THE SICK WARD ON PARAMOUNT AVENUE

Um, what is up with this sickness spell going around? I woke up on Thanksgiving morning feeling like caca and was on death's doorstep for 5 days... and now Corby has it too! Poor thing... he is a lot nicer than I am when ill though... a much better patient!  Hope he will feel better for Katie F.'s wedding tomorrow at Barton Creek... can't wait!

In other news, Pablo and O'Kelley closed on their house on Monday and the movers moved them in today!  I went by there this afternoon and all their furniture looks great in their new digs! YAY for our new neighbors!! Can't wait for the first of many nights on their new porch... I like wine.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (how many times will I use this title in the next month??)

The week of Fred's visit got off to a super fun start! Friday night we went with Rebekah and Candice/Morgan to Braise... a newer restaurant on East Sixth... OMG. SO. GOOD.  The ceviche was a little weird... served in a wine glass and kind of oily, but the rest of the food was AMAZING... and the best part is they give you the option of ordering a full or 1/2 plate entree... the full plate is like 8-10 ounces of protein, and the half is like 4-6... oh, and three words: French. Onion. Soup.

Saturday, I went to an all ladies champagne toast party for Katie F.  I wonder how many bottles of wine and champagne (and cigarettes) we went through between 20 girls in the span of 4 hours. Hmmmm.  The fact that we are all in our thirties (or pretty close to it) made no difference.  Awesome.

I ended my weekend with... you guessed it... Christmas Decorating!!! The stockings were hung... (yay, I finished Corby's stocking in time to hang up this year!)

The tree is still a little sparse, but we are adding new ornaments every year! I refuse to put a bow or a ribbon on my tree (or anything popcorn related).

We also put up Christmas lights outside this year... I am not allowed to turn them on 'til after Thanksgiving though... Thanksgiving NIGHT? Yep.

XO, MEM

Birthdays

Last night we celebrated my sister's birthday at my parents' house... I made chicken kiev (OMG, it's good... chicken. butter. fried. enough said.), roasted brussels sprouts, hoffbrau salad, and Mama Janis made fingerling potatoes and popovers.  The table setting was bruuuutiful... Janis used her antique Herend china (from the 1870's!):

After dinner and LOTS of wiiiine, Tito (Jennifer) opened her gifts... she REALLY loved the iPad that Mama Janis and Dougie gave her, along with all the accessories:

She also got an old fashioned hair dryer... not sure what to think of this, but I'm sure I'll be going over to use it (probably more than she!!)... please note the Soul Glo' lady on the box:

 

Pablo and O'Kelley (OUR NEW NEIGHBORS!!!!) joined us too and brought Tito an AWESOME Radko Santa ornament (I may or may not steal it)... THEN.... Corby finally got his birthday present (which had been custom made and took three months to arrive):

Christensen Arms 25- .06

 

AND... muy exciting... FRED-REBEKAH-POODLE-BEESH ECKOLS is in town for an entire week and staying with us til Sunday!!! There will be lots of debauchery going on this weekend, I'm sure... stay tuned!

XO, MEM

Testing... Testing!!

I decided to start my own blog because a) I always wanted one and b) I didn't want this name (HOUSER HACIENDA) to get snatched up!

The wedding is... like 3 and a half months away! Holy Crap, Batman!

We have done the wedding food tasting and picked out our wedding bands; Mama Janis and Jennifer and I have had fittings for our wedding clothes; and I had my first wedding gown fitting a couple of weeks ago... it still fits, woo!

Now all we have to do is get through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years'........ oh and send out 500+ wedding invitations, anyone want to help stuff envelopes? Thanks.