Wedding Day!

No! Not mine. ;-)

So my friend Megan (aka Intern Megan) who moved to Virginia Beach last month returned to Austin for the weekend. Megan’s initial purpose for returning was to attend her friends wedding. Somewhere between moving to Virginia Beach and planning to visit Texas, Megan and her fiancé Cruz, decided to get married during their trip home. Megan arrived into Austin on Friday morning, visited the Bobby Bones Show, and then came over to hang out with me for a while.

It was such a treat to see Megan again. As we talked about her life in Virginia Beach, her relationship, wedding, and marriage, I could see how excited Megan was about her life. In the weeks since she moved away to be with Cruz, Megan got a true glimpse of what was to come and I could see how happy that made her. Megan’s smile was contagious. I was moved my Megan’s perspective on marriage and her relationship. She found her guy and intended on making it official. It is rare in this day and age for a recent college graduate to look beyond the wedding and at the marriage. Megan’s mix of maturity, realism, love was refreshing and encouraging.

But I digress . . . .the wedding was a private ceremony with family at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. On the day of the wedding Megan planned on getting her hair styled at Aziz in Austin. Megan’s friend and former morning show co-host, Sara, and I spent Saturday putting together a goody bag for Megan’s big day. Our goody bag included a big white Mat & Nat bag, the wedding day pack from Philosophy, Austin dish towels, make up, perfume, champagne, champagne glasses, and more.

Sara had to work on Sunday, so I took the bag to the salon where Megan and Erin, Megan’s sister, were hanging out. I also brought over Megan’s favorite fruit (green grapes) for her munching pleasure. Megan was surprised to get a gift. I kept telling her that it was he wedding day! That is what girlfriends do on their friend’s big day.

Megan and I talked while the stylist did her hair. I felt honored to sit with her on her wedding day. It reminded me of my friend Molly’s big day—when we hung out to at the nail salon together. There is something about spending time with your friends hours before they get married that is so memorable. In those moments there isn’t really a set thing you can say or do. All the static of life goes away and life seems so much simpler; so pure. I don’t know, but there is something really awesome about it.


Megan’s hair was done before we knew it and she was off to San Antonio to get married and start a new chapter in her life.


Congrats Megan and Cruz!

-RXW

Fashion Fusion!

Friday was Fashion Fusion! Anna Maria’s Boutique hosted a fashion show on at Terrace 59 (the rooftop bar at Speakeasy) and I was one of the models. I always laugh when I am asked to model because I am 5’3 and bowlegged. Oh well, if they don’t notice, I won’t either. ;-)

We all met at Saks at 3pm for hair and makeup. When I got there I was sent my John and Timmy (the head stylist and his assistant) to makeup. That is where I met Mary, makeup artist extraordinaire. Mary made my eyes look amazing. The eye shadow was gold and brown and swooped out to the sides of my face. Already I was feeling like this was going to be a top notch fashion show. Then I went to Michi for hair styling. When I got up from the chair, my hair reminded me of Marie Antoinette! Too cool. I had curls, flowers, AND a blonde streak. Now although I wouldn’t walk around on a daily basis with my hair and make up like this, it was perfect for a show. Michi and Mary (M&M) worked wonders.


When hair and makeup was complete we headed to Speakeasy. As we walked out of Saks a gush of wind took hold of our hair and we all screamed in unison and ran back inside. Eventually we remembered that hairspray was our friend, and we braved the wind and walked to our cars.



When we arrived at Speakeasy we did a run through of the show and geared up for the event. I invited some of my girlfriends to the event so I knew I would have support if I happened to fall.

The entire show was a blast! The runway was in the shape of a rectangle with guests sitting and standing inside and outside of the rectangle. The runway/rectangle was a red carpet, and at each corner of the rectangle there was a platform. I wore two outfits: A purple Emma Savahl bustier with gray skinny jeans (not forgiving to a curve legged wonder like myself) and a purple silk halter dress—accordion style). I strutted from platform to platform and did my thing (whatever that means).

Now I have been to a lot of fashion shows and I have to say that this one was top notch and true to the boutique. Everyone left having had an amazing night and anxious to visit Anna Maria’s soon. It was a perfect way to spend a Friday night.


- RXW

Michigan fan in a sea of Burnt Orange and Red!

So last weekend I found myself amidst a see of Ohio State Buckeye #1 and UT Longhorns #2. That’s right, I was in Austin for arguably the biggest game this season—The #1 and #2 teams rarely play each other this early in the season. The Longhorns had fans from all over Texas in for the game, while the Buckeyes brought 40,000 fans with them to Austin and rented conference rooms in the convention center and the Frank Erwin Center for their fans to watch the big game. Honestly, I didn’t care who won. I mean I am not a Longhorn fan (although I am slowly being converted); I am still bruised by our (Michigan’s) Rose Bowl loss at the hands of UT two years ago. And I am DEFINITELY not a Buckeyes fan—enough said. But as a Michigan fan, I saw the value in the Buckeyes winning, maintaining their #1 status so that we could annihilate them in November and spoil their season. Heh heh!

Well the Buckeyes won definitively and burnt orange became the new color for mourning. As the game ended, the streets became a see of red and burnt orange. The depressed UT fans looked like the world as they knew it was over. Buck up Longhorns! You are still the national champs.
And the Buckeyes were actually nicer than they have ever been in Ann Arbor. I think they realized that they were outnumbered and far from home. They kept telling every Texan they ran into how nice they were.

I seized this opportunity to have a little fun. Dressed in a peach top that Buckeyes easily mistook as burnt orange, I trotted up to Buckeyes fans and asked to take a picture with them. The Buckeyes happily obliged. As we were taking the picture, I yelled out, “1, 2, Go Blue!!” The Buckeyes looked at me perplexed. “No dear, Go Blue is University of Michigan.” Then I turned and said, “Oh, yeah, see I forgot to tell you that I am a Michigan Grad. So congrats on your win tonight, but know that we are going to get you in November.” This had the UT fans roaring and cheering as the Buckeyes grimaced and yelled, “we’ve been had!” Hee Hee, that was an absolute blast. It was proof that a Michigan Grad CAN have fun at a Longhorns/Buckeyes game.








(BTW, I am so pumped about Michigan’s victory this week. Bye Bye Notre Dame!)
Go Blue!

-RXW

Boutique Crawl--Fashion, Friends, and Fun!

This week was Tribeza Fashion Week in Austin, Texas. As a lover of all things fashion, this makes me pleased. Of all the events this week, which included a designer showcase, boutique crawl, fashion show (see the picture of me in the purple dress), and fall wedding day (no interest in going to that event, hee hee), my hands down favorite was the boutique crawl.

I know what you are thinking . . . Roxanne, what pray tell is a boutique crawl? Well, a boutique crawl is the sophisticated little sister of the pub crawl: You travel in a van down a trail of boutiques and experience all of their (bad) and goodness. Ah, but a boutique crawl is much better than a pub crawl because along the boutique crawl trail is vast array of complimentary food, drinks, music (preferably a live band), and killer discounts. Let’s face it, a boutique crawl Roxs!

Nine of Austin’s faboo boutiques participated in this year’s crawl. I went on the crawl with my friends Abigail—soon to be Abigail, PhD, and former Baylor homecoming queen, and Sara—my kindred spirit in many ways and Bobby Bones (radio) Show co-host. None of us had crawled before and we were ready take the plunge.

We started at Anna Maria’s Boutique which I personally love and call the lovely ladies behind the boutique friends—good history there. As we dined delicious hors d'oeuvres and pomegranate martinis, and admired the couture, I realized this was going to be an awesome night.
Each boutique had its own flavor, ambiance, specialty drinks, music, and sales. And I found something I liked about all of them—albeit some were more pleasant than others. But the best part of the night was the fact that Abigail and Sara (who by the way met for the first time that night), and I shared stories and laughed about life, relationships, and fashion as we traveled in the Tribeza van from location to location. It was a bonding event between girlfriends with a beautiful boutique backdrop. Who could ask for anything more? (Well there were those earrings, necklace, and adorable dress too. ;-)

- RXW

Game Day!

I went to my first UT game ever. Three years in Austin and 4 years in Waco, and it finally happened. I was invited to go to the game by Blake and Robin, a fabulous couple from Houston that I hadn’t ever met. Now I must admit that typically I don’t take people I don’t know up on offers like this, but something told me that Blake and Robin were good “peeps.” I was right.

UT Game Day is a major event. The game was at 11am. My friend Meghan and I met up with Blake and Robin promptly at 9:30 and headed to tailgating central. When I was at Baylor, I never tailgated. At the University of Michigan, we would hang out at someone’s house in route to the game, but never what would be considered “tailgating.” We went to the Horns Fans tailgate on campus. Apparently the
organizers of Horns Fans, have been running their tailgate for years. The organizers stake out their spot the day before the game. Set up includes two tents, a smoke pit, hi-def televisions, seats, and a burnt orange vehicle. On the morning of Game day, the fans come in droves. We joined the see of burnt orange (I had a burnt orange tie-die number on), ate, talked, and people watched. I ran into some lawyersI knew from in and out of town. Small world.

After the tailgate, we headed to the stadium for the big game.

Sidebar: UT debuted their jumbotron, aka the largest HD-TV in the world. The jumbotron had subtitles, .
a huge screen with the game showing as well as a huge screen for advertising. Everything you ever wanted to know about the game was shown somewhere on the jumbotron large enough for everyone in the stadium to see

Austin in August at 11am is anything but cool. Thankfully there were people passing out hand fans (like from old church days) for a little relief. With in minutes Robin and I were baking. Meghan was wearing jeans and needless to say she was already broiled. We stayed for a quarter and a half and then couldn’t handle the heat any longer. The score was 21-0 UT when we headed out of the stadium.

We watched the rest of the half at the alumni center in the air condition. The alumni center is right next to the stadium and has televisions in every room for your watching enjoyment. As half time began, the fans peacefully stormed the alumni center and Blake, Robin, Megan, and I made a wise move. We headed to Matt’s El Rancho for queso (with guac, pico and beef), air condition, and second half game watching.

All in all it was a great Game Day: Blake and Robin were awesome, I tailgated for the first time, UT won 56-7, and we had queso.

Good times.

-RXW

The Great Pedi Cab Race of 2006

I spent Labor Day at home in Austin. My dear friends Mike and Molly came to visit from the Big Apple. I went to law school with Molly while Mike, Molly’s husband, was in grad school, and then was fortunate enough to clerk at the Supreme Court of Texas with Molly. With the return of Mike and Molly, spent the weekend together eating, reminiscing, eating, go out, eating, and . . . eating.

On Saturday night we ate (shocker) at Flemings and then headed out for a night in the Warehouse district. We checked out the new hotspot, The Belmont (I will give you my Belmont review soon). Side bar: Mike is the best dancer in the world and I like to show my appreciation for his skills by imitating his dance moves.

As the night wound down, we were hard pressed to find a taxi cab. We decided to find a Pedi cab. A Pedi cab, aka a pedestrian cab is a bike connected to a small carriage for no more than three. Mike and Paul were gracious enough to let Molly and I take the Pedi cab. Molly and I hopped on and didn’t really think about how Mike and Paul were getting home. So Molly and I were enjoying the leisurely stroll through the alleys of downtown Austin, as we watched the bartenders dumping cans of trash into the dumpster. Smelly!! As our Pedi cab took at turn out of the alley and back on the main road, Molly and I found ourselves smack dab in what would later be known as THE GREAT PEDICAB RACE OF 2006.

Much to my surprise, our Pedi cab was riding right next to a Pedi cab carrying Mike and Paul. Where did they come from? I guess I figured they would wait for another Pedi cab or maybe even walk, but I did not think they would end up right next to us. Without saying a word, Mike, Molly, Paul, the two drivers, and I all knew it would be a race to the death or rather to home. Our driver, let’s call him Speedy went into hyper drive. If there were cars on the road, I didn’t see them because Speedy was well, super speedy. As we came to an intersection, Team Testosterone went one way and we went another. Team Testosterone reappeared moments later cutting us off and taking the lead. Just when I thought it might be over, Speedy dug deep, found a burst of energy, and gained ground. Speedy rallied. As we passed Team Testosterone, Speedy chanted, “G-R-E-G GREG,” who I can only assume was the name of the other Pedi cab driver. With the rally chant, it was all over. The guys were toast.


The last stretch of THE GREAT PEDICAB RACE was totally uphill. This was the final element of our big win. Speedy made it up the hill relatively well, but Team Testosterone’s Pedi cab didn’t make it up the hill at all. Now I am not sure if the cab broke, if the guys threw in the towel, or if Greg took one look at hill and the guys and decided the pain wasn’t worth it, but the Pedi cab stopped at the bottom of the hill and walked the rest of the way. Our victory was complete.

As the co-champion of THE GREAT PEDICAB RACE OF 2006, I would like to thank Speedy for his endurance, Molly for being the best team mate a girl could have, and my little sister Rochelle for always believing in me. ;-) Hail to the Victors!

Good Times.
- RXW