sxsw

I didn't "do" South By (local jargon that I feel slightly uncomfortable using) like all my friends did because I was swamped with school, but I did cherry pick one day-party to devote all of my love to. I knew it was sponsored by Rachael Ray, big plus, and that the Hold Steady was playing at some point, bigger plus, but I really didn't know what to expect at all. I'd heard about all the free shows and parties, but I figured that it was basically too good to be true. Au contraire!

Just please keep in mind, as soon as you start to get bored, that all this was free. 

Our day started with me, Brian, and Peters holding down the fort in line at Maggie Mae's, a sixth street UT bar of sorts that I'd never been to. We waited for an hour and a half with screwdrivers and Taco C in tow, which really wasn't bad at all because of the great people watching, including but not limited to roadies-roadies-everywhere, mustaches and velvet jackets, tatts and drunks. And this girl's hair.

It's a shame she's pseudo picking her nose here because her 'do was rad. It didn't hurt that her tote bag said "I can't pay the rent, but I'm fucking gorgeous."

Once the doors opened, bands started immediately on the upstairs and downstairs stages and played for the next five hours, which was awesome because we got to switch from low-key crooners like Bob Schneider to the flaming Semi Precious Weapons (Brian claimed he knew the lead singer but didn't know why...until we realized he was a coach on Made. Too much TV, what?). Two separate food stations and 4 open bars made me a very happy girl, especially when I realized they were serving divine Rachael Ray recipes, like chipotle and black bean chilaquiles and seven layer chili-beef sliders. I mean seriously, what's the best food you can hope for at these kinds of things? Pizza? 

Delicious food you say? Here we come.

Oh and the best part was multiple Rachael Ray pass-bys. I get so ridiculously starstruck by even non-celebrities that for some reason I couldn't get over the fact that THAT WAS RACHAEL RAY RIGHT THERE NO SERIOUSLY LOOK SEE RIGHT THERE. Picture to prove it? Oh okay fine.

Hold Steady and Rach.

No one else seemed to care all that much. But I'm cool with that. Let's be honest, someone should've given me an award for refraining from grabbing her arm to profess that we just cooked jalapeño poppers from her cookbook like TWO DAYS AGO and now she's here in Austin and it's just so crazy I can't get over it! 

So ultimately, we got to see the Hold Steady again, and hear a bunch of other cool bands, eat famous food, and drink for free, all day. Oh wait, did I make it clear that this was all free? For the whole day? Just checking. I think I would've had a great day despite the free-ness of it, but for my first SXSW experience to actually match with its great reputation really caught me off guard. I'm sure the newness of the freeness will wear off next year, but I guess then I can look back at this little bloggity blog and remember how to be appreciative!