Aside from the happy hour, the Alligator Grill is famous for being the restaurant in the cult classic "Office Space." Yes, the movie where Jennifer Aniston is the least annoying of all.

CRAWFISH ARE IN SEASON!

Last night we went to the Alligator Grill for the fabulous happy hour. The oysters were a quarter each, peel-n-eat shrimp were ten cents each, and the crawfish were $8/lb. Yes, what you see here is crawfish. There is a definite art to eating these little suckers. The details are a bit primitive but lets just say you only want to eat the tail. Only crazy cajuns 'suck the head'. The standard Austin beer is Lonestar and Shiner Bock. Shiner is available in some parts of southern california but Lonestar is harder to come by outside of Texas (I guess). Lonestar is, apparently, the National Beer of Texas. And what does one have after crawfish? Fried gator of course. I did not take a picture since it looked just like fried chicken. The texture is quite different; more tender than chewy and not as dense as chicken. Very good but hard to describe.
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Home sweet home! I was worried these cats would never forgive me for all the sedatives(prescribed, I swear) I gave them on the drive here. They probably don't even remember. It was awful; peering into their kitty carriers only to see googlie-eyes while driving. The alternative (screaming, angry cats) would have made me googlie-eyed permanently.

FAT CAT!

Yes, our cat is fat. We're working on it though. Nice big tub. Once I start working (Feb. 1), I think it will come in handy.

This is the fabulous 24 hour gym in our complex. It's 2 large rooms; cardio and weights. You can't see it in the picture
but each of the 4 treadmills have a flat screen tv which really makes the time fly! I'm kinda a dork though; I'm reading the first Harry Potter book (better than tv). Josh and I are working out about 5 days a week. We are the fattest we've ever been in our lives. We got fat together; we'll get skinny together. Ain't love grand?!! Just outside the gym is a large pool with several little gathering areas complete with barbeques.

Our bedroom is roomy with a closet that holds both are 'wardrobes' AND shoes. There is a built in desk (left corner) but we're not using it that way. Again, c-r-a-p.
Our apartment is on the first floor and on the corner so we have one neighbor above us (which we haven't met). Evidence suggests that she is 250lbs. and likes to put on heels at 10pm. No, it's not really that bad. Everyone we've met in the complex is super friendly. We live about 1 block from a new middle school so there are quite a few families here which I'll take any day over college kids!

Perfect size for the two of us. I really like our kitchen, plenty of cabinet space, a quiet dishwasher that finishes in less than an hour, a small pantry, etc. Behind the door is the washer and dryer which I LOVE! I'm getting used to an electric stove (again). I can't cook on high like I always did (with gas) which is probably a good thing. Erin, remember when we'd cook together on Georgia Street and you'd turn down the flame and then I'd turn it back up?

Josh and I put this lovely futon together ourselves. The directions were so frustrating; 3 pictures with a few numbers and letters (labels)- no real directions. So, of course, we assembled it backwards. Josh remained calm; took it apart and started over. No cussing or throwing things; which is what I would have done. Thank goodness I found someone to keep my irrational temper in check! The futon folds to a rather comfortable bed which is great since we have visitors coming during the first week of March. Of course, all guests will have our bed! Come visit, don't be shy!

Finally! I'm posting something!

Okay, so I created this blog over a week ago but didn't post anything until now. Lame, I know. I have a lot to say about my first 3 weeks in Austin, Texas and haven't been sure of where to start. First of all, the drive out here was great. Nothing major or too exciting; very flat for oh..about 18 hours (roughly 1300 miles). I didn't take many pictures (I'll post the few I did take) since there wasn't much to see. My apologies to places like Yuma and Wilcox, AZ. Our apartment is very cozy and all unpacked. Although we had a huge garage sale in San Diego, we still arrived with what I like to call C-R-A-P. Luckily, we have storage on the patio which is full of things that I'm sure will be useful, someday. The picture above is from the front door.