ATX through the eyes of another

when you move to a new city, you don't realize quite how comfortable you've become until you're faced with the prospect of visitors and you're forced to play hostess in a city you thought you barely knew. but then you start showing them around, and explaining that this is the infamous 6th street where college kids and people who think they're still in college get wasted on $1 long island iced teas and roam the streets in drunken zig-zags, oh, over here is the state capital built out of rose granite and is bigger than the nation's capital b/c that is just how these crazy fucking texans do, and here is the flagship whole foods which is seriously food heaven on earth, with rows and rows of brightly-colored produce (completely organic, of course).

today i put on my best tourist hat and set out eagerly with my dear friend naomi, who is in town visiting for the wknd. after a true mexican meal last night @ the uber-laid-back guero's (complete with margaritas and chips & queso and multiple trips to the salsa bar and a flirty waiter), we woke up refreshed and excited and ready to hit the town.

first stop: jo's coffeehouse, my fave place to fuel up. it's right across the street from my yuppie apartment, and it's a VERY austin coffee shack with a patio and live music and water dishes for all the dogs that hang out there. iced coffees in hand, we rushed downtown to the visitor center to get on our duck tour with tour guide hap and harold the duck. oh yes, no need to read that sentence again - we volunTEERed to get on a cheesy-ass duck tour. and it was hilarious. decked out in our duck bill lanyards that we were encouraged to quack at every passerby, we roamed around downtown austin and saw all the sights before plunging into lake austin for a quick float. it was cheesy as all get out but actually a really fun and efficient way to check out downtown austin.

next stop: a tour of my office for nay (who thought it felt like disneyworld - more like disney hell if you work there, ok, just kidding, sort of), a tour of the aforementioned food nirvana @ whole foods and then onto the delicious z'tejas for some desperately-needed refreshments. this is one of my fave austin restaurants - service that is cheerful and friendly but still efficient, awesome, fresh food and funky art everywhere. then back to my apt to change so we could head over to barton springs pool - a spring-fed pool that is a true austin landmark. there was some GREAT people-watching there (including a topless woman, a guy clad in a tiny, tiny thong - who i think was super-gay, but he honestly had a fantastic ass, and a guy whose beard was so thick you really couldn't tell if he had a face under there).

quick stop for some amy's ice cream (another austin legend) and now we're back at my place for showers before heading out into hill country for some texas bbq (after we stop by congress bridge to see the bats). nay's out, so i gotta roll, peeps - have a great wknd.