Monthly Archives: March 2014

Life[style]: March

30 Sunday Mar 2014

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1.  New coffee table reading:  I just received a copy of the most gorgeous hardcover book, entitled DISTANT SHORES: Surfing The Ends of the Earth.  Renowned surf photographer, Chris Burkhard, created a book of breathtaking surf photography from the most remote surf locales around the globe.  Aside from containing stellar surf photography (which is captivating enough), the oversized pages also have a way of portraying human emotion in gorgeous landscapes all across the world.  The images are enthralling in an almost 3-D way…the color, angle, quality, etc. make you feel like you’re actually right there in the water.  Sometimes the photos are serene & tropical, other times they’re extremist & almost unbelievable:  “oh you know, here’s me…just surfing next to an ICEBERG!”  Distant Shores surfing photography coffee table book

It’s such a beautiful home decor accessory, too.  –Everyone needs quality table reading, y’all!  Don’t you think the reading material you’ve got setting around your house says so much about who you are, especially to your guests?  Personally, this book reminds me of my Dad, a former avid surfer who taught me how to ride and instilled in me a love for the beach.  Unfortunately, his recent liver transplant surgery has left him out of the water indefinitely.  I’m sure it’s excruciating for someone who’s got a new lease on life to hear he may never be able to step foot in the place he loves the most.  Actually, although it’s sittin’ pretty on my coffee table, this book really needs to be with him.  (Hello, perfect Father’s Day gift!)

2.  LaV:  Of all the amazing chef-driven restaurants thriving on Austin’s East side, LaV is the newest and thus, most in-demand dining hot spot.  Last weekend, we had guests in town from Dallas & Chicago and I wanted to take them to brunch before they headed back home.  They let me pick the place…I wanted a restaurant that wasn’t a chain, accepted reservations, and showed them a flavor unique to Austin.  Selfishly, I usually try to take out-of-towners to a local spot that I know is well-reviewed but, one that I haven’t yet been able to check out myself.  This might be risky, but Austin’s foodie culture has produced a slew of amazing dining options and if they’re highly rated here –in this competitive environment– I can confidently count on an impressive eating experience.  As I’ve said, I just can’t get to all the fabulous local restaurants in which I read positive critiques, so this little tactic of mine is a way to kill two birds with one stone.  Btw, I’m SO thankful to the hostess for working in our reservation…she almost wasn’t able to accommodate us but I charmed her over, I suppose. 😉  Sunday brunch at French-inspired LaV on Austin's Eastside

3.  LaV (the food & decor):  The menu offerings were quite inventive and it was delightfully difficult to choose just one dish!  We halfway-joked about ordering one of everything on the menu to share, actually.  Our party of four began with some pistachio buttercream shortbread cookies, a bluebonnet leaf salad, and wait for it:  …ruby red grapefruit brulee (half of a ruby red grapefruit with a thin layer of caramelization on top — amazing!)  My husband and I shared a main course of scrambled eggs with smoked trout caviar & toasted brioche with a side of house-made lamb sausage patties.  I ordered a decaf Americano espresso and I don’t know what kind of coffee beans they use, but the flavor was superb.  Not only is the Provence-inspired cuisine delightful, but the decor is drop-dead gorgeous…like a chic, modern-yet rustic French château.  It was Restoration Hardware heaven in there, dotted with bottles of choice wine, bunches of lavender, and decadent shades of grey.  I would love it if I could mimic the look of this restaurant in my own home…that’s how much I loved the atmosphere.  I’ll need to go back for dinner, but this fab French restaurant just might be my new favorite dining house in all of Austin! Scrambled eggs, smoked trout caviar, toasted brioche at LaV restaurant in Austin

4.  “Winning!”:  Recently, I had the surprise & delight to actually win a contest and even better:  the prize was SO CUTE!  Through Twitter, I found & followed a darling Miami-based travel accessories store called Arrive Chic.  Besides posting a stream of enviable beach pics, they hold monthly give-aways for their followers to enter.  I was absolutely tickled pink (pun intended!) to win their drawing for a Heys USA 20″ XCase Carry-On in Pink.  It’s a functional yet fabulous hard shell suitcase that is light as a feather.  When boarding the plane, I would struggle with heaving my old carry-on up into the overhead compartment, but NO MORE!  Although lighter, it’s a bit smaller than my old one & it wouldn’t get me through say, two weeks in Europe with just one carry-on as I’ve managed perviously.  This little number is ideal for long weekends and easy-breezy to roll through the terminal.  I broke it in during our Valentine’s trip to California and here’s me loading it into the trunk as we were leaving Carmel-by-the-Sea:Heys Xcase carry-on in Pink from Arrive Chic

5.  Craft Cocktail:  As y’all know from my previous raves about La Croix & Stevia Root Beer, I’m always looking to test out new drinks that come out on the market.  For some reason, beverages really interest me — people don’t realize how much of their daily caloric intake actually comes from what they drink.  I prefer to EAT most of my calories, thank you, so I’m keen to find lo-cal, yet natural, beverage alternatives.  In my past life as a full-time PR & advertising professional, most of my clients were actually beverage-centric:  PR for the “got milk?” campaign, advertising for the Route 44 big drink at Sonic Drive-In, and marketing for the entire Coca-Cola North America beverage portfolio.  So, I have to share one of my latest finds:  LO!  LO is a low sugar, low carb, and low calorie fruit beverage that tastes great when mixed in a cocktail, added to seltzer, combined with smoothies, or sipped alone.  I’m currently cutting down on (& eventually near-eliminating altogether) my caffeine, sugar, & alcohol intake, so I recently crafted a champagne spritzer utilizing LO’s Mango Mojito flavor.  I simply poured together 1/2 glass champs (or would be great w/ white rum, too), 1/2 glass Topo Chico, a squeeze of lime & splash of LO over ice…the result was a fresh, light, not-too-sweet concoction that my husband actually enjoyed, as well.  We were grilling out, so something cool & refreshing was nice in the weekend sunshine, and the lime & mango flavors paired perfectly with our Chipotle-style grilled chicken fajita bowls.  Bottom line:  LO Fruit Beverage is a healthy swap for sugary beverages & diet drinks and for my Texas readers: it’s now available at your neighborhood H-E-B.

.LO low glycemic organic fruit beverage

 

SXSW Wrap-Up

21 Friday Mar 2014

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Well, our fair city can breathe a collective sigh of relief…SXSW ’14 is officially behind us.  This past Saturday marked the final official day of the festival, and practically everyone I knew was at home in bed watching movies all day on Sunday.  It takes most revelers several days to recuperate, actually…one day vegging out over reality TV is not enough.  The hubs & I skipped church (despite my best intentions) in lieu of Joel Osteen’s televised service, and spent the rest of the day catching up on the DVR.  {{Btw, this last episode of The Walking Dead?!? –OMG!!!}}

One of the coolest things I saw during the whole festival was Game of Thrones: The Exhibition at Austin Music Hall.  As I mentioned during my previous SXSW post regarding running into Simon Helberg of The Big Bang Theory, I majorly geeked out during this experience as a Game of Thrones fan, too.  First off:  they let you sit on THE IRON THRONE — I mean, I die.  I was channeling my favorite female character, Khalessi, up there but my college roommate saw this Instagram where I proclaimed I would “take what is mine, with fire and blood!” & proceed to comment that I would make a perfect Cersei.  …um, please no.  lol

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The virtual reality experience blew my mind…they call it a thrill ride and it really did feel like it!  It was as if I was on a ride at an amusement park, but instead of risking your life on a gravity-defying roller coaster, you are just standing in a cage seeing everything through this VR ski mask thingie.  They call it 4-D and I guess that’s because the images before your eyes are obviously 3-D but then they add in another layer of “reality.”  For example, as you scale ‘the wall,’ you feel your primitive elevator shaft shaking and the cold wind blowing on your skin.  If you’re fortunate enough to catch the tour in Rio De Janeiro, Oslo, Toronto, Belfast, or Vancouver in the coming months you definitely need to wait in line for this part of the exhibit.

Our biggest event of SXSW week 2 was attending the Jimmy Kimmel Live show at the Long Center for Performing Arts.  It was both of our first time to attend a TV show taping and it was such a cool & different experience.  I felt fortunate to get to do such a thing not in L.A. or NYC, but right in our very own hometown.  Plus, at the last minute, our tickets got upgraded to Priority seating and although that meant we had to arrive an hour earlier, I was eager to take advantage of that priority status!  We had GREAT seats:  about ten rows from the stage, lower level, right in the center; such an excellent vantage point to take it all in.Image

Guests of the night were legendary guitarist Johnny Winter, an Aussie band called The Preatures, some chick from Scandal, and LADY GAGA.  Of course, aside from Kimmel’s hilarious opening monologue, Gagaloo’s visit was the highlight of the evening.  Yes, this was the same day as her infamous SX performance at Stubb’s where she let some performance artist VOMIT on her onstage.  But for our experience, she showed off a less-weird side of her personality and we were intrigued & delighted the whole interview.  C’mon, how could you not be entertained by Lady Gaga? –She came out via pedicab in this elaborate white dress & big hat made entirely out of coffee filters!  She called it “upcycling.”

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By the way, I have to applaud the splendor of his Austin-themed set!  Talk about seeing (our city’s) name up in lights — it was a neon-fueled feast for the eyes.  Thank you ABC for sending Kimmel to Austin in such an elaborate fashion…and for donating all the stage signs to local charity!  It was an afternoon/evening about 5 hours in the making, but sitting in that audience was a unique entertainment experience that encapsulated everything from stand-up comedy to live music performances.  Good times.

After the show, of course my husband was starving so we bolted for dinner at Arro, a French restaurant on West 6th.  During the short walk from the Long Center to the restaurant, everyone was curious about these mysterious numbers appearing in the sky.  Sound strange? –It was.  This series of numbers was broadcast across the horizon, skywriting style. I had all kinds of crazy theories as to what the numbers meant:  –is this some self-destruct code for a CIA mission? –are we in the TV show LOST? ImageImage

The digital-font numbers were written in circles and faded away pretty quick…I’ll admit, until we had it figured out, I was a little freaked!  But this was just another “Pi in the Sky” idea, so very typical of SXSW!  It was a representation of Pi (well some of it, at least) to commemorate national Pi day which was the next day, falling on none other than March 14th or aptly, 3.14.

There were a few other events sprinkled in:  a morning sitting in on a live broadcast at the W hotel for the annual KSGR at the W showcase.  We saw Phantogram –a band I had particularly wanted to see live at SX this year– as well as The Hold Steady in an intimate acoustic setting.  Also, I went on an impromptu afternoon to a venue on S. Congress to see live radio interviews w/ Foster the People & Ludacris.  Oh, and to Luda’s manager:  sorry I never showed up backstage…apparently I cannot input cellular telephone digits while I’m driving & you’re shouting them to me from the passenger side of your murdered out SUV.  Thank you for the offer to attend Luda’s Dorito’s Bold Stage show as your guest…maybe next year?  haha!  (and yes, that happened.)

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Overall, my SXSW experience this year was more curated & thus, tamer as I originally had intended.  I’ve learned it’s not about how many events & people & places you can squeeze in and consequently, burn yourself out on.  Forget about all that crappy swag, overly ambitious crowd, and free warm beer, people.  To me, the spirit of the festival is more about experiencing cutting-edge technology & undiscovered art & cool people, which organically prompts authentic engagement.  –THAT’S what makes SXSW something special.

Well hello there, SXSW

09 Sunday Mar 2014

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I’m tickled, almost giddy, that March is finally here, aren’t you?  With the first day of spring and St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, there’s no shortage of fun things going on this month.  However, the biggest event of them all, –the one that (if you’re in Austin) simply cannot be ignored– is of course, South By Southwest.

As of a couple days ago, the annual interactive/film/music festival has commenced, beginning two weeks of parties, concerts, networking, and fun.  Last year, I was like a kid in a candy store, RSVPing for (almost) any & all events I could get into sans-badge…that approach yielded entry into many o’ interactive event with open bar & free food, but left me burned out on the whole thing by the time the music week rolled around.  This year, I’ve decided to be more selective about my RSVP list and purposely not keeping a packed schedule of events for each day.  See, we Austinites have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the festival:  we get irked by our sudden trouble finding parking, the long lines to get into our regular spots, the crowds of ‘definitely-not-from-these-parts’ people who descend upon our stomping grounds, but we very much look forward to such an imaginative event that comes right into our backyard, bringing celebs, bands, and free drinks in tow.  Here’s a hilarious satire expressing why some residents “hate” SX but really, we locals –well, at least half of us– are very VERY excited for the festivities.

I had invites dating back to Wednesday of last week, but last night was my first opportunity to get in a good, solid night out on the town.  First stop was TRIO at the Four Seasons hotel.  I had friends visiting from Houston and thought this would be the perfect place to take them to get a little slice of the SX buzz.  For dinner, we started with tuna tartare, my guests had prime rib & filet respectively, and I went for Gulf-sourced snapper.  And let’s not forget about our shared side of mac & cheese…c’mon!  I’m of the age & discipline to have phased out the Kraft boxed variety from my diet but when you see mac & cheese on the menu at a fancy restaurant doesn’t it practically command you to order it?  I feel like I need to compare it to every other mac & cheese I’ve had in life.  We paired the meal with a bottle of Banshee pinot noir and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  TRIO is not your typical hotel restaurant, it’s actually a reputable establishment in the competitive Austin-dining climate, but it’s also a hotbed of celebrities who are staying in town for the conference.  Which brings me to my first celeb spotting of the festival…

When I walked through the hotel entry doors, I immediately saw Seth Meyers of SNL fame and most recently, Late Night With Seth Meyers.  –Isn’t his new show so great, by the way?  I usually have no patience for the shenanigans of late night talk shows, but he as a host keeps me hooked.  Kanye West’s recent performance of career-spanning hits was EPIC and it was only the second show of what I hope is a long running late night program.  Anyway, once I saw him it took my brain a hot second to realize that it was actually him and then (of course) I couldn’t look away as I passed him in the doorway.  And girls, guess what happened next:  he paused his conversation, looked up, & smiled at me –Swoon!  I thought it was so sweet of him to acknowledge a fan and take a moment to make eye contact & smile back.  It’s like you could tell he’s a nice person in just that two-second moment.

After dinner –and accidentally walking right into the path of Danny Trejo (MACHETE!!!)— we headed off to the evening’s main programming:  the Madi Diaz concert at Anthropologie downtown Austin.  As most of y’all know I work there part-time (it’ll be TWO YEARS next month!) but I missed the event a couple years ago when Anthro’s Push Play Project hosted Ingrid Michaelson.  Even though I’m an employee, I still had to secure a spot on the list like everybody else & luckily I snagged a spot for myself & a plus one.  I was happy make it out this time around because it really is quite the exclusive, intimate musical experience.  Admittedly, I wasn’t familiar with Madi Diaz prior to this show, but her rounded-out set and stellar performance left everyone awed.  I was kinda astonished she sounded so flawless in a retail store not designed for acoustics, without a backing track or any of the modern auto-tune crap we’re used to hearing from pop stars these days.  And, I love that she’s an artist that has mastered two moods in her music:  one is more emo, with sad ballads you want to listen to on a rainy Sunday morning; but then there’s the flip side of her sound, prompting dancing & delight with the added vibe of accompanying artists on keyboard & drums.  Cracking jokes in between songs, it doesn’t hurt that she’s got a great rapport with her audience as well.  My girlfriends and I all left the show as her newest fans.  Thank you to Anthropologie for helping us discover new music by bringing the Push Play Project back to Austin!

Madi Diaz concert at Anthropologie Austin

Madi Diaz performs an intimate set at Anthropologie downtown Austin #AnthroEvents

After such a great show, I was thoroughly fulfilled with the result of the evening’s activities and was ready to call it a night…but of course my gal pals would hear of no such thing!  Here’s why I’m glad I didn’t bail early:

We then decided to head further downtown into the epicenter of the SX mayhem…a couple of people in our group had RSVPs into parties at Hangar Lounge & another venue.  As we were waiting in line for one of them in the misty chill, I spotted  Astronaut Howard Wolowitz (well, Simon Helberg, actually) waiting in line behind us.  As a HUGE The Big Bang Theory fan, I geeked out like one of their characters would do if they found an early, limited edition issue in the clearance bin at the comic book store.  Seriously, I’ve seen every single episode in the show’s seven seasons and can go word-for-word with the theme song.  –It’s funny:  if I skip out on the theme song for any given episode, my husband actually stops, rewinds the DVR and won’t press play until I agree to sing along!  Anyway, Howie (as Bernadette calls him) or HOWAAAARD! (as his Mother would shout) is my second favorite character on the series, behind University of Houston’s own Jim Parsons/Dr. Sheldon Cooper, of course.  It was pretty cool… we were standing out in the street in. the. rain. and he stopped to chat & snap a quick pic.  Thank you Howard Wolo– I mean, SIMON HELBERG for this awesome selfie!  Oh, the magic of SXSW!!!

My selfie with Simon Helberg a.k.a. Howard Wolowitz of The Big Bang Theory