9th annual jo's chili cook off

a few weekends back was chili cook-off, hosted in my fav place in austin to hang out – the parking lot shared between hotel san jose and Jo's. they've hosted this event since 2005 to support non-profit groups addressing hunger issues locally. it's a great cause, the chili was delicious (i think "cream team" was my favorite), the music and two stepping was oh-so-texan, and the drinks at SJ were as refreshing as always. 

this *freezing* austin weather has me looking forward to SXSJ and spring jazz brunches starting tomorrow!

sunday @ hope farmer's market, jester king & salt lick

hope farmer's market might be one of my go-to's, now, after spending last weekend there getting tons of awesome goodies, including ground lamb and a hand painted pic of a buffalo for $5. it was a good morning.
 

^^ afterwards we stopped by one of my all time favorite spots, sno beach, for a warm day treat. oh how i've missed this glorious place. 
 

^^ later that evening we went to jester king, an awesome brewery about 30 minutes from downtown. i can't wait to come back here and try their pizza! unfortunately we had to save room in our stomachs this time for our next adventure ... 
 

^^ and here is why the pizza didn't go down, our next stop was salt lick. we had to wait about an hour for a table, but this was no problem being that we had a few bottles of brew and live music, and a sunset to keep us company. it's not particularly close, but a salt lick trip is always amazing. always. 
 

rainy sxsw saturday

the sun is awesome, but i love a good cozy day in the rain. last saturday was perfect for that reason. our day consisted of trying another great bbq spot – john muellers, wandering the east side, a coffee break from the rain, home for games and pizza, more bull riding {we have a problem}, dancing at a shot bar? and a few more drinks downtown before we realized that the nice warm dry apartment was a good place to be...
 

bbq & bull riding

after we took friends to la bbq a few weeks ago i was kind of obsessed. the music, free beer, and crazy good food is worth the long wait. it also tee's you up for a fun afternoon on the east side with spots perfect for {more} live music, coffee, and plenty of vitamin d absorption.
 

^^ this guy had killer moves

^^ that night we bruised up our legs on an impromptu mechanical bull ride, and later tried a new bar on rainey, half step, which is one of the only spots in the area with actual craft cocktails. 
 

cheers!

biking & bbq

saturday rocked. we started by grabbing coffee and croissants at the best –walton's. we then took a nice long stroll all the way to east sixth to get in line for la barbecue, a spot we've been wanting to try, but were scared of the 1hr + waits. their strategy is they serve until they run out of food for the day. so ... it's ... a little scary. for once the wait was absolutely worth it {and they didn't run out of anything we wanted!}. 
 

^^ hey! we're back in college – 6 people in a one bedroom apartment
 

^^ free beer, live music, and frendzz make the long wait a little party. plus the smells coming from the smoker make your mouth water the entire time...
 

it was fate when we walked by austin's new bike rentals. the weather was nice, and we were on the verge of meat sweats, so a little biking city tour seemed like the only right thing to do...  we made stops at yellow jacket social club, south congress {hotel san jose, stag, feathers...}, juan pelota, and finally made it home for naps and a much needed regroup. 
 

^^ the rest of our night was spent getting cozy at the best french spot in austin, justine's.
 

^^ unfortunately a cold front put a damper on our bocci game, and resulted in us huddling under the heat lamps for our final cocktails... and when we got home, us girls packed into one bed to make the most of our last night together.