BBQ Review - Live Oak Barbecue & Beer

So, I'm not a BBQ head or anything, nor am I a regular food reviewer, but lately, and by lately I mean like this past year I really like BBQ. Perhaps, it's that I was a vegetarian (and not a real smart one by any means) from the time I was 14-21. When I 'came back' as my dad used to like to say ("She came back to us!' He was also in the cattle feeding business...so you get the gist) I was living in California at the time. I lived in LA up until four years ago. Although, LA can be a foodie paradise, BBQ is just not one of the things that I remember running into too much.
Living in Central Texas....completely different story. Proponents of the True Barbecue experience will argue that you have to leave Austin proper and head over to Lockhart, Luling etc...(more on that later) and they are probably correct, but the capital has some joints that are definitely worth the visit. So, if you want some tasty barbecue in town, I suggest you visit Live Oak Barbecue & Beer. I've been three times and so far...not tired of it. The atmosphere is kind of dark and dank (I guess the place used to be an Eastside Bar that seems like it was a pretty good time in its own right, if you peruse the left over photo album that floats around the joint) and luckily for me, Social Distortion seems to be on general rotation as far as tunes go, which suits the place. It's a little punk rock if you will. The guys are pretty laid back, have tattoos and seem like the types that you may run into at a show somewhere on Red River. They also know their stuff. The proprietor, Tom, seems to have spent his time honing his recipes prior to opening up the brick and mortar. He's super friendly and will always find time to sit down with you for a chat. Everything is by the pound, my favorite by far is the brisket. The chicken is second runner up, it is so smoky delicious and it is JUICY! Oh MAH GAWD! As for sides, they change periodically, but they keep the staples like potato salad etc. And the sauce is PHENOM. It's like an au jus, so mellow and light but filled with flavor. Honestly, you can't go wrong with anything here.
Live Oak BBQ & Beer is located on the Eastside at 2nd & Pleasant Valley and open from 11AM - Midnight daily. Just go....

There it is....

The Menu

The sauce is an au jus and mouth watering

Melt in your mouth mmmm mmm good!!!!

Round Top Antiques Fair - Check

I've got another notch in my bucket list belt. I went to the Round Top Antiques Fair a while back and I FORGOT to post about it...bad bad. Alas..here I am reporting. I love antiquing. I think I take that from my grandmother, Lydia. She loves a good bargain hunt and used to spend like 2-3 weeks in the Texas Hill Country doing just that. So, Round Top, for those who don't know, is a tiny little town due east of Austin, just past La Grange. For years, I have only associated La Grange, with the most kick ass of Rock & Roll songs by my favorite trip, ZZ TOP, so here is a link to their video just cause it's awesome and I love them.

Anywho...Round Top has this FABULOUS antiques fair twice a year. According to wikipedia, the town actually just has like 77 people, which is beyond me. But, twice a year, vendors from all over come and set up shop underneath giant white tents and people come from miles to soak it up. Spring was in the air, and once we took the turn from La Grange, it was the cutest picturesque two-way street and then...wait for it..TENTS! White Tents for days! I was gasping in disbelief and excitement because I could see old wagons, vintage telephone booths, a Bob's Big Boy, stained glass windows...you get the picture. If you are in the central Texas area in the Spring or Fall and love looking through junk, do your self a favor next time and GO!

vintage windows & stained glass for sale

Bob's Big Boy is adorable!

RED

Sparkles

splurgedesign.com

I think I died....

and made it to heaven when I found these sweet red cowboy boots! They are mine now!

Dave Lennard Inc.

bad ass skulls at www.davelennard.com 

safety first!

all images by me: the digital bird | lisa munoz

some of the nice vendors I met who allowed me to shoot in their pop up shops:

Robert Nicholas of Splurge Design

Dave Lennard of Dave Lennard Inc. 

Texas Hill country - Fredericksburg, Texas

My mom has been in town all week and the other day she had a wild hair to drive out to Fredericksburg. I love a good road trip, so I indulged her. The Texas Hill Country is filled with all sorts of adorable little towns all with major German influence with super cute Main Streets that now house antique shops, silly souvenir stores and quaint little restaurants. The Hill Country has also become a contender in the wine scene, so you can make a day out of it and hit the wineries for wine tasting. We left after lunch, and didn't really have an agenda, as we have both been several times, so we kind of forgot that the town shuts down at around 5:30PM.
We rolled into town at around 4:30PM, so we didn't have much time to do any serious shopping, but I gotta say it was pretty nice to have the sleepy streets to ourselves. We made a pit stop into RED, which is a really nice shop and great for designers looking for a more modern rustic junky vibe and then we wandered into the Fredericksburg Brewing Company for a snack and some vino. That's really about it. We had to walk off that insane bread pudding, so we made lap, feasting our eyes in all of the shops. If you want to make the most of the day, I would leave bright and early, wear comfy shoes and have a little patience. It's a very popular weekend 'day tripper' destination filled with everyone from families to biker enthusiasts.
Fredericksburg is roughly 78 miles / 1.5 hours due West from Austin.

Red in Fred

the main strip

um this is totally a Boot Bag for your cowboy boots

Sorry Mom! 

Kinda cool that we used to actually MAKE things in this country...

Insert Lee Greenwood song here

The rest of my photos from this trip can be found on my flickr page here 

Swim in Barton Springs - CHECK

My Austin Bucket list has another little notch on it's belt. Numero Uno was to 'swim in Barton Springs' and I did so last week. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot, not too cold and I jumped in and it was cold, but as my girl Yvette once said...'it will cool you from the inside out'
These past few months when I have described my goals via this blog, swimming in Barton Springs was always one of the main things that I mention (albeit with a very embarrassed ashamed look) because, it's almost a rite of passage for those who live in Austin. I can't believe that I have lived here since 2007, that's four very long hot summers, and I had not yet dipped myself in this invigorating natural spring.

It stays at 68 degrees year round! How cray is that? Open daily. Admission is $3.00.
Details here

'Dog Beach'

'GIANT' lives on in Marfa

Taylor and Dean on the set of 'Giant'

Elizabeth Taylor

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that I LOVE classic Hollywood films. One of my all time favorites has been 'GIANT', since I first saw it back in high school. I was obsessed with James Dean for most of my high school years. I read books on him, owned all of his films, sadly just three and read countless bios. Being a Texas girl, and having a love for epics (I'm the girl who sat all of her friends down in junior high and made them watch 'Gone With the Wind' - all 6 hours of it) I was super excited to visit Marfa, Texas, because that is where 'Giant' was filmed. The cast and crew stayed at the historic, Paisano Hotel, in downtown Marfa. It is a real lovely place, with lots of old 'Giant' memorabilia. It also holds a special place in my heart, because my late boss, Dennis Hopper, was part of the film and we used to talk about Marfa when I worked for him.
Here's hoping Dennis and Dean are entertaining Liz right now...

'Giant' is on 24-7 at The Paisano

Willy + Laura

a young Dennis Hopper

Love the tile and my new Tom's

View to lobby

View to patio with fountain

Paisano Lobby