Well, it has been a while since we posted something about party planning. But a party is indeed being planned. Jax and I are about to pass the one year mark on our first blog post. This is a proud moment for us and we’d like to celebrate it with you!

In the tradition of previous posts, I will share some ideas with you in the hopes you will provide feedback. This shin-dig is as much for you as it is for us. You keep visiting our site and we love you for that. And you keep posting comments and we love you for that, too. Royal Readers, how do we love you?! Let us count the ways. Uh…two so far. But I’m sure there are more!

We are thinking the celebration will be a Happy Hour on Friday, August 26th, at a locally-owned, family-friendly restaurant. We got location suggestions from a number of friends and whiddled the list down to six potential sites (in alpha order below). Another consideration is location (distance). The numbers of miles in red are the miles from the center of Austin. Thank you, Google Maps. We don’t want to make people drive all over creation to hang out with us. But we also don’t want to limit our choices based on that alone. You might live a-ways out of town, or you might enjoy a scenic drive to come join us.

Between the two of us, we think we have been to all of these places at least once before and like them enough to add them to our list. We also created a series of questions to help us decide where to hold the Happy Hour. I just contacted places yesterday, so I’m still waiting on a response from everyone. I realize some of this information is on their websites, but it is a sign of good customer service if they reply and answer (versus if they reply and say “See our website,” which would be a poopie response.)

We are looking for a place that welcomes kiddos of all ages; high chairs are a must, bonus points for a playground. It’s happy hour, so alcohol is another “must,” but a full on bar is not full on necessary. And not really advisable with whippersnappers in attendance. We like the idea of outdoor seating because it makes mingling easier and because our city is beautiful. But it is hot right now. Very hot. Very very hot. So having the option to sit indoors is a priority, too. Bonus points to a place where we can stick our feet in the lake (lesser points if we can stare longingly at the lake but not touch it). This only applies to places on the water. I mean, if someplace not on the water replies to question, “Can we go swimming or stick our feet in the water?,” then…I don’t know. They might get points for creativity. Or they might loose points for creepivity (this is not a real word, but it should be). Anybody who wants to join us have additional criteria we should consider?

Props to our dear friend, k!, who helped us figure out how to gauge whether a place is kid-friendly or not. To us, kid-friendly = family-friendly, and we want readers to come out and at least say hi without having to worry about getting a babysitter. Also, family-friendly places are just more friendly in general.

Set your calendars, because we’d love to see you there (where ever that will be)!

* I am a sucker for places on the water.
** The appeal of this joint should be obvious! 😉
[music] will play when you click on this link.
+ Featured image is a margarita (picture found through Creative Commons). Yum! BTW, the origin story for this drink is pretty interesting.