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My Austin Vacay 2012

**This post is belated. Not because it's not about something awesome, but because I've been having technical difficultly with my iPhone. It's been crashing my computer every time I tried to use it. Finally there was an update for it, so it cooperated a bit better today. So, Ta da!**

I was very fortunate to get a quick trip to Austin to see my BFF Kathy. I left after the farmers market Saturday, which made for a long day, but it was totally worth it.

The first morning I was there, Kathy made this delicious breakfast with a fitting coffee mug.

Then she toured me at her new office building.

It was Sunday so it was pleasantly empty.

I love the ceiling treatment!

We made our way to the top floor and the City Manager's Office.

Where Kathy was working away....

Just kidding! I made her pose in a very professional manner in her very unprofessional Sunday attire.

She is so well know that she has even been illustrated in a book.

Seriously! It was a Christmas gift from a coworker who recreated a Christmas Tale with coworkers. I think it's a milestone in life to be illustrated in a book!

This is me outside of a place that was busted for human trafficking. Note: human trafficking is awful, but with Kathy's and my love of all things Law & Order, it was somewhat awesome....in that sad way.

Although the sign is gone, it was previously known as Panda Paw Paw. Very Law & Order SVU.

Then we met up with Kathy's guy friend.

I look extremely pale here, but we're pretty cute nonetheless.

Another great part to my trip was seeing Pepper!!

I also refer to her as Peeps, Peps, P. Just to cover all my bases.

I took this photo in a park because it reminded me of this adult-appropriate video:  

We went on a lovely little hike/walk. I wonder what happened to the other half of this rock monument?

We walked around enjoying the scenery for a while.

Holla! I'm outside walking!

Kathy was so sweet to shower me with some gifts for Everett! 

They were all vegetable themed as a nod to my farmers market!!!!

Kathy is great to include a book for E's library, and the Very Hungry Caterpillar was a perfect fit. 

Look at these cute onesies with veggies on them!

And she even found a little crate of soft vegetable characters. 

Beyond cute!

We also spent plenty of time just hanging out and catching up. We did a little shopping downtown, and we decided to express our love for each other publicly.

Just kidding! We didn't spray paint that, but we did enjoy it.

We spent one evening watching the bats leave their napping spot underneath the bridge by the Four Seasons.

Another day we visited a vineyard.

I think Kathy looks pretty good amongst the grapes. 

We lifted the leaves and found real grapes!

As if all this wasn't enough, Kathy made me the most delightful tomato and corn pie. She even made the crust from scratch!

Pepper was very interested in this lovely dinner.

Delicious!

It was such a fun trip, and my last before Everett arrives!

How not to sell me furniture

Chris and I are in the market for a glider--possible recliner--for the nursery, and we're also in the market for a possible pull-out couch for the third "bed" room. 

We've visited several local furniture stores, and the story from Sunday is exactly how not to sell me furniture. 

We go into the store, and are immediately greeted by a friendly, laid back guy who said he would let us look around and that we could come to him if we had questions. We did like several of the pieces we saw, so we sought him out to ask him some questions. 

First, we asked him if a glider he had came in leather. Side note: I really want a brightly colored, like green or orange, glider--possibly recliner--for the nursery. In my head it would be perfect!

I told the guy this was what I really wanted, and we ask if the glider that we liked could be ordered in leather. 

"No, gliders don't come in leather," he says. "Men usually like leather, and women usually like gliders, so those two things don't go together." And he bumped his fists together for emphasis. 

First error: He just told me what I wanted didn't exist and that it was abnormal I would want that. 

Next, he showed us all the fabrics that the glider did come in. I told him we really wanted a leather or maybe a mirco-suede/fiber because we had a cat who might like a new scratching post. 

His response, "Isn't it funny how we buy things for our home to make our animals happy?"

Ummm, thanks judgmental, non-animal owner.

At this point, I was done trying to purchase a glider from him. 

Chris piped up at this point and asked about a pull-out couch. I think Chris knew the cat comment might elicit a non-friendly response from me. 

So we moved on to the pull-out couch question. 

Dude's response (See how he is now "Dude" in my mind?), "Do you really need a pull-out couch? I usually steer people away from them when building a room." 

I just told you we wanted a pull-out couch. 

We gave no response, and he countered with, "I have one couch that I could custom order for you with a pullout frame." 

We agreed to walk to the other end of the store to see this couch. It was huge! Very pretty, but four cushions long. I said, "Oh wow. This is much too big for our room. We really just need a standard sized pull-out couch." 

Dude's response, "This is a loveseat, so you won't find anything smaller."

I stare back at him about to stop this nonsense in its track. 

Chris breaks in and says, "We really need that size," pointing to what most people would consider a large loveseat. 

"That's a chair and a half, and would never come in a pull-out." 

Before we visited the store we were currently in, we had been in another store that had an "apartment pullout," which was the same size as the "large loveseat" we were staring out. I began to point this out and realized there was no point. 

I quickly thanked him for his help--not really--and said we would keep looking. 

In summary, the way not to sell me furniture is to tell me what I want is abnormal for my gender, that I shouldn't love or consider my beloved animal, then that I don't need what I want and finally that what I want doesn't exist even though I just saw it. 

Thanks, Dude.

Our nursery walls

The wall decals that match our nursery bedding finally came in, and Chris and I had so much fun last night decorating the walls. Each graphic came separately, allowing you to customize everything.

Here's what we put together: 

Chris spent a lot of time on the main one:

 

 

This one is above where the changing table is going: 

Can you see the baby owl in an egg in the hole of that tree! 

It was amazing how different the room felt once we were done

We still have to get a few more pieces, but the room is coming together for sure.