Oh I wish I was in Austin

We had a great time in Colorado - photos coming soon - as well as a wonderful break in Austin. I got to hang out with Pdog, my parents and brother, while TD risked life and limb doing fieldwork in Oaxaca.

Here are a few snippets of my time in Austin.

Pdog was barely tolerated by Polly the cat

just another Wednesday night supper with my parents - Steelhead Roe and Truffled Mousse on toasts - best enjoyed on the couch watching MI5

Favorite summer breakfast - Almond milk, strawberries, protein powder

Lots of cleaning & organizing - now my childhood bedroom looks like it did when it was my childhood bedroom (after being a study/music room/staging area/wedding storage for the last 10 years)

Pdog got injured AGAIN! Stitches between her toes after cutting her webbing on a piece of glass :(

Olympics!! We got into the full spirit for the opening ceremony including Eton Mess for dessert

And of course Pimm's Cups!

Hearty Texas Breakfast - pork tenderloin, eggs, tomato, guacamole & a Texas Hill Country peach

And lots of driving - I swear our house gets further from Texas each time. At least for this ride, Pdog got upgraded to first class AKA she got to ride in the second seat and enjoy the AC

In Austin!!

Prairie and I arrive in Texas on Friday evening and got to stay with my sister and her husband before continuing on to Austin Saturday morning.

I was a little unsure how I would do driving all the way to Houston in one day with a dog in tow, but it was great. Prairie is a champion traveler and my car is extremely easy and comfortable to drive. We did get stuck in a 1.5 hour delay on the Atchafalaya causeway - but I figured we were due for something like that after 5 very uneventful trips.

I got to hang out with my parents and brother for a day - and then on Sunday they left for a sheep hunting trip to Alaska. I was excited to see them off and hope they have a great time!

And now, I am headed to pick up TD!

Fun times in Austin

While we were in Austin, TD did a lesson on snakes for our nephew J's science class. TD's friend T brought lots of snakes - which the kids loved.

We also caught James McMurtry (my favorite) at Shady Grove. Hooray for Austin and Unplugged at the Grove!

We also had a fun canoe trip up Barton Creek and on Town Lake - but no pictures of that...

My Hometown

One of the great sadnesses in TD's and my lives is that we live far from our hometown of Austin, Texas. There are so many reasons why we wished we lived in Austin (the great big one being our AWESOME families), but the food comes a close second.

So imagine how happy I was to see Austin, and one of my favorite foods featured in the Times this weekend. That's right, Austin breakfast tacos were on display. Check it out, there's even a slide show.

I haven't ever eaten (or heard of) the main place that they featured--Tamale House--but in the spirit, here are my top breakfast tacos in Austin. But don't try to get breakfast tacos on a Sunday, they're hard to find! My faves are Potato, Egg, and Cheese & Potato, Egg, and Chorizo

5. anything, Porfirio's Tacos

4. 3 Alarm Tacos, Magnolia Cafe

3. anything, Taco Cabana

2. Don Juan Taco, Juan in a Million

1. The Shack Taco, Taco Shack

Wedding Music

When TD & I started planning the wedding, early on we decided that music was important to us. (Well, actually we found out that we are music snobs.) So, we were stoked to find out that one of our favorite Austin musicians, Dale Watson, was available to do our wedding and with a bit of a stretch, was within our budget.

{via}

However, little did we know Dale is also an economic analyst (or at least CNN seems to think so). This video from CNN features Dale and one of our favorite bars, Ginny's Little Longhorn (we took engagement photos here). Man we miss Austin!