Austin Girls Trip!

Girls trips are good for your health. No miento! It’s not some excuse to go on more trips, its the truth! A study recently published stated that spending intentional time with girlfriends can greatly benefit the mental and physical health of an adult woman, ultimately leading to a happier and longer life. WEPA, right? All the more reason to plan one trip a year, amiright? I know for me, this is 100 verdad! Every once in a while I need to get away from everything and just be Joana. Not Mami. Not Wifey. Just Joana, with no responsibilities and no duties. Sometimes I just wanna be free for a few days. And who better to do that with than mis amigas? Thankfully, my girls agree. We decided to kick off our yearly girl’s trip tradition with a little viaje to Austin, Texas. It was a compromise for us all because it had live music, charm, art, a lively food scene, and our research told us that the nightlife was LIT. The perfect recipe for a fabulous girly getaway!! NOS FUIMOS!

**Zilker Park** with my gals on a beautiful day!

I’m a major planner. Y La Bestie es una tambien. So we squeezed A-friggin- LOT into 3 days. For the sake of time, I’m just gunna drop the highlights for you guys to peruse. Know this, Austin is A LOT… in all the best ways. Hopefully this post will help you add it to your travel list!

Where We Stayed:

We rented a charming Airbnb bungalow in Austin’s Travis Heights neighborhood near South Congress. It was a cozy and trendy little house; completely renovated. I would describe the neighbors to be upper middle class hippies. So the area vibe was modern-looking houses with “granola” flair on sleepy streets. We loved it. Lemme just say, where you stay (the actual place that you pick) for a girls trip is super important, amigos. You need ESPACIO. Space is everything! Women need to spread their shit out, and have ample room to breathe when the chatter gets too loud. You also need to bunk in a spot that meets your practical needs, no one-bathroom joints for a girls trip of over 3 girls. No 3-to-a-bed bullshit. QUE HORROR! This place suited us just fine, thankfully. We were giddy about it and honestly looked forward to the time in the day that we came home for some r&r in our little, quiet bungalow.

Our cozy, yet totally RAD Airbnb in Travis Heights

What We Ate (Brunch Edition):

Cafe No Se– We started our Austin food tour by brunching at a lovely spot that just so happened to be a short walk from our bungalow. The design was Ah-mazing. Me gusto la comida tambien. The cocktails were especially yummy and creative as well. Our waitress did a little bit of name dropping whilst she served, apparently Beyonce LOVES this place. That’s all the stamp of approval you need. #QueenBeyApproved. 🙂

**Cafe No Se** in all it’s brunchy glory

South Congress Cafe– Our next stop on our brunchy foodscapades was also down the street from our house. What can I say? We stayed in a kick ass area! This building doesn’t look like much from outside, it even has a dingy feel to it. Don’t let that fool you, it was the NICEST brunch we had all weekend. Tomamos sangrias deliciosas (maybe the best I’ve ever had) and comimos differentes variedades of Eggs Benedict. My benny sat atop fried green tomatoes. Que delicia! This was the brunchiest of places… perfectly suited for us gals. I would definitely make it a weekly stop if I lived in Austin.

**South Congress Cafe** for the Brunch time win!

Snooze A.M. Eatery– Last stop on the Brunch train was certainly the most decadent. And the most PACKED. Mamma Mia! It was Saturday morning hell, y’all. 100% worth it, but COÑO, we waited maybe 1.25 hours outside just to get into the building. Apparently, this is THE spot to eat on the weekends. Young, hot people everywhere, all hating themselves a little bit for the amount of calories they know they are gunna ingest. You don’t come to this place to scrimp. Its about indulging. Take a look at my pancake flight below! Yes, that’s a toasted marshmallow on my pancake. Yes, that’s warm fudge sauce and powdered sugar. MMMMM, I’m not even sorry.

If pancakes are your thing, CORRE to Snooze AM Eatery!

Holla Mode– You can only brunch so much! HA! We had to diversify with a little bit of helado. 🙂 We stopped at this super-rad Thai style ice cream truck on our way to Zilker Park on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. It was too tempting not to. There were cute benches and flavors so unique, we couldn’t turn away. Oh, and it was made with all organic ingredients. This was one of those types of treats that make you giggle. Score!

Rolled ice cream at Holla Mode food truck

What we did:

Allens Boots: South Congress is the spot guys. It’s THE place to stroll in downtown Austin. Shops all over with interesting merchandise; perfect for window shopping or for actually getting lost inside a store. That’s what happened cuando entramos en Allens. Leather in every crevice. Boots, hats, belts…. you name it. We played dress up like little girls. And what’s hilarious, is that the owners just kept bringing us shit to try on. Looking at us like, “Aye, que cute!” Not even worried that we mentioned that we weren’t going to actually buy (although I did love my boots). Haha! Quintessential Texas experience.

Hope Outdoor Gallery– This was my favorite Austin site by a LONG shot! The Hope Gallery is this outdoor junkyard that’s been made into a beautiful collection of graffiti art. It looks like an abandoned warehouse, or a dilapidated building sitting on a hill. Walls everywhere painted in every color under the sun, like a massive art gallery. Cept, its ever changing. People were literally out there painting new designs on top of older work. The street art we saw will most definitely not be the art you see if you went tomorrow. That’s the beauty of it. It’s a love letter to the artists/people of Austin. And speaking of amor, that word was the most used word in all of the art pieces I saw. I guess love is what unites us. Que gusto me da, saberlo.

**Hope Outdoor Gallery** hit us in all the feels!

Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Zilker Park– We spent out last full day in Austin doing what the locals do… going outdoors. Todo el mundo esta afuera en Austin. People STAY outside, yo! Bike-riding, walking, rollerblading, kayaking, or just lounging. We followed suit. We had a fabulous time walking to Zilker Park and working off our brunch/alcohol calories. We wandered upon a dog show in the center of the park. Cute puppies everywhere; the girls were in HEAVEN. Next, we strolled to the sculpture garden that kept coming up in every blog we read for Austin research. It did not disappoint. It was serene and awe-inspiring. We all split up and absorbed it all in quiet solitude . We let the pieces provoke some deep thinking and peace. Estuvo perfecto. The thing is, we all needed some time to just be alone after spending a full 72 hours on top of each other. That’s another helpful tip in planning a girls trip: plan for intentional alone time! Trust me on this one. It worked wonders for us.

**Umlauf Sculpture Garden** on a lovely Austin day!

SoCo Art Walls – I spent my last morning in Austin paseando thru SoCo. I knew I didn’t wanna leave this artsy city without peeping every single mural I could. I LOVE street art, and Austin is dripping in it. They are expressive, full of intention, and packed with color. You never knew when you’d turn a color and get blessed. Me encanto la experiencia!

**SoCo’s** art walls are colorful, inspiring, and everywhere!

**Joe’s Hot Coffee** ” I love You” mural might be the most “Austin” thing ever!

Nightlife– This was a girls trip! Y’all didn’t think we just brunched and sun bathed during our whole time in Austin, did you? Por Supuesto que NO! We went out every single night and lived it all the way up! Our first night we hit up 6th Street for some fun. We found it in the form of live music, Coyote Ugly, and amateur night at The Velveeta Room Comedy Club. A HOOT! The following evening, we put on our dancing shoes and descended upon Austin’s dopest night club, The Ranch, like the queens that we are. There were several wedding parties (male and female) and that made for a hilariously raucous dance floor…just our style! We sweat out our perfectly straightened hair and danced ourselves to exhaustion. Nobody at that place knew we were mommies…or past the age of 35. All they saw were a bunch of REINAS living their best lives! Y con Sabor!

Dancing til the wee hours of the morning at Austin’s Ranch Nightclub.

“Keep Austin Weird”:

Austin is weird. It just is. It’s artsy fartsy. It’s hippie dippie. It’s an eclectic mix of Anglo, Native, and Mexican cultures. It’s got dinge and high end designs side by side. There are poets selling their work on street corners, street performers dancing with mannequins, and abandoned cars that are bejeweled and left out as art. It’s insane. But Austin locals embrace it, and so do I. Austin is funky. It’s irreverent. Its FUN. Tienes que verlo para creer lo.

Bat watching at dusk is a legit thing here!

Our first girls trip was a SMASH! It had all the things we were looking for. Adventure, excitement, laughter, freedom, camaraderie and beauty. Things we desperately needed. Austin came through for us in a big way. We will be forever thankful. Muchisimas Gracias Austin! Nos vemos pronto!