Last weekend T and I left Austin to escape SXSW and went to a cabin in the woods. 10 acres of land in Dripping Springs, absolute silence and peace and hiking and eating and reading and trampolining (not a word?) and board games. Heaven!
1. MIA Bedazzle Flats, $69
2. UNIF Hellraisers, $165
3. Cooperative Norma Platform Heel, $49.99
4. Step into the Sea Heel, $79.99
5. Suede Sidewalk Skimmer (in Green), $88
6. Chuska Loafers, $168
7. Tom’s Red Nautical Stripe Wedges, $69
Leggings: Leggings Queen
Boots: Etienne Aigner
T Shirt: thrifted, cut the sleeves off
Purse: Strut
Sunglasses: thrifted
Tuesday was my last free day before beginning my new job so my sister and I went to lunch at one of my favorite Austin eateries, Bouldin Creek. I took this pup with me so he could enjoy some sunshine - everyone meet Dignan, Trevor’s black lab, also known as Digs, Diggy, Mr. Digs, and booger.
Yesterday was one of the most delightful days I’ve had in forever - not only because it was a magnificent 73 degrees and sunny and breezy, but because I spent the day whizzing around town on the back of my boy’s motorcycle going to Zilker Park for the Kite Festival and trying out new bars!
Austin hosts the annual Kite Festival each year in Zilker Park during spring. It’s the perfect time for the festival since it’s not so hot you’ll die of heat stroke outside and not in the middle of winter when we only get 3 hours of daylight.
We missed the early part of the festival because it was Sunday so we slept in and got a late brunch (at Denny’s, don’t judge!). By the time we arrived most people had begun to flow out, but the traffic was still insanely bad; I’m thankful we were on the motorcycle since it would’ve been impossible to find parking for a car!
We walked around, enjoyed the breeze and the gorgeous sunset, ran into some friends, watched kids fly kites and hung out on the green lawn and relaxed. It was gorgeous and peaceful! A perfect Sunday afternoon.
On the way home, Trevor asked me if I wanted to swing by a bar and grab a drink so we decided to try this new Rainey Street bar called Javelina which just opened up last Wednesday.
The kitchen hadn’t opened yet so we just enjoyed a few cocktails and took refuge in their gorgeous, dark, raw wood interior. The bar is absolutely beautiful inside, well-lit with high ceilings and a lovely raw cedar fence outside. I tried the “Summer Moon” which combines coconut water and vodka with other summer-y flavors and was very refreshing, albeit not entirely flavorful. They have a great selection of local (Texas) beers - Austin Beerworks, Shiner Wild Hare, Rahr’s, etc.
Javelina is beginning food service this week I believe, so definitely go check it out - if for no other reason then to enjoy the ambiance!
Dress: UO
Boots: Steve Madden
Beanie: Fiesta
Oh no, it’s already SXSW again. Goddamnit you guys, can’t we do something about this? No? Ok, well we can at least arm ourselves with some basic necessities and learn from past years’ mistakes (don’t pee in the PureVolume house port-a-potties) so that we don’t die/get arrested this year and can come out unscathed at the end of this annual shitshow. 
1. Bring Earplugs “What?!”
“Earplugs, dude.”
“WHAT?!?!”
“BRING EARPLUGS!” They’re like $2 at Walgreen’s or CVS. Avoid future deafness and guaranteed ear-ringing all night long by bringing some earplugs to the show. All the cool kids are doing it! And by cool kids I mean old curmudgeons such as myself.
2. The Power of Power Naps
Some days you will be up early for panels/movies or to get in line for a show after having been up until 6am or having not gotten any sleep at all. SXSW is the perfect time to hone those power nap skills you’ve been practicing all year! Have 45 minutes between panels? Perfect! Carve out a corner at the Convention Center, plop your backpack down and get to work. In between sets at MWTX? Awesome. Take off that poncho which doubles as a blanket, put it on the ground and power down. Sure, you may not get a full REM-cycle, but studies have shown that 20-30 minutes is all you really need to re-charge. 
3. Eat a Good Breakfast
This tip seems as obvious as last year’s Drink Plenty of Water Rule, but I have to write it out because inevitably some of you morons will sleep in late and then roll into the Mohawk at noon and begin your day with a healthy, balanced breakfast of Brooklyn Lager. Then you’ll complain to me when you’re hungover at 4pm and I’ll roll my eyes at you and go get more whiskey because you’re stupid and should’ve eaten breakfast. It’ll get rid of your hangover, give you energy to bike around, keep you from getting super trashed before sundown and IT’S DELICIOUS. And with the thrilling news that Mi Madre’s will be open until 4pm during SXSW, you have no excuse not to eat! Tacos for everybody! 
5. If You Don’t Live Here, You Don’t Get to Complain
Guys, if you’re flying in from L.A/NYC/wherever-the-fuck for 9 days of fun and boozing and partying and shmoozing paid for by your company, please don’t complain about the traffic, the weather, the lines or anything else. For those of us who live here, SXSW is less of a vacation and more like the End of the World, but instead of dealing with it once it happens every goddamn year. Trust me, your waitress at Kerbey Lane/bartender at Liberty/doorguy at Mohawk doesn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for you. We’re the ones who somehow have to attempt to continue our normal, day-to-day lives after the hounds of hell have been unleashed on our little city that can barely handle the population it currently holds.
6. Using Le Bathroom Au Naturel
When faced with the option between waiting in line for 45 minutes to use a dark port-a-potty that’s been sitting outside all day filling with other people’s poops and pees OR popping a squat behind a tree in a park I will always, ALWAYS go with option 2 and so should you. Wanna know why? Because two years ago I spent about an hour in line at PureVolume to use the bathroom. They had FIVE port-a-potties set up for a party with thousands of RSVPs and hundreds of attendees per night.
By the time I entered that dank pit I could just make out the toilet seat enough to notice that it was almost full to the brim with the most vile concoction of solid and liquid waste. The odor was unforgettable. I promptly left, squeezed myself past a chainlink fence and peed outdoors as God and nature intended. Another reason to do this if you’re a girl? These port-a-potties run out of toilet paper and I doubt you’d want to sit on those seats. Burn a few extra calories and water our local fauna! Everyone wins! 
7. You’re Going to Get Drunk and Smash Your $1,200 Camera
The rule is pretty self-explanatory, right? You have nice gadgets, that’s cool. Please, for your own sake, don’t bring your new iPad to MWTX, the crust punks will knock it out of your hands and it will be destroyed. Or you’ll get drunk at Barbarella and put your Nikon D3s on the table for a sec to do something and when you turn back around it’s gone. Trust me, you want to carry around as little as possible. I.D, keys, water bottle, cash, and phone. That should do it. 
And now, some words of advice from my friends:
From Zak: “Try and get a meeting with a doctor on the Friday to get a b12 injection. I took one on the Sunday of funfunfun fest and I felt like a god, all of my aches and pains were gone. It’s just one of those things that work better than 5 hour energy”
From WiIllie: “Remember never to buy into the idea of free alcohol scarcity at any venue, because that will lead to excessive drunkenness in the moment and cripple further activities”
From Priya: “Moisturizer, condoms, hydration, good boots, bike, bike lock, another bike lock, daily juice, breakfast tacos, daily juice… Oh, using google calendars to sync up your schedule with friends, that is super important”
From Lauren: “Hahaha…stay far away from it?” From Julia: “Dig a hole in the ground, run an extension cord down into it, bring a lot of beef jerkey and water and watch Netflix on your phone for the next week”