tourist day: biking over the golden gate bridge to sausalito

biking over the GGB is something tourists do every.single.day here in sf [weather pending] and i haven't done it since i moved here back in 2010. if you can avoid some of the madness that is inevitable with something like this, it's really quite fun. a few tips to surviving: 

1. stop for sugar and coffee before crossing the bridge, because hills are coming! dynamo donuts in the marina is one of my favs
2. beware of crazy tourists – there are so many people snapping photos with selfie sticks and not riding their bikes properly that it's legit dangerous 
3. skip the first strip in sausalito –  it is super cute and quaint, but the great restaurants are on the other side [in my opinion]. some of my favorites are: le garage, fish and bar bocce. 
4. take the ferry home – biking up the never ending hill you just flew down to get into sausalito will probably ruin your buzz 
5. if you don't want to go to sausalito – some other fun stops are cavallo point or rodeo beach

spring in austin | family in town

this past weekend we had kp's brother in town, his first time to austin! he picked a perfect weekend to visit, too. the sun was out and the trees were blooming. hello, spring. this meant breakfast tacos, bike touring {thanks to austin bike rental we were able to get an extra}, texmex on the patio, drinks on the patio, and why not more patio time on the way home with a stop at clarks for half priced bottles of wine. it was a pleasant day. 

welcome to clarksville

i've started to realize that the best way to learn your way around a city is by either walking or biking – i've never been good with directional instincts. even though i grew up here in austin, i'm still learning the ins and outs of this new neighborhood we're calling home. saturday was spent exploring the hood on our bikes, and later cruising streets with crazy amazing houses.

that night we had something to celebrate – my sis is our new neighbor! and while i accidentally forgot my camera to her party {i was distracted by snapping pics of our little pre cocktail party}, we had a great time celebrating her move with old and new friends, and closing out the night with a drink down the street at jeffery's, one of our new favorite neighborhood bars.
 

^^ this house was... nuts.

^^the palomaesque– i haven't always been a mezcal lady, but this changed everything. happy monday !

bbq & biking

saturday we were pleasantly reminded that austin does indeed get hot. real hot. i imagine when summer rolls around we will not be so willingly hoping on our bikes – so let's start taking advantage while we still can.

our day started with a stop at mellow johnny's for espresso and a quick brake fix {mine were broken and you, um, kind of need those.} this place is really awesome. afterwards we biked to the east side where we had lunch at micklethwaits. the bbq scene here is getting pretty crazy {wake up at 6 am to get in line type crazy}, so we were grateful to find a killer place that was comfortably crowded. to digest we wandered the neighborhood and found a few vintage shops we now love – olive and sam hill.

^^ we slowly made our way to zilker park via the hike and bike trail, and spent the rest of our day playing frescobol, throwing the football, and making friends with other people's doggies. we can't commit to our own quite yet.

^^ one of the goodies we picked up at sam hill –incense that make your house smell like the middle of muir woods. i could sniff this all day long in a non-creepy way.