With temperatures hovering near 100, it's hard to believe summer is almost officially over. However, the first UT football game is less than two weeks away, which means my family will begin making regular weekend visits to Austin very soon. As usual, my summer has been busy at work, but I've managed to have several fun weekend adventures. Since I haven't been able to write about them yet, I thought I would do a "catch-up" post to cover all of them.
June – Family Fun in San Antonio
Paul, Esther, and Grace (Esther's sister) came to visit me one weekend back in June. Since Grace had never been to San Antonio, we decided to drive down there on Saturday morning. We hit most of the traditional San Antonio destinations — Alamo, eating at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk, and taking a boat tour. After the boat tour, we headed back to Austin and made a slight detour at the San Marcos outlets (Paul never had a chance with three women in the car). Once we made it back to Austin, we dropped by campus and 6th Street and then stopped at Amy's to end the day.
July — Cats, Dogs & the Citywide Garage Sale
Toward the end of July, I visited the Blanton Museum of Art to see In the Company of Cats and Dogs. The exhibit focused on works of art that featured cats and dogs over the ages. I appreciated seeing the different cat paintings and photographs, but the best part may have been the cat videos at the end. After I left the museum, I walked over to the gift shop, and as I was leaving, I saw UT's famous albino squirrel. Legend has it that if you see the albino squirrel before a big test, you're sure to ace it. Let's hope this sighting brings me good luck!
After this momentous sighting, I walked around campus for a little bit before heading over to Barton Springs. Once there, I ate at the new food carts near Chuy's. I was a little disappointed in my fried chicken (it was hard to cut, a little red, and definitely NOT Southern), so I treated myself to a cupcake from Hey Cupcake! Later I went to the Palmer Event Center for the Citywide Garage Sale, where I found a daisy Pyrex dish.
August – Girls' Weekend in Dallas
For the last few years, Mom and I have met up in August for a girls' weekend (2012 and 2013), and this year we were excited to invite Esther along for the fun during the first weekend of this month. Mom and I met up first at the Grand Prairie outlets and then drove on to Southlake. Esther joined us soon after we checked into the hotel. That evening we ate dinner at Brio, shopped around Southlake, and enjoyed gelato from Piccomolo.
The next day we visited a few thrift/antique stores in Grapevine and then drove out to McKinney. Downtown McKinney was really cute, and we enjoyed looking in the shops around the square. Our first stop in town, though, was Emporium Pies. I had a piece of cherry pie, and it was absolutely delicious. After leaving McKinney, we stopped at the Allen Outlets and then came back to the hotel. That evening we ate dinner at Kobeya, a Japanese restaurant, and picked up cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory (yes, we did well on sweets during this trip).
On Sunday, we ate breakfast at Corner Bakery, and then Esther decided to head back early. Mom and I drove over to Dallas to visit the big Half-Price Books (it's a tradition). Afterward, we ate lunch at Twisted Root Burger and shopped at North Park before heading our separate ways.
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