Scenes from the Weekend: Part II Around Town

Saturday was an incredibly beautiful day.  It would have been insane to stay inside.  So we didn't. 

We woke up and went to the Henderson's to barrow (babysit) Charis for the morning.  We stopped at Mozart's for a latte and a breakfast taco by the lake.  Charis waved to all of the dogs on their morning outings and we enjoyed the breeze blowing off the lake.  One of those days where you never want Spring to end. 

Next we headed to a farmer's market at Barton Creek Mall.  It's a really great market full of unique finds and beautiful produce.  We snagged some blacked shrimp and salmon boudin sausage.  It sounded too good to pass up for dinner that night.  After dropping it off at the house, we headed down to Town Lake for a walk. 

Good thing Charis loves the stroller, because we walked for a long time!  We started off at South First and Riverside and walked East and then up through Travis Heights- checking out all of the amazing houses on the hill.  A great leg workout.  :)  We strolled by Hotel St. Cecelia and down South Congress on our way back. 

Only in Austin would you see this, mixed in with SXSW on a Saturday on South Congress....

I got to enjoy a great lunch with two of my dear college friends at Central Market.  It was so fun to be together.  It felt just like old times!  I loved the chance to catch up!  What a great Saturday blessing!

Blake had a great idea to ride our bikes down South Lamar to check out some of the thrift stores and local boutiques rather than hassle with traffic.  Again - a great leg workout!  We popped into a few that I had yet to check out.  We didn't take home any finds but it was great to see what was out there. 

On our way down Lamar we noticed that there was a camera crew and a shiny black suburban at the Gourdoughs trailer park.  We noticed a good looking dude with large and very white smile.  I think he might have been a host for some entertainment show or something like that - I skip out on shows like that so I really have no idea who he was.  A few seconds later Jake Gyllenhaal popped out of the suburban and sat down for an interview.  Like crazy tourists, we snapped a few photos on my iphone. :)  (I promise that's really him in the pic)

The rest of the evening we shopped for groceries and made a fantastic dinner and again enjoyed the weather, eating outside on the patio.  Our bodies were exhausted - I wonder how many calories we burned biking and walking!

Sunday AM we were sore but drug ourselves out of bed and headed to the Greenbelt for a hike.  We went to a part of the Greenbelt we hadn't been before and it was a great hike and so beautiful.  Here's a pic of a huge tree, part of the gorgeous scenery on the hike.  (Sorry for the ugly iphone pic, it's all we had with us)

Our weekend wrapped up with a great service at church and then a dinner to wind down and get ready for the week.  It was a fantastic weekend - I loved spending it with my hubby and getting some great one on one time together.  :) I hope it's just a beautiful next week!

Scenes from the Weekend: Part I SXSW

We had an awesome time enjoying our city this weekend.  The city has exploded with SXSW in town.  I think it nearly has doubled the city in size!  There is so much going on, so much hustle and bustle and so much energy.  It's pretty exciting!  We wanted to check it out on Friday night so we decided to get our workout in by jogging downtown and taking it all in. 

One of the coolest elements of South By are the pop ups - showcasing all of the new technology.  This is the Playstation pop up store.  The screens outside were huge.  Right across from the convention center, it really made a statement. 

Pepsi converted an empty parking lot into a huge party space full of food, drinks and live music.  The transformation was amazing.  It got you asking, what was there before?

This was once Max's Wine Dive and now has been converted into the CNN Grill exclusively for SXSW.  A stage and tour bus were outside.  I can't even believe the size of that sign - all just for 2 weeks!

The pop up Apple store was definately getting all of the attention.  The store popped up just in time for the ipad 2 to be released at 5pm.  The line wrapped around the building and down the block.  I can't believe how fast this store came together.  Rumor has it, they started loading merchandise in around noon to open doors at 5.  Insane!  We ran into Blake's good friend Adam, in from Cali.  Can't wait to hang out with them later in the week. :)

After dinner, we headed back home for a quiet dinner, grilling kabobs on the patio.  We then got away from the city and headed out 290 to the Nutty Brown Cafe to hear a great 80's band with some of Blake's co-workers.  It was a fun and chilly evening!  A nice escape from the craziness going on downtown!

Birthday Roadtrip for B

Saturday we decided to take a much needed day off of work to take a getaway to a place on our "Texas Bucket List" as a pre birthday celebration for B.  We had thought about taking a road trip somewhere but are quickly realizing being back in Texas, that getting out of the state is easier said than done.  We miss that about AZ.

We slept in that morning and got a late start on the road with just enough time to stop in Lockhart for some BBQ.  This town is supposedly famous for their Texas BBQ and have multiple well known smoke houses and meat markets to get your carnivore fix.  B chose Black's BBQ.  I think he chose wisely.

We walked in and saw dozens of options for serve yourself sides to choose from.  From creamed corn, mac and cheese to cornbread dressing and even sweet potato casserole.  The meats were cut for you on the spot.  We sampled some brisket and sausage and decided to go for a little of both.  The brisket was by far the best thing we had.  The place was a legit Texas BBQ experience, complete with old pics and road signs adorning the wall.  Our booth had a picture of Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley and Stephen McGee from their visit together in 2006.

Happy Husband about to be very full

With full bellies, we climbed back into the car and headed about an hour down the road to Shiner, Texas.  Living out of state for the past several years, we always were on the hunt for Shiner on tap and it was a special treat when you could get your hands on it.  It's always been one of my favorites, maybe because it's a Texas beer, maybe because it's really a great beer. :)

We got a full tour of the brewery.  The most fascinating part was seeing the bottling process.  Being in the CPG industry, I found it particularly interesting.  Yes, nerdy I know.   Outside it smelled like freshly baked sweet bread.  Yum.

We traded our wooden nickels in for 4 tastings.  Our favorite was by far the Shiner 102, an anniversary brew.  Not sure what makes it a "Double Wheat" beer, but it was smooth, easy to drink and oh so good. Stock up if you see it, it's only in a limited production.  Shiner, Texas was a success.

Saturday night we entertained at our casa with a bunch of friends and family to celebrate him again.  I love love love to stretch birthday celebrations out as long as possible.  Blake was a master griller and made some killer burgers.  The night was filled with good friends, good beer, a fire pit, a few games of bags, bocce ball and even a 7 pound chocolate cake!

Can't wait to keep the celebrations going for my hubby!  I love birthdays!  AND I love him!

Alexis visits the ATX

You know the feeling of just being able to pick up where you left off with a friend?  That's exactly what happened when Alexis came to town this weekend.  I loved having her here.  It felt like we never missed a beat (or 5 months apart) and just jumped right back in where we were when we left Arizona.  I loved getting to catch up, hear her heart and understand more details of what is going on in her life, talk about Jesus, show her our new (and rainy) city and just BE together.

On Friday, Alexis arrived and I had some work to finish up before the weekend could officially begin.  She baked some cookies (nothing makes B happier!) and then we headed out to a coffee shop so I could wrap up my to do list and Lex could get a little reading/quiet time in.  That night we went to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant we had heard great things about.   The restaurant wasn't all we had hoped it would be, but with a little bit of greasy Mexican food in our tummies, we headed to 6th street.  We were on 6th early so she didn't have a chance to experience the craziness that it normally has to offer later in the night.  We saw a concert of a band that I had seen a few times when I was in college, Alpha Rev.  They were fantastic and it was a great show.  I would love to see them again.  Loving that Lex got to experience the Live Music Capital of the World in all it's glory.  :) 

Saturday morning we woke up to rainy skies so we enjoyed our coffee on the couch where we chatted and had some great girl time.  We decided to head out of the house and hit up Austin Java for a egg in the hole and Lex had another cup of coffee (because she hadn't had enough yet).  There is no way that she could leave without touring the Whole Whole Foods HQ.  After she saw the amazing foodie mecca, Lex said she was ready to move to Austin.

Since our plans of hiking or walking Town Lake were not going to happen due to rain, we headed to Alamo Draft House to see The Kings Speech.  Definitely an Austiny place - we had some lunch and watched a flick to stay out of the rain.  Loved the movie and highly recommend it!  Afterwards, we made a fantastic dinner after a trip to Central Market (because Alexis needed to see more TX grocery stores I always talk about) complete with serveral kinds of bruchetta, a fresh salad and a lovely glass of Malbec.  To wrap up our evening we headed to my cousin's surprise birthday party and then decided to call it a night.

This makes me miss Postino (and cooking w/ Alexis)

Sunday turned out to be a delightful surprise.  We had called Stubbs the night before to make a reservation for their Gospel Brunch, but the voicemail said that they were full.  The next AM Blake put on his charm and we ended up with reservations for 11.  It was fantastic!  The food was so heavy, but so delicious.  Fried catfish, garlic cheese grits, BBQ brisket and sausage, migas and more.  The make-your-own Bloody Mary bar didn't hurt either.  We were seriously full until we went to bed.  Not only was the food wonderful, but the Gospel band was just as amazing.  I will be taking future visitors here - so let us know when you're coming!

Enough Soul Food to feed an army!

Because we didn't want to just sit inside for the rest of day, we headed out to driftwood for some wine tasting at Duchman Winery (previously Mandola's).  We had fun people watching and trying some of their wines.  A really great spot for only about 30 mins away.  We were wiped out and really needed a nap after sipping wine mid day.  A quick power nap rejuvenated us and we then went to Cafe Medici followed by church.  I was so happy to be worshiping next to my dear friend, Alexis.  It was fun to have her see the awesome community we have been so blessed by since we moved to TX.  Don't worry, Alexis gave us a "church hug" after the service.  Felt like we were back in AZ at OTBC. 

We came home and made a "detox" salad to eat something healthy after all of the caffine, wine and fatty foods we had put in our bodies.  We popped in a movie and all snuggled up on the couch, just like old times of being "roomies."

Detox Salad :)

What a great weekend.  I'm so thankful for this visit and time to catch up together.  Can't wait to plan another time when we get to see each other again.  :)  Love you Lex!

Tour de Tejas: McKinney Roughs Park

 

New Years weekend Blake and I enjoyed taking another day trip near Austin to explore the Texas country around us.  This excursion led us to McKinney Roughs Park.  It was a beautifully designed park done by the LCRA.  They had extensive trails that could lead us down multiple different paths through the Lost Pines Region.  The park was bordered by the Colorado River.  It was a beautiful hike on a beautiful day!  

We also drove through the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort which is right down the road from McKinney Roughs. A long, windy road led us back to the resort. It was really rustic looking, yet looked extremely nice and looked like there was so much to do. Maybe a weekend trip is in order?

Totally worth the 20 minute drive outside of Austin! I think we will be making a repeat visit soon and explore more of the trails.

Blake by the Colorado