These are just a few of my favorite things

It’s good to be back! My last full post was weeks ago, or so it seems. Not quite so much busy as lazy…..but I’m back in action, blogging away as I listened to a burned CD that I bought in Paraguay 9 years ago. Alejandro Sanz. Love, love, love his voice.

Mood (update):
Much better, thank you. (“What’s wrong Grumpy Pants?” texted my little sister, Jill)

Food:
Afternoon snack: Large apple. Crisp and delish.
Afternoon snack, Part Deux: tea and a slice of banana bread

(Green heart: reusing paper by writing on the other side of printed documents)

Tea in a teaspoon.

We bought this loose leaf tea at Central Market. It’s good! The tea, not Central Market. Central Market fails to impress me. It’s fancy and all, but lacks a good selection of organic products. For that reason, Whole Foods holds my heart.

It helps to place the tea leaves into measuring cups and to let them steep there. When ready to strain, it’s easy to pour into teacups or mugs because of the measuring cup’s spout.

Do you like the pretty mat? It currently sits atop the coffee table. I bought it in Spain for less than 2 euros. It doesn’t serve it’s purpose as a pillow case because none of our pillows fit, but it makes a great decoration and/or place mat. I’d bought three in different colors, only I wish I had bought more. Super cheap and great little pieces to brighten up a room.

As per usual, Lucas made the banana bread. Not his best (he concurs*)! But I blame it on our oven; it’s not that great and the temperature is difficult to regulate.

*Concur. That’s a word that I learned from that Leonardo DiCaprio movie where he plays a smooth con artist. I forget the name. It’s the scene where he plays a doctor, and he asks the nurse or someone if they concur with his diagnosis…I think that’s the way it went……I don’t know how old I was when that movie came out, but I suppose I was quite more than old enough to where I should have known what “concur” meant. Ah well.

And now to the fun stuff. Fun for me at least. You’re already here, so while not stay a bit longer?

Here are a few of my favorite things about our new digs!

Vintage door knobs…

Palm fronds…

Our little garden…

The natural light in Lucas’s art studio that lends a hand in inspiration….(Toy Story is also there to help)

The huge living room window…..

Kitchen nooks and crannies like this one….

Reading corner (on a mission for a more proper reading chair!)…

Charming archway….

The faux fireplace that serves as a bookcase…

..and it’s mosaic tile floor…

Just a few of my favorite things!

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Moving Day is Done!

Moving Day.

7:00 am to 10:00 pm.

I don’t know how many times I went up stairs.

I don’t know how many times I went down stairs.

I don’t know how many boxes I packed.

I don’t know how many boxes I lifted.

I don’t know how many couches I dropped. Oh, wait. Yes, I do. One.

There was the moving out, the moving in, the cleaning, and then, the eating.

The moving out…

The moving in….

The cleaning (of our “old” apartment)….

The eating….

15 hours of slave labor calls for a bacon cheddar burger with sweet potato fries.

Thank goodness for Kerby Lane Cafe being opened 24 hours! It’s midnight and we’re still here….waiting for some dessert…

Zzzzzzz.

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Moving on up…to the east side (of Hyde Park)

This just in:
Yea! We found out today that our application has been accepted for the duplex. Just 6 more weeks to move-in day!

I think it’s so charming.

The front…

The living room & dining room…

The backyard (aka tropical paradise)…

The bathroom…complete with a clawfoot tub. Love it!

We’re signing the lease this week….I’m excited!

Not food photos today…I forgot my camera at home.

Food:
Breakfast: Steel cut oats with 3 tbs Ezekiel Original, 1 tbs agave nectar, dried currants
Lunch: Met with Kate at Mother’s Cafe & Garden (second time in 24 hours!) to discuss our Healthy Living meet-up group that we’re forming. I feel like we made a lot of progress!…I ordered a Spinach Salad with the Cashew Tamari Dressing. This salad is the best I’ve ever had. Seriously.

I’m thinking about taking a fitness day off. We’ll see….

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Oats on the run…

Mood:
Good! I think we have decided on a place to move to! I don’t want to jinx it, so I won’t say anything else until we sign a lease!

Food:
Breakfast: Oats-to-go
-1/3 cup steel cut oats
-1 and 1/4 cup of water
-splash of soymilk
-2 tbs Ezekiel Original
-1 heaping tbs of oat bran
-1 tbs dried currants

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What a day

Remember the duplex? Remember the landlady that was MIA? I finally got through to her. Long story short, she claims to have to sell it now. What the cuss? Thanks for stringing us along for three weeks…..

…and then there’s the Jeep we’ve been borrowing from our friends that got broken into last night. Yeah, that’s really great. Hey–thanks for smashing in the window, whoever you are. And really–stealing the stereo? Awww, you shouldn’t have. And so thoughtful of you to bust up the dashboard and the door while you were at it. Really. You’re too kind.

Mood:
Sigh

Food:
Lunch: A bowl of Ezekiel Almond cereal with whole milk and agave nectar.
Dinner: Salad greens with honey dijon dressing and a side of happy rice.
Dessert: Hat trick! An entire Lindt Almond Milk Chocolate bar.

Fitness:
-30 minute run in the neighborhood hills
-40 minute Netflix workout

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Carrots & Craigslist Etiquette

Mood:
A-

Food:
Breakfast: I made a variation of carrot cake oatmeal. It was lacking in the flavor department this morning! Maybe it was the turbinado sugar that I used instead of the agave nectar (it wasn’t as sweet today) or a watery carrot? Can carrots be watery? Too much soymilk? As far as oatmeal goes, it left something to be desired. Oh, the tragedy!

I ate breakfast on our balcony this morning. I love the balcony. Even though we live in a condo, it’s like having our own private backyard. In the Spring, when the trees are green with thousands of tiny leaves, it feels like we live in a treehouse. You can literally reach out and grab a branch, and the leaves are so thick you can’t see the backyards of the houses that are on the other side of the creek below.

But we are looking for a change and some more space, and will be leaving our dear little place:

I’m super excited though about a potential home we have found! It’s not a house, per se, it’s a duplex that’s for rent in a great neighborhood just north of the UT campus. We can walk to grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops, ride bikes in the nearby trendy Hyde Park, hop on the bus and be downtown in 10 minutes. We haven’t signed a lease yet, so nothing is set in stone as we are still trying to sort out a few things with the landlord, but the idea of living there is exciting.

This all brings me to my beef about Craigslist etiquette, or lack thereof. We are trying to rent out the unit where we live currently, so we posted an ad on Craigslist. We have posted ads on Craigslist plenty of times before to sell this or that, and it never ceases to amaze me (or tick me off!) that people lack the basic courtesy of communication. You know, returning an email? Canceling with a phone call if there is a change of plans? Just common decency, not a lot to ask. We had a guy write to us about the condo, saying he was very interested and wanted to see the apartment the next day. We wrote back and said that would be fine. What time? No answer. Ok. We prep the house later that day, make plans around the fact that he might be coming by, etc. Still no answer. We wait a day or so, and write back to say we have posted a link of pictures if indeed he is still interested. No answer….I mean, really. Just send us an email that says “Hey, I’ve changed my mind, thanks anyway!” It’s not difficult. Not at all!

So, my PSA to you: be courteous to your fellow Craigslisters, be you buying, selling, casual encountering, whatever. It’s the right thing to do. 🙂

Whew!

How about some breakfast?

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Moving is so hard to do

Food:
Lunch: Leftover linguini with meat sauce.
Post-lunch: 4 dried Medjool dates and 2 dried Cali figs

I spent my lunch break looking at place for rent in Austin. Moving is exciting, but stressful at the same time. We love where we live now, but we need more space and the management company is a joke–they have caused me so much stress and hassle over the past two years. Boo.

Austin, why do you have to be such a hot spot? Why does the property value of your homes have to be so high? Why do P.O.S. 2-bedrooms get to rent for $1000 a month? Why!?!?

But….I love Austin. So what can I do?

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