Happy weekend!

We're hanging out here in Austin, where the temperature has seemed stiflingly warm the past couple days... apparently I've really gotten used to the cool weather in Chicago. :) But as a type, a cold front is moving into the Austin area, and Rick is hoping for some thunderstorms tonight. And while I don't necessarily share Rick's affinity for bad weather, I won't mind a few storms... as long as they move out of the way before we board our plane back to Chicago tomorrow.

We've had a good weekend -- had a great family dinner Friday night, where we ate far too much food... just like our Friday nights always used to be. :) It never seemed like the weekend had started unless I came home from a Friday night family dinner feeling way too full and vowing to never eat again. (And then, of course, I'd wake up starving on Saturday morning... I don't know how that happens...)

Last night we met our friends Nick and Cindy for dinner at North, which is one of my favorite Austin restaurants. Chicago is such a great foodie city, but North is one of those restaurants I'll HAVE to visit any time I'm back here. I got the strozzapreti pasta, which has spinach and mushrooms and pine nuts and parmesan cheese... it's one of my favorite dishes at the restaurant, but Rick got the short ribs and they were awesome. I've been on a strange short rib run the last few months -- I'm not usually a red meat kind of person. I'm about a hundred times more likely to order chicken or a vegetarian dish at a restaurant. But a few months ago, I took a chance on the short ribs at the Roy's restaurant that was in the lobby of the first apartment we stayed at in Chicago. They were SO good that I started trying short ribs at other restaurants -- sometimes with not-so-good results (they HAVE to be cooked until the meat is super tender and starts falling apart, otherwise I end up on the other end of the appreciation spectrum and think they're gross... it's a fine line for me with red meat...). But the short ribs Rick had last night actually made me rethink my vegetarian dish and wonder if I should've changed my order. At one point, Rick and Cindy ended up in a heated theological discussion (as they are often wont to do) and I was able to sneak several bites of Rick's meal without him even noticing...

Nick and I, on the other hand, are the types who like to avoid conflict... so we stayed out of the discussion and instead spent our time praising the incomparable beauty of the classic gray Yankee away uniforms. ;) (Nick's actual feeling on the subject is that the Yankee away uniforms are the ugliest uniforms in the major leagues. Although I think perhaps he just says that because he's not a Yankee fan... I mean, c'mon -- do you really think the Oakland yellow/green combo is attractive? Is the Tampa Bay sky blue REALLY a color grown men should be wearing to play baseball?? :))

And in non-Austin news: our offer for the new condo was accepted this weekend, so perhaps third time's the charm?? We have an inspection on Tuesday (the same guy who did the LAST two inspections... we should be getting some kind of group discount on these things...), and hopefully -- HOPEFULLY -- we can close by the end of May. I will stay cautiously optimistic about this, but I don't want to make TOO many plans until we finally know for sure that THIS is the one. At least, unlike the last two places, this condo needs very little in the way of rehab. The only thing I'd want to do before we move in is replace the carpet in the master bedroom. Any other improvements can wait, because it's in pretty good shape...

We head for the airport tomorrow morning and then it's back to Chi-town, where, hopefully the trees will be slightly greener and the weather will be slightly warmer and a new condo will soon be in the future... that's the sign of spring, right? Green trees, warm weather and closing on condos?? Yeah, I think that's the way it goes... :)