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Austin, Travel

*The Day I Drank a Bud Light Lime-a-Rita and Wrestled a Snake

tubing in Gruene, Texas

 

We happened upon a snake ball yesterday.

It’s not as cool as it sounds.

Before yesterday, I always thought a snake ball is when prepubescent male snakes put on their bow ties, ask to borrow their ‘rent’s Caddy and impress the female snakes with their dance moves learned from watching Michael Jackson clips on Youtube (at least that’s what I would do if I was a male snake).

A snake ball is exactly what was described above, but without the clip-on ties or awkward Thriller arm-waving that looks more like Alien Hand Syndrome.

A snake ball is when an ASS-LOAD OF SNAKES crowd around a female and try to get it on with her.

A snake ball is something that makes me nearly poop myself and become a dead weight that my friends have to drag around until I understand that the snakes are a.) not interested in biting us and b.) would have difficulty biting us in the water even if they wanted to bite us.

We were tubing on the Guadalupe River in Gruene, Texas. I’ve written about (more…)

April 29, 2013 by
Hipstercrite Life

What I Think About When I Watch My Father Leave

dad daughter

 

I avoided finishing this post all week because it was just too damn hard to tackle. You grow up, try to survive and the last thing you want to do is dig up memories from your childhood. Not because the memories are bad, but because you know you’ll never have those moments back. It’s easier to look forward than to realize how much time has passed.

My father visited me last week. We went on typical dad-daughter adventures. My father moved away when I was a little girl and though we didn’t see one another often, we talked on the phone frequently. He was and continues to be a big part of my life in an unconventional way.

Seeing him is always emotional for me. When I was little, it would hit me very hard. Now that I’m older, I try not to dwell on my emotions too much, but they typically get the best of me once I watch him walking through the airport door and later that evening when I’m alone with my thoughts. Here is a story of how I try to make sense of those feelings.

________

April 26, 2013 by
Hipstercrite Life, Travel, Writing

I Was Told My Dad is Anthony Bourdain (pics)

My Pops was in town last week for a dad-daughter road trip.

When I was younger, we used to love going on adventures. Sadly, I grew up, we moved to different states and life got away from us. Recently we decided that we needed some good one-on-one time and do what we d0 best- have adventures. No significant others, no plans and not a worry in the world. We traveled to San Antonio and Gruene, but our Kennedy assassination vacation to Dallas was postponed to another time due to the devastating explosion in West, Texas, which nestles on the main freeway between Austin and Dallas.

Tomorrow I will write more in-depth about my father, but today I wanted to post pictures from the trip. A lot of people have pointed out that my dad looks like Anthony Bourdain. What do you think?

dad looks like anthony bourdain

Sourdough, shrimp, Grandma’s Humus, vinho verde, olives, aged cheddar cheese, Dad, Arrested Development

hula hut austin

 Palms over Lake Travis

hula hut austin

Everyone’s favorite spot to bring the parents- Hula Hut

river walk san antonio

River Walk, San Antone

mexican manhattan san antonio

Mexican (more…)

April 22, 2013 by
Hipstercrite Life

You Know You’re Dating An Artist When…

You find a closet full of limbs.

The paternal unit is visiting this week (JFK assassination vacay in Dallas commence!), so I’ll probably be a lazy-ass blogger and post a bunch of photos.

Today’s photo is of our closet and what I discovered while  cleaning over weekend.

This is how you know you’re dating an artist…or Patrick Bateman, as some of you were kind enough to point out.

prosthetic limbs

 

April 15, 2013 by
20-Something, Fashion/Design, Pop Culture

Urban Outfitters vs. American Apparel: Which Hipster Brand Is Most Ethical?

american-apparel-ad-alberta-swim-240707

I’ve had this blog for years and every month I get an itch to make it more streamlined. Thoughts of starting an editorial calendar dance in my head, but who am I kidding? My brain is about as organized as the basement of some sad sack on A&E’s Hoarders.

If I was more organized, I would make Friday my designated fashion and design day. In an attempt to accomplish that goal, I’m going to write about the most ridiculously hipster fashion topic I can think of:

Urban Outfitters

and

American Apparel.

Two clothing companies that the hip teen-through-thirty-somethings who think they are still teens love to shop at.

Full disclosure: I used to shop at both AND off and on worked at the latter (judge away!)

I no longer shop at Urban Outfitters for ethical reasons, however, I continue to support American Apparel, not because of some Kool-Aid allegiance I formed while working there (believe me, it’s NOT a perfect company), but because side-by-side, American Apparel is a more (more…)

April 12, 2013 by
Austin, Fashion/Design, Writing

Citygram: Austin’s Newest Interactive Digital Magazine

citygram_header_srgb2

There’s a new digital magazine on the scene!

Citygram, a new Austin lifestyle app created by Apartment Therapy writer Chris Perez, aims to bring some of Austin’s brightest, smartest and stylish writers straight to your Ipad.

Some of your favorite local personalities have teamed up with Citygram: Tolly Moseley from Austin Eavesdropper, Joanna Wilkinson from Keep Austin Stylish, Jess Simpson from Forgiving Martha, Amy Lynch from OneSmartPopTart, interior designer Sarah Stacey, artist Callen Thompson, Dr. Alex Carrasco and designer Chris McCray (p.s. I’m a contributor too!)

To learn more about this fun new venture, check out Citygram’s Kickstarter campaign and social media profiles:

 

April 11, 2013 by
Austin

Education Innovation: Austin’s PelotonU is Making Higher Education Debt-Free

pelotonu

Surrounded by people who have their Master’s degrees, I often feel like a friggin’ idiot toy with the idea of going back to school.

Until I think about all the debt I’ll accumulate, which is a soul-crushing thought since I’ll essentially be debt-free this year.

During undergrad, I was one of the lucky ones. College cost me next to nothing due to being raised in a single parent, low income household. If I didn’t get the aid and grants that I received, college would have been extremely difficult, maybe even impossible. Though my mother would have held a butter knife to my neck and forced me to go to college ensured I went to college, I would be tens of thousands of dollars more in debt.

College is not cheap, and with reports that high-skilled labor is on the decline, some speculate that higher education might not be worth the price tag (current average: $24,000).

With that being said, that is why the program I’m about to share with you is absolutely essential.

PelotonU is (more…)

April 10, 2013 by
Hipstercrite Life, Writing

Don’t Open This Blog Post and Walk Away From Your Computer

UT RTF

This weekend I set out to do nothing and that is exactly what I achieved.

I laid in bed until 1 on both Saturday and Sunday, ate lunch with my Texas family and friends, took naps, watched Django Unchained at the dollar theater, strolled Town Lake, played bocce ball and had 100% non-work related conversations with my creative partner (Geoff).

Simple and sweet.

This weekend might not sound particularly noteworthy, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered that these common tasks are often difficult to achieve.

Going freelance has been both creatively fulfilling and mentally debilitating.

At times I’m afraid to stray away from the computer out of fear that I must be “creating” something or being “productive” at all times.

Even before I went freelance, I felt that I had to be “moving forward” every day, otherwise I’d stall.

I’d grow old, miss opportunity and wonder what the hell I did with my life.

Obviously this logic doesn’t bode well for life-work balance.

In (more…)

April 8, 2013 by
Austin, Music, Pop Culture

If You Love Depeche Mode and Joy Division, You’ll Love Austin-Based Band Knifight

knifight

You know that special moment when you randomly walk into a bar, completely unaware of what musical act is playing there that night, and as you’re ordering your drink, you hear the most transfixing music pouring in from the back? You make your way through the crowd and find yourself planted in front of a five-piece band creating a sound conglomeration of your favorite musicians: m83, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, INXS, any wonderfully moody synth music over the past three decades…

I’ll never forget that night at Cheer Up Charlie’s when I first saw the Austin-based Knifight.

We were scouting locations for our film Loves Her Gun (Cheer Up Charlie’s makes an appearance in it!), and we fell so in love with Knifight’s music, that we asked if we could use one of their songs in our movie. The song we used is one of my all-time favorite songs by anyone: “Girls Don’t Get Crushes”.

If you don’t fall in love with Knifight after listening to that song (and the others listed below from their (more…)

April 4, 2013 by