The Place: Cenote on East Cesar Chavez

The Cup: Recall last week when I vowed to do two things.  Make sure to figure out what my companion was drinking and try a new drink.  Done and done!  Chris and I walked in within seconds of one another and I asked him as we stood in line if he had a favorite drink at Cenote. Lucky me, he did and we both enjoyed a “pour-over” coffee which was worth the ten minutes it took to make.  If you are interested, as I was, in knowing more about this new-ish coffee trend, here is some extra info compliments of Oliver Strand at The New York Times. Basically, its a technique where hot water is slowly poured over ground coffee and then allowed to blossom. The result is a smooth, rich cup of joe minus the acidic taste some find from a French Press.

Background: Chris is a fellow blogger and we met at BlogathonATX, an Austin blogger event that happens every fall.  I am somewhat reluctant to allow myself to use that title, blogger, much in the same way I don’t feel right about using the title Race Car Driver with only a few speeding tickets as my qualifiers. I have a blog, that much is true. And I often drive too fast.

Chris is a serious blogger.  He writes for Apartment Therapy and I was surprised to learn that he just decided one day to submit some of his work to see if they’d hire him, and they did. We both joked that we weren’t writers; in fact neither of us remembers much from college English classes and have to rely on our spouses or good old Mr. Google when we need to figure out how to properly use a colon or how best to use the word perfunctory.  {Fun word, right?!?  Do you know how to use it?  Want to?  Here you go.} Chris started off writing for the Tech feature on the site.  He tells me he had an interest in writing about more diverse topics so when they decided to merge Tech, Apartment Therapy and the Kitchn (sic) together, he saw that as an opportunity to diversify.  He now does tours of people’s homes, he writes food pieces for the Kitchn and also maintains his own blog, MetropoChris.com where he writes a little more in depth, behind the scenes kind of stuff from the Apartment Therapy home tours and also features a new cocktail every Friday.  He’s got lots of other great stuff there too, so you need to pop in and visit him.  Not now of course, you are busy hanging on every word here, remember!

So, you may be thinking, “Dang, this Chris fellow is one busy guy!”  He sure is.  On top of everything mentioned above, he is a newlywed (relatively speaking – 2 years, I think that qualifies) AND he has a day job at IBM.  AHHHH!!!  {Are you feeling like an underachiever?  I know, me too!}  So how does he manage it all?  Don’t worry, I asked and I will share his secrets in just a bit.  But first, a little background.

Chris grew up in Plano, TX.  He tells me his parents have always been very supportive and encouraging. He became an Engineer and took a job in Minnesota working for IBM.  While there, he met a lovely young co-worker who was also from Texas and Southern sparks flew.  About five years ago, the pair relocated to Austin and two years ago, they tied the knot. Aww, I love a good love story!

Wonder what she thinks of Chris’ juggling act of careers?  Chris tells me she is really supportive and because she paid a little more attention in college English, she acts as editor when Chris needs another set of eyes before hitting “publish” or “send”.  He laughs when he tells me what she said to him when he first told her his plan to start blogging.  “Do you even know how to write?” she asked.  I have to chuckle because I’ve asked myself the same question every day since starting this project.

Chris admits he feels bad sometimes that he’s so busy with work, work and work but he makes an effort to carve out special time for just the two of them.  A lot of times he’s able to kill two birds with one stone and turn research for a blog post into a date. For example, Chris and the Mrs. just returned from Marfa where they attended the Annual Trans Pecos Gathering of Music & Love at El Cosmico.  Chris discovered the groovy idea from some artists he met while on a project for Apartment Therapy.  So, off they went to celebrate their 2 year anniversary, hang with some cool new friends, sleep under the big skies of West Texas and conduct research for an upcoming piece. Brilliant!

I had to find out the secret to keeping all of these balls in the air.  So, here it is. Chris is a list guy. Simple, but effective. He keeps to-do lists, project lists, creative idea and blog idea lists. He’s got professional lists and personal lists, and for the most part, he operates from these lists without distraction. Another secret, he watches maybe an hour of TV a week. Yes, a WEEK!  Holy cow, lately that’s how much TV I watch an hour.  Yes, an hour an hour.  Eek!  Note to self, turn off the darn thing and get to work!

Does he have any weakness?  A crack in the perfect veneer anywhere?  Chocolate chip cookies are Chris’ kryptonite. Actually, the guy loves all things sweet and carby. Hooray! I knew I liked this guy! He gives me the scoop on the best places to find three of my favorite things in the whole, wide world! Scones, soft pretzels and donuts. I bet you’d like the scoop as well. Fine. I’m not stingy.

For scones like you’ve never had ’em, Chris tells me Annie’s is the place to go.  Chris describes the baked goodie as a cross between a scone and a biscuit (with a pinch of heaven). OK, I threw the heaven business in there, but still.

The best pretzel in town, and I’m kicking myself as I type this for not going there when I walked by this weekend, can be found at Easy Tiger.  It also has great beer and delightful baguettes.  Carb overload!

Finally, the pièce de résistance…the donut – which can be found at Gourdoughs. I had actually already discovered this little gem on my own thanks to some sugar lovin’ Twitter friends.  Gourdough’s scores extra credit for operating from my favorite vehicle, an Airstream. Not that they need extra credit with their perfect score of 100!  I enjoyed the Miss Shortcake (click to read all about it if you’d like) when I was there and by enjoyed, I mean fell head over heels, madly and desperately in love with!  You’ve seriously not had a donut (or lived, for that matter) until you’ve bit into the perfect fried gooey sweetness of a Gourdough’s donut. I am prone to exaggeration, true.  But this time, my friend, none needed. And Chris agrees.

Chris has only been on his official blog/writing/photography  journey for less than a year, but already he’s a changed man.  I can relate. When you meet new people, get a glimpse into what makes them unique and discover how they got where they are, it changes you.  Chris performs his examinations in people’s homes, surrounded by their things and often behind the lens of a camera.  Mine are done on neutral ground mostly over a caffeinated beverage. Ultimately though, we both have conversations with strangers and are open to the ideas and opportunities those shared moments unveil.

As we talk about the commonality, we both agree that it’s special and powerful.  I’ve said it before, but I believe it now more than ever.  What’s wrong in this nation, in our schools, in our businesses, in our homes could all probably be resolved if we could find a way to open our hearts and minds and talk to one another.  And then open our ears and listen.  We’re all on a path leading us somewhere.  But we’re not alone on the journey.  We just need to turn the TV off, put our phones down, look up and start talking. Simple really.

You can read Chris’ Apartment Therapy pieces as well as see a ton of other cool stuff at his site MetropoChris.com, check out his Kitchn articles or follow him on Twitter to see what he’s up to.