hook em horns

So last weekend I went to Austin to surprise one of my best friends, Abby, for her 23rd birthday! I had an amazing time in the Lonestar state.

So last Tuesday (the 15th) I really started thinking about going to visit Abby and Brandon (her fiance). They have been down there for about 2 months, with Brandon going to grad school at UT and Abby teaching kindergarten at a nearby school. After talking to Abby on the phone, I decided that it would be great if I came down for her birthday weekend! That's when Brandon and I got really sneaky.

Basically I found a ticket Tuesday night, and called my lovely sister to tell her about it. Then I found out that she had won 2 free airplane tickets for anywhere in the country that expire at the end of the year. Damnit. Literally it had been like an hour since I booked my flight when I found this information out. Oh well, can't spend it when you're dead I guess.

Luckily, Brandon was able to pick me up at the airport Friday afternoon, so it was just a waiting game for Abby to get home from school. I hid in the back room, and when she came in the house I came out and surprised her. It was great! I wish I had recorded it because it was priceless, and executing a surprise like that can be tricky but it turned out great.

Friday night we went to an awesome Mexican restaurant called Maudie's Milagro that my friend Kyle suggested. He goes to Purdue and is from Austin and always tells me how amazing the city is (you were right!). We sat out on the balcony and had huuuuge margaritas (well Abby and I did...). Then we went to Brandon's friend's apartment and hung out there for a while. Side note, Brandon has made some awesome friends, and they were funny and just great guys!

We decided to go out to the bars on 6th street, which I guess is pretty well-known in the Austin area. After unsuccessfully waiting for the bus to take us (it was literally packed with people) we started walking. Now, unlike in Indiana where it gets cooler at night, Austin pretty much stays the same temperature, which sucks for girls like me who sweat after being outside for 2 minutes of exposure. We ended up walking over 20 blocks to the bars, and I will admit that I complained. I wore gladiator flats which was a poor choice on my part, and my dogs were barking as Jeni would say. We actually were only at the bar for about an hour since it took a while to get there.

Saturday proved to be a somewhat of a lazy day. We woke up and watched football all morning. My Cards lost to the Kats which made Brandon happy (he's a UK alum....disgusting). Then we went to campus to tailgate for a bit for the big UT/Texas Tech game. It was a night game and College Game Day from ESPN was there. Unfortunately, Abby and I didn't run in to Kirk from College Game Day. I wanted to get his digits! Sooo hot.

Brandon scalped his 2 tickets and we went home to watch the game on TV. My flight was a 7am Sunday morning, so we thought it would be wise just to stay in. Texas ended up winning (which I found out in the morning since I had gone to bed already).

Overall, I had a fantastic time. It was lovely seeing Abby and Brandon as well as meeting new people and experiencing a new environment. Best money I've spent in a long time to make my best friend happy!

P.S. I will never wear that hideous burnt orange color, which my friend Joe corrected me: "It's called Texas Orange." Whatever. I will always be a Black and Gold girl!