daydream road trip resumes day 5~ texas style

today i am hop skip and jumping on over, or down, to camera shy momma in the live music capital, Austin Texas!  you know when you just have a connection with someone, the ease, the familiarity, the comfort?   it comes almost as a surprise but an oh so welcome one.  today my trip is taking me to one of those connections... both of us "mommas",  so wake up mere!  lets go have some FUN.  i feel like i know a bit of Austin from all of her great images of her everyday life.  i had 1 place we were hitting FOR sure because nothing says good mornin' like some sugar love, Hey Cupcake!  i love this little place for the obvious, CUPCAKES, but even more the AIRSTREAM!  i have a thing (a big thing) for all things vintage.  and well airstreams are vintage goodness on wheels.  and this baby serves cupcakes.  i am so there.  and i know i want a whipper snapper, they inject your cupcake of choice with a shot of fresh whipped cream right in the center, dear lord does it get much better?  now to wash down these lovelies we will head on over to Genuine Joes for a steaming mug of chai and i know the art on the walls there ROCKS!  maybe i can buy one as a souvenir of my trip.  now we need a walk!  after all those cupcakes and miles on the road a girl needs to stretch her legs and unbutton her jeans.  mere loves nature and the outdoors and sharing it all with her son.  they hike and explore collect treasures dream of the sea with mermaids and pirates, sound like anyone else we know???  so i know she has more than a few great natural sights for us to explore and discover. i would love to take a walk, us,our cameras, and kiddos in tow.  her favorite space to wander is the Mayfield Preserve , there we can spy on the peacocks and experience the beauty of the lotus blooms.  it is incredible how very different the natural landscape varies from place to place.  texas's obvious warmer climate lends itself to tropical wonders that we up here don't see.  you sometimes forget that what you look at each day can be so very different for a friend a few states away.  now speaking of warmer weather, i am a fish, so warmer means wet.  it is just my happy place. luckily mere seems to have gills and fins too.  so we mermaids will need to get wet at Barton Springs where it is a prefect 68 degrees year round.  now dinner, we are in texas so i feel the need for bbq.  mere recommends Stubbs, food and music, sweet southern sounds and smells.  oooh and i see they have fried green tomatoes on the menu, i have always wanted to try that, today is the day.  and for excitement i have roller derby dreams on my mind.  throughout the day we can drop hope notes & click lots of pictures.  then we will head back to her place so i can see the blue wall i love, dress up, play, maybe she can show me all her photography tricks while we wrap up in the hope quilt (of course i packed it!!!).  who knows, maybe even meet firefighter kitty, and if i am REALLY lucky maybe he will let me play with the hose. 

PLAYLIST

well Austin is the live music capital so we can not have our everyday tunes.  

it must be all austin all the time. so again i defer to our fabulous tour guide meredith...

Iron on Wine

Eliza Gilkyson

Bob Schneider

her fave, Patty Griffin

now i can't play austin music without a little stevie ray vaughan.  i can't find the song that i want so how about some pride and joy  

thanks mere for the tour.  but mostly for being a wonderful friend.

hugs to river!

one day we will have that cupcake.

you can read her here, she was born to string words together.