For such a hot place, Austin doesn’t have much variety in the ice cream scene. Amy’s Ice Cream is the beloved ice cream of choice for the city, although it’s just not my thang. Don’t get me wrong, it’s ice cream and therefore delicious, but it’s richer and heavier than I prefer.

Enter Lick Ice Creams, the newest ice cream shop for the cool kids. With gourmet flavors like Spicy Coconut and Peanut, Sweet Cream Corn, Caramel Salt Lick, and Goat Cheese Honey Lime…whoa. This place is crazy.

Served in small scoops, much like gelato, this ice cream is delish! Even the Carmelized Carrots with Tarragon. Even the minty beet flavor. All the vegan flavors. Are you getting this? The flavors are weird and good. Just like Austin. And everything is natural, organic, and light. No junk.

I really dig the cow decor, too. Those little stools are for milking cows. Something I hope never to do.

The prices are not bad and they have a loyalty card which gives you two free scoops with every 16, which means every ninth small order is free. Sweet.

So you should go check it out and try it when you’re in South Austin.

And now for the bold statement: This is the best ice cream in the city…maybe all of Texas.

I’d like to thank the Academy for a boring show Sunday night. True, the Oscars are always the stiffest of award shows, but I always watch and hope they get better. I was especially pleased that Billy Crystal came back to host.

He was funny, schticky, and quick on his feet. A good host has to be able to riff and fill time when needed and keep the live show going smoothly. Most hosts choose to make fun of celebrities in the audience, but Billy Crystal is too good for that. His musical number was a throwback to his earlier hosting days. He’s older now and can’t move as quickly and was a little pitchy, but I still think it was a success.

Martin Scorcese was thanked over and over as Hugo kept winning awards. I made the drinking game joke a couple hours before the Bridesmaids did. If we all took a shot whenever anyone mentioned Scorcese we’d be pretty drunk the show would have been better.

Surprises: Clooney didn’t win. Meryl did. Meryl is like the Yankees. Everybody knows they are the best, so it’s not exactly exciting news when they win. A bunch of other boring stuff happened. Whatever. Let’s talk about the gowns.

The good:

The bad:

The ugly:

Austin has a million bands. No, like a billion bands. But I’m pretty sure that Grupo Fantasma is the best one. I discovered them right when I moved to Austin and have been hooked ever since.

Now, Grupo is on the classier side of the Austin music scene. Meaning, they dress up for their audience and don’t play at the opening of a taco truck. The ten-piece band is more likely to be found backing Prince or winning Grammys than schlubbing on Sixth Street, although they’re cool enough to do both.

When I heard there was an open invitation to watch them record a new live album and DVD, I applied my EYE ROCK Designer Liner cat eye strips and headed down the Beauty Ballroom.  The venue is a new space on the east side and features the same sparkly charm as its sister, Beauty Bar. Like Beauty Bar, the Ballroom had a place designated to get pretty complete with hair stylist and nail tech. Two levels, the venue has a capacity for 700. I think it would be better suited for 400. Or 300. What I’m saying is, the place is too damn small. The stage is TINY.

Ballroom glittery wall

Saucy art at the Ballroom

Block off some areas for sound engineers and film crews, and the place gets even smaller. Let the band start two hours late, play a few songs, and then leave for a reset. That’s how it went. Not really that much fun to attend a live recording session. The one thing I can’t complain about was the music. As usual, they sounded amazing. Here’s a clip:

I’ll be the first to buy this when it comes out this summer.

One last thing: Cat eye strips are the perfect touch if you want to look like a mean drag queen, which is currently the look I’m rocking right now.

Whole Foods has these awesome little jalapeño and cheese rolls. They are delicious toasted, but I thought it was time to jazz it up a little more. Make it a meal.

First, I cut the roll in half and scooped out the center to make a little bowl. Then I cracked a fresh, organic egg into each roll.

I topped each egg with a little salt and pepper and fresh ground parmesan cheese. I baked in the oven for 15 minutes and served. They were great!

I can’t wait to try variations of this in the future when I have more ingredients on hand. I’d like to use fresh herbs and add a small slice of tomato in the bottom. Or beat egg with a little spinach and onion and top with cheddar. And the possibilities with bacon are endless!

Look what I got for Valentine’s Day!

Awesome, right? It’s a Kris Nations necklace. Every state comes in silver and gold. Even DC. Mine came from Nordstrom and they are also available directly from the Kris Nations website.

Each necklace has its own charm, just like each state.

It almost makes me wish I was from Wyoming. Look at how cool that one is.

Hope these put you in a fashionable state of mind.

Every year the lure and the magic of New Orleans calls me to Mardi Gras. I haven’t actually been in years, but in spirit, I am there! Here’s a loose guide as to what it’s all about.

Mardi Gras is a week-long celebration before Lent. It’s a week of fun, vices, and crazy partying before the Catholic crackdown. More than the drinking and beads, I love the parades. There are many krewes that parade throughout the city, and they all have different themes and varied histories.

Bacchus, named for the Roman god of wine is a superkrewe and features tons of floats. It always features a celebrity “King” and this year it was Will Ferrell!

A spinoff of Bacchus is the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus. Anything and everything sci-fi.

This year, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu led the parade for Zulu, one of my favorites.

Rex is the centerpiece attraction to the parades, featuring traditional Mardi Gras colors and the King of Carnival. This krewe has been around since 1872 and has had more parades than any other organization.

Perhaps the coolest krewe is Orpheus, which was founded by Mr. New Orleans, himself, Harry Connick, Jr. A relatively young krewe, it has 36 floats and each year has several celebrity monarchs. Just  to name a few from this year: Cyndi Lauper, Brett Michaels, Mariska Hartigay, Hilary Swank, and of course HCJ was there, too.

I hope you are all finding your own way to celebrate today. Happy Mardi Gras!

The February Birchbox was fun. I anticipated a perfume sample or two, as I feel that lovely scents align with Valentine’s Day. I was wrong. Here’s what I got:

• dermalogica Daily Microfoliant. This is a powder that you mix with water to create an exfoliating paste. Pretty cool. $60
• beautyblender. The hot pink sponge that looks like an egg is a foundation blender. $26
• EYE ROCK Designer Liner. Stick on cat eye strips. I can’t wait to use these! $13
• Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint. I hope I like this moisturizer as much as Jouer lip conditioner. $38
• Extras. Heart-shaped nail file and six free songs from Green River Ordinance.

I love a good Italian soda. Normally I only drink diet soda. When I want to indulge in a soda with sugar, it better be special. I won’t get any pleasure from a Coke or a Pepsi, but a blood orange soda? Oh, hell yes.

When I saw beautiful blood oranges on sale recently, I thought I’d make a fresh Italian soda. Holla! This is too easy for you not to do. Just do it.

Juice a couple blood oranges.

Mix juice with cold sparkling water.

Sweeten with a little simple syrup and serve over ice.

This is so easy to make and is a delicious, refreshing treat. Enjoy!

My home office is an important space. Unlike my work office, I can have a comfy chair, chic desk, and place to take a nap. I believe all three are conducive to producing great work.

A frequent note-taker, I’m always scrawling ideas on little scraps of paper and notebooks. I try to keep them contained, but in truth they are everywhere. I’ll find notes months later reminding me that I wanted to try cold brewing coffee or dates of upcoming concerts. Notes that say things like find shoe or calories.

I need my notes right in my face. I like them hanging on the wall. So I wanted a new cork board. Here’s what I made last weekend:

It’s quite large and will hold lots of my scattered thoughts. Anyone can make this. You just need to hoard corks for a few years and know how to use a hot glue gun. Don’t use a cheap frame.

It took me a few hours to fit these in like a puzzle and then glue them in nice and tight. It was a nice walk down memory lane as certain corks reminded me of moments in my life. The winery where Mr. Betty proposed, the bottles of wine we shared in Italy, the dinner parties where we laughed with friends. Maybe this board will do more than hold my thoughts. Maybe it’ll inspire new ones. Either way, it’s a nice addition to my office.

Look at the pretty wine stains.

Not as fun as the VMAs, but less uptight than Oscar night, the Grammys are a good place for fashion. Musicians of every genre coming together to celebrate music and strut some crazy gear.

I would say 2012 was a decent year for Grammy’s fashion. A nice mix of crazy and beautiful. Take a look:

Katy Perry paired her unsexy gown with a weird up do.

Fergie’s daring Galliano gown was one of my favorites.

Adele looks elegant in classic black. Her earring choice could have been more youthful. She’s only 23.

Robyn’s strange dress is upstaged by her hideous shoes.

Goldie Hawn looks great. I mean, Rihanna.

Nicki Minaj, walking the red carpet with the Pope, was a lovely Cardinal.

She thinks this lavender is a good idea. It’s a slight improvement to the gray she had last week.

Wait…what?

Nothing surprising here.

Who made an impression on you at the Grammys?