Weekend Trip to Austin

Mr. Curieuse and I hopped over to our soon-to-be-new-city Austin over the weekend, and guys, the hype is TRUE!  Even though we were house hunting most hours of the day, we had a fabulous time.  The City is beautiful, the people are friendly, and the food is amazing. And we got stuck in marathon traffic and I can say with absolute certainty that even at its worst, Austin traffic is a zillion times better than LA traffic.

Mr. Curieuse was very happy to find Stone IPA in the local liquor store {priorities}.  He's now convinced we will miss nothing about living in LA.

House hunting is so tiring, which is surprising given the fact that it's not at all physically demanding.  It is, however, a lot like interviewing - another mentally exhausting activity.  Our fantastic realtor took us all over the Westlake area, and we saw two houses we really liked.  One is a wanna-be ranch, and one is crying out for its builder-grade materials to be replaced so it can really shine.  Very different personalities.

Guess which one is which?  I have to say that I grew slightly attached to the buffalo.  Not sure why, but I was half hoping it would come with the house. {It doesn't.}

We were pretty tired on Friday night, but stopped by 6th Street for a casual dinner before turning in.  It was cold and rainy, but we sat in the window at Chupacabra Cantina and had a blast people-watching and eating way too many tortilla chips.

I celebrated by having a Diet Coke.  It's my only vice these days, and I rarely have them {pipe down self-proclaimed pregnancy experts!}.  This is my "so tired, but so happy" expression, strikingly similar to my "hurry and take the picture, husband!" expression:

We were at the house hunt again the next day, bright and early.  But we met up for friends for some BBQ at Stubbs that evening.  We ordered family style, which meant that we got three different kinds of meat and 12,453 sides. Everything was delish.  I'd definitely come back!

We were perfectly positioned right above the downstairs stage, but alas the show didn't start until 11p.m. and we are officially too old to stay up late partying AND be functional home purchasers at 8a.m. the next morning.

Downtown Austin is just what a downtown should be: full of fun things to do, easy to navigate, and safe to wander. It is SO hard to find all three of these in the same city!

I had my first Blue Bell Ice Cream experience.  Mr. Curieuse thinks it's the best in the world.

I had Banana Pudding.  Say what you will, but it was amazing both in taste and serving proportion {I asked for a small serving}.  Things really are bigger in Texas!

Over the course of the weekend, we also stopped by Amy's Ice Creams and Home Slice pizza.  Thank goodness people in Austin like to exercise, because we'll need a serious regimen to offset the great food scene!

We're working out offers on the houses we liked, and it's such a psychological game. Good thing Mr. Curieuse works with the markets all day and is unfazed by the emotions that get tangled up in large amounts of money.  It's amazing to me what people think their properties are worth, regardless of market data and REALITY.  But still, I'm hopefully we'll close on something by the end of March, and then we can move to ATX full time!

Another fun thing that happened during this trip is that I finally felt the bebe move!  It started on our flight to Austin, and s/he's pretty much been line-dancing in there ever since.  A sure sign s/he wants to live in Texas.  I find the movements mostly charming, but slightly weird. Sort of like the little kicks I used to get from the frogs I'd capture back in the day.

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Hope you had a wonderful weekend, too!  Only three more days left of my BigLaw Associate Job.  Then I become a full time house hunter/packer/errand-runner/cook/laundress.  Time flies!