a must-see

We are home, still celebrating five years, and yes, I am tired. I will blog about Gruene one day this week and Austin the next, but for now, behold this portrait of Johnny Cash by Jon Langford:



We spied that painting inside Yard Dog as we walked to dinner on Friday night. Of course I had to see it up close and personal the next day as we took in a little shopping on S. Congress. The painting is very impressive. I stood there, reverent, for a long time. I kept trying to figure out how to scrounge up an extra $2,000.

The shopping on S. Congress:
-Parts & Labour - a baby gift for Elliot and a bar of tangerine soap for me.
-Uncommon Objects - two letterpress blocks of my initials and a wooden spoon stamped with "Sweden."
-Tesoros - a wooden stamp of a house and a postcard featuring the artwork of José Francisco Borges.
[I did pretty good with shopping this year - very restrained. But more on that later]

Oh, and lunch:
Aunt Denise joined us at Mars! She gave us a large bag full of belated birthday (mine) and Christmas gifts, too. We popped one in the CD player for the ride home: Trinity Revisited by the Cowboy Junkies, with guests Ryan Adams and Natalie Merchant (among others)! So beautiful. Watch the video clips on their web site...