From top right: Petunia nails by Nails Y’all, cat portrait by Nails Y’all, snowflake nails by Sarah at Sugarcoat Nails, Maui nails by Sarah, gold and black nails by Michele Nails, bling accent nail by Michele
(Credits: Nails Y’all, Sarah Kane, Michele Nails)

Manicures have moved beyond simple layers of polish and French tips. Particularly in the past five years, products have advanced, artistic barriers have been pushed and nail art has become widespread. Now, clients can get custom, tiny, temporary paintings on their nails along with dense glitters, long-lasting polish and 3-D embellishments.

I wanted to meet some of Austin’s finest nail artists, so I visited Nails Y’all, Sugarcoat Nails and Michele Nails.

Nails Y’all

I met up with Meghann Rosales, known as Nails Y’all, at Russ and Company Salon while she was working on a client’s nails. I realized it could be rather weird of me to sit in on a stranger’s nail appointment, but they were both so welcoming and friendly that my intrusion felt [Read more…]

South Congress Books interior

It’s a community space, haven for collectors, performance venue and political hub. It’s all of these things—and a bookstore.

It’s not enough to simply house books anymore. Instead, independent bookstores in Austin have nestled into niches, attracting local bibliophiles to experience something unique.

Although the future of brick and mortar bookstores is unknown, in Austin there are many independent bookstores that continue to succeed. BookPeople, for instance, is the largest independent bookstore in Texas. But many more businesses have continued to crop up in Austin, proving that bookstores still hold relevance here.

Below are some of the bookstores that give this city character and feed the literary lovers who live here. [Read more…]

Whol-E Water (Credit: Sam O’Brien)

Tradition proposes that as we wrap up another year, it’s time to put resolutions in place to begin the New Year with a new lease on life.

Although there are many local options, here are three stand-out Austin businesses to help you resolve, refresh and renew your tired routine.

Whol-E Water: The Transparent Choice

Make a lifestyle choice and give your body premium alkaline hydration with Whol-E Water. There is an entire fact-filled scientific theory behind the benefits of the 9.4+ pH water bottled by Whol-E Water, but let me break it [Read more…]

Colorful mural in BookPeople’s children’s area

BookPeople is a literary playground. Who needs a slide when there’s a Happy Hour book club and a maze of quirkily decorated shelves, each laden with new worlds to discover?

You may not be familiar with the BookPeople name because of its status as an independent bookstore. But its success is immediately apparent by its three story building located right across from Whole Foods and Waterloo Records on 6th Street. In fact, BookPeople is the largest independent bookstore in the state of Texas and was voted Bookstore of the Year by Publisher’s Weekly back in 2005.

Independent it is, and proud to be local. In fact, local is a critical part of BookPeople’s identity. According to one employee named Will (“They call me Wilbur”), “Being independent, we get to find different ways to interact with the community.” The drive to create opportunities, he said, is how BookPeople has continued to grow in the face of an allegedly dwindling publishing industry. “And it’s a fun place to work,” he added.

Opened in 1970 as “Grok Books” (grok means to fully understand something—a delightful reference to Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein), BookPeople has continued to grow over time as a beloved Austin classic. [Read more…]