Hippie Hollow

There are some images you cannot shake from your mind no matter how hard you try. Today we visited Hippie Hollow, a clothing optional enclave on Lake Travis. Eliza's Statesboro friends Adam and Jon, Adam's wife Lauren, and Jon's roommate Tara convinced us that Hippie Hollow is the most beautiful spot on Lake Travis. They were right, the lake was gorgeous, but some of the other scenery will be forever seared into our memories, for better or for worse.

Afterwards, we had some dinner at the Iguana Grill.

Practice Round

Today, Ben had a trial bachelor party on Lake Travis. His friends Rob and Patrick were in town for another friend's bachelor party, and Ben joined the festivities for a day on the lake. Ben will surely be well-prepared for his own bachelor party later this summer.

Meanwhile, Eliza practiced hair and makeup and tried on her dress and veil. It all went splendidly. Eliza's genius seamstress, Laura, was even able to alter Eliza's mother's wedding veil so that it will work perfectly with Eliza's dress (which actually belongs to Eliza's friend Young who was married two years ago).

"Borrowed" and "old" are covered.

Get ready for... LINENS!

This was surely one of the more exciting parts of planning the wedding: renting linens. But we got it done.

Here's Eliza perusing the options.

Ben couldn't get enough! 
More excitement: the chair selection.

Hamilton Pool

We had some visitors this weekend. Eliza's friend Melinda, Melinda's boyfriend Mike and some of their friends drove from Nederland to Austin to see a band called Firewater at Emo's. On Friday, Mike (who used to live in Austin) and Melinda introduced us to an amazing corner of Austin we hadn't visited yet: Hamilton Pool. Hamilton Pool is one of Texas's best swimming holes, about 30 miles west of Austin. According to Texas Outside, the pool was formed "when the dome of an underground river collapsed due to massive erosion thousands of years ago." 

Craving tacos on the way home, we tried out Taqueria Chapala. Thanks to Taco Town, a very reliable guide to Austin's best tacos, for sharing this little gem. According to Taco Town, Taqueria Chapala is a Jalisco style taqueria. We stopped at their new location on South Congress Avenue, and while it doesn't look like much from the outside, this was some of the best pastor we've had anywhere. Eliza couldn't remember what she actually ordered but it was great, too.

The pastor and barbacoa plate.

The Tie?

We haven't decided exactly what the groomsmen and Ben will wear, but Ben is thinking Carolina blue ties. Ben's mom picked this one up in Chapel Hill from Julian's. 

Julian's is the store that dresses Roy Williams and used to dress Dean Smith. It looks nice, but we may end up getting some bow ties custom made. Ben is partial to the bow tie, and that way we can have matching cummerbunds made too. Ben's sister-in-law Kathy is helping out with that. Thanks Kathy!

And thank you, Roy.

The Announcement

Here is our engagement announcement in the Statesboro Herald.

Engagement Photos

Here are some of the photos from our engagement photo shoot. We were not really used to having someone tell us to kiss and laugh over and over again.

This one is Eliza's favorite.


This is what we look like when someone tells us to laugh.


Notice the costume change. We were told to bring a few options.



This wasn't actually part of the photo shoot. This is just a spot in town where we like to stand around, leaning against the wall, looking casual. The photographer just happened to walk by.




The photographer was very big on the "thumb in the pocket" move.



You can't see it, but there was a used hypodermic needle right next to us in this photo. No charge for that.