Fun Things to See, Eat & Do in Austin, TX!
Do you ever have so many things you want to say, but you end up not saying a word, because you're not sure where to begin? That's how it has been for me this past week. I've harbored so many thoughts and ideas since my trip to the funky cool Austin, TX. Although, I'm still struggling to sort out my thoughts, I figured writing this blog post would be a good place to start.
In short, Austin was incredible. I have to give a shoutout to the co-founder of Teysha for giving me the rundown of this little city! Sophie equipped me with all of the coolest things to do, eat, and see, so I just wanted to pass along the highlights of what I really enjoyed while I was there! Here goes:
Favorite Coffee Spots
Seventh Flag Coffee: LOVE this place & their coffee - I spent a full day working here. Lovely atmosphere and super helpful & kind baristas.
TOMS Roasting Co.(inside TOMS Shoes): Creative, cool space! Another great place to work from if needed.
Bouldin Creek Cafe:Also, a great vegetarian/vegan breakfast spot! In terms of coffee, get the Maple Almond Latte!! Mmmm.
Andrew being too cool for his toast ^ @SeventhFlagATX
My beautiful Maple Almond Latte from Bouldin Creek Cafe
Cool Yoga Studios
Wanderlust Austin: If you're a fan of Wanderlust like me, then you must pay a visit to this studio. It's HUGE... well, for NY standards, ha. It felt liberating to move freely in space and practice in a room where I wasn't 3 inches away from the person beside me. There was also a live DJ, so um, there's that cool detail.
Sanctuary Yoga: I took the intermediate vinyasa class, and loved it! It was a nice, well-rounded flow, and I even picked up a few ideas for my classes. What I really love about this studio is the location. It's on South Lamar, which has so many delicious foodie spots & hangouts.
Black Swan, Practice, Core Power: I didn't have a chance to try out these studios, but a few locals (including Sophie) recommended it!
LOL, my upside down face ^
Foodie Recommendations
Brunch at South Congress Cafe or Bouldin Creek Cafe.
Juice at Juice Society
Lunch at Hillside Farmacy, Home Slice Pizza, or TACO TRUCKS (...when in Austin)!
Dinner at Chi'Lantro (delicious Korean/Mexican fusion), Graj Majal (I'm NOT into Indian food, but this was ironically my favorite place we ate. Andrew is so proud. Get the Korma Kashmiri if you're intolerant to spicy food like me.)
Drinks at Container Bar (dancing, too!), Half Step, Icenhauer's
Dessert at Amy's Ice Cream or Lick Ice Cream
Decidin' on da tacosss
Hillside Farmacy - I got the Kale Caesar, but totally wish I got Andrew's mac. The salad was good though... but, it's no mac.
Fun Areas to Explore
Zilker Park/ Barton Springs to frolic amongst nature and explore. It eventually led us to playing in a field, practicing back walkovers and handstands for an hour.
Rainey Street for bars, nightlife, and late night mini donuts!
SoCo (South Congress Street) for shopping, food trucks, live music
South Lamar for movies & food at Alamo Drafthouse
East Side (East 6th Street & East 11th Street) for more little boutique shops and hole in the walls.
The Domain (if you can get someone to drive you up there!) for a shiz ton more shopping, food, nightlife, and yoga!
At Zilker Park - These geese, ducks, swans...whatever, were SO bossy. They were yelling at us to leave... so, all I got was one yoga photo below - how rude.
^^ See 'em comin'? I ran after this photo. #MeanGirls
Wearing Outdoor Voices - more to come on this! This was shot at the Whole Foods HQ (another place you might want to visit).
My Favorite Shops
By George: Chic, concept store filled with quality designers & artisanal goods
Maya: GREAT for gifts & stocked with all of the quirkiest & cutest socks I've ever seen.
Gypsy Wagon: Boho gyspy dream land. If you're a boho babe like me, go go go. They carry the Australian brand Spell & the Gypsy Collective, so get it there instead of paying for international shipping online!
Outdoor Voices: Definitely visit if you're a yogi. It's only one of two locations - the other is here in NYC! It's inside a little house in Clarksville (about a 5 minute bike ride from Downtown Austin)
Warby Parker: I finally bought a new pair of glasses. Their store is huge, so definitely fun checking out.
Sample lenses of what I ordered from @WarbyParker! Mine will be non-reflective, ha.
Ice Cream Earrings... how could I resist? Laser-cut wood by a local artist here in ATX.
More to come on this ethical brand, Fortress of Inca!
Pro Tip: Rent bikes! There's no better way to explore a new city than by bike, in my opinion. We covered SO much ground in 5 days (really 3 days, since we were working from coffee shops 2 of the days).
What made this trip so incredible was getting to explore it with Andrew. We travel very well together, which I'm thankful for. We both love biking, touching, tasting, and seeing everything, so we never felt like we were missing out on anything. Well, he might have wished we shopped a bit lesssss... but you'll have to ask him. :)
Once again, big thanks to Sophie from Teysha. Check out this lovely ethical brand - they specialize in hand-made custom boots, shoes, accessories, and they are B-Corporation Certified.
If you're thinking of visiting ATX, I hope this mini guide helps! Feel free to email me with any questions.
Cheers to more adventures to come!