ME, after pondering the passage of time: Would you have believed when we started dating that 13 years later we'd be married for 8 years and have 3 kids?
JP: Yeah.
ME: Really?
JP: Yeah, what else would have happened?
ME: Hmm, I guess that's true. Actually I think the hardest thing for me to believe is that we live in Fort Worth, Texas.
JP: Yeah.
ME: But you wanted to stay in Texas.
JP: Yeah, but I didn't know Fort Worth was a real city then.
...
ME: You're asleep aren't you?
JP: Is that allowed now?
ME: Speaking of 13 years ago, remember when we used to talk all night until 3 and 4 in the morning and then go to swim practice on an hour's sleep? That was fun. We don't do that anymore.
JP: Maybe something to do with those 3 kids.
ME: And you ran out of words.
JP: That too.
ME: I still have words.
JP, with a special mix of love and resignation: You always do.
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It made me smile and I let him go to sleep. My insomnia was all stirred up, so I just lay in bed for a while looking at our wall of windows. I left college with the intention of leaving Texas and followed through by only applying to law schools out of state. We drove to Chicago two days after we got married, but JP yanked me back immediately after I graduated (actually, 2 weeks before), and then I pulled us to Fort Worth, the most Texas-y of places, four years later.
I loved living in the city of Chicago and while I often still wish we lived in the downtown of a big city, I have no interest in living in the suburbs or outskirts of one. I think that's why I like Fort Worth so much. It's still a city- it's no Chicago, but there's still buildings and culture and restaurants (and a lot of history and charm), and we can actually afford to live in a house in a downtown neighborhood that lets us enjoy it. Because if I can't have Chicago or Manhattan or DC, I might as well be in this perfect little blend of an urban neighborhood where the trees are big and the houses are old and lovely, where we can walk to things, and where we use the city's museums and parks and zoos on a near weekly basis. It is nowhere I ever thought we'd be and the only thing more surprising than the fact that we live here is how much I love it.
And on a Fort Worthy note, we stopped by the downtown water gardens yesterday to get the kids out of the house and drag on the poor 3rd baby some more.
The water gardens are one of my favorite free Fort Worthy things. It's just a previously empty city block turned into an architectural wonderland of cement and water.
There's the loud and fun Active Pool, the calming Aerial Pool with its fountains and always a rainbow or two, the kids' favorite Mountain with dozens of steps and ledges to climb, and the serene Quiet Pool with its giant trees and water cascading walls.
I miss Austin as much as I miss Chicago as much as I love Fort Worth. I often wonder how long we'll live here and where I'll love to live next.
I have a similar calculation about living in SLC vs. NYC, D.C. or other big cities. There's a lot to do and we can afford a nice house in the city itself. The drawback is it isn't a huge city.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you love Fort Worth. Somewhere is an album full of pictures from my childhood similar to the ones you're taking now (but with more stirrup pants and huge purple glasses). It's a great place!
ReplyDeleteClaire would be ALL OVER some stirrup pants and huge purple glasses if she could get her hands on them! And it really is a great place, especially with young kids who need to be out of the house as much as possible :)
DeleteHi LL! I'm wondering if I can get a Fort Worth recommendation from you. My brother is getting married in FW in April and my female relatives are looking for a place to get their hair done for the occasion. Any thoughts? (The ladies in question are low maintenance/not picky, but also don't want to choose blindly since it is an important event.)
ReplyDeleteHey there! Congrats to your brother! As for salons, I recently started going to BB 63, a cute salon right by TCU, and I love it (felt very Austin Soco to me). Cozzette is the head stylist and I think she's amazing- she even cut my mom's hair when she was here for Cora's birth and my mom liked it so much she'll probably have her cut it on her next visit too. My only concern with your relatives would be that there's only 3-4 stylists, so if it's a ton of them needing their hair done, they might not have the man power to do it all in a certain window of time, but it's worth a call to check out.
DeleteOther salons I have first hand experience or recommendations with are Moda Aveda (in the hip W. 7th street area by downtown, very good since it's Aveda and big) and Stylemakers (a coworker goes there and really likes it, I think it's good sized too).
Will you be able to make it to the wedding? Fort Worth would love to see you!
Thanks! We'll start with BB 63.
DeleteI'll get to go to the wedding because I made the firm put it in writing. Looking forward to my first trip to FW!
Yay! Smart girl with getting it in writing- with your experience so far, I'm sure it's the only way you'd get to go. I think a wedding in Fort Worth would be so much fun and April is a lovely month to spend time here :).
DeleteI love that each of your kids has been born in a different one of your cities - if you move again, you'll be forced to have a 4th!
ReplyDelete