More Lights

Community Impact has an article about good Cedar Park light displays.
Find the following on Google maps:

2410 Sharon Drive
Anna Court
2004 Marysol Trail
Castleguard Way
Horizon Park subdivision

37th street Christmas lights

37th St. between Guadalupe and Home Ln.

The center of the lighting display is just east of Guadalupe. Walking or driving through is free.
I hear they are doing their part to keep Austin weird. You won't get your typical light displays!

Where do you take your guests?

My husband's family is coming into town for 3 weeks over the holidays. Here is my list of things we can choose from to do. Maybe it will give you an idea of what to do with your guests.

FREE:
Mt. Bonnell
Dino Pit at Austin Science & Nature Center
Blanton Museum on thursday
Barton Creek Greenbelt
feed ducks at Brushy Creek Park
walk/bike along Town Lake
Zilker Park botanical gardens
Harry Ransom Center (copy of gutenburg bible, 1st photograph, and other cool/random things)
Trail of Lights
AMOA- Laguna Gloria (takes donations)
1st Night on the 31st

Cost:
Wed night Austin Childrens Museum ($1 min donation per person)
Hula Hut- dinner on the lake
Austin Museum of Art on 9th- under 12 are free
Phil's Ice House - fun dinner for kids
Teo's Gelato $2 Tuesdays
UT Tower $6 per person
La Feria Mariachis on at Lamar location thurs
Farmers market wed or sat (entrance and parking are free)
rooftop skating at Whole Foods. $10 includes ice skates rental
Mexic-Arte Museum

free sample music together classes at Heartsong Music

This week and next week Heartsong Music is offering up some free sample classes at their studio and also around town!

2700 West Anderson Lane, Ste. 320 , Austin

Heartsong Music hosts an Open House and free sample classes.

Thanks, Austin Savvy's website for information!

2nd weekend's events

Friday 11th
34th Annual Armadillo Christmas Bazaar
11am-6:30pm
2nd & Trinity
armadillobazaar.com

9th Annual Children's Nutcracker
austin-conservatory-arts.com

Mainstreet Bethlehem is still going on
fbcburnet.org

Saturday 12th
The Georgetown Kids Book Swap
for every book you bring in, you get a ticket for a replacement book.
12-5pm
entry fee is one new/like new book donated to Blue Santa Christmas
Georgetown Library, upstairs
Georgetownkidsbookswap.com

Cocoa & Cookies w/ Mrs. Claus
for kids age 2-11
hot cocoa, cookies, craft project, sing along, story time with Mrs. Claus before Santa comes
9, 10, 11am and 12pm
limited space so sign up beforehand
Twin Lakes YMCA
ymcagwc.org

Santas Workshop
music, games, inflatables, art projects, Santa Cluas
bring an unwrapped gift for Blue Santa
6-8pm
Heritage Oak Park
cedarparkfun.com

Sunday 13th
Zilker Park Trail of Lights & Tree Lighting
tree lighting 6pm
www.ci.austin.tx.us/tol/

This weekend's events

Some of these events happen on more than one day. Check the websites for details. If you have done any of these in the past, please let me know if you liked them or not.

Friday Dec 4: 
Holiday Tree Lighting 6:30-8:30pm
FREE
Santa, caroling, carriage rides
Heritage Oak Park. cedarparkfun.com

Main Street Bethlehem 6-9pm
FREE but donations accepted
Burnet. fbcburnet.org

Saturday Dec 5:
Annual holiday Sing Along, Downtown Stroll, and Tree Lighting 6-9pm
FREE but please donate a jar of peanut butter
south steps of Capitol building
downtownaustin.com/holidays

Christmas Market Festival 10-4pm
live performances, a visit from St. Nikolaus, imported German Christmas items for sale (nutcrackers, pyramids, smokers)
germantexans.org

36th Annual Dickens on The Strand 10am-7pm
kids under 7 are FREE
voted best holiday event in Dec by TX Monthly
Galveston. galvestonhistory.org/dickens

University of TX Tower Tours
$6. Reservation required
12-5pm on the hour
utexas.edu/txunion

Kids Workshops for ages 5-12
All Homedepots
FREE
homedepot.com

47th Annual production of The Nutcracker
The Long Center
$15 and up
balletaustin.org

Rooftop Skating at Whole Foods downtown

The rink opens Friday, November 27^th and is open every day except Christmas through Sunday January 17^th.  Tickets are $10 per person, which includes skate rentals.
Skating hours are 10:00am - 10:00pm, with the last skating session starting at 9:00pm.

Whole Foods Flagship
525 Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78703
(512)476-1206
www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/lamar

Special Hours:
December 24^th - 10 - 7
December 25^th - closed
December 31^st - 10 - 7
January  1^st   - 10 - 8

• Sessions begin each hour on the hour and run for 50 minutes, with a 10 minute ice maintenance time to follow.
• Tickets will be available for the same day skating sessions on the plaza, beginning at 9:00am. Limit 10 tickets per guest. Absolutely no advance day ticket sales will be offered.
• Tickets are only available at Whole Foods Market downtown Sixth and Lamar location.
• 40 people maximum capacity on ice. Skate sizes range from Junior 9 to Men's 14. Because it is a small rink, we only have a limited number of skates in each size. We discourage planning large parties for this reason.
• We are not offering private party bookings - for a large event please contact our Catering Center at 512-542-2209.

Caffe Teo review

I finally went to Caffe Teo, and it is GOOD. The gelato is as good as Italy's. My favorites were coconut, chocolate, and pistachio. They were really nice and let me try almost all of them. Next time I'll get Texican Vanilla. Mmmm.

If you are ever near 38th street, I highly recommend stopping by.
$2 Tuesdays!! if you pay in cash.

Oh and in case you didn't know, gelato isn't as bad for you as ice cream. Because of how slow they churn it, they don't need to use heavy cream like ice cream does. I think it tastes better too!

The northern location no longer exists. They really should update their website.

Persuasion

My brother has an interview in Austin! He is coming for 4 days in December and in that time I want to convince him that he needs to move here. He likes being active and being outdoors. Where should I take him?
Where do you take someone you are trying to persuade that Austin is a great place to live? What was it about Austin that convinced you to move here?

He is also interviewing near where my other brother lives, so the fact that a sibling is here is not enough.

Oh P.S. I know a lot of you check my blog and don't comment. Now is the time to comment! My brother and his cute wife and baby living in the same town with me is on the line. :)

New Bounce House

There is a new bounce house coming to Cedar Park. They are coming "Fall 2009," but I'm not sure if that means they are open yet. They are located on Bagdad Rd.

http://www.thebigbouncetx.com/

I heard they were going to have half off days on Mondays and Wednesdays, which would be great. Inflatable Wonderland at the mall has half price days on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I believe, if you can make them.

Austin Planetarium

Did you hear Austin is going to have a Planetarium?? Yay. I'm excited, and I hope it gets finished soon. I guess they are still trying to raise money. See what you can do to make it happen:
http://www.austinplanetarium.org/

I wish someone would also build an aquarium so I could take my kids...

Blue Genie Art Industries

Among other things they have an annual, free Blue Genie Art Bazaar every December featuring the work of over 100 local and regional artists and artisans.

See the website here
See reviews on yelp here

Meet the Authors

All ages
Friday, October 30, 2009

3:30-5:30pm
FREE admission

Join The Texas Book Festival and Austin Children's Museum in celebrating new books from children's authors Jon Scieszka (Trucktown series, Stinky Cheese Man) and Mac Barnett. The two authors will give an energetic, interactive, joint presentation for children of all ages to enjoy followed by a book signing of their new works, Robot Zot! (Scieszka) and Guess Again! (Barnett). Barnes and Noble will be on-site selling copies of the authors' books. Come enjoy this FREE event! Directions & parking info for Austin Children's Museum.

If you don't vote, you can't complain.

A quick google search came up with more info for the Constitutional Amendment Election.

GO HERE for explanatory statements on the propositions.

You will be able to find early voting locations by using the search site Am I Registered? and Find My Polling Place, which will be populated with voting sites a few days before early voting begins. Or, you may want to contact the Early Voting Clerk for State and County Elections in your county. Also, many newspapers publish early voting polling locations, so you might be able to find the information there.

Early voting ends this friday, Oct 30th.

Día de los Muertos

http://www.mexic-artemuseum.org/
There will be live music, entertainment, hands on kids activities, a parade, artist and food booths. Check out the website for the schedule.

Mexic-Arte Museum
presents
Viva la Vida Fest 2009
26th Annual
Día de los Muertos

Saturday, October 24, 2009
2:00-10:00 PM
5th Street
(between Congress & Brazos)
FREE Admission

Grand Procession
6:00-7:00 PM
(gathers at Plaza Saltillo at 5 PM)

TX Constitutional Amendment Election

TX Constitutional Amendment Election early voting going on now. These propositions directly affect you. IF YOU DON'T VOTE, YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO COMPLAIN!

For a list of early voting locations in Travis County, visit TravisCountyElections.org.
You can vote at the CP library and they have a sample ballot you can take home to look over the propositions if you need time to think about it. Official day to vote is nov. 3. Early Voting ends Oct. 30th.

Read here about Prop 4.

Texas Book Festival

http://www.texasbookfestival.org/

Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2009
See the website for the schedule and list of authors.

This takes place on the grounds of the state capitol. The events are FREE and authors are there to sign their books. They've got books for everyone including kids. I went to the 2006 book festival and about died when I found out later that then future President Obama was there, and I missed it.

Texas tree planting

I just found this great website that will tell you which trees are best for your COUNTY in Texas and why. We are buying trees this weekend for our backyard. Any suggestions?

texastreeplanting.tamu.edu
Here are some results for Williamson county:

Mexican Sycamore Platanus mexicana Leaf Type: Deciduous Comments: Resistant to bacterial leaf scorch and drought conditions. More About this Tree

Bur Oak Quercus macrocarpa Leaf Type: Deciduous Comments: Excellent, drought-tolerant native tree, with rough texture and large acorn More About this Tree
Cedar Elm Ulmus crassifolia Leaf Type: Deciduous Comments: Tough, drought-tolerant shade tree, well-adapted to a variety of conditions. More About this Tree

Have a Scary Good Time at Borders!

October 24, 2009 2:00 PM

Austin - Borders
3309 Esperanza Crossing
Austin, TX 78758
(at the domain)

Bring the whole family to celebrate Halloween with fun games, spooky music, scary crafts and more!

AND the same day...

at the Barnes and Noble at Lakeline Mall
there is a Special Halloween Storytime

at 11:00 AM

Lakeline Crossing
14010 US Hwy. 183
Austin, TX 78717
512-249-5644

Austin Powwow

Austin Powwow & American Indian Heritage Festival

I believe it is every year during the first weekend in November!
Check the website for their other events all year long.


picture from their website
18TH ANNUAL AUSTIN POWWOW AND
AMERICAN INDIAN HERITAGE FESTIVAL
Sunset Valley, TX