Tree Lighting at The Driskill

Posted on December 10, 2011 by janis

The Driskill Hotel is celebrating their 125th anniversary this month with the 12 Days of Driskill. Victorian Holiday Teas, Breakfasts with Santa and other special events are happening at the hotel all month long.

Last week Bill and I walked over for their tree lighting and community celebration. I loved The Driskill’s tree last December, but this year’s tree is even more spectactular! The theme is “History of The Driskill” and historical tidbits are hidden in the branches. For example: Lady Bird and Lyndon Johnson had their first date at The Driskill (and I’ve read that they watched election returns there too).

Bill and I talked to Executive Pastry Chef, Tony Sansalone, who was standing watch over an elaborate birthday cake next to the tree. He told us that he used the same cake recipe that was used for the opening of The Driskill on December 20, 1886. We were impressed to learn that Chef Sansalone created this cake in just one day. He decided not to cut the decorated version but made enough sheet cake for 300 servings. I am not a chocolate fan, but Bill said the cake was delicious (and so this left 298 servings for other people besides Bill).

Unfortunately we were distracted by the elegant decorations throughout the hotel and forgot to check out the trucked-in snow at the entrance on Brazos Street. But perhaps Austin will have real snow again this winter?

Holiday Sing-Along and Downtown Stroll

Posted on December 4, 2011 by janis

With temperatures in the mid-60s, this evening’s weather was perfect for Austin’s annual Holiday Sing-Along. From the steps of the Texas State Capitol, John Aielli of local NPR station KUT led thousands in all the season’s favorites, including Frosty the Snowman, Joy to the World, Jingle Bells and Feliz Navidad.

Bill and I wondered if we were going to sing all 23 songs listed in the songbook but John ran out of time and skipped a few. After a rousing O Christmas Tree, the crowd counted down to the tree lighting.

With the tree safely lit and Sing-Alonging successfully completed, it was time for Strolling. A very enthusiastic Minor Mishap Marching Band led the procession down Congress Avenue. According their Myspace page, their genre is “Chinese pop / Healing & Easy Listening / Melodramatic Popular Song.”

The street was filled with bicyclists from the Austin Bike Zoo, plus jugglers, hula hoopers, and stilt walkers. There was serious Strolling as the crowd followed too.

There were fun holiday activities along the way. The Paramount Theatre showed classic Christmas cartoons. Groups performed on small stages. Austin Ballet’s The Nutcracker was projected on the side of a building. And someone gave me a very unique “lollipop” … a yarn ball with a lite-glow stick.

Mother Falcon was playing at the Frost Bank plaza when the procession arrived. The Minor Mishap Marching Band joined them for a lively version of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire.

The theme of this year’s Stroll was to “explore the concept of gift as a way to strengthen the bond between Austin’s diverse community and Congress Avenue, the Main Street of Texas.” Thank you to the organizers and participants for this evening’s gift!

Gingerbread Village at the Four Seasons

Posted on December 2, 2011 by janis

An elaborate Gingerbread Village, created by the pastry chefs at the Four Seasons Hotel Austin, is on display in the hotel lobby until January 2. The all-edible creations are for sale and benefit the Seton Shivers Cancer Center at Brackenridge. Prices range from $100 to over $1000.

This year’s theme is famous buildings from throughout the state of Texas. The Austin landmarks are accurate…but what’s all that white stuff?

Frost Bank Tower

University of Texas Tower

Four Seasons Hotel Austin

Four Seasons Residences
(condos next to the hotel)

Zilker Park Christmas Tree

Texas State Capitol

Sing-A-Long Sound of Music

Posted on November 30, 2011 by janis

Question: What is even better than The Sound of Music?

Answer: A Sing-A-Long Sound of Music!

Several hundred fans attended this very fun event at the Long Center last weekend. First, before the movie started, we were given instructions on what to do with the items in our goodie bags:

Wave the fabric swatch and yell “Look behind you!” when seeing the drapes in Maria’s bedroom
Alternate the ? and Flibbertigibbet cards during “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?”
Slowly wave the white flower during “Edelweiss”
Hold up the invitation and shout “To the Ball!”
Pull the popper string at the EXACT moment when Maria and the Captain kiss

Next up was costume judging. Based on audience applause, winners were chosen in three categories:

Small Children and Nuns: And there were lots of both. We were rooting for the girl dressed as a Brown Paper Package Tied Up With String. But a small Gretl (on the far right in my photo) won this category.

Individuals: Original individuals in original costumes competed in this category, but we agreed with the audience’s choice: the Baroness. She had attitude.

Groups: My friend and her daughter came up with a superb costume idea: Do, Re and Mi. We came in second place. We heard that we lost to a goatherder and goat but we couldn’t see them at the opposite end of the stage. Here we are with the von Trapp “children” (with hand-sewn outfits!) and a cross-dressing Maria.

Finally it was time to start the movie. We cheered Maria. We hissed at the Baroness. We booed the Nazis. We yelled “Rolfe! Rolfe!” and “The hills! The hills!” We waved our cards and flowers and fabric swatches. We popped our poppers. And we sang along…quite loudly!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Posted on November 25, 2011 by janis

Our Thanksgiving Day started with an unusual sight: a very thin band of fog had settled to the southwest of downtown Austin and advanced towards us until we couldn’t see the Long Center across the lake. The clouds were completely below our apartment with clear blue skies above us.

But the fog burned off long before 9:30 AM when the annual Thundercloud Sub Turkey Trot got underway. Over 21,000 people, including Bill, participated in this 5-mile race. I decided to take pictures and get our turkey in the oven instead.

The Turkey Trot is one of the largest races in Austin. It took 30 minutes for everyone to just shuffle across the First Street bridge to the starting line. A sea of people stretched for blocks and blocks up Lavaca Street. The race route looped west towards Mopac, along Cesar Chavez and back across the bridge to the finish line.

Austinites love to dress up in costumes. I saw pilgrims, turkeys, and even a taco go by.

By noon, the race was over and the roads were open again. We ate our Thanksgiving meal in the mid-afternoon and then took a walk over to look at the Gingerbread Village at the Four Seasons lobby. (I’m saving those pictures for a separate entry.) After our little outing, we ate some yummy apple pie baked by our church’s youth group.

We are starting to see some stunning sunsets again after months of drought and cloudless skies. Yet another reason to be thankful today!

Home Slice Carnival O’ Pizza

Posted on November 22, 2011 by janis

Most Austinites would agree that Home Slice is one of the best pizza places around. After all, actor Jesse Eisenberg worked here for a few hours back in July to promote his movie 30 Minutes or Less. Since last Saturday was their annual carnival, Bill and I decided to walk over for lunch.

Continue reading →

A Christmas Affair 2011

Posted on November 19, 2011 by janis

A Christmas Affair is happening this weekend at the Palmer Events Center. This annual event is a fundraiser sponsored by The Junior League of Austin and is the highest-quality show in town. Over 200 vendors are participating. After attending Austin Comic Con last weekend, I was more than ready for some Girl Time!

Sorry to be a little early with the Christmas season here but the displays were really beautiful…

Lots of clocks

Lots of jewelry

Lots of honey

Lots of Christmas decorations

Lots of tissue box covers

Lots of fruit jars

Lots of ornaments

Lots of stuff

Austin Comic Con

Posted on November 18, 2011 by janis

Bill and I went over to Austin Comic Con at the Austin Convention Center last weekend. We looked at comic books of course, but, oh, there was so much more to do and see….

CELEBRITIES!

For $20-$30, you could get an autograph or have your photo taken with your favorite celebrity. We saw four of the now-very-grown-up children from the 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Actor Adam Baldwin from the TV show Chuck was signing autographs too.

MARIA AND MELINA!

We attended “The Ladies of Wrestling” where Maria Kanellis and Melina Perez spoke about their careers. Both were unexpectedly dropped by WWE. It was an emotional session. We also learned that WWE female wrestlers have lucrative side careers with Playboy.

STAR WARS MEMORABILIA!

Everywhere. Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, walked by but unfortunately I was not quick enough to take his picture. R2D2 came over to visit instead.

JEDI!

Two members of the Lone Star Jedis staged a mock battle for us. It was lame.

CONAN THE CONQUEROR STATUES!

Only $344 including tax!

T-SHIRTS!

Floor to ceiling!

ACTION FIGURES!
This is the kind of stuff I spent six months getting rid of last year when we downsized.

MAGIC CARDS!

Wait…don’t we still have several boxes of those?

Austin Race for the Cure 2011

Posted on November 14, 2011 by janis

This morning’s weather was perfect for the Susan G. Komen Austin Race for the Cure. Today’s race started at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and looped around the State Capitol grounds. According to the race announcer, there were 29,000 participants, although local cable station YNN put the actual total around 22,000. In either case, it was an impressive turnout.

The timed runners started at 7:30 AM. Untimed runners and walkers could begin any time between 8 and 10 AM. Our team was in line before 8 AM but we didn’t actually reach the starting line for at least ten minutes.

We called ourselves “The Triumphant Team” and had four breast cancer survivors and 14 friends/family members. Many teams had matching T-shirts but since this was our first time to walk together, we just wore the race shirts. Maybe next year we will be more organized.

Enthusiastic cheering squads were stationed along route to give encouragement to the runners and walkers. Therapy dogs were also available for petting.

Teams held hands or linked arms and celebrated as they crossed the finish line. And for good reason: an estimated $1.5 million was raised by today’s Race for the Cure for breast cancer treatment, screening and education programs.