For Sale

No, I'm not for sale, and neither is my blog. But, my house is!

If you or anyone you know are looking for a townhouse in Southwest Austin, look no further. My townhouse is move-in ready with updated finishes throughout from the lighting to the flooring.

Check out the virtual tour at www.5515Davis73.com

As you may have heard, Austin, TX is one of the best places to live in the United States today. Some evidence to back up my claims:

The Mother Nature Network recognizes Austin as one of the 10 greenest cities in the country.

Austin lands the number one spot as the top U.S. city for job growth, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Austin makes the list as one of the best cities for recession recovery on Forbes.com.

The American College of Sports Medicine’s American Fitness Index ranks Austin ninth among “fit” cities.

Not too shabby, right? Pass this along and help me sell my house! Muchas Gracias!

My Best Friend's Wedding

I'll be the first to admit that leaving Australia was much harder than I had expected. And if I wasn't returning to the States to attend the wedding (eight years in the making) of one of my very best friend from college, I'm not sure that I would have come back! I returned to Austin for a brief three day layover, and I mean that in the most literal sense of the word as I was lying in bed for most of that time. The jetlag combined with lack of sleep during my last weekend in Oz nearly did me in! One of the few things I did during my short stay in Austin was meet two of my favorite partners in crime for some Mexican food, margaritas and a much needed catch-up session.

Has anyone seen our other Bree?



My next stop was Cashiers, NC, en route to Clayton, GA for the wedding. This worked out perfectly as I got to visit with my grandparents, eat at my favorite local bbq joint, spend a night with my parents at their mountain house and be reunited with Bailey! The drive to Clayton was less than an hour from there and the wedding festivities got underway the next day.

12 Bones with Big Daddy and Jean



After much anxiety and concern about the weather holding out for the outside wedding, the day turned out to be beautiful and the ceremony went off without a hitch! There were even some gunshots off in the distance...we were in rural Georgia after all. Meghan and Mike have been dating since we were in college at the University of Florida, and they looked so happy on their big day that it brought a tear to my eye (or was that tear because I'm now one of the last single girls still standing?).

The beautiful bride



Kirsten, the next to get hitched (and my twin separated at birth)!



JoAnn, who recently learned what a french fried potato was...



The party following the wedding was one of the best in recent memory. We danced until late into the night and then Jaime and I apparently raided the fridge and ate the O'Malleys out of all of their cheese. Very strange behavior, but it made sense to us at the time!

Where the girls are the fairest...



J-Pratt, vW and Metzger



The 8 (including a stand-in for Beatriz...the resemblance was uncanny!)



Cheers!



Jaime and I were lucky enough to get to spend an unexpected extra night with the newlyweds in Georgia before hitching a ride with them down to Florida. Bailey also got to come along for the ride. Once in Orlando, I had a fabulous time with my family and friends. My niece stole the show of course; she is just too cute for words (me, biased?). I made sure to sneak in a few days at New Smyrna Beach and hit up two of my favorite NSB institutions - Mon Delice Bakery and JB's Fishcamp. They did not disappoint!

Love her to pieces



This explains why my phone bill was so high this month!



Swimming at the club



My dad always says the ocean cures everything. I think he's right!



Ahhhh...



Just some of the ambiance at JB's



They also had a picture of Tim Tebow hanging from a pipe...love this place



One of the best parts of Meghan and Mike's nuptials was that we got to celebrate them again the next weekend at a party in Orlando. The Florida girls were in attendance, as was Jaime, who also stuck around an extra week to be there.

Comedic duo: V-Dub and the former O'Malley



Apparently we love big belts



Bailey and I are now safely back in Austin, catching up with our friends here and figuring out our next move!

The Life of Byron

My last weekend in Australia (sniff, sniff) was nothing short of a blowout! It started with a trip down to the Gold Coast to see the quality crew down there, and ended with an amazing night in Byron Bay. If I was going to have to leave, this was the best send off I could have imagined!

The night on the Gold Coast started with dinner at Mai Thai, where the food was abundant and the wine was flowing. We then headed over to a bar called Shuck for the remainder of the evening and finished out the night with an impromptu afterparty at Steve's place.

At Shuck with Filo and Kiersten



Love the Gold Coast!



Me, Kiersten and the Whole Package



Note to self: never pass out at an afterparty...



After employing various recovery methods (coffee, going for a swim, etc), Steve, Filo, Simon and I hopped in the car for a last minute roadtrip to Byron Bay. We started the trip off the right way by stopping at the Manolas Brothers Deli in Broadbeach for breakfast. Then we were on our way. What started as a three person trip eventually expanded into eight, and we had a blast!

We started the trip with a climb up to the lighthouse that looks out over Byron Bay and is the most Easterly point in all of Australia.



Shadow of the lighthouse in the surf below



In the window of the lighthouse



Begging to have their picture taken (only fair since I was crashing boys' weekend and all)



We then recovered back in our room at the Belongil Beachhouse as everyone else arrived.

Bunk Buddies!



Steve took charge of rationing the tequila



From there, it was time to hit the town and we didn't stop until well into the morning!

Checking out some reggae music at the brewery



Me and the lovely Sharon



Triple S - Sharon, Simon and Sacha



This picture speaks for itself (and says 'WTF?')



With Filo at the Beachy



Chris (Yes Man) getting his groove on at the Beach Bar



Solid crew



Lounging on the beach before we made the trip home



Wish we could have stayed longer, but our time in Byron was well spent. I hope to go back again someday soon!

A couple of the most memorable quotes from the weekend:

"Have you heard the latest about Bob Seger? He's still running against the wind."

"I eat because I'm sad. And I'm sad because I eat."

BrisVegas

Back in Brisbane and enjoying the beautiful 'Winter' weather. My days are spent in sleeveless shirts and flip flops (or thongs, but not the kind you are picturing). A couple of days back, Simon and I took a drive down to Moreton Bay and had fish and chips overlooking the water, followed by a walk down Shorncliffe Pier.









Yesterday, I ventured into the city for some long overdue shopping! I didn't end up coming home with much, but it was still a fun outing. In addition to hitting the stores, I walked to the Gallery of Modern Art, where I unfortunately missed the Valentino Retrospective (celebrating the past, present and future of his work) by a mere two days. So bummed by this! I decided to check out the GoMA anyway and was even able to peek over the curtains from the second floor to see a little bit of the Valentino exhibit below.



I then wandered down to the Southbank Parklands and had lunch overlooking the river, a fake beach and Brisbane's version of the London Eye.

Walkway to the Parklands



The Brisbane Eye



View of the 'beach'



Watch out, world! Tents are going up for Brisbane Fashion Week



Lovely city of Brisbane



I successfully navigated the train system home in the afternoon, which made this 'clueless' American feel pretty darn good about herself!

Blame Canada

As much fun as I am having in Australia, I have one major complaint to share with all of you back home. I am SO sick of people telling me that I should pretend that I'm from Canada because Canadians are more well liked than Americans here! The only possible reason for this is that the bacon here closely resembles Canadian bacon (read: ham), so the Aussies feel like they have to stick up for their bacon brethren against the big, bad Americans.

But, enough is enough. I am on a one woman crusade to prove to the Australians that Americans are some of the world's finest citizens! Canada, you're going down...

Redemption Is Spelled N-I-G-H-T-C-A-T

My second day in Melbourne certainly did not disappoint. First up was an Australian Rules Football match, which is quite popular down here as you might imagine. The game was completely foreign to me and in no way, shape or form resembles what we know as football in America. Not only is it played on a huge oval-shaped field, but there are 18 players on each side of the field, so you can only imagine how much action is taking place at any time. On top of that, the play is nearly non-stop as the ball is hardly ever 'down' and when the ball is turned over, play continues without so much as a pause. The fast pace was a breath of fresh air after all of the stoppages that we have become accustomed to in sport in America. The match that I attended was apparently a big one - Carlton vs. Collingwood, the Blues vs. the Pies - but as it turned out, it was a complete blow out in favor of the Collingwood Magpies. Regardless, it was fun to be amongst the nearly 80,000 fans in attendance!



A few highlights of the game experience included:

Getting to see the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), which is the biggest sporting stadium in Australia



Apparently if you are Australian, you know who this guy is (but I couldn't tell you)



Witnessing the use of the world's largest pom poms by some rabid fans



Spotting the coolest little kid ever during halftime when local clubs get to play on the big field. Our favorite, number 16, resembled an oompa loompa, wore one glove and sauntered around the field like he owned the place. He was the man!



After leaving the match a little early because of the way it was turning out, Adam and I headed to his place for a few drinks before going out on the town for the night. On tap for the evening were a few highly touted (by Adam) bars - Bimbo, Polly and the legendary Nightcat. A great time was had, though I must admit that I sent myself home early and could not quite repeat my performance from the previous weekend. I blame this on the fact that I was not in fancy dress...

I'll have the MANsinthe



The Nightcat!





Bust a move