austin texas

so this past weekend was super fun. i went to austin to visit with some high school friends and it was so lovely to catch up with them. i've been to austin once or twice but we did lots of tourist-like stuff so i got the full austin effect this time. we went to dinner at the restaurant called oasis and it overlooked lake travis. the drive to oasis was really curvy and through the mountains/hills. it reminded me of the family drives to our old lake house years ago. .. i am suddenly missing that place now .. anyways the food was so yummy and there was a fireplace and a christmas tree so we got our take of awkward christmas photos. we spent lots of time on south congress and we walked through the bizarre (that's the name of it i think). it was full of street-like vendors and some of the stuff was really cool. lots of homemade jewelry, leather bags, and fun trinkets. i got some neat austin coasters and i am so in love with them. i personally think they're too awesome to use as coasters, so i might keep them on my desk for decoration :). we also walked through an antique bookstore and a huge costume boutique which was super fun. if you are ever in austin i highly recommend eating at hopdoddy because it is the tastiest burger joint ever. oh and i hear their milkshakes are great too, but i always forget to get one when i go! my friends took me to a lot of the picture spots in austin which was probably the best part. i'm a sucker for a fun/cool picture. and leave it to the capital to have the prettiest murals and wall art. love it! we also snuck inside the hotel that ryan gosling is apparently staying at while he is filming his movie. well we didn't really sneak in because the gate was wide open and it looked incredibly inviting. unfortunately he wasn't there, but there was a 'i lost my boyfriend, ryan gosling' sign right outside the hotel. so funny. i also experienced my first ever real rock concert. it was so awesome. the band, bright lights social hour, was so rock and roll, it was crazy. apparently they opened for aerosmith, woah. i will honestly be shocked if they don't make it big one day. i also watched another local band perform. they go by the name of wild child and their song real estate is currently on replay. it is one of my new favorite songs. you should look it up, right now. .. i love weekends when i can leave where i am and explore a city with people i love.

hope you all have a lovely thanksgiving break .. cheers