If you’ve never been to Austin, Texas I would suggest you add it to your bucket list as soon as possible. I was recently in this gem of a city for a social media conference and I have been to Austin a few times prior to this trip. I have to say it is one of my favorite cities – it is full of music, art and great people. You can’t help but feel caught up in the music and the moment when you are in this town. A great time to visit Austin is in March during SXSW – I’ve been lucky enough to go to SXSW two times and it was the best experience ever. They have a huge music festival but they also have a section of the week dedicated entirely to digital and interactive. Some people don’t remember but Twitter was announced and unveiled at SXSW – I plan to go again this year in March to hear what new digital experiences are coming.

During the week I went there (October 12-14) there was a heat wave. Now Texas is typically hot, but in October 99 is not usual and it was extremely warm and humid. The great thing about this weather and the humidity – your hair is full of volume! It is true what they say, Texas girls have big hair and now I know why. It also made my hair stay curled all day long – now that my hair is a bit shorter I love using a clipless curling iron and doing beachy waves in my hair. I also found a new hair spray that I am loving – it is a matte volume hair spray. It works so well for hair that tends to get oily since it is not wet or sticky but actually feels just like air. I loved the humidity since it gave my hair a bit more lift cause normally by mid day my hair falls flat. I also fell in love with the lighted makeup mirror in my hotel – I tried to find a label or company name on it so I could buy one for my house, but I couldn’t find the info anywhere!

Since it was so warm I made sure to pack light weight clothes, but since I was going to be indoors for the conference most of the day I had to bring layers as well. Usually at conference venues it’s cold due to the air conditioning so I made sure to pack a coat, cardigan and blazer. At night time it cooled off a bit and a tank top or short sleeve shirt was perfect. In Austin people don’t really “over dress” it’s a pants, jeans and tank top or blouse kind of place. I liked that since it made packing easy, all I needed was a carry on bag.

I stayed at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Austin on Cesar Chavez which is prime location to everything in walking distance. The two main streets for Austin night life, bars and music venues is on 6th Street and Red River Street. This hotel was awesome, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the rooms were. I had reserved what I thought was a regular room, but all the rooms had a living room/bedroom set up which was awesome. The decor, furniture and amenities were fantastic – even the bed, which was a Sleep Number bed. That was a great experience, I think I now want to get one for my house! It allows each side of the bed to set their own personal level of firmness which is great if your husband likes the bed soft and you like it firm (I prefer a firmer mattress).

One great thing about Austin is the food, so many restaurants have local food and healthy options. We ate at a great place on 6th Street called Iron Cactus which has a crazy list of tequila to choose from for custom made margaritas. They also have an upstairs area that looks over the action of the street below. At night the streets of Austin come alive with college kids and tourists just bouncing from bar to bar. We also found a few local places for lunch that had great salads, appetizers, fresh to order guacamole and more. We found a fun place for lunch called Michelandas that had awesome chips and salsa and table side guac and also margaritas that are made with amazing flavors like pineapple, prickly pear and also watermelon.

On our last night the company that was hosting the conference had a dinner and party for all the guests which was held at a super cool space called Fair Market. This place had a fun open area set up with hanging swings, a photo booth and cool furniture to lounge in. The outside was all open grass and benches and food trucks! The food trucks were amazing with local food like chicken tacos, grilled brussel sprouts and brisket sliders. I wish we had a place like this in New Jersey!

There was also a band that performed called Red Baraat, a multiple member band with a variety of instruments like tuba, trombone, guitar and more. They are from Brooklyn, NY and they were amazing! There is no better feeling that being in Austin and listening to live music. It brings me back to the days I worked at radio stations and got to hear bands perform every day – I miss that! All in all the trip was awesome and I highly recommend trying to get out to Austin at some point.

A gallery of my trip to Austin, Texas

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