Before I was even able to unpack from Italy, it was time to pick up Emily from the airport for ACL weekend!  I squeezed in a little work on Friday {Em was a good sport and came to work with me}, we ate lunch at St. Philip {yumm!}, and then we were off to Zilker Park to meet up with Justin and Heidi.

Day 1 consisted of CHRVCHES, St. Vincent, Foster the People, Beck, and a huge surprise.  When we met up with Heidi after St. Vincent, she showed up with VIP wristbands to the Samsung stage where, not only were we able to watch bands play from the top of the stage, but were treated to bbq, vodka/ginger beers, and air conditioned bathrooms.  We couldn’t, and still can’t, thank Heidi enough for sharing this experience with us!

On the morning of Day 2, I took Emily and Justin to one of my favorite brunch spots, Olivia, where I gorged on a bison burger sans bun and the best french fries in all of the land {seriously}.  We sipped brunch cocktails while we planned out our day and then walked over to the fest.

Day 2 was insanely crowded.  We began at Poliça, rushed over to Samsung to see Lana Del Ray from above, crossed the park again to see Interpol, then hiked back to Samsung for the Foster DJ set and Eminem.  It’s amazing that we all managed to stay together.  It’s even more amazing that Heidi pulled us aside to introduce us to Mark Foster and Isom Innis of Foster the People!

Day 3 started out much the same as Day 2.  We brunched at Josephine House {another favorite of mine} with Emily’s cousin.  Polenta and grits was my breakfast of champion choice.

But by the time we made it to the fest, we lost half our crew.  Emily and Heidi were beat, so Justin and I peeled through the slightly-less-crowded crowd to see Real Estate and Spoon.

After Spoon, I trekked back to my place to get ready and pick up Em for Uchiko dinner, where we topped off an amazing weekend with an even more amazing meal!

If you’re curious about any of the bands listed above, most of the names are hyperlinked to the YouTube videos of my favorite songs.

Til next year, ACL!