Say Yes to Shopping this Black Friday and Small Business Saturday

If you have any energy left to shop the sales, Austin is the place to be. And if you don't, your computer is the place to be, as you can snag some of these sales over the interwebs.

Austin Shop Crawl starts tomorrow and lasts until December 4th (10 days of deals!), with tons of stores and restaurants offering discounts and donating proceeds to Toys for Tots. You can sign up online for a free badge that will allow you to save an extra 10-50% off in certain stores, take advantage of private sales, score free food, and gain access to the parties!

Waterloo Records will have a 20% off sale from 10am-12pm on regularly priced items, with tons of CD's releasing tomorrow...get there early to get your copy!

My favorite thrift store, Saver's, is offering 25% off with your Saver's card on Black Friday! Urban Outfitters is also throwing down a 50% off sale for all your new hippy hipster attire.

Kick Butt Coffee is living up to its name and offering buy one get one half off gift cards. So buy a $50 gift card, get a second $50 gift card for $25!

Natalie Stone at 12th Street Ashiatsu and Thai Massage is offering ahhhmazing massage deals through December. If Ashiatsu massage wasn't awesome enough, she takes you all the way to blissville with warm coconut oil and hot towels. Her deals include four 70 minute sessions for $200 (that's $30 off each session) or buy two Thai massages to get one free. These can be bought as a package or used as multiple gifts. Don't forget to drop my name if you do buy a massage or two, because she also gives you half off a session for every person you refer to buy a package! She also has a special deal for the holidays if you buy a gift certificate, you can get a half price session! Save money and relax? Yes.

Launch 787 is offering 40-50% discounts on gift cards ranging from food, clothes, and house cleaning! Get them while they last.

Jewelmint is offering 50% off to Austin Fashion Week readers by using this code: austin882

On small business Saturday, you can receive a $25 AMEX credit when you spend $25 dollars or more using a registered AMEX card. Keep your purchases local and help promote small businesses in Austin!

There's nothing like the holidays to make you feel a little overstuffed and a little unsexy. Luckily, you can get your groove back at Inner Diva Studios. This Friday you can purchase a 3-class card for $45 dollars, or take a class on Saturday for just $5. Gift certificates are also discounted up to $20!

Helping promote small business Saturday, a new bi-yearly city-wide event called Austin Vintage Style Fest, this Saturday and Sunday. The event is free, but you can purchase a wristband for $5 (advance) and $10 (day of), to get free food and goodies along the way. Over 50 venues are participating!





The Renegade Craft Fair is also happening this Saturday featuring local artists and crafts. The Blue Genie Art Bazaar will be kickin' off this Wednesday and going on until Christmas Eve for all you last minuters. It's free, kid-friendly, and open every day from 10am-10pm!  Stock up on handmade gifts and put a smile on a starving artist! 

This city is seriously taking it to 11!

I'd Like to Thank the Academy

Looking for something else to do this Thanksgiving besides stand around in your kitchen in your pajamas eating cookie dough? You can be grateful that Austin will keep us entertained in between bites.

Get your fill of food on:

Kerbey Lane! Vegan platter for a guilt-free holiday.
Carmelo's Regular menu/turkey special.
Kenichi! I'm grateful for sushi everyday.
Threadgill's Sweet home cookin' without the cleanup.
Finn and Porter Fancy dining, fancy fish.
Congress Keep it downtown.
Romeo's! Deep Fried Turkey. Or delicious Italian food.
Hyde Park Bar & Grill Delicious french fries.

Get your game face on:

The Tavern
J. Blacks Donating proceeds to Mobile Loaves and Fishes.
Third Base

Get your drink on and dance it off: 

Kiss & Fly ($1 wells till 11!)

Watch people outrun the tryptophan:

21st Annual Turkey Trot

Get your live music on:

The Scabs at Antone's

Get your movie AND your feast on:

All Alamo Drafthouse locations will have a Thanksgiving menu available with any movie.

Violet Crown Cinema will also be open at 2pm.

Fusebox Festival: Haircuts By Children

So last weekend, as part of the Fusebox Festival and E.A.S.T Austin Studio Tour, I signed up for Haircuts by Children. A crew of 5th graders took over Peacock Salon, took appointments, gave haircuts, sold lemonade, and cleaned up. Haircuts was really the highlight of my week and I hope they do it again next year! E.A.S.T is still going on through the weekend, so go wander around and enjoy some art. Here's how my head ended up:

I've been fixing it for a few days and now it's more like this:

I was headed to work when a kid on a skateboard told me they had free ice cream up the block. Amy's was handing out free scoops of Oreo, Chocolate, Vanilla, and vegan flavors (cherry lemonade!), with tons of crush-ins. So, thanks Amy's!

As I kept walking, I ran into some cute kids with banjos. They offered to play me a song for a quarter and I said yes. I was really surprised by their talent, and they were sooo sweet. If you happen to pass G Money and the Damn Thing, get yourself a song and tell them I said hi. Short video here:

Preparing you for your Thanksgiving feast: Wafflefest. Wafflefest at The Hideout Theatre is back for the 10th year, with all you can watch improv, and you guessed it, all you can eat waffles. Happening 'til Saturday!

The Association of Moving Image Archivists is going to be showcasing free films at The Paramount this Saturday starting at 9am and running until 3pm. Enjoy the art of the motion picture.

That's all I've got for now, but I'll be back with some Thanksgiving ideas!

Acupuncture? I barely know her!

So, I checked out South Austin Community Acupuncture for a lot of symptoms, but specifically head crushing migraines. I walked in and Wally was at the desk, being Austiny and weird in his "I Sleep With Strangers at South Austin Community Acupuncture" shirt.

He went over my paperwork and asked me some questions about what I was coming in for. I hadn't been nervous about getting acupuncture until a co-worker had some done and said it was painful a couple times during the session. I realized it was kinda silly, since I have tattoos. But, Wally was assuring and caring about the state of my mind and body. I went back into the room, which is set up community style with lots of recliners and lamps. There was another lady in the room, and Wally went to set her up with some needles first. He asks her "How is your tongue?" and I thought, "Oh snap, this lady has something going on with her tongue." I watched Wally stick needles in her leg and forehead and arm and started getting even more nervous. I realized I hadn't done any research on how it works or what it's supposed to do. How is sticking little needles in my leg going to help anything? What am I doing here??

Wally came over and asked if I was ready, opened a new pack of needles and asked how my tongue was. Ha. He started putting needles in my skin and I didn't feel anything. As soon as he was done and walked away, I felt so relaxed, like all the stress was running out of my body. I was smiling at at the feeling and how quickly it came. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of relaxing. You can tell them when you need to go, in case you fall asleep, and they will make sure you're done and ready to leave on time. After about thirty or forty minutes, he came to remove the needles and wipe the spots down in case of any blood, but again, it wasn't painful. I met him at the desk and he said "I'm going to put a few things in your ear..." and I thought he was going to tell me some things to keep in mind. But he actually put things in my ears. They are little tiny Band-aid looking things, with a tiny metal ball inside. You can press on them for 10-20 seconds to keep the acupuncture benefits flowing, and to help with sleep. I took them off the next morning.

So, I went over a week ago and I've only had one tiny headache. So, yes, definitely go check them out. It's on the cheap, they have great hours, and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. I can't wait to go back!

Say Yes to No....vember

Well, there goes October, huh? Did I see you on 6th street this Halloween? You can double check here!

Getting up before 6am for work sucks. But having the night off is a welcome reward, so I try to take advantage when I can. After I get a nap in. Last night I went back to Mikado Ryotei for the tastiest Philly roll on the north side. We also tried the caterpillar roll, which I highly recommend. Service was great again as well. Be sure to ask for the special roll menu, but be warned, these rolls are extravagant and could feed a small family of four. Or one sushi monster. Accordingly known as me. For dessert we headed downtown to check out Blvd Espresso & Dessert Bar, which was supposed to be open until midnight, but they had closed early. Cute place, but I think we ended up winning at Halcyon. They were out of the Bananas Foster crepes, so that sucked, because they sounded soo good, but my Nutella crepes were dessert heaven. Thin pancakes: best idea ever? I also got the Mexican hot chocolate (with soy milk!), which is the real deal, ya'll. Real melted chocolate and all. We also tried the frozen s'mores, which was tasty, but had more of a coffee than chocolate flavor. Definitely check this place out though, there are so many adult drink combinations (s'mores martini, long island iced coffee) and delectable looking dishes (goat cheese/strawberry salad).

November is already bursting at the seems with action-packed excitement.

Tonight I'm going to SVT for improvised Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew stories, officially known as Cover to Cover. Catch it Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm through November 19th.

Sunday funday for sure. It's time again for Fun Fun Fun...Fest. I've never been! You can catch me there snappin' photos of your fun faces this Sunday. Tickets are still available and the action is happening across four stages.

Sunday is also the day to catch your favorite serial killer, Dexter playing at Jo's downtown every week.

Tuesday, I'm finally going to cross something off my bucket list and try Acupuncture for the first time. My headaches demand it. I went to the open house of South Austin Community Acupunture many many months ago, but they got booked up before I could be seen, and they were kind enough to give me a voucher. Check back for my review!

Fusebox Festival is back and kicking off with a particularly unique and interesting event called Haircuts by Children, this Thursday as part of the East Side Studio Tour (requires tickets, but it includes boatloads of fun), and again for free on Saturday and Sunday. Sign up for your free haircut here! As I normally take my hair into my own hands, I've got no problem seeing what a couple of 5th graders can come up with!

That's all I can pack into this week!