one month ago...

... I took this picture of Sean, at his request. It was his last day of being in his 20's.

We purposely kept the flash off, as he wanted to be sure he looked tired. He was aiming for photographic evidence that his 20's weren't all spunk and joie de vivre. Yes, literally-- he was striving for dismal.

Oooonly Sean.

The NEXT day, his 30th birthday, was super fun... all sorts of vivre! A good sign for the ensuing decade, I hope.

My mom was in town (as my sister Janell was at a week long camp, which she ended up LOVING) helping me with Josephine. So Sean and I hit downtown Austin from noon 'til midnight, incorporating a spontaneous urban hike, the best dinner we've had in Austin to date, and a couple little pastimes we've never been willing to risk a precious date night on. I wish I'd taken pictures at each place (well, kind of. I'm also glad I didn't get anal about that), but here are a few.

The above was taken at Clive, after we'd had lunch at Leaf, watched Midnight in Paris at the Violet Crown (we missed the Buck opening by one day-- that was our top pick, but the Paris movie offered some fun rose-tinted glasses for our little city exploration, so I am glad we watched that one). From the cinema we wandered over to the W bar for a drink (this was pre-falling-glass-shutdown), then to 2nd Bar and Kitchen for some snacks and a drink, down to the river, heading east, and then up to Clive. We hit it before the evening crowd started filtering in and liked how laid back it felt. As it started to fill up a bit more, we realized how hungry we were, so we headed back west to our car and then down for dinner to Barley Swine. You can't make reservations there, so we put our names on the list and walked a couple doors over to Opas, which had some misting fans on their patio. Sean had an excellent glass of white wine (my sangria was fair), the timing and location were juuust right.

Barley Swine was hands down the BEST food we've had in Austin so far. Food rarely leaves me speechless, but I've found every time I try to describe the wonders of that dinner, my energy level is entirely inadequate. It's small-plate style, so you can try (and we did) many plates before you're full-- but unlike many tapas style joints, Barley Swine is worth every single penny. This was truly good stuff.
I'm delighted we found such good eats because Sean loves food so much, and neither of us had a single complaint about the place. It was a better birthday present than either of us could have planned. Happy to end the food/drink endeavor on that brilliantly high note, we killed the next block of time playing games. Down the street was some miniature golf (what turned out to be an interesting, packed, byoMillerLite, Austin institution)-- still fun, though-- despite the fact that I was given a very, very unlucky ball. Stupid ball.
And on our way home we even braved the Slick Willie's Family Pool Hall we drive past all the time on Burnet. :-) Yes, funny. But it was also more respectable than I expected; you can tell they exist primarily to provide pool tables, which was new to me. It was basically like a bowling alley-- you don't hang out at one because you're looking for classy interior decoration, the latest cocktail, or a cozy nook for great conversation. You tolerate the awkward lighting and strange acoustics because you want to bowl. I'm glad my theoretical random urge to play pool now has an outlet.

And of course, Josephine didn't even notice we were missing, as all her time was spent engrossed in Grandma the entire time my mom was here.
Many thanks to Mom for all her help that week!

And to Sean, happy 30th birthday! congratulations on the conclusion of your tired twenties.