Au revoir hair!

New hair! I got TEN inches cut off today. This is the shortest it has ever been (besides that time when I was 5 and looked like a little boy. That was not on my own free will, so it doesn't count).

My life is in a bit of a rutt, but why should my hair be??

Thank God for Orie at Visible Changes!

Now let's see if I can make it look like this ever again.

Keep Austin Weird

I am a Texan, born and raised, yet I have never felt any strong connection to my state. From the time I was about 14, I couldn't wait to leave. California, New York, Europe, those places are more for me. But in this gigantic state, my one little oasis is Austin. It's liberal, artsy, nature-focused, cultural, unique, and GORGEOUS. There is live music on every corner and just an all around appreciation for life. It goes without saying that if I ever had to live in Texas long term, that's the city I'd choose. Lucky for me, I have many friends who reside there and visiting them is always an adventure. This past weekend I had the great pleasure of staying with one of my oldest friends, Aisha. We flitted around the city from one destination to another and had the best time. She's an excellent musician in an awesome band, so she knows all kinds of hip and fun things to do. Check out her blog here and the band's website here. I promise you won't be disappointed!

The highest point in Austin, Mt. Bonnell. It was simply goreous.

An Austin hidden treasure, the Cathedral of Junk. A man started building it in his backyard in 1988. It's what the name suggests...a cathedral made out of, you guessed it, junk. It's pretty incredible.

Behold all of the junk.

This is at the top. I enjoy pretending to take cool pictures.



Before you brush this off as just another fast food snack, I'll have you know that The Mighty Cone was written about in Texas Monthly and Food & Wine magazine. This is a hot and crunchy chicken cone. Delicious. If you're in Austin, the trailer can be found on South Congress next to Hey Cupcake, which is equally as delicious.




My lovely friend Taylor suggested this great spot at Town Lake for a photo session. We were surrounded by fit Austinites and their equally fit dogs.





How I miss living in a house with her and getting to yelp while we watch television and dance around whenever we felt like it. You should check out her blog here.

I want to be hip like her!

This is indeed a miniature s'mores maker that can sit right on your table. Places that offer stuff like this is reason number 1298798712983 why I love Austin.

Being back home makes me wish I loved my city as much as the one just an hour north. Are there hidden treasures here I just haven't found in the past 23 years? If so, I'd really like to discover them.

23 Candles

A few days ago I celebrated my 23rd birthday, and I can't help but actually feel older this year. 23 just sounds more mature to me, so I'm trying to live up to it. I've always been a big fan of birthdays and really wish every person had a birthday week instead of just one measley day to celebrate their arrival into the world. But alas, all we have is one day. And my one day tends to center around food. Go figure.


PF Changs for lunch. This is the first time EVER that I've had a boyfriend actually with me on my birthday. To put this in perspective, I've had a boyfriend every year since my 18th birthday, so this was a big deal

Not since high school have I actually had a birthday party. Come to think of it, even when I was little my birthday parties were never extravagant. They pretty much followed the same formula every year: several friends, a big pink cake, plenty of food, a pinata, and other various games. The pinata slowly made its departure as I grew older, unfortunately. So for several years now, birthdays have simply been catching up with friends and eating good food.

This year I was fortunate to have some of my oldest and closest friends come by to celebrate with me. What I've always liked about my friends is that they aren't just from one single group. It's more than just having friends from home and friends from college because my friends from home are then split up into those from middle school, those from high school, and one who I met at a nerdy summer engineering program the summer before 7th grade. And you know what? I'm closer to all of them than ever.

I hope I can live up to the expectations age of 23 and all the adventures it will hopefully bring me!

Welcome, new decade

Depressing fact: While gathering picture for this post, I accidentally started going back into 2008. I guess when you waste half of your year being unemployed, all the months start to flow into one other. So one word for 2009: Unproductive. Not my best year. I'd like to get very rosy and optimistic with you right now, but I can't. Let's just hope 2010 is better and brings me EMPLOYMENT. Here are the few highlights:

Good friends gathered for my 22nd birthday, a night out at The Bonham. (Caroline, I apologize that your eyes are squinty in this picture but it's the only one I have of all of us!)

I had my first "wild" spring break with a wonderful group of people. We owned South Padre and made some pretty hilarious memories.


Then a whole lot of other random things went on (i.e. making memories on North Gate, Ring Dance, etc.), but they all led up to...

Graduation. Exciting. Scary. Useless. I wasn't ready and I still don't feel like I should have graduated.

But graduating meant I got to backpack through Europe with three of my very best friends. It was probably the best experience of my life.

Oh and we must not forget when I had a job for FOUR whole days but had to quit because it was a sham that would have put me out on the streets and in the poor house. So of course I celebrated its demise.

I finally got to see Britney Spears in concert, thanks to Caroline Brown's generosity. Courtney and I had a fabulous time with 13 year old girls, moms who dressed like their daughters, and creepy old men.

A trip years in the making: visiting Caroline in Silsbee. I've known this girl since freshmen year and she is honestly one of the greatest people I know. We had a blast having adventures in her Southeast Texas hometown.


These past months of unemployment have allowed me, as Aaron says, to live out the two years of college that I pretty much missed due to certain relationshipial circumstances. I never got to let loose and experience college those years, so I've been making up for it. But though I do enjoy that aspect of my joblessness, I know it's time to grow up and start a new life. So 2010, please help me do that.

New Year's Eve with the best boy I know.

Keep me strong, 2010, and don't let me down.