...Hit It Out Of The Park

Yesterday I recapped the first half of my Memorial Day weekend.  I had mentioned how I was supposed to head to Austin Saturday morning with a friend for the weekend but something had come up & she was no longer able to make it.

Today I'm going to recap the second half.  The part where I took lemons & made them into lemonade.

Sunday

Remember last Monday when I brought up a boy that I went on 3 dates in a row with?  The one that I said was going to need a nickname.  Well first of all, my friend Ben said his nickname needed to be Pickles so Pickles it is.

Well, Pickles had no plans for Sunday & Monday of Memorial Day weekend so Sunday morning the two of us headed to Austin so that we could go to Lonestar Jam so that the tickets & airbnb wouldn't go to waste since it was all already paid for.

When we got there we got ready & headed off to Lonestar Jam.  It was hot. as. hell.  I really wish that they would either post the line up times online or allow for reentry.  However, since neither of those are true, we only saw the Read Southall Band & part of Mike & the Moonpies.  Neither of us really cared about anyone playing until 5:15 at the earliest, which was 2 hours later.  We both agreed that we did not want to sit in a field for the next 8 hours in 100 degree weather with little to no shade.  So instead we went to go explore Austin since Pickles hadn't been there since the 4th grade.

We hit up End of an Ear first to shop for some records.  Pickles found a few, I walked away with one lone John Cougar Mellencamp album.  With our records in hand we walked a couple of blocks to Radio Coffee & Beer for a beer before heading back to the airbnb to get ready for supper & a night out on 6th Street.  We got pizza & bar hopped around.  We were on a mission to find a bloody mary.  I really wanted to take him to Casino El Camino.  But apparently they closed down sometime between when I was there in December & now.  Sad day.  Sad, sad day.  (Upon further research just now... they had a fire last month & it's a temporary shut down.  Phew)  So we tried going to Moonshine but weren't down with the 1.5+ hour wait.  On our way back to 6th Street, slightly defeated, we stumbled across Texas Reds & Whites Tasting Room so we popped in to do a little wine tasting.  Because we got there 30 minutes or less before they closed, we were the only two in there.  The place was super cute & the owner was super nice.  Except for one tiny little moment where she made it slightly awkward with the following interaction:

Owner: How long have y'all known each other?
Me & Pickles: Two weeks
Owner: How did y'all meet?
Me: Online
Pickles: Bumble
Owner: Well I hope that y'all make it another 20 years

JC Martha! (Her name really was Martha...)  Stay in your lane!  Did you not hear the part where we've only known each other for 2 weeks??  Our first date was just 9 days prior... no pressure!

In all honesty it was handled with no awkwardness whatsoever on either of our parts... ok on his part.  He handled it like a complete champ & I awkwardly patted his knee & said "no pressure" before going to the bathroom.  I then felt the need to message all of my friends & their mothers my mother about said encounter...

We bar hopped some more on 6th Street before calling it a night around 11:30 so that we would be well rested for our brunch/bloody mary hunt in the morning since no bloody was ever found.

Monday

In the morning we went to Motzart's Coffee so we could enjoy some coffee by Lake Austin.  We tried going to Star Bar afterwards for their super fancy bloody but they weren't open.  So instead it was back to Moonshine Grill.  The wait was again 1.5-2 hours but we got a bloody while we waited... and the basically stalked the bar area so we could leap into seats the moment they opened rather than wait the 2 hours.  You'll be happy to know that our stalking paid off!

After lunch we began the long journey back to DFW.  We hit some major traffic on the way home & our 3-3.5 hour drive wound up being closer to 4.5 hours.  Eventually though we made it & I dropped him off before then driving another 40ish minutes home.  Nash was less than thrilled to see me.  Okay he was happy but mostly he was like "pictures?  Already?  You just got home.  Can't you just feed me & then get on with your shenanigans?"

ABCs of Spring

I stole this from Dani.  I thought it was a really fun way to write out the different things I want to accomplish between now & the end of May.

Actually go on a date -- I have't been on a real date since November people.  And not that this actually bothers me a whole lot most of the time, but if I don't go on a date then I'm not really giving the whole meet someone thing a try.

Blog 19 more times -- I broke down my blog 500 times over my 101 in 1001 down & I need 19 more by the end of May to stay on track.

Crawfish -- Give me all the crawfish!  I've only been twice so far this year, to Tasty Tails & Hoochies, I need MORE!

Drink a half gallon of water everyday -- Another one of my 101 in 1001 goals was to drink a half gallon a day for a month.  Today will be day 17.  I still want to be conscious of drinking more water everyday after that, but I won't be as strict on counting oz to make sure I get to the half gallon.

Eat 3 homemade meals from Pinterest recipes - One of my spring goals was to make 10 Pinterest recipes, I've got 3 more to go.

Flatland Cavalry -- I'm going to see them on April 26

Give blood -- I have an appointment to donate this coming Saturday.  Fingers crossed my iron is high enough & I don't wake up feeling like death like this past Saturday when I was supposed to donate.

Handwritten letters -- 101 in 1001 goal

Instagram growth -- My goal is to be at 2900 by the end of May (I'm at 2608)

Jack In The Box - Strawberry Dr. Pepper -- I can't stand Jack In The Box but I saw they have Strawberry Dr. Pepper & now I'm intrigued...

Koe Wetzel -- I'm going to see him on April 19

Lone Star Jam -- I am so excited!  I've never been to a music festival in Texas & this one is at the end of May in Austin.

Magnolia Table -- I went to the silios with my parents when they were here last month but now Magnolia Table is open so my friend & I are going when she comes to visit in May.

Nash's 1st birthday -- Tomorrow Mr. Nashy will be 1, today Mr. Nashy is being a butt head

Otto's Grand Opening -- Next Wednesday there is a new coffee shop opening up & I plan on stopping either on my way to work or on my way home.

Post Crossing - send 2 post cards -- 101 in 1001 goal

Quit biting my nails -- 101 in 1001 goal (I'm on day 17)

Red 55 Winery -- I went to the Pink Pistol/Red 55 Winery back in Nov/Dec but my friend will be visiting in May & really wants to go.  I'm excited to sit there & actually try all the wines this time around.

Softball season ends -- 2 more weeks!

Treat myself to a massage -- After softball season is finally over I am hard core going to treat myself.  Massage definitely included.

Use my Cavenders gift card for new boots -- When I switched from TXU to Reliant for my electric, part of Reliant's deal was a gift card from Cavenders.  As soon as that puppy arrives I'm going to go get some new boots.

Visit a new to me winery/brewery/distillery -- I've never actually been to any winery, but I'm thinking of finding a local one when my friend is here for our "chill" day.

Walk a 5k everyday -- Also a 101 in 1001 goal (today is day 17)

eXchange Netflix for reading before bed for a week -- I'm hoping that by starting a book today at work (it's a testing day) this will be easier because I'll already be sucked into a book.

Yelp reviews for all of my check-ins from April 8th or before -- I have so many reviews waiting to be written... I don't even want to count...

Zbonz Birthday Bash -- Hopefully the weather is nice this Saturday because there is an event at a dog park in Fort Worth that I really want to take Nash to.

A Weekend In Austin

Over the weekend my friend Raeann & I took a road trip down to Austin.  It was a much needed trip.  I needed to get out of town for a couple of days just to get a break.  I dropped Nash off in the morning at Posh Paw Resort in Colleyville.  It was Nash's first stay at a doggy hotel & the first time we'd been apart since back when I first got him in June.  Needless to say I cried a little bit when I got back into my car.

Our first stop upon getting to Austin was Stiles Switch BBQ because it's one of my all time favorite BBQ places.  Their potato salad is to die for.

Then it was off to our hotel.  I should have taken a picture of the inside because while still not some 5 star hotel, it looked a lot less like a murder hotel.  We stayed at the Grand Peers Hotel.  Mostly because it was the first weekend of Austin City Limits & it was one of the only hotels that was close to everything & had good reviews that didn't cost an arm & a leg.

We took a nap upon our arrival at the hotel because BBQ & so that we would be well rested for a night out.  We had originally planned on going to Broken Spoke so we could get our dance on.  Everything I read though said they had a $12 cover & neither of us were about that.  So instead we headed to the White Horse.  In all honesty it was lame.  We stayed long enough to finish a drink.

We got ourselves an Uber & made our way down to Sixth Street.  We started out at Friends Bar but there wasn't a whole lot going on so we again stayed for all of one drink.

We eventually found our way into Blind Pig Pub where we spent most of the night.  They had a good live band & we made our first set of friends.

 

The band ended & hunger set in so we stopped to enjoy some pizza from across the street while sitting on the sidewalk.

Our night didn't last much longer after pizza.  We found ourselves in Bat Bar as per my request because it's nostalgic for me.  There we made another set of friends.  What can I say?  We like to make friends when out & about.

When we got back to our hotel that night around 1 am the air wasn't working!!  We tried to suck it up for awhile & went to sleep.  Around 4 am we couldn't take it anymore & made the front desk person come up & take a look at it.  It took some convincing because he didn't really want to come into our room at 4 am.  However, he finally did & got the air working.  His parting words were "good call on the air!  You would have died!"  No kidding...

We slowly woke up on Sunday, feeling like death as we had drank more than intended, as well as more types of liquor intended.  We eventually felt human enough to make our way to brunch.  We hit up South Congress Cafe for bloody marys.

We then walked a mile & a quarter down South Congress & across the Congress Avenue bridge to Second Bar & Kitchen to eat.  We had originally intended on eating at South Congress Cafe but none of the food on the menu appealed to us.  We both got the Breakfast Club with hash brown potato cakes.  So good!  We made the right choice on our food location for sure.

Our long walk in the heat took a lot out of us so it was back to the hotel for awhile so we could rest up.  Once we were good & rested we headed back to South Congress where we just walked around for awhile & checked things out.  We both got ice cream, & I got a cupcake, from Hey Cupcake because I flippin love that place.

South Congress is probably my favorite part of Austin.  There are so many cool little shops & restaurants to check out.

There are also the cute murals all over the area to see.

For our last activity of the night on Sunday we watched the bats on the Congress Ave bridge.  Unfortunately it was too dark to get any good pictures but the sunset was gorgeous & getting to see all of the bats was really cool!

When my hanger started to set in & it was getting to dark to really even see the bats we walked over to Coopers Old Time Pit BBQ.  I didn't really realize we had one in Fort Worth, even though I've seen it a dozen times, and I still need to go to the original in Llano, but it was good!  I loved the brisket.

Because the weather was so nice, & we wanted to walk off some of the BBQ we had just eaten, we decided to walk back down South Congress.  That actually turned into walking a total of 3 miles back to our hotel.  Why?  Because we're dumb that's why.  Don't get me wrong the weather was great.  However by the time we got back we could feel the swelling in our knees & hips because we're old.  On the bright side that meant we both slept awesome!

Monday morning we woke up, each ate a Texas shaped waffle at the hotel, were disappointed by the rest of the breakfast selection, & hit up an IHOP before making the drive back to DFW.