As a Texan, I have a serious confession: I have never owned a pair of cowboy boots. I have kicked (pun intended) the idea of purchasing a pair around a couple of times, but never had a solid reason to commit to a purchase.  However, after seeing the attire at my first UT game, I decided that it was finally a good time to procure a pair.

Boots on Boots on Boots

Like any good millennial, I decided to Google “Places to Buy Boots in Austin” and began to research. From what I determined, the best place to begin the search for the perfect pair is South Congress. There are traditional stores like Heritage Boot and Allens Boots, and also a lot of great vintage stores that offer a selection of boots, such as Feathers Boutique, New Bohemia and Uncommon Objects.

After my last interview during a busy week of recruiting on Friday morning, my mom and I headed to South Congress to find a pair before the UT game on Saturday. While my original intention was to hunt for a secondhand pair, my mom encouraged me to check out Allens Boots for our first stop.

We spent a lot of time exploring the store. They have boots for all different types of personal styles. Some of my favorites were Texas centric and featured the Texas flag or an outline of the state on the front. There was also this “Don’t Mess With Texas” pair that I found very entertaining:

While I am personally not flashy enough to purchase boots with a famous anti-littering campaign slogan on them, I did find the perfect pair of boots for me at Allens.  I ultimately decided that the full price cost would be worth it if I really loved the boots and will continue to wear them for years to come.  You only purchase your first pair of boots once.  I feel way more Texan already.

The newest additions to my closet:

I moved to Austin in July to attend summer classes for the MPA program. Having lived in Texas for most of my life, the majority of my summers were spent hiding from the heat in air-conditioned malls and movie theaters. However, I have found that 100+ degrees temps do not slow down Austinites when it comes to participating in outdoor activities, so I obviously had to get out and join them.

Over the past few weeks, I went to the Shakey Graves concert during Blues on the Green, a summer concert series put on by a local radio station, saw J.Cole concert with Big Sean at Circuit of the Americas, hiked and paddle boarded on Ladybird Lake, attended the Austin PRIDE parade, and tubed in the San Marcos River with some MPA peers.

I also dipped my toe in the ocean of Austin restaurants, eating at: Trudy’s, Tacodeli, Stubb’s BBQ, and (my favorite because desserts) Gourdough’s.

Throughout the summer, I took advantage of the quiet campus and explored. This is one of my favorite pictures of the Tower on a clear blue sky  day:

The UT campus area has so much to offer, and I especially look forward to spending more time at the Blanton Museum of Art, the Bullock Texas State History Museum and the LBJ Presidential Library (One of my undergraduate degrees is in History, if you could not tell).

Needless to say, with recruiting and beginning the fall semester, my first couple of weeks in Austin were packed, but I enjoyed every moment of it. While it is tough to say goodbye to summer, I definitely took advantage of what Austin has to offer and look forward to all that the fall has in store.