#SXSW

March in Texas is wonderful. But March in Austin is even better! The weather is between 65-85 degrees the whole month and we have had maybe one or two days of rain. Its definitely been an added highlight to my glorious Austin experience. This month has been a busy one and its only getting busier. As I do not want to bore you with the details of my everyday, I have chosen to write about South by Southwest.

South by Southwest is an interactive, music, and film festival that goes on for about 2 1/2 weeks. But first and foremost its a music festival. The rest was added in later....I think. I don't know all the facts and history but what I do know is I was in the middle of it. And so I am going to tell you about it from the eyes of yours truly.

So we live on 6th street as I have previously said in my posts. And thats exactly where sxsw was held. Sxsw is the cool acronym that people use. They also just call it south by. So of course I was using those terms right away to look like a local. I was saying things like, "Geez, all these out-of-towners coming in for south by. Whats south by? Duh its this huge music festival called South by Southwest. Yeah, a bunch of celebs will be here. No big deal. Yeah, cause Austin is the music capital of the world. How have you never heard of this? I just hope no one moves here after they've been here. Soooo annoying." I guess because I've been here since the start of January that entitles me to act like I know whats going on. Secretly I had no idea what was going on. I was trying to stalk every celeb that came in to town. I downloaded the sxsw app and was relaying messages to friends who knew waaay more than I did. I am nowhere near being cool...like I used to be....yeah....thats it. Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yes.

Ok. Well, during these few weeks thousands of people were here. Some very, very interesting people at     that. Mark and I decided to take the Metrorail into downtown instead of driving during this time. Its a 3 minute ride from our house and it costs a dollar. Booyah! We are idiots if we don't take that deal. (Side note-I was trying to make this post short....ain't happening. Sorry!) The streets were crowded with people. There was music blaring everywhere. And you couldn't tell who was homeless and who wasn't. All the world together in perfect harmony.

On a Tuesday Mariel, Anally, and I went to this place called Waterloo downtown. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were putting on a show there and it was free. Being new to this whole thing I didn't know what to expect. Basically it was too crowded and we couldn't get in but we heard him outside the chain link fence. So that was cool. I got video of that. Friday Mark and I went to one of his favorite bands called The Flaming Lips. That was a bit weird for my taste....but it was free. Can't say no to FREE! The next day, being Saturday, is when Justin Timberlake was going to be performing at the Myspace secret show. Mariel and I tried getting tickets and we couldn't. Bust. So we took her sister Anally and her friend Julianna with us to explore downtown. After walking around and taking pictures with random street people dressed in all sorts of costumes we found ourselves at the edge of downtown. As we were debating on what to do next, out of the corner of my eye I saw a huge crowd of people. They had lights and glow sticks and boom boxes playing music. They were pulling a wagon that had about 6 speakers bungee corded together on top. It looked promising so we walked right over and marched along with them. The crowd accepted us as one of their own right away. We ended up under the bridge downtown where we had a dance party for about 45 minutes. Then the leader that had a glowing staff told everyone that we were taking this party to the capital. So why not? We marched downtown with the crowd. More people joined as we walked and danced. Artists included Journey, Bon Jovi, Ace of Base, Aero Smith, Backstreet Boys, and a few others. Soon there were hundreds and hundreds of people marching the streets. The cops just waved at us as we walked by. I'm pretty sure this was the dance party for the outcasts of sxsw but I didn't care. Take me to the island of misfit toys party people! There were people of all ages and in all sorts of costumes. We were laughing the whole time. We ended up at the capital where we danced until midnight. About the stroke of midnight Cupid made her appearance. This lady was in a makeshift diaper and had a plastic heart on a string tied around her neck. Under that plastic heart was her bare chest. She shimmied her heart out (no pun intended) and the crowd gathered to see this free spirit shakin' what her momma gave her. After she started to shout "LAST SONG EVERYBODY NAKED!" we left. Now, I know what you guys are probably thinking right now and trust me. I was just as scared as you are. When I told Mark about it he didn't seem to be surprised. He came and picked us up since we had missed the Metro back. When we were in the car waiting at the stop light Mark turns and says, "Look! Look at the crowd of people with the glowing sticks!" I said, "Thats our crowd! Thats who we were with!" Just then Cupid decides to run to the front of the group waving her arms in the air. Besides Cupid, this was all good clean fun. There were kids and families and just everyone wanting to have a good time. Definitely the highlight of my sxsw experience. I mean, its no Justin Timberlake but like I said. This was for the outcasts. I guess thats what Austin is. Just a city of outcasts all trying to be apart of something. Do I sound profound? I'd like to think I do.

Best believe I got picture evidence of the people I saw. Here are a few favs. These were taken everywhere. On the streets, at free concerts, etc. These are in no particular order. Enjoy!

I look 5000 pounds but Ellen don't care

FebruANY, any 5.....

Ok. For all you clever folks out there, don't be jealous that I stole the Subway theme song for my blog post title. You will get over the heartbreak. Oh, and just try and get that song out of your head now. It's not going to happen.

 So for February I have chosen my top 5 favorite things, etc to talk about. They are in order of no particular order.

1. Cruisin' Austin style
Mark got this outrageous idea to rent bicycles and ride around the city. Well I haven't been on a bike in almost 15 years I wanna say. And the last time I got on a bike it did not end pretty (all inquiring minds find the video of me on Facebook.) So I decided to be the awesome wife that I am and agree to the bike shenanigans. I had one rule. We weren't going anywhere near the street. Well it didn't take long for Mark to find the spot where we had to go in the road. He is very much an adventure seeker. I am not. Needless to say it was a ton of fun! We went to this place called Barton Springs. Its great. Trails everywhere, bodies of water everywhere, people out enjoying the sun everywhere. Just a lot of happiness...well, everywhere. And I rode my bike just fine (I was still very cautious).

These were on the doors of the bike shop. Rough times

2. Valentines Day

This was one of my favs. For Valentines Day this year Mark had booked us a couples cooking class at a place called The Silver Whisk. I had known about this for about a month so I was suuuper excited when it was finally time to go. We were with about 18 other couples. I think we were the youngest ones in there. Scratch that. I know we were. We met some really nice people. We cooked a delicious menu of poblano corn chowder, crab stuffed mushrooms, cheese(I can't remember what kind but it had a really fancy name. Who am I kidding. It was probably provolone) and spinach stuffed chicken, and this to die for molten chocolate cake. Folks I am here to tell you. The molten cake at the eating establishment Chilis is NOT, I repeat, IS NOT molten chocolate cake. So don't bother ordering that again. Ever. It was a ton of fun. And I can't wait to go back. Thanks again Marky!

Oh and I failed to mention that the night before my lovely Marky poo brought me home flowers.

Gorgeous right? He done good

 Ok. Thats all.

3. Sarah's bridal shower

I have a co-worker from my last job. We are friends. Her name is Sarah. She is getting married. She had a bridal shower. I braved the trip from Austin to San Antonio to attend said shower. 

It was a much needed reunion with my friends. 

We are the fab five. These girls are all co-workers. And yet, somehow we all became really close. Probably because we spent more time with each other than we did with our families. We are all sooo different. I mean come on. In our clique we have two brown people. Diverse isn't it? But thats what makes us so great. Everyone wants to be our friends. Ok thats the biggest lie ever. But look at these faces? How could you resist?

 Let me tell you a little about them. Starting at the top of the staircase we have Stacie. Stacie is asain/white, catholic, an aspiring physical therapist, addicted to playing sports, and the sweetest person you will ever meet. Have you ever met someone really sweet? Well that person is the devil compared to Stacie. I like to call her baby spice. She is cute as a button. I'm pretty sure when we met I asked her if she was hawaiian. And then I proceeded to say that I've never seen such a brown asian person. Remember when I said she was really sweet? Yeah, thats why we are still friends. We are both addicted to the Thai dish Neum. No one likes it as much as we do. Neum lovers for life.  

Now to Sonal. Sonal is Indian. The one with the red dot, not the feather. Don't worry. She doesn't get offended by that. Its an inside joke because someone actually said that to her at work. People are ridic. Anyways Sonal was given the name Sunny because Sarah couldn't pronounce her name. Good stuff. Talk about a rough first day on the job. Sonal is a graduate of  Texas A&M and is a proud Aggie. She has also been mistaken to have a weave, being hispanic, and african-american. This all happened at work by the way. Anyways, Sonal is like the hindu kardashian. Super cool, stylish and up with the latest trends. She just cut those bangs and they look smashing don't they? She loves spicy food. I'm talking pours red pepper flakes on everything and it doesn't phase her. Sonal is like my sister but in brown form. Its like we've been friends forever. I love this girl and I miss her on a daily.  

Sarah. Sarah is Catholic. She is something else, but in a good way. This lovely bride-to-be has been given the following nicknames: big bird, banana hands, tiger lily. Catch phrases are: "I got this", "I have a migraine", "I need coffee", and "I have a doctor's appt". I love Sarah. She is always good for a laugh. She can palm a basketball with those hands. Her first 6 months of work were interesting. She put deodarant on over her shirt missing the pits completely. She lived in her car for a while. One time we asked her to take the trash down to the dumpster so she threw it in her car and drove it there. She likes to hunt and we give her a hard time about it. She also likes to feed missionaries. And you can convince her to do anything! Like donating blood during lunch time to get a free burrito. Her and her fiance Andy are hilarious. I can't wait for this girl to walk down the isle. 

Last but not least, Jessie. Jessie is a methodist. Jessie got hired about a month after I got there. She is an athletic trainer from Pennsylvania. She is always trying to convince us how great Pennsylvania is when in reality, Utah def wins that competition. I say that in the nicest way possible Jessie! Jessie is the only one in our group with 2 kids. She just had a baby boy in January and she doesn't even look like she had a baby! The perfect accessory for the little girl that they already have. She has been given the nickname Grandma Jeazie. I think the name speaks for itself. While we are all up late she is in bed by 9. We tease her but its all in good fun. And we love the show Pretty Little Liars. And she made us have a Twilight marathon. I had a migraine for two days after that. 

Together we make the fab five...or something like that. I miss them. 

4. Corner people

On my daily travels there are a lot of funny things you see on the corners. This month I have chosen to highlight my two favorites. The first one was on Ash Wednesday. 

That sign says Ashes To Go. I don't want to have to explain what Ash Wednesday is, so just Google it yeah? But. It is sorta funny to walk into the gym and see the Yoga teacher with Ashes on her forehead. No disrespect...I'm just sayin. And here is my second one. 

This guy was running across the street with a Texas flag. Kissing his fingers and waving to the cars. Texas pride is in the air folks! How could you not love that? Note how both of these incidents happened on this same corner? Hmmm...

5. Poppin' tags

There are a lot of thrift stores in Austin. Some really interesting ones at that. Me and my good friend Mariel did some exploring. Here is what we found....

And at the next store we found this...

These people seem to like death...and money.

There was also a bullet hole through the door of this establishment. And these places are about 3 blocks away from me! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

I think this just about wraps it up! These are my 5 favorite memories from February. March is sure to be full with more blog worthy stories. Are these even blog worthy? I don't know. I still don't know what I'm doing. If you are reading this, then you are truly heaven sent. Until next time I bid farewell to my adoring fans. I'm sure.