviously in great state of upheaval still--I want to get the kitchen unpacked first but I'm having to scrub down fridge, freezer, and all cabinets and drawers and shelves before I'll put stuff in there because I'm anal like that. So it's going very slow in there, and everything else waits.

The cable was set up today, so then of course the day was ruined for productivity (though I did make it out to Target). Also interwebs don't arrive until Wednesday, so I'm picking up little snippets of random wireless signals that go away completely every 10-15 seconds. So hopefully I'll get this updated in one of those connected snippets.

On Wednesday my friend Natalie is coming to visit along with her husband (who will be here on business) and her baby (who will be cute). This is her baby.



Yeah, woot for babies.

Lots to share but I'm just going to go on and get to bed and will wait until I can work at my desk versus on the couch with laptop held at 45-degree angle so as to best connect with aforementioned signal.

PS - Don't forget to vote. (Right, maybe if you lived in a cave.)
PPS - Oprah + 30 Rock in t-minus 3 days.

Do-over

Yesterday I went and got my hair cut, and as I was leaving the salon, saw Leslie just up ahead on the sidewalk, trundling down South Congress in a chic black dress. I'll miss him and all the other kooky folks in this town.

The living room is slowly but surely emptying out these days. Stuff getting crammed into boxes. Plus a last minute cooking bonanza/clearing out of the freezer is in order. Don't you hate it when that happens? You gotta cook all that stuff. One lb of frozen shrimp, check. One bag of frozen peaches, check. One frozen pizza, check. One sheet of puff pastry, check. Who's going to eat all this food? It's out of control.



Meanwhile, what thinks you of my new hat? I'm totally and completely smitten with it. It's just like the ones Angelina Jolie wears in all those ads for her new movie. Set in the 20s. In Los Angeles. I'm cool with channeling that look. Just FYI, I bought it at The Limited and it is wool and was only $25. I love that store.

Adding to the "change is in the air" theme, it is finally starting to look and feel like fall down here. Which of course makes me want to bake. I made this banana bread after a spate of banana bread sightings on the blogs. Speaking of clearing out the freezer, that's where I stash all my over-ripe bananas.



Yeah, I threw some chocolate chunks and nuts in there. Too much probably. Next time, I need to go for more simplicity. I used a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, but what I really need to do is hunt down my grandmother's recipe. That's what I grew up on. So of course that's what I end up comparing everything to.

My aunt arrived today to help me pack. My dad joins the party on Friday. On Sunday my uncle gets involved via unloading efforts. This here is a family affair. It's nice to have folks nearby to help with that stuff. And due to some recent developments, I have one less day to pack than originally planned, which sucks. But soon it'll be over and I'll be exploring my new town. With my new hair. In my new hat. Living in my new apartment. Yeah, and going to my new job. It's my own personal do-over. I'm going to miss Austin something awful, but sometimes fresh is good.

Looking for an apartment in Austin?

You are? How fantastic! I've got one to rent. Please help me get out of my lease so I don't get bled dry paying two rents because the mean-ass management company isn't letting me off the hook for having to break my lease. (HELLO? I got laid off!! How rude.)

Oh, and that stuff about the management company being mean-ass? Not true. They're a dream. Really. Come! Rent!



As you can see, the apartment is really cute. It's in a condo building in a beautiful historic neighborhood close to downtown. All your windows look out at trees and lawns and houses, etc. Look to the north and you can see the UT Tower. To the west and you can watch the sunset.



Like this one. I took this photo from the balcony. Beautiful, right? Everything was renovated just a few short years ago, so the appliances, carpet, tiles, bathroom fixtures, etc. are all new. Look at this cute color scheme in the kitchen.



Nice, right? Stacked washer/dryer is also included in the unit - it's new as well. And there's two - count 'em two - balconies. One off the bedroom and this big one in the back. Do you like plants? You could put a lot out here!



There's the door to the other one in the bedroom. Lots of closet space in here too.



So what do you think? Well, yeah, the square footage is small (588 square feet) but you wouldn't know it from the really neat, open layout. Did I mention the vaulted ceilings? And all those windows? Yes, the space feels really airy and bright. Of course, you should think about it. It is pretty expensive. But it's close to everything. Walk to the Capitol, walk to campus and all the fun stuff on the Drag, you know. And the neighbors are super-quiet. I just hear birds pretty much all day.

Okay, thanks for coming by! What's that? Oh, yes, as a matter of fact, I did just vote!



Early voting is key I think this year. You don't want to be stuck in monster lines on election day. So I got it done early. Wise move I think. You should do it too. Okay, bye! Have a good one!

Keeping Austin Dallas Weird?

Yes, it's true, I did get a job offer, and I have accepted it. Unfortunately, it is not here, it is there. A place I had absolutely no desire to live in. But it was a job in my field (aren't many down here), so I applied for it and, welp, there you go.

This is also my second relocation in a year - something, as I told someone yesterday, I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I hate - no wait, loathe - moving. So you can understand why amidst all this, I'm a little less than elated. Even though getting a job is a wonderful thing and I should be grateful for it.

I never spent a lot of time in Dallas, despite growing up in Forth Worth, so I don't really know much about it. Hopefully I'll come to like it. Got any tips?

Meanwhile, this also means I can begin (tentatively) spending money again. I broke the seal on Saturday at Maker Faire with Stacey, home to the Bazaar Bizarre craft fair and rock-em-sock-em robots. It was a perfect Texas fall day (i.e. warmer than you'd prefer, but pleasant). I took lots of fun pictures which it'll probably take me forever to sort through and edit, so we'll just go straight to the product shots.

My goodie of the day was this calendar from ilee papergoods. Here's her etsy shop. She had traveled all the way down from Seattle to sell her beautiful cards, and seems she does custom wedding invites too.



So pretty and perfectly seasonal. And of course the best month is my birthday month - October! Looks like my birthday's on a Thursday next year.



I also got to meet Elizabeth Soule of e.soule, whose pictures of tiny animals I covet. This one in particular of course.



She usually sells them on these wooden blocks and then you put it on the wall and it's gorgeous, but I'm not that financially flush yet. Or, rather, might not ever be. But I was able to buy my favorite little polar bear photo on a card. So that scratched the itch.



She's got a horse collection now too. Did you know she takes these with a Polaroid camera? You can shop her stuff here.



She also sells many of these as just prints. You know, frame-it-yourself deals. I'll keep that in mind going forward. I am looking to expand my polar bear print collection.



And yarn lovers everywhere collectively swooned.

Okay, I better get going. I'm heading over to the local NPR station to take pledge calls. Yeah, this was a commitment I made before I found out I needed to move in three weeks. But procrastination's my middle name, so...