Austin City Limits

This weekend was one for the books! I spent the weekend with one of my best friends, college roommate and sorority sister Magen in Austin. Now I'm a Texas transplant, so I hadn't been to Austin before, neither had Magen, so we were prepared to do all the touristy things. First stop, 6th street!

We had dinner at a tex-mex restaurant called..... (insert I have no idea here) but it sure was delicious! The best way to avoid the 45 minute wait, grab the tiny table in the bar area available. It is more fun to sit in the bar area anyway!

Sorry about the picture quality, you know how those iPhones just take incredible low light images...... not.  After dinner we headed to a bar called The Ranch. I ordered a Miller Light and he said,

"Is green Miller Light ok? We slightly over estimated St. Patty's day." 

And I said, "I don't know, is Monopoly Money ok? I slightly over estimated how much money I would make on my boardwalk property." 

We then went to another bar (insert name here that I don't know) and sat on the patio and I gave high fives to everyone who walked by. It was very, very fun for me. If you've never done this, give it a try. Talk about a thrill....

The next morning, we woke up feeling better than expected (at least that was my outlook on the morning) and promptly headed for shopping. Magen did THE BEST job ever plotting out our weekend. Considering neither of us had been to Austin, I think we hit up some pretty killer places. For example, lunch and shopping at The Domain.

It was here at Glorias (which I believe we have in Dallas?) that we had the GENIUS idea to purchase last minute tickets to iHeart Radio Country Fest. Now we are huge country music fans, and had been eyeing the concert for months prior to our Austin arrival. But at the $200+ price tag, our better judgement took over. I decided to randomly check StubHub that morning and what do you know, row one upper deck, which is always my go to seat, was just $67 a ticket. Pricey yes, but for 10 of the best acts in the business, we decided to throw our last-minute boots on, Austin style! 

We could even walk to the venue from the fantastic location of our hotel, but first, let's take a #selfie. 

I'm not usually a #selfie fan, but I can't get that damn song out of my head. Anyway, how about that walk to the concert? Talk about gorgeous weather....

If you follow me on twitter, I apologize I went a little crazy with the tweets, but in my defense, they kept picking my tweets to show on the jumbo tron! This made me way more excited than it should, but oh well, life is too short not to get excited over jumbo tron tweets. 

The concert lasted until around 12:30, we ordered all the food from the hotel when we got back, and headed to bed. The next morning called for brunch at this adorable place called Searsucker, followed by exploring my new favorite city. I can see why people would choose to attend that other UT, I would love to live in Austin for 4 (and a half) years! 

Before I say peace out today, and maybe for tomorrow because I try to avoid the internet like the plague on April Fool's Day, I've got someone I want you to meet! Lesley from By the Porchlight is bringing you.... are you ready for this.... A SPICE WORLD DRINKING GAME. Holy epic-ness Batman!!! Now if we can somehow get them to get back together for a world tour and give us all free tickets, that would really be incredible! 

Possible house rules:

2 drinks every time someone in the room accidentally starts talking with an English accent

1 drink every time you get the urge to slap someone

1 drink every time you get caught looking at the muscle men’s crotches

Photo Credits:

Zebra | Rubber chicken | Tie | Geri | Posh | Spice grp 1 | Spice grp 2 | Lollipop

Be sure to go say Hey Girl Hey to Lesley on her blog, the twitter contraption and on instagram!! Because you know darn well that you should be following anyone who has the creativity and the good sense to put together a Spice World Drinking Game!  

The Baseball Lineup According To Carrie Bradshaw

As I mentioned on Wednesday, today is a special themed BASEBALL OPENING DAY Fan Friday! I am teaming up with one of the biggest baseball fans I know, Marty from Marty with the Party! Link up anything baseball related... because hello, yay for this National Holiday: Opening Day!

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So I have about 15 old old old posts from 2010 that have around 22 page views each. I would say that I probably clicked most of them 20 times, and my mom made up for the other 2. These are mostly tutorial sports posts, that I'm actually really proud of, and are the whole reason I started Venus Trapped in Mars. Today, I wanted to bring one back from the dead, but of course I've updated and made some changes, in the event that you were one of those 22 views. 

There is more to baseball than tight pants and beer...

In baseball, you have one team on the field (defense) and one team at bat (offense).

Let's talk offense. Unlike most sports, the offensive players step up to the plate to try and score one at a time. Even though the average baseball team can have anywhere from 18-30 men on a roster, only 9 guys get to be part of the batting lineup. 

Let's start by going over the batting lineup. The way I'm going to teach this is by relating to a little show you may have heard of, Sex and the City!

Let's pretend Carrie Bradshaw is the coach of a pretend baseball team. As a coach she needs to put together the most powerful lineup possible, so the members of her team will include her past relationships. 

Batter 1: The first batter, aka the "lead-off hitter", needs to be someone really fast. Your goal is to get them on base no matter what. An ideal lead-off hitter gets on base about 70% of the time. With that said, a lead-off hitter isn't going to be the homerun king. They don't have a lot of power or strength but they are fast and reliable.

Carrie's Leadoff Batter: John McFadden. He was a fast talker, without much substance. Anytime Carrie had a terrible breakup he was always right there to, uh, we will call it, "run the bases" with her.

Batter 2: Very similar to batter number one, but a bit more of a successful hitter. He has the chance for extra bases by hitting a double, but his first job is to move batter number one from first to second base, by whatever means necessary. Unfortunately for batter number 2, many times he has to sacrifice his spot on a base for someone else, by either bunting or hitting a sacrifice fly ball to the outfield. 

Carrie's batter 2: Jack Berger. I just never understood him! I loved him so much and they always had so much in common, but they could never move forward in their relationship. Berger basically always made contact with the ball but before he could get to a base he would do something to screw it up and eventually Carrie threw him out.

Batter 3: Second best batter in your lineup. He has all the goods. Heavy hitter, fast, strong, quick thinking, the total package. He hits homeruns, gets on base and puts points on the scoreboard. In the end though, he really just isn't quite good enough to be labeled the best!

Carrie's batter 3: Aidan Shaw. Aidan was cute, charming, handsome, romantic and for any other girl would presumably be the total package. He was absolutely vital to Carrie's life and relationship journey, but let's face it, he just wasn't batter #4...

The BIG Batter 4: aka the "Cleanup Hitter" The reason he is put in the number 4 slot is because in an ideal situation, the first three batters should now all be on base. Then steps up the BIG man, the guy that is going to be the ONE for your team and hit a grand slam! 

Carrie's Cleanup: Duh, Big! The one, her true love, her man friend. The weird thing here is that Big never really seemed to clean anything up, he always just seemed to make a big ole mess.

Batters 5,6,7 and 8: In the interest of saving time, let me sum up their goal in one phrase, GET ON BASE AND SCORE!! They aren't swinging for the fences in hopes of a home run. They are looking for singles and doubles and to advance the runner.

Carrie's Batters 5, 6, 7 and 8:

Batter 5: David Duchovny's character Jeremy. He and Carrie dated throughout high school then he re-appears in true dramatic fashion! Too bad he is a psycho in a mental institution...

Batter 6: Vaughn the writer. He seems like a winner right off the bat. Carrie is infatuated with not only him but also his family. They start to build chemistry big time, then right when you think this guy is going to be a big hitter in Carrie's life, out of left field she finds a big shortcoming!

Batter 7: Bill Kelley the smooth talking politician. I thought they made a super cute couple and they dated for a while, seemed to have chemistry, but when he asked her to pee on him, um yeah def. not the BIG hero in this story!

Batter 8: Aleksander Petrovsky, "The Russian". A lot of people thought this was the guy Carrie was going to end up with. For sure a big hitter with the ability to hit grand slams. But in the 8th batter slot, just doesn't quite live up to your BIG cleanup hitter.

Batter 9: Batter 9 is a joke. They usually are your team's pitcher. They are terrible, no chance of scoring, no potential, and usually, they end up having to bunt (that means they purposely tap the ball just about 3 feet).

Carries Batter Number 9: Stannnnnyyyyyyyyyy! Yeah, I don't see Stanny scoring with Carrie in the near future. 

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5 Cheap and Healthy Lunch Ideas for the Busy Girl

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #TENways http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Actually, let me go ahead and add on to that post title,

"5 Cheap and Healthy Lunch Ideas for the Busy Girl that Can't Cook to Save Her Life but Wants to be Fit and Confident in a Bikini this Summer Without Spending A Small Fortune at the Gourmet Hipster Salad Shop Everyday on her Lunch Break."

Ok, I feel better now.

First, let's talk about drinking large amounts of calories throughout the day. It is just silliness to waste empty calories on sugary, high calorie drinks. Save those calories for a second helping of low-cal, sugar free ice cream later on in the day when you're watching biggest loser. Come on, don't lie, I know we all eat ice cream while watching the biggest loser. Eating ice cream is to biggest loser as Kayne is to Kayne. (Did I use that joke right?)

The drinks I have stocked in my fridge right now are these new ten calorie, full flavor soft drinks. I first found them when I grabbed a whole big case at Walmart to keep on hand in my hotel room during my 10 day trip to Miami. There are four different flavors including 7UP, Sunkist, A&W and Canada Dry. I wanted to be sure to have those within an arms-reach instead of a pointless, high cal drink from the vending machine. They are only 10 calories, but don't sacrifice any of that taste and full flavor we all love in our soft drinks. 

I mean, which would you rather have, an attention-grabbing-for-all-the-right-reasons beach bod, or a bathing suit that could double as a parachute and flotation device? I am not going skydiving, and I already know how to swim, so I'll opt for the hot beach bod and the 10 cal beverage! With that said, now you know why I've paired the 7up Ten with each of my work week lunches!

So let's get started, I've listed out lunches that are healthy, easy (my dog could make these) and inexpensive. Way less than eating out for lunch each day! These aren't intended be life changing, I'm no chef, just a workin' girl trying to make every day a little easier! 

Adapted from this recipe here

So there you have it, 5 healthy lunch ideas that all use pretty much the exact same ingredients, just switched around. The more you can use the same ingredients for different purposes, obviously the cheaper your final bill will be! 

Another way to get your final bill cheaper is to use a coupon, which I just so happen to have for you! Take $0.50 off of the purchase of TWO 2 Liter bottles or TWO 4-pack cans of 7UP TEN, A&W TEN, Canada Dry TEN, RC TEN or Sunkist TEN soda. Offer available while supplies last, from 3/27-4/17.  For more info, check the Four Ten Calorie DPSG products on Facebook and Twitter!