After my very short visit to Houston I had a much more leisurely visit in Austin starting at my longtime friend Jodi’s. Besides being a good friend for about a decade, Jodi is a fantastic jeweler, and as of a few years ago, a Chicago transplant that has really taken to her new home in Austin. She has created a sweet family of neighbors and friends and a lovely life for herself and her furs, Romeo the dog (who had been wandering around her studio for a while and then decided to adopt her) and Spike and Lucy the cats. Her sweet little house and street has easy access to the Greenbelt making for a really interesting juxtaposition of urban and rural living. I love this about Austin. Besides the Greenbelt, Austin also offers natural spring fed swimming at a number of “pools” across the city. Barton Springs pool, where we spent some time is 3 acres in size and 70 degrees year round, fed from underground springs and is one of the keys to surviving the hot days in Austin. My stay at Jodi’s coincided with a visit from her friend Katie another lovely girl, at that time from Chicago, and also a jeweler showing at the Renegade show last year. Thank you dear Jodi and all my new friends for some lovely fun.