So today I went shopping. I was trying to go to ace mart with Mikey to help him get some new stuff for his kitchen, but it was closed. Not just closed for the day but closed for good. I think because the location was too valuable for the up and coming condos here.

After we didn’t get to go shopping for fun kitchen stuff we went to for tacos at torchy’s. The best tex-mex tacos in Austin, BTW. Then he had to go meet Kim. Ok cool I had an afternoon to kill, that’s a very appealing thing to me. It’s been awhile since I’ve had the time to just lolly-gag around town.

I first went down to Parts & Labor. A little boutique favorite of mine here in town. They always have some cool local designer stuff. I’m particularly fond of the jewelry there.

Being down on south congress just reminded me of the gentrification that’s going on all over town. Now I’m all for making stuff nicer and newer, but I’m beginning to realize the cost of it on the original character of the city.

It reminded me of the old Factory People. I used to love that place, you could always find something unique and couture over there, but because of gentrification it’s gone now. Now it’s an American Apparel (Blech!), filled with florescent lights and uniform clothes with no character.

Then I went down to that 2nd street district. Octane used to be over there but they couldn’t afford to keep the lease. That was my favorite store in Austin. I used to buy all my James Perse there. Now I have to buy his stuff online. It’s kinda depressing.

So I decided to just walk around the block and check out what was there now. Nothing. There’s some other boutiques there, but nothing that fills the void of Octane. Every other store in that area is designed to make everyone look the same, with racks and racks of the same stuff.

This all made me think of Kiki Nass too. That place closed a few months ago, and now a skateboard/clothing shop is there also with racks and racks of the same stuff. Granted, it probably wasn’t in the best location for business, but I often made a trip out of my way to check out her new stuff.

Can anyone tell me what happened to all the awesome little boutiques in town? Am I just stuck dressing like every other girl here in town now? How sad is that?