austin, texas!

we made it to austin! the flight was uneventful, which is always a good thing. my friend lindsay picked us up, which was really awesome and nice of her!

it a took a while for us to figure out what to do. we didn't want to deal with the hassle of going downtown because of sxsw/st. patty's day. we eventually decided to head to bouldin creek coffeehouse.
i've always wanted to go there, but just haven't gotten around to it.

the place was really cute, definitely had an "austin vibe."


eric was hungry when we arrived and ordered the vegan tamales. we weren't sure what to expect, and they came with vegan queso as well. they turned out really yummy though.


i wasn't too hungry, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to order a peanut butter chocolate cupcake. it was delicious. i really want to go back before we leave and eat some more cupcakes.


numerous lonestars were drank. who would have thought we would miss such a terrible/watered down beer?

nothing too crazy happened last night, and we went to bed at a decent hour.

eric and i woke up this morning starving and decided to go get breakfast.
on our walk i spotted this lonestar billboard...had to take a picture.



we walked to wheatsville, which is a few blocks from my brother's apartment.
they expanded wheatsville recently and i hadn't been.


it was really awesome/nice inside. i miss bulk bins for everything. philly has bulk bins, but not for EVERYTHING.
i went around the store making a mental list of all the things i need to buy before we fly back to philly.


for breakfast we settled on tacos, i got potatoes and rice, eric got vegan sausage and potatoes. they were really good.


we also picked up a slice of carrot cake.

well we are headed out for the day. tex-mex, beer, and music are on the agenda.

ALSO, my cousin elizabeth is currently in labor! hopefully baby heath arrives in the next few hours and we will have another addition to our family!

We made it to Austin!

photos from the weekend

eric went to atlantic city friday night, so i was on my own for the night. luckily i got a phone call shortly after getting home and juli and abby were in my neighborhood for dinner.




we met at cantina, then juli came over after dinner, then we went out dancing.

woke up saturday morning to really crappy weather.
but to make up for the crappy weather, eric had picked up some goodies for me on his way to atlantic city.



sweet freedom is a new-ish gluten-free, vegan bakery in philly. i had really been wanting to try stuff from it, but we aren't usually in the area.
eric picked up a cupcake that was ok. it wasn't amazing, but not bad either. and i am sure if i had eaten it fresh, instead of it sitting in a car for a while, it would have been really good.



but he also picked up a whoopie pie, which was amazing. i didn't think i would like it, but i couldn't keep it out of my mouth.



around lunch, some friends came into the city and we went to brunch at...CANTINA! i know we eat here a lot, but the food's good, you can get a table fairly easily, and everyone likes it.



after brunch we hopped on the subway to go to a flyers game.



i've never been to a NHL game, so it was really fun and exciting!




the flyers won in the last few seconds.



eric and i spent the rest of the night watching movies, and doing nothing.
we made some type of indian-ish cuisine for dinner. we really need to work on it though.



i was lurking the internet and came across a really simple recipe for ciabatta bread. it really seemed too good to be true.
i went ahead and prepped the dough saturday night and left it alone.



and when i woke up sunday morning it had doubled in size and was ready to plop in the oven.
it's no secret i am a fan of the famous no knead bread, but this might be even easier?!



it provided a very nice size loaf that tasted delicious.

there was more crappy weather sunday, so we never left the apartment.
sunday's dinner was a "clean out of the fridge" type of night, since we are leaving town in a few days.



but the good news, due to daylight savings, we finally have light back for dinner!

Vegan Cocktails Philly - Cantina Dos Segundos

We ended up skipping our workout last night because it was a bit late/we were hungry and wanted to go to Vegan Cocktails at Cantina Dos Segundos. We met up with our friends Kelly (Living on the Vedge)/Josh. Since there was no bingo this week we needed our chips/salsa fix plus this was for a good cause.

As for drinks they put together a few special cocktails. They were a bit different than listed online but good none the less.




Lauren ordered the Sea Wolf - blackberry bramble w/ blue coat gin.
I went with some PBR, one of the only places you can get it in the bottle... classy I know.





As for food, we started off with the complimentary chips and salsa. I usually eat too many but I'm alright with that.




Lauren/Kelly ended up getting the same entrée; Warm Asparagus and Quinoa Salad - with arugula, red and yellow grape tomatoes, red onion, tempeh croutons, sherry vinaigrette, and both held the onions.

Josh and I went with the Vegan Chorizo and Potato Burrito with cactus escabeche, pico verde, lettuce, white rice, and beans. Last night I learned that the way to gauge the legit-ness of a burrito. It needs to be able to stand up on its end vertically. This one did just that. I guess I should have taken a picture while the burrito was vertical, but oh well.

We had an excellent time last night and ready for the next vegan cocktails philly.

sxsw

i am pretty excited because in one week eric and i are taking off to austin for sxsw!
i've been going to sxsw for almost 16 years now, my parent's used to take my brother and i down to austin every year for spring break.

i used to spend my time running around to different venues trying to catch as many bands as i could see. this year i am planning on taking a different approach and trying to hang out with my brother, my friends, drink some texas beer, eat some mexican food, and maybe take in a few shows.

in honor of the awesomness that will be taking place next week, i thought i'd post some pictures of previous sxsw's, since i didn't have a blog back then.


eric and i 3 years ago. we had only been dating a few months and this was his first sxsw experience.


and us again two years ago.


my brother and jackie two years ago.


my brother, me and rachel, at some metal show rachel had us attend.
(hah, i just noticed in all 3 pictures of myself i am wearing different glasses. because i used to get a pair each year. i am sad to say this year i will not have a new pair, stupid health insurance)


got to see my favorite band, japanther, a bunch. can't wait to see them again this year!


i'm sad i'm not gonna have my bike with me this year. biking all over austin is usually a highpoint.