Saccharine Thoughts

Hot dog, look who made Apartment Therapy this fine Wednesday! Well I'll be, that's us ! Super cool!

...to my Dude. Here's to another kick-ass year to come! I'm awfully fond of you, darlin'.

From Dress to Kill: When people from the same genetic group intermarry... Hello-oo? Cousins marrying equals IQ down the toilet. Hitler was trying this. The first generation of Nazis - "Sieg heil!" The second generation - "Sieg heil." The third generation. "Er...Sieg... "Er...

Did you really think I'd leave you all alone through the weekend? Baha, right. <- More Etsy goodness for eager girly eyes!

I've heard New Zealand is an incredibly beautiful place, and it's at the top of my list of places to visit if I can ever steal away to take a vacation. This Etsy find gave me yet another reason to want to visit New Zealand. A teeny tiny hand-crafted robot charm with even tinier hinged arms to dangle from a necklace? Yes. Please.

Last week was the first time in a long time that I've been able to just chill out and waste some time. Of course, time that you enjoy wasting isn't really wasted right? Especially when it's spent introducing one's boyfriend to a favorite video game? RIGHT??

For those of you who may be curious as to why I seemed to drop off the face of the interwebz this fall, I thought I would give you an update. The fantastic job opportunity that I accepted back in April was a position in development with Arthouse at the Jones Center . Arthouse is a non-profit artspace whose mission is to create meaningful opportunities to investigate the art of our time through exhibitions, public programs and commissions of new work. We are located in downtown Austin in a newly renovated building at the corner of 7th and Congress. Our site is an incredible piece of history for Austin, as it has been through many iterations between its erection in the 1850's and 1998, when it became Arthouse. It has been closed for a full year for major renovations which tripled the usable exhibition space, and reopened on Sunday October 24th. Arthouse is currently running six exhibitions in the new space, and is open and free to the public Wednesday through Sunday. So in case you w

Happy Halloween, my long lost blogger friends! Real life has again taken priority this fall and pulled me away from writing, but I'll be back next week with more gibberish! In the mean time, I'll spend my spooky Sunday handing out candy to little monsters and zombie-hunting via Xbox with the Dude. Hope yours is just as swell! XO ChristaLou

A real-life excerpt from a text conversation with my mother: mom : I had lunch with < insert male friend from high school here > today, he said to tell you hi. me : why on earth did you have lunch with < insert male friend from high school here >?? mom : I was having a cougar moment and he has really pretty eyes. Sometimes, I wish my mother had never learned to text. Sidenote: my parents are still happily married. She was kidding.

As if Joss Whedon hadn't already proven his superior level awesome, here are a few of his thoughts on Humanism and Education with some humor mixed in, circa 2009. I shared some of my own thoughts on faith well over a year ago, and I find it phenomenal to hear a similar standpoint reiterated so eloquently and honestly. "The important thing is not that we are right. The important thing is: where do we go from where?"

The Southern Oracle - Neverending Story In the tragic case that you may not remember these, let me refresh your 1980's kid fantasy movie memory: AAATREEEEYUUUU!!!

You guys! Can you believe the year is halfway over already?! Well, 7/12 over, to be more accurate. 2010 has kept me oh-so-busy, but it has treated me oh-so-well. Let’s be honest: 2009? It kind of sucked. I dreaded going in to work at HomeAway each morning, as my job there had become utterly mind-numbing. I stumbled through two fickle, overdramatic attempts at dating. Throw in a roommate who bailed on a 14-month lease and a fourth knee surgery, and you can see why I was pretty ready to see the year come to an end. 2010 started off with a bang… and a clangor… and a crash, as I resolutely ended the second of ‘09s wavering relationships, and left my reasonably-well-paying employment... and benefits... and 4 weeks of vacation for the great unknown. During a recession. Whee! As it turns out, the Universe had much bigger things in store for me—I was unexpectedly reunited with a year-old crush over a game of pool which, nigh 6 months later, has blossomed into a fulfilling friendship and

Bioshock cake toppers A Big Daddy and Little Sister on top of a cake: Creepy? Yes. Awesome? Also Yes. WIN. via Offbeat Bride For those wondering what on earth I'm talking about:

...for they shall inherit the earth. And then make awesome parents. I mean really... have you ever seen a happier baby?

You guys! Tonight! Par-tay! We are hosting a Membership Rush Party for Austin's creative community at Arthouse, and you're invited! And the building isn't even finished yet! Yep, that's how special you are. Do come check out our new space, hear about our upcoming exhibitions and events (Grand Reopening in October, y'all!) and drink some beer while you're at it. Hope to see you! Unicorns and kittens, ChristaLou

"The girl-clothes... the girl-clothes in the washer... are they to be washed or dried?" Girl-clothes , one word. Gotta love living with a dude. :)

With the Texas Summer 2010 now in full effect, I have been on a major ice cream kick. I admit this without a drop of shame for my waistline, because when it's reaching the mid-90s on a daily basis down here in Austin nothing sounds better than something cold and creamy. Ice cream has always been one of my favorite indulgences, and it is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite things to make. So many flavors! So many options! Toppings, toppings, toppings! Thus, you'll understand the utter appreciation I hold for my original Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. Or, held . Until I saw this. You can go ahead and color me green... and blue... and orange with ice cream maker envy while I continue to spin my ice cream in my plain white maker. This moment trumps the moment I found an avocado green Kitchenaide, shortly after receiving my white one.

As you may have noticed, I am falling further and further behind in my quest to complete 25 New Things before my 25th birthday in November. I only have 5 months left, so I am going to take this time to revamp my list a little bit. There are many things that have come up and taken priority far over others, so I would much rather expend my energy on the awesome and upcoming, than on the thought-I-wanted-to-do-a-year-ago-but-now-I-couldn't-care-less. But that's not fair, you say? Well, I like to think of it as simply giving myself the advantage in my own challenge. You call it cheating , I call it facilitating the completion of my goals . Tomāto/tomäto. Here, I present a revised list of 25 things that I plan to do in my 25th year... Yes, that means that I plan to give myself until the end of the year to complete these things. I know, now you think I'm REALLY breaking some rules. But! Here's the deal: Saccharine Thoughts will turn 2 on January 1st, 2011, and if

I realize that I am way farther behind on these 25 Things than should be acceptable, so here is an installation that is long overdue. Let me rave about my city for a moment: Austin rocks. Really. As long as I remain in Texas, I will be in Austin. Having access to so. much. to do. around me is just not something I could give up. Local shops, eateries, the lake, semi-obscure classes and one-of-a-kind community events give this city some serious character, making it a haven for weirdos like me. One of the many kick-ass things offered here is Austin's Free Day of Dance in January - a city-wide celebration of dance . This consists of several dance studios across town teaming up and offering free classes all day long . Does it get much better than that? MissK and I took the Arthur Murray Studio up on this offer and checked out the bellydance class with Bahaia . This little lady was out and about teaching bellydance workshops just weeks after birthing a child. Uhm, intimidating much?

We have another 2-year celebration on our hands this week! One of my absolute favorite blogs - Yes and Yes - is turning 2. The blog mistress, Sarah Von, is giving back to her readers by means of a pretty stinkin' sweet giveaway! Jewelry, artwork, accessories, and all sorts of really neat trinkets have been offered up from her very talented audience, so head over and check it out! And might I suggest browsing her archives while you're at it? They tend to be on the inspirational and/or down right hilarious side, with some seriously sage advice thrown in the mix.

Um, do you see that? DO YOU?! That's a cupcake. On top of cupcake. DIES . Apparently the decorative potential of Reese's is endless.

Things are finally slowing down, and I don't think I have ever been happier to see the Spring come and go. The month of May was jam-packed with a number of really awesome events! I am still settling in at the new job at Arthouse, but was thrust into the organization's ins and outs with the signature fundraiser on May 13 and 14, which reached out to over 1,000 people in the Austin art community. The Dude (yep, new moniker; get used to it. ) and I made a surprise one-day visit to Mineral Wells for Mother's Day brunch which both thrilled and pissed off Mama Lou, as I suppose she hadn't planned to meet him wearing overalls, sans makeup. We also took a trip to New Mexico to visit his familia which was a wonderful and welcome escape from Austin, but just didn't quite last long enough. Throw in some celebration for graduations, birthdays and... you get the picture. After four straight weeks of awesome, I was ready for some down-time. Enter: Memorial Day Weekend. I mad

via Great White Snark Finally! The differences between nerd, dork and geek have been defined in an easy-to-read venn diagram, for all you visual learners out there. I like to think I fall safely into the geek category: brains + quirky interests, without the awkwardness. One can hope.

So, that fore-mentioned j-o-b has kept me rather busy lately. Nonetheless, I am back with another self-indulgent addition to my wishlist here on Saccharine Thoughts. I know what you may be thinking: "Chick has a job now, can't she buy this shit instead of talking about it?" Well my friend, while I am working again, I left my cushy job at HomeAway to do something I love and believe in at a non-profit art space here in Austin. Thus, material indulgences like this one will be few and far between but happiness, I'm learning, will be in abundant supply. Fair trade, by far :) This week I'll step away from Etsy's "Pounce" button and share something that MissK sent my way saying, "Saw this and thought of you!" Girlfriend does know me so well. Specifically, I'd pretty much sport this Ayn Rand tribute as often as I could get away with were I to find it in my t-shirt pile! Also, if these Orwell-inspired threads had a fan button, I'd be cli

I got the job . *happy dance*

As you may have noticed, #7 on my list of 25 Things to do Before 25 is to get a tattoo. Allow me to expand on that - the idea is actually to get an addition to the tattoo I got when I was 19. To add some color and embellishment and likely a second sparrow to the design is something I have wanted for, oh, five years and counting. In the spirit of that and the excessive amount of free time I've had on my hands, I have been doodling away, thinking that having this bit of long-awaited ink done would be my triumphant self-indulgence upon completing #4 - finding that job that I lovelovelove, as well as a permanent celebration of the huge transition that this year has brought with it. I will share said doodles and artwork for your review, my imaginary friends trusted audience. But for now, an entertaining tangent: While doodling away one evening a couple of weeks ago, my dear friend Jack was visiting and excitedly shared the tidbit of news he had discovered while at work that day: &quo

Wishful Thinking may quickly become my Etsy find of the week, as I'm a huge fan of unique, handmade goodies from small-name designers. The only way to make that even more appealing is to add local, organic or recycled to the material list - yes, I'm becoming that brand of hippie. That little introductory rant leads me to this week's addition to my wishlist. I'm such a sucker for accessories, especially if they look like they could have belonged to my Great Grandma Holley. Thus, these lovely little gems from Willow and Quinn would naturally become quick additions my window shopping cart. Willow and Quinn is a one-woman show based out of Northern Cali, AND a portion of her sales go straight to a charity called Women for Women International . Supporting an independent designer AND a charity? I'd call that a sparkly WIN!

The Dude has 2 cats. One, I am convinced, may be manic depressive as she turns without warning from a cuddly purring little ball of fur in my arms to a gremlin intent on chewing off said arm; the other is a very large diabetic cat with a hair fetish. That being said, I can completely empathize with this. x2. From Simon's Cat

I explained to my roommate that when I find myself with free time, I generally do one of the following: draw. read. or bake. Last week I found myself with a veggie drawer full of perishables and a lot of free time so... I turned the kitchen into a laboratory and attempted a new concoction. A fiber-full, scrumptious concoction... 1 1/2 cup shredded zucchini 2-3 ripe bananas 1 cup shredded carrot 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 egg 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 2 cups rolled oats 1/3 cup melted butter 1/3 cup applesauce 3/4 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup chopped pecans 2/3 dried chopped dates Smash bananas into zucchini and carrot to equal ~3 cups . Blend sugar and eggs until fluffy, add to zucchini mixture. Mix in melted butter and applesauce. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add dry to wet and mix until incorporated, add dates and pecans. Fill muffin cups, sprinkle with raw sugar and/or additional rolled oats. Bake in 350 oven 2

Taking a stab at a weekly theme here with Wishful Thinking Wednesdays. Being that I am, still, unemployed and nixing my urges for retail therapy in order to have next month's rent, I have indulged in some window shopping as of late. What better motivation to find a job than to fawn over things that you can't afford, right? (kidding.) To kick off this new self-indulgent trend, I'll introduce you to an Etsy shop that I fell heels-over-head for months ago. Under the Root is a small label based in Chicago that produces unique, handmade lingerie from "sustainable, reclaimed, repurposed, upcycled, vintage textiles and materials." Their style is of a vintage, vaudeville, elven sort. Hard to imagine such a mix, I realize, but sexy and sweet I assure you. Today I add this darling set of blumen and corset-laced bralette as the first item on my wishlist. Romantic, no? I must also recommend that you take a peek at these other little gems that would be equally perfect for, oh

"Hon, you're like a lottery ticket. The more you scratch the surface, the more cool shit you uncover." Never could I have imagined that being compared to a lottery ticket would be so heartwarming. Thank you Jack .

One might think that in my current state of uncertainty I may be feeling a bit down on my luck, right? On the contrary, I am kind of delighted with my life at the moment. Instead of giving way to fearful feelings of instability, my situation is actually inducing feelings of freedom and power, and I've chosen to embrace this little bit of ambiguity. I am being forced out of my comfortable-but-stagnant office routine to learn and grow, to look beyond my current position and strive for my full potential. To see a challenge and step up to it instead of shying away for fear of inadequacy, to see possibilities in things I may have been intimidated by before, and to look for ways that I might better prepare or tailor myself for those opportunities. Polish up my people skills? Yes! Learn a new software? Sure! Send in resumes even though I may not be quite qualified, just for the interview experience? Absolutely. It's the ultimate "why the hell not?" mindset and frankly, I

You know I am all for free things, so there's not much better than a whole day of free yoga classes . Right?!? Seva Yoga Collective is celebrating the opening of their new studio with a whole day of free yoga classes as well as music, a community meditation and a veggie feast this Friday, March 19th ! Check out details here .

A year or so ago I took on the personal challenge of trying out two dozen new and exciting things before my 24th birthday. You guys? I failed. Hard. But this is a new year, one already full of surprises and opportunities, a time for new beginnings right? Or at least, a good do-over? Today, I am 8 months from the imminent quarter-century, so here goes- ChristaLou's 25 before 25: Find an organization to volunteer and become actively involved with Hostess a breakfast/brunch, with Saturday morning cartoons Take voice/singing lessons Find a new job that I lovelovelove Take a stripping/pole dancing class Finish 3 of the 5 classes for my second BA Get an addition to my tattoo Take a bellydancing class Go camping Spend a day thrift shopping Have my tarot cards and palms read Finish a video game NOT on NES Take level 2 at the Hideout Theatre Take level 3 at the Hideout Theatre Reupholster my couch Go blues dancing Compile/organize

The Ides of March are upon us, dear readers, so I will take this time to get rolling again here on Saccharine Thoughts. We are still hanging on to the first quarter of 2010, yet it has already proven to be a year full of surprises. January watched as I broke off a delightfully geeky but sadly dysfunctional relationship with a much-blogged-about BlueEyedBoy, and February saw me calmly walk away from 2+ years of employment at HomeAway, Inc. during a recession. Brilliant. I did both with the intent of moving on to things that I will be better suited for, and March is now paying audience to new adventures as I do just that. I am currently in my second week of unemployment, and in between freelance gig-hunting and resume-sending my free time finds me volunteering with Austin Voices to help plan their major annual event, organizing photography and videography for LAFF , and spending time with people who are important to me. In short, I have just been making myself very, very happy. Whil

So in case you're like me and didn't realize until an obnoxious coworker gasped "YOU DON'T HAVE BIG PLANS THIS WEEKEND?" ...Valentine's Day is in 3 days. This can serve as a reminder to those of you who need to run out and buy the gross chocolate/overpriced floral arrangement/mylar balloon combo in order to continue getting laid and keep your partner from tearing your head off. Those fellow friends who are not shackled by this obligation - commence groaning and eye-rolling in 3... 2... 1... I am all for festivities and excuses for celebration; what I do not find appealing is an excuse to accept (yet another) ugly stuffed monkey holding a heart that reads "Wild Thing." Last week I did fall for the suggestion by brilliant lady blogger The Naked Redhead - making this "holiday" weekend less about romance, more about spreading the love through some little acts of kindness. - Maybe it's because my little dingo got pulled from a dumpster, or

True Story.

While I was on my unannounced hiatus over the holidays, my collection of flatmates expanded quite a bit. Just before Thanksgiving a really ( really ) great roommate was sent my way. Adam is respectful, clean, loves on the animals and is really ( really ) an all-around great guy. If you'll notice, I said animals. Plural. This is Joe, the newest addition to my Barton Creek pad. He previously belonged to Burnie of the Rooster Teeth Staff and resided at their office on Congress, but their newest addition is, sadly, allergic. While I personally think "Known Allergies" should have been a required field on their employment application, I am happy to have this handsome little guy living with me now. This is his usual roost, between my cooking utensils and Kitchenaide. He sits there and quietly supervises (read: judges) while I'm busy in the kitchen.

SingleChrista ™ is like Haley's Comet. It comes out and, oh, it's bright! and shiny! and glorious! and then, shit, it goes away for a few more years. Thanks Jack .

I have quickly learned that dating a theater nut/drama teacher brings with it a few things: good taste in movies, exposure to lots of great art in many forms, and a guarantee of random song and dance at any given time. Unfortunately for BlueEyes, I cannot sing. Fortunately for me, he absolutely can. Throughout the month of November he had a tendency to break out into song in my passenger seat with pieces from a musical I had neither seen nor heard of - The Last 5 Years. He explained: It’s a touching, tragic story about 2 people that are absolutely perfect for each other, but for whom tough breaks simply stand in the way of being happy together . Despite chalking their failure up to to circumstance, he sided with the female role, Cathy, and laid more blame on Jamie. Interesting. Shortly thereafter I found myself semisecretly piecing the production together through YouTube clips, insanely curious about this story that had laid such an impression on my man. Once I had

Happy New Year from Saccharine Thoughts! I know I have long neglected my space here, and I'm sorry! I have dozens of outlines and half-written entries just waiting to be polished and posted, but for now I must put things on hold. I aim to post once or twice a week while I re-prioritize my offline life. I gotta take care of me before I can love on you, and I know you understand! It's a new year, a new decade with new opportunities for happiness. Let's make the most of it!