Archive for February, 2011

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MONDAY MUNCHIES: Green curry’s hot hot heat


2011
02.07

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Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »

I’ve been disappointed by Thai green curry sauces before, in my quest for hot, hot heat (see the Thai Kitchen disappointment for evidence). After Celebrity Intern did a little of his trademark research, however, we found an ass-kicking green curry sauce that really serves up the face-melting goods.

Its name is Mae Ploy Green Curry Paste, and this little bucket of green chili delight is clearly a ploy to steal both my tastebuds and my heart!

In Austin, you can buy it at places like Whole Foods and Central Market. It also comes in red and yellow varieties, which we highly recommend. Or you can purchase it for $3.99 a tub at Amazon, that fine purveyor of books and Thai goods (?!).

Happy face-melting!

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Amazing under $20 Valentine’s Day gift round-up and contest


2011
02.04

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Posted in Contests, Frugal Fashion, Holidays | 1 Comment »

Let’s face it, peeps: Valentine’s Day is sneaking up on us like a thief in the night, and instead of whining about how you don’t have any money to impress your lady friend, you need to buck up and get her a nice, yet inexpensive gift that will keep the love flowing. Yes, it’s a Hallmark “holiday.” Yes, it’s designed to make those of you un-partnered types feel bad about yourselves. Yes, you can stew in your juices hating it…

… or you can take our advice and BUY SOMETHING PURTY. Do it for your lady friend or do it for yourself! Either way, it’ll brighten someone’s day to get a nice little box delivered to the door. And we promise not to break your bank account with insane swag that you’ll never be able to afford, NOR your New Year’s resolutions to get in shape—although our favorite cheap, sweet, chocolatey treats will be featured on Monday Munchies next week!

While we firmly believe that true love cannot be bought, sometimes a little token of your affection can go a long way to plucking the heartstrings. We say don’t hate; get a date! So, without further ado, here are our AMAZING UNDER $20 VALENTINE’S DAY GIFT RECOMMENDATIONS for your perusal.

First up, please check out the sweet deals at Kohl’s, as they’re currently having a 99-cent deal on standard shipping. (Seriously, thank you, Kohl’s. There’s nothing we hate more than having to spend $50 or $100 to get “free” shipping!) For the long-term lady in your life, perhaps a bit of fancy lingerie?

LEFT: SO Scribble Heart Convertible Push-Up Bra, $13.99 / RIGHT: Candie’s Silver-Tone Crystal Heart Drop Earrings, $7

Not feelin’ the heat? What about some free jewelry (with $6.99 shipping) from FreeJewelry.com?

LEFT: Yippee Ring / RIGHT: Black Heart Shell Earrings, both $6.99 at FreeJewelry.com

Okay, maybe your gal’s more of a homemade/vintage/local business-supporting type? Here are some great finds from Etsy, all made by Austin designers:

Kiss Me/Be Mine conversation heart earrings, $8 by alliteration

Mechanics of Love steampunk earrings, $18 by turnerstokens

Wings of My Heart necklace, $15 by knottyknowles

Vertex - Skulls & Hearts Earrings, $9.50 by polishedtwo

Anatomical Heart Vintage Graphic Pendant, $7 by NotSoDotty

I Love Brains Necklace, $16 by LoadedGlueGun

Home is Where the Heart Is Art Locket, $15 by steel

Bathing Beauty Pinup Earrings, $8 by BombshellKitty

Love Filled Shell Necklace, $20 by thestarsatnight

See? A little something for everyone. And if you didn’t see anything you liked, remember to hit up Etsy and click the “shop local” button to search Austin wares. Type in your budget’s range to narrow the search to a manageable level, and away you go!

VALENTINE’S CONTEST

Finally, if you’ve literally got no dough to show your gal pal a good time this Valentine’s Day, be sure to enter Goodwill’s Show the Love contest by creating a heartfelt valentine for Austin Goodwill.

Whether your valentine is written, painted, sculpted, drawn, sung or danced, you can send it to Goodwill directly via their Twitter account, Facebook page or website for the chance to win prizes like a couple’s massage from Myo Massage, a dinner for two and a Goodwill gift card.

For full details, please see AustinGoodwill.org.

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Frugal Fashion Friday: Because budget clothing doesn’t have to suck


2011
02.04

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Posted in Frugal Fashion | 1 Comment »

Fridays are quite the hodgepodge, here at Shoestring Austin. We love freebies, and enjoy highlighting the best of the best here—particularly if they’ve got an Austin connection. But we also know that, sometimes, free just means cheap.

And not in a good way.

So we set out on a fashion experiment, to see if we could locate some free or cheap (in a good way!) clothing and accessories that you fashionistas might actually WANT to incorporate into your wardrobe.

The bad news? It’s hard to find free stuff that doesn’t suck.

The good news? We found some AWESOME stuff that costs more than nothing, but a lot less than the stuff you’ll find at the average fashion blog or on the pages of Vogue. (Oh, and Vogue? If you’re reading this, let’s do a give-away!)

Here’s what we found:

Free Jewelry (Online)

If you like jewelry and change your accessories often, you’ve probably already heard of Silver Jewelry Club—a website that gives away free silver and gemstone jewelry.

Sample scores from Silver Jewelry Club

Yep, free jewelry. How crazy is that?

Okay, so it’s not entirely free, as you do have to pay for shipping ($6.99), but it’s pretty darn close. And the reason they’re giving away free jewelry is to get you interested in their full catalogue, located at Peora.com, which features a wider selection of gemstones and silver jewelry, at correspondingly higher prices.

We also tried a site called FreeJewelry.com, which offered a variety of “celebrity” styles and a lot more selection, whether you’re into beads, bangles, freshwater pearls, turquoise, or even Valentine’s Day jewelry for that special someone (hint hint!). This site orders items in bulk to pass the savings along to you, the consumer, again charging only for shipping (and even using the same fee of $6.99).

We poked around the site and found a great looking jade necklace, which we had delivered straight to our office in about a week we’re still waiting to appear, despite the fact that the USPS tracking number says it’s been delivered. Hmm. (Check back next week; we’ll let you know how it all pans out.)

Frugal Fashions (Around Town)

After our favorite online destination for pretty much everything (i.e. eBay), we asked locals to share some of their Austin secrets.

For those looking to recycle their duds while also purchasing new-to-you items, there are at least two high-quality options in town: Plato’s Closet and Buffalo Exchange.

Both shops will purchase gently-used clothing that’s trendy enough to be re-sold in their boutiques, so you can potentially make a bit of money from the stuff in your closet you don’t wear anymore. That is, if you can resist the temptation to spend it in the store!

THRIFT STORES

For those looking to go even cheaper, or who are looking for more vintage scores, there are LOTS of thrift stores here in Austin. Here’s a short list of the major players to help you find your way:

CONSIGNMENT STORES

Similar to shops like Buffalo Exchange or Plato’s Closet, you can sometimes get a good deal on your used duds by having a consignment store re-sell your gently used clothing for you—although they won’t give you the cash up front. In Austin, here are some consignment shops to check out if you’ve got specialty items you’re looking to buy or sell:

In summary: the answer is YES, ladies and gents, you CAN buy great-looking clothes on a budget. Austin is full of discount and used clothing options, so get out there and scoot your boots ’til you find what suits ya!

P.S. Be sure to check back later today for our red-hot, under $20 Valentine’s Day gift list to find some surefire winners for your lady love!

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Weird Wednesday


2011
02.02

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As everyone who lives here undoubtedly already knows (and often chafes against), Austin’s unofficial motto is “Keep Austin Weird.”

Great. Lovely. Fabulous, even. But ever since I arrived here, I’ve been trying to figure out what, exactly, makes this city so allegedly weird. Maybe my expectations are too high; after all, I have lived in New York City, which is pretty much The King of All Weird. But, for heaven’s sakes, even my previous hometown of Montreal was weirder than this place. (Dude, are you trying to tell me strip clubs on every corner of a town’s main drag is NORMAL?!)

Weird City by Joshua Long Thus I have turned to the experts: former Austinite Joshua Long, author of the nonfictional book Weird City: Sense of Place and Creative Resistance in Austin, Texas, and current Austinite Amelia Gray, author of the fictional book Museum of the Weird.

According to Long, Austin is a creative city that recently experienced a population explosion with the Tech Boom, bringing with it all the accompanying growing pains of any city-in-progress. Locals remember it “back when” (usually in some golden era of the 1970s, clothed in full hippie regalia), and new residents want to incorporate their own “weirdness” from California, New York, or what have you. His book chronicles all of this, from then to now, in great cultural geographical detail. I highly recommend it.

Museum of the Weird by Amelia GrayGray, on the other hand, revels in the daily absurdities Austin has to offer, inspired more by the actual Museum of the Weird down on 6th Street. In her book of short stories she documents penguins and armadillos chatting in bars, men who’ve married inanimate objects like penknives and bags of frozen Tilapia, and women on awkward dates who find themselves presented with plates of human hair. These stories are more up my particular alley of weirdness, and on the scale from 1 to odd I’d give them a rating of Definitely Bizarre (though not Bizarro World). Again, highly recommended.

So what, you may be asking, is indeed my POINT? Well, inspired by Amelia’s Museum of the Weird and Joshua’s tales of the creative city-in-progress, I’ve decided to institute a weekly post on this very topic.

Welcome to WEIRD WEDNESDAY, where features may or may not include any or all of the following:

  • Restaurants with weird themes or foods
  • Boutiques that jangle my weird-o-meter
  • Local weirdos (meant in the kindest and best possible way, of course)
  • Odd illustrations and photographic documentation of local weirdness
  • Guest posts by weird peeps about weird projects

I hope you enjoy the ride, and if you’d care to contribute to the weirdness, I’d love to hear from you! Hit me up using the contact page, or tweet me @shoestringATX and we’ll do lunch.

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Happy Groundhog Day!


2011
02.02

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Happy Groundhog Day, all! No wonder Austin’s weather has been wild and crazy lately; the little bugger’s been rustling underground, unsure whether to report 6 more weeks of winter or an early spring. And while Monday was balmy and damn-near tropical, Tuesday was a horrible flashback of winter weather with the chilly temps and cold rain.

Thanks, but no thanks. So what’s the haps on the predictions?

Punxsutawney Phil, take it away!

According to Phil, aka “The Prognosticator of Prognosticators,” or the one and only groundhog in the U.S. capable of divining the upcoming weather, Spring’s coming early this year! Sweet, cus I was much more excited about being able to write blogs on my balcony in the middle of winter, particularly while most of the northern states are buried under wall to wall snow.

Another hilarious addition to today’s Weird Wednesday info: in French Canada, Groundhog Day is known as “Jour de la marmotte.” Say that out loud, and share the laughter. It’ll keep you warm while you’re jumping up and down in the freezing winds, waiting for Phil’s predictions to finally come true.

Oh, and click here to send someone you love a little good news, straight from Punxsutawney, PA.

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