Me & my last half-gallon of Mint and Honey Green Tea.(Texas Highway 67. Davis Mountains are in the background.)

By, Carol Childress

So, I immediately “sprung” into action (sending a message to them asking to foster them.)  I was told to fill out a foster application and they would contact me.  So I went about my day, almost forgetting what I had done in my morning daze, and went to the Austin Hot Sauce Festival with @SarahKWolf.  As we were leaving I received a phone call from APA! (Austin Pets Alive!) saying that I could get the kittens as early as that afternoon.  I said YES, and rushed home to kitten proof my apartment.  Willa and Winona showed up at 6pm in a kitty box.

They had kitten colds from the shelter, but I’m giving them pills for that.   They are feisty, have sharp teeth, and aren’t pill poppers because they LOVE to spit pills out.  So, I have to tough love them to make them take their medicine.  Some say, “a spoon full of sugar.”  I call BS and say a strong finger and a firm grip.  :)

I have to keep them in the bathroom for a couple of days so my cat doesn’t get their sickness, and they are always having a wrestling match in there.  Playing with toys, knocking over their water, cuddling, etc.

THEY ARE ADORABLE, and to think, YOU could adopt these (see below) cute kittens in a month and a half from the SOCO APA! Trailer!

If you would like to know how to get involved with APA!  click here.  Fostering isn’t permanent, and it saves the life of a perfectly healthy kitten.  Please go to Austin Pets Alive website and see what they are all about and let’s make Austin a Kill Free city.

So now, I watch them till they are healthy, then ready to be neutered, then take them to the trailer.

If you know me, you know I love cats.  I have one of my own ==> click here to read about my cat BIRD! So, every night I get home, I have a KAT PARTY and play with feathers, string, and loving them every day. By the time one lucky person picks these kittens up they will sit, high five, roll over, and know how to Techno Dance:

As a kid, I remember sitting down with my family and enjoying the delicious brisket and sausage these guys cook up daily. I also remember when needing a little salt and pepper on my food, I would have to take a pinch of a mixture of salt and pepper from a tray they had on each table. Now that Sweet Leaf Tea is in the world, they have taken good use to recycled bottles and turn them into salt and pepper shakers. The folks at Kreuz must know that nothing goes best with barbeque than some homemade goodness in a bottle. Now that you are hungry and thirsty, take a weekend drive down to Lockhart, Texas and get you some!

I began binge drinking Sweet Leaf years ago, but the obsession truly settled in the fall semester of my junior year at the University of Texas. I was on campus more hours than what any sane person would consider a reasonable, tolerable amount. And I knew I’d have to find a way to either get through it, or get over it.

I’m sure it all started one day when the Texas weather pretended to be turning to fall, but really stayed 105 degrees. And I’m sure it had something to do with a class called Management Information Systems, and the fact that I had adopted the library as my legitimate living space. But those are just details. One of those days, which all stream together, I opened my bottle of Mint and Honey Sweet Leaf Tea to find my first Grannyism.

I fell in love with the Grannyisms, and I love them almost as much as I love the actual tea itself. It was like getting a fortune cookie… except better because the tea doesn’t taste like Splenda covered cardboard. I soon began my unreasonable obsession of collecting the Sweet Leaf caps. It was a little compulsive, but that’s a little bit of who I am. I saved every cap, and made sure that my friends didn’t even think about throwing theirs way. I would hoard them around in my bag like a crazy lady. No, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them. Yes, I knew that most people believed I was carrying around trash. But it really didn’t matter… I stashed them in drawers throughout my house and my roommates didn’t seem to mind at all. After what seemed like a decade, the unfortunate semester came to an end. Nearly 124 Sweet Leafs (and 4 premature wrinkles) later,  I decided it was time I actually did something with the caps.

My Sweet Leaf art now hangs in our kitchen with a few of my most cherished Grannyisms, like, “Puppy love is real to puppies.” And the very appropriate, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

As it turns out, I am scheduled for 8 a.m. class the fall semester of my senior year as well. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that history repeats itself. So, let the binge tea drinking begin.

- @MellyPeacox

I flew in Thursday night so I could spend Friday rolling about the greater Denver area on two-wheels, soaking in the town before hanging out and jammin’ to music Saturday and Sunday. My goal was to leave the cute little city of Wheat Ridge and head into downtown Denver, hop onto the Cherry Creek trail and then do the Cherry Creek Reservoir Loop, but once you get rolling through strange territory, anything can happen!

I met the nice folks over at Wheatridge Cyclery for some essentials and then headed on my merry way to cruise through town. The ride was deliciously flat and I couldn’t help but smile the whole way to downtown Denver. All of a sudden I was there and there were bike lanes, bike signs, riders and even the beginning of a trail system that went all over the place. I took some pictures and then headed along the trail. I realized that I had no idea how to get on the Cherry Creek Trail and threw caution to the wind and just headed on a trail hoping for the best. I wrapped around an amusement park that was like Six Flags and then Mile High Stadium and then I got a flat tire. No big deal, as I was prepared..but then a dude rolled up and like a pit boss, changed my back tire in seconds flat. He directed me to the correct trail and I was off again and, “POP!” it blew, again. Womp-womp! I started changing it myself and blew the C02 cartridge up in my hand and that was all the C02 that I had. A nice guy rolled up in a Parks and Rec truck and took me and Joel’s bike to Salvagetti to get a new tube. I got all fixed up, and rolled back out on my jaunt to the reservoir. I got about 8 miles from my destination and decided that I needed to cool off in the creek and then decided to forgo the reservoir ride (I was already over an hour off schedule to hang out with my buddy in Boulder) to hit up Snarf’s Sub Shop since I hadn’t had lunch yet and it came so highly recommended. Met more cool people on my way there, including the guy working at the counter named Cameron who is from Austin and can’t wait to come say hi during ACL and share a Mint & Honey Green Tea with me. Gotta love connecting with cool peeps!

Saturday morning I went to meet up with a friend that I hadn’t seen since the 11th grade and we headed to Mile High Fest. Whole Food Market’s Rocky Mountain Region Marketing Goddess, Lauren Craig hooked SLT up by having our products in the artist lounge back-stage in a little make-shift grocery store. You could get free EO Hand Sanitizer, fresh fruit, mini Lara Bars, Sweet Leaf Tea and more! It was awesome! There is nothing like being at a festival and getting to eat fresh peaches, apples and oranges instead of craptacular concert food. Since Granny was not the Belle of the Ball, (cus other brands were the actual sponsors) I had to dump a little bit out and order shots of vodka (sadly, not Tito’s) to pour into my bottle. Come on, it’s a festival, and my vacation, so don’t judge!

Band-wise, I was stoked to see The Constellations (lead singer has a little bit of Jim Morrison in him and I suspect we’ll be hearing more good things about this band in the future), Cypress Hill (these guys have not mellowed with age and I must say that I enjoyed myself immensely from my perch on the side stage), Steve Miller (who was sort of disappointing and I’ve seen him like 3 other times), Phoenix (who played the one song by them that I really dig, “Funky Squaredance”) and I attended the after-party much later that night at the Larimer Lounge to see Boombox spin a DJ set. It was a one awesome dance party in that little joint. I had a great time but it was time to get to bed for another day of music fun that was set to include my buddies Ozomatli and my super-secret boy friend, Lorin from Bassnectar.

PHOENIX : FUNKY SQUARE DANCE LIVE FRANCOFOLIES LA ROCHELLE
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Sunday’s musical offerings included fun sets by Drive by Truckers, Ozomatli (I am not sure if anyone in the music biz can out run these guys. They might even beat the Energizer Bunny!), Boombox, the legendary Jimmy Cliff, My Morning Jacket (listened to these guys from the media tent while the bright-Colorado sun was starting to droop and the breeze started to kick up. It was pretty blissful.), Bassnectar (Lorin never disappoints and this set was no different. The crowd went nuts for them! The bass in your face and in your ear holes is always a beautiful thing.) and the one band I was planning to avoid who I enjoyed a little of was Dave Matthews Band. DMB’s jammy stuff was pretty cool, and since Denver was being hit by a wind and lightening storm at that time, sitting on a hill, alone behind the stage listening was absolutely amazing.

Lia Holland getting the beach balls ready for the launch during Bassnectar.

After the show, Jeff and I hit Steuben’s for a late meal thanks to Joel and his buddy John for suggesting it to us (seeing their food truck at the festival helped too.) because their menu of upscale comfort food and fancy cocktails was exactly what I needed after 2 days of music, and a wonderful vacation.

What a great way to end the festival and one incredible weekend. Did you go to Mile High Fest? If so, what were YOUR highlights?