Here were are already. The last day of 2011. How are your spending it? Looking back? Looking forward? Full of hope or full of regrets? I must admit I have some of each.

I look back on this year and realize it was a rough one. Work was not great and I left my job. The summer was one long, insanely hot drought. I missed my family a lot. I could have used more money. I had a lot of bad hair days.

But I also got to reconnect with old friends. I’ve made some great new friends this year. I got a new pet. I got a new job. I was fortunate to travel a lot this year, and feel profoundly changed by my time in the Caribbean, Italy, and most importantly, Paris. I heard Bill Clinton speak in person, and got to meet Ron Swanson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read some great books, saw lots of live music and movies. Got to visit with family several times over the year. Started a blog. Weathered the economy. Overall, I guess I can’t complain. I’m hoping 2012 brings stability, happiness, and appreciation for everything I have. So after a brief glimpse back, I’m looking FORWARD! Full steam ahead into 2012. Happy New Year!

Due to an intense round of peer pressure, I just read The Hunger Games. The first book in The Hunger Games Trilogy, I had to go to three stores to even find a copy. They were sold out everywhere! A short young adult novel, I was able to finish it in a day and it made for a nice, easy beach read.

Set in post-apocalyptic North America, the story is written in first person from the point of view of 16-year-old protagonist Katniss Everdeen. Living under a tyrannical and cruel government, the country of Panem is starving and oppressed. In an effort to maintain fear, the government (or Capitol, as it’s referred to) holds an annual televised event called, you guessed it, The Hunger Games.

A boy and girl aged 12-18 from each of the countries twelve districts are chosen by lottery to participate in a barbaric fight to the death in an outdoor arena. The last person alive wins a better life for themselves and their family, and also helps feed their district for a year. The game is brutally violent at times and quite upsetting. Children killing each other? This book is crazy.

But it was a compelling read and I’ve already purchased ebooks for the rest of the trilogy. Like any best-selling book these days, the movies are to follow. I am pretty excited about the casting! Lenny Kravitz?! Here’s the trailer:

The second I saw the trailer for The Muppets, I instantly wanted to see it! I loved the Muppets when I was a kid, and didn’t realize how much I missed them. I’m thrilled Marshall Jason Segel brought them back. He gave us a glimpse of his puppeteer talent in Forgetting Sarah Marshall with Dracula’s Lament, a musical he wrote. Here’s a video of the end of the movie. Not great quality, but you can see his passion.

That passion really came through in The Muppet movie. It was a modern take on the Muppets, sort of a where-are-they-now  glimpse into their lives, when a few fans discover the original Muppet Theater will be destroyed. Kermit lives alone in the Beverly Hills mansion he once shared with Miss Piggy. She now lives in Paris as a Vogue editor. Animal is in an anger management rehab with the always funny Jack Black, and Fozzie Bear performs with a Muppet-impersonator group in Reno, The Moopets. Hilarious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun ensues as the Muppets reunite to try to save their old theater. A few new Muppets are introduced, including the star of the movie, Walter. Walter and Jason Segel’s character Gary are brothers and the best of friends.

There are cameos galore and lots of laughs. I don’t want to give much more away, but will leave you with the official trailer:

Sophisticated enough for adults and ideal for kids, the Muppets are for everyone. Jim Henson would have been proud of this movie.

December’s Birchbox was the most surprising yet. No box this month! I received a shipping confirmation but the tracking never worked. I started to see grumblings on Facebook and realized it was more than just the normal delay of holiday mail.

Eventually I received an apology email stating that they were unable to send me a box this month. Sad. But they did offer to give me a $20 credit towards a purchase of a full size product or refund my money. While I’m disappointed in not receiving a box this month, I continue to be impressed by their top-notch customer service.

Here’s hoping my first Birchbox of 2012 is extra special.

Austin has a lot of popular happy hours and I’m making an effort to get out to more of them. Happy hour is a great way to sample the menus of more expensive restaurants without going overboard.

On Friday, I went to Parkside in downtown Austin. Parkside is normally pretty pricey, but they are known for a great happy hour. We started out with a selection of drinks, which were half price. I had the Siberian Donkey, a twist on a Moscow Mule. It Absolut Peppar, ginger beer and lime. Refreshing with a spicy kick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ambiance at Parkside is cool and chic, despite its location in the middle of all the worst bars on 6th Street. Service was top-notch, too. On to the food.

Parkside has a nice bar menu and it’s all half price during happy hour. Here’s what we tried:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had read raves about the Parkside’s fries, and found them to be good. Simple, crispy and delicious. The chicken sliders were okay. A little difficult to eat, they had a weird combination of cucumber, jalapeno, and other stuff that we didn’t all love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The petite grilled cheese was shockingly good. The plate was decorated with a spicy ketchup that was perfectly complimentary to the warm creamy cheese. These tiny bites were the perfect size.

The classic ceviche was also a winner. A mix of fresh seafood from the raw bar offerings, tossed with onions, tomatoes, lemon and lime juice and avocado. I could eat this every day.

We also ordered the bar steak, which was so delicious, I didn’t have time to get a photo. We split all this food and each had two or three drinks for around $20 a person. Cheap!

I want to go back and try to oysters, okra, and calamari soon. And more grilled cheese. If you are near 6th Street around 5:00, I’d recommend dropping in.

I was lucky to score tickets to Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot. I’ve always wanted to see him because I love the Stray Cats and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Brian Setzer is the definition of cool with his sky high pompadour and punk style. I mean, look at these tattoos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The show was at La Zona Rosa, a no-frills venue that hold about 1200 people. With standing room only and lots of people dancing, it was easy to squeeze right up front. The bass player was right over my head.

The crowd was a mixture of baby boomers and 20 and 30-somethings decked out in their finest greaser/hipster gear. There’s a rockabilly subculture in Austin, so it’s not unusual to see young guys with slicked pompadours, boots, and tight tee-shirts with smokes tucked in their sleeves. But I’ve never seen so many under one roof. I really liked it! The girls looked great, too, with 50′s dresses, bright red lipstick, and some impressive vintage coifs.

The performance was perfection from beginning to end, with Setzer playing newer music and old Stray Cats songs with the same flawless technique. Clearly, no one is getting his dinner from a garbage can anymore. This act was caviar, baby. He created pure magic on his glittering green guitar. With a bare bones stage set-up, he, his bassist and drummer blew the roof off that mother. They quickly went from one song to the next without a lot of chitchat in between. They were there to play and we there there to listen. At 53 years old, Setzer is at his finest, and clearly enjoyed every note he played. This cat was not phoning it in!

Highlights included: Three upright basses thumping out a badass interlude during a jammy Fishnet Stockings, a raw cover of Folsom Prison Blues, the entire crowd singing Stray Cat Strut, a guest appearance by Stray Cat Slim Jim Phantom, (who still plays standing up!) and the two encores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will practice my pompadour and 50′s makeup for the next show, because I will make sure to see Brian Setzer every time he comes to town. For me, this performance stood out as a live music highlight in 2011. And living in Austin, that’s really saying something.

It’s only my second pizza post and I’ve already broken my own topping rule. When we ordered from Giovanni’s Pizza Stand, we really needed it to not be disgusting because we were running off to a concert. There was no back-up plan or food available later in the evening, so we thought adding a couple toppings would increase the chance of success.

A little background information on Giovanni’s: it used to be a food truck in South Austin in a Valero parking lot. It has since moved inside the Valero. Here are some before and after picks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I called to order the pizza, a guy named Kevin answered. “Hi, this is Kevin.” I paused for a second and he said, “Are you calling to order a pizza? That’s not this number.” Whoops. One digit difference. I guess Kevin is used to it.

So we ordered a large pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms. Once again, the pizza was smaller than a Jersey-style pizza. I guess they just aren’t used to Tony Soprano-sized guys down here. The toppings were great, but I would have preferred more mushrooms. I likes my shrooms.

The sauce was perfect. Not sweet, not weird, not ketchupy. The cheese also was perfect. Not too greasy, not too much, not too little. Just right, Goldilocks! It was the crust that needed help. I guess that’s the most difficult part to get right. Giovanni’s crust felt a little stiff and overworked. It didn’t provide the yield I wanted. It was good, just not great. Overall though, I liked it and will go back.

Grade: B

 

Every year I love picking out a live Christmas tree and decorating it. I have some fabulous ornaments and building my collection is a year-round process. I always look for unique ones when I travel, so when I look at my tree it’s a reminder of how many cool places I’ve been. (And how lucky I am!) I’m going to show off some of my favorites.

I really love beach-themed ornaments. I hope to do an entire beach tree one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few travel ornaments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mermaid collection is one I hope to grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two ornaments that represent us:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some food-themed ornaments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, a couple Texas ornaments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas, to all my readers! (Both of you.) May your holiday be creative and colorful.

If you have a few extra beauty dollars to spend, you should get a Clarisonic. Or ask Santa for one. When it comes to washing your face, this is the best thing ever.

 

The Clarisonic Sonic Skin Cleansing System uses a sonic frequency to clean your skin and claims to remove 6x more makeup and double the dirt and oil to just washing your face with your hands. It also provides a light exfoliation, so your skin feels softer and absorbs lotions and serums more easily.

It is timed to wash your face in one minute. Ten seconds each on the chin, nose and each cheek, and 20 seconds on the forehead.

I love the difference it’s made in my life. I like that I can use whatever nonabrasive soap I want and the results are always great. It’s easy in the shower or at the sink and holds a charge for a couple weeks. The only maintenance required is changing the brush head every three months. I have the Mia model, which is the one pictured above and comes in fun colors. There are a few other models, and they all use the same technology. My dermatologist and my facialists all use them, and so does Demi Moore, Lauren Conrad, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

The Clarisonic is one of my favorite things. It was also one of Oprah’s favorite things, in case you trust her judgement more than mine.

A lesser-known video, this Gnarls Barkley masterpiece is one of my modern favorites. Take a look.

Damn, that’s good! Dark, poignant, and a little funny, this one really stuck with me.

One interesting thing they do is let the dialogue override over the music, so much so that you initially ignore the song. The story takes precedence. It’s a simple break-up scene in a diner. The girl is spouting all the usual cliches, and the guy is appropriately bummed out. He doesn’t argue or try to talk her out of it. He just cuts out his heart and hands it to her on a plate. That’s a little hard to watch. He uses a butter knife!

It gets really special when the heart gets up and starts singing, using a piece of broccoli as a microphone. That’s crazy, right?! I mean, who orders broccoli from a diner?!

The patrons look on pityingly as the heart woefully laments his own soul. Cee Lo Green really shows off his best vocals here; his plaintive cry is raw and painful. He and Danger Mouse make a quick cameo as the diner’s line cooks. The couple breaking up are played by Aasha Davis (Friday Night Lights, South of Nowhere) and Jorma Taccone (writer for SNL.)

The video was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Short Form Video in 2009. When it did not win, I cut my own heart out.