Missy's Bachlorette Weekend

Friday night kicked off Missy's Bachelorette Extravaganza. We had a blast! It is always great to see everyone. Here is the run down:

Friday night - Dinner at Joe T. Garcia's in Fort Worth, followed by bar hopping in downtown Fort Worth. We hit up The Library, Fox and Hound, and an "urban" club called Tru Lounge. It was quiet the interesting evening. There were a lot of shots, a lot of drinking, and a lot of fun! I got home by 2-ish.

Saturday - We met at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine for a day of spa-ing, swimming, and lounging. I got a facial and it was amazing! It is always nice when your facialist says she "doesn't see any lines or wrinkles" and that I "have great skin"! Good stuff.

Saturday night - We all met in Missy's room for her lingerie shower and drinks. Tanya brought Sweet Tea Vodka. I had never heard of it, but one sip and I had a love/hate relationship with it. It is so good, but would be so bad for me to start drinking it (because I probably wouldn't stop). After the shower, we had dinner at Ama Lur inside the hotel.

Sunday morning - We ended the weekend with fantastic brunch. When I got home, I spent some good, quality time on the couch napping.

I had a great weekend and can't wait for the wedding!!!

Shannon's Visit

Shannon came to town last weekend and we had a great time. We went to Piranah's, shopping, comedy show, the Spa, dinner at Nobu, and the Britney concert! When Shannon and I arrived at The Crescent Hotel for the Spa, we ended up on an elevator with Abe Lincol and Albert Einstein. We had to get our pictures with them. When we got back on the Elevator, I said to Shannon..."So Abe Lincoln and Albert Einstein were riding in an elevator together. One looks over to the other and says..." I could't resist. It was just too funny and random. Here are some of the pics from the weekend, most from the concert. I must say I LOVE my camera. The zoom is amazing and the sound is great. I will post videos next.

Girls Weekend

Shannon is coming down this weekend and we have a bunch of fun stuff planned. Here is a rundown:

Saturday Night - Dinner with the Pier 1 girls
Sunday - Take it easy and hang out, then head to Addison to see Brian Posehn
Monday - Shopping
Tuesday - Spa Day and BRITNEY!!

I am very excited about Tuesday. We will start the day off with lunch, then head to the Spa at The Crescent Hotel in Dallas. We will spend the afternoon there getting spa treatments, then we will get ready there and head to AAC to see Britney! Here are the treatments we are doing:

Drench Body Treatment - the ultimate spa experience, featuring the most luxurious products. Startingwith a full body organic exfoliation and mask, you will fall into deep relaxation. Theexperience continues as you melt away during your massage with a customized blendof organic shea butter, natural oils and aromatherapy.

Ayurvedic Body Treatment - derived from the traditional Pancha Karmarejuvenation therapies using herbal infused oils and a botanical body mask to exfoliate,cleanse, detoxify and nourish. Using oils selected for your specific constitution, a lightmassage is followed by a short herbal wrap.

Shirodhara Therapy - an ancient therapy used to restore the inner calm to the mind andbalance the emotions. Begin with a gentle dripping of warm herbal oil to the “thirdeye,” quieting the mind and soothing the senses. The oil is massaged into the hair andscalp, followed by an application of ayurvedic herbs that nourish hair roots andcondition the scalp. A mini-facial and massage to the hands and feet complete thistreatment.

Julie's Birthday

Yesterday my friend Julie turned...29 again, so we went to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. I had never been there before and don't see what all the hype is about. They do have a ton of cheesecake flavors and it is good, but eh. Also their portions are out of control. I swear, a family of 4 could have eaten off my plate alone. It was rediculous. Anyway, it was nice to see my friends and be there to celebrate Julie's birthday.

Birthday Girl Julie

Kristen

Heather and Chavez

Some goofball

See! Rediculous Portions. I swear there were 2 pounds of potatos on this plate!

Tagged

Shannon tagged and I'm it...


8 things I did today (in no particular order):
1) went to work
2) did laundry
3) picked up prescriptions
4) grilled steaks for dinner
6) took a shower
7) blogged/read blogs
8) watched tv

8 favorite restaurants (also, in no order):
1) Pirahna's
2) Mac's Bar & Grill
3) Sake Japanese Steakhouse
4) La Madeline
5) Rockfish
6) Abuelo's
7) Ocean Rock
8) Mi Cocina

8 shows that I watch:
1) Rock of Love - currently the love bus
2) 30 Rock
3) Oprah
4) Adult Swim (mostly family guy, robot chicken and metalocalypse)
5) Real Housewives of Orange County
6) Ghost Hunters
7) Supernatural
8) Smallville

8 things I wish for:
1) health and happiness for all my friends and loved ones
2) my surgery to be successful
3) a family of my own (see #2)
4) Frank's job success and happiness
5) my own job success
6) a marriage that stays strong and happy forever
7) a fit and toned body (working on it)
8) to become more chilled

8 things I look forward to:
1) Caribbean this spring with Todd and Kristi
2) new job possibilities
3) Britney concert with Shannon
4) weekends
5) those fun moments with Frank
6) maid service again next month (why didn't I do this sooner?)
7) spending time at home each evening with the puppies and Frank
8) summer

And, so I tag:
do I only tag those with a blog? How about this...if you are reading this and have not yet been tagged, consider yourself tagged!

Bent with the Dents

Last night Frank and I rang in 2009 with our good friends Todd and Kristi. We had a great time at Bent Lounge in Fort Worth. None of us had been there before, so we were unsure what to expect. When we arrived I have to say I was a bit disappointed because it was dead, nobody was there, and it was kind of cheesy. The club is set up on 3 levels. We were on the 3rd level, which ended being segregated from the rest of the club. The 2nd floor at least over looked the first floor so you were more in the mix of everything. But shortly after we arrived, the place got packed. It turns out the 3rd floor was more of a VIP area with wrist-band access only. Who knew. We always know how to party like rock stars...Ha! Anyway, it was a good time with some interesting people watching. Everyone was there from "the old dude at the club in a wind-breaker", a Courtney Love look-a-like, Chewbacca, and much more. By the end of the night, the Courtney Love chick invited herself to our table (you will see her in some of the pics) so that was pretty funny. Oh, and I figured out that I have developed a couple really stupid picture "poses" that will need to stop ASAP!

Christmas with the Carvino's

My friends Kelli and Rich hosted a Christmas party last night and it was a good time as always. The big draw is always the gift exchange. Over the past few years, Frank and I have had a "theme" going. Every year, usually the day of the party, we make our yearly trip to the "adult" novelty store. This year, Frank's offering was something so disgusting...an anal trainer lol!!! My gift was something every dirty homeless man would A-DORE...a mixed bag of the finest street liquor that consisted of none other than Night Train, Thunderbird, Mad Dog 20/20 and Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill. All of which cost me less than $10 (for the full size bottle no less). Good times.

Palomino's

This past weekend Frank and I went to Palomino's in Dallas with our friends Todd, Kristi, Aaron and Tracie. We don't get to see them very often, but when we do, it is always a great time. In case you don't know, Todd and Kristi are our friends we met in Puerto Vallarta back in 2006. Aaron and Tracie are friends of Todd and Kristi that we met at their wedding in Tulum, Mexico. It's just too funny because we never meet friends local very often, let alone abroad, and we all hit it off so well.

Palominos was really good. I had a filet with cognac demi-sauce and a blue cheese risotto cake and for desert I had a Spanish coffee and crème brulee. At first I didn't like the Spanish coffee, but later that night and the next day I was actually craving it. I think it's normally served with coffee, but this one was just liquor served in a brandy style glass with a sugared rim. It consisted of Tia Maria, Bacardi 151, and Meyer's Rum. It was so strong, but so good.

Good times. Here are some pics. I wish I had got a picture of Aaron and Tracie together (sorry guys).

Halloween Part Deux

Halloween Part 1

Fuerza Bruta Show

I was just reading Perez Hilton and he has a post about a show he went to in NYC called Fuerza Bruta. I watched the clip of it and it looks like a truely mind blowing experience. Perez describes the show as Cirque du Soleil meets a Rave. SHUT UP! My peeps...if the show ever comes to Dallas WE MUST GO!!!

Click here to check out the video.

Congratulations to Jason and Catie!

Congratulations to Jason and Catie on the birth of their baby girl, Olivia!!! More info to come...

The Bumble Bee Story

I am truly blessed to be surrounded with the friends I have. I saw a quote online that said "A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself." That could not have rang more true for me last night. I met my friend Catie for dinner and she showed up with a very unexpected gift for me. She said she saw it and it made her think of me and there was a story behind it. I opened the James Avery bag to find a sterling silver bracelet with a Bumble Bee charm. She asked if I had heard of the Bumble Bee story, and I had not. The Bumble Bee story goes as follows:

Bees are the symbol of fertility and sexuality.
Its honeycomb, a hexagon, is the symbol of the heart and
represents the sweetness of life found within our own heart.
It is also the symbol of the sun and all its energies.

The bee reminds us to extract the honey of life
and to make our lives fertile (productive) while the sun shines.
No matter how great the dream is, there is the promise of fulfillment
if we pursue our dreams.

If a Bee has shown up in your life, examine your own productivity.
Are you doing all you can to make your life more fertile?
Are you busy enough?
Are you making time to savor the honey of life and not becoming a workaholic?

The Bee is the symbol of accomplishing the impossible.
Aerodynamically, its body is too large for its wings and should not be able to fly.
Although now we understand how it does fly (high rate of wing movement),
the Bee remains a symbol of accomplishing anything you put your mind to.

In Hinduism, the Bee relates to Vishnu, Krishna or Kama, the God of Love.
In Egypt, the Bee symbolized royalty.
In Greece, it was the symbol of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
The Celts associated the Bee with hidden wisdom.

Catie is pregnant with her first child, a baby girl. She is due in a month and I couldn't be more ecstatic for her!

Wichita Fun!

It has been a fun weekend here in Wichita Kansas! I am visiting my friend Shannon and will be going home tomorrow morning. We packed a lot into these 2 days. Yesterday (Saturday), I got in around 12:30 after a 5 hour drive. Traffic was surprisingly light, which was nice. Shortly after I arrived, we went to eat lunch at Bella Luna. It's a really good Mediterranean restaurant about 2 miles from her house. After that, Shannon drove me around and gave me a tour of the town. Saturday night, we went to Old Town in downtown Wichita. The advertising agency that Shannon works at is right in the heart of Old Town. We took a tour of her office, then went to a super cute gift shop for some shopping, then it was on to Oeno Wine Bar.



There we had a fabulous crab and gouda fondue with bread and apples. I started with a cucumber martini (which was won-der-ful!), then moved on to a yummy New Zealand wine called Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. http://www.kimcrawfordwines.co.nz/
After dinner at the wine bar, we went to "Keeper of the Plains", an interesting monument with fire and water and a very architectural bridge.





Today was the perfect girly day. We started our day off with Sunday brunch and then went shopping at Bradley Fair,a great outdoor shopping center in East Wichita that sits on a little lake. It was very picturesque. We hit Williams-Sonoma, White House-Black Market, J. Jill, Eddie Bauer and Gap. After shopping, we went to see Mama Mia (the sing-along version!). It was so good. If you have not seen it yet, you must. It was campy, and cheesy, and gay. Loved it loved it loved it!
Here are some pictures of the shopping center lake and fountain:




Anyway, I am excited to get home to Lucy tommorow. Frank says she is doing well. He sent me a few pictures of her with her little shaved back. I will post again tomorrow to let everyone know how she is doing. Good night!

Sex and the City Report

As I mentioned below, I went to see Sex and the City with some girlfriends last night. The movie was really cute. There were sad cries and happy cries. I laughed a lot too. It's definitely a must see if you were a fan of the show. So now let me give you a little review of the actual movie theater and its patrons. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was Showtime at the Apollo-Ladies Night. Seriously. Every Bonifa, Shakisha, Lunseta, Lavitra, and LaFonda were all there... hair weaves, big ass booty, attitude and all. So my friends and I were all in line like we were supposed to be when all of a sudden this parade of them comes up forcing themselves though the tight crowded line to get to the font of the line, which happened to be right in front of us. To make a long story short (because it makes my blood boil), when asked why they cut in front of us, major attitude came out (just as you would imagine). Bitches start lying and saying how they were here the whole time, blah blah blah. This one bitch starts fanning herself with a big ass menu that is hitting my hair every time she fans her big ass. I asked politely if she would please stop hitting me with her fanning and she was like "oh, I'm just fanning myself" and other bitchy things. I asked her then "why do you have to be such a bitch?” Well it didn't like that. Her friends did the obligatory "Oh no she did'ent" and the other friend was telling me "honey stop, it ain't worth it". Stop what? What the hell did she think I was going to do? I don't fight like animals do. I talk politely like normal people do. So while mutters of "I'll kick her ass" spewed out of their mouths, all I could do is sit there and bite my tongue to not say something extremely racial that would cause us to miss our movie. I was not worried about getting my ass kicked. With all those people around the most that would happen would be a slap on the face and the pull of my hair. I would end up looking like the victim and they would get arrested. Hmmm, I wonder if that would be a hate crime. Ha!

Anyway, I seriously am not some racist, but I do not like bullies and people of other races using the race card. Especially when they say to my friends that they just think they "all look alike". I am also the type to AVOID confrontation. I seriously don't know what got in to me. I think I am tired of people not speaking up for themselves. I honestly think that little experience taught me to speak my mind when I feel something is not right. It kind of felt good. Yes I could have got my ass beat or something more serious, and I won't do that again, but I definitely won't sit by and allow myself and my friends to be walked on. I don't care if it makes me look like a bitch because the people who know me know that I am not a bitch, and they are the only people who matter...not strangers.

Sex and the City

I am meeting up with the girls tonight to see the new Sex and the City movie. We will have dinner and drinks while watching the movie at the Studio Movie Grill. I will post my review of the movie tomorrow.

Shannon's Visit

My friend Shannon came for a visit last weekend and we had a great time! Having a girlfriend in town is always the perfect excuse to go shopping!

Sunday:
She came in around 1:00 on Sunday and then we went to go eat lunch at Veria, a natural wellness center that also has a really good deli. We then popped into Ann Taylor Loft next door. I new they would have a sale because they always do (I hardly ever shop the regular priced section), but this sale was the best I had seen there. I got a skirt for $14.99, another skirt for $9.99, a blouse for $9.99 and two t-shirts for $30.00. From there, we headed to the Parks Mall because I wanted to get some FitFlops. They are supposed to work your legs and butt while you walk. We shall see if that pays off. I am always a sucker for the latest things promoted on Oprah. We then went to Bare Escentuals for Shannon to try their makeup. She ended up buying everything and she looked really good and natural! We then went to Dicks Sporting Goods for her to buy a Garmin Running Watch. She recently picked up running. I guess its much easier living in Kansas where it’s not as hot and humid. Not my cup of tea. It was a great day followed by a great dinner at Piranha’s in Downtown Fort Worth and drinks in Arlington at Milo's with Frank and my friend Carley.
Monday (Memorial Day):
Off to Ocean Rock in Fort Worth for lunch. It's one of our favorite lunch places from when we worked at Pier 1. We first stopped to pick up her daughter who had spent the night with a friend and then went to eat. Afterwards we hit up Target and did some shopping. We also got ingredients to make the best turkey burgers I have ever had. When we got home we enjoyed some Pomegranate Daiquiris and made the burgers. They were so good. We topped the night off watching TV and hanging out.

Shannon and Payton left on Tuesday morning after I left for work. It was really nice seeing her. We always have a good time hanging out! I hope to visit her in Wichita soon.