The weather was perfect the whole time we were there, which apparently is pretty typical of San Diego.

I wasn't sure how close you could get to the seals without being attacked, or whatever seals do, so we kept our distance. They looked nice and friendly but then a few started fighting pretty aggressively, so I decided to keep my distance. Plus, some of them were massive. Like, monster seals. Another reason not the wade into the bacteria-infested waters, if you ask me.
We got a drink at this cute rooftop bar and watched an amazing sunset before dinner. The weather, the sunset, and the scenery were all pretty idyllic.
I took a picture of the ceremony, which was attended by about 15 immediate family members. It was such a nice service, and Peter's grandpa Ed and his new wife Jean looked great!
There were a couple rescue donkeys on the ranch and they came right over to us when called. So cute! This place got me dreaming of the farm I'd love to own someday, which Peter isn't exactly on board with....yet! He's convinced I would play with the animals and he would get stuck doing all the non-fun barn chores. This is probably true.
We drove up one of the hills and got a great view of the ranch. It was pretty much the perfect venue for a fall wedding, complete with a large renovated barn (for weddings and other events) that I didn't take a photo of apparently.
On Saturday evening we stayed in San Diego and got a chance to explore the downtown area. We had an awesome Italian dinner in the Little Italy neighborhood followed by gelato, of course.

In the short time we've been in Austin we've gotten a chance to check out the local food scene a bit. This is pretty much the most important part of any city, right? So far, we've pretty much focused on tacos and desserts. Obviously.

Tacos

Okay, Torchy's Tacos is the greatest restaurant ever in the history of the world. I'm not kidding. There are a million different tacos to pick from and they're all soooo good. Plus, they're huge and you can kind of customize how spicy you want to make them. Side note: coming from the North, I think we have a different concept of "spicy" because I typically order mild but even that here is pretty hot. Ali accidentally ordered a taco with "diablo sauce" and pretty much had a heart attack.

There are a bunch of Torchy's locations, each with a different style/atmosphere, and I have a personal goal to visit every one of them.

 

Dessert

There's a cute little food truck area in the South Congress neighborhood not far from where we live, so we decided to try out Hey Cupcake! and all agreed they were some of the best we had ever had. P.S. they aren't kidding about the traffic being TERRIBLE in Austin. We live about two miles from this area, and it took exactly six minutes when we went after dinner the other day when there was little traffic. But, during the day it takes a good 15 minutes to get there. We've driven around at 2 pm and encountered rush hour level traffic that you'd expect in a much bigger city. Pretty much, we just avoid 35 altogether if possible.
Lastly, we went for a drink the other night at a coffeehouse nearby and I spotted this Minneapolis-based coffee for sale! Kind of random, but fun to see something from home.

And here is the common living area, where you can hang out, watch TV, or work.
Our apartment complex has two buildings: the first was completed earlier this year and is full, and then the second is still under construction. We are some of the first tenants in the second building, pictured below, and when we arrived there were only two other cars in the parking garage. Since the building is still under construction, our amenities won't be finished until early December, so we have to trek to the other building down the street for the pool and gym until then. A bit annoying, but we got a great deal on our rent, including the first two months free, so we can't complain too much!
And now for a few pictures of our actual unit...here's the kitchen.
And a wider view of the kitchen from the living room area. Excuse the dirty floor...like I said, there's still a bunch of construction going on so the hallways are a bit dusty!
The living room:
I snapped (If you want to see additional fascinating content follow me! My username is laurahinderaker) this picture, and the sentiment remains true. It's still in the 90s here in Austin and there's no sign of it cooling down anytime soon. Any Texans reading...does it ever cool off?!
I spent the better part of one day last week assembling this IKEA TV stand. I have a serious love/hate relationship with IKEA. Mostly hate. We've moved around a lot, which has translated into a lot of IKEA furniture building and I'm sort of over it. If I never have to put together another LACK or MALM item, I'll be extremely happy. Once I finished this stand, I went to attach the back panel and realized I was missing a few pieces. At least, I thought I was. IKEA directions are the most confusing/least helpful thing ever. So, Ali and I went back to IKEA yesterday and tried to get the missing pieces. I felt like a complete idiot when the guy informed me that the piece I thought I needed more of was actually just supposed to be one piece that was basically a tool that I thought was a legitimate part. Awkward. So, today I'm going to tackle the rest of it.