Brrr.

So it's a measure of how much I like my friend Melanie that when she called this morning to ask if I wanted to go walk, I exchanged my jeans and sweater for sweatpants, a pair of my husband's long underwear (I wish I was kidding) and a ski jacket. Because the wind chill was 22, which is unheard of in Austin. On the plus side, the conversation was refreshingly acerbic -- like I said, I wouldn't brave sub-freezing weather for just anyone -- and it was a delightful, sunny morning. Even if my long underwear did keep falling down.

But as much as I like tromping around the lake with a cold nose, the highlight of the morning came later, when we went to Sweetish Hill cafe for chocolate croissants, strudel, and coffee. Yum. (Perhaps coincidentally, it has not been a particularly productive morning on the book front.)

So we're sitting there, eating highly caloric foods and exchanging parenting horror stories, when I realize that my handy-dandy camera is right there in my pocket and that I have barely used it. So I say, "I should take a picture of you and post it on my blog."
Melanie looks at me and says, "You're kidding me, right?"
But no, I wasn't, and I am so pleased that I actually managed to figure out the camera enough to take a picture AND download it to my computer that here it is. Besides, Melanie is photogenic, and more people should see her. I am sad to report, however, that she made me promise NOT to relate the little incident that happened at a local brew pub. The one that involved the leprechauns and the Goldschlager shots. So in deference to our friendship, I won't. Not today, anyway.

In any case, it seemed appropriate to start the day with strudel, as my topic du jour was going to be food and books. In fact, I still plan to write about that, although I'd much rather write about the leprechauns; but since it's my Cozy Chicks day, I think I'll post it over there later on. In the meantime, here's a picture of the tulip bouquet I found on my kitchen table last night.

Which explains where the bag of petals my daughter gave me as a valentine came from.

Let's hear it for minimalist floral arrangements!

Off to write again... I'll be back on Cozy Chicks this afternoon...

K