It’s been 3 since getting married, but almost 4 months since my bachelorette party! My sister and Maid of Honor planned such a fun weekend with my closest friends. I knew I wanted to do something in Austin because there were so many different things to do and it was a pretty central location for everyone. Think hiking, swimming, shopping, and lots of eating. I told my sister I wanted a relaxing weekend with activities around Austin during the day, chill evenings, and lots of photo ops! In my opinion she did just that.
I went to school in Austin for 5 years to get my Bachelor and Master degrees in accounting. It was nice to have a weekend with no school involved and just play! My friends are the best and drove or flew in from all over the country just to celebrate with me. Some I’ve known since I was 11 while others I’ve only known for a few years. I loved being able to catch up and hang out with everyone before getting married (like that would change anything). If anyone wants a super relaxing weekend filled with cute pictures and fun activities, Austin is the place to go!
WHERE WE STAYED
We stayed at this amazing house! I’m not sure how my sister and friends found this gem but it was PERFECT. The decor was so cute and there were enough rooms for over 10 girls! It was pretty central to everything we wanted to do. We didn’t use the hot tub or indoor gym but, guys, it had a hot tub and indoor gym! The big living room downstairs was perfect for our hangouts and movies. The second living room upstairs was perfect for our girls spa night. The only “issue” was the HOA rule that said we couldn’t have more than 4 cars in the driveway at a time and couldn’t park in the street. Luckily for us, Drew’s sister lived less than 10 minutes away and the girls were able to park in their neighborhood.
WHAT WE DID
I made a list of potential activities that I wanted to do (and eat) in Austin and let my sister choose from there. I’m so lucky to have such thoughtful and sweet friends. They were even able to surprise me with gifts!
- Girls Spa Night. On Friday night, one of my bridesmaids hand-sewed bride and bride-squad headbands for us all to wear. She brought everything from nail polish, hand masks, face masks and even snacks. We watched a movie and hung out while getting pampered! It was the perfect way to start the weekend once everyone got into town.
- Pole Dancing Class. Ahhh the classic bachelorette party activity. But I can now say I understand why they are so popular! It was (un)surprisingly fun. When we got to Inner Diva Studios on Saturday, we signed in and changed into our pole dancing attire (same bestie from girls night got us Beyonce themed bachelorette shirts. I mean she knows me so well). The ladies at Inner Diva even gave me gifts! A super cute tiara, hot pink feather boa and a garter. The class was set to Yonce by Beyonce, the queen herself. When our instructor found out half of us were dancers she let us try more advanced inverted moves! It was the perfect mix of physical activity and dance and you definitely do not need to be an expert.
- Watercolor Class. This was a last minute Sunday addition to the weekend and it was so much fun. The class was a private workshop just for us at Paper + Craft Pantry. The theme of our workshop was Texas flowers. Our sweet instructor had all of the materials set out for us (watercolor paper, watercolors, paintbrushes, water, examples). We were all different levels and she was so patient with us and helped answer any questions we had. By the end of our workshop we had a cute Texas watercolor to commemorate the weekend.
- Pictures everywhere! One requirement I had for my sister was for us to take a ton of pictures, and we did just that! Like I said, one of my besties ordered us cute Beyonce themed bachelorette shirts. Of course we took pictures in those! We also took pictures at brunch, at the pole dancing class, at dinner and at the watercolor class…you get the idea!
- Shopping at the Domain. Before any of the bachelorette events started on Friday, one of my bridesmaids and I went to The Domain, a now high-end outdoor shopping center, for some afternoon shopping. In the year that I’ve been gone, The Domain has really developed! It has shops from American Eagle and Victoria’s Secret to Kiehl’s (were I got all new products for my night-time routine) and even an Erin Condren. I used to go there all the time in college for some retail therapy and study sessions one of my favorite coffee shops, Apanas.
WHAT WE ATE
Now, the most important part of this weekend (minus the celebration) was all of the food from the weekend! I may have lived in Austin for 5 years, but I didn’t go out to eat nearly as much as you would have thought. It had been over a year since I had been to Austin for a fun trip so there were so many places I wanted to try.
- Taco Bowl Night. Okay, so the first exception to our going out to eat was the delicious taco bowl night we had our first night in. My lovely friends got all of the ingredients for the bowls and we had our DIY taco bowl. It was a great first meal and went perfectly with our casual girls night in!
- True Food Kitchen. This place was AMAZING! You could describe it as an “eco-chic” restaurant with a bunch of healthy twists on your favorite dish. We ate there for lunch on Saturday! We ordered edamame dumplings as an appetizer and my sister and I split teriyaki quinoa as our main dish. If I hadn’t been so full from our homemade breakfast, I could have eaten 10 bowls of that. It was such cute and casual place. But I would recommend making a reservation, especially for large groups because it seemed pretty busy.
- Siena Ristorante Toscana. This is my all-time favorite Italian restaurant. Drew and I went there for a Valentine’s dinner at some point in college and I knew I wanted to go again for dinner Saturday. It looks like a true Tuscan villa from Italy and the food tastes authentic Italian cuisine. I got the fettuccine al funghi, as I normally do at Italian restaurants (ask Drew, I get some form of fettuccine at every Italian restaurant). The meal was wonderful and the servings were great! I highly recommend if you want an authentic Italian meal and it’s great for a date night!
- Velvet Taco. Again, before any of the weekend festivities, one of my bridesmaids and I ate at at Velvet Taco. Pretty much anything on their menu is great. I usually get the #2 Rotisserie Chicken and the #4 Nashville Hot Tofu tacos! I usually get a Mexican Coke there too just because I can’t resist.
- Amy’s Ice Cream. One of my best friends couldn’t make it that weekend, but was so sweet and bought all of us Amy’s Ice Cream in my favorite flavor: Mexican Vanilla. If you haven’t tried their ice cream before, you need to! They have all sorts of cool flavors, including a twist on a classic. You can mix multiple ice cream flavors and add your own toppings! I always get Mexican Vanilla with chunks of cookie dough. (Funny story: My friends really got be good because when they came back with the ice cream, they knocked on the door and yelled “Yay! The strippers are here!” I was genuinely scared for about 5 seconds before I realized they were kidding. But made for a great laugh!)
We didn’t go out to Dirty Sixth or Rainey street this time around, but I did for another bachelorette party and it was a great time! Just wear good shoes and drink lots of water. These were only things we did that weekend, but there are plenty of other fun things to do and great places to eat around Austin. Hopefully these are a good starting point for a fun girls trip in Austin!
For those who love Google Maps (if you do we should be best friends because I LOVE Google Maps), I have pinned all of these places on a Google Map so you know exactly where to find them.
Click this link: https://goo.gl/nr5bVd.
Happy traveling!
Vivian
