Injecting some color into this gray Sunday: Lisa Congdon.

Doesn't this picture look so Hitchcock?

I took this just now on my street.   Friends, it's quite a gray morning in Austin, Texas.

The very first year I was in grad school, it rained all of the time.  And in California no less, purportedly the land of sunshine and movie stars.  

I called home constantly, whining about the jip deal I got.  "Why is the weather so bad here?" I'd cry to Ross.  "It looks nothing like it did on my visit!  Everything is wet and nasty!"  

I missed Austin and I missed my friends and I missed having shoes that stayed dry.  I missed the parched grass and the sunburns when I forgot to wear sunscreen and the languid way we central Texans work through August, half unconscious because the heat has stalled proper brain function.  I'd cry to friends that I'd take all of that, with a broken AC unit, just to be out of this drizzly, cold California nonsense.

Finally, someone in my program suggested that I get in my car and drive to San Francisco, which wasn't that far away.  Because even if I was damp and shivering, at least I could be damp and shivering on the Castro.  And if Harvey Milk had overcome collective homophobia on the Castro, surely, surely I could overcome a soggy pair of socks.

On the way there I got a little lost (naturally) and wandered my way down Market Street.  That was where I stumbled into what appeared to be a brand new gallery: Rare Device, and once inside, I picked up a piece by artist Lisa Congdon. 

Her stuff was so goofy and delightful.  I couldn't afford anything, by I wanted it badly.  So after that day, I just sort of followed her online over the years, making her art my desktop wallpaper and following her site to see when she had new stuff.

So, imagine my delight when I was browsing through the Free People blog on Friday, and discovered a whole post devoted to Lisa!

(I realize how bizarre it is that I'm talking about her like she's my friend.)

Anyway, a few years after I walked into Rare Device, and first saw that little piece by Lisa, she went on to buy the gallery herself and run it with a partner.  They sold it this month to a couple in San Francisco ... so I wonder what Lisa is up to now.

Funny how long I've been stalking this person, eh?

As you may or may not know, Ross and I are house-hunting right now, so if we are successful I'm thinking I'll christen the new place with some Lisa's.  Here is her Etsy shop if you love her stuff as much as I do.