After a 23-year absence, I was back in the great state of Texas. The hotel's pool was perfect and driving by the Bell building brought back many happy personal and professional memories. Friday evening I saw Susan, my best friend from when I lived in Austin. How we laughed and laughed and laughed. 
But the highlight - and reason for the trip - was seeing Nick. What an amazing, awesome nephew I have. So conversational and so smart and so easy going! When I asked him what book he would choose if he were in charge of a book group's selection, he said Robert Cialdini's Social Influence. I almost fell out of my chair - I spend an entire week in social psychology covering that book and mention it in almost all the courses I teach. I loved hearing how he uses the persuasion techniques and tactics covered in the book to land clients and create his marketing suggestions and solutions for his clients.
I'd asked Laura what I could show up with to celebrate Nick's birthday and was informed that Nick is a health nut. So, see the picture on the left to know what I brought instead of cookies, cupcakes, etc., even though Nick told me later that he does like desserts, I think especially brownies. Because I expected to dine with a health nut, I was prepared to eat at a tofu/spinach bar but was quite happy when he suggested a Mexican restaurant instead - check out that genuine decor. (He did tell me he'd make a banana/spinach drink later, but fortunately he forgot, ha ha.)We visited two bookstores. One was odd and old (the sign claimed it was "unique," which we realized was code for weird), the other mainstream. I needed a book for the flight home and found the section of my favorite author's books. Nick realized one of them was signed by the author, so that's the one I bought. Great eyes, Nick!
Of course we needed some frozen yogurt to cool down in the 98 degree weather. And we also needed some watermelon to further cool down before dinner. What you see on our plates is not all the watermelon that was consumed; and it was only with incredible restraint on my part that the entire watermelon was not eaten in one sitting.
Dinner was at a barbecue joint, within walking distance from Nick's home. I absolutely loved spending the day with him. I loved seeing where he lives (with the unusual 8 foot tall chair), hearing about his work, talking about our relatives, learning about his daily life, meeting his roommate, and catching a glimpse into his world. He could not have been a kinder, more accommodating (it took us a while to find the frozen yogurt place), more interesting host. I am so thankful I got to be with him, celebrating his 22nd birthday! You rock, Nick!
