Last week I went on a little celebratory trip. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to end one career and start another one. And what better way to kick off my photography career than by going to one of my favorite states, TEXAS! Now don't get confused, I am from Louisiana and yes, LA will always be my #1 but Texas is a close second and yes, Arkansas is not far behind, since it is my current home. I spent every summer for years in Texas soaking up the sun, making new friends and having what are some of the best times of my life. I also have many friends and family members that live in Texas, so I go as much as I can.
This trip I went to three cities: Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas. But today I will just blog about Austin & San Antonio. We'll save Dallas for another day. :)
Austin.
My college roommate lives in Austin. Becca. We lived together for 4 years. That is rare to say and I'm quite proud to say it actually. We have so many good times, along with a few rough times as well. But today we are stronger friends than ever. This trip we celebrated this friendship.
I spent a few days with her - we saw a movie at Alamo Draft House Cinema. This was a really sweet theater where they serve dinner & drinks during the movie. This was a first for me! Definitely an experience I would recommend to everyone who visits there! I shopped on S. Congress Street which is probably most famous for its vintage shops... which is right up my alley! :) One of my favorite stores is Uncommon Objects. The. Best. Store. Ever.
While I was in Austin, I met up with an old camp friend. Remember how I said I spent every summer here in Texas? Well, I made many close friends at camp and one of those friends was Josh. The last time I spoke with Josh was his last year at camp, when he was 17 and I was 16. That was literally 10 years ago. But thanks to technology these days we reconnected online and met for lunch in real life. :)
This is me and my friend, Josh and his baby boy, Maddox. My friend, Robyn told me this looked like a family picture so let me just preface this by saying this is NOT a family pic and I am happily married to B still and he was perfectly okay with me meeting an old friend for lunch. :)
After I returned home from my Texas trip, I did some digging and came across an old camp scrapbook in which I found *this* picture. This picture is special to me for so many reasons but mainly because it sums up just how special my time at Pine Cove was. Josh and I had been attending the same week of camp for years. We were like brother and sister. When it wasn't "camp time" our families took vacation to visit the other one. Josh came to Minden one time and road four wheelers with me and my cousin (pictured in the LSU hat). One year, my family went to the University of Texas and we met up with Josh for dinner. We wrote letters back and forth during the year...but we couldn't wait until week 10 at Pine Cove. After this picture was taken, I didn't see him again in person until this past week. Ten years had gone by. He had a kid. I had gotten married and from the pictures it looks like I had put on a few pounds. ha! Geez! Anyway, meeting up with Josh this week made me feel blessed for the camp experience that I had growing up, for the friendships I have made throughout the years...even those friends I don't talk to as much... because I believe even those people who pass through your life briefly can still have a profound effect on your life.
San Antonio.
After a few days of roomie time, Becca drove me the short distance from Austin to San Antonio where another college best friend lives. Robyn lived with Becca and I for a semester, then again through a summer one year. Robyn and I also survived an Orlando trip together. I say survived because we DROVE the whole way and I would not recommend doing that a
gain. That's why airplanes were invented, people.
Anyway, back to San Antonio. The three of us ate an AMAZING meal at Alamo Cafe... and yes, I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone. I had the puffy tacos and they were so good I want to get in my car and drive there right now to eat them.
Well, before the amaziness that were the puffy tacos... we had a mini baby shower for Robyn at the restaurant. I found the *perfect* gift for little Marley Jean. Robyn is slightly obsessed with alligators (I think it goes back to our Florida trip we took together or maybe when she visited Louisiana... who really knows) Anyway, Robyn loves alligators so needless to say, Marley will too. :) So I found the cutest little onesie with a gator one it. PERFECT gift if I do say so myself. Quite proud!
We did a bit of shopping but couldn't walk around too much because we didn't want Robyn to go into labor. After all, I hadn't taken her maternity pictures yet! Sunday was the day for that! A week for her due date, Robyn got dolled up for her maternity shoot and looked gorgeous! I think she was a little disappointed she was a little lower than normal maternity pictures. I was originally planning to come a month earlier but my flight was canceled due to the snow we got here in Arkansas. Boo! So, little Marley had already dropped and was preparing for her big arrival day! Never the less, we made it through maternity pictures without going into labor! :)
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