Beachy Keen

Good morning, mes amies! TGIF, no? This week has felt super long (and fairly unproductive) for moi so i welcome this weekend with open arms. My weekend has recently opened up (dear friend can't make it down due to car troubles), so the possibilities are endless (and the To Do's numerous). I'm also a little out of it ce matin. Last night i came home in a sparkling wine-induced haze and proceeded to pass out around 8:30 p.m. (makeup, clothes and all). Then i woke up at 4:30 to go to the bathroom and realized that my apartment had no power. After calling the City of Austin (decidedly UNhelpful), i had to leave a msg for our 24-hour maintenance guy who apparently had only been home for a couple of hours since dealing with an A/C emergency. Feeling sorry for him (he's been uber nice to moi), i decided to investigate the problem myself and let him go back to sleep. He told me where the braker (sp?) boxes were, and i flipped my switch back ON. Voila! POWER! Yay. My A/C ran full blast for the rest of the morning.

Back 2 my sparkling wine-induced haze. Yesterday post-work i met up with my darling friend C whom i haven't seen in ages for drinks & tapas at Fino - an Austin gem i had only visited once before. Away from the hustle & bustle (and lack of parking) of downtown Austin, Fino provides a chic alternative to my normal happy hour hotspots, and WOW, their happy hour rocks! Half-off sparkling wine and delish tapas for only $2-3 per pop - yum. C and i are fairly new friends and met through my former trainer/friend Deb (who has since moved 2 Zurich - i miss you, D!!). We sat at Fino for hours and hours, sipping bubbly, munching on yummy bbq pork sliders (exception 2 no meat), marconas almonds (delish), and fried goat cheese, and chatting about everything under the sun. Don't you love those kinds of friend dates? LOVE. We made pool plans for next weekend (she's off to her parents' lakehouse this wknd - jealous!), and i already can't wait!

Speaking of pools and lakes, i have been DYING to get near some water! This is not the norm for moi, as i've never grown up doing water activities or hitting up the beach. My parents just aren't water people (they're golf people, in case you're wondering - BORING). And when i do go on vacation, i prefer visiting major cities (NYC, San Fran, Paris, London, Rome, etc.) over going to a beach resort in Hawaii or Mexico. I always wanted to do/walk/see rather than lay around and sip cocktails. That, my friends, has changed completely since starting a full-time job. I ache for beach time. I crave it. I dream of beaches and giant pools (swimming in the ocean kind of freaks me out) and luscious tans and poolside service. Funjet.com is offering some stellar 3-4 night deals to Mexico from Austin, and i am dying to take advantage. Anyone with me??