1. My amazing, supportive, happy family
2. PLPs of both sexes in Aspen, Austin, Arizona, D.C., Cali, and all around the world.
3. Denali’s 5th birthday and her new off-leash walking skills
4. All four of my grandparents are still alive
5. Texas
6. Being raised in Texas (You Know You’re a Texan When …)
7. Hymeadow
8. Pumpkin
9. My adventure to Aspen
10. Knowing what Love Is and loving it
11. Learning to ski and snowboard
    

    Yep, those are still dumpster poles

12. Blake Lively, for constant style inspiration and a huge girl crush
13. The colors teal and orange together
14. Wool socks
15. Airplanes, for visits to and from friends
16. Washington D.C., for being a wonderful home to my fb gf and my second fall home
17. My many friends who have found true love
18. Pickup basketball
19. Hot tubs
20. My new skis, which are long, fat, and badass
21. Pigeon pose, for eliminating IT band pain
22. Glitter nail polish pens
23. Confidence and grace, gifted to me by my parents and their raising of me
24. Press trips
25. My blog and her loyal followers, who read even when I don’t write about Austin
26. Football
27. Rekindled romance with reading
28. Learning how to curl my hair with a straightener (again)
29. Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Kate, Voegle, and Taylor Swift
30. Wine
31. My new travelin’ buddy, the iPad2
32. Gossip Girl, Hawaii Five-O, Hart of Dixie, 90210, Covert Affairs, Ringer, and Pan Am
33. Deep Hip & Leg Stretch yoga class
34. My life experiences
35. Lowered blood sugar
36. My new mittens, which are teal and warm
37. Pinterest
38. Pinterest
39. Pinterest
40. Handwritten notes and cards
41. Hot pink temporary hair dye
42. The Pitkin County Library and its incredible inter-library loan system
43. My hand-me-down down jacket (again … seriously, I would die without it)
44. The ocean
45. The internets
46. Adobe Creative Suite, I’m still holding on to the pirated version from my first-ever job (shhh don’t tell)
47. Kale
48. Newfound photography obsessionand friends who happen to have closeted photography interests
    

    Polar bear!

49. Twitter
50. The blow dryers with the nozzle attachments at Aspen Club
51. Ashley Turner
52. Bubble baths (with non-toxic bubbles, obvi)
53. Free Pints of Ben & Jerry’s
54. Free Pints of Ben & Jerry’s for Ripples of Hope for Children (more details coming soon)
55. US Weekly
56. Change … as in life, not coins
57. Drake
58. My mobile storage unit (aka yellow land rover)
59. Blogs and the bloggers who write them
60. Aspen Extreme friends who force me to do things I never thought I would do
61. Theme parties
62. Jhorts
63. Denali’s reflective collar so I can find her in the snow
64. Bubbly water
65. CrossFit
66. The Blind Side, it never gets old
67. The knowledge that you can hard-boil eggs in a toaster oven
68. ViX bikinis
69. A spiritual, open-minded family
70. Sunshine + Vitamin D + warmth
71. Cold-brewed coffee
72. Love … luv … lurve … loooove … I love all love
73. That the proliferation of infographics and cute pinterest sayings makes me think at the end of this post that I should have probably made it a graphic in Illustrator, and made it pretty. Instead of a list. Then people might have pinned it. PIN ALL THE THINGS!!

Key players:

• Beth A. Brooke, Ernst & Young global vice chair of strategy, communications and regulatory affairs, ranked among Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, former Purdue basketball player
• Nancy Hogshead-Makar, board of stewards for Women’s Sports Foundation, director of the Legal Advocacy Center for Women in Sports, law professor, Olympic gold medalist in swimming
• Alana Beard, Washington Mystics pro basketball players, former Duke star
• Moderator: Tom Farrey, ESPN Reporter and author

Overall, I thought the panel was an interesting cheering session for the law, but it was poorly attended (no surprise) and not at all a discussion about the future of the law–rather, a celebration of the law’s “success.” I suppose I should have known from the title of the panel that it wasn’t about to be a discussion …

I did love much of what Beth Brooke had to say, and I think she’s a strong role model for women in both sports and business. She said: “I attribute all my success in the business world to a sports background.” She went on to elaborate that sports teach women how to fail. Women learn how to win, how to lose, that you go to practice the next day no matter what, and that correlates into walking into a meeting or business situation prepared every time. True.

Beth also said, interestingly enough, “I’ll hire an athlete and train them in the competencies.” That’s a bold statement from the VP of a global accounting giant.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar agreed, saying “You can’t teach how to win or lose to a team on a blackboard. Olympic-caliber training is 800 laps a day, and there were days I didn’t want to do it with every cell in my body. I had done it the day before and the day before that, but I still did it because I was committed to something else. That’s discipline.”

Of course, I agree with all of this. While the comments are interesting, I don’t know of anyone who would argue that women don’t benefit from sports. That’s not the question. Is it? I mean, does anyone really doubt that women need opportunities to play sports? That participation in sports statistically improves women’s lives? (higher graduation rates, college attendance, lower rates of pregnancy, so on) This is true of men too. Sports improve lives across the board.

For me the question isn’t if Title IX is important, valuable, and making a difference–it obviously is. For me, the question is: is Title IX, and how it is enforced today, the BEST way to create opportunities for women?

Toward the end of the session, the conversation turned to viewership–who watches women’s sports? Should they still be televised if no one is watching? Nancy made a very interesting point: that during the Olympics, men’s and women’s sports have equal viewership. She postulated that this is because the Olympics have a humanistic approach to coverage, where we learn about the athletes’ families, lives outside of their sport, and so on. Moderator Tom agreed, saying that ESPN is on to this difference and studying how to create sports coverage that women want to watch.

The final commenter from the crowd pointed out that women have 85% of the purchasing power in the US, so why aren’t we changing things?

It’s a good question. To play devil’s advocate, if women aren’t “purchasing” sports, why are we legislating their participation in them? Is there really a difference between interest and opportunity? And yes, it takes time to affect change. How much time?

The panel might not have addressed these questions, but if it raised them in me, I suppose it was indeed a success …

I should know, since I am a newbie. Top ten things I didn’t get until I moved to Aspen:

1. There are no weekends. Any given night could be a party.

2. There are two offseasons: May and October. At least half of the restaurants and businesses will be closed at least half of the time.

3. Check the bus schedule. Yes, it’s awesome they have public transportation. No, sitting in the bus station for an hour is not fun.

4. Don’t drink and drive. Not even a little. Cops have nothing else to do.

5. Learn the mountains. It’s not enough to know what Ajax, Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass look like. You need to be able to identify them and at least the Bells, Pyramid, Red Mountain, Smuggler, Red Butte, and Sopris.

6. Aspen is very dog-friendly. Apartments for rent are hardly ever dog-friendly.

7. You live at 8,000 feet. You think you’ve adjusted to the altitude. Then you hike at 10,000 feet. You haven’t adjusted. Give yourself time. And hike a lot.

8. True: it’s all about who you know. In business, relationships, and getting hooked up at bars.

9. Summer sports: Wednesdays the good people play sand volleyball at Koch Park, though you can find a game almost any day; the most competitive soccer league is in Snowmass; there’s pickup soccer at the high school Fridays at 5:30pm and Sundays at 10:30am; there’s pickup basketball at Yellow Brick on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the late afternoon.

10. Aspen is a lot like summer camp. Resist the temptation to become a lifer/10-year-ski-bum. Stay focused!

McCurdy Madness Basketball Tournament is put on by Tarrytown United Methodist Church in honor of Matt Schirmer and benefitting the church’s McCurdy mission. This year’s tournament is on June 6 at WAYA, and registration is open online until June 3.

Deets: Saturday June 6, 9am at WAYA (1314 Exposition Blvd.)
What: 3-4 people per team, divisions based on talent and age
Cost: $20 per person includes t-shirt for each team member

Register here: http://mccurdymadness.org/

The Austin SSC‘s tourney is June 27 at Northwest Rec Center. Registration ends June 12, so get your team together today

Deets: Saturday, June 27, 2009 at Northwest Rec Center, start times 10am – 11:30am (determined prior to tournament day)

2 games guaranteed (double elimination tournament), t-shirt for each participant, which is your uniform for the day

3 players on the court at a time, at least 1 of them must be female. There can be up to 5 players on the roster. First team to 20 points (1s for guys, 2s for girls) wins. 30 minute time limit. $90 per team

Register here: http://www.austinssc.com/basketball_tournament.html

The schedule:

Friday, April 3
· 12:30PM – 1:30PM Autograph session at Tech Ridge H-E-B at IH-35/Parmer 500 Canyon Ridge Dr., Austin, TX 78753 (Open to the public. Limit 2 items per person.)
· 6:30PM – 9:30PM Casino Night with the Stars at the Gibson Guitar Showroom

Saturday, April 4
· 12:30PM NFL celebrity basketball game – Doors open at 12PM, tickets are$20 and available at H-E-B locations, University Co-op, and Mitchie’s Gallery. A limited number of $50 VIP tickets are also available.

About the beneficiaries:

The Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas is the only non-profit, free-standing pediatric hospital in a 46-county region, serving all children from Central Texas every year, regardless of their ability to pay. Dell turns no child away. Their mission inspires us to care for and improve the health of those served with a special concern for the sick and the poor.

The Women Called Moses Center is a non-profit organization created to provide a safe-haven for battered women and their children. Their mission is to educate and provide support for abused women and children and to foster programs that will improve their socio-economic status.

For Michael Barnes’ interview with Huff in the Statesman’s Out & About column, click here.

Best show ever. OMG. Huge girlcrush on Blake Lively, and before she was ever known as Serena; I loved her as Bridget in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Love her. Love Gossip Girl. Alamo Drafthouse Village is showing the premiere at 7:00 on the BIG SCREEN! Sweet.

Why is this poster so RACY?!

One Tree Hill premieres afterward, at 8pm. I know no one else over the age of 13 watches this show, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Cliffhanger at the end of last season–does Lucas call Peyton, Brooke, or Lindsay?! We’re finally gonna find out!

Then, on TUESDAY, the new 90210 has a two-hour premiere. I’m excited for this; I watched the original 90210 with my parents when I was a young buck, and I didn’t understand much of the racier plots. Can’t wait to watch now that I do! Plus, I think it’s cool that the old cast members have signed on to play their old roles, that’s rare and a real testament to the new show, if you ask me.

New 90210!

I love cheesy TV and movies. I love TiVo. And I love September 1st (my birthday!) and 2nd!

Beyond Tradition and Austin Monthly invite you to a grand opening!

Toast to our arrival in the fashionable 2nd Street District with complimentary wine and appetizers. In addition, a Catherine Nicole Trunk Show features the jewelry of one of eight up-and-coming designers named by Women’s Wear Daily.

During the event, browse our collection of unique designer jewelry

and stunning handbags…just in time for Mother’s Day!

The Catherine Nicole Trunk Show will be featured through Saturday.

Lunch-In every Friday 11-1pm

Specializing in one-of-a-kind wearable art. Located in the fashionable 2nd Street District, we offer an eclectic collection of unique designer jewelry and accessories.

Does anyone know what a “Lunch-In” means?!

Anyway, I’d check this out if I didn’t have my Austin Parks & Rec league basketball game–it’s always good to be one of the first to know about a new shop in town!

Strangely enough, downtown/warehouse district sports bar Ringers abruptly closed its doors last month. Its website is still live, like an eery vestige to a life taken too soon (maybe I’m taking that too seriously). Rumors are swirling about how the owner didn’t even tell his employees he was closing shop, he just chained the doors shut and that was that. Classy, sports-loving Austinites still puzzle over how the only place to watch a game downtown and not feel like you’re still in college at Cain and Abel’s could possibly close.

In any case, it leaves just two downtown-ish venues for watching the game tonight: Third Base and The Tavern. I prefer the Tav, but it’s on 12th and Lamar, which isn’t quite downtown. And it looks like my north-dwelling friends are going to ask me to come up to Sam’s Boat for crawfish and sports, not a bad combo. Although I’d probably prefer the airy outdoors and people-watching at Doc’s, I can’t blame the northerners for not wanting to drive that far south.