I went on another blogging hiatus for very good reason.
Taylor and I took a trip down south where everything is bigger. It's not just a saying. It's truth.
We planned this trip back in the days before unemployment and engagement, and even though it may have been fiscally more responsible to stay home, we got on that red eye flight as scheduled and certainly did not regret it.
Our mission: See Ryan Bingham live at Stubbs and make it to the UT-WV football game. Check and check...plus plenty of other "oh man, we just gotta see/do/eat this."
Per usual (funny that I'm using this phrase even though I'm not writing an email to a co-worker or client), we were on a sled, rushing from one thing to another, but I felt like we had a bit more quality time with the friends we got to see this trip.
Coincidentally, a group of our friends recently purchased homes in the same general area of Austin, which I think is pretty neat. We stayed with Jenny and Mike this trip, in their newly remodeled house. Y'all, this home is straight out of HGTV!
Here's a little rundown of our itinerary:
- Breakfast tacos at Tacodeli (it's so hard deciding where to eat in Austin) with Karina.
- A spin through Mellow Johnny's for Taylor's traditional T-shirt purchase and Lance Armstrong memorabilia fix.
- Happy hour celebrating Kevyn's new job (how cool to be there for her News 8 send-off!), cackling with some of my favorite news biz ladies (ahem, Cyndie!).
- Dinner with Fer, John, and Karina at Botticelli's. And, seriously...I can't stress the "what a small world"-ness of Austin enough, but here's a classic example: While leaving the restaurant, we ran into my dear friend Dotts, who couldn't come to dinner with us because she had a group of best friends in town. It's not like Botticelli's is a super popular restaurant, either (although it holds some great memories for me, so I love it!). So glad we got to see her and meet her man!
- Friday morning TMG (The Morning Group), an absolute must for us. Popping into my old run group and getting our post-run flagship Whole Foods fix is a standard when I come to town, and now Taylor's a vacationing regular, too.
- Lunch at Galaxy with Ricky and Cortnee...possibly the cutest/nicest/easiest to get along with couple we know.
- Dinner with the Bingham groupies at Stiles Switch, a NEW! barbecue joint up north (yum!)...and I must mention we finally got to meet Andrea's hunky beau, Blake! Cute couple alert!!!
- Oh yeah, and Bingham...who do you think you are? This is not L.A. This is Austin, Texas. I think he may have forgotten as his band and sound were a little off...
- Coffee and gossip on the porch at Jenny's (Taylor went for a run while I soaked up every moment of this).
- The best Austin brunch ever. No, not at a restaurant, but at Chez Davidson, where Jenny, Kara, and Andrea provided such a delicious spread, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!
- Tailgating in true Texas style (photos will provide a better description of this).
- Joining the biggest crowd in University of Texas football history for an outrageous game.
- Post-game tacos and one last Shiner Bock with Karina and her fella.
As always, we ran out of time. We never get to see everyone we want to see or do everything we want to do, but that's the magic of Austin. There's always good reason to keep coming back. I tell people I have an agreement with Taylor that I must go back at least twice a year to get my fix. This trip marked two tally marks for 2012, so I'd say we're still on target. :)
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| Cyndie, me, and Kevyn...tossing the web producer baton to yet another newsie. |
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| This graffiti on the wall of Jo's has become quite popular. Having our tourist moment. |
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| Bingham and his new band. |
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| Traditional tall girl pic. Don't you LOVE Jenny's new 'do? I'm obsessed! |
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| The ladies: Kara, Chelsea, Sarah (front); Jenny, me, Andrea (back). |
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| Speaking of obsessions...Jenny's sausage balls will be making an appearance at my next brunch. |
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| The guys figured out a competition in the backyard. |
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| Casey hitting up the bloody Mary bar. |
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| Girls gossiping around the brunch spread. |
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| Andrea's picturesque blueberry muffins and Kara's corn and tomato tart in the background. |
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| The spread... |
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| Bloody Mary bar. Mimosas for me. |
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| Can't get enough of the food photos. |
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| Copa cuties! |
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| To steal Jenny's line..."tall girls tailgating!" |
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| Such a sweet setup here at the double-decker school bus. |
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| View from the top. |
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| Taylor, Jenny, Blake, and Andrea. |
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| Chelsea's brother with the longhorn helmet. |
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| Our hosts for the weekend, Mrs. and Mr. Davidson. |
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| I didn't mention this, but Andrea just bought a house! So happy for you, Andrea! |
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| Not a bad view, eh? Soaking it all in from on top of the bus. |
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| And, we're in! |
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| My favorite part is when they roll out the giant Texas flag...that and the Wabash Cannonball in the third quarter. |
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| Truth. |
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| Record crowd at DKR...just shy of 102,000. Crazy! |
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| We stayed till lots of the fans cleared out so we could really soak it all in. |
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| Then we had Taco Cabana (ha!) and met up with Karina and Jason for beers before heading back. These trips never are long enough. Until we see each other again, thanks for everything, Texas! |
