Blues, Biscuits and Bows

Good Monday morning! I hope your weekend was relaxing & filled with love, tasty treats and champagne! Was a very relaxing valentine's weekend for me, did all the things I wanted to do, and none of the things I didn't.

Friday night my parents and I went to the Houston iFest Mardi Gras Party blues show with Marcia Ball and Texas Johnny Brown. Tx JB is 81 years old- he had so much energy! I hope I'm that awesome when I'm 81. Marcia is one of Dad's favorite musicians. He's been wanting to see her live for years and this show was exactly how he wanted to see her- front and center at a very small venue. It was a really great show.

I slept in on Saturday and enjoyed every second of it. I met up with a few friends for Chy's birthday lunch at Hugo's. First visit to that restaurant- it was very good. After lunch we went to Rudz for a few pints, and then it was nap time. I had some kind of allergic reaction to something I ate so I was taking benadryl this weekend which made me a very sleepy person.

There were so many things happening on Saturday, parties, shows, etc.. but I opted for a quiet night in with a good dinner and a movie. I made shrimp en brochette for the first time. I bought 8 large shrimp for only 2.50$ at Kroger, butterflied them, placed a thin slice of jalapeno and pepper jack in the middle of the cut, wrapped with bacon and broiled. I will definitely make those again.

Sunday morning, I made breakfast- used the rest of the bacon from the night before and paired with heart shaped biscuits! This was my second attempt at homemade biscuits and these turned out much better than the last time- I think it's all in the thickness of the dough when you cut your shape- these were 1/2 an inch thick and last time they were just too thin.
Sunday afternoon was lazy and relaxing. It got up to 70 degrees! So, so nice - ran a few errands (was a little embarrassed to put $ 0.78 my debit card at Texas Art Supply. I really need to carry more cash...), but mostly stayed in, watched a few movies and played with fabric and felt. Came up with a few neat little things.

I'm pretty excited about today actually. Do you know what today is? IT'S 1/2 PRICE CANDY DAY!! The only other day I am as excited about is the day after Halloween. 1/2 price boxes of assorted chocolatesss mmmmmm. At 10$ a box they're good, but at 5$ a box, they're absolute perfection.

Paris, TX: Rare Winter Wonderland

There's a city in North East Texas, very close to the OK border, called Paris, complete with a mini Eiffel tower. At work, I've been on a project called Mid Continent Express pipeline for a little under 2 years. One of the stations is here in Paris. There's this little town square with a pretty fountain that, for most of the year, looks like this:

But this Winter, it looks like this:

This beautiful photograph was taken yesterday, the 11th, by one of my associates on the project who's working out there.

I know there are so many people who have had it "up-to-here" with the snow; it's lost it's charm, it causes accidents, is expensive to remove, the bitter cold that accompanies, but for us living in parts of the country who see it so rarely, it's absolutely captivating. But we are still looking for forward to spring.

[Snow photo by Sherry Luquette]

[Top photo found here]

Lollipie Success!

Made the little lollipies last night- took about an hour, wasn't too difficult, and came out pretty cute (and tasty)! The only hard part was making sure my pie crust circles were big enough to allow room for side crimps. The first attempts were fails because the pie filling gushed out everywhere. Mess. I tried two different sizes of the heart shaped cookie cutters, but eventually settled for the less-than-festive circles for practical reasons. I used a 1/4 measuring cup

First, gather your ingredients- Craft/popsicle sticks(these were more study than little sucker sticks), flour for your countertop, pie filling of your choice, 2 ready-made pie crusts aand a greased cookie sheet.

Cut out your pie crust shapes, two each for each lollipie. Lay your stick with the top in the center, spoon a little filling onto the stick in the center of the pie crust circle. Don't spread around too much, you need to be able to have crimp space.

Lay your second pie crust circle on top and gently press the edges. With a fork, make your crimps.

Place on cookie sheet and bake @ 350 for about 10-15 minuntes. Keep an eye on them.

When cool, wrap in a little sandwich bag, tie with ribbon (I used jute because I love it and have way way too much), attach a little note and shazzam! A cute, tasty treat!

Best enjoyed warm with cold milk !

Love Story #6: Nora

[Nora] "I guess you could say that I’ve never really looked at this holiday as a “holiday for lovers”. My Valentine’s gifts generally came from my parents and I was, and still am, a-okay with that. It’s always just been another day – maybe with just a little more affection than others.

Unfortunately many have fallen into the commercial “romantic” aspect of the day. There are maaaanymanymanymany gals – and a few dudes - that take this day way too seriously. I don’t think I’ve ever been like that...I’m not breaking down screaming “Why me?!” while shaking my fists to the heavens because I don’t have a date to take me PF Changs or a Prix Fix meal on this holiest of days. Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be about that....it can be just taking a moment to really appreciate love itself.

I know I was asked to focus on a particular love, but I just couldn’t. There are a million tiny things in my life that I love and that make me who I am, so here it goes...

I love my hilarious friends (srsly. comedic gold if I do say so myself). I love my neighborhood and my short commute and, not counting this past month, Houston weather. I love being so close to my parents and to my brother and I really love that he’s a chef. I love limes and sunglasses and good books and a stiff drink. I love funny voices and movie quotes and jokes that drag on for 30 minutes. I love graphic design and macs and being a font-snob. I love music beyond words – I loved that my parents forced me to take piano lessons and that I played to oboe (and played it damn well too) for many years and that I obsessively check about 24 rss feeds of music blogs every morning. I love being a Mexican American– I feel so lucky to have such strong ties to a culture that is so rich in tradition. I love that my parents recently celebrated their 30th anniversary and that they have been the perfect role models for a lasting marriage. I even love the fact that I haven’t fallen into the pessimistic I’m-going-to-be-single-forever-rut, because I know I won’t.

That said, I will participate in a couple of “anti-valentines” parties because who am I to turn down an invitation? I’ll be cynical and cursing my horrible luck with men on the outside, but you will know that deep-down I’m optimistic and that I’m perfectly happy getting flowers and chocolates from my dad.

To quote the cinematic legend Mr. Hugh Grant, “If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”

PS – I love Dixie and the Fuzz too."

Love Story #5: My Brother!

[me] I met this guy on October 27th, 1986. I was 5, and he was... well, he was nothing really. Tiny and sleeping is what he was- my first and only little brother. Michelle and I were pretty excited.. (I think).. Like I said, I was 5, Michelle was 3.

He was pretty fun(ny) and still is. We had this little bunny teeth with a nose/whiskers costume thing you'd secure to your head with an elastic band.. We'd put it on his face, he'd chew the little plastic teeth, we'd laugh. That photo still kills me. He'd play-fight, kick and swing his arms at me while singing the teenage mutant ninja turtle theme song. I'm not sure if he'd really want me sticking all of this on the internet, but these are the some of the things I remember from when we were kids that still make me giggle a little.

When I moved to San Marcos in 1999, Peter was 12, so I sort of missed those pretty important 12-18 years. I never once saw him play a high school soccer game, which I think I'll always regret.

Over the past 4 years we've become pretty close, sharing music, going to the same college, books, going to shows and bars together...He's become a really good guy- a really hard worker, so smart, a good cook...and I have to say I'm pretty proud of him.

Cheers, Pete!

Love Story #4: Lindsay and Eric

[Lindsay] "Eric and I met at a Van Halen concert... we were both offered free tickets through a mutual contact. Instantly, I was very comfortable around him, thought he was cute, loved that we were the same age, and he made me laugh! However, he assumed I was a player (based on one little joke I made when he asked if I was seeing anyone... I replied, "No, but I have a few batters on deck.") so he didn't pursue me--at first.

Thus we began as friends saw each other again a week later for a group dinner party (as luck would have it, we sat next to each other and again were captivated by our conversation and ease of being next to one another)... after that 2nd encounter, we simply kept in touch via email & text as friends.

Then a month or two pass and all we've done is email here and there... when I invite the handsome Eric to my birthday gathering at Gigi's Asian Bistro where I was meeting with 12 other friends for dinner. Eric arrived and gave me the BIGGEST hug, and as luck would have it he somehow ended up sitting right next to me again at the dinner table. He acted silly and made me laugh with his genuine personality. That night, he invites me to a lake-party he's hosting up at Lake Conroe and I accept!

So that very next weekend I went up to his "estate on the lake" and again we had a blast together... we had so much fun in the sun that day and even though we were just friends, something started to pull-us closer & more drawn to each other. We flirted and splashed around in the water... I knew that he was exactly the type of true and genuine man I'd been looking for and I could start to see in his eyes that he might want to be more than friends as well.

That was May, 2007 and only a short time after that did he & I finally cross over "The Friend Zone" and kiss for the first time. I knew that dating him would be "the real-deal" b/c of the way he looked at me and the way I was so drawn to him throughout our friendship (like two planetoids orbiting around the same gravitational force)... this would not be just a fling nor a hook-up... but something tried & true!

Here we are almost 2yrs later and absolutely love the fact that I keep falling more and more in love with him with every passing day!

Here's to starting out as friends and letting the laws of attraction take their course!"

Love Story #3: Michelle & Dylan

[Michelle] "We landed in the same German for Foreigners class while studying at the University of Freiburg on March 8, 2006. It was love at first sight ... just kidding.

We spent the next 6 months traveling, kind of studying, and falling in love. Across the Atlantic, we continued our interest in each other, and New Year 2007 in Hamburg was a wonderful reunion.

Since February 07, we have followed each other around the world to stay together; our journeys introduced us to cowboys, kangaroos, and croissants.

We were engaged on November 5, 2007 on Montmartre in Paris and married on August 30th 2008 in Plantersville, Texas, USA."