I've Got Texas In My Soul

I am so excited to be swapping blogs with Becca from Two Places at Once today, because she'll be sharing her favorite things about Austin, Texas, and I've been dying to find out more about the Lone Star State's capital.  I've flown through Texas to get to Hawaii, but I've never been to Texas.  I can guarantee this post is going to make me wanna go twice as bad.  Read more to see if you feel the same!

 

 image via

Hi there! I’m Becca and I blog over at Two Places at Once. I’m so excited to be a part of Hi and Lo today! Kristen and I decided to share a little bit about where we live and why we love it so much.

I’ve lived in Austin, Texas for about two years. I’m originally from Florida, so it was a pretty big decision to move so far from home. I moved here with my fiancé (my boyfriend at the time) when he started graduate school at the University of Texas. It’s been a wild and crazy ride and I really can’t imagine a better city to be in.

So, what’s my favorite part of Austin? Honestly, the food! I don’t think I’ve eaten at a bad restaurant yet. Austin offers such a wide variety of food that you can never be bored.  From Tex/Mex to Asian fusion to BBQ, there’s something to everyone. Here are just a few of my recommendations:

            - The Hyde Park Bar and Grill: unique American style food

            - Takoba: Tex/Mex on the eastside, they do a great margarita

            - The Salt Lick BBQ: Genuine, Texas-style BBQ. Technically, this is outside the city.

            - Via 313: Detroit style pizza made in a food truck, it’s ridiculously addictive

Austin offers so much more than food though. There’s so much to do! I still feel like I haven’t explored everything yet even though I’ve been here a couple of years. So far, my favorite things to do in my free time are:

            - Barton Springs Pool: great for those hot July summers

            - Go to Zilker Park/all the great parks in the city: the parks are really quite beautiful

            - Go to one of the many festivals here (ACL, SXSW, the kite festival….the list goes on)

Austin is changing every day. I love that there’s always something new to try. It’s been such a challenging adventure to live so far from home, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Overall, here are my favorite reasons for living in Austin:

            - The people here are some of the friendliest I’ve met

            - There’s always something new to explore

            - It’s continually growing and adding new opportunities

            - The live music!

            - It’s challenged me and my fiancé and allowed our relationship to grow deeply

I really can’t imagine living in a better place during this time in my life. Whether I stay here for 20 more years or move once my fiancé graduates, I’m so glad we’ve gotten to live in such a wonderful city.

Cheers,

Linking up with All Things Thursday, and Treat Yo' Self Thursday.