Archive for July, 2011

« Older Entries  |  
July 27, 2011

[UPDATED] Drink Me: Mercy Mercy

UPDATE: Thanks to commenter Brian, MERCY has given us a promo code for free shipping! WAHOO! Use discount code “Austin” to get free shipping on ANY order. Try a MERCYRITA and let me know how it goes!

The other day, I accidentally ended up having a small gathering at my apartment. Luckily, we always have tequila and triple sec on hand, so margaritas were easily in store. Then we ran out of lime juice. Though I live above a grocery store, it was past ten pm. Luckily, I remembered that the folks at MERCY, a hangover prevention beverage, were kind enough to send over a few samples. Does this mean I have a problem? No matter, back to my initial problem: Mercyritas?

MERCYRITAS!

Mercy hangover drink

MERCY is a non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated beverage that contains nutritional supplements proven to protect your body as it processes alcohol. It flushes your system of acetaldehyde, the toxin that causes your hangover, and pumps up your natural defenses with some vitamins. MERCY contains a blend of amino acids, vitamins, minerals and herbs to prevent hangovers. You must drink it BEFORE you have a hangover, which is why a MERCYRITA is a perfect way to enjoy the beverage.

I will admit, I indulged a little that night. And woke hangover-free! (I also made a point of hydrating throughout the night … Belly Up in Aspen has several hydration stations that I was very excited about … more so than usual. MERCY influence?) My friend declared the MERCYRITA “tastes like summer!”

With a kitschy marketing campaign and pleasantly fruity, lightly carbonated taste, MERCY is a nice way to remain hangover free if you’re determined to indulge. They recommend 1 can for every 5 drinks, not to exceed 3 in 24 hours. For now, you can get MERCY mixed into cocktails at The W Austin or order online at drinkmercy.com ($28.50 for 12 cans).

Bottoms up!

Posted in Eating | 2 Comments »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
July 25, 2011

Friends

… we all know about Things We Forget by now, right? This and this are my other fave post-its, but today I’m loving, and missing, my friends. Also, as both of my parents are therapists, I do want to add that there is a time for therapy. But there is also a very important time for friends. They are awesome.

And thankfully, I get my therapy for free. Often over a home-cooked meal. So here’s to friends!

Posted in Thoughts | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , ,
July 22, 2011

Austin: Live Center Stage

I dare you to show me a woman who doesn’t secretly love Center Stage. The movie brings out the inner ballerina in all of us, simultaneously showing the challenges and beauty behind ballet. Plus romance. And rule-breaking. Without Black Swan creepiness and sans toenail shots. Hell, I even love Center Stage 2: Turn It Up, probably mostly because I have a girl crush on the female lead. And I want her abs. Anyway, the Austin Film Festival and Ballet Austin are hosting a special screening of Center Stage followed by free admission to Ballet class after the film on Sunday, July 24th at Butler Dance Education Center at Ballet Austin.

The screening is at Ballet Austin’s AustinVentures StudioTheater on Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $10 (free for AFF members with RSVP) at www.balletaustin.org/film. Bonus! a pair of ballet shoes signed by the Ballet Austin Company will be given away to a lucky audience winner.

All proceeds benefit the Ballet Austin Academy Scholarship Program.

Posted in free, Things to Do! | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 21, 2011

Aspen: It’s Me or the Dog

As you probably know from my postings here and obsessively on twitter, it’s never going to be me or the dog. We are a package deal. I am one of those dog owners. Who has her dog on her phone case (I’d take a pic to show you, but I take most of my pics with my phone, so that is a physical impossibility). But for the Vermonster, it very well could come down to Him or the Dog. I won’t elaborate on who might win.

Perhaps to head off that terrible fate, I should attend this Saturday’s event. I mean, Nali dawg is a rescue dog and IS occasionally a pain in the ass. Like, any time I try to take her around strangers.

Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter Winterskol Skijoring Clinic

Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter (only THE best place ever to board a dog) is bringing Victoria Stilwell, the star of Animal Planet’s It’s Me or the Dog, to Aspen on July 23, 2011 for a series of events to raise money for its Spay/Neuter & Rescue Campaign. Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO of the Humane Society of the United States will make a special appearance at all events and John Oates, of the famed rock duo Hall & Oates, will attend and perform at a private patron dinner.

Victoria Stilwell and Wayne Pacelle will appear at a special luncheon for 100 VIPS at the Aspen Animal Shelter from 11:30am to 1:30pm on July 23rd.

At 5:30pm that evening they will appear at the Aspen Animal Shelter for a public event where Wayne will speak on animal welfare issues and Victoria will share her insight on positive-reinforcement dog training and explain why positive training is a better practice than punitive, dominance-based training techniques. She will address her fondness for rescue animals and will demonstrate her positive training techniques with several problem dogs.

To close out the evening, Victoria, Wayne and John Oates will attend a private dinner with 20 patrons at a local home where John will perform in an intimate setting. Tickets to all events are available through Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter at 970-927-1771 or email FAASaspen@gmail.com.

Event Pricing:
VIP Luncheon (luncheon only): $250/pp
Evening Event – VIP seating: $150/pp
Evening Event – General Admission: $50/pp
Patron Dinner: $2,500/pp

Packages:
 Patron Package (All 3 events; VIP seating:) $2,800/pp
VIP Package (Luncheon, VIP seating @ evening event): $350/pp

Posted in Business, One-time event | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 20, 2011

Love LC’s Rainbow Tips

I wrote about loving the tie-dye trend last week. When TheBeautyDepartment.com, Lauren Conrad’s beauty site, posted about dyeing the tips of your blonde hair different colors, I voted DO IT! in their poll about wether LC should dye or not.

Well, she has.

Lauren Conrad tip dyed hair

There’s a beautiful tutorial on the site here.

I hear Lauren used Paul Mitchell’s INKWORKS (a professional, semi-permanent color treatment available in 10 vivid shades) to achieve the blue-colored highlights!  Colorist and Paul Mitchell Artistic Director, Lucie Doughty shared her tips on how to get the look with the help of your stylist:

  • Have your stylist pre-lighten the hair to a pale blonde.
  • Ask to have INKWORKS painted all the way through the strand or just on the tips like Lauren’s and then isolate each section in foil.
  • Countless colors can be created from the Paul Mitchell INKWORKS color collection, so you can decide which color combinations work for you (to get LC’s look ask for Hot Pink, Green and Blue)
  • Your stylist can dilute them with any of Paul Mitchell’s daily conditioners to create beautiful pastel tones (like LC’s), or you can let sun, chlorine, and beach fade the colors into pastels.
Even though my foray into being a blonde is just now coming to an end, over a year later (dyeing your hair brunette over and over again when you ARE brunette is just depressing), I want to try this trend! Is it hard to bleach your hair at home?? If I try this, it’s just the ends, so if I mess up, I can always get my hair cut, right??

Posted in fashion | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 19, 2011

Austin: Day ‘o the Week Breakdown

I love nothing more than a theme party, so you can imagine how excited I was to hear that two Austin standbys, old and new, are hosting themed events every day of the work week throughout the summer! Check out the Day ‘o the Week Breakdown for West Sixth’s Star Bar and South Lamar’s Gibson—almost everything includes FREE food!!

Monday

Gibson: Mustache Mondays—$3 Maker’s special all night for everyone with a mustache. All guests receive a free mustache and prizes are awarded to the most impressive ‘stache.

Star Bar: Crock-Pot Creations—complimentary homemade soups or queso bar, all night happy hour and $4 Makers Mark.

Tuesday

Gibson: Trivia Tuesdays—free pub quiz starting at 8p complete with special prizes and bragging rights.

Star Bar: Texas Tuesdays—complimentary Frito pie, $3 local drafts (Live Oak, Independence and 512 brewing),  $3 Deep Eddy regular and sweet tea vodka served in mason jars.

Wednesday

Gibson: Wine Wednesday & Steak Night— complimentary cheese plate from Antonelli’s Cheese Shop (so hot right now!) with each purchase of a half or full bottle of wine beginning at 4p until the plates run out. Half bottle pricing starts at $10 and full bottles start at $15. Luke’s Inside Out also offers a grilled steak paired with two sides for $12 on Wednesdays.

Star Bar: Wine and Cheese Wednesdays–complimentary cheese plate from Antonelli’s Cheese Shop with each purchase of a half or full bottle of wine. Plate includes a variety of cheeses, Italian meats, grapes and flatbread. Half bottle pricing starts at $7 and full bottles start at $19.

Thursday

Gibson: Bubbles n Bitches (and Bingo)—Gibson has added Bingo to their popular Bubbles n Bitches night … In addition to complimentary variety plate of chocolates and strawberries with every order of bubbles, free Bingo begins at 8p with host Trevin from 101x and a chance to win great prizes.

Star Bar: Star Barrio(haha!)—happy hour complete with complimentary homemade salsas and an enchilada bar featuring Ranch 616 enchiladas, rice and beans. Drink specials include Palomas and buckets of iced Mini Sols.

Sunday

Gibson: Sinner Sunday– service industry happy hour all night.

Star Bar: Doublewide Sundays—complimentary chicken and waffles, Pop-Tarts and a variety of cereals. All day happy hour and drink specials include vodka Capri Suns, SunnyD Mimosas, Strawberry Quik White Russians, and $2 Lone Stars.

BONUS! Free Smoothie Fridays from McDonald’s: Try the new Mango Pineapple Real Fruit Smoothie at local participating McDonalds with free samples every Friday in July from 7am – 7pm.

I’m not endorsing your Mickey D’s stops, just letting you know about free stuff. The new Mango Pineapple Real Fruit Smoothie combines mango and pineapple with low-fat yogurt. It’s all about choices—visit this site for McDonald’s nutritional info.

Posted in Eating, free, Going Out | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 17, 2011

World’s Greatest Dad

yahoomail

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Sorry for the random “Email 2″ post all weekend! Sometimes things go awry when you’re on the road back from Denver and you have no internet and then you get home and immediately fall asleep … Anyway, onto our regularly scheduled thisislifeinawesomeness …

Last week, I wrote about Modern Courtship. Today, let’s talk about my emails with another man in my life—my dad. Consider this my belated Father’s Day post.

When my dad first got a computer, he’d need help with basic stuff like turning the thing on. The first IM he got resulted in him calling me and exclaiming, “how did YOU get on to MY screen???” But he’s come a long way, so far that he’s switched from PC to Mac, edits his photos using open-source software, and sends around those ubiquitous LOLCATZ and isn’t-this-amazing-this-3d-sidewalk-chalk-painter-man emails.

However, the most wonderful thing about email and my father is that he sends pictures. Lots of pictures. He loves to take pictures, and he loves to send pictures. Sometimes they have funny subject lines (“I sat down to watch the Texas game and” followed by a shot of Nali sitting in his chair); often they have funny pictures of the family pets—and occasionally the family. When I first started visiting Aspen, I sent tons of photos to Dad because Dad has always wanted to live in the cold, so it was something we could share. While I often talk on the phone with my mom, email keeps me connected to my dad.

But some vestiges of old remain. Most emails contain some iteration of the following:

Pretty fucking A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Luv ya!

Dad

Since he also subscribes to my blog via email, I fully expect a response to this post with some version of the above. I’ll be looking for that email tomorrow…

Posted in Thoughts | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , ,
July 13, 2011

Try it on: Tie Dye Chic (+ exclusive discount!)

Today we’re featuring a guest post from Electric Frenchie, an online boutique based out of Austin. They specialize in designer fashion at affordable prices (40-70% off retail!), and offer tons of cute, high-quality women’s clothing, shoes, and accessories as well as a 100% designer brand sales rack. 

Tie-dye T-shirts are an iconic late 1960s and early 70s fashion style closely associated with the age of free love and rock & roll. Worn
on college campuses, around drum circles, and at Woodstock music festival, this style was made popular by legends such as Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. This season, fashion designers pay homage to the summer of love, reviving tie-dye fashions and recreating them as boho-chic styles.

In its current reincarnation, tie-dye is cool, breezy, and surprisingly sexy. Celebrities have perfected the laid-back look by keeping it glam in body conscious cuts and muted color palettes. A favorite look of celebs is the tie-dye sundress, like this one from Electric Frenchie boutique.

Electric Frenchie tie dye dress

Steal some style inspiration from these celebs and you’ll be looking boho-sexy look all summer long.

katy perry in tie dye

Katy Perry knows that going for a bold print means keeping accessories streamlined and simple. Take a cue from this California girl, and accessorize your tie-dye dress with flat metallic sandals, a floppy sun hat, and dark oversized sunglasses.

Alessandra AMbrosio in tie dye

Leave it to a Victoria’s Secret model to make tie-dye look sexy yet effortless. Check out how Alessandra Ambrosio relies on bold but
simple pieces to jazz up her maxi dress. A skinny belt creates a sexy shape while a fringed leather handbag, sandals, simple hoops and long flowy hair bring everything together. Gorgeous!

Jessica Hart in tie-dye

Want to look like a supermodel on her day off? Here, Aussie supermodel Jessica Hart toughens up her tie-dye maxi dress with rock
and roll accessories including a studded back handbag and white Chuck Taylor’s. The result is a look that’s edgy yet chic. We love it!

Order anything online at electricfrenchie.com and use code LIFEINATX for 15% OFF your total order.

Lyssa’s note: I LOVE tie-dye, so I’m very excited Electric Frenchie rounded up these looks for us! In fact, I just bought a tie-dye dress myself …

Posted in fashion | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 8, 2011

Summer Skirts

After spending much of the summer in nothing but workout clothes, a couple of recent business trips—to inherently casual places—forced me to reconsider my closet. Where are my summer casual-but-put-together staples? I needed the equivalent of my winter lulu leggings + tunic top that is comfy yet cute.

So my quest began. Behold the fruits of my labor, searching for a mini- to knee-length skirt that is comfy, casual, and under $50.

Summer Skirts

J Crew a line skirt, $30
Old Navy striped skirt, $13
Long skirt, 20
CALYPSO ST BARTH short mini skirt, $49
Bench cotton skirt, 18
CALYPSO ST BARTH mini skirt, $49
Patagonia wrap skirt, $49
Armani Exchange draped skirt, $39
H M flared skirt, 13
Black mini skirt, €25
Old Navy pleated mini skirt, $5.99
TopShop cotton skirt, $30

Posted in fashion, Shopping | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 8, 2011

Modern Courtship

yahoomail

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

You guys may not know, but the Vermonster and I took a very long time to get together. I very very sneakily pursued him for many months before he’d date me. A few months into us officially dating (but about a year after we first met), he went on a long vacation. I had the idea that I should start emailing him photos of me and Nail at home. My first email simply read:

Subject: Nali dawg

photo nali dawg

He replied:

Are you sending me these pics so I won’t forget you guys?

… and so a trend was born. I emailed him photos whenever he or I was gone, even for a few days. Don’t tell him, but I even have a email folder called “Pics for G.”

But I have to admit, the best use of the photo email came when we actually broke up for a short spell. I went out to a friend’s ranch for a weekend trip that he was supposed to come on, but didn’t, since we had broken up. We rode four-wheelers, played in the river, and shot skeet. My friend snapped a pic of me in short-short daisy dukes, aiming the rifle high in the air.

HOT.

So obviously I had to email it to him.

And we got back together. Not because of that photo, of course.

Possibly because of some intense emails.

Thank god for email. I mean really. Where would modern courtship be without it? A safe place to be a little bolder than you would be in person … a private communicado between you and your love …

It’s sort of like this video:

Email. Love.

Posted in Thoughts | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries  |  
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 46 other followers