Got Jesus On My Neck-a-lace.

Courtesy of Indyposted.com

Throughout this month I've been participating in the January Photo-A-Day Challenge via Instagram for iPhone.  The challenge has you post a picture of something different each day such as your shoes, the sky, something homemade, etc.  Yesterday's photo subject was "guilty pleasure," so I posted a picture of Ke$ha because although I rarely listen to or enjoy mainstream pop music, I happen to really love her tenacity and energy.  My friends were very surprised by this I guess because I despised her first single, "Tik Tok"and I wasn't too fond of "Your Love Is My Drug" either, but I gave her a chance after I heard "We R Who We R" because it reminded me so much of my friends and I and our crazy days.  I think her album Cannibal is simply genius, and it serves as the perfect pick-me-up on blah days when I need some energetic motivation.  She's actually one of the few mainstream performers I would absolutely LOVE to see live, even though I know she'd perform at one of those huge, horrid amphitheaters or arenas that I despise for the purpose of seeing live shows.  I would make an exception for her!

Courtesy of tic-blog.com

Another reason why I like her so much is because she isn't afraid to take risks and make [sometimes] crazy collaborations.  About a year ago there was talk of her recording with Georgia-based, indie-punk band The Black Lips.  Something about how they had all grown up together.  I'm not sure anything ever became of it though.  Now, Wayne Coyne, the enthusiastic frontman of psychedelic alt-rock band The Flaming Lips, has been tweeting about collaborating with Ke$ha, which, if it actually pans out, will be a mind-blowing, triumphant masterpiece I'm sure.  I'm excited to see what she has planned next, but whatever it may be, I know it'll be super-sleazy...in the most charming way possible.  Love you, Ke$ha!

xoxo

MUSIC MONDAY

Interpol has been my absolute, hands-down, no-questions-asked favorite band for years now. I finally got to experience them live about a year ago at VooDoo Experience in New Orleans. Their set was far too short in my opinion, and I blame MGMT for interrupting the most enjoyable enchantment I've ever experienced.

Anyway, I've been revisiting the Turn On The Bright Lights album as of late, and I believe I've revived my adoration of this song in particular. Enjoy!

xoxo

Meow.

Hello all.  This is a picture of my beloved cat, Maeby.  She thinks she's human about 83% of the time.  As you can clearly see in the photo.  She's also the sweetest creature I think I've ever met.  She is loved like crazy, and she definitely knows it.  Little lush.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday evening.  Unfortunately, I have to work early in the morning so picking up my sushi takeout and possibly watching some Sex and the City is the craziest I'll be getting tonight.

xoxo

Love is like a cloud; it holds a lot of rain.

I've always loved this cover of Nazareth's "Love Hurts." Jenny Lewis can turn anything into gold, and it's even sweeter that she's in love with her co-singer, Jonathan Rice.

Small Update!

I'm on the last leg of my relaxing three days off from work!  Wednesday I took care of some much needed errands: bought a new shower curtain liner because ours was disgusting, new bed sheets because ours were literally ripping at the seams, bought two new pairs of flats at Payless and did some healthy browsing at Central Market.

Yesterday Jason was off work too so we got to spend the entire day together, which is super rare these days.  We kicked off our day with a much-needed workout at the gym.  After freshening up, we went out for lunch at Jalisco's, an authentic Mexican place.  It wasn't the best I've ever had, but it was Groupon-worthy I suppose.  :)  Once our food was mostly digested, we decided to venture downtown and check out Tacos & Tequila for happy hour.  The place was fabulously designed and decorated, including a great bar that actually hanged from the ceiling.  We each indulged in three margaritas.  They offer a lot of really original signature margaritas that we were interested to try out.  I got a Pink Hibiscus (delicious!) and Jason tried the Agave Pear, which he wasn't too happy with.  We'll definitely be back though- I hear they have a killer brunch for $18, but that includes BOTTOMLESS mimosas!  Just think of the possibilities, ha!

Anyway, after happy hour we were exhausted, but I had been dying to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D, as that was one of my favorites as a child, so we went over to the Cinemark at Southpark Meadows, and I got to relive my childhood.  It was absolutely splendid.

So, I think today I'll just relax at home with my little loves, maybe do some reading.

Cheers.

Friends, Family and Latin American food in Dallas

I love this picture.  I took it back at our old apartment.

I've dubbed today a lazy day.  We went to Dallas for the weekend to visit friends and family.  It was a fun weekend, but it's always so nice to come back home and relax.  We got to Dallas early Friday evening, and checked into our hotel.  We got a super cheap rate thanks to my employee discount!  After freshening up a bit we met up with a few of my good friends- Heather (who I've known since first grade & grew up on the same street as), Emily (one of my besties I met in college) and Brittany (also a friend from college).  We were joined by others as well- some of their friends they've met in Dallas.  We went to this awesome South American restaurant called Gloria's for dinner and drinks.  The margaritas were to die for.  I had three!  Luckily, we were only a few miles from our hotel.  I ordered fish tacos, and Jason and I shared a fried plantain appetizer that was incredible.  Enough about the food!  The company alone was fabulous.  I had the pleasure of seeing Emily back in October when she came to visit me one weekend and we experienced an insane bloody fight at a brewery in the hill country.  But that's a whole different adventure to detail on a later date.  Anyway, I hadn't seen Heather since last April which is terrible, so it was so good to see them and catch up on our lives.

Heather and I graduated at the same time, December 2010.  She moved back to Houston for a little while before landing an awesome job using her degree in accounting at Fossil corporate in Dallas.  So she and her German shepherd, Edward, moved up there last June to begin their adult lives.  Sadly, I don't see much her anymore, but I'm so happy for her.  

Emily graduated last May and got a job at Fossil as well doing customer service phone support.  She seems really happy too.  I'm so proud of both of those ladies moving off on their own and making something of themselves!  I'm lucky to have such beautiful friends.  Their souls truly match their outer beauty.

Emily, Me and Heather in Nov. 2009

Back to our weekend.  Friday night, after Gloria's we walked over to the Flying Saucer, where Jason was hoping we'd end up.  It's a bar with a million taps and all different types of crazy beers.  

Saturday, Jason's Uncle Jimmy met us at the hotel and we drove over to the nursing home where Jason's grandma is temporarily staying until she can go back to her apartment.  We chatted with her for a little while before lunch at an empty Italian place across Central Expressway.  Jason and I were zonked after lunch so we took a refreshing two hour nap before heading out to Arlington.  We went to Abuelo's for our second Latin American meal of the trip.  Jason's cousin is a bartender/waitress there so we got to talk to her for a few seconds, literally.  Then our friends Chris and Evelyn met us for dinner and took us out to downtown Fort Worth, which was so cute!  Sundance Square was adorably sparking with light and energy.  It reminded us a lot of Austin.  We started out at the Flying Saucer (again, but a different location) and then went to a classy jazz club called Scat Lounge.  All in all it was a fun night.  We didn't get back to our hotel in Dallas until about 3 a.m.!  That's pretty amazing for us.  We were so proud of ourselves for not wanting to crash at 10, ha!  

Sunday, we saw Jason's grandma again, and then met his Aunt Janie and Uncle Marlin for our THIRD Latin American meal of the weekend.  I think we're good on that cuisine for the next few weeks.  

It was wonderful to see everyone.  I wish we could make it up there more often.  Everyone was trying to convince us to move up there, but we're both pretty against it.  As far as we're concerned, Austin is home and will be for quite some time if we can help it.