Austin: Mini-Vacay; Thursday (05/06/10)!

I count this as a mini-vacation only because I missed out on days at work :) Not that I'm upset about that - maybe just in the sense that I didn't get compensated for those days . . . but other than not, nope!

So here's the breakdown:
Destination: Austin, TX
Duration: 2 days :(
Objective: See my BFF, Danny Saldana perform his senior recital at UT
Accomplices: Danny [the hubby] and Audrey [my sister]
Limitations: NONE!

We arrived with good time, approximately 10:50PM - considering we left Edinburg around 5:45PM and stopped for at least 30 min. to eat at the Sonic in George West. Hey we were starved! lol. Ok not really, but we were hungry and I don't think we would've made it to Austin ... maybe San Antonio ...

So the 1st thing we do is call my cousin, who was so generously going to house us for the 2 nights we'd be there. We needed to find her apartment and find a free available parking spot on the street near her apartment. She lives in "West Campus", like that means anything significant to me! lol. Give me street names, buildings anything! Annie then texts us the address to get the exact directions off the map on my iPhone. So we follow. And we find it. The apartment complex. Only it doesn't look like it! We'd been there once before to pick her up a couple of months ago and were so sure it wasn't the building. But we continue to circle the building. Lots of times.

Then I call Annie. I tell her we're circling her building. I tell her what it says on the front of the building. Because we followed the address she gave us. A couple of minutes later she sends us a text saying that she meant to type a 6 instead of a 3 - 26th street instead of 23rd street!  Yep! That would do it! We were 3 blocks down of where we should've been!

Luckily we found a street spot right away! :) Free parking for us!

We didn't stay up too late that night. We had a full day planned out for the next morning so we called it a night around 2am. I think.

Thursday morning we went to Kerbey Lane for breakfast. Upon referral and the hubby's burning desire to eat at as many diners as he could find. He's a big fan of Triple D on the Food Network.

And although Kerbey Lane wasn't on Triple D, it came highly recommended.

The Mr. and I

The waiting turned into awhile, so we started to read the local papers.

So somewhere among the hustle and bustle of the mid-morning rush, our waiter "forgot" to put our order in and forgot to come and check on us to see how we were doing. It didn't seem that long to us, we didn't notice any. But then the manager came out and retook our order and said she'd give us free drinks for the screw up.

Finally! My sisters plate: The Denver Omlette with sourdough toast and fruit.

My plate! The Portobello Omlette with an English muffin and some fruit.

Danny's Plate! The California Omlette and his side:

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes with a lemon glaze! DELICIOUS!

We were stuffed! It was so good :) We got up to see what the deal was with the bill so we could pay and be on our way. The manager came out again and told us not to worry about it. She didn't put the reorder in either, but it was ok - not to worry about it. FREE BREAKFAST! Heck yeh!

Next we headed to Mount Bonnel! We had to walk off that huge breakfast!

It seemed like a million steps to get to the top!

Danny and I

My sister Audrey and I

Then we headed dowtown to do a couple of errands. I'd just gotten paid [lucky me!] and needed to deposit my check/get cash. So off we went!

Cool guitar statue outside the Wells Fargo on Congress St. in Downtown Austin

Here's Audrey acting like a tourist! lol.

Next we headed to the shops on South Congress!

We had to show Danny the Candy Shoppe!

Here I am picking my chocolate! :)

By that time we knew it, we were hungry again! So we decided to eat lunch at Magnolia Cafe - they were featured on Triple D's. Danny was excited about that, although not too hungry seeing as he munched down his dark chocolate covered raisins pretty soon after we'd bought them!

I munched on a cup of their soup of the day: Lentil Vegetable Soup. It was pretty good.

My entree: Alfredo Pasta Spinach fettuccine with fresh basil, mushrooms and garlic topped, alfredo parmesan sauce with grilled chicken..

Audrey's Plate: Magnolia Stir Fry

Danny's Plate: Portobello Quesadillas!

The food was again, delicious! And extremely plentiful :)

We changed into what we thought was proper church/recital clothes and made our way to the location of Danny's recital!

Danny's Program:

He's so awesome! Playing the bassoon standing up and all! He did amazing! I'm so glad we were able to go and see him perform!

I think this post is long enough, lol. I'll type about Friday in another post! I will probably post it later tomorrow.

My BFF

- Is a boy! Lol. Seriously.

DANNY SALDANA.

^^^ This is us at our 2006 Band Banquet

There are so many great things to say about him, I  have no idea where to start.

In reality, I actually meant to post this a long time ago - but I don't want to leave anything out.

He's a really great friend. He's been there with me, for me through thick and thin! No matter what stupid things I may have done or whatever I've gone through, for better or worse - he's been there to talk me through them. I swear I don't think there's one thing that has happened to me that he doesn't know about.

I'm so lucky, I get to talk to him at least one point everyday. I feel privileged  that he fits me into his busy and hectic schedule. He's in Austin living it up and attending UT - he's going to be an amazing music teacher one day. I know it. And I know he will do great things in the music industry.

^^^ Fall 2006 - our first semseter out in college, I was visiting UT from UTSA

Isn't he a stud?! Gosh, all the ladies dont' know what to do with themselves when he's around!

We've both had our tough times - wether it was friends or family. We have been able to maintain our friendship and I think it's pretty strong right now and can withstand anything!

I can talk to Danny about anything. Even wedding details!

I'd say we've been friends since we first met in middle school - on the bus to an All - Valley clinic . . . way back in the day! LoL. But we were not nearly as close then as we are now.

 

^^^ At Mount Bonnell in Austin November 2008

Even through his busy and hectic schedule he made it to my college graduation!

^^^ December 2009

I definitely plan on being there for his as well.

He's a great guy and one of the best friends I have. My life would suck without you Danny Saldana! Truly. And I hope we are great friends all the way through to old age! ;-)