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(A tree down our block, you see many things like this in Austin!)

There's a colorful city in the state of Texas where the streets are a little funkier. Funky because this city's mantra revolves around keeping it "weird". Let's put it this way, if Pee Wee Herman decided to pass up the Alamo and hop on his red bike for a quick trip a few miles north, he'd come here. I'm talking about good ol' Austin, TX, my home.

I also call California home, but this is my new home (though not so new anymore, really). Not a replacement, but another version of the real thing. Austin's where I went to college, asked all those complicated life questions during my awkward phase, and found out that life and happiness go hand in hand, after all. It's where I met myself...and my husband :)!

The nights still smell like maple syrup here, and why wouldn't they? I remember late night visits to the quirky cafe by my school, where I'd load up on tasty humongous gingerbread pancakes. My mom nicknamed it "The Tattoo Parlor" because she believed everyone there had one :). We'll be going with Mirabel one of these days (she won't have any tats, of course ;).

In this city, the hills really are alive with the sound of music. It is the Live Music Capitol of the World, and we're also smack-dab in the middle of the hill country. I've come to accept that I'm getting old because my playlist still includes the same tracks from my college days. They're songs from CDs I picked up from another place I'd visit more often than I should've: Cheapo. Don't let the name deceive you; I spent more money at this place than a teenager with 20 piercings shopping at Claire's... When I settle down here, more concerts are on the itinerary :).

Every time I move, I feel like I leave a little piece of myself behind. I didn't completely realize Austin was home until I moved to Boston and felt like I'd left more behind than starry nights. I wasn't the only one, which is why Jose and I could be seen clicking the heels of our boots together, chanting "there's no place like home" when we'd had our fill of Beantown's relentless winter storms.

Truthfully? We don't own boots :)...but this is our home. And now it's Mirabel's, too. See, she's enjoying a stroll around the block, one of the many we'll be taking the next 6 weeks we're home...