Welcome to Chapter One of the Weekly Journal, a weekly blog post where I talk all about what I got up to this past week! I have my own website, I usually do something every week, and I like to write, so here we are. Chapter one is all about Sunday, July 26th, to Sunday, August 2nd.
Sunday Night Dinner in East Austin
Jimmy and I don’t always go out in Austin on a weekend, but when we do, it’s on a Sunday evening. Maybe I’m giving away a big secret, but Sunday nights are so elite and hardly ever busy. Except if you try to go to Holiday on 7th to get half price martinis and a delicious looking burger. Then you will be met with a full, small space, and a deserted patio straight in the 100 degree heat. So we pivoted down the street to Hi Sign, one of my favorite breweries (and also not super busy), while we did some research on where to head next. We settled on another restaurant/bar that had been on my list forever - Uptown (formerly Uptown Sports Club). I pulled the ultimate towny move and grabbed a free street parking spot right next to the restaurant - bonus points because I backed into it!
I highly recommend Uptown! My meal of steak frites was amazing, Jimmy raved about his shrimp po boy, and their fries were INCREDIBLE. The service was great, and extra points to the two servers who recommended two really great cocktails. We also got to watch Dirty Dancing on TV without sound, and it was very enjoyable in a strange way. If you also quote Peter Thomas from the Real Housewives of Atlanta when you read the word “Uptown” (dramatically “Today, I officially closed Uptown”), then you can be best friends with me and Jimmy.
Painting, Book Club, + Bedazzling
In my quest to socialize a little more and hopefully make some new friends, I attended a few meet ups this week! The first one was at Painting with a Twist, where I definitely did not make it a publicly known fact that I am an artist… because I SUCK at painting! But that doesn’t stop me from having a good time! The class also had a great instructor and excellent playlist, so that makes it an even better time! Did the meet up need a little more socializing time? Definitely. But that’s why I took up their invite to book club a few nights later.
I had to read “Home is Where the Bodies Are” by Jeneva Rose in less than three days… and I did it! Shout out to an Audible credit, 1.3x speed, and Jeneva for writing a book with less than 300 pages! I actually really enjoyed it and give it 5 stars. Was it my favorite book ever? No. But 2026 has been a lackluster reading year, and just being able to entertain me and not irritate the shit out of me gets you 5 stars right now. Book club night led into Saturday afternoon book bedazzling, where I got called “cool” (day made!) and drank delicious mimosas.
Let’s Go Baseball!
Before the baseball season began, I purchased 10 ticket vouchers for the Round Rock Express at a discounted price. Can you guess when I attended my first Express game this summer? That’s correct, in the last few days of July. (So if any local friends are reading this and want to go to a game in the next two months, hit me up because I have tickets!) Jimmy was a good sport and joined me for a Wednesday night game, which is better known as Dollar Hot Dog Night! We got hot dogs and beer, sat under a fan in the shade, and complimented the players on their walk up songs this season. One guy chose the Seal cover of “Fly Like An Eagle” and we immediately knew this man was a millennial who was also obsessed with Space Jam - or was just surrounded by seriously cool people in his life. Dell Diamond added HTeaO and a photobooth this summer, which are two of my favorite things in life! They also “renovated” their team store aka remove a bunch of merch, so that’s a fail, Express. But keep up the Dollar Hot Dog Nights, and you have a fan for life!
Hobbies + Free Time
This week was my first full week on my hiatus from Stark + Stanley. I haven’t discussed it publicly, but I’m basically taking some time off from creating and working on my business full time. While my iPad is safely sitting on the shelf for now, I have been working my MacBook pretty well by writing blog posts and working on some creative writing. I’ve also been reading quite a bit. I’m about to finish “Dreadful” by Greer Rivers, and I’m OBSESSED! It was described to me as a “soft” dark romance, and I’ll take 10 more of them. Maybe even a little darker… I also got to enjoy the highly anticipated release of Waterpark Simulator on the PS5… only for it to have a huge bug in it that keeps you from progressing after about an hour into the game. That derailed my plans to work on my waterpark all weekend.
It was a good week!
I stayed busy with a few social events while also making time to get my work done, work on a new project, and spend quality time with my hobbies. This coming week will be super busy, and I’m already looking forward to sharing about that next weekend! In the meantime, if you have any suggestions on hobbies I can be focusing on, especially if they’re creative and crafty, please let me know! I have a long list already, but I love to try new things - and hope that maybe they’ll spark my creativity for my business.
I leave you this Sunday evening with a line from the fantastic song “Off the Wall” by Michael Jackson -
Do what you want to do
There ain't no rules, it's up to you
It's time to come alive
And party on right through the night
Enjoy your week!
-Alana