The 31st Annual Fall Pecan Street Festival

Austin is known for a lot of things. Live music, localvore culture, quirkiness, and festivals! I'm a big fan of the Pecan Street Festival. It takes place two times per year, in the spring and fall, and despite having been here for five of them, this will have been my second time going. I have to admit, the weather is a contributing factor. Today the weather was beautiful, partly cloudy with a chance of showers, and temperatures in the low 80s. Fabulous! 

If you aren't familiar with the festival, it is essentially a street fair. There are a few rides for the kiddos, lots of food, vendors selling artwork and crafts, live music, and more. It's a great place to find things you didn't know existed, especially when it comes to local artwork.

I wasn't expecting to find much in the way of vegan food. My main interest in going is the art, and bringing my dog with us! But I was quite pleased to discover a booth selling vegan soaps and body products!

Fleegal Farms sells vegan soap, sugar scrubs, and other products. Some of their items are not vegan (beeswax) but still look to be of the highest quality. 

Chris and I smelled the booth as we walked by, hahaha. This told us we had to stop. I started by standing off to the side, simply enjoying the scents wafting toward us. Most pleasurable. I overheard one of the ladies behind the counter telling a shopper that their bars were on special, 4 for $20, and that motivated us to start sniffing. We each bought two bars. Mine were pumpkin spice and peppermint chocolate. Chris picked out one called "Lumberjack" as well as sandalwood. I haven't tried using either of my bars yet, but I've already looked up a few places I can stop by to pick up more when they're gone. You can also order off of their website by clicking here.

While I didn't purchase anything from them today, I was super impressed with the coasters and glass cutting boards at the booth run by South Austin Gallery. They use photos of local places and street art in their designs. For instance, the cupcake on top of a Hey Cupcake! trailer, the mural of "You're My Butter Half", the state capital at night, and more. If you like Austin-y stuff, I think you'll dig it a lot.

There were a few booths selling imports, too. My favorite one was where I bought this "tank dress." It's by Sure designs, based out of Thailand. All of their screen prints have Asian inspired artwork on them. Images included Om symbols, faces of the Buddha, various designs featuring Ganesh, and more. It was difficult to choose which one to get, but I ended up purchasing one with the Buddha on it. I'm wearing it already. It is very comfortable. 

We also found a table run by Barking Springs Dog Ranch offering free pet sketches! Donations were accepted, of course, and you also had the opportunity to win a 7 day resort stay for your pooch! So we did both. I am very pleased with my sketch. I'm thinking of framing it, with a colorful border or frame. Yay!

The three of us stopped at Chipotle on our way home for a nice, big lunch. Rusty loves Chipotle, especially the black beans and tomatoes that fall out of our burritos. He did a lot of walking today and is taking a long, hard nap in front of the box fan in our living room. That's my guy!

I had a really great day and I'm looking forward to starting the Vegan Mofo tomorrow! Until then, have a great rest of your weekend!