keep austin weird

we just got back in town from the wonderfully weird city known as austin! this was a first for marsh. austin is one of my favorite cities if not my favorite city of all. it has so much to offer including various vegetarian friendly restaurants (which is such a nice relief), great outdoor experiences, and enjoyable live music. its a place you go and find one-of-a-kind places such as a cornacopia, a specialty store who cooks up over 40 flavors of popcorn. its just so weird. any style fashion flies in austin which is my favorite because you can truly express yourself that way without feeling like you have to mold yourself into a certain bubble. your outfit doesn't match? all the better in austin! its refreshing to know there are still places out there where people can be individuals and not be deemed "weird" because everyone here is weird! haha! i know you must be thinking, "jenn would fit in here!" haha, thats okay, i am proud to be weird!

anyways, we flew down to austin late friday afternoon to meet my parents and sister at the omni hotel. we arrived in enough time to grab a quick drink at the bar and then head back up to our rooms to get ready for the rehearsal dinner we had to go to. my cousin was married this weekend, so we all decided to go down there to see her get hitched. it was a great trip to see my family and grandparents. the rehearsal dinner was unreal, it was held at the 4 seasons which should trigger your mind in the right direction. the right direction is in the shape of one word: f-a-n-c-y. the sheer amount of people invited to the dinner outnumbered my entire wedding by far. it was a fancy three course dinner with of course an open bar. a douglas function does not function without an open bar. i ate nothing that night because apparently being back in texas meant loading up on the meat. the salad was drenched in bacon (gag me) then followed up with an oozing steak (i shutter at the thought) and mashed potatoes, made of course with bacon! seriously? anyways crazy times were had by all that night. quite enjoyable, and you can definitely say we painted the town red. 

the next day we explored the likes of austin then got ready for the wedding. ceremony was gorgeous. at the end of the ceremony, the musicians missed their cue i believe and started playing way too early. by early, i mean they were never even pronounced "husband and wife" nor introduced as a couple. the preacher tried to stop the musician but away went the bride and groom. they were ready to party i guess! my question to you, does that make them really married? haha!

now the reception was something you would see out of a magazine. it was held at a country club. you walk into a castle looking building to be overwhelmed with white flowers of all kinds. the hallway opens up into several rooms jam packed with at least 200 people. there were at least 2 open bars, a massive like 5 or 6 layer wedding cake along with a huge electric guitar grooms cake, and a wild amount of food. there were food stations all over filled with everything from pasta to seafood to tenderloin and fruit. you needed a map to get yourself around the place. we would keep walking and discover so much more. there was a patio decked out but nobody went out there because the temperature randomly dropped to freezing that night. we stepped out there to explore and found a "ball park" station. that is a station serving mini hot dogs and all the condiments you can think of. a quite adorable idea if you ate meat. the center pieces were extravagant to say the least. the dance floor was roomy and they had a live band, the spasmotics (or something like that) the entire band was dressed up like nerds. apparently they are a big deal in austin. they performed well and the crowd ate them up. now the wildest part of this ceremony was discovered by my sister and me when we headed to the bathroom later in the evening. near the restrooms another room magically had appeared with this massive ice sculpture engraved with the bride and grooms name. inside the sculpture was a tube in which a bartender would pour vodka through. you held your glass up to the spout and down came your vodka. can you say unreal?! my goodness. once the night was starting to wrap up and the food was put away, breakfast burritos showed up. i suppose that was to soak up all the alcohol you had just previously consumed! it was an amazing wedding, one that i believe i would see on television. you can't compare one wedding with another though, they all take on a life of their own. i still love my own wedding, it was incredible!

we had a great weekend full of fancy parties, family time, and crazy cab drivers. on the way to lunch today, we passed under the overpass where a group of people were gathered. several of them looked homeless (one downside to austin, the homeless are abundant there for some reason) and come to find out they were. the cab driver informed us that it was church for the homeless. they feed them the word then they literally feed them. talk about reaching out, that is so great! again, sometimes i just find myself thinking, "only in austin!"

just remember to keep austin weird!