Mechanical bulls probably still work in the cold or Austin - Part Three

Saturday:



When we woke up on Saturday, it looked like this outside. It was grey and rainy the day before, but this day's weather had an added element of gross...it was now 40 degrees. The shorts should have gone back into the suitcase for the remainder of the trip but I was stubborn and decided to still wear them. I WAS ON VACATION! We woke up kind of late and I ran downstairs to see if we could still catch breakfast, but they were dead set on on closing up shop at 11am. Luckily, there was an IHOP right down the street from us and we headed over there. I wish I had a picture of our waitress because she was so very pregnant that she would almost knock stuff off of the table with her belly as she reached to put your plate down on the table. Nice girl, very preggers, with neck tattoos.



After our brunch at the trusty IHOP, we headed back to the hotel. All of the flower work that was done the night before was scheduled to be done on Saturday, so we really didn't have much to do during the day. I went down and fought off the University of Colorado Women's basketball team (true story) for use of the fitness center, and Sarah continued working on the wedding present.



Later that evening was the rehearsal dinner, and it was way down south of Austin. Over an hour's drive, very close to San Antonio. Thirty or so more miles and we would have been passing the Alamo. The area we ended up in was country as country can be. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the "restaurant" that we were at was the only one in town. Very very nice place, but more of house that serves food than anything. We passed the above exit on the way down there and decided not to get off.





Sarah and Maria (bride-to-be) at the dinner. All of their family and friends were just really nice and sincere people and we could not have been happier to be down there and be part of all of it. There is something to be said about small weddings because of how personal and intimate everything tends to be.





After the dinner, we headed back to Austin and hit up a grocery store for beer, a cheese ball, crackers, and a bottle of champagne (for the girls the next day before the wedding). I had to break into the restaurant in the hotel (it didn't have doors, so I pretty much walked right in) and stole a plate and a knife for our cheeseball. We (mostly me) were hungry already so I devoured half of the cheese ball and crackers while Sarah finished the quilt and I watched the end of the football game. The finished product is above (notice the first picture has me sound asleep under it...she was up late again).

Side note: I can't believe that "PREGGERS" isn't in Blogger's spell check list.

Super sunny and warm vacation or Austin - Part Two

Friday

I woke up early, Sarah was still awake, and we eventually got ourselves out the door. It was surprisingly warm outside so we walked the whole way down to the blue line stop instead of calling a cab. The trains were pretty full already with closed-eyed early morning workers, but we managed to squeeze our bags in there and get ourselves out to O'Hare. I've never taken the train to the airport before but it ended up being very convenient and easy.





Sarah happy to be on another trip together, me happy with the screaming kid behind us. We actually hadn't left the gate yet. The flight was quick and easy and we both tried to sleep the whole time, but I don't think either of us fell asleep for more than a couple minutes at a time thanks to the previously mentioned toddler.



We made it to Austin. 70 degrees and raining and I was happy because I could still wear shorts in the rain. We picked up our Mazda 3 and headed downtown to find something to eat and our hotel. Above is Sarah driving us past Stubbs BBQ. It's a BBQ place and concert venue in its backyard. This is also where one Gordon Mays and one Kevin Manno attended a party as personal guests of David Cross...memories. Stubbs has good food, but it is kinda like the Hard Rock Cafe sort of place in Austin, meaning that it is sort of touristy (you can get Stubbs BBQ sauce all over the country in grocery stores including Jewel and Dominicks), so we headed to a place that is always slammed during SXSW called Ironworks BBQ. I've been there a handfull of times and it is easily my favorite place to eat in Austin.








We devoured our trays full of meats and spicy sauce and washed our hands with wetnaps. If you are ever in Austin, go to this place, and be sure to grab a bunch of toothpicks.

After we ate, we attempted to find our hotel. The first try proved unlucky and we ended up at the wrong place, which was fine because it was sort of out of the way. We eventually found the right place and got settled in (mainly took itty bitty naps because we were exhausted already). A little bit later on in the afternoon we needed to go meet up with the bride-to-be at a flower wholesaler. Sarah was doing all the flowers for the wedding and they needed to get all the supplies. It was a pretty cool place for a flower shop, it was in an old gas station. I forgot the camera.

From there, Sarah and I parted ways so she could go with the ladies to work on the flowers and do girly pre-wedding stuff like giggle and drink wine. I was invited, but I politely declined. I'm sure they were just as relieved. I hopped in our Mazda and headed back to the hotel where I took another nap and then made plans to meet up with homeboys from Austin...




We went to a place called BarFlys, which happened to be really close to where we were staying. It was a really cool bar, and probably a place I would hang out at if I lived down there. No gimmicks or anything, just a rock and roll bar with a kickass jukebox and very cheap beer (which I had a bunch of).



Normally, I would eat mexican food after drinking a ton of beer, but I had no idea as to which of 76 mexican places near me were good, so I decided to find a Sonic...and I found one. It baffels me as to why we get the commercials for Sonic up here in Chicago, but everytime I see one, I always crave their slushes and it was time to feed that craving with a cherry-lime slush and a jalapeno cheeseburger. The south is good.

It was late and it was getting chilly out, so I went back to the hotel to tear into that burger and fall asleep with a dyed-red mouth. Sarah came in much later with no pictures to share, but very happy with the flower situation.

(Sarah took pictures of all of the flowers she did at the actual wedding on a different camera, so those will surface at a later date I would imagine.)

Pack your bags, we're gettin' out of here or Austin - Part One

I realized that most of my vacation days or days off from work have been spent in Austin, Texas...a place that I really have loved since first laying my beautiful brown eyes on it a few years ago. So in an attempt to keep that streak alive, the queen and I packed our best threads and headed down south for good ol' Texas weddin'.

K. Dubbs threatened me with some messed up stuff if I did not document this trip (she has never experienced the Austin), so it goes as follows:

Thursday

When planning my winter vacation, I decided to take Thursday off to relax and pack and run errands at my own pace instead of a rush around before our early morning flight on Friday. This was a good idea until about 8pm, when I realized that I really hadn't accomplished much and I was in fact, behind. I did manage to get out to Woodfield to pick up my new suit that was being tailored to my curvy body and say hello to my parents for a little bit.

Eventually, I began the packing process. This time was easy. Going to the Lonestar State, you must pack your cowboy shirts. Done.

Sarah was actually further behind than I, but her excuse was valid. She did not take the day off and sit in sweatpants for most of the day on the couch. Regardless, she was preparing for what would eventually become an "all-nighter" as she worked on the quilt that we were giving the happy couple as a wedding present.



Our kitchen table hasn't been a kitchen table for most of our time in this apartment...it is a sewing table. Nevertheless, the sewing table in use. It is late.



After I made a comment about putting things off until the last minute and informing her that I would be calling it a night... 4:30AM alarm would be blaring in a few short hours.



And this is where I would leave her until my alarm went off. She never went to sleep.