It's going to be GRE-at!

Just a note...I'm taking the GRE at 12:30 this afternoon. If you have any extra prayers, hopes, or coins tossed in fountains to spare, I'd be much obliged. Back next week with some really good stories! (One of them involves me and a baby alligator.) Muchos gracias!

Winner winner chicken dinner

Drum roll, please? The winner of the Shabby Apple giveaway is...

Megan from Tea and Cake Time who said..."Oh man, I spend so much time drooling over these dresses! Seriously, so hard to pick a favorite...but! The Oh La La, with the red/black/white and stripes? Yes, please. :)"

Congrats, Megan! Check your inbox for more details. For the rest of y'all, don't forget to use the coupon code gretchenalice10off to score an extra %10 off your purchase. Because I believe what it says on the Alamdome--we are all winners.

That dress looks nice on you: Shabby Apple Giveaway

Hey folks! So I was recently contacted by Shabby Apple asking if I'd like to do a giveaway of one of their dresses. I was all, "Let me think about it...YES." I've been a fan of their dress collection for a couple of years now. They specialize in women's dresses, little girl's dresses, accessories, and the cutest swim suits I've seriously ever seen. There's something about their clothing that just evokes romanticism.

One of you will be lucky enough to win a new dress from their spring line. It's called the Bali Ha'i and I can't get enough of that orchid color. If you live by a beach, you could totally wear it there, but if not, this dress would look great for an evening out to a neighborhood French cafe followed up with a production of South Pacific.

So! Want to win this dress? Here's how...

The Rules
1. Leave a comment on this post. If you like, click over to Shabby Apple and tell me what you like of theirs. Also, please provide your email address so that I can get in contact with you if you're the lucky winner. U.S. residents only, please.

2.  Yeah, that's about it. But wait! If you'd like to submit up to two additional entries, you can do the following.

Extra Entry #1: Go "like" Shabby Apple on Facebook and leave a separate comment here saying that you did. If you already like them on facebook, leave a comment anyway!

Extra Entry #2: Post a link to this contest on your blog, twitter, tumblr, etc...you get the idea. Feel free to post about it as many times as you like, but you only need to do it once on one of those for it to count. And then leave a separate comment here with a link to your mention of the contest.

To recap: You may enter up to three (3) times, each with a separate comment so I can properly choose a completely random winner.

The contest will close on April 18th, 2011 at 11:59 PM CST and the winner will be announced the following day. If the winner doesn't reply, a new winner will be drawn. You know how it goes.

Guess what! Even if you don't win or if you see something on there you just can't live without, you can still get an extra 10% off your purchase by using the coupon code gretchenalice10off.

{Disclaimer stuff...The dress is being provided by the fine folks over at Shabby Apple. All views and opinions are mine. Also, I'm now a Shabby Apple affiliate, which means that if you purchase anything from the links on my website, I do receive some minor compensation. No one forced me to do this. Also, I think you're swell.}

There was $250,000 lining the walls of that stand!

If there's one sure way to my heart, I swear it's through puns and wordplay. One of my friends once said, "You can tell if something is really punny because Gretchen will have a half-smile on her face for the rest of the day." When I was deciding which food truck to visit for Street Food Friday, I didn't look any further than Bananarchy.

I was greeted by the owner, whose name is Anna. FOR REAL. As in...do I need to spell it out for you? I guess some people are just born into their destiny.

She got the idea for a real-life frozen banana stand following an Arrested Development marathon a couple years back.

This is Anna. We had a grand time talking about Austin and nail polish and all sorts of fun stuff. The note on the tip jar is a little hard to read in this shot, but it asks you to "Keep money in the banana stand."

The menu's pretty simple. You can mix'n'match your own flavors or choose from one of six specialties: Afternoon Delight, Hippy Dippy, Cookie Crumble, Milly Vanilly, Joe Banana, and The GOB. (I like that they recognize their humble AD roots in two of the flavors.) The GOB, for the record, is two whole bananas double-dipped with extra peanuts and two spoons. "You think the guy wearing a $4,000 suit would order a halfsie? Come ON!"

I ordered a halfsie Cookie Crumble (chocolate dip with oreo and chocolate chip cookie crumbs) and a halfsie Afternoon Delight (vanilla dipped, then peanut butter dipped, then chocolate dipped rolled in graham cracker crumbs and peanuts). You guys...they were so good. The cold, tangy banana offset the decadent toppings perfectly. I can't wait to go back--next time, I'm getting the GOB.

Viva La Revolución!

Bananarchy is located at 600 S. Lamar in Austin. (Twitter | Facebook | Blog)

Make Some Noise

Allow me to be at my most insufferably hipster right now. "Fictionist? Yeah, I liked them before they were cool." But I really did. Really. I saw them at a tiny little venue in Rexburg, ID waaaaaay back when they were still called Good Morning Maxfield. (Knowing a band before they change their name? That's the stuff hardcore hipsters are made of.) It was love at first listen...I nearly wore the cd out that semester. I followed them through the change to Fictionist and even had a chance to attend a release party for Invisible Hand. When I got back from my mission, one of the first things I did was to check out their latest album, Lasting Echo.

I hear their stuff and I think to myself, "That's some epic music there." I don't mean epic in the overused win/fail sense of the internet, I mean epic in the battles won, oceans crossed, legends told for eons kind of epic. The band members have a great sense of what it takes to with their fans and make good use of their social media powers. Like, they give out a new free song every month. How legit is that? (Find them on twitter and facebook.)

Long story short, these guys are in the running to be on the cover of Rolling Stone, just like the Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show song. They're up against seven other bands, but I can personally vouch that Fictionist is not only ridiculously talented, that they are also some of the hardest-working guys in the music business.

If you like, you can vote for them here. (Five stars por favor.)

Still not convinced? Listen to "Blue-eyed Universe," one of my favorites from Lasting Echo.


Keep calm and hipster on, or whatever the cool kids are saying these days.

Link Love

I'm going to be participating in a project called Street Food Friday...check back next Friday for my post and in the meantime, read Jess's review of Tamale Spaceship  in Chicago and Lacey's review of Korilla in NYC.

Be sure to check out this super inspirational video...

Emma Watson is adorable. No wonder my kid brother is so in love with her.

Ever wondered how to make spaetzle?

I picked up a copy of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food at Borders for 70% off. I can't wait to delve into it.

My first BDH post discusses "Why Fantasy?" There's some fantastic discussion in the comments as well.

In the spirit of April Fool's Day, one of my favorite pranks that Jim plays on Dwight...
Jim Halpert: [Jim sits at his desk, dressed like Dwight] Question. What kind of bear is best?
Dwight Schrute: That's a ridiculous question.
Jim Halpert: False. Black bear.
Dwight Schrute: Well, that's debatable. There are basically two schools of thought...
Jim Halpert: Bears eat beets. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.
Dwight Schrute: Bears do not... what is going on? What are you doing?
Jim Halpert: [Talking head] Last week I was in a drugstore, and I saw these glasses for $4.00. And it only cost me $7.00 to recreate the rest of the ensemble. And that is a grand total of $11.00.
Dwight Schrute: [Back at their desks] You know what? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I thank you.
[Jim takes a bobblehead doll out of his suitcase and sets it on his desk]
Dwight Schrute: Identity theft is not a joke, Jim! Millions of families suffer every year!
Jim Halpert: MICHAEL!
Dwight Schrute: Oh, that's funny. MICHAEL!

Japan is still very much on everyone's mind and this amazing Japanese photo blog captures the beauty that remains in this time of trouble.

I made these crispy shrimp tacos the other night for dinner and they were amazing delicious. Better yet, they were crazy easy to make.

Have you seen the first look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two yet? Left me breathless.