Every year I start off with a new laundry list of resolutions — eat better, exercise (ha!), make stuff, be cooler — but this year there’s only one resolution that really matters: LEAVE THE HOUSE. Yes friends, I am finally out of the Guantanamo Bay stage of parenthood and IT’S AWESOME. Baby Ike is now magically entertained by salt shakers and menus, and wouldn’t you know that mama’s boy loves a good bargain. Whew! Thank jeebus he takes after me and not his thriftphobic daddy, because then I’d have to check the return policy on both of them.

So, Karly and I took the Ikester out on thrift rounds recently, and I managed to score some great finds with my lucky charm in tow. In the spirit of my house sharing resolution, I snapped some pics so you could bask in the glory of my goodies, as well as in my delicious new freedom.

I almost had to scrap with some chick over my excellent new plant stand, which came from the Salvation Army for $25. Kinda steep, but it’s heavy and has a mirrored bottom, and the middle thingie moves. Plus someone else wanted it, so of course that made me like it even more. But it does look pretty smooth with my new tulip chair, which is in dire need of a cushion. One day at a time…

I totally had the Lichtenstein post in mind when I picked up this set of dishes, although Karly says they look like a Bill Cosby sweater… we can both be right, can’t we? $30 for the entire set, although I need more bowls. I found some replacements online, but two bowls cost as much as I paid for the entire set. Uh, no.

A closeup of the totally tubular 80s graphics. The Hunny stacked them all OCD like. I’m planning to display these babies on our newly installed kitchen shelves, which I was far too lazy to photograph today. What do you people expect??? I can’t shop, and take pictures, AND clean. Priorities, priorities.

I snagged this vintage teapot for $1.99. It’s marked Made in Sweden, which probably means it’s from Ikea. Still, he is very handsome, no?

Ike picked out a few things for his room, too, like this Red Cross lightbox for $4.99, which is brand spankin’ new. The hot gold lion came from Zid Zid, courtesy of Raina; Ike can look, but he can’t touch mama’s favorite stuffed animal. You can blame Karly for the boa constricted nightmare clown.

You can also blame Karly for spotting this badass giraffe head, a steal for only $4.99. Say what?! Yeah. It’s HUGE.

Speaking of huge, these roided out lamps make Lou Ferigno look positively diminutive. I’m planning to give them a fresh coat of white paint from tip to toe, and top them with black shades for my new Bauhaus bedroom. Hopefully my nightstands won’t buckle beneath them.

I scored some other sweet stuff, like a giant vintage painting and a ginormous mirrored picture frame (apparently I have contracted a severe case of megalomania), but I haven’t found a home for them yet — by which I mean they’re still stacked in the entryway. The Hunny is not excited that I’m back to shopping, not that I’m going to let it stop me from adding to the piles of unused lamps, chairs and frames I’m “collecting.”

Doesn’t he realize that I have six months of thrifting to catch up on?

Those of you in Austin know that this weekend is prime time for getting out your bike (yes, it’s still warm here) and cruising around the streets of the east side.  For it is weekend part deux of the East Austin Studio Tour, E.A.S.T. if you’re nasty.

E.A.S.T. is comprised of over 100 artist spaces and galleries along with several parties (read:  free beer) that takes place over 2 weekends every November in Austin.  It’s worth the hike just to pick up the beautiful printed map and guide alone.  But, if you’ve already gone that far, you may as well check out the spaces, here’s some of what you’ll see:

Okay Mountain Art Gallery (psst, this is where I got married)

Big Medium Art Gallery

The mural outside Domy Books.  I hear there’s a pretty rad interactive stop motion video project going on inside, you should check it out.  When else are you going to have the patience to make anything stop motion?  Really.

Grand Hall of Art And Industry Gallery Space

Mass Gallery

Bleep Labs

4ms Pedals designs

Eric Billing’s Workshop.  

Admittedly, my favorite stops are always the ones that involve custom furniture.  Shocking, I know.

Rival Metalworks.

 I kinda can’t wait to see this tree with limbs fashioned from reclaimed pipe, basketball and streetlight poles

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a party on the east side with out a big, fat event at Birds Barbershop:

Birds and Artifact Workshop present the Custodian CD release with a live performance by Custodian, more tunes by Andy (the mouth) and lots and lots of lone star

artwork by Kenneth Holland will be on display at Birds

As well as the metal works of  Rima Hyena.

So, after cruising around on your huffy all afternoon, come wet your whistle at Birds while listening to some sweet faux hip hop.  Whatever that means.  Here’s the scoop:

Saturday, 11/21 

5pm - 9pm

1107 East Sixth

Now that we’ve invested huge amounts of time and money into renovating our kitchen, landscaping the yard, and decorating the house, I’ve decided it may be time to move, which makes total sense to all you design junkies, right? So this weekend, Hunny Bunny, the baby, Karly and I, solicited the help of our realtor friend Kurt to look at a house in one of the most amazing neighborhoods in Austin — Travis Heights. Oh, Travis Heights, how I love thee! When we drove into the hood, I thought about living within walking distance of the shops at South Congress, and I looked at families pushing strollers down tree lined streets with a misty sense that this could be our new life.

And how cute is this 1930s house? With a little paint and some new plants, it could be killer. Plus, did I mention that the neighborhood rocks, and the lot is STUNNING.

Yep, that’s your own personal creek running through a little patch of wilderness, 5 minutes from downtown, 5 seconds from South Congress. Insane, is what that is. And astonishingly, it’s (barely) within our budget. Hmmm.

As we pulled into the carport, Karly started her “Unh, uh” routine. Ok, so the backside of the house was a little ramshackle… The picture above captures about 1/3 of the length of the house. The carport was caving in, there appeared to be a strange 1980s addition tacked onto the back, there were about 500 doors opening to various outdoor areas, and the landscaping was a bit odd, but still workable. What can you expect at such a bargain basement price? And then we walked inside.

Is this part of an old garage? What’s up with the “stairs” to nowhere? How come that doorway appears to be mounted upside down on the wall??? Why oh why does it smell like death in here…?

Ben held the baby into the mystery opening to get a closer look, and Ike — who heretofore was perfectly placid — started screaming BLOODY MURDER, which is obviously what took place in this room vampire cave. Now, normally I’d go spelunking to check out the “vintage” furniture in there, but I figured Ike knew something I didn’t. Obviously, he sees dead people. After that, things got hazy. Karly declared the house was “haunted as shit,” and decided to take Ike outside to calm him down, but I was not to be deterred from a bargain by a few measly poltergeists.

We pressed on to the 80s wing, which featured lovely wall to wall carpet in red — to hide the bloodstains, naturally. Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of the leg breaking spiral staircase straight out of Vertical Limit, or the disgusting bathrooms, but truly, these things were only pedestrian gross. You’ve seen them before. But I bet you’ve never seen this:

I’m just going to give you a second to reflect on the situation.

There is a TREE in the middle of the house — in the kitchen, for goodness sake, which is somehow even more offensive. And lest a tiny part of you think that it might be cool to have a tree in your kitchen, remember the other rooms. Whoever built this patchwork piece of shit house built it out of plywood, cardboard and duct tape. The roof leaked all around the hole where the tree is, and a foundation was laid over the tree roots. Not good planning.

Plus it looks like sandworms from Beetlejuice are attacking the exterior of the home, and nobody wants that.

Here’s another shot from the other side. DO NOT be fooled by my pretty picture. Imagine filth, crappy construction, and cheap materials everywhere. It is completely uninhabitable, and I have a VERY high tolerance for fixer uppers. Somehow I neglected to get pictures of the random door that opens onto an unstable, unfenced roof (dangerous, much?), or the creepy door to yet another pit of hell under the house that looks to be the spot where Buffalo Bill held his victims in Silence of the Lambs. The only thing that will save this house is a bulldozer.

And it’s sad, you know? The original house was probably 1000 square feet, with period hardwoods and built ins, and it was tiny and cute. Then some morons decided they should add on 2000 square feet of crappy disconnected boxes, with absolutely no floorplan in mind, and they ruined it. Plus there are the dead bodies. I know they’re in there somewhere — Ike saw them.

Oh, and when we left, Ben backed into a stupid, random brick mailbox that had fallen and was laying in the driveway. Our bumper is totally dented in, and now we have to hire a man that actually goes by the name of “Crackhead” to pull the dent out.

But, guess what? I was never so happy to pull into our driveway and walk into our own nice, remodeled house. So, stay tuned for my dining room makeover on Wednesday. I figure that — relative to this gem — it’s gotta look amazing.

*************************************************************************

UPDATE!

Kurt sent me the pictures he took that day:

Just a lil group shot. You can totally tell Ike is screaming his head off. Also, Karly is too tall to live in this hobbit house.

I have also been informed that “Kentucky” will be fixing our bumper instead of “Crackhead.” Good to know.

Ok, I think I’ve finally gotten enough sleep to ably recount the awesomeness of this past weekend, which Karly and I enjoyed with blog buddies Molly and Raina. We spent much of the trip shop shop shopping, with a healthy dose of boozing and shooting added in.

Molly and Raina, looking all cute and sassy at Opal Divine’s downtown location.

The ladies arrived late Thursday night and shacked up with Karly, since baby Ike makes me go to bed freakishly early. On Friday, we kicked off the day with Mexican martinis at Austin chain Trudy’s… mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Delicious. Then, we couldn’t let our friends leave Austin without visiting paint guru Sanders, so off to Benjamin Moore we went. After our paint powwow, we headed to South Congress to satiate the shopping bug, where we indulged in a day of vintage. Uncommon Objects took most of our time there with its elephantine selection of curiosities, but we also visited Prototype, New Bohemia and Feathers, all run by lovely Austin bizness women.

Image courtesy of Uncommon Objects.

Then we headed across the river with baby Ike in tow, to Threshold Interiors — which I actually did not set foot in since the Ikester decided it was time to fuel up. But it sure looked pretty from the windows.

Image courtesy of Threshold Interiors.

I’ll definitely be back someday, hopefully to nab that little gnome for the baby’s room.

After Threshold, Ike cried all the way back across the river until he got home to nap. Later that evening, we all headed over to Karly’s for an evening of steak and booze. Well, everyone boozed except for House of Slappy blogger Andrea, who’s due to provide Ike with a brand spanking new playmate in February.

On Saturday, we rose at the crack of noon to do some thrifting, then headed towards the skeet shooting range out in the rural wilds of east Austin. That’s right — us lady bloggers pack heat.

And if you mess with us, Karly will bust a cap in your ass.

I’m not sure how we ended up skeet shooting, but when in Texas, right? I can’t wait for my dad to see this, because he is gonna LAUGH HIS ASS OFF. He’s been trying to get me to shoot something for the last 33 years (yes, I was born with a pistol in my tiny baby hand).

Well, here I am, Dad, doing my best Annie Oakley Calamity Jane impression. Actually, he’ll be proud to know that I hit my very first target our instructor let fly. Not only that, but after shooting several clay pigeons, I had the strange urge to shoot anything that moved… including butterflies that fluttered by. Maybe I best avoid the gunslinging lifestyle.

Although I did respectably well, I would never engage in a gunfight with Raina. LADY HAS MAD SKILLS. Like, scary good. Stay out of her way, mean people.

Have I mentioned yet that we are the very best dressed skeet shooters in Texas? This is Molly, hitting targets in four inch heels. In case you were wondering, no one really noticed when we walked onto the shooting range. Ok. We got a few looks.

Because we are badasses, that’s why.

After getting our redneck on, the ladies went out to shop downtown. Ligne Roset had Raina rolling around on Togos like a wild pony in hay. Sadly, no footage of this exists — it’s a travesty that can only be corrected by another visit. In the meantime, enjoy this stock photo of the store:

In addition to Ligne Roset, the ladies hit Mercury Design Studio:

They have a gorgeous store with stunning merchandise, but they obviously need to hire me to shoot it (with a camera, not a shotgun), since they don’t have any pictures on their website and I had to steal this old image from the internets.

After shopping, we dined downtown. I headed home early like a good mommy, but Karly and the girls went out clubbing. I can’t really provide any details, but I hear that men in underwear were involved. I think Raina has further information for those of you with inquiring minds.

Molly flew out the next afternoon, but Raina’s flight didn’t leave until the evening, so we hit Room Service, where I found this guy waiting for me:

I may be watching too much Deadwood… nah. That’s impossible.

After tacos from Torchy’s (don’t get the turkey special, Austinites!) and some family time around the tv, it was time for Raina to board her plane. Karly and I were both sad to see our guests go, but we already have plans to visit New York and Denver. Thank Jeebus our buds have good taste in places to call home… not sure we’d be so ready to set out for North Dakota. Just kidding North Dakotans. And just kidding, Molly and Raina. We’d be happy to hang with you anywhere!

Since we’ve had houseguests this past week, I took advantage of the extra hands to help take baby Ike out and about in the world. He was such a champ for hours while lunching at Enoteca, shopping at Uncommon Objects on South Congress, and picking out toys at big box babytown, but actually transporting him was only slightly less painful than having your appendix removed sans anesthesia. Just buckling him into the carseat brings on apoplectic fits, and once the car starts the situation does not improve in the least.

So, guess what? We’re supposed to bring le bebe to our annual family Thanksgiving hoedown at the farm in less than a month, which is a SIX HOUR CAR RIDE AWAY. The very idea brings on nightmares at 3 am. Already. To go back to sleep, I am forced to retreat to my happy place:

Ah, holidays at the cabin. Ok, so this is not our cabin — this little farmhouse in the Catskills belongs to painter Sean Scherer and his partner Mark Mayer.

But that’s not stopping me from imagining that our cabin looks more like this one (no offense, Dad… ps, call me about interior design services).

Seriously, how amazing are those kitchen cabinets made from recycled vintage school lockers? Ok, so I wish I had them in my citified kitchen, too.

I am not hating the bat, either.

Or this Andres Serrano photograph surrounded by vintage anatomical models. Actually, I’m not hating a lot of things about this souped up quirky cabin.

Vintage Pompeii postcards flanked by mercury glass lamps and backed by a punchy wall color? Sure.

Clawfoot tub in a bathroom papered with vintage newsprint and AGITPROP posters??? Hellz yes.

I think I saw an ancient Trading Spaces episode where Vern Yipped a room by papering the walls with old book pages — not nearly as cool as this room papered with blank pages in a geometric pattern.

Do these vintage bird prints as wallpaper pass muster?

These dudes really have a thing for maps and anatomical diagrams, and that’s ok by me. I see they are also afflicted by a pottery collecting obsession, which I can empathize with. It’s a tough disease to cure.

What do we think of the yellow walls, anyway?

This cozy little nook is calling to me. During my 3 am panic attacks, this shall be my new happy place.

Somehow I don’t think I should end with this picture, but it’s the only one I have left, and did I mention that I am frequently awake at 3 am? But do you know what? I’m feeling better. There’s nothing like a little cozy countrification to instill a sense of calm and comfort in an anxious heart.

At least until tonight.

I’m still rubbing aloe vera into my sunburned chest and calves after Saturday’s marathon trip to Round Top with Karly, but it was worth it despite the hellish heat. I scored some goodies, saw some expensive shit that made me appreciate what I already have, and got a day away from the tasmanian devil that is masquerading as my baby boy. I’ll give the baby report at the end of the post for anyone who cares, but for all the rest of you good people, it’s on to the special awesomeness that is the Round Top experience.

Some vendors have a very odd sense of humor.

Too bad there weren’t six of these sexy chrome and leather cantilevered chairs, or they may have come home with me.

A pair of unaffordable blanc de chine lamps.

A monumental lucite chandelier for a jaw dropping $4500. No one ever said that Round Top necessarily equals cheap. if you like this, wait until you see what I bought for my dining room on Ebay (for much, much less)…

Awesome hooded wicker chair with groovy upholstery.

Big brass Polly.

Sweet little Asian credenza. The white is fly.

Brass cylinder lamp that Karly spied on Friday. I was considering it for my dining room, but ultimately passed. Hope I don’t regret it…

Three of six Milo Baughman chrome cantilevered chairs.

I really liked these barstools but didn’t even ask the price because homedude thought his junque should fetch a higher price per ounce than gold.

For unknown reasons, Round Top is very baby head friendly.

If baby heads can be friendly, that is. Somehow the packing tape makes the whole mise en scene much more ominous.

Hot pink poles make everything better.

Enormous 60s abstract that was about $4,400 over my budget.

At some point I realized that almost everything we spied with our gimlet eyes was made of brass. Chalk it up to magpie vision.

If you’ve got some spare change, you can add these trunks to your Louis Vuitton themed house.

I have a trestle table crush.

I reallllllly liked this long, sexy $900 table for my dining room, but A) it’s way too narrow and B) it’s 900 freaking dollars. That’s not how momma rolls.

Round Top is a haven for dead things — most of which are garden variety — but these birds are pretty fabulous.

Ok, on to the stuff that managed to find a way home with me:

60’s Italian hot air balloon chandelier for Ike’s room. The dealer had it marked at $135 and I took it home for $65. Boo ya!

Initially I thought I would paint it black, but now I’m wondering if I should do white with black accents or black with white accents? Will the details get lost if everything is black?

Crazy deco tripod lamp that may or may not live in my dining room. I am considering painting the shade black or gold… what do you think? Or are you a purist like The Hunny, who wonders why every purchase must be spray painted? Does that question even deserve an answer?

Lest you think that Karly and I only purchased lights, Look! I bought a lucite towel set to match a lucite towel stand I already have. The toilet paper holder alone is worth the $15 I paid for the whole kit ‘n’ kaboodle.

And finally, on to the baby Ike report:

So, my darling, sweet 11 week old baby stayed home with his dad and my mother in law, who did a very excellent job of keeping his antics under control. He took an uncharacteristically long nap, which was bueno, but then HE REFUSED TO TAKE A BOTTLE. FOR THE ENTIRE NINE HOURS I WAS GONE. They had to feed him with a medicine dropper. Gawd, just writing this makes me feel like the worst mother in the world, but he totally took a bottle from me days before I went to Round Top! I swear, this is the most stubborn child ever born — a trait he obviously picked up from his father. Anyway, he’s back to his normal fussball self, so I guess all is well, but I’m afraid it will be a long time before I get to leave for more than three hours again.

Ike with Grandma, doing the cute act. Don’t be fooled.

As you may remember from Erin’s post last Friday, Anthropologie recently dropped into austin, rubbed it’s faux flea market goo on every last street corner, then took pretty pictures of the results.  What can I say, Austin is a star, Austin shines, she deserves to have the rest of her pretty pictures shown.  Don’t worry, it’s easy to ignore the $300 cotton tops.

We pick up right where Erin left off:  smack dab in the middle of the catalog and in the middle of town.  I’m 90% sure this was shot at Flashback Vintage.  A shabby shack on South First with western boots and pants for days.  There’s also lots of pyrex, which makes me happy.

Hot Gossip:  This shop used to be in a different location (I won’t say where) they moved and the house they used to rent was torn down and a well designed local restaurant was built.  BUT, looks can be deceiving, without saying the name of the new location I will tell you that I will never ever go there again.  Last year I did some web work for the owners for free (I owed a favor to the owner’s best friend).  THEN, I went to said restaurant for dinner and left with a $140 bill, they didn’t even comp a glass of wine.  

So, there’s your hot austin gossip:  Flashback = good, business in old location = bad

These photos were both shot on South Congress Avenue.  Left was taken from some ole shop window looking out to the street.  Right is in front of Jo’s coffee, which Erin told you about Friday.  Here’s some info you didn’t get:  Their Chai tea is too watered down, even if you ask for extra chai.  Their BBQ pulled pork is worth driving across town for, if you don’t do meat, the tofu is just as good (but lame because there’s no meat in it) and if you drink regular coffee, the iced turbo is AWESOME.  Voila

I do believe that this was also shot at Flashback Vintage.  I have run out of gossip on this joint.

All of these pix were taken at Roadhouse Relics, purveyors of all things neon.  The top right image is an old sign from the Deep Eddy Cabaret that has now been reclaimed by Roadhouse and sits in their lot.  Deep Eddy Cabaret still stands and slings $2 Lone Stars like there’s no tomorrow.

*Insider Tip:  If you are going to partake in the cabaret’s drink specials, might I suggest that you do so after swimming in it’s namesake:  the Deep Eddy pool.  It’s pretty much the most perfect place in town:  it’s a gigantic pool that feeds off of a cold freshwater spring.  You get all that natural water, but there’s no dirt or fishies in the mix.  It’s the jam.

This postcard mural is also at Roadhouse Relics - my god, what isn’t at that place.  It was designed at painted by my friends, the geniuses at Blue Genie.  We sang the praises of Blue Genie once before HERE

I can promise that the model in this picture has never eaten at Fran’s Hamburgers.  One bite of their greesy burgers and ice cream floats would keep her from fitting in the frame.  The place is cute, but do as I do:  get a yummy crushed-ice diet coke.

Fun Fact:  This place is sandwiched between a meat processing plant and Birds Barbershop on South Congress.

Oh! Another fun fact:  See how you can sorta make out a little yellow bungalow house in the bottom left of this picture, right by the sign post?  That house has a big hairy goat living in it’s yard, the goats name is Nic (according to the sign the pet owners erected).  This house is only 1/2 a block off of one of the busiest streets in Austin.

Ok, this is where my tour-guidery gets a little shakey.  It’s not for lack of Austin knowledge, but for lack of theater love that I totally fail on these next few shots.  If I had to make a bet, I would probably say this was shot at the Vortex Theater (excuse me, Vortex Repertory Company).  I was there once, it was for a wedding.

Same.  Let’s talk about those South African Grazing Sheep.  Pretty cute, aye?  But for $448 a pop, I’m guessing my money will be better spent flying to Africa, taking a safari then picking those sheep up for 4 dollars U.S.

Good Lord, Anthropologie, are you still showing me the Vortex?  Ok, here’s a fact:  within walking distance of the Vortex are 2 Joel Mozersky designed spaces: Red House (positive: yummy lemon-grass mojitos, stellar horse decor, negative: doors shut at midnight, boo) and el chilito a yummy taco stand (apparently the stripes on the side of the building were Joel’s idea, cuz you can’t step inside.) 

Oh, also, those lights are $398 each.  As in Each.  Just One.  Not a cluster.

Photo one, another theater shot, ugh.  Photo 2 - the poster close up - is actually shot in Nashville where the catalogs were designed and printed.  

Also in Nashville. 

There you go.  Now you know everything you ever wanted to know about Austin.  

Kisses!

Just when I had written off Anthropologie as a warehouse of expensive thrift store knock offs, they go and worm their way back into my heart by using Austin as the backdrop for their most recent catalog shoot. And is it just me, or are these pictures much better than usual? Alright — I admit it. I’m a sucker for the charms of my recently adopted hometown, but no other place I’ve lived has made me feel so comfortable, had so much to offer, and remained actually affordable. Ssshhhhhh, don’t tell anyone, though! The traffic is already so bad that you can walk down I-35 faster than you can drive it. But because I’m a sharing and caring person, I’m kicking off a two part tour of Austin via Anthropologie that Karly will conclude next week. Whew, and thank jeebus for Karly’s super sleuthing skills! In the two years I’ve lived here, I have barely sampled a tenth of all the fun goodies, shopping, restaurants and curiosities, that make up the capitol of the Lone Star State.

Welcome to Austin, y’all!

So you’d think a trailer with a giant Austin sign guarded by an ex member of the Grateful Dead would be hard to miss, but actually Karly and I are kind of at a loss as to the location on this one. Karly says it may be a part of the crazy Cathedral of Junk, and I’d say that’s an awesome guess. If it’s not correct, I fully expect some savvy Austinite will come set my ass straight, pronto (but in the nicest, friendliest way possible).

Update: This fantastic neon montage appears courtesy of Roadhouse Relics. Mystery solved!

Grab a cuppa joe at everhip Jo’s Hot Coffee. Owned by ex Manhattan crime fighter, Liz Lambert, Jo’s Congress location sits next to the Hotel San Jose — site of much boozing and laid back cruising — which she also owns. Not content with owning a badass coffee shop and our favorite hotel in town, Lambert recently opened the uber fabulous Hotel Santa Cecilia, which our Austin buddy Andrea blogged about here.

Say hello to The Hideout. It’s a theater! It’s a coffee shop! It’s an art gallery! Speaking of art, check out work recently exhibited at The Hideout by our good friend Miss Hope Perkins of The Hot Pink Pistol. Her sister, craft goddess Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club fame, blogged all about it right here.

There are a million hipster havens in Austin, but South Austin Music (on the right) with its huge selection of guitars and banjos, is a staple stop for local indie kids of the musical persuasion. Of course, if you’re like me and don’t know your C chord from your G, you can take lessons there, too.

Austin has more than its fair share of drags, but none are as popular as South Congress. Little more than a decade ago, the South Congress was apparently a cultural wasteland filled with hookers and more hookers.

Now it’s filled with delicious boutiques and restaurants and candy. And if you like candy like I like candy, you’ll love the very quaint Big Top Candy Shop, with its old timey soda fountain and eclectic assortment of sugared goods. Where else can you get a candy coated scorpion? Hm?

On the left, Cheapo Records beckons with its siren call of cool dusty vinyl and free live music, which reaches a drunken fever pitch during SXSW. On the right, yet another colorful Austin vignette. Eastside, maybe?

The Continental Club has been an Austin institution since 1957. They carry on the swinging, honky tonk vibe and for the most part, it’s all good. But I have been known to throw a fit after being asked to pony up a $15 cover fee for a band I’ve never heard of. However, as even my sweet little dad can attest, the bartender pours very stiff drinks. And that leads to dancing. And dancing is always a good time (until you wake up the next morning).

Guero’s Taco Bar on South Congress has one of the cutest patios in the history of the world. Sit under the spreading branches of an enormous oak tree festooned with lights at night, and enjoy yourself a margarita (or five). There really is nothing better on a hot Texas night. A word of caution, though: watch out for the flying tree roaches, aka floaches, aka B-52 bombers. You may have heard that everything is bigger in Texas? Well, it’s true.

No trip to Austin is complete without a visit to one of Alamo Drafthouse’s seven locations. I’m partial to the South Lamar theater since it’s close to home and I’m a lazy bum, but the downtown Ritz theater always makes for a good time. The Alamo basks in unique awesomeness largely due to the fact that they will bring food and BEER to your seat while you watch movies. The only downside to that arrangement is that you will surely miss at least 10 minutes of the movie while peeing out that pitcher of Dos Equis you just guzzled. Eh, small price to pay, right? The Alamo also hosts all kinds of crazy events, like a sing along to Purple Rain, visits from directors like Quentin Tarantino, and wacky comedy routines set to soundless movies.No can miss.

Be sure to join the very knowledgeable Karlypants on Monday for Part Deux of our Austin tour guide. There will even be — gasp! — home decor.

See? We didn’t forget this was a design blog, after all.

So it’s 9:30 on Monday night and I’ve just gotten off the plane from my trip to Albuquerque, where I got to check out more than a few awesome Bart Price houses (alas, still not from inside).  Congratulations to both Sherri and Freshly Found for their laser-like accuracy in Friday’s where in the world contest, you made my decision tricky so you will both win bracelets from Naughty Secretary Club. Hooray!!

Anyhoodle, as I mentioned, I’m fresh off the plane and have just returned to my computer after 4 days of work-free-best-friend’s-wedding-bliss.  Despite my begrudging return to the real world, all is not so bad as my inbox included brand new pics of the newest Birds Barbershop taken by our own Ms. Erin.

You may remember that Erin took these pics of Birds on East Sixth just a couple of months ago.  The newest shop has a 3D mural created by local party planner extraordinaire and all-around badass, Luther Himes.  Psst… remember those 3D party pics I posted last week?  See, it’s all coming together, right?

My favorite part of the shop is the 35 foot long wall with the black and metallic silver chevron stripe.  I had originally suggested a wide, angled stripe, then Joel Mozersky suggested we make it a chevron while at lunch one day.  I gave the design to our painter who then suggested that we put it at an angle.  So, it was a 3-way collaboration.  Yay!  Collaborative success!

Oh, unfortunately, at the last minute they had to put that ugly AC in.  But at least it’s nice and cozy in there now.

That AC is a godsend since every other wall is a floor-to-ceiling window.

Did I mention the Free Skill Crane?

And the free Lone Star?

I love the back shampoo room, these chairs sit across from the big chevron wall.  The black high-gloss stripes running up the wall were a quick solution (suggested by yours truly) when no back splash had been planned for the sink, those shampoo bottles get messy too, so the wall directly behind them needed to be protected as well.

I found this light on ebay, it is my one true love

I also designed these 3D glasses, they’re mighty special from the front as well, guess you’re going to have to stop by the shop to see them.  For those of you in Austin, it’s at 1902 South Congress, Just north of Magnolia Cafe.  You can also visit their site (designed by lil ole me) HERE

I have to say that our kitchen was starting to look pretty great. Some counters were done, some cabinets were installed, we got new appliances and a new sink — sucka was almost functional. But of course, it couldn’t last. It is a fact of nature that all matter gravitates towards entropy, aka dastardly chaos, and why should our home renovations break the laws of physics? When we yanked out the first cabinets during Christmas, I would have choked on my own astonishment had I realized that redoing this kitchen would take so long. But like the great sage Paula Abdul once said, “You take two steps forward, I take two steps back.”

Except, in our case, it often feels like we’re two stepping up and down.

I’m pretty tired of this bizness, and have concocted a new plan to buy this house in a sweet part of northwest Austin:

You see, they spent two whole years renovating this 60’s gem, which would mean NO MORE RENOVATIONS FOR ME. Plus, Miss Lakemoore Drive is 3500 sq ft, has a kidney shaped pool, sits on half an acre near Bull Creek, and features a built in freestanding fireplace that would rock my world. Literally. Momma like. To sweeten the deal, it listed at 859k but has been reduced to 799k, which makes it eminently almost not really affordable at all, but a girl can dream, right?

Well, what do you say? Who’s with me? Co-op anyone?