How to Help Texas Fire Victims

By now you've most likely heard about the devastating wildfires here in Texas. The American Red Cross of Central Texas is accepting monetary donations, and has a listing of places in Texas you can donate in-kind gifts like canned food, clothing and toiletries.  Scroll down to the bottom of this post for links to other places collecting donations or holding fund-raisers.

If you're near the fires and are looking for info what's happening with them now, where to take livestock, shelters, evacuation routes etc, the TX Storm Chasers Facebook page is a great place to get informed, (Thanks Mom for sharing that!) as is the Texas Wildfires Updates Page.

ONLINE FUNDRAISERS

• Through Ebay Givingworks This list shows all the auctions benifiting the Red Cross of Central Texas.  Auctions may donate all or a portion of proceeds. 
• On Etsy  Some of those listed are donating all of the proceeds, and some only donating a portion, and some may not be donating any longer so check the individual listings for details. 
• Here on Texifornia I'm auctioning off some spots in my next "Souvenir Spotlight" here on Texifornia to help with relief efforts.  Also, I'd be happy to provide other advertising here in exchange for a donation, so please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at ecarian at yahoo dot com if you are interested.

DONATION CENTERS/FUNDRAISERS BY REGION

• Austin Area (Fundraising Events)
• Waco Area

If you know of a listing of places in your area accepting in-kind gifts or raising funds, please leave a link in the comments below and I'll add a link to it.

Also, several Etsians have stepped up to help by donating a portion of their sales. Some of these are featured on Shop4Charity.

Souvenir Saturday - The Force is Strong With Ya'll

The week before last we put on a Star Wars party for my son, so when I stumbled on the following T-shirt, well I had my Souvenir Saturday theme.

AFF 08 design by AustinFanForce

(On the back it says "May the Force Be With Ya'll")

OK, there's not a hugh amount ofTexas/California related Star Wars Souvenirs out there, but I did one for California too. Love this:

You can find these stickers (and shirt and more with this design) at CafePress.

(Yeah, I know it's not Saturday yet...but this was actually written before last Saturday. And to keep it from being forgotten again I'm posting it "early"...or late, however you want to look at it.)

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Links to Zazzle are made in association with Zazzle.com (that's code for - I can make money off them).

What's Hot - What's Not Hot

Decided to join in on a meme I stumbled on: What's Hot/What's Not Hot Wednesdays (even though technically it's not Wednessday anymore.)

HOT

A trip to Austin with no kids...first trip we've taken without any children since our oldest was born. And might I mention that Austin is the most un-Texan city I've been too. It's sort of like the artsier places in California...without as much of the Hollywood fake glam.

HOT

My husband, for various reasons!

HOT

My in-laws for taking the kids. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

HOT

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It's GORGEOUS! Check out the picture my husband took below.




HOT

Stumbling on the same little Mexican restaurant we had eaten at but forgotten the name of during our last trip to Austin (Curras Grill), and feasting on unique food the kids would have turned their nose up at.

NOT

The parking at Curras. They really need more parking...though I suppose it does keep the place from getting overcrowded.

HOT

Google maps on I-phone. Saved us from much mis-direction, traffic jams, and other frustration.

HOT BECAUSE IT'S NOT HOT

The weather! It's been wonderfully NOT HOT and NOT COLD! It's been gorgeous!

NOT

My living room, bedroom, bathroom, etc. They're a disaster. No, you can not see pictures.

NOT

The quantity of posts on this blog...sorry I've been slacking here. It's because I've been not slacking other places. Check out my Art Blog (and yeah...I did the hot/not hot meme there too, with a few changes).

88 Year Old Woman Comments on Texas Snowstorms (and other things)

A friend shared this with me...gather it's been around forever, but this is my first time seeing it. In it Ellen DeGeneres returns a call from a 88 lady named Gladys from Austin Texas. The whole thing is hilarious, but I especially loved Gladys' commentary on the hullabaloo over a snowstorm in Austin. Snow is more common here in Texas than in most of California (I was lucky enough to live in one of the few places that got it regularly when I lived there)...but the reaction to it is pretty much the same.

Anyways, enjoy!