I’m back in Austin after a 6 month “working vacation” in New York… and I really miss the smelly air, the deafening subway sounds, the crowded sidewalks, and the feeling of living and walking through a living and breathing brick, metal and asphalt monster. I miss doing things like visiting every museum possible, eating at every kind of restaurant desired, exploring different neighborhoods, moving my car to avoid parking tickets, riding subways, getting lost in central park, looking for restaurants, trying to find the stores i always wanted to visit that happened to just be a couple blocks from the Manhattan apartment.

I’m also sad to have missed on this:

Austin is extremely relaxing and laid back, and I must say that I appreciate that more now than ever. My new place is downtown right by the Amtrak station, a half mile from work, across from Whole Foods, and 5 times larger than its Manhattan counterpart. I have yet to really move in – my current wardrobe can fit in a duffel and my furniture is made up of shelves and a futon that I had given away at the last minute before leaving for New York in June.

Its funny that my new place is so close to Whole Foods since my New York place was closer to the Houston Whole Foods than my last apartment in Austin was to the 6th St. Whole Foods that i’m not even a block away from now. Since its my historic hangout and has been dubbed to obviously be my “most favorite store in the whole world” since i’m always either there or suggesting that people meet me there or whatever. single beer is less than $2, lots of rooftop seating, fresh food that i don’t have to cook, pastries, chocolate milk… really, why doesn’t everyone spend their free time reading and eating there?

Now that I’m back in Austin I should have time to work on updating the design and content of my personal websites and ride my bike and rock climb and such. I’m hoping to find the time to put some real thought and love and design into the my sites like i do for other sites. Every new project i take on has an aspect to it that i want to add to my own site that i haven’t had a chance to create.