Keep Austin Weird

On this beautiful January day in Texas where it's 80 degrees, I'm sitting outside and just saw a guy walk past with a shirt that read "This is Austin not LA". At first this made me think "Yeah! " but then I realized that I don't really know what that means. Is he making a statement on "keeping Austin weird"? Or that despite the successful film industry in Austin we still have values different from LA? The more I think about it the more Austin seems more similar to LA than any other US city. We are extremely vegan and vegetarian friendly, we have a great cross between downtown sites and nature, and we have a great output of creativity. Anyway, this shirt (in addition to making me over think what it means) made me think about all of the many things that I love about the city that I live in.

• It's such a great place to find culture. No matter what you love (art, film, music, food) there is some place somewhere in Austin that you can go to enjoy it. We even have a site dedicated to graffiti that, I swear, changes every day. 
• You can still find the Texas roots. There are amazing BBQ places, two-step halls, amazing sunsets and of course (the true pride of Texas) The University of Texas. 
• It's a city with so many amazing opportunities. It's home to so many corporations that are always looking for delightful college undergrads to bring them coffee. 
• And the most important thing of all.... Sandra Bullock lives here! If that's not a reason to move to Austin I don't know what is. 

It's not that I don't love any of the other cities that I've lived in. I just feel such a great connection to this one and feel so at home here. I hope that you love your city as much as I love mine and if you don't then get out there to find out more about it. Or just move. 

Stay beautiful,

Toto

Travel tips

I've been traveling a lot lately and have discovered that there are SO MANY different types of travel. There is traveling as a kid, as a teen, as an adult. Traveling with family, with friends, with family of friends, etc. Now, in my vast experiences of travel I've cultivated a few tips that I treat as holy scripture when I travel, no matter the destination:

• ALWAYS ALWAYS BRING HEADACHE MEDICINE! Honestly, this is the first and most important tip. Nothing else will matter about your trip if you get a headache from different climate or altitude. The trip could go amazingly perfect but if you don't feel good you will hate yourself and everyone around you. 
• Be able to be honest with whoever you are traveling with. This is crucial for little annoyances that may happen on the trip. You need to be able to say, "Hey, I really hate it when you lean into my seat. Could you stay on your side?" If you don't have that relationship with the people that you're traveling with, you could be uncomfortable for a really long time. 
• Drinks lots of water. This is the one healthy thing about my life. I always drink a lot of water because travel tends to dehydrate me a lot. It also keeps me from feeling sick. 
• Lastly, always bring an outfit to change into immediately after you've reached wherever you are traveling to. You will feel so much better once you have changed out the clothes you've been sitting in all day. 

These tips have kept me from hating whoever I'm traveling with before the trip even technically starts. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do and I've been to some amazing places in my life. If any of you ever have the chance to travel somewhere please, please take advantage of it and have an amazing time no matter what unexpected things will inevitably happen. 

Stay beautiful,

Toto

Create your own happiness

Recently I have been reading a collection of short stories written by Ann Beattie that were published in The New Yorker between 1974-2006. I have only gotten through a few of them and have noticed one thing about each... they tend to center around people that are extremely unhappy. They also don't even have supporting characters that are happy. Now I understand that, in a way, life is about unhappiness. You have to have those valleys to appreciate the peaks. But I'm also a person that needs some sunshine in my life, even if it's just me willing there to be sunshine. Maybe it's just me loving the fairy tale happy ending and being naive. I do appreciate the beauty in tragedies that have been written, one of my favorite books is Wuthering Heights which is hardly a gushy love story. But if I'm gonna be honest, I would much rather focus on the loving than the tortured.

Something I have especially learned this year is that personally, to keep my sanity, I need to think of one positive thing a day. It can be anything from my beloved Longhorns winning a game to just sitting in silence with my best friend drinking tea. I challenge you to do the same thing. No matter how bad your day or life situation may seem, take one minute out of your day to look at a picture of a puppy or listen to your favorite song, I guarantee your outlook on life will slowly begin to improve.

Also HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Stay beautiful,
Toto