You're so Vain, You Probably Think this LJ is About You

Lately all I have wanted to do is bake cakes. It started with making Nay-nay's rainbow birthday cake and for the past month, I will use any excuse to whip up something: homemade ding dongs for my brother because he was disappointed that they have not reappeared on grocery store shelves; experimenting with making tiny single and double servings of cake (you know, for the DIET); and now: my brother and sister's birthday cake:



You do NOT want to know how I made that icing. I know frosting is just butter and sugar but I don't want to actually see it! LOL...
This particular specimen is vanilla cake layered with nutella, marshmallow icing, and macerated strawberries. I'm sure we will all take a bite and go into diabetic comas. But what a way to go!

Hello, dear friends. Checking in and laboriously typing on my iPad because I cannot be arsed to buy the keyboard attachment. I hope everyone is well. I can't complain much. Work is okay, the familia is okay (including bb Gabe, who is fat and adorable). JP and I have Spring plans that include a couple of hockey games, the Scottish Highland Games (turkey legs, wot wot), and a jaunt to both Austin and Lubbock to see the live broadcasts of Prairie Home Companion (JP's birthday present).

This past weekend I met up with Nay-nay. We had dinner and decided to walk around La Cantera, the swank open-air mall nearby that is lovely for like 2 months out of the year when it's not ridiculously hot, humid, damp and rainy, or allergen-ridden. Anyway, unbeknownst to us, Kelly Clarkson was there giving a concert to celebrate the opening of the new Microsoft store (I know, we will celebrate anything). She sounded great and did a beautiful cover of Fun's We Are Young, which I loooove. So, yeah. Free concert! Afterwards, we went for a couple of drinks and went home.

I have other stories, but I have forgotten them because I am old. Boo.

Will check in again, probably to admit that I have broken down and bought a keyboard cause this text-typing is for the birds.

And since I am feeling a little down, I leave you with Anis Mojgani's Shake the Dust

Well, my anger has abated and I forgot half the stuff I wanted to bitch about in my last entry, so I guess I'll forget about that post. For now.

Although my birthday is not until tomorrow, I have been celebrating the Hell out of it all weekend long:

- Thursday night the familia took me out to eat (celebrating all the December birthdays/anniversaries) followed by cake and presents at my parent's house.

- Afterwards, JP took me to the midnight showing of Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, which was entirely awesome (although I still like the first better). I mean, I enjoy hoyay! as much as the next gal, but it felt a little over the top/anvil-y for my taste. But all in all, a great movie. Can't wait to see it again!

- Friday I headed out of town to see Nay-nay in Austin. That night we went downtown to see Esther's Follies, an Austin institution. It's a part skit, part singing, part magic show that is lightning quick with the jokes and costume changes. Truly unique and hilarious! Afterwards, we wandered down 6th Street looking into all the bars, tattoo parlors, and fancy hotels. We stopped for couple of drinks at an Irish pub, which was the only semi-quiet place on the street (for us old folks) and finally went back to Nay-nay's house.

- Saturday we did some shopping and found ourselves back in downtown Austin, looking at the window displays that are part of the Holiday Window Walk. Students from the local college put displays in tony stores and people get to vote on them. My favorite was the ball gown made from wrapping paper. That was some serious Project Runway shit!

- Afterwards, we went to Romeo's for some awesome Italian food (the bruschetta was to die for, with roasted garlic, olive tapenade, and fresh tomatoes). There was also a band playing bluegrass music. I don't know why they were playing in an Italian restaurant, but they sounded good.

- We then found our way to Pioneer Farms to see an interactive performance of A Christmas Carol. The farm is a living history museum run by volunteers. For the show, they walk small groups around the farm to different tableaux where actors perform to you, as if the audience was Scrooge. It was simple, yet effective.

- We ended the night with a few drinks and fell into bed, exhausted. I didn't drink too much this weekend, mainly because the last time I was at her place, I drank a whole bottle of Rose Regale and nearly puked it up on her carpet. Huzzah for tolerance!

- Today, we woke up late, went for mani/pedis (my toes are glittery red), and I drove home. I can't wait to collapse into bed!

After my fantastic meltdown this weekend, I am feeling a little better. Yes, I am in a minor financial crisis not of my making, yes my job is so stressful that I regularly need afternoon naps/crying jags to get through the week, yes there are things in my life that I am avoiding because I don't have the energy to deal (health, house falling apart, refinancing rigamarole). BUT. I will persevere. A girl can dream.

JP cheered me up this weekend by taking me to see Anonymous, which I enjoyed except ( spoiler! )  Still don't believe the theory, but I love love love period dramas. Rhys Ifans, who knew? Hubba hubba!

Then we went to Half Price Books with our coupons and I bought a bunch of books on English history. Again. My Elizabethan/Shakespeare library, let me show you it.

Saw Nay-Nay tonight, which is always nice. She has agreed to go with me for sushi tomorrow and I am excite! Ten bucks says raw fish will not go anywhere near her mouth. It's okay - she is accompanying me which makes me : )

Tomorrow is Friday, Friday, Friday!!!! Working 4 days a week is sweet, but getting up at 5am is BRUTAL. Seriously, that's just not natural! After work nap is now mandatory...

Nay-nay is in town, so hopefully tomorrow night will include dinner and shenanigans!

So, the reason we went hiking the other day (other than to get off our lazy asses) was due to our purchasing a year pass to all Texas state parks. So now I am making a list of all the parks we want to go to. Methinks my 3-day weekends will come in handy this summer! I will become more healthy and hike-errific (but I will not eat granola bars, this I swear).

Seriously - check this out. I'm going to go all "Thoreau on Walden Pond" here, except no pond and also no mother to do my laundry:



Several of the parks have groovy retro or native-style lodgings, which I think is cool. Especially if I don't feel like camping, LOL!

Hmm, I thought I had interesting things to say, but I guess not. Oh, well. What's new with you guys???

The gods did not want me to watch the Grammys. Less than an hour in and Nay-nay called. She just had surgery on Friday and was sitting at home all bummed out and in pain, so since I am not a heartless monster, I muted the show and gave her my mostly undivided attention. We talked for almost 2 hours, so now I am surfing the interwebs to try and find out what I missed.

I have no idea why I am so interested in the Grammys this year, other than I am looking for new artists/music to buy with my iTunes gift cards from Christmas. Just earlier today, I purchased The Road of a Gypsy and sent it to the Kid as a nostalgic postcard reminding him of one our favorite movies in the entire universe, Iron Eagle. Yeah, you read that right. That movie is badass.

In searching for Grammy performances, I stumbled on Aretha Franklin's Nessum Dorma from 1998, where apparently she was a last minute replacement for Pavarotti. Pardon my language, but that lady has some big balls. Wow. You go, Aretha!

I loved Muse's performance and although I am not a Miranda Lambert fan, I really like that song. Eminem and Dre sounded great. Who else should I look up?

I am nervous about work! Announcements, offers, new things, scary things in the offing. Sometimes I feel like such a little girl.

I have just discovered Goldfrapp and am entranced! It's like ELO absorbed Olivia Newton John circa the Xanadu years. Delicious...

And speaking of delicious, I am MAD craving chocolate, specifically some Toblerone. Uh-oh.

Today, we had lunch with Nay-nay and her hubby, who were in town visiting her grandparents. We had a total blast! I love her and can't wait to invite myself up to Austin again. ^____________^

See? I can be normal and social. Sometimes. Okay, once in a while. But it's better than nothing!

I raided Half Price Books and bought books on the following subjects: Kit Marlowe, Queen Elizabeth's governess, Shakespeare, notorious royal marriages in history, and Da Vinci (bad ass MacGyver extraordinaire). Mmmmm. Books. I love them.

Ugh. So tired. Have worked 27 hours in the past two days with two more to go. Working the week of Christmas blows, not only because we are short-handed and ridiculously busy, but our new hardware refuses to work  right so guess who gets to stay and wait for the programmers? I'll give you a hint - it's not my boss. Add to this grocery shopping (violent urge meter: murder), preparing for annual family-filled Christmas party at my parent's house (violent urge meter: maim), and various other undone errands (violent urge meter: mischief/mayhem) and you have one grouchy chica.

I hate to say it, but I am so ready for Christmas to be over!

Okay, that was the crap. Here is the good stuff:

- birthday/anniversary party at my parent's house was good. I got money, a gift card (Old Navy!), and a purse I had picked out from Fossil. JP got me Pride & Prejudice on blu-ray, which rocks ass! All in all, a good day.

- the next day I headed up to Austin to hang with Nay-nay. Her and Danny took me to County Line on the Lake for lots of barbeque and a beautiful view. Later, we went shopping and then to her brother's house where her sister-in-law had made me a cake. Aw! That night, we went to Applebees to watch the Dallas game and break the law (we smuggled a few airline liquor bottles in to make mixed drinks, ghetto-style). Afterwards, we retired to her house, I drank a whole bottle of Rosa Regale, and was mildly sick the next morning. Lovely, lovely weekend.

- JP and I made our reservations to go to San Francisco in February. We are staying at the Hotel Bijou, which is quaint and has a mini-theater that plays a double-feature every night and is apparently right around the corner from the local crack den. Sweet. We got a screaming good deal: two round trip airline tickets and 4 nights at the hotel for $650. Rock on.

Finally, I got off track with my meme, but allow me to er, re-track it

Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad

Cherries are apparently a wonderful laxative. That's good to know, I guess.

Back from a whirlwind weekend in Austin. On Friday night, I drove up to Georgetown and Nay-nay and I went to her nephew's surprise birthday party, which I was pleased to find contained as many adults as kids. Lots of food and beer and plenty of friendly folks who made me feel right at home. Nice.

Then, Saturday afternoon was the Wicked matinee and it was just as good as the last time. Much better seats than I could afford, too. The bartender who made me a rum and coke didn't really bother with the coke part so I has half-drunk before the curtain raised (score). The older gentleman sitting next to me kept a running commentary during the show, both to me and his seatmate, but again, coming from a loud family (with a sister who talks through movies), I am able to block that shit out. I kinda felt bad for the old guy, in any case. I still cried during Defying Gravity and was greatly pleased when the crowd gave the entire cast a standing ovation.

Afterwards, Nay-nay's grandmother surprised all us girls with rooms at the Mansion at Judge's Hill, an absolutely BEAUTIFUL historic hotel. We all had dinner there that night (rare seared tuna for me) that was tasty, if a little pretentious. But still a very generous gesture.

I won't lie - I was feeling a little jealous. My family couldn't afford half that type of present and ya'll all know my never-ending litany regarding my birthday and the non-event it is, being surrounded by other birthdays, anniversaries, and the holidays. So, I was really in awe of the whole thing. But then something happened that make me forget all that: this morning Nay-nay and her mom had a horrible fight, just terrible.

Now, I've known this woman (and her mom) for over 20 years. Theirs is not an easy relationship. They are too much alike, I think. I've heard them fight before, but somehow just hearing them hurl abuse at each other today made me realize how lucky I am, with the easy relationship I have with my parents. Sure, we don't always see eye-to-eye, but we would never say the kinds of things Nay-nay and her mom were saying to each other.

After breakfast at the hotel, I pleaded work and beat it home. And called my mom to tell her how much I loved her.

In other weekend news, I love Austin, particularly the UT Austin campus. It just looks and feels like a college is supposed to and brings back so many college memories...

Nay-nay's grandma bought me a ticket to see Wicked in Austin so I could go with all of them for Nay-nay's birthday at the end of August. ♥

I wish DC would come to a club venue near me (I am so demanding) - I have seen him at two festivals and to me, it's a totally different vibe when you are squashed in a dark, smoky club.

Work is ridiculous since my co-worker is gone for the next two weeks and I have all his work and mine. Plus we are starting spec meetings for the new system that is going in before the end of the year. That. Will. Be. Ugly. You read it here first.