Arriving home from work on Friday was especially rewarding and full of let's.go.out momentum because it marked the end of my first full week of New Job. I recalled seeing James McMurtry on the schedule for the Gruene Music Hall (pronounced Grewn at this point in the evening) and out we headed...
We didn't explore much- just headed right to the music hall after saying that we would be back soon. Such a charming place with restaurants and shops, and teeming with people enjoying themselves.
Learned at this point that the name of the town is pronounced green, not grewn, grain or grew-un, all possibilities tried out in the car on the way. Gruene is just outside of New Braunfels, about 30 minutes outside of San Antonio on the way to Austin.
Shannon McNally was playing when we entered the hall, and she was superb, and great to talk to after her set. A song that she played reminded me of the dear friends that have gotten married in the past year, made me smile and miss them so:
Then James McMurtry took the stage. He is the son of Larry McMurtry of Lonesome Dove fame, we learned from Shannon. I had only a passing familiarity with his music from Pandora, and Luke none at all. The show was extraordinary. We danced on the wooden floor of the oldest dance hall in Texas and drank sangria because it was hot inside, and hot outside even at midnight, and grinned at each other in wonderment at how - the chances and the long shots and the outlandishness of it all- we had arrived at this little town, at this concert with this gifted singer-songwriter. And I was 31 and Luke was 29 and we were in love, and sweaty, and happy.
Trying out different desserts, the latest Roasted Banana Pudding from Cooking Light (aka Feel Free to Have Twice As Much, Folks) August 2011. So delicious, so Southern, so banana-y.... so appeeling.
Team H is exploring the SA music scene with gusto... Thursday we took in a show by Country Mice, a Brooklyn band, and Friday night Luke saw Sean McConnell, a Nashville singer-songwriter, while I was down for the count, sinus-wise.
On Saturday we headed to Austin to pick up a desk on Craigslist and then decided to make a day of it - we explored Barton Springs (feels like a little beach community), ate Stubb's barbeque (delish) and saw Ben Sollee at the Parish (awesome). Betwist and between we played pool, strolled and people-watched ... Austin has no shortage of zaftig sidewalk belly dancers (working on a volunteer basis) and other colorful characters.
The new desk matches my desk, the first step in getting our office together. Which now consists of matching desks, a credenza, a Looming Green Lamp and many many boxes of professional books awaiting their home on the to-be-located bookcases.
Today we took shelter from the heat in the movie theatre, watching the British comedy The Trip. Highly recommend. Giggles, guffaws galore. Headed home to make dinner -- a first-time attempt at moussaka, the planning, ingredient purchasing, execution and consumption of which prompted two days of quotes from this priceless SNL skit:
The purpose of this blog is to chronicle the new life my husband and I, transplanted Midwesterners, are forging here in south Texas. Photos, musings, miscellany, music to follow! Stay tuned.
