Happy New Year!

This fantastic design was created by and stolen from Laurie,
of Leap Design, UpsideUp and Sk*rt. Cool huh?

May your 2008 be filled with family, friends, fun and blessings a go go!

Texas Bloggers Unite! (In Drink, Merriment, Drama and Queso)

(Not the actual logo.)

(Steal this logo)

11 a.m.

Jan. 12.

Find out more here.

Black Eyed New Year's Rockin' Peas

I wouldn't say we're traditional, but we firmly believe that some traditions are sacred. Case in point: the New Year's peas. So if you cook nothing else this year, you only have a few hours left to cook these.

The Peas Stand Alone

Black Eyed Peas
Water
Lean cooked ham (or, even better, bacon)
Onion
Worcestershire sauce
Red wine
Salt/Pepper

Soak 2 cups of Black Eyed Peas overnight in H20. (Or buy them pre-soaked from Whole Foods or whatever). Rinse off and put in large pot. Stir in at least 6 cups of H20, 1 cup diced/lean cooked ham (or bacon) (or bacon + bacon drippings, if you're feeling really crazy), 1 chopped onion, 1-3 Tbs Worcestershire sauce (and/or a generous glub of red wine!), 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper. Cover, simmer for 2 hrs.

Then eat them for good luck, for goodness sake!

(Anyone have a better recipe? Because I haven't found one. And I can't imagine how you could.)

Merry Christmas

May your day be merry and bright.

From,
The Quesos

*This photo was stolen from my little sister's nourishing blog. A place where you can find a fab recipe for Figgy Pudding. Because we won't go until we get some.

Confession

Over Thanksgiving, my very smart and almost-professor brother-in-law (the only 27-year-old I know who smokes a pipe) and I talked a bit about books. Partially because he drew my name and gave me about 17 books, and partially because we both love them so.

And so we both agreed that there are moments when you are reading something, and you think that you almost can't believe the phrases before you exist because the words are so perfectly arranged. Moments that you almost jump out of your skin because you honestly can't fathom how someone wrote something so right. So exact. So perfect. And at the same time you can't believe that it hasn't been done before. Because it seems so obviously effortless.

That's what happened to me about four times as I was reading Atonement in 2001. Almost seven years ago, and I continue to remember the moments' specifics. I was in Dallas. In the lobby of an old house turned salon. Waiting. It was raining outside. I just had spilled coffee all over myself. And I read the most fantastic arrangement of letters that I had come across in years. Beautiful.

Right about that time, I got so excited about the writing, I started laughing out loud and could no longer concentrate on the story. I lost the meaning in the words. And it was fantastic.

Over the years, I never read the story again but recommended the book a hundred times. Because it held up as a standard of smart writing. So when the movie came out, I was a bit reticent to expose myself to someone else's visual interpretation of the words. Because, of course, that's tricky. And risky.

But last night we went. And what I found was the story that the words were too good to show. The deep-thinking sociology behind the presentation. The heat in England in the summer of 1935. The most fantastic one-shot interpretation of the Dunkirk evacuation and the many distinct reactions it created. The unexpected tragedy at the Balham tube station. Of course, the disturbing story was still there in full force. But this time, I understood a different part of it. Not the words that created it, but the setting that did. The time. The place. The prejudices. A period when passions were damned and brutalities were customary. A place where this juxtaposition didn't seem to occur to anyone.

It didn't occur to me when I read its extraordinary recount, perfectly presented. But I saw it. In high definition.

The absurdity of the wars we create.

Happy Birthday HcQ!

I can't decide if he's the best dad ever, or the best husband ever.
It would really be unfair to be both. Either way, I was really glad to go on a birthday date tonight with my best pal ever.
Happy Birthday, Husband con Queso!!!

Don We Now Our Gay Apparel.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

Mark Twain

I once read that Meg Ryan claimed she could best get into character if she was wearing the right shoes. Shoes her character would wear. Meaning, she could become the type of person who would wear the shoes she was wearing at the time. Get it?

I think I do.

Because, as I think I've mentioned before, I often put on the clothes that I need to fit into that day.

For instance, if it's a day packed with client meetings, I like to wear a sharp white button down. Not sure why, but it makes me feel like Nina Garcia. Or Paul Reubens. Depending on the meeting. Then, when I need to write all day, I need to wear squishy soft clothes that squish and bend and squish. Or something. And of course some days require multiple costume changes. To really get into character. And impress ex-boyfriends. And make very sure that your clothes reflect they exact type of person that you are.

Or maybe it's the other way around. Maybe you become what you're wearing. In other words, if you change your clothes, you can change your life.

Maybe.

But the problem with this line of deep thinking seems to end up in the shallow end. Because of course, we are more than the fabric we wear. Our personalities can't actually be altered or shaped by something as silly as toggery. Or can they?

Case in point. Matthew.

Matthew is a friend of mine. An upstanding citizen, a wise scientist, a college professor, and a relatively harmless dude. Or so he was. Then. Being an upstanding citizen, he joined a mustaches for kids contest, where individuals grow mustaches to raise money for kids. I'm not sure exactly how that works, but it does, because they just raised some serious cash for Texas Children's Hospital.

But back to Matthew. It seems in growing this mustache, he also grew an odd counterpart and counterpoint personality. The bizarro Matthew. The kind of guy who puts the creep in creepy. The ash in trashy. The phlegm in phlegmatic. You know the type.

The type with the creepy mustache.

The type that wears Christmas sweaters. Everyday. For 15 days.The type that goes to the Quick Mart across the street from the bar and buys Nog.

And drinks it straight from the carton.

The type that jumps on the back of garbage trucks.And sleeps on the streets.That type. That guy. For real.

And then, let's just say, if that usually mildish-mannered guy wears the wrong thing for too long, he might stumble into an imeem studio and sing for the whole world wide Internetss. (Yes world, this is Matthew.)

It can happen. I've seen it.

So I agree with Meg Ryan. You can become the character whose shoes you wear. Or whose mustache and 1982 Christmas sweater you wear.

And I'm thinking you might just be a little more careful when you select your outfit today.

It could happen to you.

All photos stolen from Monica and Matthew's flickr pages.

'Tis The Season

I know. I know. I've been MIA. Well at least I have been at the Queso. But elsewhere I've been everywhere. Running from whatever to whatever. And thankfully, a number of other friendly bloggers have been around to document some of it. Like Gabby/Design Mom and Laurie, who came in town for a super fun visit last week. See? Here they are. (G, then L, then me)
And Jenny and Karen my favorite Chookooloonks who both came over Tuesday along with about 15 other pinks for a fab girls night at my place with Katherine Center. And no, I took no photos of any of it. Good thing Karen took a few, like both of these above.

For some reason, people who plan things cram-packed every holiday event I'll attend in a five-day period. Including a great happy hour, three work events, and the very hunky HcQ's company party. So fun.

In fact, SO fun that it has taken me a few days to recover. But I think I'm back. SO back in fact that I'll be posting everyday this week. I have a lot to share with you. And catch up on.

And, of course, I think we all know that you're just dying to know my thoughts on Christmas sweaters, mustaches, signature scents and reindeer cookies. And that just gets us to Wednesday.

See you tomorrow.

GcQ

Fa la la la la la la la la

Oh it's on. The house is finally well. The Hurricane is spending a few quality days at his grandparents. The Fed Ex Santa delivered my Christmas present. And Gabby and Laurie are coming in town. Whoohoo! A few days of serious fun. Starting tonight at a happy hour. Stop by. Or stay tuned.

Deck the Friggin Halls

If you know me even a little, you know I'm a Christmas Holiday freak. A Mele Kalikimaka. A ho ho ho. So when I noticed on the calendar that this year Thanksgiving landed on the earliest possible date it could ever be, I was super jazzed to have so much terrific tinsel time to the deck halls and fa la la la la.

And now I can say it's a darn good thing we have extra time to get have a holly jolly Christmas this year. Because, so far, we haven't been experiencing anything near comfort or joy.

And we had big plans for the weekend. Haul out the holly plans. Slice up the fruitcake plans. But sadly, we were puking. And not because of any fruitcake. We were home bound, not decorating anything that wasn't porcelain.

That's right, the boys are sick. Both. Of. Them. Sick.

One got sick. And then he got the other one sick. And while I'm great at trimming trees, I'm a fairly pathetic nurse.

So we all sat around and moaned a lot.

And I shopped a bit online. And found the best random holiday tidbits, happenings and goings on on sk*rt. Here are a few of my favorite finds:

1. 25 Days to Make a Difference. A ten-year-old girl and her mom vow to do something everyday in December to help others...like shoveling snow on Day 1 and recycling on Day 2. Check out their inspiration, their doings, and their quest. Very cool.

2. Buy Olympia. I love everything on there. Hear that family member who drew my name?! (See some samples on Cool Stuff today)

3. Design Mom in the NY Post. I love my friends. And I love it that people write about them in giant newspapers.

4. The Perfect Post awards. I haven't checked these out in a while. But this time I gave Jenny one for her Breaking Up w/ My Daycare post. Because I'm a giver. And I totally get what she's saying.

5. Green Vodka. Even vodka has gone green. Which just proves there really is no limit to what Al Gore can do. And you thought that Internet thing was something?

6. Top 100 Holiday Songs on iTunes. Wanting to make a Holiday mix? Well here are 100 tunes to get you going.

Hopefully some of that will make your days merry and bright. Because heaven knows at our place we need a little music, need a little laughter, need a little singing, ringing through the rafter, and we need a little snappy "Happy ever after." We need a little Christmas now.