Back..sort of

So...I haven't written in a while. I have a bunch of cool reasons (excuses?) for that, but the long and the short of it is just that I've been busy. And alas, not busy with fun blog-worthy stuff that I'm now going to regale you with. Just regular work deadlines and volunteer commitments busy. And now that the weather's finally gotten cooler, Sam and I have also been doing more outdoor house/yard work. Unfortunately, while the fact that the garage no longer has a hole in the ceiling or the dirt patch part of the lawn now has sod on it is very exciting to us personally, it doesn't really warrant a "how I spent my weekend" post.

That said, I respect the loyalty of my readers, and I dug up some photos on my phone that I think I can cobble together a post with. That and I'm writing on a weekend, no less. These are the sacrifices I make for you.

I met a friend for happy hour at fancy food restaurant Barley Swine a few weeks ago. She was a bit late, but it was cool because the bar overlooks the kitchen and you can watch everything being artfully plated. Pipettes were used in abundance. One of these days I'll have to go back for the $85 tasting menu because it looks awesome, but it was fun to go for happy hour and try this appetizer. It's zucchini and a whole mess of other things. Delicious.

Sam and I met some friends for the annual Lit Crawl (the bar crawl portion of the Texas Book Festival). There were some good readings and it was a perfect night for it weather-wise. Last year, the runner up of the Literary Death Match (sort of a comic competition take on literary readings) went on to win the Booker Prize this year. Still haven't gotten around to reading his book. I'm sure he values both of those accolades equally. We'll see how the runner up this year does. 

This is another photo from a few weeks ago. My friend's friend was puppy sitting so naturally she brought him out for everyone to fawn over. He insisted on being up on the table at all times and since none of us were his primary caregiver or ever hoping to train him, we saw no reason not be oblige. 

My friend Kim who I know from New York, and who even after not living in Austin for a decade still manages to know more people here than I do, came down to visit her old stomping grounds. It was inexplicably 95 degrees in the middle of October, which was lucky for her because it meant a trip to Barton Springs. 

Okay, so ends my phone photo dump. I hope to be out of this haze of busy-ness soon and over this lack of blog writing funk. In the meantime, looking forward to seeing many of my readers at the end of the month!