Do You Want to Live Until You're 100?

Then check out this article in the New York Times today: Secrets of Centenarians.

Something that really stood out to me - studies show that optimists live longer than pessimists. Yet another reason to strive to live a happier life (which I'm currently working on). Of course, if you're going to live until you're 100, it'd be much more fun to be happy for most of those 100 years than downtrodden, right?

A lot of the comments were very harsh. But, I can't agree with them. I don't see anything wrong with reading a story in the Times (every once in a while) that reminds us all to live full lives and to live them positively.

I'm sounding a little Pollyanna right now, huh? What can I say, I had a good day and reading about a 100 year old woman who still does yoga in the morning and corresponds with all her grandkids fits my mood.

Anniversary Traditions (update)

I just realized that I never updated how Christian and I did on executing the traditional anniversary gifts: paper for the 1st year.

Well, I think we did pretty darn good.

I got Christian four cookbooks: Momofuku (we had our first real date at Momofuku Noodle Bar), Chanterelle and Staff Meals from Chanterelle (we had our six month dating anniversary there; sadly it's now closed), and The Foods of the Greek Islands (our honeymoon was in Lindos, Rhodes).

I gotta say, before the day, I was totally impressed with myself. Christian loves to cook, loves new cookbooks and those cookbooks all have great meaning for us. He was totally thrilled with them but I feel like his presents blew mine out of the water.

My "card" was actually a beautiful album he made for me on blurb.com, which made me cry like a baby. (My cards for him were from Target, btw.) And he got me the beautiful Frank Gehry heart pendant necklace from Tiffany seen above. Currently, it's off getting the chain lengthened because it was a little too short. I can't wait to wear it once it's back. What a show off.

Next year will be cotton. A little less than 50 weeks to figure that one out.

P.S. We also had an out of this world dinner at Uchiko here in Austin. That place probably deserves its own post.

Weekend Activities in Austin

• This weekend is the Texas Book Festival at the Capitol. There will be more than 200 authors on hand and it’s free for you to get up close and personal with them. If you’re really excited about a particular session, be sure to arrive early as it is first-come, first-served and you may not be the only one who wants to hear, for example, Joseph O'Neill. I also would like to hear him as Netherland was really interesting. By the way, his session is at 10:30AM tomorrow morning. Or is it? Maybe I’m just trying to throw you off track so you’re one less person I have to fight for a seat. How will you ever know? Oh right, I gave you the link to the schedule.

• If running a marathon isn’t really your thing (too long and running shoes are so not fetch, after all), then the Stiletto Stampede for the Cure taking place tomorrow at the Hill Country Galleria might be more your cup of tea. The race starts at 10:00AM, it’s 100 yards and 2.5 inch or taller heels are required. This isn’t just an event for the ladies; guys, you can also run too. The 2.5 inch heel requirement still stands, though.
  

• I was saying earlier this week that there are few things I will run for – like that last cute top in my size, if someone’s chasing me, etc. But, I would run to this next event, if necessary. The 7^th Annual Lexington Chocolate Lover’s Festival is taking place this Saturday and will be held in the Lexington Town Square. Admission is free but there are fees for some of the tastings. Random activity also taking place at the Festival is the opportunity for your kids to “have a go” at milking a cow. There are also more run-of-the-mill activities for the kids like plinko and a bounce house (probably best to send them to the bounce house before they partake in all the chocolate tastings).

• Don’t consume too much chocolate on Saturday because that night is a really cool dinner you won’t want to miss. Amanda Hesser, author of The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Edible Austin, & Farmhouse Delivery will be hosting a picnic, potluck style tasting as Austin Chefs prepare their favorite recipes from Hesser’s new cookbook. The list of participating restaurants/chefs is quite impressive and includes Eastside Café, Perla’s (their French toast is to die for, by the way), Paggi House and Takoba. Tickets are $35 each, the dinner will be out at Rain Lily Farm and you’ll need to bring your own blankets and chairs. All of it benefits the Sustainable Food Center.
  

• On Sunday, Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop is celebrating its 2^nd birthday. They’ll be providing the free cupcakes (big surprise) and Tito’s and St. Germain will be providing the free cocktails. Like any good birthday party, there will also be ice cream, music, face painting and prizes. There’s also talk of a cupcake cannon but I’ve yet to figure out what exactly that is. But, I’m pretty sure I would like to have one of my own. If anyone’s familiar with cupcake cannons, please enlighten me.

We're all grown up and shizzle

Christian and I moved to Austin just over six months ago. Because we moved from Manhattan, we didn't move with much furniture. So, we've been adding necessary pieces as time's gone by. Dressers, a couch and a desk for Christian were the first priorities because I wasn't keen on having our clothes on the floor, sitting on the floor to watch TV, or having poor Christian work on the floor.

As I mentioned before, our dining room has basically been Senor's playland all this time. Well, that finally came to an end on Sunday. That's right, we actually got a dining room table and chairs! And Christian took some pics of them with his iPhone and his Hipstamatic app thingymajig.

The table is the Bjursta from Ikea (a little tricky to put together because it's expandable), we found the chairs at the Crate & Barrel outlet (where I almost had a minor breakdown when the clerk mistakenly told us they didn't have four), the rug is from my favorite place in the whole entire world, Target, we got the bowl on our honeymoon in Greece, and the pitcher is from Anthropologie and was a wedding present from my best friend.

I'm ecstatic over this. We've already had three dinners and a breakfast at this table. All of them were wonderful. Plus, this means when we have friends over for dinner, which we like to do a lot, everyone can actually sit in real chairs instead of sprawled out on the couch and floor cushions.

Surprisingly, The Paws is handling the eviction pretty well. She's very excited about the new placement of her tunnel, which gives her optimal opportunity to attack Christian and me as we walk by.

30 Before 30

I'm turning 28 on October 23 (less than two weeks away - still plenty of time to shop!). With only two more years before I turn 30 (whoa), I thought I would make a 30 Before 30 list. I've seen these on other blogs before and always thought it was a cool idea. So, here's the full list. Some of these are stretch goals, some not as much.

1. Learn Photoshop
2. Turn my interest in photography into a real hobby
3. Make our wedding photo album
4. Get new pro photos taken of Christian and me (maybe a trash the dress session for me)
5. Take a rock climbing class (I've already started on this one)
6. Go kayaking
7. Establish an exercise routine
8. Beat Christian at Trivial Pursuit
   
9. Cook a Thomas Keller recipe
10. Eat at the French Laundry or Per Se
11. Try 30 new (to me) trailers or restaurants
12. Go on a picnic
13. Go on the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory tour
14. Go to Las Vegas
15. Travel outside the U.S. at least once
16. Go to Santa Fe Fiestas
17. Take a roadtrip
18. Go see at least one Ballet Austin performance
19. Read 130 books
20. Take a class - jewelry, language, something
21. Figure out my 401(k)
22. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity (this may turn into volunteer for the Austin Public Library because my home improvement skills have been sucking as of late)
23. Re-learn how to make my Grandma's taffy
24. Get our apartment in order and get rid of excess stuff
25. Keep a houseplant alive
26. Pay for the person behind me in the drive-thru
27. Learn how to knit something other than a basic scarf
28. Get a tattoo
29. Get a dog
30. Make a career plan (3 year)
    

Anniversary Traditions

I've talked before about how much Christian and I love establishing new traditions.

Well, tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary (has it already been a year since the best day of my life?), so we're starting to establish some anniversary traditions.

1. Our welcome dinner (we didn't need to rehearse anything since we got married at City Hall) was at a pizza place below our old NYC apartment. So, each year the night before our anniversary we're going to have pizza for dinner. I think this tradition will be a big hit with the kids (once we have them and they're old enough to eat pizza, of course). Tonight, Christian's making the pizza which is very exciting because I love love love his pizza.
2. Every year we'll also watch our amazing wedding video as well as this awesome video Christian's best friend made with footage he shot of us answering Newlywed Game-style questions.
3. We'll take pictures. That's a given.
4. We're also trying to follow the traditional or modern interpretation of the traditional wedding gifts for at least part of our presents to each other. The first anniversary is paper (traditional) or a watch (modern). Tomorrow morning, which is the designated present time, we'll see how we did.
   

Weekend Activities in Austin

• The American Institute of Architects Austin is having its 24^th Annual Homes Tour this Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 to 6:00pm each day. You can look all you want at the 12 houses but be sure to leave your camera at home; any photo taking will get you booted.
  

• Yes, it is officially October, which means Fredericksburg is having its 30^th Anniversary Oktoberfest this weekend. Key events, in addition to all the eating and drinking, include the parade around MarktPlatz today at 5:25pm, the chicken dance block party around the square on Saturday at 9:45am (sharp!, according the site), and a 42 Tournament on Sunday (if you’re like me and have never heard of a 42 tournament, it looks like from my intensive 30 second Google search that it’s a dominos tournament). Additionally, I will neither confirm nor deny reports that I started doing the chicken dance on my treadmill yesterday afternoon when I heard about Saturday’s activity.

Wait, did you just click that link thinking it was going to be video of me doing the chicken dance?

• The 2^nd Annual Austin Teen Book Festival is this Saturday and it sounds really cool. Like, you should definitely go. Especially if you have a teen who likes to read. The main goal of the day is to connect teens with authors of books written for teens. You and/or your teen can get books signed as well as attend all the free panels with various authors. Since this is an event for teens, seating preference will be given to teens at those sessions. There’ll also be Amy’s Ice Cream (we all know I love any event involving Amy’s), a photo booth (also love me a photo booth, especially when it’s free like this one is) and live music.
  

• OK, only one more festival, I promise. I can’t leave this one out because it sounds like it involves really yummy food. Tonight and tomorrow night head over to 408 East 11^th Street for the Saint Elias Mediterranean Festival. Stop on your way over at the Twin Liquors to pick up the $5 tickets so you won’t have to wait in line at the gate. Austin Chronicle ranks this as one of Central Texas’ Top 10 Food Festivals so be sure to bring your appetite. You’ll be treated to Lebanese, Palestinian, Greek, Eritrean and Romanian food as well as music and dancing. Don’t stay too late, though. Remember, you need to be up early tomorrow to get to the chicken dance in Fredericksburg at 9:45am.
  

• ColdTowne Theater is raising money for a new space and their latest effort to bring in the funds is a 24 Hour Sketch Brawl. Tonight, they’ll be giving 8 teams a string of suggestions and guidelines for their improv shows and tomorrow night those teams will all take the stage and battle it out to see who created the funniest routine in a mere 24 hours. If you like comedy or improv, this sounds like a cool way to spend a Saturday night.
  

• Now, have you ever wanted to own your own pub or brewery? I know you’re nodding yes (and probably doing the chicken dance). Well, now’s your chance. You can become an owner of the Black Star Co-op Pub and Brewery. This new co-op is located at the intersection of Lamar and Airport (that new Midtown Commons) and is now open. While you don’t have to be a member/owner of the co-op to eat and drink there, it’s probably the most economical way to fulfill any fantasies you might have of being a restaurateur (AKA the hardest word to spell EVER – why does the poor ‘n’ just disappear?).

• Oh, and I think there’s something big happening in Dallas this weekend. Cross your fingers Horns fans. And your toes. And your kids’ fingers and toes. And if you see a stranger who doesn’t have their fingers and toes crossed, cross theirs for them too.