a truly wonderful weekend

a while back i wrote about my friend kelly who totally change my life. well, he's back! as of last tuesday he was officially an austin resident again. he was recently offered a job with acl live and would have been insane not to take it. it all happened very quickly and i barely had time to get excited about his return.

last night we went to lustre pearl and bar 96. it was the first time i had seen him since he moved back and it was like no time had passed at all since the last time he lived here.

kelly at lustre pearl

we joked that we had them paint this just for him

lolo had to lift my hood up for me so my face was visible

amber, kelly, and lolo

it was so much like old times

kelly sized jenga at bar 96!

today we went to brunch at taverna and then toured the unfinished moody theater, future home of the austin city limits studio as well as other badass concerts.

the boys and their bellinis

crazy eyed girls

we were throwing around the idea of sharing a few dishes for brunch but couldn't seem to agree very well. i proposed the idea that we just all get our own entrées and then split a waffle between the 4 of us. it was perfect! it was just the right amount to top off all of our egg-heavy dishes. it was like a breakfast desert. 

since the venue is still under construction everyone who goes inside must wear a hard hat, safety vest and glasses.

not a good look for me at all

note the cute scarf, this is the last picture it will probably ever appear in since i lost it somewhere in the venue :(

from the third/top level of seating

we ended the afternoon with a drink at the hotel bar. apparently this bar is called the "secret" bar which is confusing because it's not really a secret.

weekend pictures!

not only did my best friend come to austin on thursday, but my good friend bonnie came up from san antonio too! we went to vivo, spider house, and the united states art authority to see lisa's art.

strawberry martini at spider house

muddle strawberries and kettle one vodka, rimmed with raw sugar

bonnie at spider house

on friday i worked then helped babysit nels. it was pretty uneventful which was good because saturday and sunday were pretty long days. as i posted earlier, i went to jaime's with a few friends on saturday. 

haha note the tums in the picture, an absolute must for those margaritas!

after jaime's we went to side bar for a few hours and tasted their watermelon/strawberry infused tito's. i'm not going to lie to y'all, i didn't taste any strawberry in it. it was still pretty good though! when we left side bar we peaked in to check out the pants off dance off that was going on next door. it had just started and we didn't see anyone in there. just as we turned around to leave we saw these folks walking towards us.

on sunday morning a bunch of us met up at taverna for brunch. that place isn't very big and tends to get pretty crowded so we opted to get there at 10 to hopefully beat the rush. and we did. it was great!

me, joshua, and johnny

josh and i were wearing coordinating purple and black outfits

it was a very fun weekend. i've just completed day one of 9 days in a row that i have to work before going to pennsylvania. on one hand, being less than 9 days away from my trip is pretty exciting. but on the other hand, not having a day off that entire time makes those 9 days feel pretty damn long. 

a house brunch

i love brunch. if i had to choose between going out on a saturday night or going to brunch on sunday, i would pick brunch every time (unless the saturday night was a concert by one of my favorite bands). any regular reader of this blog probably knows that my favorite brunch spot in austin is nomad bar. brunch is catered by the traveling bistro and it is so delicious. i usually try to go at least once a month. in fact, that's how i'm celebrating my birthday this year.

anyway, my friend wysteria has a 6 month old daughter and going to brunch gets a little tricky for them sometimes so this past sunday wys offered to host brunch at her house. it was so much fun! we ate, drank mimosas, and played games.

sausage and cream cheese in crescent rolls

lil smokies in a special (secret) sauce

mini quiches 

cinnamon rolls

cheesy hash browns

mango orange juice

cheap champagne 

jacob, derek, and marley while we were playing encore

i am so down for more home brunches in the future. oh, and btw, that mango orange juice is bangin! it won't replace my daily orange juice but for mimosas, it's totally superior.