Austin
April 2007

After nearly three years I finally got off my butt and went down to Austin, Texas to visit Layne, who is pretty much my favorite person on the planet. It had been such a long time since I'd seen her, and I finally got to meet her boyfriend, her roommates, see her house and where she works, and just generally get caught up with her. It was a fantastic time, Austin is beautiful, and Layne remains the coolest person on earth. :P

Layne's House
Layne shares a fantastic house with four other girls. Oh, and Chris (her boyfriend) lives there too...
Their back porch is amazing.	HAHA, this is great... Layne, Peggy, Leslie and Haley all have panties with their names emblazoned in puffy paint strung decoratively across the porch.	Some interesting artwork on the wall. And yeah, that's my satin pillowcase in the corner... I don't leave home without it. :P	Living room and kitchen area. Bare cement floors never looked so cool.	Beer bong stored neatly on the back porch. >D
The Spider House
Layne took me to this great little bar/lounge place called the Spider House. I fell in love.	The back patio, where tables are made out of old oven doors and random mismatched lawn ornaments are scattered everywhere.	A suit of armor stands guard over an antique 7-UP sign.	The lampshade hanging over our table.	Gnomes and other statuary in the courtyard.
More lawn decorations, and a guy hanging out with his laptop. I WISH there was a place like this in Denver, 'cause I'd be spending every afternoon writing there...			Me and a very, VERY yummy margarita...
Amy's Ice Cream
Layne's place of work. I got to spend an afternoon there, which was awesome. She even let me make my own ice cream. Unfortunately I fail miserably at ice cream-scooping and have learned that it is best left to the experts.
They have these cool pieces of cow artwork on the walls, done by a local artist.	And this one, my friends, is named after Layne. I find it infinitely amusing.	The tip jar. Scoopers need love too.	A brave knight and his trusty pink-maned unicorn protect the soda machine...	That hotel-looking paper bag in the corner was actually Layne's job application, preserved even years later because it's THAT COOL.
Employee profiles, accented with photobooth stickers. I got to meet several of these folks and they're all very cool.	Layne demonstrates the correct way to scoop ice cream. Note how she makes it into a nice, neat little ball. This takes a surprising amount of skill. Mine turned out completely lopsided...	Working hard...	I spent some time looking through the local paper, and this "book report" on fish caught my eye, 'cause it's so random...	After a hard day at work, there is beer. Layne had to pour it because as all my friends know, I also fail at pouring beer properly.
Friday the 13th
There was a house party for Friday the 13th, at which we dressed up like zombie tennis players, played Wii on the back porch with a projector, and finished off an entire keg of beer. So. Much. Fun.
Found this white skirt at Savers for $2, put it on and chopped off the bottom with scissors, then smeared it with fake blood. Crap cosplay's the best.	They set up the Wii on the back porch with a projector and a white sheet. AWESOME.	Layne does a victory dance after every strike.	And dances some more...	But wait, now for the finishing pose!!
Haley and a couple of the guys look through polaroids of the party.	Then the guys decide Haley looks like a tasty snack...	...and proceed to test the theory.	Layne and I in our zombie makeup.	A pic that came out too dark. ;.;
Cesar is one of Layne's coworkers and a really cool guy.	Cesar, me, and Layne.	Chris, me, and Layne. Apparently I only have one zombie-face...	Awww, cute picture.	I was sooooo drunk at this point... But Layne insisted we finish the keg!
The River
The next day, while still battling hangovers, we went canoeing on the river... I think it's even the Colorado river, if I remember correctly. Anyway, it was tons of fun, but for fear of losing my camera and/or getting it wet, I didn't take any pictures on the canoe. I did snap a couple of shots of the pretty swans we saw at the river's edge, though...