Rainy days are for books and tea.

After spending practically the entire day reading, I finally finished The Night Circus. It was just as good as I hoped it would be when I read the first chapter. The story is written in such and interesting way, from different, intertwining points of view. It's magical in a wonderful way--I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something new to read. 

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. No color at all, save for the neighboring trees and the grass of the surrounding fields."

Then, after spending the dreary, rainy day with my nose in a book, Tiffany and I met at The Domain for tea and dinner at The Steeping Room. We each got a different kind of sandwich and tea. It was the first time I've eaten an actual meal there, but the food was just as good as I hoped. Obviously, it is a wonderful place for tea, too. And of course, we took a photo of the food before digging in (and our waiter arranged the teapots and cups for us). 

Monday Night Tapas

Tonight I met Tiffany downtown after work for dinner at Malgas Tapas Bar, where we fought the Monday blues with a glass of wine and some tasty tapas. We sat outside on the patio while the sun was going down, talking and laughing and I got to meet Tiffany's friend Mohan. And that's all I've got for you tonight.

Brunch + Book Club

Last weekend I went to my first book club meeting in Austin. I got to have brunch at the Galaxy Cafe and chat about good reads with a few lovely ladies and we picked out our first book--The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy. We had a few to choose from, but the description of this one was just so appealing. I can't wait to get started, have any of you read it?

"In 1945, Elsie Schmidt is a naive teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she is for her first kiss. She and her family have been protected from the worst of the terror and desperation overtaking her country by a high-ranking Nazi who wishes to marry her. So when an escaped Jewish boy arrives on Elsie’s doorstep in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, Elsie understands that opening the door would put all she loves in danger."

The Little Things

On the way home from work, I decided to try out another little coffee shop for a Friday night treat. I stopped at Bennu coffee and tried the Pride & Prejudice mocha. So good. 
(I also spotted a funny little mural across the street from Bennu)

But the best part of this lovely Friday evening was coming home to find a package from my sweet mama in my mailbox. She sent me two issues of the Mississippi arts and entertainment review (one with good ol' Elvis on the front) and the newspaper from my hometown. 

It's the little things, y'all. 

Downtown Days.

On Saturday, I drove into downtown Austin for a little exploring. I finally went to see the capitol building--which is a pretty, pretty sight in the sunshine.

After I drove around for a little while, I decided it was high time I stopped at had lunch at one of the food trucks. Right after I moved here, I started a list of the ones that I really wanted to visit. So now I've finally crossed one off the list! I picked Conscious Cravings to try first. Their full menu is vegetarian, so I tried their Spicy Chickpea wrap and a mango smoothie. The wrap was delicious, the homemade sauce really takes the cake at Conscious Cravings. Yum. But the smoothie was a little depressing. I expected a deliciously cold, icy smoothie, but it was lukewarm blended fruit. I would stil go back for another meal, but I'll skip the smoothie next time.

And then I decided that I should try two foot trucks. Mostly because right next to Conscious Cravings is Holy Cacao. There's no way I'm passing up a food truck that serves delicious chocolates. I tried the Red Velvet cake ball--red velvet cake dipped in white chocolate. Obviously it was fantastic. So I crossed two of the food trucks to try off of my list last weekend.

I think I'm going to make a goal to try a new place every weekend until I finish my list--then maybe I'll have found some new trucks to try!

Still getting settled + a little inspiration.

(source Katie Daisy)

How can you not be inspired every time you see this print? This is another one I'd love to have hanging in my office--it's just pretty. 

I'm still getting settled into my routine as a new resident of Texas. I still love it--overwhelming as it is. I still have so many things to see and do! Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to find a farmer's market somewhere. That's one thing that I've been looking forward to since moving here. As much as I loved the little Community Market that I was a part of in Starkville, I just know that there have to be some really amazing ones here.

Also, the mister is officially in Montana--camping in Glacier National Park and such. I do miss him so.

Back to the blog.

Looks like I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Bad, bad blogger. 

But now that I'm almost unpacked and settled I can get back into a regular schedule. 

Austin is huge and different and overwhelming and entertaining all at once. I've found a favorite spot for bubble tea, but I'm still on the lookout for a favorite coffee spot--working at Strange Brew spoiled me.

I don't have much of an update tonight, but recently I read an article about Kelly Clarkson. Now y'all don't hate me for it, but I've always liked her. I have every album she's released since then and I've seen her perform live. Her voice is ridiculous. I guess it's the part of me that's always wanted to be able to perform like that. Anyway, the point is that she's almost constantly been judged for her body by the media and she always comes back in a kick-ass way. Homegirl is looking fierce these days. I want her trainer.  

(source)

Also, Kelly Clarkson + Jennifer Nettles + John Legend makes for great tv. I'm hooked.

Catching Up on Shows.

Thanks to spending the last couple of weeks staying with my friend Tiffany, I've found a couple more television shows to be addicted to. Typical. Again. 

One of them is Scandal. Y'all. That show is ridiculously addicting. I watched the entire season on Monday and Tuesday while I was working. Plus, the actor who played Desmond in Lost is there. Score.

And the second is Revenge. This show is also ridiculously twisted and addicting. I'm still catching up on it, but the season finale was tonight, so I can't wait to get to the end of it. 

Today I got the technical stuff (you know, electricity and such) set up for the new apartment. I picked out a paint color for the living room and picked up the supplies for the painting of the living room. And tomorrow it's on to Sherwin Williams to buy the pretty paint I have picked out. I can't wait for Friday when I'll be able to get to work on the living room--maybe I'll even decide on a color for the bedroom. I keep going back and forth between a marigold-yellow or a nice cool gray.

Walton's Fancy and Staple.

Since I have a few more days before I start my new job, I have time to get myself oriented in Austin and find some restaurants and coffee shops to enjoy. Today I found one such place called Walton's Fancy and Staple. They serve a lovely breakfast and have all kinds of coffee and espresso as well as a lovely deli sandwich menu. Plus they have cakes, danishes, and daily flavors of macaroons.

Today's macaroon flavor was oreo. Yes.

And I had a Garden Sandwich on fresh wheat bread and a prickly pear lemonade. 

Walton's, I think, is going to be one of my favorite spots.

Renegade Austin

First thing this morning, I went over and signed one last piece of paperwork for my new apartment. It looks like I'll be moving in to it this week!

In the afternoon I got to have my first experience with Renegade Craft Fair--I love it. Being a craft-lover, I've wanted to go for a few years now and somehow I moved here the week of Renegade Austin. How does that work out? Even though I meant to come leave with just one thing I came home with three. A necklace (sewing machine), a bracelet (arrow), and a screen printed dress. Typical. 

After having the Renegade experience, I decided to do a little exploring--which led me to the Whole Foods in downtown Austin. Having grown up in small-town Mississippi, I haven't ever really spent time in Whole Foods since the nearest one was always a few hours away. I love that place. Fresh fruits and veggies everywhere. I came home with strawberries, peaches, kiwi, and an enormous salad for dinner with lemon-chive salad dressing. It was wonderful. 

Happy weekend, y'all!

Here we go.

As most of you know, I just left my roots back in Mississippi to work as a graphic designer in Austin, Texas. I got here four days ago and today I found an apartment.

This is happening.

My final semesters of college went by so quickly it was like a flash. Mix a graphic design student with a barista and you get a student running on about 8 big cups of coffee a day. So many good memories from it though. The best of friends (you know who you are and you will come and visit me), lots of fun, and a ton of hard work. But we made it!

Forever maroon & white, y'all.

I have a new job. I have a new home. I have a the best guy a girl could ask for and a family that loves and believes in me.

I can't wait to see where things go from here.