Wednesday January 14th: A changing day in Austin.

After the exhilarating night before with drinks, grilled cheese, cake, and ice cream, I woke up in a rather strange mood, and I greeted my friends at the door on my way out. I wondered why they had come to visit, but I was still happy to see them!

Mere, Dave, Jacqui, and Patricia, all show up to say hi!

After sleeping late, we all decided to go to go to this outdoor coffee place, Joe's, where Susi and I could set up the blog stuff. We worked for a while, and Cathy and Katrina went off to go look at some stores. We joined them after a couple hours, and a little shop beckoned us as we passed. It was a neat little shoe place that had all sorts of hippie/chill jewelry and clothing. This is where Susi acquired her infamous hat, and I was able to find the ultimate hippie hairband that I wore pretty much the rest of the trip. That's how much I love this headband. I also got some flower clips for my hair. I was always was one of those kids who made daisy chains and then put them on my head, pretending to be a princess. =) We then left for a late brunch at one of Cathy's favorite restaurants: Magnolia Cafe. Not only did they have amazing omelets and gingerbread pancakes, but they also had "The Onion" for free!

Magnolia Cafe

We had to stop and pay tribute to our favorite folk singing New Zealanders.

Oh, wonderful Brett and Jemaine...Just for you Jason. =)

We miss your sing-songy voices and cannot wait to catch you on Sunday nights.

We all enjoyed a good laugh at Susi's and Katrina's expense. It was the day of high spirits. We were half-way across the country, and the fun was just starting. We still weren't sure of where we were spending a couple nights on the trip, and that made it all the more exciting.

Susi and Katrina being...well...themselves. =)

Unfortunately, we did have to leave. Saying goodbye to Cathy was hard. We all remembered the good times we had had at Starbucks when the morning crew was still intact. Memories of Brittney cracking jokes, Christina getting hit on all the time, Cathy's ability to laugh off the abundance of rude customers that seemed to come her way, Susi's dominion over the bar (haha), and Patricia's wonderful smile and shouts of "I'll miss you" as we walked out of the store to take our ten minute break swam through my head as I recognized the reality of this goodbye. It made me realize how much I grasp at straws in my life. I wish for times in my life that have already passed, I hope they will return in some form or another, and I wait for it, often when waiting is just torture and the thing is really gone for good. Besides, things never will be the way they were. I'm not saying they will be bad. I am expecting many wonderful and exciting things to happen to me in my life. I just tend to believe that my experience today should be like it was yesterday, and that's not realistic.
This trip has been a wonderful break from the reality that I've placed myself in. It's been a cathartic experience that has brought questions about my life that I had buried or ignored to the forefront of my thinking. And it was so wonderful to see Cathy, and find out how she was doing.

We were very sad to leave... ;)

Austin has a sense of magic about it that I have yet to find in another city. It felt as if people open their eyes in the morning and see other people. I know that sounds simple, but I think our culture has taught us to open our eyes everyday and see a list of things we need to accomplish, things we need to do, stuff we need to buy...Goodbye Austin, I'll be back again one day.