austin

austin is my favorite weekend escape destination. after calling it home for more than five years, each trip back to my collegiate hometown still reminds me of how great it was to live there. this weekend was no different.

thursday - we ate dinner at plucker's, indulging our stomachs with the typical, greasy / oily / heavy college student fare of fried macaroni, fried pickles, chips and queso, and mozzarella sticks. the hard lemonade is strong at plucker's, but delicious! and definitely made the spurs vs. hornets game much more enjoyable.

friday - we went to kyoto happy hour, as is our weekend escape tradition, then stopped by the elephant room downstairs for a little bit of jazz and a guinness. of course, i was itching for my long-anticipated sprinkles alternative, so off to hey cupcake! it was. one standard and one delicious red velvet cupcake later, we were off to watch forgetting sarah marshall. i thought it was a good film - witty and obscene, with enough realism to make it believable.

saturday - we woke up, went to jo's for a quick morning coffee, then stood in line at flip happy crepes for an hour before being able to stuff our faces with delicious chicken and mushroom goodness. of course, that was followed by a drool-worthy nutella and banana crepe. after lunch, we went kayaking at zilker park, where being a non-swimmer, i was naturally panicky at the prospect of paddling in deep water. it was all good though, as i was not the one to do most of the work :) splashing around in barton springs afterwards was quite refreshing, and really made me wish i knew how to swim. and of course, nothing provides a reprieve from a scorching 95 degrees better than snow cones from sno beach! later in the afternoon, i went shopping at the round rock outlets and came back with some awesome steals from coach, burberry, and jcrew. the day concluded with some fine dining at chez nous, a french restaurant downtown.

sunday - woke up, ate at madam mam's, another austin trip staple, and shopped around the drag. i finally bought a UT lanyard, and almost bought a metallic silver longhorn decal to replace the white one currently melting off my back windshield (i returned it due to the metal not matching my car's badges). then, we went to the domain for afternoon tea at the steeping room. what a great concept! if i were to open up a little shop, this would serve as a close template. it's such a neat little place for a light lunch, date or quick afternoon get-together. we ordered the scone service, which consisted of a pot of premium tea (we chose a delicious chocolate-infused black tea) and a couple of scones. i loved it, and can't wait to go back. sadly, that marked the end of my austin trip.... now it's back to the real world.