Nothing Brightens a Day Like a Kevin Bacon Fan

My husband Eric and I have been living in our apartment in Austin for about three weeks now. It was a whirlwind getting here and trying to get settled before Eric had to jump into school mode. He's starting his MBA at the University of Texas. When I started my MA program, I may have had a couple of hours to meet with my advisor and schedule classes. Eric, on the other hand, has been in pre-classes and networking events since we arrived. The weekends have already been filled with homework and classes haven't even officially started yet! I think this means he's going to get a great education and he's already working really hard.

I have been busy trying not to rip all my nails out from fretting about how I still have not found a job. In my first week things looked pretty positive and I had a callback after one interview and an interview with another organization lined up. The interviews went smoothly but as the days and weeks pass, I've slowly accepted that I didn't get these jobs and I'm going to have to keep going with this painful and stressful process. In the meantime, Facebook has kindly informed me that a former co-worker from my days as a barista at Highland Coffee, has just become the winner of her own TV show on the Food Network! http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130811/SCENE/308110065/Louisville-chef-Damaris-Phillips-wins-Food-Network-Star-?nclick_check=1My feelings about this range from true joy for Damaris, overwhelming jealousy (when will I finally get my own show?), and despair over the fact that I just applied for a job at Godiva (I at least get to eat the chocolate, right?) while my peers are moving on to such heights. I'm going to chalk up these rapidly changing emotions to the pregnancy hormones for the time-being. Oh, did I mention that I'm also pregnant?

Since I'm not able to drink and Eric has valiantly decided to surrender alcohol in solidarity, we haven't been exploring much of the exciting nightlife in Austin so far. Also, did I mention that I don't yet have a job? That also has a limiting effect on our social life for the time-being. But, I turned 33 last week. I almost forgot about it until I was setting up an appointment to get a food subsidy for my unborn baby and the kind woman on the phone reminded me that it was only two days away. Birthdays are kind of a big deal in my family so I immediately started looking for something we could do that wouldn't cost too much and would be fun even without a margarita. Luckily, the Alamo Drafthouse happened to have a Footloose Dance-Along going on that night! The Drafthouse is known for its quirky movie choices and action packed evenings. They also apparently have really great food. The menu was diverse and not what you'd expect from a movie theater but I can only comment on the deliciousness of the chocolate chip cookie milkshake I devoured. Anyway, upon arrival everyone was issued Kevin Bacon fans, balloons and confetti poppers to use at various points in the movie. Before the movie started, there was a chicken dance contest that I competed in because I was one of three ladies there celebrating my birthday. I really tried to mix up the chicken dance but the other girls got more applause for their dances....you can just do so much more on your 22nd birthday than your 33rd. Actually, I think they just had more friends in the audience. The movie was pretty great and was actually a combo sing-along, quote-along and dance-along. So, my first real "Austin" experience was a hit and I'm hoping to find more of these experiences as I get to know the city.

 drafthouse.com/austin