I'm baaaaaack!

Here comes Heather!

I'm starting up this blog again. I've missed it! Writing is so therapeutic, not to mention I like the fact that thousands of people hang on my every word. It makes me feel special. :-)

Austin is Heavenly! It's spring here in Texas, and the greenery is coming out in full force. The trees are all waking up from slumber and bursting with fresh new leaves. The wisteria is blanketing everything with its luscious purple blooms, frangrance hanging heavy in the moist air. Yeah spring!

My new house is amazing! I wired Fred (my new roomie/landlord), the rent money, site unseen from San Diego. Luckily we both liked each other when I got here, and I fell in love with the house. I'm out in the 'burbs of Austin, far enough away to be quiet, but close enough that it only takes 10 minutes or so by bicycle to get right to the heart of downtown.

The house is a ranch style, built in 1944. Our lot is covered in towering live oak trees. There's a brick patio area nestled between the trunks, with multi colored lightbulbs strung above through the branches. Fred has had parties out in the yard and managed to fit more than a hundred people out there.

Inside the house, my favorite part is the kitchen. It's floor to ceiling to cabinets to trim, knotty pine woodwork with black wraught iron hardware. There's a double decker built in oven, original to the house, along with a 4 burner range and pancake griddle. I tested the oven out for the first time tonight by making Fred and I some Tempeh Rubens for supper. Later, I was in the middle of making chocolate chip pecan cookies when I realized there wasn't any vanilla in the house. I bicycled down to the grocery store (a few minutes) to get some, but didn't finish baking them before Fred left for the night. I hope there are still some left when he gets back! I hear this house is home to a cookie monster that makes off with baked goods when nobody is watching...

I'm sitting here on the comfy leather couch with my feet up on the sturdy wooden coffee table, listening to an old Dylan LP on the amazing stereo system. The speakers are positioned juuuust right for where I'm sitting. This is the living room...on my right is the fireplace, the entire wall made of flagstone, and essentially one big mantle area. Straight ahead are sliding glass doors that open into the enclosed porch area, where Fred has his office. (He's an architect/builder). On the left is a bookcase filled with classics.

Everything about this house is just so perfect. My room is about 16x16, with hardwood floors and two big windows. Right now it's kind of on the sparse side, but that will change once I get a job and money! So far all that's in it is a queen size futon bed (purple sheets!), and a curvy wooden dresser with mirror. I have three closets in there, so I'm definitely not lacking in storage space. My bathroom is painted a lively blue green color, with purple and yellow cabinets that have lizards for door handles. The bedroom is a soothing white, a perfect background for pictures of mine I want to blow up, frame, and hang on the walls. I'll be getting some hooks to hang my bike from the ceiling (And hanging it up, once Greyhound gives it back to me. They lost it somewhere in Dallas.)

All in all, I am having a wonderful time here. Now to make the picture perfect, I need a satisfying job and a nice boyfriend type, to bask in all of Austin's glory together.