Dining Selfie

This is a picture of us waiting for our food at Joann's on South Congress. We were walking and I had taken along this little mirror gadget that I put on my wrist so I can see if bikes and scooters are coming up behind us. Its utility is so-so, but it makes for an interesting picture.

Shoal Creek Trail

The Shoal Creek Trail has been redone from Fifth to West. Here's FFP climbing down the steps from Fifth. That's my finger over the lens trying to grab the picture with my phone!

Too narrow

Here's FFP walking on a too narrow part of the near South Lamar sidewalk.

No Sidewalks

The east side of near South Lamar. In parts, there are bad sidewalks. Here, none. That's my husband treading along. He's been nursing an ankle injury and we haven't been walking a lot. I miss it. This was taken in November. I think I'll post more pictures of him walking with me at a respectful distance. (Kidding, I just fall behind while talking pictures.)

Pixelated

Maybe double pixelated. This mural is along the west side of Lamar north of Barton Springs Road. The shadows, tree, and weeds add to the effect. We don't usually walk on this side of the street due to the lack of proper sidewalks.

Decorated Deer

At the Texas Chili Parlor the decoration is, shall we say, eclectic. I don't know if the buck will lose his decoration now that the holidays are over.

The Lege is Back

I'm not saying these are members of the Texas Legislature or Lobbyists, but I took this picture near the Capitol and the Texas Chili Parlor and the biennial session has just started.

Guiding Light on the 360

 

Our building (the 360 Condominiums) have bulbs on the residential floor hallway caps that are occasionally replaced with colored ones. I shot this around Christmas (hence red and green). On the left is the new building called Third+Shoal which is almost ready for occupancy. It will house a bunch of Facebook employees and a new coffee shop and a new restaurant.

Grackle Visit

While the grackles often decide our neighborhood is a great place to roost they don't usually perch on our building, preferring the trees below or the parking garage across the way. But one day at sunrise they were all over our balcony and others on our side of the building.

Goodbye 2018 Photo

 

Hours before the New Year, I shot this from the Headliners Club at Sixth and Lavaca in the Chase Building. That's our building (The 360) in the middle with the spire and The Independent on the right. (It's the tallest building in Austin at the moment. It is a luxury condo building and is nearing completion now.)

I'll Have Olives with That

The Cedar Bar and Restaurant on Brazos has some giant olives on top to the building. They are supposedly famous for Mexican Martini. I wouldn't know because I only drink margaritas at a venerable Austin restaurant called Fonda San Miguel and I wouldn't go with the Martini version with olives anyway! This restaurant had one or two other locations. I think all or part of the building might have been physically moved with it.

Mural Colors

Great use of this space on a parking garage wall. This is on Second and Brazos near the JW Marriott.

One more sunrise.

This one has a softer feel than the one I posted yesterday. Beauty like this makes it easy to get out of bed in the morning.

Natural beauty

Here is a sunrise that I captured from our balcony on a recent morning. I love the oranges and blues.

Grackle welcome

The people who arrived at their cars after work on a recent evening were greeted with this avian display. Grackles are not the nicest birds.

More scooter obnoxiousness

A friend took this shot of a batch of scooters jamming up the one van-accessible handicapped parking spot at Pease Park. Not acceptable.

That's our town!

I went to a Christmas party at a friend's house and snapped this shot of the skyline looking back at it from the hills west of town. If you had told me when I was a kid that Austin would look like this someday-- yeah, right.

The hostess checks her phone

We went to a spectacular Boxing Day party at a friend's house the other night and her granddaughter was checking her phone. This child is going to be a great success someday soon.

There we are!

We have been living down here for ten years and it's still hard to believe that the building you see to the right center here is our home. It's the one with the needle on top. The building to the right of ours is the tallest residential-only building west of the Mississippi.

Hippie Migas

Another delightful dish at Joan's-- which is part of the McGuire-Moorman group of restaurants here in town. Those are black beans on the side.

Holy Pozole!

This is the Pozole at Joann's -- a new cafe on South Congress that is becoming one of our faves. Love the diner atmosphere. A hearty, soupy stew that makes your morning bright!

Beauty and the Beasts

The windows at Blackmail, which is run by a good friend of ours, are always arresting when you walk down South Congress.

The Way The Dillo Was

This place is the Armadillo World Headquarters --  where Linda and I had our first date on Thanksgiving night, 1975. This concert hall will always have a warm place in my heart. This poster was drawn in 1977 and it hangs in the men's room at a favorite restaurant of ours - Joann's on South Congress. How I miss those bygone days!

Cookbook Cafe!

Linda ordered this tasty cassoulet the other day in our Library's cafe. No beans, which is kind of unusual, but yeah, a nice dish.

Fish dish is delish

One of my favorite dishes in the world -- Pescado Veracruzano at Fonda San Miguel. The olives and the spices make it perfect! Oh my yes.

Review this view

This is the view from the end of our hall now. This building will soon house a lot of Facebook employees. It is just across the street from us and well, so much for our view from that end of the building!

Good food and good friends!

We had dinner with two of our pals a few weeks ago. This Asian restaurant has terrific food - it's called Lin. Tasty!

$800 poster

This poster from the closing of The Armadillo World Headquarters, the last day of 1980, is on sale for $800. I'll take three!

That is puzzling!

Here is the puzzle that LB and I worked for the holidays! That is a tradition with us now.

Greetings to the new year!

We took this shot from an angle that shows our home (to the right with a needle sticking up) and some of the rest of the downtown skyline when we were at the Headliners Club the other day for the annual holiday luncheon party. Let's hope for a great year in 2019!

Picture of the Year -- Doggie Trio

Linda and I loved this threesome of canine power -- they seem to be welcoming passers-by to come pat them and check out their territory. A nice little vignette for what in many ways was a troubling year. All the best to our fellow bloggers and everyone else for 2019! Click here to check out other city bloggers' favorites.