Archive for April, 2009

April 29, 2009

Beer Birthday Thursday

Little Woodrow’s on the Drag Spring Bash

3pm-close: $1 beers and 1/2-price pitchers on all 100+ beers. Live music with Red Neck Boys at 6pm, followed by Doe Montoya and Whisky Business til 2am. Obe the fire dancer will also provide burning entertainment throughout the night. Hot dogs and hamburgers grilled on the back patio, and first-ever Rabbit Shit Bingo.

LW Spring Bash

Dogs are also always welcome on the patio!

Little Woodrow’s, 2610 Guadalupe Street

Uncle Billy’s 2nd Anniversary

11am-1am at Uncle Billy’s, 1530 Barton Springs
Uncle Billy's 2nd Anniversary flyer

Grand Opening party for Gallery D

TRIBEZA is sponsoring the grand opening party for new boutique Gallery D (436 West 2nd St.) from 7-10pm! Dine on appetizers from Mulberry, create a cupcake with Delish, or sip wine & tequila (not together) to the sounds of Will Bridges. Plus, score 20 percent discounts on spring and summer merchandise!

CharityBash Benefiting YMCA of Austin

7-10pm at Lanai Rooftop lounge @ 5th and Congress, $10
Benefits YMCA of Austin, who strives to enhance the lives of men, women, boys and girls in the Austin community, regardless of race, creed, age, economic circumstances and physical or mental abilities, by providing quality programs, activities and facilities which develop and maintain opportunities and help individuals.

Competition Unlimited’s Beer Pong Tournament

6pm at G-Cue Billiards (300 Hesters Crossing, Round Rock). The first Beer Pong tournament in the state of Texas offers either a cash prize or an entry to the World Series of Beer Pong in Las Vegas. (That’s 4 nights for both players at the Flamingo as well as a chance at the first prize of $50,000!) The tournament is Double Elimination, teams of two. Entry is $40 per team, payable at www.CompUnlimited.com/zencart. There is a 32 team limit, so register quickly! The WSOBP rules we will use are available at http://www.WSOBP.com.

Due to TABC regulations, they’re playing with water cups, but that also means that 18-20 year olds can play. G-Cue charges a $5 cover for under 21. Contact Matt Stephans at Matt@CompUnlimited.com or 512.947.6288 with any questions.

April 29, 2009

I am Daycationing

I am laying by the pool at the Four Seasons on a Daycation. Yes, it’s overcast and not particularly hot, but I am determined to make laying out by the pool part of this experience, so here I am, clad in a new ViX swimsuit typing away at the laptop.

What is a daycation? It’s a package the Four Seasons is offering to lure locals to the hotel. You get lunch at TRIO, a 50-minute spa treatment, and access to the facilities all day. For lunch I had a delicious “Austin Hippie” salad with perfectly cooked scallops, and a side of the most amazing berries in the world. Okay, maybe not that good, but somehow TRIO always manages to have the juiciest, most flavorful berries around.

I’m headed to my massage in a few minutes, I’ll update later on how it goes. Ahhhh, daycationing …

Update: The. Best. Massage. Ever.

I’ll admit, up until today I didn’t really get what everyone was talking about with the massage deal. Sure, it feels nice to have your muscles rubbed, but blissed out? Hadn’t felt it. And I’ve gotten massage at some top notch places. But John at the Four Seasons today, he took it to a whole new level. He worked some serious knots I didn’t even know existed out of my shoulders, and while the pain was a little intense for a bit, the release was incredible. My body is so relaxed. I wanted to lie in a hammock and breathe it in–luckily for me, I could, as there are lakeside hammock havens. And then I sat in the steam room, sweating every last drop of tension out.

Can every day be a Daycation?!

From the Four Seasons Austin website:

Daycation:

Whether you’re a local looking for a close-to-home getaway or a vacationer staying with friends or family, enjoy the amenities and pampering of Four Seasons Hotel Austin’s Daycation package, offered Monday through Friday.

This package includes:

  • A 50-minute spa treatment of your choice
  • Lunch in TRIO
  • Use of the Spa’s eucalyptus steam rooms, locker room and fitness facilities
  • A day pass for the pool

USD 160.00 per person

April 28, 2009

Cookie Dreams

I ate the cookies too fast to even photograph them.

Let me explain: I’m out at a food blogger happy hour at parkside (delish) and I meet this super-stylish girl named Alexandra. Turns out she owns the cookie company I’ve heard great things about but never really understood: Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams. The confusing part is that you can’t buy ACD anywhere in Austin, but they’re made in Austin. Don’t fret, though, because I didn’t realize what a baby this company is–barely a year old! So while the online portion of the biz is booming–and I mean a mention on Rachael Ray booming, not just any boom–the distribution in local stores is just getting started. When Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf opens in June, her cookies will be available there. Back to the point: sweetheart that she is, Alexandra has a box of a dozen cookies (2 cookies of 6 varieties) delivered to my house the very next day.

The fella and I proceed to sample almost every flavor. If I only had 1/2 of each, that isn’t too gluttonous, is it? My favorite out of those was the “simple” Double Stuffed Chocolate Nightmare, “A chocolate lovers dream! Chunks of Callebaut milk chocolate and Ghirardelli© semi-sweet chocolate are layered and stuffed into a vanilla cookie that is chewy on the inside with a crispy outside.” The fella enjoyed the Peanut Butter Bliss the most.

However, I didn’t discover the true gem until the morning, when I decided that it was totally appropriate to eat a cookie for breakfast, since it was named The All-Nighter. Surely something designed to keep you awake can also legitimately substitute for a cup of coffee in the morning? They say: “The chocolate, espresso, cayenne punch is created by first melting Ghirardelli© semi-sweet and un-sweetened chocolate; Illy© dark roasted espresso powder and salty hand-cut walnuts are then added to create a delicate, chewy mocha cookie that is finished with a welcomed jolt of red cayenne pepper.” I say: hot damn if I didn’t eat both of these cookies that morning.

So I ate all the cookies before I could photograph them to share with you guys. My bad. But take that as the greatest endorsement I could give? The woman behind the cookies is as awesome as the treats themselves, and she uses all natural, no preservatives, local ingredients and companies as much as possible, just all good stuff. Until they’re in stores, hit the website to order cookies online … you don’t even have to tell anyone, so you don’t have to ‘fess up when you eat them all (for breakfast) and don’t share with your friends.

April 27, 2009

My favorite sounds

A lot of people like the sound of rain. Here are my five favorite sounds:

1. Cleats on pavement

2. Basketball through a chain link net

3. Waves

4. Laughter

5. Traffic rushing by overhead when you’re under a bridge

What are yours?

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April 24, 2009

Weekend Summer Sweat (lots ‘o Crawfish Boils)

While there’s an official event called Summer Sweat, I figured it was a most apropos title for the events I am about to post for you: hanging out outdoors in the fine city of Austin, under the blazing sun of our first above-90-degree weekend. Hello, summer!

First, the Farmer’s Market

From Austin Farm to Table: Gourmet Magazine will be at the Downtown Austin Farmers Market (4th & Guadalupe) from 9am-1 pm with their Green Market Tour.  Chef Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due will be doing demonstrations starting at 10 am and there will be lots of giveaways (yea, free stuff!).

Saturday’s Summer Sweat Event:

Knuckle Rumbler , The Loyalty Firm, and Do512.com have teamed up for the first Summer Sweat. 4 diverse acts at The Do512.com Compound from 6 – 10 pm. Presented by Champion Scion with strong support from Lone Star, Sweet Leaf Tea, Peche and Tito’s, the free event features The Boxing Lesson, The Steps, and ZEALE with DJ Orion manning the ones and twos. Complimentary drinks & on-site custom tee printing. RSVP at Do512.com.

Summer Sweat flyer

SoLa SwimSuit Event

3-6pm. Food, drinks, and hot new swimwear styles–perfect for that sweat! The store also happens to be on the way to the do512 Compound if you’re coming from downtown/north… www.solastyle.com

Eastside Crawfish Boil

I sort of don’t get it, this Eastside Crawfish Boil, and I sort of do. A giant crawfish boil on the East Side in someone’s yard. Check. Starts at noon. Does it cost money? Charity donations? There’s a homebrew competition and 600 lbs of crawfish and 15 kegs and shuttles to the afterparty at the Mohawk, but what the hell this is or how or why I still don’t know. I read this interview about it and I’m still confused. I think you just go and believe and experience. If you do, please give me a recap.

Belmont Bugs and Beer

Do you feel like your life has been missing a little something special this spring? Do you miss cracking open mudbugs and sucking the heads? Well, West 6th is once again providing the perfect bailout: crawfish boils!
Belmont is hosting a crawfish boil on Saturday with a few other cajun treats (see below) … it doesn’t say what/if any charge. 12-5 (or when they run out).
Belmont Bugs and Beer

SUNDAY at Key Bar

Free crawfish, along with drink specials from 4-close.

April 24, 2009

Art + Free drinks on a Friday

It’s a smidge gloomy outside, but we’re hoping it’ll clear up by happy hour. TRIO? Belmont? Little Woodrow’s? 219 West? Can’t decide.

If free booze is your thing, though, you won’t want to miss Austin Monthly’s May issue party at the Russell Collection Fine Art Gallery on West 6th. Be the first to see the Peter Max collection (May’s cover artist) as it arrives in Austin. Complimentary Cosmos, Lemon Drops, and wine as well as food by NoRTH: Modern Italian Cuisine (mmmm). 6-8pm.

April 23, 2009

Just in: 30-80% OFF at Ligne Roset

Ligne Roset flyer

Ligne Roset just opened their concept showroom on Second Street, and perhaps antithetically they’re celebrating by clearing out merch. 30-80% off French-fantastic modern furniture is a total steal. Sale goes through the weekend, but you’re VIP if you head down there today.

April 22, 2009

Whalet

I get the Thrillist newsletter by email, even though it’s supposed to be a Daily Candy/Austin Tidbits type email for what’s hot for dudes. When I found out a friend of a friend of a friend started the newsletter, I was even more, well, thrilled. Anyway, I loved what they sent me today so much that I wanted to pass it along to you guys, but most of the amazingness of the email isn’t about the product, it’s the incredible writing. I couldn’t have said it better myself:

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Thrillist Nation
Wednesday April 22, 2009
Whalet


While environmentalist go-tos like planting trees and trash cleanups may still be in vogue, mankind seems to have forgotten the greatest green activity of all: killing. Backing up that awesome reality, Sruli Recht’s Whalet.

Thrillist - Whalet

From the design dude behind the knuckle duster’d Umbuster Umbrella, this unique wallet’s made from the skin of Lake Victorian Nile Perch, meaning each one you buy helps the earth, as it helps eliminate a non-indigenous predatory fish that, since its introduction in the 50s, has reportedly driven hundreds of species to extinction or near-extinction, far more than silly humans ever could. Caught by local fishermen in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, the evil brood is then shipped to Iceland to be tanned, whereupon each billfold’s laser-cut from a single piece of skin, folded into shape, and hand-tethered with black oxidized rivets, resulting in a scaly reminder that while there may be plenty of fish in the sea, the easiest way to land one is with money. Included in the price is an optional “hot name branding” monogram, to be slapped on your choice of five hues created via a secretive “coloration process”, including the grayish “psoriasis”, a shiny blue called “frostbite”, and the subdued, pinkish “ultraviolet”, because salmon would have been confusing.

SR’s also peddling a luxuriously phallic model made entirely from that certain part of the whale anatomy, sourced from Minkes legally harvested for sustenance by tribal Icelandic communities — after all, no matter how in touch with age-old sustainability practices a people are, nobody wants to eat whale dork chops.

Scope the line and order up at SruliRecht.com

(FYI, their email is much prettier than this, I had to squish it to make it fit in the template for my blog)

April 21, 2009

Earth Day!

In an effort to prep you for Earth Day tomorrow (Wednesday), here’s a rundown of the places that are offering giveaways, celebrations, and a free workout:

  • H-E-B or Central Market: Swap five plastic bags for a reusable one at any H-E-B or Central Market. H-E-B says it aims to bring in 1.5 million plastic bags by giving away 300,000 reusable bags from 3 to 7 pm. Offer limited to one bag per customer.
  • lululemon (6th & Lamar): First 30 guests to bring in their lululemon bag on Wednesday (Earth Day) will receive a surprise.
  • Whole Foods Downtown: CrossFit with Carey Kepler presented by lululemon. CrossFit (by CrossFit Central) on the rooftop patio from 6:30-7:30pm, wear sneakers and prepare to get worked out–and totally inspired by Carey’s buff bod.

  • Vegetarian Earth Day Birth Day: Meet at Butler Park with the fountains by The Long Center. The view from the top of this hill is beautiful, bring a blanket, a picnic, Bring your own food for this picnic, there will be birthday cake and bike rides!
  • Stubb’s: Earth Day Benefit Concert for the Hill Country Conservancy
  • Guster

April 21, 2009

Half a dozen FREE cookies!

Special thanks to INSITE magazine for commenting on this post to let us in on this delicious news:

Walk into the doors of Kevin’s Cookies anytime this month and ask for the INsite 6-Pack and they’ll hand you six free cookies.

They want to let folks know about some of the greatest cookies in Austin, and Kevin’s Cookies feels like if you try them once, they’ll get a customer for life. Good through the end of April, it’s definitely worth stopping in for this treat. They are also a deli, so if you head over on your lunch break you don’t even have to call the cookies lunch, you can choose between sandwiches, tacos, and muffins–then scarf down the half-dozen by yourself… Hours: m-f 7am-4pm

1501 s. mopac ste. 140
one barton skyway

Kevin's Cookies flyer


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