Across the state, independent bookstores stand out as cultural hubs and community fixtures. Owners of several bookstores featured in the December 2020 issue of Texasliving offered glimpses into their favorite reads, or their favorite recommendations for all who ask!

Lights dazzle from a three-story high scaffolding. The deck is packed with families, couples, and individuals, heads tilted and eyes glossy with wonder. And as the music plays in time with the flickering lights, visitors pause sipping their hot chocolate to take in all the magic of the holidays. This is the Mozart’s Coffee Roasters annual holiday light […]

This home is filled with smart design choices that make each space both chic and family-friendly. As the homeowners were relocating from out of state, they relied upon Etch Design Group principal designers Stephanie Lindsey and Jessica Nelson to put finishing touches into the newly built Texas Hill Country residence. While the home was already built, it fell to the design […]

Reading for leisure is a lifetime hobby. For many readers, books can provide an escape from reality, regardless of genre, and the novelty of a new book is exciting with every turning page. But book clubs bring readers back down to Earth. Convening and conversing about a recent read provides the essential human element of […]

Since 2002, the symbol of a yellow, interlocking fleur has taken Texas and the world by storm, becoming synonymous with one woman and one brand: Kendra Scott. A woman who wears many hats, or rather, pieces of jewelry, Scott is a chief executive officer, founder, lead designer, philanthropist, wife, and mother. Her geometric designs framing natural gemstones embody the […]

It all started with a fire. It was the Bastrop, Texas fires to be exact when the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history left a swath of devastation in the fall of 2011. Like many other businesses and organizations, a new restaurant in Austin stepped up to help with relief efforts in the neighboring town. From its location […]

Texas certainly knows how to do it large. When the team at Southern Living started scoping out properties to take on a remodel of epic proportions, they looked no further than the Lone Star State. Austin, specifically, was chosen as the 2018 Idea House location for Southern Living magazine. The dream team selected to tackle the project consisted of […]

On March 31, 1995, the news of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez’s tragic death spread throughout the Lone Star State and world. The Corpus Christi singer rose to stardom after winning the 1987 Tejano Music Award for Female Entertainer of the Year while singing in the Quintanilla family band, Selena y los Dinos. The young artist, famously known […]

From fry cook of a fast-food chicken joint to king of a Texas taco empire, Michael Rypka may have moved up the ranks quickly, but it was not always an easy climb. Rypka started Torchy’s Tacos with little more than a dream and a used trailer, back before food trucks were cool. Even when his […]

Austin homeowners worked with Allison Burke Interior Design to create a contemporary, colorful dream home. With special pieces collected from their travels and unique color palettes, this is a home of chic comfort.

Texas's capital city is full of hubbub and creativity! These local businesses have considered how they could impact the Austin creative scene and took the plunge to do just that.

It was a great equalizer. If a man could work hard enough and get lucky enough, oil could turn a pauper into a prince, literally overnight. Long before Houston and Dallas were big Texas cities, and well before sustenance was no further than the local H-E-B, Texans were roughing it out on the frontier, trying to make a living any way they could.

Sometimes the thing that makes someone unstoppable is simply their inability to stop. According to award-winning Hollywood director Robert Rodriguez that is exactly how his career began. As a child, Rodriguez never dreamed of being famous. He was just a kid having fun with his father's video camera, at least until he saw John Carpenter's science-fiction thriller Escape from New York at age 12. From that day on, he was determined to be a movie director.

Inside Books Project has been providing reading materials to Texas inmates for 20 years, but the Austin-based organization is the only one in Texas to put books directly into the hands of about 25,000 inmates every year.

Despite much of the state being landlocked, that does not stop Texas chefs from getting fresh fish from all around the world flown in, often on a daily basis. “When I started fifteen years ago, sushi was popular, but not that much. It’s amazing to see how sushi continues to grow in popularity in Texas,” said Uchi’s Executive Chef and Owner Tyson Cole. “Our timing could not be better now because people want something that’s fresh and creative.”