Settling

I've been in Austin a little over a week now. That time has mostly been taken up with trips to Target, with occasional breaks to shop at Petco, H.E.B., Costco, and Alberto's Appliances which is without a doubt the best place in Austin to find a cheap washer/dryer set while also being harassed by live roosters. Basically, our journey to saving more money by living outside of the money-suck of New York City has begun with something of a spending spree. Aside from shopping, I've also managed to mostly learn to drive a manual without freaking out (except on hills during rush hour) and spent too long making a detailed Excel spreadsheet of all of the Crossfit gyms in South Austin (turns out there are a lot of them). Oh and swimming! I've been doing a lot of swimming. 

This weekend was my last summer Friday from work and also Labor Day weekend. I managed to photograph a handful of things more interesting than the inside of a generic retail store. These are a handful of them. 

On Saturday, we went to Jester King for a friend of a friend's birthday. It's a brewery in Dripping Springs, just outside of Austin. A lovely place for both brews and star gazing.

Jester King. It looks prettier in person...

Friend, whose birthday it was not, at Jester King.

On Sunday night, we went to the Alamo Drafthouse to see Boyhood. Several times during my last weeks in New York, when I would tell people I was moving to Austin, they would ask if I had seen it. Now I can say that I have, and I enjoyed it. Having beer and warm cookies brought to me during the movie probably helped as well.

At the Alamo Drafthouse. Sam as a walrus. 

 On Labor Day, on the way back from brunch, we stopped by Zilker Park for a bit. It was a little on the warm/humid side, but since it was only $2 (!) we decided to check out the botanical gardens there. They have a nice garden with prehistoric plants and this realistic dinosaur statue (see below).

It's like we're back in the Cretaceous Period. 

People keep asking if we're settled in here yet. In some ways, I suppose we are, but we also don't have any of our belongings yet. I'm learning to appreciate the simple things like sitting on the floor and sharing one coffee mug. (We've actually purchased a few outdoor chairs and a cheap futon on one of our Target runs, so the sitting on the floor really is just my personal preference--just so we don't sound too pathetic.) Hopefully, our things can come in the next week or so, and we can go back to being shamelessly materialistic. And decorating. Decorating would be fun.