So it looks like we’ll be moving on January 2. We’re super excited, and kind of antsy – we hate being in limbo! We’ve been trying to pack a little bit every week, which means we’re surrounded by half-packed boxes. And there’s still so much stuff! How do we accumulate so much STUFF in such a small space?!
Our loft in Greenville has 2 bedrooms. We’re excited to have a space for people to stay in when they come visit (come visit!), and even with all this stuff we have, we think we’ll need more stuff to fill up the loft. It’s a conundrum.
In other news, I’m cooking again! Lately I’ve been relying on a vegan meal delivery service, restaurants, and Favor for our meals. I’ve just felt stressed out and worn out. But something changed this weekend, and I am READY to be back in the kitchen. So it was chili beans and rice last night; pancakes this morning; field peas with kale and potatoes tonight. And I’m considering making some oatmeal-chocolate-chunk cookies now. Once you turn on my kitchen switch, it’s hard to turn it off. 😀 #cantstopwontstop
On Friday we decided to take advantage of this lovely “fall” weather and take a walk downtown. We trekked to the park and watched families play cricket, soccer, football, frisbee – and then we walked to Juliet for dinner. I’m really going to miss this patio, and this particular rosé, and these particular bartenders, and those perfectly fried chickpeas.
I’ve already started thinking about which restaurants we’ll want to visit first on our trips back to Austin. For example, we eat at our local cafe, Cipollina, at least once a week; but would we seek it out if we didn’t live around the corner? I’m not sure. I definitely would want to return there to say hello to all the waitstaff, who are pretty much family now. (When we walk in, one of the waiters always says, “Oh, honey bunny!!” and gives us hugs.) 🙂
I know that we’ll find new favorite places in Greenville, and that (hopefully) all our favorites will still be here when we return, but I’m wondering what we’ll miss the most. Probably all the bartender/waitstaff/manager friends we’ve made at so many Austin restaurants over the years. Well watch out, Greenville, because we’re coming for YOU! (You WILL be our friends.) 😀
Something new for me: lots and lots of travel. I’ve been flying to Indianapolis every couple of weeks to meet with investors and our software development team. I’ve slowly been learning my travel preferences and how to keep sane through flight delays, weird hotel issues, and crazy weather.
This time, I stayed at a bed & breakfast near our office downtown, which was lovely! Since I cooked at a B&B for a couple of years, I’m now really comfortable with them, with meeting new people over breakfast, and feeling like I’m staying in someone’s home. The first morning, Jeanne (the host) made a lovely spread of fruit, soufflé, bacon, sausage, an orange roll, juice, and coffee. She also played the piano while I ate – I felt so spoiled!
The next morning, Jeanne wasn’t feeling good, so her husband Tom cooked breakfast:
I loved this little cheese omelet. It’s just happy stuff.
Apparently I brought ICE STORM 2018 with me to Indy…
I arrived to freezing temperatures and lots of sleet, and awoke to an icy world! Schools were closed, people were late to work, and my hosts decided it was too icy for me to walk to work, so they dropped me off. 🙂 And that afternoon, it snowed! I just kept staring out the window and giggling, and my team (who’s used to snow) was so amused by it. They asked, “when was the last time you saw snow?” I have no idea.
I had lunch with a few of my design and software engineering peeps – we walked over to City Market and had some delicious poke!
I don’t really mind dining alone, and I’m grateful for that. I just bring some crossword puzzles, or text Justin while I eat, and I usually sit at the bar and chat with the bartenders. Usually when I travel to Indy there’s no time to go out for dinner on my own, but this time I got to do just that. I had been wanting to try Bluebeard, as I heard the food and cocktails were great, and the whole restaurant has a Kurt Vonnegut theme. (Lurve.)
Bay scallops with roasted tomatoes and parmesan, plus spaghetti with creme fraiche and parmesan. SO good.
The bartender told me about his “birthday cocktail” – a negroni riff made with Plantation Pineapple rum, Gran Classico, and Chartreuse. So of course I had that with dessert.
This chess pie tasted like the inside of a pecan pie!
One thing I’ve learned about travel is that you walk A LOT. Through giant airports, from hotels to offices, to lunch, etc. I ended up ditching my pretty boots and buying some Chucks as I was walking to dinner one night.
Hello friends, family, coworkers, and other lovely people! Welcome to my lovely new space!
As you may (or may not) know, Justin and I have been happily living in Austin TX for around 15 years, mostly in the same neighborhood, mostly doing freelance/remote work. I started working with an amazing executive assistant company called 33Vincent a few years ago, which has produced a sister company (yet-to-be-named), that will be an amazing software-community-education-awesomeness platform for executive assistants everywhere. Those of you who are familiar with executive assistants know that they work hard, get little recognition, and don’t have any tools specifically crafted for them. We’re going to change that!
As Chief of Staff, I’ll be working with our CEO to create this company from the ground up – and that ground happens to be located in Greenville, SC. Because I am super excited about this company and my role, and because it turns out that I don’t love airplanes all that much, Justin and I are relocating to Greenville for the next 6-12 months as we get this company started.
Had we ever considered Greenville as a place to live? NO. Had we ever thought South Carolina was where we’d end up? NO. Did I ever imagine that I’d be flying to Indianapolis every two weeks for meetings? NOPE. But here we are, and we’re super excited for this new phase of our lives. I know we’ll be physically a bit further away from all of our family and friends, so I wanted to create this little blog as a way for us to update you on what we’re doing/eating/drinking/thinking in our new digs. Here we go!
