thought you’d like to know…

Lyssa is a Special Occasion! Allison is a Special Occasion!

(oops, we weren’t supposed to tell that someone let us have two shirts …)

While I can’t share our official photo with you because I look terrible in it, Hallmark captured all the other moments shared at hallmark.visiblemash.com. Click through the mosaic to watch videos and view photos describing the perfectly imperfect moments other bloggers shared.

Want in on the action? Post below what your _________ is a Special Occasion is and you could win a free tee and a few cards from Hallmark! Comment by 5pm CST on Wednesday, August 31!!

Winner or no, you can add something new to the mosaic by clicking the “Add Yourself” button located in the lower left-hand side of the mosaic.

When you first walk in to Ben & Jerry's Corporate, you're greeted by a slide!

We got to make our own ice cream! My flavor? A Firefly-inspired Sweet Tea Ice Cream with Limoncello swirl and chunks of peach and lemon button cookie.

The entire group—with THE Jerry!

My new fave flavor: Red Velvet Cake!

As if I didn’t already love Ben & Jerry’s, this experience cemented their awesomeness. The people were warm, welcoming, and so obviously happy with their jobs. The ice cream was obviously amazing, AND I learned that they use free-ranging cows from nearby St. Albans Co-op … happy ice cream! What an amazing experience.

Late. Night. Happy Hour. 10p-midnight.

And all-day Sunday happy hour.

And not just $1 off. Like half-price. Here’s the menu:

Yes, that’s pieces of sashimi/nigiri for $1.50 each. And rolls for $4.

I cannot recommend highly enough their “very white tuna” sushi. A piece of escolar seasoned with lemon and a hint of spice, it’s as good a piece of fish as you’ll find anywhere in this town.

The rest of the sushi was good but not spectacular. What was, however, spectacular, was their willingness to accomodate our special requests. No rice? Brown rice? Cucumber roll? All are no problemo!

We ordered the one cucumber-wrapped roll on the menu (not on the happy hour special but only $10) and just plain didn’t like it. Could have been bad fish or taste buds or whatever, but the waitress took it off our bill and had the chefs make us a special roll with three kinds of fish wrapped in cucumber. It was fresh and delicious! We’re calling it Leo’s Special, for the sushi chef who made it. It’s here:

As you can see, it’s awesome. And 100% healthy and paleo, if you care about those sorts of things.

Something should also be said about their sake-infused bloody mary. At $1.50 you can’t go wrong, but the sake is infused with jalapenos, serranos, and habaneros, which makes it SO RIGHT. Yum.

Bottom line? For cheap sushi that’s way better than Whole Foods but admittedly not as good as Uchi, Bar Chi is the spot.

That said, eating in Austin is easier than eating almost anywhere else. Take the ACL food court … (if I accept a sandwich, assume I’m not eating the bread) here is a complete listing, anything I won’t eat is strike-out-ed, but you can still read it and eat it if you so choose.

AMY’S ICE CREAMS psh that’s not healthy

AQUARELLE RESTAURANT & WINE BAR
Spicy shrimp sandwich

AUSTIN’S BEST BURGER – I could not find a damn thing on this … happy? no? what’s in the veggie burger? no idea.

AUSTIN’S PIZZA

BESS BISTRO – YAY! HAPPY LOCAL MEAT!

Fish and chips /Semolina crusted artichoke hearts / Steak sandwich / Fish sandwich

BEST LEMONADE

THE BEST WURST unhappy meat

BOOMERANG’S PIES
Thai veggie (vegan) fine, how good does that sound? yum.

CHILDREN OF THE KETTLE CORN delish, but no good for you

JUICEBOX (assuming no added sugar)
Fresh cherry limeade / Cucumber mint agua fresca / Pure coconut water / Sambazon acai smoothie

FREEBIRDS WORLD BURRITO

GALAXY CAFE

GARRIDO’S BURRITOS

GUERO’S

HYDE PARK BAR & GRILL

KERBEY LANE CAFE
All-natural sausage pancake on a stick

LAVACA ST. GRILL

LONESOME DOVE WESTERN BISTRO – no word on happy meat status but sounds delish!
Wild mushroom and tenderloin skewers / Truffled mac and cheese

MAINE ROOT

MANGIA PIZZA love, but need whole wheat. and spinach.

MIGHTY CONE
Hot and crunchy shrimp and avocado cone / Venison sausage wrap

OLIVIA not happy meat

P. TERRY’S BURGER STAND – HAPPY MEAT! DELISH VEGGIE BURGER!
Hamburger / Cheeseburger / Double cheeseburger / Veggie burger

PLUCKERS

THE SALT LICK

SNOWIE

STUBB’S BBQ

SWEET LEAF TEA

TIFF’S TREATS

TIM LOVE’S LOVE SHACK – again, don’t know if it’s happy meat?
Love Burger (prime tenderloin/prime brisket burger with Love sauce, lettuce, tomato, house pickles and cheese)

TORCHY’S TACOS

WAHOO’S FISH TACO
Blackened fish tacos

… so there you have it. Eat before you go if you’re as picky as me

Also, I highly recommend stopping by Uncle Billy’s for a to-go cup of beer for your walk down Barton Springs Road into the fest. It’s a $5 steal for a microbrew, and you just feel cool carrying a to-go beer down a street you normally aren’t allowed to carry beer down.

The First Annual Big Aspen Barbecue Block Party takes place at the base of Aspen Mountain this Saturday and Sunday, August 28 – 29, 2010, from noon – 7pm. The sister event of New York City’s much-beloved barbecue extravaganza that includes food, music, seminars, and more.

There are a bunch of big names serving up the ‘cue, including, because it’s so Austin up in here, Mike Rodriguez from Salt Lick BBQ. He’s serving up brisket & sausage. Other heavy hitting pitmasters:

• Jim Butchart, Sam’s Smokehouse, Aspen, CO
• Kenny Callaghan, Blue Smoke, New York, NY
• Ryan Hardy, Montagna Restaurant at The Little Nell, Aspen, CO [HAPPY MEAT!!]
• Mike Mills, 17th Street Bar & Grill, Murphysboro, IL & Memphis Championship Barbecue, Las Vegas, NV
• Ed Mitchell, The Pit, Raleigh, NC
• Drew Robinson, Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q, Birmingham, AL

Admission to the event is free. Plates from across the country are available from top pitmasters for only $8 per plate.

Proceeds from the Big Aspen Barbecue Block Party support the Aspen Community Foundation, which builds philanthropy and supports nonprofit organizations throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.

Despite the fact that I’m from Texas, I don’t love barbecue. People hate to hear this, but it’s true. I don’t like sickly-sweet barbecue sauce, I don’t like the sides for barbecue (potato salad? gag me), I don’t like smoke off the grill. That said, I do love me some grilled meat sans all that other junk, which I’m hoping to get this weekend. YUM!!

From EndlessBeauty.com this month:

• Join EndlessBeauty.com in the Give Health Clean Water Blogivation by voting on AND sharing this blog post: http://bit.ly/b6opDb

• Alcohol can be good for you … Elvis Month includes tips like How to Drink Smart, with a calories-in-alcohol chart

• Booze is beneficial to skin? Yes, you can cleanse yourself in beer … Boozy Beauty Benefits of Beer

• Is that really Organic? Plastic Surgery

• For the dogs: healthy food from Austin-based company Nulo, plus Ellen’s line for pets.

• Product I am obsessed with: Hard Candy Sheer Envy Tinted Moisturizer. SRSLY, this Wal-Mart find is a STEAL.

So there you have it, kids. Good stuff from everyone’s favorite health and beauty website!!