• Categories

  Select Category ACL  (26) Activities  (79) arts & crafts  (10) Austin, Texas  (164) Celebrities  (17) Chicago  (21) Clayton Christopher  (7) Cocktail Recipes  (11) Distribution  (2) earth day  (5) Epiphone Guitar  (7) Events  (138) Food & Beverage  (87) Guest Blogger  (10) Intern  (34) Live Music  (107) Lollapalooza  (37) Los Angeles  (5) Muddy Buddy  (3) Nestle Waters  (2) Organic  (15) recipes  (1) Relief Fund  (1) Social Media  (19) Sweet Bikes  (15) sweet birthdays  (1) Sweet Consumers  (42) Sweet Contests  (28) Sweet Leaf Dogs  (7) Sweet Leaf Tea Company News  (28) Sweet Leaf Tea Sightings  (8) Sweet Pets  (1) SXSW  (18) teasnacky  (9) Uncategorized  (123) Unwrapped  (2) Vacation  (7)

• Search

  Search for:

• Archives

  Select Month July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008

• Tag Cloud

  ACL-Fest Add new tag Austin Austin TX Bicycles BP-MS-150 Chicago Citrus Green Tea Clayton Christopher Cocktail Recipes consumers CONTEST dogs fixers Fun Fun Fun Fest Girl Talk granny green tea Holidays Home Slice Pizza Houston iced tea interns Knuckle Rumbler Live Music Lollapalooza Mint & Honey Green Tea Mint-and-Honey-Green-Tea mixers music Music Festival Phoenix Sweet Contests sweet leaf sweet Leaf blog Sweet Leaf Tea sweet stories Sweet Tea SXSW teasnacky Texas Tito's Vodka TX Whole Foods Market Yeah Yeah Yeahs

  WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.

I’m a sucker for great music, delicious food and exciting new places. So, one can imagine my immense disappointment in not being able to attend this year’s Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago. After seeing this year’s line-up, an early bird ticket purchase for next year’s festival is happening.

It’s funny after seeing the line-up, I  realized how broad my musical taste really is. Even if it’s not something I would go out of my way to listen to I can still either appreciate it, dance to it or sing to it –so long as it’s not pop-country–, but even so, poke fun at how ridiculous and terrible I think it is. So in a nutshell  when there’s music in the air (good or bad), you know I’m having a good time!

The bands I would go out of my way to listen to at Lolla, however, jumped off the page and my heart got pretty sad knowing that I wouldn’t be there to enjoy them. Among the shows that will be sadly missed- Minus the Bear, The Strokes, Blues Traveler, The Black Keys, AFI, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Spoon, which has been my summertime favorite this year.

So for those of you going to Lolla this year, enjoy! I’ll have to settle for ordering in a deep-dish pizza from Mangia’s with a side of Spoon and a box of tissues = ( I’ll see you one day Lolla, but until then I’ll have to party down with my ridiculous fun favorites at home.

By, Kamie Dorris

Before I start this blog, let me make this clear: I love Austin and I love Austin City Limits Music Festival. If I get to live in this city for the rest of my life and go to ACL every year, I will be beyond happy.  Having said that, God help me, I want to be in Chicago right now.

I bought my 3-day pass to ACL way back in November, long before the lineup was announced. When the list was finally posted in May, I got really excited. How could I not? The National? Grace Potter and the Nocturnals? Broken Bells? Awesome, awesome and awesome. Then I made the mistake of checking out Lollapalooza’s lineup. ACL, I love you and can’t wait for you to come, but Lolla puts you to shame. I don’t really have the means or the time to attend Lolla this year; I’m too busy visiting snowball stands and writing blogs here at Sweet Leaf. Therefore I’m going to have to be a little sad this coming August 6^th, 7^th and 8^th.

However there is something you, the reader and Lolla attendee, can do to help. While at Lolla, go to the shows that I’m most sad about missing, and while you’re there, focus really hard. Maybe all the fun and awesomeness you’re experiencing will somehow travel to me all the way in Austin, Texas. Vicarious experiences are better than no experiences at all.

So if you’re nice enough and valiant enough to help me out in this endeavor, here are the bands you need to see:

Deer Tick, photo courtesy of www.lollapalooza.com

Deer Tick- I’m not usually a big country fan, but these guys are amazing. Try listening to “Smith Hill” without getting chills down your spine when the chorus starts. Lead singer John McCauley is an incredible songwriter and a really engaging personality. Definitely a must-see.

Erykah Badu-I saw Erykah at ACL two years ago and she blew the roof off. She was really pregnant and opted out of the costume theme that her band had, wearing instead a smiley face t-shirt and sweat pants, but she still had more energy than almost anyone at that entire festival. She is the essence of cool, and if you’re not familiar with her music, go for her hair alone. She can pull of some ‘dos that no one else would even try.

Mumford & Sons- Sigh No More, Mumford & Sons’ debut album is probably my favorite album of the year so far. They take folk rock to the extreme and create gorgeous soaring melodies. I dare you to find someone who can pack as much emotion into a song as Marcus Mumford does in “I Gave You All.” The pain I feel for not being able to see them is almost equal to the pain the band puts in their lyrics (“Weep for yourself, my man, you’ll never be what is in your heart.” Ouch).

Arcade Fire, photo courtesy of last.fm

Lady Gaga- Why? I think the better question is why not? I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of her songs. “Alejandro” is pretty catchy, but I’m not that big on any of her others. Nonetheless, it’s impossible for that show to be anything but crazy. She’s such a strange person and she comes up with the weirdest stuff (did you see her Kermit the Frog dress?). You will definitely walk away from that concert with some stories to tell.

Arcade Fire- This band is at the top of my list. I wasn’t able to make it to ACL three years ago when they performed, and still regret it. I have never heard from anyone—friend, acquaintance or critic—that did not recognize Arcade Fire’s live performance as amazing. I’ve heard the words “religious experience” more than once. They put so much into every song and their sound is always unique. This is certainly a performance that you can’t miss.

So those are the highlights. When you’re at Lollapalooza early next month, make sure you go to those shows and while you’re there, send those psychic vibes my way. I’ll do the same for you when ACL comes around.

One of the perks of working at a cool Austin company is discovering other cool Austin companies. This happened today when we took a trip to Baltimore Ballers,  a brand new snowball stand located at East 6th Street and Waller Street. Baltimore Ballers not only makes delicious snowballs; they use Sweet Leaf Tea. That’s right. In addition to all of the delicious snowball syrups that the owners make themselves, they use our very own tea for some serious slushy action.

When we visited the trailer today, we met with Drew Schlegel, one of the owners who is originally from Baltimore (hence the name). In addition to the Sweet Leaf, Drew let us try a special snowball flavor originating from Baltimore–egg cream with marshmallow topping. Whatever your first reaction to this is, don’t knock it til you try it. It’s seriously delicious and crazy refreshing on a hot Austin day.

Sweet Leaf Kamie and Drew

So if you’re near Austin and want something to cool you down, meet Drew and buy a snowball. Not only is it delicious; it’s also very sustainable with all natural syrups and compostable cups and spoons. So what are you waiting for?

Check out Sweet Leaf TV soon for our video at Baltimore Ballers. It might just be the “coolest” thing you do all day.

July 4^th is getting closer and closer and it’s about time people started figuring out how to celebrate America’s 234^th.  Yesterday we discussed some of the coolest fireworks displays that will be taking place all over the country, but the 4^th of July isn’t just about fireworks. Another very important tradition is the parade. After all, what is a more fitting way to celebrate our country’s independence than decked out vehicles and giant balloons that resemble famous cartoon characters? It just makes sense. So here are a couple of the sweetest parades taking place on Sunday around the country that are sure to be memorable.

National Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C.

At 11:45am on Constitution Avenue between 7^th and 17^th Street, Washington, D.C. will be hosting one of the biggest and most famous parades in the nation, the National Independence Day Parade. It will feature high school marching bands from all around the country, military officials, floats, and possibly more red, white and blue that you’ve ever seen before at one place at one time. So if you live around the D.C. area, join the hundreds of thousands of spectators on Constitution Avenue for this fun and patriotic procession.

Huntington Beach’s “A Star Spangled 4^th” Parade, California

It’s a good sign when a parade in a town of 200,000 brings in over 250,000 spectators. This is the case for Huntington Beach’s “A Star Spangled 4^th” Parade in Southern California. This parade seems to pull all of the punches, with candy, clowns and ponies for the kids, military heroes, bands, and what is sure to be a surplus of good ol’ American spirit. The parade starts on Main Street at 9:00am and goes all the way to Gothard Street until about 11:00am.

What are some other cool July 4^th parades you know?

Sweet Leaf April, Sweet Leaf Ashley and Sweet Leaf Charla with Kinky Friedman!

When we finished, we packed up, said our goodbyes to Kinky, who was still waiting for his spot, and hit the road back to Sweet Leaf Headquarters.