Texas on My Mind

I spent the first few days of this week at an Alumni Relations conference in Austin. All it took was one drive down Mopac into the heart of downtown on a sunny morning to make my heart ache to be back in that city. Our conference was at the Omni, which meant I could walk two blocks to meet both Morgan and Royale for lunch on a patio, where we sat in the sun and chatted like we were all still roommates, living together on the third floor of the DG house, eating our Mexican lunch on a Friday, still in our PJ’s. Before I left for the airport on Tuesday evening, I took a detour to campus and walked the drag, hitting up the Co-op and Tyler’s to add a few more UT t-shirts to my ever-growing collection and marvel and how everything looks so different from four years ago, yet still feels so very much the same.

The guy selling the silver rings at the little table among all the other artists is still there, with his sign recognizing him as the oldest vendor in the Renaissance Square. The chubby “homeless” guy in the tie dye t-shirts with the goofy cardboard signs still walks Guadalupe asking for money, even though I swear he also works at the Co-op. The yellow Starbucks that I passed every day on my way to class is still crowded with students meeting to study, while still smelling slightly odd and murky. Most of the shops on the drag look the same, although the bagel store is now a Potbelly and the Cadeau, where I’d always go to buy a cute birthday present, is now another trendy clothing boutique. I so wanted to be there, every day, walking across the street to campus and going to class. Being there, with all the current students darting around you and sporting their round up t-shirts really, really made me miss it.

So my new long term goal in life is to get back to Austin. Maybe in two years, maybe in five, maybe in ten. Maybe I’ll just spend every other weekend there this summer and go back for (more than just one) football game in the fall. I know I’ll be there more often this year for Royale’s wedding festivities. Showers and parties and a bachelorette weekend are surely in the works. We even talked about possibly coming down for a weekend to help her pick out her dress! That would be exciting.

So I’ve go Austin on the brain and missing my friends who I had a great quick visit with. Every meal I ate was with either Morgan, Jamie or Royale and we really got to chat and catch up with each other. I’m sure after one weekend back here at home, I’ll be perfectly content with Dallas again. In fact, I’ve got a date with Laura for the Mavs game and plans in the works for the St. Patrick’s Day parade in a few weeks. What’s not to love?