Duck

Hey there.

Here is a duck. :)

Sneak Peak: Cover Page

This is our amazing cover page that we worked so hard on. And we know your jealous because we have the whole magazine and you don't, but there is no need to be, just keep coming on this blog and you can find out how to buy this summer issue. That's it, and have a nice beginning of the summer.

Instructional post

OH NO! You have a couple friends coming over for lunch and nothing is prepared! Don't worry there is an easy solution. All you need is 1 big peice of mozarrella, 8 tomatoes (or more), olive oil, pepper, basil, salt, and red bell pepper (optional), lemon, and vinegar.

1. Cut up all the ingredients (except for pepper and salt) into thinish slices, then take out a large bowl and put the olive oil a small spoonful of vinegar, and two drops of lemon, then add all the ingredients (don't juice the tomatoes because the juice is good).

But you still need a drink! What can you do? Easy either make some hibiscus tea, it's DELICIOUS, or some lemonade (boring), or even just serve some cold water.
for the hbiscus tea you need 1 cup dried hibiscus, and sugar to taste.

2.Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Put hibiscus in a large nonreactive bowl, and pour hot water over it. Steep 30 minutes or longer. Strain through a sieve, and discard hibiscus. Add sugar to taste and more water, if desired, for a less concentrated flavor. Serve hot or cold. (hibiscus tea)

3. For the dessert you can just take a couple different fruits and cut them up, mix them put some lemon juice, and sugar, and the serve it.

How to Choose an Austin Sport

Austin is a very active city, with people biking and running all the time, you might be wondering how you can get in shape. Here are some cool sports that Austin citizens participate in.

1. Running: One of the reasons there are many runners in Austin is because it's so easy to just strap on a pair of running shoes and get out. It's a great way to go see the sights and get exercise at the same time. Runtex is a great place to get all the best running gear.
 

2. Biking: Biking is also huge in Austin. With so many places to go, biking is a really easy way to get around, and is faster and more efficient than running. People living downtown can just jump on their bikes and get anywhere they like, while getting a little exercise in. 

3. Lastly, another popular sport in the hot city of Austin, Texas is swimming. During the summer, many people have trouble finding a sport to do that won't give them heatstroke in the hundred degree weather. Most people turn to swimming, whether it's getting their kids into summer league or just dropping by to swim a few laps at Barton Springs. Most Austin swimmers get their gear from Lane Four Swim Shop. 

Whatever you do, don't just sit on your butt! Get out there :)

Hot Summer Days

Don't let the Texas heat be an excuse to stay inside your air conditioned home all day!  Here are some ideas as to how you can have fun outdoors while staying cool.

1. Rowing Dock: With summer camps, boat rentals, supping, and kayaking you can't miss out on going to the Rowing Dock on Lady Bird Lake.  You will get exercise and have a great time doing it!


2. Highland Lakes: Take a short vacation with the family to Highland Lakes, consisting of 7 different lakes to choose from where you can rent a lake house or a cabin and enjoy fishing, water skiing, jet skiing, swimming, and more!


3. Barton Springs Pool:  If you feel like laying out in the sun and jumping into the cool, refreshing water of a spring filled pool, go to Barton Springs!  This is the hot spot for those hot summer days here in Austin.



4. Sno-Beach: After a long day outside go enjoy a shaved ice at Sno-Beach.  With over 50 flavors you are sure to find something that you will enjoy!



Have fun!

Don't be the lamo that doesn't have any money to spend with friends.  Get a job to get a life! Here is a small guide to get a good summer job in Austin:

1) Apply Early:  Many summer jobs are already taken in the first month of summer, so it is extremely important to apply during the school year, or else you won't have a chance at getting a job at all.

2) Short Commute:  Getting a job with a long commute, not only wastes gas, but is extremely expensive as well. Gas prices are going up and may even get up to 5 dollars.  With a long drive to job you might as well stay home.

3) Finding the Job:  It can be hard to just find a job.  A place to search for jobs is online.  A great site, for Austin jobs is http://www.snagajob.com/jobs/Texas/Austin_jobs.html.  This site helps you find types of jobs (teens, seasonal, Part time, full time . . . ).  Another great site (http://www.simplyhired.com/a/jobs/list/q-research+intern+summer/l-austin,+tx) helps you research on Austin jobs, and applications for internships!

4) Age Matters: When searching for a job most places only want people that are 16 or older.  This is why younger teens should make sure that they apply for places that supports a young community.
                                                     

Johnson's Backyard Garden

Soon, I will be writing an article on Johnson's back yard garden. It is a community supported agricultural (CSA) farm, which means that the poeple who pick the food are volonteers and in return for their help they get a free box of delicious vegetables. I go there often because they are family friends and have yet to volonteer. Whenever I have some pictures I will update this post and add them. Anyways, here is the intersting history of Johnson's backyard garden. It satrted of in a small back yard on Holly street when the Johnson family started growing a vegetable patch that took the whole back yard and then expanded it to the front. Then they started bringing the crops to the Farmers Market and provided about 30 families with vegetables weekly. In 2006 they bought 20 acres just outside of Austin (you can actually see the Frost bank form there) and enlargened their farm. now they have 70 acres and over 1,000 Austinites enjoy their freshly harvested egetables and herbs. So if you are a really amazing person, and love delicious vegetables, eggs, and fair trade coffee, you should totally check out their website (which by the way, is pretty amazing)  for information on volonteering and for subscription to their weekly boxes of vegetables. (This is their website: http://www.jbgorganic.com/about/)

Adele

Adele is one of my favorite artists. Which is why I'm really excited that she's coming to Austin on June 12th for a concert at Stubb's BBQ.

Originally from England, Adele wrote her first single "Hometown Glory" at age 16 in 2007. XL Records heard her song and phoned her, which led to her first signed album, 19, which was released in 2008. She quickly grew in popularity all over Great Britain and the rest of Europe, with her signature song, Chasing Pavements, becoming quite popular in the US. During the 51st Grammy's in 2009 she won awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

She released her second album, 21, this January. Singles like "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" topped the charts in the UK almost instantly. To take a look at her new album check here: http://www.adele.tv/

I'm really excited for when she comes to Austin, and will definitely pay the $40 for a ticket.

Katie

Sara Hickman

As the Texas State Musician of the year, she is interested in raising awareness through music to save Austin Schools.  One of her upcoming appearances is at the Austin Acoustical Cafe here in Austin Texas at 7:00 PM on March 26, 2011.  Find directions to the Cafe here.  Sara Hickman is very involved in her community.  She has raised thousands of dollars for the Dallas Dance for Life, House the Homeless, and other Homeless Shelters.  She has visited Romania and delivered clothing, money, and supplies to orphans.  She even ties her music into helping others.  She is a part of Artistic and Recreational Therapies (ARTS) where she performs for children in burn units, AIDS, and stroke victims.  In 2004 she was the National Ambassador for Half Price Books visiting hospitals and schools across the U.S where she performed and read to the children.  To find out more about Sara Hickman visit her website.

Ann Richards

I wish Ann Richards would come back to life and kick Rick Perry's ass!  That damn Rick Perry is the most evil thug that ever became Governor.  He didn't want anyone to see that our budget is in crisis and hid how much money we were going to have to cough up (which now causing us to have less time to solve this huge problem). Rick Perry, that dumb ass, tried to cover up what he did, and ruined Texan lives.
            If Ann Richards were alive she would make sure that he would get punished for being a dumb ass.  She would also have awesome jokes on how evil and stupid he is.  One of my favorite jokes, not really about Rick Perry, but really funny is “  Let me tell you, sisters, seeing dried egg on a plate in the morning is a lot dirtier than anything I've had to deal with in politics."  I bet her southern charm would put the state back in order. I miss Ann Richards :(
 There is more famous quotes on this link http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/us/richards_quotes.html

Biography of An Austinite

      Her name is Alma, and she knows just where to go and when in Austin, and this is . Whenever I'm with her I always discover new things in Austin. She is very interested in fashion and often goes to shops that are not unpopular, but not widely known, an example of this would be Zara. If you go there you probably would be thinking that it is a popular place, but despite its good quality clothes this newly introduced European store is not very well known "Each time I am over there there are very few people in the store, and I am really happy because I get all the good clothes for myself" said Alma. Alma though, is not so remarkable for the stores she finds but more because of how she spends her free time. She loves to do various forms of art, including glass work, and decorative sewing. To get the material she needs for her glass creations she goes to Blue Moon Glasswork a shop where you can buy all the materials you need, and take lessons on glass blowing and other forms of glasswork. Alma knows most of the food trailers around town, and enjoys getting a full meal from several different trailers.

When normally people do a Weekly exercise they mean going on a run or to the gym, in Alma's case it means going kayaking on lake Austin. She takes her single person kayak and goes down the road to lake Austin where she goes Kayaking for hours.

One las thing about Alma: her love for turtles, in her house she has five different aquariums, and has eight different species of turtles including the common red eared slider, and the less common soft shelled  turtle. It may seem a little crazy to have so many turtles and aquariums to take care of but it is her passion and she doesn't mind the work.

 All in all Alma is an interesting person to know, and fits in perfectly in this city of different people.

Water Polo!

Although I deeply despise water polo, it can be really fun for some people!  For those who don't know what Water Polo is, it's a game played in a pool with two goals and somewhat of a volleyball.  It is a lot like soccer, but you play with your hands.  To be a good player you need to be fairly aggressive and athletic, seeing as you will be treading water the whole time.  There is a ref that stands outside of the pool, he/she can only see what goes on out of the water, so any kicking, pushing, or grabbing that happens under the water is uncontrollable by the ref.  Water Polo is a very high contact sport, so if you are interested in playing be prepared to get a little beat up out there.

If you are a beginner and just want to see what Water Polo is like, you could check out a scrimmage at the UT swim center this weekend, I think between the womans water polo teams at UT and A&M, a swim group at Longhorn Aquatics, ages 12 to 17 will be playing with them!  So, if you want to check it out, you can visit the UT swim center, this Saturday any time after 2.
If you want to join a water polo team and start playing, visit http://www.austinwaterpolo.org/ .  This is the only real, open to everyone, water polo team here in Austin.  The website has practice times, basic information about the club, and directions to where they practice!  The next upcoming event for this team is a tournament in Dallas March 5-6.  This would be another great event to go watch.
Have fun!
Leah 

Japan trip

What up my homies!
I'm going to go on a trip to Japan soon. (My high school band trip). :)
It's going to be CRAZY, since there are toilets that wash your butt, and weird bath tubs
Wish me luck
BTWs- I'm leaving in March

Nice Cafes in Austin

What I always thought was really cool are cafes. They are relaxing, and you can just step in, buy something (usually very cheap) and stay there for as long as you want working, talking or other things. So I decided to put some of my favorite cafes in the actual, central part of town. (By the way they are not in order of preference but just in a random order)

 1.) Russel's Bistro:
Pro's: this restaurant has a large outside deck and serves something I really, really love, which is to say Italian Sodas. Italian sodas are not sodas, they are a sort of syrup with sparkling water with can be found everywhere in Europe really cheap. Some of the classics are mint, lemon, raspberry and all of the red fruits.
Con's: expensive (food wise), slow, and crowded. These defaults really bring down the cafe in my opinion but since it's one of the few I have been to...

Quack's: this is more of a bakery but you can get drinks. It is pretty cheap, and has a really nice atmosphere, and good food, but watch out some of the things are very, very, sugary to the point where after a bite you don't want any more. All of the muffins are really good,  most of the time what they sell changes each time you go there. Overall it is one of my favorites. You should really go they have great stuff, but this is  quack's website !

JP Java's: I love this place!They have good food, and I like the hibiscus tea with a shot of lemonade to help work! They also have a variety of snacks and some sandwiches, also they serve the expressos with original designs on them which are always really cool. The interior is really nice and they have plugs for your computers, as well as free wireless internet. They also have an outside patio with several tables, and a bike rack. The people who work there are really nice and it's always fun to go there!

Teo's: You probably already have been here and technically it is a gelato shop, but the gelato is so good! I just couldn't leave  it out, and by the way for all those coffee lovers they do serve coffee here. They also have an outside porch, and a enormous selection of freshly made gelato. All the ingredients in the gelato are locally grown and organic, so by going here you will be helping Texan farmers! Hint: try lemon, choclate al baccio, and all the others!

I know this is a really long post but I hope this helps! :)

*A

Valentine's Day in Austin

Hey guys, I woke up this morning thinking how great a day it was gonna be. Then I looked at my calender.

It's freaking Valentine's Day...

I've never really liked Valentine's Day, but it is a good was to scam people out of candy and chocolate. But the lovey-dovey stuff gets to be a bit much. For any of you people who actually have some sort of significant other, here are a few places you could take them:

1) If you wanna woo them with an expensive/fancy restaurant, try the Roaring Fork. Their prices may be high, but the food is good. :)

2) If you're more the ambitious type, why not take her on a hot air balloon ride? Austin Aeronauts offers rides right out of Austin. And what could be more romantic than a hot air balloon ride?

3) If you just wanna relaxing place to hang out, check out South Congress. It has many different stores to keep you busy for hours. And the best part is, there's never a lack of things to do.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure it isn't awkward, and have fun :)


Katie

Anthropologie

Since we are supposed to be an Austin magazine, I decided I would post about some stores I think are fun to be at And have great, products. The First store I would like to write about is Anthropologie. This store is AMAZING! There are so many different styles, which is very nice. Warning: the cuts, on the clothes at Anthro. are cut in a very unusual fashion, so make sure you try on your clothes before you buy it.
Here is their website: http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp?cm_guid=1-_-100000000000000005674-_-444906653&cm_mmc=Google-_-Brand_Misspells-_-antropologie-_-Broad+Ad_444906653

*A

Hey Guys

I'm excited to tell you about all of the upcoming events in Austin!  There not too much going on right now, but I suggest you go to South Congress and pick up something for your sweety.

-Madeline   

Russia Day!

Hey everyone!
Yesterday some of the kids in 9th grade here at LASA went to Russia Day.  We had a great time!  We learned how to play Gorodki, which is a lot like bowling but with a wooden stick instead of a bowling ball.  We learned about Vampires, Russian Holidays, Popular Music in Russia, and even how to speak and read Russian!  Be sure to attend next year! 


Пока!
Leah

Hello!

Hey guys. We're the brains behind the up-and-comning magzine, Austin Charm. There are four of us in total, and I guess this makes me Number 1. I really like bunnies, so here's a really awesome bunny picture ---->
 

Smother yourself in the cuteness.

Katie