Poco-Cocoa – Page 44 – Things & Stuff

Day of the Dead

I totally missed Halloween this year. Actually, I feel like I’ve missed all the holidays and seasons this year. I don’t even have baby pumpkins on my steps. This is sad.

I think I sway between wanting to celebrate holidays and resenting the feeling that I should celebrate holidays. One day I want baby pumpkins and orange twinkle lights and cobwebs and costumes, and the next I just want the candy. One day I want to see Christmas lights and send Christmas cards and buy Christmas gifts, and the next I just want the candy. Wait, there’s a pattern here.

Thankfully, my neighborhood grocery store employs Alfred, one of the nicest guys ever. He dressed up yesterday, and it made my day. Even his ears are red!

So now it’s November first, the Day of the Dead, and I’m sad that October has slipped past so quickly. So hear this, November! I shall experience you to the fullest! I shall wear sweaters and boots and scarves and mittens! Wait, it’s 80 degrees outside. And the air conditioner is on. Oh, Austin, you crazy woman! Stop with your hot flashes!

I did see this lovely spiderweb yesterday on my way to work. I took a photo of it, and then I got kind of creeped out by the spider. I know he’s small, and just doing his thing, but BUGS! EEK!

So also, we missed most of the film festival. Justin took a spill on his scooter and we ended up in the ER on a Saturday night. Thankfully, he was wearing his helmet, and he knew to curl up in a ball as he tumbled down the street, and he was not hit by any cars (although his poor scooter was). So he’s perfectly fine except for scrapes and bruises, and he’s never allowed to ride a scooter ever again. Nor am I. So! Anyone want to buy two scooters?

So life is going on, and work is getting done, and OH BY THE WAY I WAS PUBLISHED HERE. Please click away and enjoy these tidbits about some of my favorite shops in this great city.♥

November 1, 2012

Everyday Life

austin heat, halloween, holidays, writing gigs
a little change

Hey internets! I’m going to be micro-blogging over here for a while. I hope to see you all there!

October 19, 2012

Fun stuff
Randoms
Last week, from my iPhone:

pumpkin bread and hot chocolate :: sleeping kitteh :: friends’ birthday szechuan fish, after demolition

cortado :: pumpkin pistachio bread with honey butter and sea salt :: lunch reading

grilled cheese and tomato soup :: baby corn from the market, eaten raw :: juice snack

I’m still working on simplifying. I’ve been cooking most of our meals. I’ve been questioning random purchases. I’ve downsized my purse. I’ve let go of some worries. I’ve made a reasonable work schedule. Still to do: Pare down my closet and drawers. Someday.
- Rachel, on buying a technology-free car when she was a teenager: “I was too punk rock for door locks.”
- I read this and loved it. I finally watched this, which was so much fun, and this, which was pretty but meh.
- I wrote an article for this website. I’ll let you know when it gets published!
- Is everyone else in love with this video?
Song of the week: Organ Donor by Jeremy Messersmith

I hope you all have a great week!♥
October 7, 2012

Random Thoughts
Letters #17

Dear George,

I know you belong to my friends Kate and David, but you’re just such a cute kitten that I think I’ll adopt you as my kitty-nephew. Just stay a kitten, okay?

Dear Autumn,

You’re here, you’re here! Tonight the air is a bit chilly, and today at Lick there was butternut squash/cinnamon/brown sugar ice cream, and yesterday I wore jeans and boots, and today I roasted okra and it wasn’t horribly hot in the house. Hooray, you’re here!

Dear Rachel,

For the past few days, you have accompanied me on treks across Austin for an upcoming article, and it has been so much fun. Let’s pretend I have articles to write every day, and visit shops and eat things together forever.

Dear Austin food shop owners and staff,

Thank you for being so dang nice, and for answering all my boring questions, and for letting me take pictures of you, and for making such amazing things for our community. You’re the best.

Dear Husband,

Thank you for patiently trying to wake me up when I ask you to, even though I never get up and beg for ten more minutes and oversleep and then have to rush out the door. Thank you for saying it’s okay for us to buy Halloween candy even though we won’t have any trick-or-treaters. Thank you for dancing with me at your brother’s wedding this weekend, even though we were the only ones on the dance floor. Thank you for kissing me on my eyelids when I’m stressed out. Thank you for being awesome.

Dear Simplicity,

I am looking for you. I am hoping for you, and preparing for you. I am ready to spend less, cook more, consume less, connect more. I am ready to decide what is important in my life, and focus on those things. I am ready to figure out what makes me happy and what makes me stressed, and what to eliminate, and what to indulge in. You are a vague and constantly-changing goal, but I am headed toward you nonetheless.

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for sending me cards and bracelets and hope. Thank you for texting and calling and checking in. Thank you for being understanding and loving and patient. Thank you for making me laugh and inviting me out and making me feel wonderful inside. I love you all more than you know.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!♥

October 1, 2012

Letters + Moments
Sunday Afternoon

We’ve started a new thing – weekend early dinner at Elizabeth Street Cafe. Not every weekend, but just at about 5pm, when there’s no wait and we can sit at the counter looking out over the patio. We joke that we’re senior citizens, because we prefer to go out for dinner at 5 or 6pm, but we avoid waits, we often get happy hour prices, and we come home and eat dinner #2 at 10pm anyway. 🙂

Have you been to Elizabeth Street Cafe? I fought it for a long time. It’s so expensive! It’s just Vietnamese food! It’s just cutesy and not great! But no. It’s SO good. Everything is crazy fresh and delicious and locally sourced and beautifully presented. And at 5pm, the light at the window seat is lovely.

I’m breaking the rules AGAIN – these photos are from my iPhone! (gasp)

spring rolls with BBQ pork :: amazing spicy avocado-ish sauce

grilled octopus salad :: kohlrabi rocks

banh mi with lemongrass tofu

vermicelli bowl with grilled chicken thighs and fried spring rolls :: shady blonde punch in the background

Yum.♥

September 24, 2012

Edibles

Day of the Dead

a little change

Randoms

Letters #17

Sunday Afternoon