A Week in Austin, TX :: Part I

With this glutton-filled blog post, I declare that from this moment forward, I will eat only leafy greens and rid my diet of carbs, sugar, and caffeine –

you:

me:

me: APRIL FOOLS.

me: *giggles*

I would never.

Now that that's over and done with, let's get to the real party. Last week was my Spring Break, and I made a beeline for Austin, TX. For half of my life, I've lived a three hour drive from Austin, and yet it took me purchasing a three hour flight from California to really commit to exploring every nook and cranny of this quirky little city.

I was upfront from the very beginning: I'd be making this trip for two reasons, and two reasons only. One, was to have some quality face time with my middle / high school friends before we all officially graduate and two... well, two, was to stuff my face.

Oh boy, did I succeed on both counts.

Not only that, but I even allowed some culture time (that's the very first photograph ever taken you see in that frame up there, hey buddy you might've forgotten to take the lens cap off!), parked my behind in a cafe (when in Rome on a college campus, right?) for a half a day to get some work done, traversed alllllll over Austin on foot to visit BookPeople, shop, and caffeinate, acquainted myself with a handful of excellent new friends, and more.

Of course, the best part of all was that I got to spend ~3 days of uninterrupted girl time with my best friend, Brina. It's been years since we've gotten to have so much time together, and I happily made the most of making her take me to all of her favorite food haunts, creepily staring at her while she demonstrated her being the more talented friend, talking all things boys and school and future while losing our way to ice cream and then talking all things boys and school and future some more while we ate that ice cream on the steps outside of a closed vintage store.

It's been SUCH a treat having the opportunity to observe some of my favorite people on this entire planet in their naturalistic environment –– said like a true social scientist. We've all known each other for a decade by now, and oh what a decade it has been.

Austin Highlights from this post –
// Jo's Coffee – Best known for their South of Congress location where the "I love you so much" graffiti is, their runner-up claim to fame is the Iced Turbo coffee – an addicting concoction of espresso, hazelnut, chocolate, and crushed ice. Terrific.
// Hopdoddy – Pause for a second. Imma let you collect your thoughts, because I'm about to make a hell of claim. Brina asked me where I had the best burger of my life, and I thought about it for a second before looking down and saying, "I think this just might be it." Juicy, juicy patty topped with brie, truffle aioli, arugula, steak sauce, and caramelized onions. TEARS IN EYES. The truffle fries (especially the sauce!) were excellent as well.
// A magical gas station – When Brina told me she'd "take me to a gas station as a special treat," I began looking up flights to go home because what kind of hostess move is that. But. But but but. This gas station was insane. Do you see that aisle of ciders? The fridge lined every wall of the gas station, and was filled with every kind of domestic, imported, outer space cider, beer, whatever you could think of. AND they had another few aisles of fridges dedicated solely to artisanal ice cream! Plus they had every brand of candy that's ever existed in this history of ever. 
// Amy's Ice Creams – Although I wouldn't call this the best ice cream I've ever had, I likened it to "Marble Slab / Cold Stone, but like on steroids." A long-time favorite in town!
More next time!