SXSW: The First Weekend

Holy smokes. This weekend has a been a whirlwind.
As many of you know this weekend marked the beginning of South By Southwest 2013. 

(For those of you who don't know, SXSW is an annual music, film, and tech. conference in Austin.)

It's super cool.

Now this is my first SXSW adventure and although my weekend started off slow because I'm an old lady who gets tired and overwhelmed easily  I think it actually turned out pretty awesome!

Remus and I kicked things off with the Startup Crawl on Thursday night and hung out with some of his co-workers on Friday. 

On Saturday we wandered downtown looking for something fun (free drinks) and didn't have much luck.

But then came Sunday.

Sunday is where the fun really started.

In the afternoon we headed down to Auditorium Shores and participated in The mp3 Project by Improv Everywhere.

It was so much fun! 

We were told to come down to the park at a specific time, download this mp3 and not listen to it, and dress is a certain color shirt. Once we were there and the clock hit 3 we all started playing the track which gave us all directions for what we were supposed to do next. 

It was so much fun!

We were directed to do things like follow non participants around and play freeze tag. 

My favorite part was when we all formed a giant bulls-eye in the middle of the park. 

I can only imagine what all the passerby's thought. 

The next thing on our agenda for Sunday was the Foursquare party at Hype Machine's Hype Hotel.                                                  

This was my first big South by party and it did NOT disappoint. 

The DJ was fabulous! Even Remus danced a little!!

Seriously that never happens. 

EVER.

Though it could have been a little to do with the free drinks.

Maybe...

Anyhoo, that was weekend one for me. Up next this week will be Fader Fort (got my wristband earlier today) and of course the Flaming Lips on Friday!! 

That is all.

There will be more.

Austin Specialty Beerfest

This last Saturday Remus and I attended The Austin Specialty Beerfest at Fiesta Gardens. 

As you can see the weather was fantastic and there was even a cider supplier there so I didn't have to sit out on all the fun!

There were over 40 breweries at the festival and each one brought two of their most delicious brews so there was definitely no shortness of variety.

And of course you can't hang out in the sun and drink all day without a little food (i.e. tacos). Those lovely tacos you see were courtesy of Peached Tortilla. And yes, they were delicious. 

And the greatest part of the whole thing?

I mean, besides the gorgeous riverside park, sun, and booze?

The whole thing was a benefit for The Boys and Girls Club!!

Whoever said drinking was bad for the children is a big fat liar. 

What I've Learned Wednesday

Hey all!

So you know on Friends when Ross is taking his sabbatical and Joey teaches him how to spread out his time effectively?
If for some crazy reason your answer is no then here's the link.

See, Joey is actually giving his dear friend a gift. The gift of relaxation!
 There are so many articles out there with advice on how to fit more work and activities into your day. But what about those of us on the other end of the spectrum? Those of us with to little to do??
So in order to bring a little help to these needy, needy people I present you with my "What I've learned" post for this week:

How to successfully waste your time when you have no schoolwork or job!

1. Unpack
So this involves the actual act of getting into your boxes which of course takes an annoyingly large amount of time. Then you have to clear your apartment/house of all the boxes/plastic/crap that you now have no use for.  You may even have to actually drive to get to a recycling area!
This could take days if not weeks to fully accomplish.  I give it 2 weeks of excuse worthy time.

2. Decorating
Pinterest. Enough said.

3. Cleaning
Because having a completely spotless apartment suddenly seems very important doesn't it??

4. Exercise
Because like cleaning, suddenly having the perfect butt seems super necessary.
This also buys you some more Pinterest time. Score!!

5. Dog walks
Or anything that can make your dog as tired as canine-ly (See what I did there? Cuz it's not "humanly"?? Clever stuff, I know) possible.
Basically if they don't look like this:
6.
then you haven't walked or fetched for long enough. You should try to push them to just before their limit. Don't kill them or anything. I mean, who would you talk to all day?? Yourself??!! That would just make you a crazy person.


6. School stuff
This one is obviously super boring. But it would probably be a good plan to at least look into your continued plans for your education. Probably.

7. Actually get a job
Lol!


But seriously.

What I've Learned Wednesday: How to survive one week without your stuff

This photo has nothing to do with the post. I'm just tired and thinking about snow.

So for this WILW we're going to talk about something I've had a glorious amount of experience with.

How to live without your stuff for one full week.

(Plus a couple days. But who's counting? Right?)

So here's the full boring story:

Me and the Mr. hired a moving company to help us with our horribly long and crazy move, but it turns out that you "could" have to wait "up to" 15 days for your belongings to actually get to you.

Now, it didn't actually take the full 15 days for us. It was only 12.

Just 12 days.

12 days without my stuff.

I know, I know.

"First world problems," you say.

But still. It was rough. 

And here are the things that I learned helped to get one through those trying times.

1. Camping gear.

It packs down small so you can fit it in the car and still make it the 24 hours to your destination. 

Also, even an air mattress and sleeping bags beats sleeping on the floor.

2. Starbucks.

You forgot to bring along your coffee maker and that sucks. But Starbucks is delicious and not only gets you the caffeine you need, but also gives you reason to get out of your empty apartment.

Win+Win

3. Two words: Arrested Development.

When you forgot to pack any and all dvd's what other show would you choose??!

Plus it streams for free on Amazon Prime. 

4. Dog.

Or any animal I assume. Just as long as it can see your sadness and then cuddle it away.

My dog can.

5. Wine and Chocolate.

I don't think I really need to explain this one.

Update

Well we made it to Austin.

The Welcome to Texas sign. Sorry for the poor quality. We were driving all fast and stuff.

And with the help of doggy drugs and good weather 

we survived the 24 hour drive in one piece.

This is your dog on drugs.

We arrived about a week ago and so far we have experienced:

a flood warning complete with sand bags around our front door, electrical problems,

an exciting (for me), horrifying(for the Mr) and altogether overwhelming first trip to Ikea,

and probably about one million trips to Targets. 

That's right. Targets. 

Austin has quite a few and apparently I have made it my mission to visit them all.

And due to the fact that we have not yet received our belongings we are becoming quite skilled at making our meals with only using the one pan that we purchased at Goodwill.

Beans and sausage with avocado on top. 

Real good.

We have also found a wonderful dog park with a gorgeous view of the city and a grocery where we have already befriended the meat man. ( We like to get good and comfy at our grocery stores.)

Of course I will be a whole lot happier once our stuff actually gets here.

As much as I love  Mr. Boyfriend, I'm getting a teensy bit tired of the whole

squeezing onto a twin blow up mattress thing.

I also miss my couch.

But in all seriousness, the vibe here in Austin is great. Everyone I've met has been so nice and despite the sadness I feel from being away from my family I really think this city is going to be fun. 

Cheers!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from Baby Bean!!

(and also me)

What I've Learned Wednesday (on Friday)

So here's my What I've learned Wednesday (on Friday)

See, this week has bit (a lot) hectic. 

My Mr got a nice little job offer and after LOT'S of consideration.....

WE'RE MOVING TO AUSTIN!!!!

As in Texas.

So really, that's the most important thing I've learned this week. 

Again, sorry I've been a bit quiet, this has just been a bit stressful.