A Life Lived in Fear is A Life Half Lived

My family started going to the Texas Renaissance Festival since we were little kids. We used to go every year, and as we got older the visits grew less frequent, but I’ve still been many times.

My friends Zach and Amber go multiple times every year so we decided to meet up at the Fest and hang out. I went early to catch the parade, which I never seem to make on time. I knew the turn was tricky and missed it, but fell in love with Siri when she helped me take some ranch roads back to the highway.

It was no surprise to see some of the same stores, shows, and people that have been going as long as I have, which is over 20 years. It’s nice that some things hadn’t changed except that we’re all getting old. This was my first time to have alone time and I enjoyed going at my own pace.

I got my fish and chips, with some ale, and sat down to wait for the parade. There was no way I was going to shell out any cash for a schedule program, especially after the ATM fee raped me, and I assumed they wouldn’t have changed it since it’s always been at noon. My guess was right and I got most of my pictures from the parade.

I ran into this guy, which ended up being my favorite costume I saw all day. Right after I took this picture, a little girl ran up and squeezed him like he was the cutest thing she’d ever seen. I was impressed because at six year olds, he would have terrified me.

Lots of stages have been added, and places that were empty are now packed with shops and vendors. It’s hard to tell who’s working a shop and who’s just hanging out because they look good. There’s a wedding chapel, and I caught the procession.

The jousting arena has changed a lot over the years, and I only stayed a little while to watch. Zach and Amber arrived about this time so I went back to the entrance to meet them.

The Fest gets more and more packed each year – I read that by the afternoon, there were over 30,000 people in attendance. I managed to buy a bracer, a fox tail (what?), and a hairband for my niece by the end of the day. I had a great time with Zach and Amber and I can see why they go often and camp. I’ll consider camping next year since I really hate it, but it would be fun with them. They know how to ren-party.

I got lost again on the way back but I figured it out. I think I owe Siri a present from bartering with her to get me back to the highway.

I remember when Easter weekend was a very quiet time spent at home, but it seems that Austin had other ideas for Saturday. And they worked out quite nice for me.

I love Saturdays because they start with boxing, so anything past that is very fun. This past Saturday was the Austin Women’s Clothing Swap, which I’ve been waiting for since last year’s event. It is incredibly well organized and is a HUGE swap.

The event was moved to a larger location this year and was chaotic! However, I’m getting good at swaps so I finished up with only one thing that didn’t fit and isn’t worth the effort for altering it, so off to Goodwill it goes. But I got a couple pairs of jeans which made the entire effort worth it. Very excited. The ones I turned into cut-off shorts are Z Cavaricci, which I was never cool enough to have as a kid.

I stopped by Cherrywood Coffeehouse to see my friend’s band, Best Best Best Friends, later in the afternoon. I’m glad my house is far away from there because I would live at that coffeehouse. They were hosting a crawfish boil, which is one of my favorite noms in the world. Best Best Best Friends is a great Dixieland band (that’s how I describe them, anyway) and a fantastic show.

When I walked into the Coffeehouse I saw a sign on the door for a Doctor Who premiere showing – what the what? I hadn’t heard anything about it and I wasn’t looking forward to watching it alone. Providence! I had my evening set. (Hey, you know I had to work the Who in here somewhere, it’s been a common theme lately.)

After the guys played, I went inside to watch the premiere. The room was as quiet as a church with about 15 people watching. We take our Who very seriously. I will have to watch it again since I kept getting up for the yummy food and beer. I was surprised everyone stayed quiet because I was gasping half the episode.

I did miss one thing I wanted to do but there just wasn’t enough time in the day. It sounds like a not-very-exciting day (bet you thought I’d mention The Highball or Drafthouse), but it was all the things I love to do.

This is probably the biggest Fashion Friday I’ll get to write, because I had the pleasure of being a model for the day!

I volunteered to be a part of the Texas 4000 Fashion Show charity event on March 31, 2011. They host it every year to raise money for their ride against cancer from Texas to Alaska. And that’s pretty far, y’all.

They partner with 2nd Street District stores, including BoConcept, Gallery D, and Plain Ivey Jane, to showcase fashion from each store and include silent auctions. A pretty good event all around.

It was a personal challenge for me to participate because the thought of being in a fashion show was pretty terrifying. I have no problem getting on stage now thanks to Thrill the World, but somehow the thought of walking in a square seemed much worse.

I visited Gallery D, where I’d get my outfit, about an hour before the show. The first few choices were very cute and fun just trying them on. We went through some selections and settled on a tank top and skirt combo. I really liked the outfit but I was nervous about the tank because it didn’t fit me very well.

I brought about four pairs of shoes with me in a bag (that I ended up babysitting all evening) because I wasn’t sure what my outfit would look like. When I picked the right shoes, though, it pulled the outfit together, and I was off to do hair and makeup.

The group of models I was with ended up being about 12 girls. There were many more coming later representing different stores. We walked down together and got our hair done at Suede Salon. We all had gorgeous braids and messy buns, which when I got home ended up being about 30 bobby pins to hold it together. We had expected to get our makeup done there but it didn’t work out, and through some quick thinking by the organizer we went to Evie Evan.

Photo by Adored Austin

When we got back to BoConcept to talk about our walking order, my group discovered that two of us, myself one of them, had the same outfit. We ran back to Gallery D and picked out something to wear. (It later turned out we did it again, and had another change, but everyone looked fabulous in the end!)

When it was time to walk, my nervousness was sky high. My legs were shaky, enough to where I was concerned it was visible! I changed how I stood and when it was my turn to walk I tried to go slowly, but it was probably a million miles an hour. I also tried to smile but I was having a hard time making eye contact with the crowd.

I was a little mad at myself for getting so nervous, so on the second walk I did a better job. I was determined to fake it, which does help, and I felt pretty good the second time around. We stopped for photos afterward and I sadly returned the dress to Gallery D.

Photo by Adored Austin

I heard the event brought in $17,000 for Texas 4000. I am so glad for the experience and the opportunity to help! Thanks to Adored Austin for organizing.

I had a great time last week at the TxSCC Clothing Swap that kicked off their style conference. I’m a big fan of swaps because it saves a lot of the work from thrifting, plus at the end of the night the organizers were kind enough to donate the leftover clothing.

The swap was held in the fantastic 2nd Street District, which is one of those Austin places I don’t want to tell anyone about so I can keep it all to myself. I dropped off my clothes to swap, got a drink from Jo’s, then noticed the line already re-forming to get back IN so I got in line.

While waiting in line, I was positioned at one of the windows where I could stare at the clothing that was brought in and sorted by (super cool) volunteers. I saw a black leather mini land on the skirt table and I kept willing everything to get piled on top of it.

I also stared at several fashion bloggers that I follow, thinking that I must look like a stalker peering at them through the window. I didn’t realize they were coming, so I would think, she looks like Jen! she looks like Kendi! and realized it WAS them.

I waited for about an hour, which wasn’t as killer as I expected. It was pretty fun watching all the clothes and knowing I’d have to go for that skirt first and then hopefully pick up some of the other items I saw too. When they let us in, I bee-lined and scored the mini, which was exactly my size.

Photo by swap.com

I spent a fair amount of time looking. The first thought at swaps might be a smash ‘n grab mentality, but I wanted to make sure to get things in my size. You can’t go to a swap with something super specific in mind, like “blue shirt with a flower applique,” because the odds are not in your favor. Instead I would pick up something interesting, dig for the size, and if it was right I put it in my bag and if not I put it down.

Photo by swap.com

At the end of the evening, my haul looked like this.

I was incredibly happy that all but two items fit beautifully, enough to make me giddy. Especially that leather skirt. I need a date to wear it on because I have a feeling it’s not appropriate for work.

The next day I visited Etsy who had an event as part of SXSW. They were featuring Etsy Austin, a collective of local artists, and I wanted everything on display.

They also had two craft areas set up. One was for drawing your own shot glasses, which I dutifully did and sucked at, and a sewing station from BurdaStyle. They were sponsors at the swap and I was thrilled to see them at Etsy. I think it’s a great site idea, especially since I sew* now, and I hope to use their stuff someday. I made a drawstring bag that took about two minutes.

I finished up the day, and my fashion weekend, by visiting the first birthday party of Plain Ivey Jane. I love the dresses and the handmade jewelry. Since I am over budget this month because of Seattle, I walked away empty handed, but I was excited to finally visit the store.

Man, I can’t wait to post a Fashion Friday wearing some of my finds!

* I’m still at tote bags with my sewing. I’ve tried hemming and it’s a disaster.

There are times when I can’t help but embrace my inner geek. Specifically, one of those times is at Datapop.

I can’t believe that I’ve never mentioned Datapop before. The Highball has hosted several shows and I’ve been to all but one. They feature 8-bit/chiptune music from artists around the world.

What’s that you say? 8-bit sounds totally geeky and can’t possibly be any good? You are so wrong. My favorite thing about the Datapop shows is the dancing. These artists really know how to put together a great beat. Take a listen.

USK, who wrote the song in the link above, was my favorite all night. The best thing about the 8-bit performers is their energy.

I love 8BK-ok and it was great to see Michael perform on his own.

The place was packed. I go to the Highball often and it’s rare where any event feels like a full blown concert, and this fell into that category. By the end of the night, moshing had erupted, and it was time to go. But it was definitely worth the experience.

My friend Giraldo blogged about the magical Chris Isaak concert that we attended a few weeks back and did a much better job than I ever could… And yes, I’m the rabid fan! Check it out!

Aaron and I went to the Paramount Theater to catch a screening of Somewhere in Time, one of my favorite movies. (THANK YOU, Paramount!)

It was released in 1980 and stars Christopher Reeve, who is a hero of mine and a forever crush. I’ve been waiting all summer for the screening since it was a full print and I doubt I’ll get another chance to see it in the theater. I have bad allergies so I knew crying would be bad for my sinuses, and I was trying to hold back. I cried ten minutes into the movie.

A quick summary would be that it is a romance between Christopher Reeve’s character who travels back in time to 1912 to meet Jane Seymour’s character. I’m not going to give away more than that because I really, really recommend you watch it.

It feels like it could easily turn into a Harlequin romance from the poster alone. But Chris delivers such an amazing performance that it doesn’t feel dated, even though the style is clearly 70s, and you are drawn in because of him.

Not that Jane Seymour isn’t wonderful, but Chris Reeve will always have my heart. And this movie has one of the best screen kisses of ever.

My mom had this VHS tape when it came out, and I have it at home. I think I started to watch it in high school and it would make me weep for hours. I got the DVD and tried to loan it out but promising tears at the end wasn’t a good sell, and it’s easy to judge based on the cover.

I was concerned I had overly hyped the movie and maybe I was being sentimental and it did suck, but watching it in the theater gave me a new appreciation for it. I came prepared by wearing no makeup and grabbed napkins in the lobby. At the end of the movie, the woman in the row ahead us turned around and said, “I cried when I saw this in the theater in 1980, and it makes me cry each time I watch it.”

The musical theme is the 18th Variation of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. (You know it, check the link.) Just hearing that sometimes on the radio or in a doctor’s office will make me fight back tears.

I discovered that this movie has such a following that there’s a convention held every year to celebrate it at the Grand Hotel. This is the 30th anniversary and they are having a big event! If 1) I could travel and 2) I had lots of money, I would totally, totally go.

Miss you, Chris.

Aaron and I saw that the Highball was having another dance party a few weeks ago, this time themed for the Star Wars: In Concert show (which we enjoyed with my dad on Sunday). For being big geeks, we really don’t have a lot of costumes just hanging in the closet, so they all take some effort. Like the superhero party, we only had a few days notice to throw something together. I had dressed up as The Punisher before so we decided to focus on Aaron’s costume, which he picked as Galen Marek from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

There are many costumes that Galen wears throughout the game but Aaron, as usual, had to pick one of the harder ones. Aaron once dressed up as Raziel from Soul Reaver and painted himself blue if this is any indication of his costume commitment. So our goal was get to this:

Within a week. The full version showed most of the details we wanted to capture for the Jedi Adventure Robe.

My first stop was to Goodwill, where I picked up a brown shirt and slacks, plus a black belt. My next stop was the army surplus store for some webbing and a gun holster for me, but that was about all I got there. I went by Costume World on the way home to try to think of something for the robe, and I lucked out on a Jesus robe.

I told Aaron to stop by Hobby Lobby on the way home. He got Stitch Witch since we can’t sew and some fake pleather stuff. It’s not even pleather so I’m not sure what else to call it. He also went by Joann’s for some buckles (major score), grommets, velcro, clothing dye, and Salvation Army for a perfect belt buckle. All these supplies ended up looking like this on Wednesday.

Aaron had a lot of work to do so we split it up. I did any sewing and Aaron did the buckles and Stitch Witch. Here are how we broke the pieces down.

1. We cut the Jesus robe to be the outer Jedi robe and made the seams using Stitch Witch.

2. This is my favorite part that Aaron made. We used the pleather to create the shoulder/chest straps that Galen wears. Aaron took the buckle from a belt and made it a working belt across the chest. I sewed velco to the four straps that crossed from his chest to behind his back. The shoulder pads were half finished but we liked the way they ended up.
3. Galen wears a gray hoodie, so Aaron just picked up a lightweight one from Gap. We used Aaron’s gray pants (not pictured) that we already had.
4. Aaron took the webbing after coloring it black and created holsters that wrapped around his legs with the buckles. We also used the webbing for the black wrap belt.
5. We took the sleeves off the shirt from Goodwill and used elastic to keep them up near Aaron’s elbows. Aaron added grommets for detailing and pulled the sleeves over black workers gloves.
6. Aaron wrapped and glued aluminum foil for the leggings, and we used the cut legs from the pants from Goodwill for the wraps. We ran out of elastic so Aaron used a tie to keep them up at his knees.

We didn’t have a light saber so we knew we could use one at the Highball. We were both really happy with the final costume even though the process was frustrating because of the time crunch. I think Aaron looks hot.

I went as Mara Jade, which was considerably easier than Aaron’s costume. I think we look good together even though no one knew who we were since we weren’t Luke or Leia. I think next time I’ll go as Lando.

I did a super long (took me two hours!) write up of the gun safety course we took last weekend over as a guest blogger at poshdeluxe.com. Check it out and tell me what you think!

We went to Ballet Austin’s The Nutcracker yesterday. We try to go every year but can’t always afford it; it has been several years since we’ve been so I splurged on tickets.

Splurging, of course, means the cheapest seats in the house, but we still got to go. This production has beautiful costumes and is different than the one I saw growing up, but still amazing.

Growing up, I saw The Nutcracker a million times, mostly because of Brian. Brian was my best friend in school and is probably the person I am most proud of from our hometown. He started ballet late, by dance standards, when we were in high school. But he didn’t let that stop him. And he was always my favorite Nutcracker.

Brian is a professional dancer now, with the Atlanta Ballet. I’m hoping that I’ll take one of my test trips to go to Atlanta to see him dance before he retires. I think he is a beautiful dancer and I miss him terribly.

I remembered on Sunday that I had set a life goal for myself and forgot about it. This is why I’m grateful for 43 Things. One of my life goals is to be one of the party-goers at the beginning of the show. They don’t do any dancing on pointe, and they wear beautiful costumes – what else does a girl need?

Well, lessons I’m sure. I should go back to lessons. It’s hard having so many goals.