I had a festive holiday season, which included a trip home to see family and friends! I met friends for Christmas lights, went with the girlfriend to an Austin art bazaar, and a Christmas music-timed lightshow at an Austin lakeside coffee bar.
Trail of Lights – Addison, TX
I met up with a group of friends I made while I was living in Dallas, before I moved to Austin. We all went out to Vitruvian Park in Addison, Texas to the Trail of Lights, a sea of lighting that encompasses all the trees immediately in and around the complex walking path. I also worked for a few years in the lower building complex with the HCK2 Partners marketing and communications agency.
Selfie with the friends 
Me and the trees 
View over the lake of the trees
Blue Genie Art Bazaar – Austin, TX
My girlfriend and I went to the Blue Genie Art Bazaar to check out the locally made art. This was her first year, but by second year going back. There are many talented artists here on display for sale every year. I really liked some of the gag/pun gifts on sale this year.
“The Blue Genie Art Bazaar is a fixture of the Austin holiday shopping season. Open from late November to Christmas Eve. The Bazaar features unique work from over 200 local & regional artists – with a portion of proceeds going to Make-A-Wish®. Parking & admission are always FREE of charge. ”
– Blue Genie Art Bazaar Facebook Page
Blue Genie warehouse entrance 
Tiger King candles 
Cowgirl paintings 
Custom Christmas ornaments 
Fake planter dinosaurs
Aside from some of the funnier, gaggy art and trinkets, were artists of all styles and mediums. I really enjoyed the subtly muted, yet uniquely insightful canvas work. The Topo Chico glass pieces were also pretty clever as recycled products.
Lonely Robot Art 
Steampunk style art 
Topo Chico repurposed art
Below is a news segment on the Blue Genie Art Bazaar from KVUE News channel. This video show how the vendors have adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic to support themselves and the local arts.
Mozart’s Coffee Roaster Lights – Austin, TX
My girlfriend wanted to go to Mozart’s Coffee Roasters for their annual Christmas lightshow. She made reservations for her friends and us to have coffee and snacks at a table while watching the musically-timed lights. Overall, it was a good one-time experience to check off the holiday checklist.
Entrance coffee mug light sign 
Group photo area 
View in line of lightshow and seating 
Layers of Christmas lights timed to music 
Here’s a video from Mozart’s Coffee channel highlighting the Christmas lightshow from 2016. It has some great aerial shots of what the lightshow looks like from above, and clips from the synced lights.
