Cabin Fever Remedy

Yesterday, Erik and I were starting to lose our minds inside our small apartment, so we broke. We had to get out, stretch our legs, and explore. Our stomachs led us to South Congress, also known as SoCo, to Zen, Japanese Food Fast. Zen is a small Japanese/Tex-Mex fused eatery that offers sushi, “takkos” (Japanese/Tex-Mex tacos), salads, regular Asian sides, and bowls. I decided to B.M.O.B., or Build My Own Bowl, with marinated steak, soto mix (shiitake and crimini mushrooms, carrot, white & green onion, cabbage), spicy teriyaki sauce, on udon noodles. Thank God for this bowl! I was famished, and this bowl did the works. My craving for Japanese food was satisfied. Not too much, not too little. Erik had the chicken teriyaki on a bed of white rice. His bowl was also delicious. There was no spare food left behind at our table.
After the food masacre, we strolled out to peruse the ordinate shops along SoCo. Erik has been in need of a new wallet, so we paid particular attention to the real cowboy boot and menswear stores. We left the street empty-handed but will probably return tomorrow to buy from a shop that closed before our touring. SoCo is an amazing bustling street with vintage, new, custom, and eclectic findings (and people!). Noted stores, such as American Apparel, Stag, by George, can be found here.
On our trip back to Lola (my white 2003 Ford Focus), I couldn’t resist a tiny-sized cup of Amy’s homemade strawberry ice cream. My timid sweet tooth was teethy in smiles. Rumor has it that Amy’s was featured on Food Network last week as a local ice cream success in Austin. Awesome job, Amy’s!
SoCo was a great way to remedy this cabin fever Erik and I have been experiencing. I can’t wait to use our new gym pass to our apartment’s 24-hour secure workout room! We paid a flat fee of $35 and can’t wait to get sweaty in there! 😉
Are you supporting your town’s local businesses? I hope so!

The famous Austin Motel, a cute yellow car, and Zen's way in the background

Today’s Mission: Buy Shampoo and Conditioner

Since the great migration west, we have been cautious about where and when we spend our monies. Why? Well, we don’t exactly have jobs here in Austin. OK, we don’t have a single one. What are we doing? Applying to jobs like mad people. For the past week, I’ve been writing, editing, and sending various versions of cover letters to several school districts, universities, and publishing companies. Good news came into my dear Gmail inbox last evening, I have been requested to interview at a high school within the Austin Independent School District (AISD) for an English teaching position. Awesome! Double Awesome! Erik and I did a few fancy jigs in our living room last night around midnight. Erik continues to regurgitate the irritating log-ins and applications on various sites, such as careerbuilder.com, monster.com, and Craiglist. We often wonder if applying online works. I guess it does on the state education end of things. But, I’m confident in him. We always figure out a way to make ends meet.

Double good news: a friend from Raleigh, NC, and his girlfriend are moving to Austin next month! They were here this week to start on work and find a place to live. We met him for lunch yesterday at an establishment called Freddie’s. There was a good mix of lunch entrees available; I chose the Fried Fish Sliders with good ol’ regular french fries. The plate cost me $6, and the frozen ‘rita a petty $2. What a deal! For Austin to be such a metropolis, food and drink specials are easy to stumble upon. We’ve also enjoyed our visit to the Black Sheep Lodge off South Lamar. Shuffleboard, darts, misting fans. Why, you had me at ‘hello,’ Black Sheep! 🙂 On Saturday nights, they have $2 cans of 16 oz. beer and $3 well drinks. Moreover, we met some pretty cool Austinites who welcomed us to sit at their tables and instruct us on being proper Austinities: where to live, where to eat, what to do, etc. Thanks, y’all!

Finally, I wanted to mention a few of my friends blogs that led to my own blog creation:

Natalya: www.notnotrocketscience.blogspot.com ! One of my good friends from Raleigh, NC, gives her daily digest on nutrition, fitness, and being a rocket scientist. I spoke correctly! She studies space propulsion and is transferring from Duke to MIT this fall! She’s also started blogaways for various fitness and nutrition products, so check it out!

Ariel: www.eatfoodrealfood.wordpress.com ! Another friend from Appalachian State University blogs from her home in Washington, DC, about food science and nutrition. She gives a thorough yet readable rundown on everything health from butter and sugar to her own farmer’s market recipes and original inventions! Give her a looksy!

Jim: www.youareveryhandsome.blogspot.com ! Jim, a great English friend from Appalachian State, brings you along his journey being a teacher in a middle in South Korea. His posts literally make me laugh at loud, so go laugh and read his blog!

Thanks guys! Now, I’m off to accomplish the only objective that I have today: buy shampoo and conditioner. Ha! Wish me luck on my interview on Monday at 10:30am!

The “Must-Visits”: Barton Springs, Austin Zoo, Lake Travis.

This second blog post for today has been dedicated to the benefits of being a new Austinite. The “must-visits” that we’ve visited to date.

I’ll start with today’s adventure (after our official Texas crowning). We took a trip early this evening to…Barton Springs! 🙂 Barton Springs is a beautiful natural spring with a year-long temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Entry for adults is just $3/person. However, word has it around town that you can get in free if you arrive between 5-8am or 9-10am. We were steaming hot and needed some refreshment, so we got there around 6pm. Barton Springs really is amazing, so if you’re planning to visit or move here, don’t miss it!

Check out that nature!

Ahhh... refreshed!

OK, now let’s hop into the handy time machine and go back to last Sunday. As always, it was HOTTT in Austin. What do we decide to do? Use our UrbanDeelights coupon to go to the Austin Zoo–during the middle of the day! We must have been delirious. We got the deal, which was 2 adults + 2 bags of animal feed for just $8, and mentally prepared for our zoo animal visit. But, first, we needed to go to Wal-mart (story of my life, everyday, since we got here)! We bought the necessities: SPF 50 sunscreen and wide-brimmed hats. The hats were our saviors, and we quickly concluded that if you live in Texas, you need a good, floppy or wide hat. Back to the zoo, we arrived in less than 20 minutes and learned that this zoo is a non-profit animal rescue zoo; they house exotic animals that have been abused or mistreated in some form or another. Cool, huh? We mapped at a plan of course: birds, reptiles, sheep, goats, llamas, deer, pigs, wolves, lions, tigers, bears, *oh my!, panthers, jaguars, wolf hybrids, Galapagos turtles, monkeys, and the prairie dogs. Not too bad for $8 and a great organization! If you’re feeling lucky, make a donation or take a visit!

My own Tiger Woods?

THE floppy hat!

And, finally, for the crown jewel of visits in Austin… Lake Travis! This breathtaking lake is only 15-20 minutes away and is worth every minute of the scorching-hot drive! We went to Oasis restaurant, Austin’s largest restaurant boasting four stories and over 2,500 patron seating! I could not even believe it. We walked in and went down a floor to sit at one of the open bars and learned that I was on just one of FOUR floors. Jesu Cristo! Erik and I had a very friendly, personable bartender that served up some thirst-quenching frozen house margaritas and the nachos with beans and cheese. Although the kitchen put about a small jar’s serving of jalapenos and pico de gallo on our super-large plate, it didn’t matter. The nachos were saboroso and made for an early dinner fill. As we chatted and gazed upon the open lake, our bartender suggested that we head to the fourth floor to hear some live music (starts at 7:15pm every Sunday). Live music? Done. We paid our tab and walked upstairs.

Las Estrellas de Tejas!

The fiesta-style music had my booty shakin’ and hips swingin’. The band is called The Brew and has been creating latin jazz for locals for the past 15 years; they have quite the fan following. While latin jazz filled our ears and souls, we ordered mas margaritas and began to do our own shag-dance routine alongside several salsa, meringue, and cha cha native dancers. Who cares if we weren’t dancing to the right step or dance? No one seemed to mind. In fact, I think many folks were happy that we were enjoying ourselves!

Beautiful sunset over Lake Travis

Dancin' the Night Away...

It’s official…We’re Texans!

Today was an eventful day. Today was the day that we slid and climbed down the chutes and ladders of first-time Texan residency. To all newbie Austinites, here’s the order in which you must go in order to achieve that fancy driver’s license:

Step #1: Go get your car inspected. (This costs about $26. Inspection stations are everywhere, conveniently.)

Step #2: Go get your vehicle registered and titled. You need to bring along the following documents to the [Travis] County Tax Office: the original title of your car, proof of insurance, inspection papers, and an application for registration/title. *But, don’t forget any of these documents at home, because you may or may not be able to re-crank your car to get there.* The previous situation happened to us today, but thank goodness Erik jiggled some wires and found that the battery had a poor connection. Whew! Crisis averted.

Step #3: Go to the DMV. Surprisingly, the South Congress DMV was an incredibly efficient institution. However, when we arrived, there was (of course) a state-wide shut down of “the system.” Alas, we had to wait–but not for long! The system came back up in about 15 minutes, and, because everyone else had left due to the bad news bears, our numbers were called within 10-15 minutes! Erik and I attained our temporary licenses and are now happy Texans! After the DMV lady uttered the words, “Welcome to Texas,” I knew that my life path had just made quite an alteration. I’m still unsure if I’m okay with being a Texan, being the Southern gal that I am. 😉

Got it? Inspection, registration/titling, license. That’s the watered down breakdown of becoming an official Texan.

 

If I had a million dollars, I’d fly instead of drive.

So, our long (24 hours of driving time!) journey out west to Austin, Texas, has finally come to a close. We left on Sunday, July 10, from Oxford, North Carolina, from the home of my in-laws. Let’s recap that journey:

Sun., July 10: Leave Oxford, NC, for Atlanta, GA, to stay with our good friend T-Sloan. [Stop in Charlotte to eat a fried flounder sandwich and fries at Showmar’s (a great local establishment!) with my younger sister, Brittany, 19, and my cousin, Danielle, and her husband.]

After reaching Atlanta, our dear friend, Tyler, brought us to a local hamburger eatery, the Vortex, in a section of town called Little Five Points.The popular food hub has been featured on Food Network’s Man vs. Food for its Triple Coronary Bypass aka the Super Stack. Here’s the description:

Made with two half-pound Vortex sirloin patties stacked inside three grilled cheese sandwiches, topped with two
fried eggs, eight slices of American cheese, ten slices of bacon and plenty of mayo on the side. With this
burger we choose your side for you, and it’s a big bowl of fries and tots covered in our cheesy-cheese goo.
This super-stack is a heart attack waiting to happen. Enjoy! (No lettuce, tomato or onion) 26.95

Basically, the burger is insane. I opted for the Buffalo Chicken Wrap and a side of fried plantains. Quite tasty for a non-burger at a burger place!

Must be 18 or older to enter? Cray-cray!

Mon., July 11: Leave Hotlanta for Baton Rouge (or Livingston), LA, to stay with Nanny Kay and Diane! I should have taken pictures of Nanny Kay’s camper that she so graciously housed us in. Kay also took us out for dinner, which was my first-time “real” Cajun crawfish experience at Don’s Seafood and Steak House. I ordered the “Half and Half,” half crawfish etoufee and half fried crawfish. I finished my entire plate and licked up the sauce with french bread. Yeah, I guess it was good.

Self-timer worked!

Tues., July 12: Leave Livingston for Denham Springs (Baton Rouge, basically), to visit Tante Tina! Sweetheart Tina drove us around the capital of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, and we saw the Capitol building, the Governor’s Mansion, and various other offices that my in-laws worked at during their younger years. We also saw cousin Emma and her Shirley Temple look-alike daughter, Vivian, or Vivi for short. We ended our evening with a joyous dinner at Golden Corral with Aunt Diane and Uncle Ernie, her daughter and husband, Jamie and Anthony, along with their kids Tristan, Trinity, and Trey. I really enjoyed seeing more of Erik’s family and having the opportunity to spend quality time with such great, loving people!

Wed., July 13: Leave Baton Rouge for Lafayette to visit Granny (my mother-in-law’s mother). It never fails; Granny’s house always has this distinct, nostalgic air about it. Have you ever noticed that? I immediately walked in and felt right at home. Granny was so kind to take us out to a delish lunch meal at ZEA’s of Lafayette. I ordered the Basil Crusted Trout with a side of Red Beans & Rice and Roasted Corn Grits–YUM! Check out their menu: http://www.zearestaurants.com/site127.php. After our tour of the family’s past stomping grounds (i.e. past homes, elementary and high schools, etc.), we met Uncle Jim, Aunt Diane, Cousin Carson, and his girlfriend, at Dean-O’s Pizza. We ordered the fried pickles and fried sweet potato fries as an appetizer, and, for our main course, we ordered the “Tee Rex” and the “Shrimp a la Dean-O” pizzas. Again, the food was scrumptious!

Thurs., July 14: My tummy is getting bigger. We stayed another day and night with Granny. Granny and I both were feeling a bit under the weather, so the majority of the day was spent just takin’ it easy. Erik’s parents made it into Lafayette around evening time with the family van loaded up with even more of our necessities. (God bless ’em!) We all went out to a special Cajun dinner at Prejean’s. Now, Prejean’s has it going on with Cajun spices. I ordered Prejean’s Seafood Platter (fried), which comes with frog legs, shrimp, oyster, catfish, alligator, stuffed shrimp & stuffed crab served with rice dressing, Cajun fries and corn macque choux. Whew! I only got about halfway through everything, but it was like Louisiana heaven in my mouth-belly. Please don’t miss this restaurant if you’re ever in Lafayette! Your mouth will water:  http://www.prejeans.com/dinner_menu.html. We ended the night going through old (like 1920’s old) family photos. It’s funny how physical traits transfer down the family tree! Erik looks a lot like his granddad, Paul.

Prejean's, where alligators are eaten and displayed.

Fri., July 15: Leave Lafayette for Groves, TX, to stay with Aunt Roxie and Uncle Ronnie. We left sometime in the early afternoon from Granny’s, but we didn’t leave until we had filled our bellies with Community Coffee coffee and some perfectly-spiced boudain. Gotta lub dat boudain! So, we said our goodbyes and made another drive to R&R’s. Upon arrival, we met Uncle Dan and Nanny Mert (the parents of Roxie) as well as R&R’s son, Jared, and his wife, Lindsey. What’s missing here? More food! We had homemade, slow-cooked shrimpy-okra gumbo with white rice and strawberry shortcake for dessert. For post-dessert, I also had a tasty Mojito made by Roxie. We had such a good time exploring their house and property and went to bed happy campers.

Sat., July 16, Moving Day: Leave Groves, TX, for AUSTIN! Lesson learned from this initially estimated four-hour trip: Don’t underestimate Houston traffic. We were in Houston for about three-four hours in stopped traffic. Gosh, Houston, you really put a bad taste in my mouth. After getting over our anxiety and irritation, we found a highway that took us straight into Austin. It took an ungodly amount of time to get there, but we did, safely. We moved everything from the two cars and one van in less than an hour. We were sweating puddles, but we were happy to have made it. We (Erik, in-laws, and R&R) rewarded ourselves to a wonderful Tex-Mex style dinner at local joint, Trudy’s. Erik had the stuffed avocado and I had Ciro’s Special. Superb food! We also had our fair share of frozen margaritas–ah! We all quickly retired to our beds and had a very deep, refreshing sleep.

And, that’s how the trip went. More to come.

Are you taking advantage of every opportunity that greets you? Think about it.

-K

Not everything’s big in Texas…

Welcome! 🙂

So, here I am, a 5’2″ and 115 lbs. Southern lady, moving to “big Texas.”

 

At Table Rock in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

My husband, Erik, will be pursuing a Master’s of Arts in Advertising in fall 2012 at the University of Texas at Austin, so we’re packing our apartment and leaving a city we’ve become quite fond of: Raleigh, NC. (Shout-out to my Raleigh-ites! We’ll miss you!) Erik isn’t starting school right away for one major reason: to attain in-state tuition. We “set sail” on July 10 from North Carolina. I hope both our cars can take the 24-hour drive. No worries; we’ll be stopping along the way to say hello to old friends and new-to-me family.  This blog will be a way to share our new journey. I will post photos and commentary of our adventures in Austin, TX, as we explore the history, culture, arts, food, and people of a people foreign to me. Here’s to living life and taking opportunities as they come your way!

Happy reading, friends!