One More Time, With Feeling!

I keep my party hat nearby at all times.

Oh blogging, I've missed you!  And at first I was so sad that some nasty company stole my www.dishevelledstars.com URL, but I think it was a sign from the Universe to return to my roots.  My blogging roots being back in... 2008 (??) when I initially started this blog, and called it Bella (my dog's name, and also, of course, "Beautiful") Green (my favorite color and demonstrating my affinity for all things eco, the long showers I take during a drought aside) Blog (because "Bella Green" by itself was taken).

Coming back, I am finally ready to publicly admit a few things, which were probably painfully obvious from the beginning:

1) I really don't care about fashion.  It's a fun game to play occasionally, but I can't afford to keep it up, and usually, I'm too lazy to put on more than slacks and an Ann Taylor T-shirt when I get ready for work.  And at home, clothes are just stifling - who needs them?  Our apartment is a no-pants zone for all tenants!  I think I started writing about fashion because I liked some of the fashion blogs I came across, I seemed to find an audience when I devoted time to that subject, and I liked looking pretty in pictures (still do, although snap shots never turn out like a posed fashion photo - I tend to look like a troll - see above).

2) I can't spell.  Thank God for spell check.



Anyway, I really miss having a "thing" that allows me to connect with other people, and I have felt isolated lately in my non-social hobbies of cooking at home, reading Reddit.com at home, working in an office, and hanging out with my boyfriend, (at home).  I'm ready to go back into the public sphere, and am willing to re-make the effort to do so.

If you're still with me, and I'll forgive you if you've ditched by now, it's important (or not) to know that a few things have changed:

1) I had a birthday, (also see above), so I'm ripe and 27 now, holla!

2) I'm no longer a Club Director with the BGC, I'm behind a desk writing grants (I actually, like a nerd, really enjoy this).

3) In my last post, circa October 2010, I mentioned losing a boy I had been seeing.  I found him again.  I even took up residence in his apartment.  We move to a two bedroom way far away from my first trendy Austin abode in Hyde Park next weekend, (and I haven't put one thing in a box yet).

4) I cook a lot.  This isn't really new.  But it's become painfully obvious that my two real obsessions are collecting books, (most of which I subsequently don't read - need to work on that), and cooking vegetarian things from scratch, now using the lovely veggies Mike & I get from the Johnson's Backyard Garden CSA.  I diligently plan meals and record what I make using fresh produce every week, so I think I'll switch from using a word document to do this, to this blog.

5) I traded my fancy Hybrid SUV for a more modest small car - stick shift, baby!  I mostly know how to drive it now, (DO NOT pull up behind me on a hill).  The wonderful people at Johnson's Backyard Garden also taught me to can vegetables, (we are set on pasta sauce and salsa for the winter), and I'm avidly encouraging myself to focus on my personal writings - journals, stories, poems, again.  I'd love to get the guts to perform at the Austin Poetry Slam - I've been putting it off for 2 years.

I'd love for you to stick around as I ease back into the blogging world - here's to a new chapter.

And about that boyfriend - he's pretty cute!  (And there's the Bella dog)

Identity Crisis + Why My Mop Turns Me On

My blog has a bit of an identity crisis. Or at least according to search engines, it does. But I'm not going to let the mechanics of Google pigeon hole me! When I set out to write a blog, I wanted to incorporate everything that I like so I would enjoy writing it: that includes music, fashion, cooking, (although I've been a lame duck on that one), books, writing, poems... and sometimes the news, which I occasionally glance at.

I often wonder, like a kid in the corner of the cafeteria without many friends, if this blog would be more popular if I picked one genre and stuck with it - like just music stuffs, (although I'm usually the last to pick up on the "it" bands, so I'm not much of a taste maker, more someone who gets really excited and jumps up and down when I see or hear something I like, which is typically after everyone else has jumped ship), or just outfit photos, but doing just outfit photos is boring to me. Granted, I like looking at blogs that are just outfit photos, and I do have an expectation that clothes and fashion inspiration are what I see when I go to those sights, and I go to them because I like them, but it makes me realize that I give potential readers very little expectation when they arrive.  I like to think of this blog as sort of a grab bag of goodies.  (no baddies here!)

So, I can either make it a plan to make my blog popular by focusing my efforts on one genre, then doubling those efforts for more and better content, or I can keep puttering along posting all the things I get excited about.

Hey! Wait! That's my THEME! "Things Amanda Gets Excited About." Maybe I should just rename this blog?

Until then, here's an outfit picture:

and just to keep it eclectic, here's a video:





And if your name is Elizabeth my awesome coworker who brought me Sonic today, or Scott from Little Rock, you'll know why I posted this particular gem.

I also have to share this next video.  I'm going to spend a chunk of my Friday night cleaning, and if you want to know why, Sarah Haskins of Target Women will TELL YOU!  (oh no - feminist humour!  my blog is all over the place!).




I'm seduced by my cleaning products. Who needs men? (again thanks to Elizabeth for that video tip).

Ok, I'm finished feeling silly/procrastinating. My dish sponge awaits. oh-yeah.

Styled & Photographed by Starr

This weekend I went to Little Rock with Lennon to see him perform in the Arkansas Literary Festival's Pub or Perish (more on that later), and on Sunday I got to meet up with Little Rock blogger, photographer, and stylist Starr Crow and her friend Callie for a photo shoot near the North Little Rock Boys & Girls Club.

Starr styled all of our outfits, found a shoot location with a lime green couch, (BGC discard? it had glitter on it), left underneath an overpass near railroad tracks.  Serious photo shoot score.  This afternoon was SO fun, and these are all photos I saved from her gallery, so if you want to see the rest or learn about the outfits she assembled, hop on over to her blog!

Starr

Callie

Me

the perfect find for black and white.

there was some serious sun at this point.

We spent most of today driving, and I spent lots of time on my iphone in the car trying to simultaneously work and travel via email and calls.  Every time I go back to Little Rock I remember how much I love it, so much so that I could conceivably see myself moving back.  But for now, I love Austin enough to stay a while.

Punk Rock Pink Lady + A Few Awards To Give

While I might have said I wanted leather pants after seeing The Runaways, I'll stick with my new pleather (go veggies) biker jacket that I found for less that $50 on South Congress yesterday.  It makes me feel like a rock star!  Or at least sort of punk rock... girlie punk rock...

I wish I could say it wasn't cool enough to wear this jacket today, but such was not the case.  At least I'm not back in Fayetteville, AR right now - they're under ten inches of snow, and tomorrow's their first day of spring break!  I couldn't handle that much snow, except for maybe two days a year. 

Despite today's chill, I'll be happy regardless because of the lovely sun and the red bud trees blooming all over the city like this one outside of my church - which was the most amazing SXSW venue - lots of pictures to come soon.

Jacket: Better B from Goodie Two Shoes
Black Cardigan: Ann Taylor
Pink Shirt: Old Navy
White Tank: Forever 21
Jeans: Citizens
Headband: Charlotte Rouse
Shoes: Target
Socks: Target
Necklace: Accessory City in Little Rock

I was tagged by the incredibly adorable (and delicate in a lovely way) Rachel at Walls Are Imagined to list ten things I love.  Narrowing down the list could be difficult...

10 things that I love, in no particular order:

1) Being a puppy owner
2) Antique books.  And new books.  And used books.  And library books...
3) Pizza, beer, and movies on the couch.  Preferably in flannel pants.
4) On the rare morning when I can get out of bed, I actually love running early. 
5) Live music.  Or music on my ipod, on the radio, holding a guitar and making my own...
6) Having a clean home.  This is SO hard having a dog, and being notorious for leaving laundry out.
7) My pink laptop.  Especially typing on it.
8) Sushi.  My favorite is the kind with mango or kiwi on it.  Where in Austin does this!?
9) Meeting nice people.  There were so many nice people at SXSW, and I sold a lot of them water and cookies.
10) Paper products - magazine pages, stationary, card stock, painted vellum...
11) Can I cheat and add an 11?  I love pushing the clocks back in the spring, because I love sunlight, especially evening sunlight, and now it's lasting later and later.

I tag:

Jennifer of First Comes Love
Starr of A Thought is the Blossom
Amy of Ha Ha Wait What
Lauralee of Martinis and String Bikinis
Prima
Sam of Simply Sam
Erica of Alabaster Cow
Michelle of Wicked Whimsy
Grant of Austin Carnivore
Tolly of Austin Eavesdropper

And since this tag didn't seem to come with a badge or anything, I decided to make my own!  So for all those tags, and Rachel for tagging me, feel free to post this up and brag about it, because I worked hard to make it and you earned it:

Home Sick (Double Entente) & I Found A Little Rock Blogger!

Normally, I would describe myself as boringly healthy, and if that's all you want to know about me, then you should probably not read on, or skip ahead to the third paragraph.  The only "problem" I have is chronic UTI's.  Most girls have probably had at least one, but I tend to get them every other month.  They are painful and sometimes make me cry, and I'm on number six or seven for the past year, (third one since moving to Austin in August).

This is super disappointing, as I was supposed to take my kids on a field trip to see a rugby game tonight, (another director is going in my stead - but I'd been looking forward to it), and tomorrow I was/am supposed to go on a field trip with our photography kids to the Blanton Museum, and Friday is the New Media Fashion Brunch.  I will probably be functional thanks to the miracle OTC drug that is AZO, and the antibiotics (I'm practically on horse killing antibiotics at this point), but having the infection still wears me down physically, (I should probably be sleeping in bed right now, as opposed to laying in it).

But, in perusing the vastness of internet blogs - I found a Little Rock fashion blogger - and her blog is beautiful!  When I was on my own in Little Rock, (I lived with my grandmother for a while), I first owned a house, then sold it and moved into a downtown apartment in a remodeled cathedral from the 1800's, then moved out of it to live with my then-boyfriend in an old carriage house.  Most of Starr's photos are taken in and around the downtown area, which is rife with heart breakingly beautiful historic homes.  The heart breaking part is that most of them have fallen into grave disrepair, and it's the "poor" section of town, so there isn't a lot of money or incentive to fix the homes.  There are several streets that have been renovated and kept up, and they sell for upwards of $400,000 - $1,000,000.  I know this because I helped remodel a house on E. Daisy Bates, so I'm a downtown Little Rock real estate expert (well, maybe a tiny bit).

So going through all of her photos as I lay around being infected has been making me nostalgic and sort of sad, and then I even found one with my carriage house in it:

Starr in downtown Little Rock by the Art Museum

My house is the gray two story behind her to the left.

I actually have terribly sad memories about that house, because it's where Michael and I broke up, which, clearly, was not the desired outcome when we decided to move in together.  It doesn't help that I'm also a chronic second guesser.  I've been reading Elizabeth Gilbert's book Committed, and she writes:

"The philosopher Odo Marquard has noted a correlation in the German language between the word 'zwei,' which means 'two,' and the word 'zweifel,' which means 'doubt' - suggesting that two of anything brings the automatic possibility of uncertainty to our lives.  Now imagine a life in which every day a person is presented with not two or even three but dozens of choices, and you begin to grasp why the modern world has become, even with all its advantages, a neuroses-generating machine of the highest order.  In a world of such abundant possibility, many of us simply go limp from indecision.  Or we derail our life's journey again and again, backing up to try the doors we neglected on the first round, desperate to get it right this time."

I feel crippled in this way often.  I don't know if I made the right decision by leaving Little Rock, by coming to Austin, by starting teaching, by quitting teaching, by letting my ten+ year relationship with Michael dissolve, by moving on to a new one...  I know that when I made the decision to leave Little Rock, I was unhappy where I was working, I felt tied to the place I am from and like I needed a new experience, or a clean slate from all of the mistakes I had been repeatedly making.  Maybe one day I will learn that physical place has no bearing on when and how we start things over.  Being a seasoned army brat and bag packer, though, it's difficult to change old habits.  

When I was in Little Rock a few weeks ago for my great-grandmother's funeral in Prescott, I wrote here that I feel as though I own Little Rock, in that I have a memory to impress on every part of it.  Maybe my inability to let go of certain people stems from the same sentimentality.     

I know that when I lived there, I tried very hard to help revive the slam poetry scene both in the adult sector and with the students I taught, but I never felt creative.  The most creative I have ever felt was living in a tiny dorm in D.C., and then in my apartment in Fayetteville, AR, where I mostly made sad collages and wrote terrible poems that spoke way too much about lamp light and the train tracks that passed directly outside my window.  Oddly or as an excuse, I correlate much of my stifled feelings with the time my mom died, as though I've been seeking to regain my proverbial creative footing ever since then.

In a weird way, seeing other people find the most beautiful aspects of Little Rock and be inspired by it, reminds me that I really don't own any of it all, no matter how hard my heart seems to squeeze when I think about it, see pictures of it, or suffocatingly - go back to visit.

Perhaps the bottom line here is that the only thing that ever holds a person back is themselves?  I'm not sure what I am still waiting for Austin to give me, (I can hardly remember why I randomly selected it as my place of escape), but there is the sensation of a foot stepping into cold water before the rest of the body wants to follow.  

Speaking of the body, Lennon just came back in with my antibiotic prescription from Walgreens.  I get these so frequently that I won the prize of an ultrasound, although I don't think it will reveal anything, I'm certain I'm just unlucky.  I need to go ahead and schedule that appointment, note to self.

As an almost crass-turnaround, I feel compelled to post this video with lyrics, seeing as I center half of my Little Rock nostalgia around high school crushes, college love affairs, and a good deal of mutual heart smashing.  So, it fits.

Good & Bad News

I got this wonderful Valentine in the mail last week from Sam!  It was so cute and had such a sweet note that I had to share.  It's now on my bulletin board over my computer and it reminds me why I love the blogging community.

In more good news, I also found these last weekend at Buffalo Exchange:

I haven't owned cowboy boots since I lived in Texas in the third grade, so I felt weird trying them on and walking around the store with my blue jeans rolled up.  At first I decided against them, but when I went to re-shelve them, I just couldn't do it, so they came home with me.  They were $25.50, and at the register the clerk told me they were really nice, nailed in (??) boots (tags still on!) and should have been priced higher.  Score!

So when I wore them I felt like this:

Although I tried to tone it down to be in public:

Boots: from Buffalo Exchange
Skirt: free from Beauty Bar Clothing Swap
Beatles shirt: from a boutique in Little Rock
Long sleeve tee: J. Crew
Cardigan: Gap
Butterfly necklace: Dallas Buffalo Exchange 50% off

The sad news is that my great-grandmother died yesterday at 94 years old in Prescott, Arkansas.  But I don't know if this is really sad, because 94 is quite stellar, and she had a great, healthy run.  I hope I make it that far!  Sadly we don't share a gene pool as she's my step-great-grandmother, but I didn't even know that till college. 

So as soon as I hit publish, I'm headed to HEB for pumpkin seeds, work to finish up my time sheets for the week, and then hitting the road for an eight hour drive to Little Rock.  I probably won't get in until midnight - my high school curfew when I lived with my grandmother (great-grandma's step-daughter) my sophomore year. 

There's no wireless there, and I'll be busy with family, so I apologize if I don't visit or comment on blogs for a few days.  But I'll be back this weekend and hope you all enjoy the same sunshine I'm seeing right now!

Blogging Layout Help

In trying to vamp up my blog in a cheap, DIY sort of way, I came across some websites that were really helpful, so I want to share them with anyone else looking to do their own layouts/html/graphics/etc.  I still have tons to learn, but I feel as though my geek points exploded from their -1000 standing a week ago.

For graphics help:

Picnik.com  - super easy to use, and also does collages.
Paint.net  - sort of like a free photoshop.  I'm still learning this one.

A few layout sites:

Leelou Blogs
The Cutest Blog on the Block
Shabby Blogs

HTML help:

Blog Secrets
The Girl Creative

I'd love to make this a running list.  Are there any great spots and helpful tutorials that I've missed?

Four Exciting Things & One Super Exciting One: The Slam is Back!

 Exciting Thing # 1

Tieka, from the incredibly beautiful blog Selective Potential, had the brilliant idea to start a feature called "The Man Behind The Camera."  Being a night owl, I caught her post calling for submissions quite quickly, and sent in all the props I have for my lovely photographer, Lennon, who I usually turn the camera on after our photo shoots to even things out.  He made it into her first round of featured photographers, (she's going to make it a regular feature, so heads up if you have a special someone taking pictures for you).  Lennon is a tall bugger, even in high heels I barely come up to his chin - one more reason I find him adorable.  Although, his light catching ears are still my favorite feature :)

Exciting Thing # 2

Again, Amy at Ha ha.  Wait.  What? is far too kind, and shares all of the awards she racks up (and deserves) with me.  I can't tell you how much they make me smile - I may need to provide photographic evidence!

This award didn't come with any rules, but I want to pass them both along to a sampling of the blogs that post frequently and always catch my eye when they do:

Miss Vintage Vixen

Bella Vogue

Kookulai

Lauren Elizabeth

Little Reminders of Love

Sara-Jane

Texas Hearts

Is that too many?  One more!  The wild card choice - my friend, Ben - who won some type of genius-grant-type-thing to go study martial arts in Thailand.  He blogged while there and it was GREAT, but then got injured, which is not great.  I think he needs to keep writing, even state side.  As motivation for one of my favorite poets and neatest (yes, neatest) people I know, these awards also go to you, Ben:

Talking With Your Fists

Exciting Thing #3

 

I stayed up till 3AM the other night reading HTML and blog tutorials and completely revamped my page.  It is now three columns, has a nifty navigation bar, (not all of the buttons lead anywhere... yet), my favorite insect flanking all of the titles, no "blogspot" banner on top, has a pretty background, (I love orange), a centered banner, (what a headache to figure out!), and the middle column is wide enough for my pictures, (another huge headache).  But I'm done, and I'm so proud, because I am so not techy!

Also, just a reminder to some readers, if you haven't updated your links or feed readers yet, I am no longer a .blogspot address, but got a domain, so the new(ish) URL is:

www.dishevelledstars.com 

Exciting Thing #4

 

I finally joined the Flying Saucher's UFO club!  My friend JB joined the "ring of honor" not long ago, and being a frequent customer at the Saucer, it seemed high time to give myself a goal in going.  I really like craft beers, and I got Lennon a book on home brewing for Christmas, so we've cleaned out our under-stairs closet to get it ready to try our first batch.  One of our favorite places in Little Rock was Vino's Brew Pub, and we talk about the possibility of having our own brewery/pub/venue, some day in the distant future.

Tonight was trivia night at the Saucer, and I casualed-it-up by reverting back to my blue jean habits.  Team Lumberjzack totally lost - but with some polish we'll fare better next time!  The Razorback basketball team also lost to UT while I was there, so double boo.  

Jeans: Sevens from Buffalo Exchange

Shirt: Target

Cardigan: Target

Shoes: Sperry's Top Siders

I want to start documenting (for my own recollection) the beers that I try each time I go, so thus far, I've had:

1) Shiner Bock (draught) - one of my favorites, and a Texas original.

2) Deschutes Green Lakes Organic Ale (draught)

3) Spaten Franziskaner Dunkel Weisse (draught)

Exciting Thing # 5

The new season of the Austin Poetry Slam kicks off tomorrow night!  It'll be every Wednesday at 8pm, and for the kick-off, my roommate Eirik, otherwise known as Big Poppa E, will be hosting.  It's only $5 at the Independent.  I'll be there after my guitar class ends, and if you're lucky, you can see both Eirik and our other room mate - Lennon - in all of their glorious (??) antics.  See evidence below:

A Short Guest Post (Gwost?) + An Award!

The Novelista Barista posted my New Years Resolutions for 2010 over on her blog - which is both sweet and exciting!  There is lots of motivation for positive goal setting if you head her way.

Amy over at Ha Ha. Wait. What? gave me this awesome blog award - which is basically the BEST blog Christmas present ever.  Thank you, Amy!  This is especially flattering because Amy has excellent taste in her blog reader, and I've slowly been making my way to check out all of the blogs she frequents, as most of them are wonderful. 

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!  Indiana at Adored Austin recently posted this picture of the world's most awesome alligator ring, which she found at Target, and I might have to go see if they have any left... after I've swept and done my chores, of course.  Back to work on Monday after a nice holiday and stints with younger kids in community clubs - remind me why I chose older kids over elementary?  They're adorable!  (Until they throw sticks at each other).

Anything Else (But Boring Movie Posters)

Continuing the Christmas weekend, Lennon and I are now in Dallas with his parents enjoying soft couches, acoustic guitars, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tomato soup.  While browsing my Google reader, I found a link to the ten best movie posters of the decade.  In between all of the films I've never heard of, I found this poster, with its vintage map and candy red cartoon apple, that stood out from the rest:

I had to read the blurb underneath it to realize that I've seen this film, and really like it.  For the American sensibility, here is the poster that was released in the US:

Really?  Those are for the same movie?  I always thought that the US version looked a bit stupid rom-com for the Woody Allen-ness stamp that permeates the film, but I never realized that the poster was an intentional dumbing down for American viewers.  I'm suddenly insulted!  The jokes on them, though, considering the surge in public enthusiasm for vintage maps, posters, and anything resembling an art house origin.  Lennon and I just bought a vintage map print of London for his sister from Target. 

My interest in design has always been present in my art journal obsession, but is piquing in my desire to tweak my blog design to something stream lined and pretty.  If you've been visiting the site directly, you'll notice I've changed the banner and colors, but it's still not 100% satisfactory - I'll have to work on my tech savvy.

Regardless, I want to watch some Woody Allen now.

50 Of The World's Best Design Blogs

The Times Online posted a list of their picks for the top fifty design blogs on the interwebs.  If you're girly, domestic, or just visual like me, then you'll probably find more than a few blogs you'll want to follow from here on out.  I poked through a few and my eyes are still sore from stretching to take in all of the lovely photographs.  I'm including a few teaser pictures of all of the delicious images and ideas there are to peruse from the blogs on this list.

 Dinner under the gum tree and open bird cages

Country Style via Delight by Design

Frank Juery via Please Sir

Thai paper lotus flowers photo by Ellie Snow at Mint

Can we talk about how much I want the "paper" crane pendant?

Collage by Oh Hello Friend

 Kane Longden photo via Bliss

Collage by Pia Jane Bijerk, partially based in Amsterdam.  Her Amsterdam photos are dear to my heart as I lived in the Netherlands for three years, (Never Never Land, according to my 1st grade self).

I admit it.  I like blurry pictures of pretty girls staring off at things.

Photo by Daydream Lily

After watching Marie Antoinette on the home theatre screen, I'm feeling a renewed passion for turquoise.

Photo from 1st-Option via Lobster and Swan

(although I love this blog, I want to poke fun at the name, as well as the Snail and Cyclops - another I love - and start my own mishmash-named-blog called "Lice & Prawns."  Don't copy!)

Starry eyed, photo by Dress, Design & Decor via Frolic!

Apparently, I'm not the only one who felt the need to dig up Marie Antoinette for it's lush imagery.  Apartment Therapy did, too.  I feel stylish now.

The Marie must still be in me, since I was instantly drawn to these lovely cake stands.  That, or I've always felt affectionate for vintage tableware, mint green, and peony pink... if you need more proof, see the invitations from my wedding that were never mailed.

Photos from BBC Homes & Antiques via Tea For Joy, the compiler of the Time's list.

With that, I'm going to go survey my own messy domain, maybe reach for a vacuum.  Maybe.

A Thorn & A Rose: The Austin Snow Fail + My Own Domain Name!

All last night and this morning, I have been praying as though a hurricane were about to slam into the coast of Texas so hard it would jar Austin three feet to the right.  Tennyson may have said that "more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of," but gosh darn it Tennyson, there was NO SNOW when I woke up this morning.  The only snow I did see was tainted by sun light, which meant the few precious flurries were to be short lived and futile. 

I like my job, don't get me wrong, but what is better than an unexpected day at home, where your main objective is to stay warm and not go outside?  Maybe I should become a mountain hermit, I believe they have similar goals.

Regardless of the weather man's bucket-o-fail prediciton, I'm happy it's cold.  And last night was First Thursday on South Congress, and poor Mr. Lennon had to canvas people for his new job out on the harsh, windswepped sidewalk.  Feeling compassionate, I went by Starbucks when I got off work at 8PM to pick up a large, black coffee (even though he says Starbucks should really be called char-bucks) for him, and a spiced chai tea for myself.  I had grandiose plans to present him with the surprise visit and beverage, thus making his evening brighter. 

If he'd had a phone, I would have known that he actually left South Congress at 8PM, and I wouldn't have had to walk up and down up and down clutching my two cups sadly to my chest, never finding him.  My mittens are now coffee stained.  It's ok, though, because it gave me an excuse to stare at all of the people as I scanned crowds for him, and I love people watching and peering into shop windows.

On that high note, my other big and wonderful piece of news is:

I registered for my own domain name!  If you have my page bookmarked or coming to your feed reader, please update the link to www.dishevelledstars.com

I figured I could spring for the $10 it took to stake my claim in the cyber world, but my readers - whether few and far between or hiding in the shadows - would make the purchase worth its cost if all relevant channels to this site were updated.  Thank you thank you!

The Austin Bleet-Up at Mohawk.

The Austin Bleet-up!

This Thursday, temporarily setting aside thoughts of tragic events in Killeen, I drove home from my conference to attend Austin's Bleet Up at Mohawk, downtown.  I went with my friend the breakfast taco blogger, Elizabeth, and her girlfriend, Andrea.  Being afterschool program workers, Elizabeth and I are both weary by 8 o'clock at night, and haven't frequented the downtown scene (yet), so we took our time getting ready to go, finishing dinner, and driving down there.  When finally in the vicinity, we circled the perimeter of downtown Austin at least twice before conceding that we were not going to find a free parking meter, so we paid the $6 to park a good five blocks away.  Thank goodness for flats. 

Mohawk reminds me of a doll house because it has all of these little "compartments" like the green room, the downstairs indoor stage, the upstairs patio, the side patio, the outdoor stage...

We waited in a long line for fifteen minutes at the entrance marked "blogger party" before we finally wound our way up the side stairs to the ID checker.  No one questioned our identity as bloggers, and I was later disappointed to see some people walkin around with prominent "blogger" stickers on their chest.  I wanted one, too!  But being given a ticket for a free drink - Tito vodka with Sweet Leaf peach tea - atones for all wrongs.  My drink mix-master must have either been hurried, thought I was cute, or saw me as a girl who can handle her booze - because she mixed about 1 part tea with 8 parts vodka for my drink.  I'm a lucky girl.  Nonetheless, I tempered my vodka-with-a-splash-of-tea using Andrea's tea-with-a-splash-of-vodka. 

The upstairs patio also had food set out, a few vendors, and enough people packed together to merit a spot by the balcony in order to find air to breathe.  When trying to find a bathroom, I went down the indoor stair case to walk into what appeared to be a completley separate concert.  Seeing no free drinks there, I quickly went back upstairs. 

Girls Rock Camp Austin was there, raffling off this red guitar signed by Debbie Harry and the Donnas.  I'm a terrible person and can't remember this girl's name, but she's super cute and helped coach my band during my weekend at Ladies Rock Camp. 

I also don't know the name of this band, (what a terrible blogger!), but they were awesome, because part of the time they were playing I was standing on the balcony above them, and the lead guitarist says to the audience "This is an oldie but a goodie," then turns around away from the mic and says to the band, "Just watch me for the changes and try to keep up."  Back to the Future reference for the win!

There was a photographer there, taking pictures with this glitzy backdrop.  I have no idea where those pictures are going to be posted... again, I am so uniformed.  But there was this giant glitter disco ball available as a prop, so this is Elizabeth being metal and about to smash it, while I exclaim how much more awesome Lonestar is than PBR, but remind everyone that free drinks are the best. 

My friend Phil came to Mohawk after his band practice let out.  I'm supposed to go with him to see Adrian and the Sickness at Momo's tonight, but at the moment I feel inexplicably queezy, so that may not pan out. 

Elizabeth held on to her souvenir cup for a while, but I don't think it actually made it home with her.

This is the last photo in a series of pictures involving Andrea making grumpy faces and Elizabeth looking upset.  To avoid being chastised later for posting them, I offer this resolution picture, as no parties look silly here, but instead disgustingly sweet.

Here I am posing as the cyber (that's a golden computer mouse around my neck) queen that I aspire to be.  Phil and Andrea are cyber fans with flashy googly balls on top of their heads.

The fantasy over, we take an (almost) normal picture.  And having to head back to Killeen for day 3 of the conference in the morning, I called it a night shortly after this photo was snapped and headed home, to get my four hours of sleep.