I have TWO whole weeks of Friday favorites for y’all today, and so many good things have been happening! So this is basically a recap of our trip to Austin with a few other random favorites thrown in.
Today seems to be the day of launches, but the one I’m most excited about is the Local Natives album! I listened to it on my drive to work this morning and it is SO GOOD . I’m obviously going to need to listen to it a million more times, but even my first impression is good.
I will say that I’m also very excited about Avengers: Endgame. I only recently watched all of the Marvel movies and I’m so excited to see how it all ends, but I’m also sad that it’ll be over. We have tickets to see it on Monday evening, so hopefully I don’t see any spoilers over the weekend.
Last Thursday was my birthday and work ending up being cancelled for inclement weather, which turned out to not be very bad, so I enjoyed a rainy day at home! We had Chick-fil-a breakfast which is always a favorite and I watched Netflix basically all day. It was such a chill birthday and I loved every second of it.
I started watching The Crown (what I was watching all day) and I’m obsessed. I don’t know why I waited so long to watch it, but I’m happy I did because at least I have two seasons to watch. I’m still going through them pretty quickly though, so I’d appreciate if they’d come out with a third season soon.
We took a trip to Austin, Texas over the weekend and the first, and probably most important favorite, from the trip was Kinokuniya bookstore! I had originally planned on going back to Paper+Craft Pantry which I loved last year, but she ended up closing the shop for the whole weekend. Some how the day before we left I saw someone on Instagram who went to Kinokuniya Bookstore, which I had never heard of, and I knew I had to go. It was bullet journal HEAVEN in that place. They had all bullet journal goodies you could ever want, which usually I can’t find in physical stores. They had every single color of the Leuchtturm1917 dotted journal, Midori notebooks, Rhodia notebooks, etc. They had a whole aisle of pens. I’m talking Tombows, Zebra Mildliners, Kuretake Zig Brushables, etc. I easily could have spent my entire salary in there, but I practiced self control and I only picked up a few things. I got a Leuchtturm1917 in Port Red (one of their new colors), a Rhodia Dot Pad (always good to have around for writing quick notes), Pentel Energel pen, Pilot Hi Tec C gel pen, Pentel Touch brush pen, Kuretake Zig brush pen, and a small paint brush.
One thing I was super impressed with is the prices. Every other time I’ve found some of these brands in stores, their prices have been jacked up. But they were the same as if I purchased from Amazon or JetPens. They have several locations, but unfortunately the one in Austin is the closest to me, which is about 7 hours away. If you have one near you and you haven’t been before, you need to! And I’m jealous of you.
After we checked out Kinokuniya, we headed to our Airbnb which quickly became a favorite! I’ve only stayed in a couple airbnb’s, but this place was probably the nicest place I’ve ever stayed, including hotels! It was so open and bright, and very modern. The thing that really impressed me was the quality of all the appliances and furniture. There was some NICE stuff in there, like way nicer than what I could afford for my house. It was also a good location because it was close to South Congress and South First. I could’ve spent the whole trip inside of the Airbnb and would’ve been totally happy. I didn’t take any good pictures, but do yourself a favor and check out their listing.
The weather was so perfect the whole time we were in Austin. Because it felt so nice out we decided to walk up Mt. Bonnell. It was super crowded, but the walk was so short and easy and the view was great. Definitely a favorite.
I wanted to walk somewhere for a treat our first night there, because I was tired of sitting in a car all day, so we walked to Summer Moon Coffee. I honestly just picked it because it was only .3 miles away, but it ended up being so good! Maybe it was just because I hadn’t had real milk in a month, but their “moon milk” was great. I got the Half Wintermoon which is and iced latte served with half skim milk, half Moon Milk. I swear there was something ~special~ in there that put me in the best mood. It was the perfect pick-me-up after a long day of traveling.
When I saw they had a Nada Moo Scoop Shop in Austin I knew I had I go. I love Nada Moo ice cream (I get it from Whole Foods) and it was fun to get a little dairy-free treat on our trip.
My IKEA order was finally delivered yesterday. I order the Hemnes dresser and two matching nightstands. I’m super excited to have a dresser again, but I’m not looking forward to putting everything together. I’m hoping to at least get the dresser done this weekend.
Bonus Favorite: I watched the documentary Free Solo on Hulu last night and it was so interesting. It’s about Alex Honnold who climbs cliffs and mountains with no rope or harness. It’s insane and it actually made me a little queasy to watch. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. If you haven’t already seen it, definitely check it out.
