This past weekend was my first overnight away from Emma and I was gone from Friday morning til late Sunday night. My college girlfriends planned a reunion trip to Austin, Texas, and I knew I couldn't miss out on this. There were 15 of us that went (one wasn't able to make it because her husband's cousin was getting married in South Africa so she couldn't pass down her first time to SA and I don't blame her. It's the best!) and we live in 11 different cities (Orlando, New York, DC, Columbia, Nashville, Memphis, Kansas City, LA, Napa, Atlanta, Richmond) so we rarely are all in the same place at the same time. The last time everyone was together was at my wedding 2.5 years ago. This trip was due! Everyone except me flew in on Thursday. We rented a house about 15 minutes outside of Austin in the West Lake Hills area. It wasn't the greatest house but hey we all had somewhere to sleep and get ready. That's all we needed.
Friday morning I left Atlanta and when I landed I met them at Barton Springs Pool. It's a natural pool next to the big Zilker Park where they have the ACL festival each Fall. It was so pretty (and the water was COLD) and calm. I didn't feel like changing into my suit nevermind getting in the cold water so a few of us just enjoyed sitting along the side.
From here we headed to the Rainey Street area for some lunch at a BBQ joint. Definitely a hole in the wall type of place. After lunch we walked to Bangers Beergarden for the afternoon. Such a cool place. HUGE tap beer selection and the feel was like a German pub. We really enjoyed hanging out here. The weather was perfect! Since it was a Friday during the day and people are working it wasn't too crowded but we knew the area on Saturday would be. Rainey Street is well known for all their bars. They all have such character and many of them are built out of old homes. Such a cool place because every one was so different!
We then headed back to the house for everyone to get ready for dinner. Getting 15 girls showered, ready, and out the door by 7pm was interesting but we were ON TIME for dinner. Go us! We went to Gloria's for a Tex Mex dinner. The bottles of wine were half off! At 11 pm the restaurant turns into a Salsa club but we had left by that point. There were some funny experiences at dinner. Just imagine a bachelor party with 26 guys walking in and seeing a group of 15 girls sitting at dinner. Not funny to put in writing but we had a lot of laughs at dinner!
We went out for some dancing after dinner and had a great time. I haven't been up that late in a VERY long time. So much fun just being with the girls and catching up.
Saturday morning we were all pretty slow moving. I was definitely the first awake (lets just say my body woke me up desperate for some attention) and so I seized the opportunity to get a shower and get ready before everyone else was trying to do the same. We didn't leave the house until around 12:30pm on Saturday. We headed downtown to find somewhere to eat. We ended up at EasyTiger (German beergarden type restaurant) which was fun. My friends are just so dumb sometimes (in a funny way) and my friend Alex as we were walking to lunch saw a mask store and decided hey lets buy a fish head. Well that fish head was the star of the show the rest of the weekend. Everywhere we went someone put it on and the weird looks we got were priceless (Keep Austin weird? Am I right?). Anyway it was stupid funny and provided me with lots of giggles.
We went back to Rainey street and went to the Parlor Room and Icenhauser for the afternoon. The weather was perfect for patio sitting. We headed back to the house to get ready for dinner.
We had reservations for dinner at this tapas place called Odd Duck. We had a 7 course set menu with the most interesting small plates I've ever tasted. Such interesting combos that were SO good. It wasn't tons of food just tastes of each plate. Their cocktails were delicious. I got their barrel aged margarita. OMG so fresh and delicious! We then headed out to East 6th Street for the night. Again the different places have such cool atmospheres. I again headed home with the first crew because this momma can't hang anymore!
Sunday we were all slow moving again and everyone was leaving for the airport at different times. I was in the last crew to leave so we went to lunch at Matt's Famous Tex Mex (YUM) before heading to the airport. Alex, Kier, Carly, Samantha, and myself were all leaving late afternoon so we all went to the airport together. Carly and I flew out at 4:30pm and I walked into my door right at 9pm. LONG day.
I had the best weekend with these girls. I may not keep up with all 15 on the regular but when we all get together it's like nothing has changed. We all lived in the same neighborhood (The Station) in Athens our last 2 years of college and I wish at the time I appreciated living within a few feet of all my friends. Since then they have all scattered around the country (some around the world at times) and it's so great when we can get all together. I can't wait til we book another reunion trip (we are thinking an all inclusive next time). They keep me laughing and bring so much joy to my life. These girls are so special to me and I am so thankful they ended up in my pledge class at UGA.
Also can't end this post without a huge shoutout to my wonderful husband. He held down the fort for the weekend and did AWESOME. He was exhausted when I got home but really enjoyed his alone time with Emma. I know she enjoyed it as well. He took her to the Zoo for the first time with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. He watched football with friends and then just relaxed all day Sunday at the house. I so appreciate him and his partnership in this journey of parenthood. It takes a team for sure and he is such a great one to share this with. Thank you Tommy. Love you very much!
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