A Snowball's Chance Where???

Houston was mesmerized by the unexpected snow flurries last night, starting as a slushy drizzle around 5:00pm, and turning into fluffy flakes a few hours later. The snow around me inside the city fell at least an inch, but places on the east side of Houston had up to 4 inches! It had mostly melted by this morning at my place, but there were several pictures from the areas east of town with snow-covered rooftops and white lawns. It was so pretty to see with all the Christmas decorations up, and it made all the Christmas music seem much more appropriate. Nothing like an early snowfall to get people in the spirit! Apparantly, snow this early in the season hasn't fallen in this area since 1944 - as reported on Channel 11 news this morning!

In the spirit(s) of the season!

As I helped decorate the tree with my family over the weekend, we found this old Christmas gem that is my all time favorite holiday song. Enjoy:

Post-holiday bloating

Something about stuffing yourself on holidays makes me want to diet like crazy after. We had a low-key holiday weekend and shot some fireworks in the front drive. You can see a few of them over on my YouTube page.

I found a cool little calorie counter that I'll be putting to use so I can get back in bikini mode before the next long weekend. Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th!

Ringing in the New Year with Sweeney Todd

Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year. I definitely had a great year, and I'll be ringing 2008 in low-key, since that seemed to work for me last year. Looking forward to a brand new year full of happiness and (hopefully) prosperity. Wishing the same for everyone else as well.


Got to catch the newest Johnny Depp/Tim Burton flick this weekend - Sweeney Todd, and it is a gory one! Most of the singing talent was impressive, Depp included. Probably the least experienced was Helena Bonham-Carter, but she pulled off an Eliza Doolittle-like sound that actually worked for her character. Sacha Baron-Cohen made a splashy appearance in an otherwise dreary scenario, and his character also goes out with a bang (or should I say, spray?). Definitely NOT a movie to take the kids to - it is gross, violent, and did I mention gross? Once Todd has his routine down of disposing of his victims, it is stomach-wrenching to watch them hit the floor. The young boy is quite good in his part, and Alan Rickman is great as always. Depp seems a little stiff at times, but his sullen expressions are chilling when he is with his victims, and hilarious during Carter's character's fantasy song. He seems to be using the same accent as his Captain Sparrow character at times, though. All in all, it was a good movie, as long as you have the stomach for it!

Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and has a safe and happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving and all that stuff...

Wow, long weekend, lots of stuff happening. Started out with the holiday, of course. Lots and lots of food and hanging out with the family. Probably put on a few pounds, but whatevs. Friday we headed over to the Marq'E to see Beowulf in 3-D, and the early show was sold out, so we killed some time at the Dave & Buster's that used to be Jillian's. The entire shopping center over there looks like a cemetary of shops that once were. It's disappointing that they put so much money into that center, and it seems that nothing can stay open except Cafe Adobe and the Cinema.

Let me start off by talking about the Dave & Buster's. It is not located very far from the other, bigger, and better location on Richmond. You would think they would provide excellent service to ensure they will remain open. However, each employee we came across was rude and indifferent. I'd rather drive to the other location and get a better experience. It is nice that they have lowered the price on the games, and the tickets you win on some of the midway games can be conveniently counted and put on the same card you have for gameplay.

Next we headed to Cafe Adobe, a place that I have had bad experiences at before, but usually at the other Westheimer location. This time was fine, but I can't figure out how they run their service. Our waiter seemed to be overloaded with tables, and he had a team of lesser-experienced people running food out for him. Why not train everyone equally, and have good service for each table without the long wait? We only ordered drinks and an appetizer, and we were there over an hour and a half.

Now for the movie: I was very pleasantly surprised. I was skeptical because previous all-CG movies I have seen have left me wanting, but this one, perhaps partially because it was in 3-D format, worked beautifully. The characters were not as wooden as I expected, and the creatures were extremely intense. The Grendel character was a surprise, and you really feel for him as you do for Gollum in the LOTR movies. If you are debating on seeing this movie, go see it in 3-D before it is gone from the theaters. You won't be disappointed.

On Saturday morning we headed out to the Renaissance Festival once more on the last weekend, but it was very cold, very wet, very muddy, and not very fun. The folks that work there were doing their best to put on a cheerful face for the few that showed up, but it wasn't working to keep the crowd there.

Yesterday evening was full of merrymaking for our friends Betsey and Mandy who were having a dual birthday celebration. We started off the night at Chuy's Tex-Mex restaurant on Westheimer, and it was crowded as usual. The service was good, but the poor girl was so overworked that she kept forgetting drinks and such. It took a very long time to order, but the food came out in a reasonable amount of time, and it was good. They do need more servers for their busy nights, though.

After dinner, it was on to the Mezzanine Lounge, a sports bar that has numerous large flat-panel TVs, and several lounge areas. Our group settled in an upstairs lounge, and we were so very Texan and boisterous that we offended some Kansas fans who were trying to watch a football game in peace and quiet... at a sports bar. Well, I can't say we felt very sorry for them, and they looked a little silly waving their stalks of wheat around anyway. Since our group was large, we were treated to some free drinks, and the birthday girls got some huge fishbowl birthday drinks. I actually got one too because the bartender made an extra, and they handed it to me since my birthday had been fairly recent. We had jello shots and cupcakes courtesy of the birthday girls, and watched Kansas and Missouri battle a close game.

Finally we ended the night at Etro Lounge, a bar just off Montrose that specializes in retro music. The club is decked out very cool, and it isn't too big or too small, and if you like 80's music, the DJ is terrific. We had a great time dancing, drinking and hanging out. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

The TIme has Come...

Just a reminder to all to be sure and take down your Christmas decorations before they stop being cute and start being obnoxious.

Resolutions for the new year: no more loser boyfriends, have to go skiing at least once this year, and finish what I begin.

Wet 4th of July

We're all feeling the patriotic fever. Hope you all had a happy Fourth - and hope it was slightly drier than ours.

Customer Service

Having ventured back into the wonderful world of retail, I have seen the best and worst of people lately and over the holiday season. I read this post yesterday and could absolutely relate. People, treat those in the service industries with kindness - karma can be a bitch when she wants to be.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a great holiday. I rang in my new year at M Bar downtown - it was fun, but these places really charge way too much for NYE cover.

Happy Post-Holiday

Hope no one got burned over the holiday - those fireworks can get out of hand! We had at least two fires here in town start from firework mishaps. Also, in honor of the troops, several hoodlams decided to stage their own war at Astroworld. What patriotism!

Hoodlams Brawl at Astroworld

Caught some of the Live 8 concert - really great performances, but what exactly is the point of having this huge concert without raising any actual money to fight hunger? Especially since the original raised a large sum for that very purpose... I guess it's more important to pay the already inflated egos of these performers instead of giving to a worthy cause. All the artists who performed there should follow the example of Pink Floyd. Not only did they put aside their differences to perform, but they are handing their profits over to charity.

Pink Floyd Gives Live 8 Proceeds to Charity

Oh, and just for grins, who knew things were so bad for Darth since the final installment is complete?

Darth Out of a Job