We're Mentally Unstable

Last year we did not ride the MS 150 because it was adjacent to the Texas Library Association Annual Conference--a conference I am always involved in. This year, we said what the hey! So on Tuesday morning we drove to Austin. On Friday we drove back. Saturday and Sunday we will ride our tandem BACK to Austin and then catch a bus home from Austin on Sunday. Crazy much? Yep. But anyway, here's what we did on the first leg of our double Austin madness. Threadgills:

South Congress:

And peacocks at the Mayfield Park:

We also hung out with tons of friends, but we didn't take any photos of that because we were too busy drinking margaritas... And now, back to Austin!

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Dr. Scott

Remember the fleet?

The fleet is no more. Now we have Dr. Scott (no relation to Brad or Janet)! Dr. Scott is a green Subaru Outback. Our humongo tandem bike fits comfortably in Dr. Scott:

Captain Duvet loves Dr. Scott:

And he served us well on our trip to Austin this week.

It's the end of an era.

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Stros

This past weekend, we attended the opening game of the Astros! It was the first time we've been to Minute Maid when the roof was open.



There's a train with pumpkins in it. The conductor wears overalls. The train goes forward when there is a home run. There were two during the game. I have no clue what the significance of this is.



Thanks so much to Valerie and Kim who gave us the tickets! (They're our favorite future neighbors.)

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New Job Nicci!

For those of you who missed the premature posting earlier this week, here's the big news!

{Handmade card from Dana}

All of the paperwork has been submitted and it's official. I am the new Coordinator of Digital Operations at the University of Houston Libraries! I'll still be working with the Digital Library team, but with more responsibilities and more prestige. Definitely more prestige. It's my first librarian job and I am super excited!

When we found out, Eddy got me a 1/2 bottle of champagne (1/2 bottle because I DID have to work the next day) and made me a special Indian food dinner.

Doesn't the person in this picture strike you as one ready for more responsibility at work?

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America, Mall of

When I was in Minneapolis I had the chance to get out to Mall of America. I saw the indoor roller coasters:

and the bronze Sponge Bob.

But I was more wowed by LEGO world. It's a whole world of LEGOs! Most astounding was not the two-story transformer

nor the dragon (although it was awesome)

but this huge wall of LEGOs organized by color.

Sooooo sweet.

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Iz Famous!

I recently traveled to Philly for the ACRL conference where I presented with a colleague about a Wikipedia project we piloted last Fall. Check out this sweet write up in Inside Higher Ed. Professional Nicci is so famous!

Look how professional I look in this photo by Emily DeWan!

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A Culinary Tour of Places Nicci Thinks are Too Cold

I just returned to sunny Houston from a two-conference marathon of a trip. I went to VRA/ARLIS in Minneapolis and ACRL in Philly. Both places had snow. Both places also had food--some of it quite good!

The highlight of Minneapolis was Hell's Kitchen, where they make their own everything. They gave me a free jar of homemade peanut butter with my order and they made their own ketchup for their handmade sweet potato fries for heaven's sake. So yummy. I didn't get too many photos, because I was a little entranced with the live music scene there.

At the Mall of America, I had some yummy gelato:

And a delicious beet salad at Crave where everything was locally sourced.

Then it was off to Philly for Reading Terminal Market:

and the beloved Continental.

Best lobster mac ever. Mmm.

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