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Tula's personal assistants can turn you into a Valentine's Day hero

And you thought gift-giving season was over.

Photo courtesy of Tula

The hustle and bustle of the holidays has receded, and you might be settling into a calmer routine. But then February hits and suddenly there's all this pressure to bring the perfect DIY valentines for classroom parties, get teacher gifts purchased, bake delicious goodies, and plan surprise dates.

Let Tula take these items and more off your to-do list so you can just enjoy what Valentine's Day is really about: celebrating those you love.

Tula is an on-demand personal and virtual assistant service created to give you more balance and time in your days.

Founded in Denver but also now available in Austin, Tula leverages technology and a community of vetted, resourceful, and oh-so-savvy assistants to provide personalized help at the touch of an (app) button.

Want to be a Valentine's Day hero? Let Tula send the flowers, pick up and wrap your sweetheart's gift, make reservations at the perfect restaurant or even plan an in-home dinner date complete with a custom menu and your very own chef.

They can even create those Pinterest-worthy valentines for your kids to bring to school and source presents their teachers will actually want to receive.

And the best part? You get to take all the credit.

Tula gift cards also make spectacular gifts for every occasion and for everyone on your list. Seriously — who couldn't use more time in their day?

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Google soars to No. 3 in prestigious list of Forbes' best employers in Texas

Rendering courtesy of Steelblue/Trammell Crow

It's a blast to work at Google, according to Forbes.

Austin continues to prove it hosts the best of the best employers in Texas, as mega tech giants Google and Apple move into highly-coveted spots on Forbes' 2023 list of "America’s Best Employers By State".

The highly anticipated list, published August 22, is a collaboration between Forbes and Statista to survey the satisfaction levels of tens of thousands of workers employed by national companies.

Though the company is based in Mountain View, California, Google's mammoth presence in Austin (coupled with a great work environment and advancement opportunities) is what propels it to the top in Texas year after year. It is the No. 2 best employer in its home state. The 2023 ranking in Texas is a major improvement from its No. 14 rank in Forbes' 2022 list.

Apple also made its way through the ranks in Forbes 2023 list, ranking No. 13. Since Apple's expansion into the city, with the construction of a massive $1 billion campus in Northwest Austin, the company now employs 164,000 people everywhere — 7,500 more than Google.

Forbes explains that the national list isn't the same as its best large employers list; It's meant to serve as an in-depth analysis of companies that are "closer-to-home options for every American worker."

Forbes and Statista determined their rankings by surveying 70,000 Americans working at employers in the U.S. with at least 500 employees each. The final list features 1,392 highly recommended employers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 270 employers ranked highly in multiple states.

Here are the 30 best large employers in Texas, as determined by Forbes and Statista:

Austin:

No. 3 – Google (based in Mountain View, California; major corporate hub in Austin)
No. 13 – Apple (based in Cupertino, California; major corporate hub in Austin)

San Antonio:

No. 2 – H-E-B (based in San Antonio; more than 300 stores in Texas)
No. 26 – University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Houston area:

No. 1 – NASA (based in Washington, D.C.; Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake)
No. 4 – Houston Community College
No. 5 – Houston Methodist
No. 6 – Texas Children's Hospital
No. 18 – National Oilwell Varco
No. 19 – Bechtel (based in Reston, Virginia; major corporate hub in Houston)

Dallas-Fort Worth:

No. 6 – Texas Oncology, based in Dallas
No. 9 – Fidelity Investments (based in Boston; major corporate hub in Westlake)
No. 14 – Capital One (based in Richmond, Virginia; major corporate hub in Plano)
No. 17 – University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas
No. 22 – Southwest Airlines, based in Dallas
No. 24 – Texas Health Resources, based in Arlington
No. 25 – General Motors (based in Detroit, Michigan; major assembly hub in Arlington)
No. 27 – City of Plano
No. 28 – Toyota North America, based in Plano

Throughout Texas:

No. 8 – Salesforce (based in San Francisco, California; offices in Austin and Dallas)
No. 10 – IKEA (based in Sweden; five stores in Texas)
No. 11 – Costco (based in Issaquah, Washington; 38 stores in Texas)
No. 15 – Cardinal Health (based in Dublin, Ohio; 23 locations in Texas)
No. 16 – Microsoft (based in Redmond, Washington; offices in Austin, Dallas, Friendswood, Frisco, Houston, San Antonio, and The Woodlands)
No. 20 – Leidos (based in Reston, Virginia; locations in San Antonio, Houston, and Webster)
No. 21 – Cisco Systems (based in San Jose, California; offices in Austin, Dallas, Irving, Richardson, Houston, Laredo, and San Antonio)
No. 23 – IBM (based in Armonk, New York; offices in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Frisco)
No. 29 – Nike (based in Beaverton, Oregon; 26 locations in Texas)
No. 30 – Charles Schwab (based in San Francisco, California; 25 locations in Texas)

forbes reports Best Employers texas austin google apple