Southbound 35

We went out of town in late August and early September to hang out and see friends, and I keep meaning to post stuff about it!

Drew and I decided to take a weekend away in Austin a few weeks ago to celebrate...our love! Or something. We both went to UT and going back to Austin is always fun for us - especially when we make lists of restaurants to frequent while we're there. The most stressful part is picking where to eat and what to do because there's SO MUCH!

Our hotel room at the Stephen F. Austin!

Another view of our hotel room!

Another great reason to be in Austin was to see my brother. He and his wife just moved there from Berlin to get his PhD at UT - he's evidently addicted to learning. A gene/hobby/interest that I was not blessed with. We went to dinner at Mandola's, a cute Italian restaurant that has the BEST PIZZA in the city!!! (In my opinion.) And then we pretended like we were young and still living the dream and went to Cain and Abel's for a few drinks. Sigh.

The next morning we stopped by John and Lauren's apartment and this is what we found greeting us at the door. Some may say it's fitting.

My brother showcasing their awesome place!!

The cutest chair in all the land in their apartment. She just picked these two fabrics to recover the chair with and voila, the coolest thing ever.

We also went to Kirbey Lane, THE quintessential Austin/college breakfast locale, and I ordered the Kirbey Queso as an appetizer to my breakfast. That's right. I got the Veggie Scramble because I'm super healthy and food concious, and Drew got the basic breakfast thingy majig - gingerbread pancakes and bacon and eggs and deliciousness. At some point during this breakfast and all the food photography, my brother accused me of being a Food Pornographer and indulging in Food Pornography. And you know what? I LIKED it. If loving food porn is wrong, then I don't wanna be right. This continued throughout the weekend.

Next up was a trip to South Congress to hit up the weirdo beardo shops and get some more food. There are lots of weirdo beardo people walking around there too, but I guess that's part of the fun.

A pair of boots I liked for myself at Allen's Boots. Perhaps I'll buy them sometime.

We needed something cool and refreshing on the hot summer day, so we stopped at a parking lot full of food trucks. They're all the rage right now, you know. A pink lemonade shaved ice and we were on our way to the next truck....

Hey Cupcake! Oh, hi! Great to see you.

This is just your basic, run o' the mill vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing, but it sure didn't TASTE basic or run o' the mill. It tasted like something I would have made myself but BETTER.

We then stopped by Abel's on the Lake for an afternoon margarita and to enjoy the sights on the lake. And the college kids acting like they all are supposed to. Ohhh to be young again! A quick stop by the hotel to nap and change, and we were on our way to our favorite place ever: MOONSHINE.

Moonshine has the best brunch in the state, and it's worth every damn penny. Drew chose to forego the brunch, much to my dismay, because he said he'd be miserable the rest of the day. SO WHAT. I am always willing to risk misery for the Moonshine brunch. However, we decided to go to dinner instead, which is the next best thing.

This is an elementary school caliber picture of my Ruby Red Slipper martini. Vodka, grapefruit juice, and champagne. Mmmmm.

I believe in Food Porn, this would be called the Money Shot. Ooooooh baby. That was some crab stuff rainbow trout with some veggies, corn salsa, and mac and cheese, of course. I think I ate every single crumb and was tempted to lick my plate. Sorry not sorry.

Kirk came and met us for a drink at our hotel, we got breakfast tacos in the morning (another major bonus) and we were on our way. It was so fun! I think we hit up everywhere we wanted to and successfully completed our food tour of Austin. (Side note: whenever people ask me how a trip to NYC, Austin, or anywhere else was, I usually say something like "It was fun! We pretty much ate our way through the city!" I wish I could say something else about my trips, but I suppose this is the life of a Food Pornographer.) We had a great time and can't wait to go back!

The Best of What's Around

Drew and I had the distinct pleasure of going to the Dave Matthews concert this weekend. This is Drew's 11th concert and I think my...6th. Maybe. Drew has loved DMB from day one and I'd like to think that he's gone to most of those 11 concerts with me. But maybe not.

We were fortunate enough to land PIT tickets, which is the closest we've ever been! We were about 12 feet from the stage and it was awesome. And we were two inches from catching a signed drumstick that Carter Beauford threw into the crowd!! Damnit!



We got to the concert at Coca Starplex (which is what it is called and what it should always be called) early, with a pizza from iFratelli's to binge on and all of our drink materials. We sat "tailgating" in the car for an hour or so, judging people and watching all the douche lords around us act a fool. I also had two friends that were there tailgating near us, so we finished up, made a fresh bev, and headed over to hang out with them and louge around for a little while before we went inside.

As we were nearing departure time to head into Starplex, Friend #1 says, "So...do you guys need anything before we go?" with a sly look in her eye. Anything? What does she mean? "What do you mean?" I ask. "LAUREN!", she says. "Come ON." while Friend #2 procedes to nod affirmatively and the two disappear behind the car. Drew and I stand there dumbfounded, not EXACTLY knowing what they're referring to, but feeling stupid nonetheless. We look at each other and he asks "What were they talking about?" and I shrug and reply "Drugs, maybe...? I have no idea." Hmm. Drew and I decide it's about time to go inside and check out the scene anyway, so instead of standing there sucking my thumb like a 12-year-old IDIOT, I walk around to the other side of the car where the Friends are now INSIDE the car, smoking the doja. Excellent. I was right. They encourage me to get in and get going and that everything will be fine, while I proceed to make up something about getting drug tested at my job and that Drew's ready to go inside and scout it out. I politely shut the door and let them continue to hotbox. See you guys inside!!

It's just funny to me that, while that stuff doesn't bother me, I had absolutely no clue what they were talking about as an almost 26 year old, and that I felt as stupid and idiotic and clueless as I did when I was in high school and other Friends acted the same way. I felt like the naive freshman at the party who wanted to act cool and like she fits in, when really...she has no clue what the hell is going on. I proceeded to beat myself up for feeling and acting so stupid all the way inside until we got to the PIT and all my troubles melted away.

The concert was awesome. He played some old stuff, some new stuff, some secret stuff I'd never heard, and some CLASSIC stuff that the crowd went nuts for. Drew and I were dancin the whole time like we too had hotboxed before the concert too - which might have something to do with the weed being smoked to the left, right, front, and back of us - and it was so much fun.

I love DMB for a number of reasons. First, he plays good music. Second, all his music makes me nostalgic. Third, during his concerts, he gives every single member of his band the opportunity to play by themselves for the crowd for a LONG ASS period of time, and Dave is just smiling and acting as happy as can be the whole time. He seems to genuinely love the people in his band and loves giving them their time to jam. Fourth, I like the people in his band, particularly Boyd Tinsley, who is a crazy mofo with long dreadlocks who wears zany outfits and goes bonkers on the violin.

Lastly, I love DMB because they've sort of been the background of Drew and I's relationship since I've known him. We first started becoming friends the summer before 9th grade, when I was obsessed with "Before These Crowded Streets" and made my mom take us to watch the guy's baseball games. Later, one of my earliest memories I have with Drew is me running up to him in 9th grade after school, outside waiting with all the kids for our parents to pick us up, and saying "DREW! I just got the 'Crash' album! It's my second Dave Matthews CD! I know what a Dave freak you are - aren't you proud of me??" And I remember Drew chuckling and saying he was proud of me and then he probably turned around to go shoot a basketball or something because he was super shy back in the day and didn't say much to me or any female, for that matter. I guess we started dating almost 2 years later (and many more Live DMB albums later) and we've been listening to Dave and going to his concerts together ever since. And the three of us lived happily ever after.

A great time was had by all! (Do I end every post like that? It's possible.)