Austin, Texas is located almost smack-dab in the middle of Texas, and is surrounded by beautiful hill country.  Even the phrase "hill country" is relaxing, so you're one step closer to total and utter relaxation, which is what you'll find in our spa weekend.

Photo:  Dallas News

Austin Spa Getaway includes:

• Spa/hotel accommodation
• Round-trip transportation between hotel/airport
• Meals
  
• Spa/class allowance (details depend on particular spa package)
  
• The Official Holiday Golightly Guide to Austin
  

(For all other Optional activities on this Girlfriend Getaway, please click the "Activities" tab.  Optional activities may be substituted for "included" activities - prices may vary.)

You will be picked up at the airport by towncar, and driven to your accommodations.  Put your hiking shoes on and work up an appetite on the spa trails.  Dinner (and all other meals) will be a delight of fresh, wholesome ingredients.  The following day you'll wake up bright and early (but not too early) for a good morning hike/yoga/water aerobics class. Throughout your stay, you'll have activity options available, and free time to spend in the sauna/hot tub/steam room, at your discretion.  On your final day you'll be picked up and taken back to the airport.

Holiday Golightly does not "do" air.  Booking flights is an impossible, thankless task, and we are all about being thanked.  We recommend Kayak.com, and the destination airport code is AUS.  You're welcome!

We are all about Girlfriend Getaways, and yet still have time and energy to support important charities.  You can enjoy yourselves and support others all at the same time!

Holiday Golightly is supporting the 17th Annual Evening Under the Stars gala. 

Organized by:  Daughters of Charity & Elizabeth Ann Seton Board

When:  Saturday, April 26, 2008

Where:  Austin, TX 

The funds raised from the Gala will benefit Seton McCarthy, Seton Kozmetsky and Seton Topfer Community Health Centers. These centers provide health care services to low income, uninsured families all over Austin.

This year the fun will include:

• a silent and live auction, and
  
• a raffle for a pair of diamond earrings!
• music from Robert Earl Keen and the Derailers

Many thanks to the Elizabeth Ann Seton Board for all of their hard work in helping those who are trying to help themselves! 

If you are in, or close to Austin, and would like to attend, CLICK HERE for more information. 

Liz Lambert, proprietress extraordinaire of the ultra-hip Hotel San Jose, place-to-be-seen Jo's Coffee and various other Austin businesses, recently opened the boutique Hotel Saint Cecilia in the very same hot SoCo neighborhood.

They've teamed up with Dai Due, a supper club focused on locally farmed food, for a great evening at a great price!  Dinner will be a local Central Texas extravaganza (although, veggies beware!!) -- wild boar, rabbit, venison, antelope and fish from Broken Arrow Ranch.  And don't worry about mom... you'll eat your local seasonal vegetables and grains too - from Boggy Creek Farm.

Dinner is supposedly sold out - but I'll let you Golightly Girls in on a secret.  If you book a room at the Hotel Saint Cecilia, you're a VIP and those rules just don't apply to you.  (Isn't that just the way life SHOULD be?)  Plus, you'll get a 25% discount on the room, and the fabulous dinner spread for only $75 per person.

When does this action go down?  THIS Sunday - Feb 1 at 7pm.  So grab your girls, hit up the music in Austin on Saturday night -- and stay for the gourmet grub on Sunday night!  After dinner, you can hit up local alternative video store Vulcan Video for the documentary "Last Days of the San Jose" to watch Liz Lambert turn a former flophouse into every musician's landing pad of choice in the Music Capital of the USA.  And, hey, while you're there, wander across the street to knock on the door of Holiday Golightly founder Kerry Rupp.

Photo credit: Dallasnews.com

TO BOOK A ROOM: Call Hotel Saint Cecilia GM Michael Nestor at 512.852.2424.  Or click here and let us plan a whole weekend for you.

 The team at Holiday Golightly recently teamed up with Parisian Cowboy to produce our first travel guidebook: "The Parisian Cowboy's Guide to the Round Top Experience".  The book is now available to order online, or you can attend the world-renowned twice-yearly antiques show at the end of March and pick it up at one of the many retailers carrying it there!  The town's conveniently located halfway between Houston and Austin (1.5 hours either way).

Located in south-central Texas, Round Top is a hidden gem—known for its small-town charm, events, shops, lodging and dining. To those in-the-know, Round Top is special because of the beauty of its land and its unique cultural heritage.

Round Top is justifiably famous for its twice-annual Antiques Shows—drawing thousands to the small community. Most residents enjoy the excitement and activity of the shows, but want the world to know there is more to Round Top than just antiques.

Come out for the weekend and experience life on a working farm or ranch, take in a musical performance at Sengelmann Hall, the Bugle Boy or the world-renowned Round Top Festival Institute. Drive over to Schulenburg and tour the Painted Churches. Indulge in a little retail therapy in Carmine or La Grange. Embrace the arts in Bybee square. Or check into one of the many local B&Bs and just relax.

No matter what time of year you choose to visit Round Top and surrounding Fayette County, you are sure to find something new and interesting. You are cordially invited to be a part of The Round Top Experience.