AroundAustin.Com

Austin Luxury Home for Rent

Enjoy a beautifully landscaped Hill Country setting in the heart of Austin.  This Tuscan villa is minutes from the Lake Bird Lake and Trails, Zilker park, the Capitol, the University of Texas and downtown   Call (888) 899-3580, Sham Nasta, Realtor

This gorgeous house at 124 Birnam Wood Court, Austin, Texas  is now for rent.  Their is more information on this amazing home at http://www.stratfordmountain.com

124 Birnam Wood Ct, Austin, TX 78746
Call (888) 899-3580, Sham Nasta, #1 Custom Homes, Inc-Realtor, $6950 per month

Details:

• 7155 sq ft.
• 5 Bedrooms, 4.5 bath, 3 Living areas
• Luxurious Private Master Suite, children and entertainment areas.
• Gourmet Kitchen with Viking Range, 2 dishwashers, top of the line stainless steel appliances
• Resort style heated pool and spa with waterfall.
• State of art media room and home theatre
• Putting green, game room with second kitchen,
• Inlaid travertine and granite baths, huge tubs, large closets.
• 3 decks
• Exemplary Eanes School District.

Lance Armstrong's Texas Ranch for Sale

 

Lance Armstrong's Texas 447 acre ranch with almost 1900 ft of frontage on the Pedernales River is for sale.  The ranch includes ownership of the gorgeous Dead Man's Hole (pic below).  As expected there are over seven miles of biking trails.  Rumor has it the price is a mere $12 million...a mere pittance in this economy.  Ready to buy?  I'm sure Laura Gottesman can hook you up. 

 

via Lance Armstrong's Texas Ranch, Estate of the Day - Luxist

Lake Travis Mansions

When I first moved here in 1984 I drove out Lake Travis and truly fell in love with Austin.  The view from the area around St. Luke's church was just stunning.  In 1988, I looked at lake lots on Lake Travis--found some for around $80,000 with cute little houses.   Recently, I took a ride out on a friend's boat and snapped some pictures.  These aren't $80,000 cute little houses are they--Here's a few snapshots of how the other half (well ok 1%) live.

Greenling - Organic Groceries Delivered to your Door

Today we are talking to Mason Arnold, "Cookie Monster" of Greenling Organic  Delivery.  Greenling is an Austin based company that delivers fresh organic  produce directly to your door.

AroundAustin: Mason what does Greenling Organic Delivery do?

Mason: We deliver Organic and/or Local food right to people's door.  Everything  is done online.  You browse just like you would at a grocery store, pick and  choose what you want, then schedule it for delivery.

Justice Pest Services

A critter had crawled into one of our vent pipes in the house and died.  Yuck!  The smell was horrible.  I couldn't quite get to it...and my wife wanted it out now.  We called a number of services to get rid of it.  Have you considered signing up for our Platinum program....How's next Monday...we'll send someone out to give you an estimate tomorrow....An estimate?  I wanted, well much more importantly my wife wanted ... that critter out now so the house was usable.  We weren't in the mood to be upsold and frankly an estimate was just not that important.

A friend recommended Justice Pest Services.  We got Mr. Justice on the phone, and he was apologetic that it would take him till that afternoon to get there to help us.  He had a some appointments that he had to take care of but he'd swing by our house on the way home.  Mr. Justice called me about 30 minutes before he needed someone at the house (none of the I'll be there sometime between noon  and 5:00.  He was there on time, got rid of the dead critter and the house smelled better.  After solving our problem he offered to help us put screens up on the vents so it didn't happen again.

Simple customer service from a local Austin business, what a wonderful way to win customers.  I've already got Mr. Justice on speed dial for our pest control needs. 

Justice Pest Services, (512) 261-2465, http://www.justicepestservices.com

Shorn like a Sheep

I did it again.  I made the mistake again.  I went to one of those place, Superclips...Great Cuts...whatever.  As many of you know I prefer going to a real barber--Alan.  Well, unfortunately, Alan had to go out of town on a family emergency and I had to get my hair cut--a friend got me tickets to the Inaugural Ball and I wasn't going to go looking like a sheep dog (pictures from the ball if I manage to make it during the Ice Storm). 

At any rate, I dropped in at 4:00 p.m. today.  They got me right into a chair (got to admit they're convenient).  I started regretting my decision a few minutes later as I was being poked and scraped by clippers that haven't been sharpened since the store opened; my head pushed around; combs being dragged through my hair.  All the while the "stylist" was also answering phone calls, greeting customers who walked in through the door, doing everything but concentrating on the haircut.  I couldn't get out of their fast enough.  Oh the haircut, well it's tolerable. 

I swear I've learned my lesson this time.  I just need to find me an alternate barber...just in case Alan can't accomodate me. 

Want to keep up with what the ice storm is doing?  LCRA Meteorologist has set up a blog at http://brose.statesmanblogs.com/. 

Extreme Livestrong Bands

Lance Armstrong's book got me through some extremely tough times.  To thank him, I buy hundreds of his yellow bands, wear them, and give them away to friends and family.  Now, internationally renowned Austin based jewelry designer Kendra Scott, whose life was also touched by cancer, has come up with a gorgeous limited edition gold edition version of the famous bands to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Lance's diagnosis. 

Kendra's version comes in either 18K white or yellow gold engraved with the Livestrong slogan with a yellow diamond set in the "O." The men's version is a cuff design and the women's band is an oval-shaped bangle with a clasp. Both versions have the Lance Armstrong Foundation slogan "Unity is Strength" inscribed on the inside. There will be 10,296 of the bracelets produced and each one comes with a custom designed black obsidian display base with glass cover. The band will retail for $10,296, with a substantial portion of the purchase price going directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Visit 10296.com for more information on purchasing this bracelet.

Need a Haircut

I've always hated getting haircuts from hair stylists--I don't want my hair shampooed, styled, and sprayed with hair spray.  A nice basic haircut is fine, Thank you.  In college I always went to Wooten's Barber Shop and hoped that the "right" barber chair would open up--get the wrong barber and your hair wouldn't look good for a week. 

That's not a problem at Alan's Hair Design--there's only one chair and Alan cuts your hair every time.  Make an appointment!  Alan has over 40 years of experience cutting hair.  The antique barber chair has been in use for a while longer--over a 100 years.  Alan bought it from the barber that trained him.  Give him a call, show up for your appointment, get a professional haircut in 30 minutes and find out what Alan's family has been up to (son and daughter both barbers, or a grandson he's raising)....soon you'll find yourself rooting for Alan to win the jackpot on one of his Vegas trips. 

Alan's Hair Design, (512) 345-3634, 3445 Executive Center Dr, Austin, TX 78731

BookPeople--Austin's own bookstore

I go to Border's and occasionally Barnes & Noble like most people.  However, my favorite bookstore is Austin's own BookPeople. BookPeople began in 1970 in the student district at the edge of the University of Texas, Austin as Grok Books.  Now at 40,000 SF it's the largest independent bookstore in Texas. 

The store is located on the corner of Sixth Street and Lamar close to other Austin mainstays such as Whole Foods, and Amy's Ice Cream.  It's filled with nooks and crannies where you can go hide and look through your favorite magazine or book--my favorite is the barber's chair on the second floor.  The gift selection is "Austin Hippie" and includes an eclectic variety including incense, statues of Buddha,  Jesus and Sigmund Freud action figures, handcrafted jewelry....

BookPeople also has frequent events that showcase local and national authors.  Authors that have shown up at BookPeople include Amy Henry of Apprentice fame, Kinky Friedman, Deepak Chopra.  Check out the events schedule at their website and definitely check out the bookstore. 

BookPeople, 603 North Lamar, (512) 472-5050.  http://www.bookpeople.com/

Blue Whale Moving Company

Moving soon? Consider Blue Whale Moving--heck your stuff will be moved in the coolest looking truck around. Blue Whale Moving is Austin's largest locally owned moving company. It is owned by a couple of nice guys who treat their employees and customers with respect--they have full-time employees instead of contractors and even give them benefits. I had the pleasure of touring their offices lately and both the office and the storage area are immaculately maintained. It was obvious that Blue Whale takes great pride in a quality move and customer experience. A recent move shows just how careful they are--they managed to move 3,000 Hummels all the way to Dallas without breaking a single one. Amazing!

http://www.bluewhale.com. Blue Whale Moving Company, 8291 Springdale Road, Austin, TX 787324, 512-328-6668

How to handle a screw-up

Finally, a business that knows how to handle a screw-up. I dropped off three frames at Binswanger Glass a couple of days before X'mas after they said they'd be ready X'mas eve by noon. I asked them when they'd close and they said 3:00. I was there at 1:20 and they were closed tight. Needless to say I was steamed especially since one of them was a present for Dad.

When I walked in Monday still a bit hot under the collar, the manager, Terry, came out immediately and apologized, and explained that they'd made a mistake and comped the entire bill (it was significant since one of the pieces being framed was rather large). What a positive way to handle a mistake--not denying it, not making an excuse, heck not even waiting for me to ask what they could do. A good lesson in turning a mistake into a long term customer.

I've always got the glass for my frames at Binswanger because they are friendly, usually handle the job perfectly and deliver quick results.

Binswanger Glass Co, (512) 454-7755 8733 Burnet Rd, Austin, TX

Send a UT Postcard

Want to send a postcard with a University of Texas theme to a friend. Go to www.utexas.edu/inside_ut/postcards/. They have some postcards with great photography. Gotta give credit to Jack from ECA for finding this website. Check out Jack's company if you're interested in call center services. We use 'em and we're thrilled.