Get Happy with Me at DailyHap!

I teased you guys here, here, here, and here, and it’s finally HERE!

DailyHap.com is a website designed to create a community of happy people and encourage people to openly, genuinely pursue happiness. It will guide people to Achieving Happiness 1 Day at a Time through a daily action item.

It is also my labor of love, my grand adventure, and now that it’s live, what will consume my life. 😀

We’re launching with a really cool campaign called Penny for Your Thoughts, where a visit to the website donates a penny to Austin Smiles. Sign up for a profile, and contribute Your Two Cents, another two pennies to Austin Smiles. Three cents donated for very little effort! We want to show you that it can be as easy as a click to start on your way to happiness.

What are you waiting for? Click on over to DailyHap and get happy!

Aspen: Women of Influence Luncheon

I like to attend the Aspen Business Luncheon whenever I can. It’s hosted every week with a different speaker and covers any topic you could think of—from joint replacements to entrepreneurship, with speakers from former Secretaries of State to Directors of Important Things In Aspen. Yesterday’s, however, was one I couldn’t miss: Aspen Women of Influence: Women Seeking Impact. 

The email promised: “Join these four women as they discuss their passions and experience, and hear how they are creating change in Aspen and beyond.” The players:

• Kitty Boone, Vice President, Public Programs, The Aspen Institute
• Catherine Anne Provine, Executive Director, The Buddy Program
• Nancy Spears, Chief Executive Officer,  genConnect
• Laura Welch, Chief Development Officer, Foundation For Social Change
• Moderator: Carolyne Heldman, Producer of CrossCurrents, the weekly public affairs show, Aspen Public Radio

I was lucky enough to be late enough to sit at the lunch table with the panelists, which started things right off. Once they began speaking, the women fearlessly delved into discrimination, passion, connection, family life, working, expectations, and more. They were very different with different backgrounds but had several things in common: they all loved their work, they all appeared to take no bullshit from anyone, and they all respected and genuinely liked each other.

The Aspen Business Luncheon was, up until a mere two years ago, only open to men. It was only fitting then that the panel address discrimination. I loved Catherine Anne Provine’s take on it (what follows is my paraphrasing, not direct quotes): discrimination opens your mind. Women are better at connecting because they don’t judge first, they allow a person to show what they bring to the table. Audience members asked how we can get women to not discriminate against or judge other women and the panel agreed with Laura Welch: it starts inside. You can’t join, you have to shift the energy.

All four women had stories to tell about being discriminated against, but most impressive about the whole panel was the independent, no-bullshit attitude. Kitty Boone said: “Do we really approach our jobs as women? No. I just do my job because I love it.” And then later offered this advice to young women starting out their careers: “It doesn’t matter what you choose to do with your life, just do it. Do what you love.” You have to have the guts to do anything. “Make it happen.” She then laughed and said, “We have more fun than men.”

Moderator Carolyne Heldman even jumped in when an audience member asked how to address the salary gap (women still earn 30% less than men for the same job), saying: “Go in like a warrior.” She reiterated that a salary negotiation isn’t emotional, it’s business, and we have to expect to be paid highly, no apologies.

Much of the rest of the discussion centered on passion and how important it is to work. The passion can be for a cause, for people, or for money, but passion is just really important, all the panelist concluded. They also cited connecting people as being a primary inspiration in their work. At the end of the luncheon, I couldn’t agree more with another audience member, a young woman like me but who owns two businesses in Aspen, who asked, “How can we have breakfast with you guys?” It’s inspiring to hear women talk about their own adventures in business, but as they all stressed connections in there work, it comes down to connecting with other women, across generations.

As I get ready to launch my new business (teaser!), my passion, I can’t wait to get more involved with other women in business and CONNECT.

Aspen: Finnbar’s

When you’re abroad, as an American, about the first thing you look for is the Irish pub. It’s where you’ll find all the other American tourists … but also the friendliest locals. Finally, Aspen has its own Irish pub in the newly-opened Finbarr’s Irish Pub & Kitchen. With lots of strategically-placed big screens, plenty of beers (and cider!) on tap, and tasty food, Finbarr’s is one new Aspen restaurant that’s likely to be around for a long time.

My first visit, I ate mainly off the appetizer menu. My second, the bar menu. My third and fourth, just drinks. Overall the portions aren’t huge, but they aren’t expensive either, so I’m ok with it. Maybe it’s not the best place for post-pickup-basketball grub, but for snacks or a girls’ night, the food is tasty and creative.

Can't go wrong with Guinness cheese fondue and pretzel bread ($10)

Kale (instead of spinach) artichoke dip ... not my favorite app ($?)

Mussels were delicious: fresh and tasty, but not standout ($11)

I also had the french onion soup ($6 and delish) and the braised greens ($5 and not so delish). The bangers and mash got rave reviews from my companions, the burger not as much, though more for its size than flavor. Every time I’ve been in Finbarr’s, it has been packed with locals and tourists—which is exactly what you want in a real Irish pub.

Austin & Aspen: Aspen Ideas Fest / Texas Tribune Festival

When I got the recent email from the Texas Tribune announcing the inaugural TEXAS TRIBUNE FESTIVAL, a “weekend of debate, discussion and dialogue, featuring some of the biggest names, and the biggest brains, in the world of politics and public policy,” I laughed out loud. I This special event will take place on September 24th and 25th on the University of Texas at Austin campus.

The weekend-long event will bring together the state’s and the nation’s most distinguished thought leaders in the areas of health and human services, energy and the environment, public and higher education, and race and immigration.

Confirmed participants include former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza, U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess of Lewisville, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards, energy magnate T. Boone Pickens, Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott, Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs, former U.S. Census Bureau Director Steve H. Murdock, and Public Utility Commission Chairman Barry T. Smitherman, along with several chairs of major committees in the Texas House and Senate.

We are proud to announce our line-up of participants as of June 20, 2011:

Jose Aliseda – State Representative, R-Beeville

Dan Branch – State Representative, R-Dallas; Chairman of the House Higher Education Committee

Michael Burgess – U.S. Representative, R-Lewisville

Meria Joel Carstarphen – Superintendent, Austin Independent School District

Julián Castro – Mayor, San Antonio

Garnet Coleman – State Representative, D-Houston

Curtis Culwell – Superintendent, Garland Independent School District

Dianne White Delisi – Former State Representative, R-Temple

Anne Dunkelberg – Associate Director, Center for Public Policy Priorities

Rob Eissler – State Representative, R-The Woodlands; Chairman of the House Public Education Committee

Steven Farr – Chief Knowledge Officer, Teach for America

Jessica Farrar – State Representative, D-Houston

Mike Feinberg – KIPP Co-Founder and Superintendent, KIPP Houston

John M. Folks – Superintendent, Northside Independent School District

Chad Foster – Former Mayor, Eagle Pass; Former Chairman, Border Mayors Coalition

Tony Garza – Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico

Jeanne Goka – Principal, Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders

Veronica Gonzales – State Representative, D-McAllen

Laura Huffman – Executive Director, the Nature Conservancy of Texas

Amy Myers Jaffe – Director of the Energy Forum at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University

Alejandro Junco de la Vega – Publisher, Grupo Reforma

James L. Keffer – State Representative, R-Eastland; Chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee

Renu Khator – Chancellor, University of Houston System; President, University of Houston

R. Bowen Loftin – President, Texas A&M University

Dee Margo – State Representative, D-El Paso

Thomas G. Mason – Former General Manager, Lower Colorado River Authority

Don McLeroy – Former Chairman, State Board of Education

Kathy Miller – President, Texas Freedom Network

Steve H. Murdock – Former Director of the U.S. Census Bureau; former Texas State Demographer; Allyn and Gladys Cline Chair in Sociology at Rice University

Diana Natalicio – President, the University of Texas at El Paso

T. Boone Pickens – Chairman, BP Capital Management

Thomas Ratliff – Member, State Board of Education

Richard M. Rhodes – Incoming President, Austin Community College

Cecile Richards – President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Allan Ritter – State Representative, R-Nederland; Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee

J. James Rohack – Former President, American Medical Association

Jonathan Saenz – Director of Legislative Affairs, Liberty Institute

Andrew Sansom- Executive Director, River Systems Institute; former Executive Director, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Robert Scott – Texas Commissioner of Education

Florence Shapiro – State Senator, R-Plano; Chairwoman of the Senate Public Education Committee

Bryan W. Shaw – Chairman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Tom “Smitty” Smith – Director of Public Citizen’s Texas Office

Barry T. Smitherman – Chairman, Public Utility Commission of Texas

Margaret Spellings – Former U.S. Secretary of Education

Tom Suehs – Executive Commissioner, Texas Health and Human Services Commission

Doug Ulman – President and Chief Executive Officer, Lance Armstrong Foundation

Michael Webber- Associate Director, Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas at Austin

Judith Zaffirini – State Senator, D-Laredo; Chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education Committee

John Zerwas – State Representative, R-Simonton

Tickets will go on sale Monday, July 11, and are $125, $100 for Texas Tribune members and $50 for students. Sign up for regular e-mail updates at http://www.texastribune.org/festival, or visit us Facebook and on Twitter.

The Texas Tribune is dedicated to advancing the public interest through not just journalism but also in-person events. The Texas Tribune Festival is the logical next step in realizing our mission. I hope you will mark your calendars and plan to join us for a full weekend of debates, discussions, and dialogues featuring some of the biggest names, and the biggest brains, in the world of politics and public policy.

Austin & Aspen: Top Ten Party Towns

USA Today names 10 destinations for bar-hopping all over the world. I’m not saying I agree or not (Ohio instead of Monaco??), but it is important to note that, naturally, my two homes are in the top ten:

Aspen, Colorado 

“As far as mountain towns go, Aspen is one of the few that holds up in summer and winter,” Cockrell says. “Of course it has the usual ski-bum haunts, but it also has places like 39 Degrees Lounge, an urban-style oasis with a pool frequented by a chic crowd. In Aspen, you can have any type of night out you want within its few main streets.”

True, Aspen is hoppin’ summer and winter, and there are bars for all types.

Austin, Texas

“So many great bars here, just choose a street — South Congress, East Sixth Street, South Lamar — to get your fix, then end your night at one of the nation’s greatest food carts (download the AustinFoodCarts app to find out where they are),” Cockrell says. New bars on the east side include Yellow Jacket Social Club and Eastside Showroom. “South Lamar is a little more authentic Austin,” Cockrell says. “Don’t miss the laid-back Barton Springs Saloon, a repurposed gas station with a pool table and pinball machines, or the super divey Horseshoe Lounge.”

Also true. Pick a mood, pick a corresponding street, and then go.

The other 8? Listed below.
Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dublin, Ireland
Williamsburg neighborhood, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Ohio City neighborhood, Cleveland
Seville, Spain
Portland, Oregon
New Orleans, Louisiana

Yeah, I only see nine too… good work USA Today.