Join CB&TL for complimentary beverages and enjoy some precious art from very strong and talented children.

The title says it all. Stop by Aspen Highlands tomorrow from 11a til the Greek Frozen yogurt runs out to try the latest awesome happiness in a carton from Ben & Jerry’s and look for the Greeks in Ski Boots!

This:

Fab Greek FroYo Flavas: Banana Peanut Butter / Blueberry Vanilla Graham / Strawberry Shortcake / Raspberry Fudge Chunk

+

(but hotter because it’s me and two amazing girls)

=

_________________________ … you’ll have to stop by to see how awesome it is!

Oh fine, I’ll be posting a recap. But if you’re in Aspen, better see ya at 11a on Highlands! #GreeksinSkiBoots

So for the first time in FIVE years, I’m not going to SXSW. And much to my surprise, when I let the people and PR companies throwing the parties and events surrounding SXSW interactive, film, and music know that I won’t be in town for it this year, the vast majority have e-sighed and said something along the lines of wishing they weren’t going to be in town either.

We are so jaded, Austinites.

Rambling aside, many of you will be in town, and even if you aren’t going big (which I cannot even pretend to recommend anymore, it’s beyond exhausting), below are six things you should probably take a look at …

1. Daytime Party List

Since I won’t be compiling the massive spreadsheet I have in the past, you NEED the 2012 SXSW Daytime Party List from Sperry Media. This is the first draft, a final will be published next week. I cannot stress enough, if you might possibly maybe be thinking about possibly hitting up a party, RSVP RSVP RSVP. And RSVP again. Except not really, just make sure you RSVP once.

Alternatively, Do512 has a SXSW take over on their always-happening website and you can:

• RSVP for all the free parties. No badges needed. Film. Interactive. Music.
• Check out thousands of bands. Discover, watch, listen. Find out everywhere they’re playing that week.
• Build a custom schedule after browsing through thousands of panels, parties, showcases, and other events.
• Sign up for the Do512 Daily Top Picks emails to get the top 10 parties of the day delivered to your inbox.

2. Check out the new stuff, like a work collab

Texenza Coffee shop (4th and Congress) during South by Southwest is turning into a great place to collaborate and work. They’ll be giving away free breakfast, lunch, coffee, and drinks to anyone who stops by. March 9-13 from 9a-7p. You probably have actual work to get done, so stop by and do it while networking your face off.

3. Check out the old standbys, like the Four Seasons’ morning acoustic music showcases

Four Seasons Hotel Austin and KUT-FM 90.5 are once again teaming up for early-morning music. Wednesday, March 14 through Saturday, March 17, $10 gets you a breakfast taco and unlimited coffee, while the money goes to Austin’s Seton Shivers Cancer Center at Brackenridge Hospital. New this year, The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Austin will offer complimentary hand massages and mini-facials throughout each day’s event. The music schedule (each artist performs a 30-minute set):

•Wednesday, March 14 (7 – 11am) – Lost in the Trees, Grace Woodroofe, M. Ward, Cotton Mather
•Thursday, March 15 (7 – 11am) –  Kat Edmonson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jimmy Cliff, Punch Brothers
•Friday, March 16 (7 – 11am) – Ruthie Foster, Motopony, James Mercer, Trampled by Turtles, Nneka
•Saturday, March 17 (8am – 12noon) – Sons of Fathers, Glen Hansard, Justin Townes Earle, Nada Surf

4. Another app

You will go into new app overload during SXSW, but the good news is that the cream will rise to the top and the rest will simply get deleted (though somehow apps are never really deleted, but I digress). One possibility for widespread adoption is a new geosocial service called glomper. The mobile-and-web app ties together check-ins and sharing across already active social platforms facebook, twitter, instagram, foursquare, etc. but is strongly event-focused—so it’s more about partying. You can see all the events nearby by type/date and you will be able to share your plans to visit them before they start and then to check-in when you arrive.

Launch event Mar. 11 from 3-7p, at the Launch787 next to Moonshine. Free but you need to RSVP: glomper.eventbrite.com

5. Spa getaway in town(ish)

Lakeway Resort and Spa on Lake Travis is 18 miles northwest of downtown Austin. They’ve got events all week for families, but even if you’re not staying there, you can get away and enjoy the Hill Country Festival with live music and kids activities on March 10th and 11th at 3p or a St. Patrick’s Day Beer Garden + entertainment on March 17th at 6p. The spa at the resort has also put together the San Saba Spa Delight, a 50-minute signature facial and a traditional manicure for $148 to rejuvenate during or after your SXSW adventures. Post-SXSW, refresh with a nightly rate of $125 for March 18 – March 22 only. Promo code is SPRING.

6. Three rules to live by

I posted 11 SXSW Rules last year, but let’s face it, there are really only three important rules: (1) drink a thousand times more water than you think you need to, (2) wear your sunscreen unless it’s raining which it might be, and (3) relax—there’s no way you will ever make it to everything, so enjoy what you’re doing and forget about the rest.

The Blind Cafe comes to Austin January 26-28 and Aspen February 14. The Blind Cafe is a completely dark dinner, live music, and speaking experience. For more on the individual events in each of the cities, read on.

AUSTIN Blind Cafe

Keynote speaker Richie Flores will lead a Q&A and discussion on life with blindness. Richie is the president of the National Federation of the Blind in Austin, runs The BELL program (helping young blind children learn valuable life skills) and will also be doubling as a musician in the band.

Dinner is a delicious multicourse vegetarian/vegan meal prepared by local Chef Brian Henderson and includes a decadent, dark chocolate dessert. Then, guests indulge their ears during a full set of live music by Rosh & One Eye Glass Broken. Proceeds from The Austin Blind Café will be donated to support The BELL Program (a two week workshop for blind children in Austin).                        

Where: The Church of Christ (1903 University Avenue)

When:  January 26th, 27th & 28th  (Thursday – Saturday)

Thurs & Fri: (6:45pm check-in / 7pm seating)

Sat: (5:45pm check-in / 6pm seating)

Tickets: Available by calling 1-800-838-3006 and online at brownpapertickets.com/event/212981

Cost:  *Special pricing note: Guests are asked to ‘pay what you can’ from $45-$95 (suggested ticket cost is $55) to keep the event accessible to all. Group rates (8+ people) call 720.495.7797

theblindcafe.com/austin-blind-cafe.htm

ASPEN Blind Cafe

Make this Valentine’s Day something extraordinary: spend an evening in an event completely unlike anything else. Visit the Sky Hotel in for a delicious three course meal, full concert and community awareness event in complete darkness. The servers at the event are blind and guests have the special opportunity to explore darkness with their keynote speaker, Gerry Lerry, who will lead a Q&A and discussion on life with blindness. Gerry has been blind since birth. He was a car mechanic for over 40 years and then shifted gears to pursue one of his great loves, coffee. Gerry taught himself the roasting industry and opened his own coffee roasting business and café, The Unseen Bean, in Boulder, Colorado.

Dinner is a delicious three course meal that includes a decadent dark chocolate dessert that will be prepared by the Sky Hotel’s star chef. Full set of live music by founder Rosh & One Eye Glass Broken. Then there is the Black Box. It’s something special for this Valentines Café. While in the darkness guests will open their Black Box. What’s inside? To figure that out, they’ll have explore their senses of smell, taste and touch!

The Blind Café is also committed to giving back and improving the lives of sight limited individuals in our communities and will donate 10% of proceeds to Challenge Aspen to help their efforts supporting the blind.

Where: Aspen’s Sky Hotel

When:  February 14th  (Two times: 5pm or 8:30pm)

Tickets: Call 1-800-838-3006 or online at brownpapertickets.com/event/215857

Cost:   $195

theblindcafe.com/aspen-blind-cafe-valentines-day.htm

I went today and am signed up for all week. It’s a phenomenal experience, incredible mind and body workout. I can’t wait for the rest of the week!!

Click HERE to sign up! $25 drop-in.

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 (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

How awesome is this? On Sunday, July 3^rd Community Yoga will collaborate with Eastside Yoga, Blue Dahlia Bistro, and other East Austin businesses to raise money to bring a weekly Yoga class to ALL of the students of Blackshear Elementary School, starting in Fall 2011.

Blackshear students are majority minority, with about 60% of its population being Hispanic and about 40% of the students being African American. 99% of the students are eligible for free and reduced lunch, so we’re dealing with an impoverished community without access to extracurricular opportunities that are often experienced by more advantaged students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

Yoga is an atypical extracurricular, but it’s such a cool opportunity for the kids. Exposure to and experience with yoga at such early stages in their development will help them internalize key elements of the practice in order to support and strengthen a sense of inner calm as they move about their daily lives. So without further ado, you MUST attend the fundraiser classes!

9:30-10:15  BY DONATION meditation class at Eastside Yoga

10:30-11:45  BY DONATION hatha yoga class at Eastside Yoga

*I say, do them both!

ALL DAY: 15% off ALL food & drinks at Blue Dahlia Bistro (with coupon that is available on the Community Yoga website) & Blue Dahlia will also donate 10% of ALL SALES from that day to support the program.

RAFFLE ITEMS: gift cards & items from the following businesses will be on raffle at Eastside Yoga, Blue Dahlia, and also online through the Community Yoga website:  Zandunga Mexican Bistro, East Side Pies, Blue Dahlia Bistro, Give Back Yoga, & several more.

All proceeds from the classes, dining at Blue Dahlia, & the raffle will go to fund the semester of Yoga at Blackshear. This is an amazing example of how awesome the Austin community is—support it!

SATURDAY:

8am–4pm Base Camp open to public: includes sponsor tents and giveaways and Birkenstock Recovery Lounge: Free chair massage and foot treatments, oxygen lounge, recovery smoothies, Spin to Win prize giveaways, Birkenstock demos and tune ups.

8-8:45am & 11-11:45am Yoga Class for all levels with Aspen Yoga Society

8am–4pm Outward Bound Trail Restoration Sign Up. Sign up at the Outward Bound Tent to help restore the Ute Trail on Sunday [the Ute Trail is one of my favorite quick hikes in the Aspen area].

2–3pm Autograph signing with First Ascent pro athletes Melissa Arnot, the only Western woman to have summited Everest three times; Jake Norton, Everest guide and adventure photographer; and Ben Stooksberry, professional kayaker.  At ACES Kids Nature Corner tent in Gondola Plaza.

2–5pm Live Music Stage at Ajax Tavern featuring Colorado favorite band, Salem.

3pm Adventure Dog Demonstration with Mike Stewart of Wild Rose Kennels. At Outfitter Check-In Tent on Hunter Street.

SUNDAY

8am–4pm Base Camp open to public: includes sponsor tents and giveaways and Birkenstock Recovery Lounge: Free chair massage and foot treatments, oxygen lounge, recovery smoothies, Spin to Win prize giveaways, Birkenstock demos and tune ups.

8-8:45am & 11-11:45am Yoga Class for all levels with Aspen Yoga Society 

8–10 am Dagger Kayaks Paddle with the Pros at Sky Hotel Pool. Learn techniques and tricks with Dagger pro Brad Ludden and Dagger head designer, Mark “Snowy” Robertson.

9am–2pm Outward Bound Trail Restoration Project. Meet at Outward Bound Tent to help restore the Ute Trail.

3-5pm Athlete Panel Discussion – The Outer Limits: the Risks and Rewards of Extreme Adventure. Panelists: Melissa Arnot,  Michael Brown, Nick DeVore, Brad Ludden, and Ben Stooksberry. Followed by the Gear of the Year Giveaways.

This weekend is always a ton of fun, even if you don’t go on any of the guided tours, because there’s plenty of swag and free events with extreme athletes! Check it out

“Our goal was to merge the fun of a scavenger hunt with modern technology and social media to encourage visitors to experience and share with others what makes Austin so unique,” says Rob Hagelberg, general manager.

To receive a prize, participants must complete at least 25 of 50 suggested photo tasks – ranging from two-steppin’ at the legendary Broken Spoke to viewing the Congress Avenue Bridge bats and tasting gelato at Whole Foods’ flagship store. You can’t upload until Memorial Day, but you can start snapping pics now! To view the 50 photo tasks, click on Ultimate Austin Scavenger Hunt contest website.

How to play? Photos must be uploaded to the “Contest” tab on the Hotel’s Facebook page, which will be visible starting May 30, 2011. The first 100 people to successfully complete 25 of the photo tasks will receive their choice of one of the following prizes:

• One-night stay at Four Seasons Hotel Austin
• Three-course dinner for two in TRIO, the Hotel’s award-winning restaurant
• 50-minute spa treatment in The Spa at Four Seasons

In addition, one grand prize winner – the finalist whose photo album is voted the most creative by Facebook fans – will walk away with a luxurious vacation package that includes a three-night stay at anyFour Seasons hotel or resort in the continental US, round-trip airfare for two people and $500 in spending cash. The three finalists selected by Four Seasons staff will be announced September 7, with Facebook voting for the grand prize winner taking place September 7 through 14, 2011. The grand prize winner will be announced September 15, 2011.

What are you waitin’ for?