Derby Day party several Saturdays ago…

This year, I was lucky enough to photograph for SXSW. Which means I spent the entire 9 days walking around downtown and the Convention Center, capturing photos of panels, events, people, etc. And here are the photos I got in-between doing all of my assignments….

I decided to have a little fun with these, so I edited them all using VSCO Film.

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Revolution exhibit downtown was really cool.

Musicians. With accordions!

Bikes are an essential mode of transportation during SXSW.

And then you’re walking along Sixth Street and see this happening….

SXSW isn’t just music, it’s movies (and interactive) too!

Downtown Austin is all dressed up with pretty lights.

Walking down the street and seeing giant pink tumbleweeds? Not too surprising.

And running into teen rapper Kitty Pryde!

May have transported back to the 1920s at some point..

Accidentally over-exposed this photo. Oh well.

They were a pretty fantastic band called “In the Valley Below”

Wearing sunglasses on the back of your head was never cool, but people still do it..

Mohawk is one of my favorite music venues

Someone is buying their friends a bunch of shots

This wall was blank at the beginning of the week.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending an Herb Garden Workshop at Contigo put on by the Wellgro Co. Not only did I learn so much about what I was doing wrong with my plants and how to keep them alive, but I got to support students at Travis High School, meet lovely Austinites, and have a delicious lunch prepared by Chef Andrew Wiseheart at Contigo and some of the Travis High students. All around, an incredible 2 hours spent on a Saturday.

For a more in-depth look at the workshop, head over to this blog post from my friend Chris. He captured the event in such a wonderful way.

*all photos taken with iphone

A question I got during SXSW a lot this year:

“Are you a local?”

After responding yes, this question usually followed:

“So how do you feel about SXSW?”

In Austin, there are the people who do everything they can to avoid SXSW and then the people that embrace it, go out, even may complain about the traffic and downtown being taken over, but still love it.

I love it. Every SXSW is a new experience. There are new venues, new people to run into, new bands to randomly see, new places to discover, and a new appreciation for living in this city. And a new feeling of exhaustion afterwards.

This year I met some amazing people visiting for interactive from Amsterdam and had a several-hour conversation with them over drinks. I randomly ran into a bunch of friends just out and about. I had a lovely time hanging out at two venues on East Cesar Chavez (the Spotify House and the Rachael Ray Greenhouse). I went into bars on dirty 6th I wouldn’t normally venture into. I walked home from east 6th street. I got to spend a lot of time hanging out with my friends Spring, Chris, and Kathy. I got to hear the Roots playing as I walked by Mohawk (see above).

I ate some delicious Peached Tortilla Banh Mi Tacos (see below).

And just had a spectacular few days enjoying the energy of the interactive and music conferences and the transformation of the city over those days.

So long, farewell SXSW. See you next spring.

I know I am so incredibly lucky to live within walking distance of Home Slice Pizza. I loooove NY style pizza and Home Slices’ never disappoints. Also, once a year, they hold a Carnival O Pizza. This is something I can definitely get behind. Here are a few snaps I took at this year’s event.