The rest of the week was just as busy as part 1 with more baking, and a bit of time spent exploring Austin!

Getting ready for a show tonight...we don't set up until 5 so I course had put off getting everything together until this afternoon. I also have put off taking a shower and getting ready until now...which of course meant that the maintenance men came by at 5 minutes before shower time to fix my tub faucet. I had a silent,m internal panic attack and decided to blog while waiting and guess what...they're already done, yay! I'm only 10 minutes behind schedule...so off I go!
p.s. if you're in the Austin area I will be at with the tonight from 7-10!
edited to add: Photo by Marcel Bednarz taken in Bonn, Germany where this awesomeness occurs for 3 weeks every spring.

It's so easy to get cupcakes in this town that I had time to walk up to the Hey Cupcake trailor and score this beauty while Adam was at the bank
I realized this week that I am walking distance from both Hey Cupcake and Big Top Candy Shop. Kinda scary as I ordered my wedding gown already and have to fit into that size. No yummies unless I walk there!
(want to follow me on instagram? I'm: @manictrout)
The past two weeks have been filled to the brim...lots and lots of studio time, but tons of fun fit in there too!
Are you on Instagram? I am @manictrout, look me up if you so desire!
What a year it's been. What an unexpected year full of twists and turns and an unexpected outcome. I was reminded while back in NY for the holidays that one year ago to the day I had told a friend of mine that I didn't really care about dating (although oddly I did have a bf when I said this...obvs on that relationship being doomed!) and was really just wanting to focus on work and growing Manic Trout. And there we were, one year later. Toasting my engagement. I guess its true that you find love when you're not looking.
The year however was so much bigger then finding love and a big part of all that love discovery business was due to my cleaning out the clutter of my life...including a great deal of furniture and 1000's upon 1000's of books and moving 2000 miles across the country. It was a huge change and scary one, but I survived and am loving living in Austin.
In addition to all this crazy change, I decided that after cutting so many costs to save money for the move, that I could keep it up in order to be able to focus on Manic Trout full time since moving to Austin in August. While writing this I find myself amazed at how much has changed since April of last year and am even more shocked at how at this time last year, I had no clue of what was to come in the next 12 months.
Let's raise a glass to 2011 and I leave you with the words of Albert Einstein...
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow
Cheers to 2011 and see y'all in 2012!!!
What a week. I think my hard drive crashing was number three on my list of most stressful moments in the life of Manic Trout, coming in behind two floods...both causing my studio to be evacuated and one forcing me to move and the being a move of 2000 miles and having to keep my studio n a pod for a month. Thankfully I now have a new hard drive and as I back up weekly, I only lost a small amount of work.
While transferring photos from my phone this morning, I realized it been quite some time since I posted instagram photos. Speaking of instagram, have you seen yet? You can access your instagram account from your mac, its awesome!
Anyway, here is what I have been up to the past week or so...
On the boat in South Padre on the Thanksgiving Moring
Faye who is exhausted after her first walk on a beach. There was a plethora of washed up jellyfish and fish carcasses that day to cause utter joy and excitement. All in all, a successful adventure.
A kite boarder setting up on the flats.
We had to stop at the tourist trap on the way off the island to photo the dinosaurs and other creatures...I personally liked the shark the best.
A pit stop for a big bag of pineapple oranges on the road home...so happy we did, yummy!!
When it gets down into the low 40's in Austin, the outdoor bars are still open as usual, so everyone is out on 6th street in parkas and scarves...still hanging around outside...freezing cold but reluctant to go inside...me included!
Faye and I had a lot of cuddle time this week while my computer was gone.
Part of the Manic Trout tent at Austin's First Thursday this month, I love doing outdoor night shows in December...we're sure not in NY anymore!
Adam and I had date night last night...burgers at Docs on Congress, an unexpected stop at the Big Top Candy Shop and then we were off to see Jack and Jill (the new Adam Sandler flick)...it was the perfect date and so much fun!
ps...I am manictrout on instagram!
It has been months and months since I have enjoyed scrumptiously yummy Macarons. That is just cruel to treat myself that way! I did a bit of sleuthing of where to find the best Macarons in Austin and have narrowed in down to two places: on South Lamar and on South Congress (I live in South Austin, 78704 so my search was a bit location biased for that reason.)
Have any of you been to either eatery or have any other recommendations of where to get the yummiest Macarons? I think tomorrow afternoon I'll take a field trip and fill my craving...I can't wait!
All images may be found on .
That sounds so melancholy, doesn't it? Well since I have moved to Austin 3 months ago, there have been few enough gloomy days that I can count on them on one hand...if a few fingers were cut off. I can't help it, going to Syracuse made me work better during gloomy weather. Well today it is not only gloomy, but there was an extended period of RAIN and THUNDER. It was awesome. Hey, I'm from the North East, all of this abundant sunshine has been confusing my brain.
I love having fun things to look forward to...I mean really though, who doesn't? I have TWO awesome things to go to this weekend and I am ultra excited because I am going to check them out with a girl friend of mine and that will make it even more fun! The is this weekend, and it will be extra special as I will get the chance to meet many of the crafty ladies I have known via the Switchboards for years and I love it when that happens! Also going on is the , being a person who basically lives in their own studio, I adore checking out others spaces. I also have not really been on the east side before so I get to explore more of the city a bit too. Yay!! Do you have any fun plans for the weekend?













































