I can’t believe how fast this semester has gone! Life has been flashing by pretty fast lately, it seems just like yesterday I first moved to Austin as a sophomore. Although I’ve absolutely loved my time at UT, I’m really excited to start working and my career!!
I’ve been trying to live up the past few weeks as much as possible, just as a preview for my mini break this summer! I’ve been going out a lot and trying new places, so click below to check it out!!
The first day after SXSW, I hit up one of my absolute favorite places in Austin, the Hotel Van Zandt pool deck. The Hotel Van Zandt is a boutique hotel that’s tucked away by Rainey Street. Not many people notice it with other hotels like the W, Westin, JW Marriott, and Hilton downtown, but it’s the absolute best in my opinion. The have the absolute best decor and touches that give it a unique, but luxurious feel. For over a year now I’ve been going there just to hang out at their bar and pool area. There’s a separate elevator from the hotel elevators that takes you to the fourth floor, which has a restaurant, Geraldine’s, that leads you out to the pool area. The pool area has an outdoor bar, fireplace, and an amazing view of downtown and the river. If you go for drinks, their sangrias are pricey but really good. They also just added a margarita machine, which I haven’t tried, but that’s always a plus! While we were there this time, we took a few shots with my friend’s Nikon camera that turned out pretty well. I also got my nails done at Celfie Nails which I’ve gone to a couple times now since it’s pretty affordable and close to UT’s campus. I was disappointed this time however because they used really old nail polish that never dried and I ended up scraping with my keys. I also noticed that a couple of my nails were crooked or different lengths than the others. The entire reason I got my nails done was so I wouldn’t have to do it myself, so I had to go home, file them down, and repaint them. The previous time, my acrylic nails lasted over a month, so I was hoping for the same results, but I don’t think I’ll be going back after this. In the photos, I wore a new swimsuit I just got by Lovers + Friends. We’ve dubbed it as the Cowboys swimsuit since it’s navy and silver though, which is funny but fitting.
The weekend after, I went out to The Domain area for dinner and drinks. I first went to Gloria’s Latin Cuisine. They also have another location on west sixth which is also fun if you’re downtown! Gloria’s not only has great food, but amazing margaritas. Their margaritas are so strong though, which makes them amazing, but you really have to limit yourself. Whenever I go, I also get the Enchiladas a la Gloria, which is a good variety of three different types of enchiladas. After Gloria’s, we headed over to Rock Rose and went to Kung Fu Salon and 77 Degrees. Rock Rose has been growing on me lately as a really good bar scene. It’s a fun and chill place to go to if you don’t feel like going all out at Sixth or Rainey. I’ve really been into 77 Degrees lately since it’s a bar and hookah lounge, so you get the best of both worlds. It’s actually the best hookah I’ve ever had in Austin, so if you feel like splurging, this is the place to go. They also have a couple of really fun chairs if you get a chance to grab one!
The following weekend, I celebrated a week of tests with hanging by the pool and going to West Sixth. Right after my last test that Friday, I went to my favorite acai bowl cafe, Blenders and Bowls, in Westlake. I’ve tried a few other acai bowl places in Austin, but this one is my absolute favorite. They’ve changed up their place a little bit with new decor, ordering system, and dishes, but it’s still a great place. They also opened up a new location in east Austin recently! I usually get the The Bowl of Paradise, which has dragonfruit, mangos, bananas, pineapples, and coconut. I’ve also tried The Beach Bowl which is really good if you’re looking for your typical berry bowl. Afterwards, we hung out at my friend’s apartment pool over by South Lamar. It was fun to chill out for a bit, especially before we went out later that night. When we headed over to West Sixth, we started at Parlor and Yard before heading over to this new bar my friend discovered during SXSW called Green Light Social. They’re known for their alcoholic Caprisuns, which I didn’t try since I’ve already had one a few months ago at Cain and Abel’s, but I have heard good things! They have a pretty cool concept going on, with a nice view and a free Photo Booth, which of course I took advantage of.
I then took a quick weekend trip to Houston! If you know me, you know how much I love visiting Houston. It’s not so much the city, but I love interacting with the people there. It’s one of the rare places where I feel that I can have a good conversation with just about anyone and feel at home. My favorite pastime is going to an Astros game, which I used to go to with my dad every summer. The Astros are having such a good season so far, so it was really exciting to see them during opening week! They’ve also made some new renovations to Minute Maid Park, like adding a Torchy’s and Shake Shack (yum!). I stuck to the original tradition though and got a hot dog with a marg instead. The game was really fun although we were obviously losing, so we left early to get settled at our hotel.
The next day we started off at a restaurant I’ve wanted to try for awhile now called Adair Kitchen. It’s located in the Galleria and I’ve always heard good things about their brunch. As soon as I walked in, I saw they had chicken and waffles, so you already know that’s what I got. They were really good and I loved the strawberries they put on them. After, we headed out to one of my favorite childhood spots, the Kemah Boardwalk. Kemah’s always been an amazing place to me, from the water jet fountains to the boats to the inflatable animals you win. If you haven’t been, it’s a really fun place to hang out at for the day, and there’s some amazing places for seafood. Finally, before we headed home, we stopped at the Galleria to do a little shopping. We unfortunately didn’t find that much that day, maybe because it was a Saturday with a ton of people, but they usually have really good stuff and I always find something.
Towards the end of April, I went to an event I found out about last minute, the one year anniversary of St. Genevieve. St. Genevieve is a bar on Rock Rose in the Domain, right next to 77 Degrees. I had never been there before because I always thought the place looked really upscale and was a fancy bar/restaurant. When I went, I found that it was really nice on the inside, but overall it actually wasn’t super fancy, and was really good in terms of pricing. The coolest part of the event they hosted was that they had a champagne fountain where you filled your glass up yourself and there was a diy table where you could make a mimosa. You literally paid $10 and had unlimited glasses all night, so it was really great. Also on this night, I realized that I had a new favorite outfit that I’ve actually had in my closet for my months and never had worn. It’s a simple black romper, but it looks great on and the ruffles on the shorts make it super cute. Not to mention, I wore my current goto heels from Madewell. They’re absolutely amazing since they go with just about anything and the heel height is perfect, good enough for style but also comfortable enough to where you can last the whole night without your feet dying!
I also tried another new place at the Domain called Culinary Dropout and omg, I’m obsessed. I’ve been there three times now and haven’t had any food or drinks that weren’t good. For drinks, I’ve tried the sangria, Room Service, which has prosecco, gin, and strawberries, El Matador, which has tequila, agave ginger, and orange bitters, and the San Padre Blueberry Daiquiri, which has rum and a bunch of fruit in it. My favorite so far has been the San Padre Blueberry Daiquiri, but you really can’t go wrong. In terms of food, I’ve tried the fried chicken, turkey pastrami sandwich, and the grilled cheese sliders. All were absolutely amazing, but my favorite so far is the turkey pastrami. It’s my new goto place right now, if there’s not a huge wait, which there usually is on the weekend. I tried to go a couple months ago on a Saturday evening and there was an hour and half wait, so either get there early or go at a low-key time.
Since school was wrapping up this past month, I spent a lot of time at coffee shops studying. I love the coffee shops in Austin because they’re all really chill, and there’s always a brand new coffee shop that you’ve never heard of that appears out of nowhere. From Mozart’s to Bennu, my all time favorite has been Epoch. I got really sentimental during my last week of school, when I studied there for the last time. I first went to Epoch during my second year at UT, and have spent countless nights there since. They also have the best mocha I’ve ever tried, called a vanilla Mexican mocha. It’s a must if you just want to chill and have a cup of coffee.
This all led up to my last day of class and tests, Cinco de Mayo!! It surprises me how much people celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Austin too. It’s always such a big deal in San Antonio, but Austin’s culture is so different, but I’m not complaining! Fun fact: during my sophomore year in high school I got my iPod touch and wallet stolen at school on Cinco de Mayo, so it’s a day I haven’t forgotten since. This Cinco de Mayo was so much better though, I went to class, celebrated with some margs and tacos at Torchy’s and then headed out to Rainey later that night! Honestly, the best part of the day was that I got to wear my fiesta dress out!! It’s one of my favorite dresses because although it looks crazy, it’s a ton of fun to wear. I bought it at Monday Dress a couple years ago, so they don’t have it anymore, but they have a lot of other cute stuff! Anyway, later that night we went over to Icenhaur’s despite the long line outside. Almost every bar had a line outside of it, which is something I haven’t seen at Rainey except during SXSW. In the words of some random guy waiting in line with us, “The line’s really long so you know it’s gotta be good”. After we got in, the vibe was pretty good that night, but it took absolutely forever to get a drink. So long that it became annoying. I think every time we went to the bar, it took at least 20 minutes for a bartender to even notice you. After a couple rounds, we decided to head over to my favorite on Rainey, Container Bar. It’s a really cool place to go if weather permits, since majority of it is outside. I also love it because they have one of my all time favorite drinks, the pain killer. The pain killer has rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice, and nutmeg in it, and it’s absolutely amazing. I’ve tried other pain killer drinks at other bars and restaurants, but I haven’t had one better than the ones I get here.
It’s crazy to think that this was my last night going out technically as a student. I still can’t believe my life at UT is all over. I’m so excited to start my new job in a month, but until then I’m planning on doing as much as I can and having as much fun as possible! I can’t wait to share what this month holds in store.
Until then,
xx,
Rachelle
