Curious Notions

Davey humored Kym and me by doing the Mommy bit from Family Guy. Keep in mind he hadn’t seen this bit.

Hotel Sorella
800W Sam Houston Pkwy, Building 9
Houston, TX 77024
(713) 973-1600

Just 5 minutes away from my parents’ house in Houston used to be an area we call Town and Country. It used to be one of the few malls in Houston. It evolved to a mall that only older mall walkers go to. Eventually the mall went bankrupt and I never really gave it a second thought. That was years ago. Shane was in town this past weekend and I hadn’t seen him since 2007. He told me he’d be with his friends (who ended up being old acquaintances of mine) at a bar in the Town and Country area. Intrigued, I go and meet him up on my way to see Aishah and Jennifer, old high school and college classmates. I never made it to see Aishah and Jennifer due to not wanting to drive that far out after a few drinks. It’s such a small world because one of the old acquaintances there knew BOTH Aishah and Jennifer.

The area is completely done up now and is now called City Centre, an upscale outdoor mall with restaurants and bars. What a drastic change from the dying mall that I remember! Here’s a picture of the Monnalisa, one of three bars we hopped on Saturday night.

The lights change colors! I think it’s pretty. Shane thought it was disgusting.

Reunited with Kayli, Chris’s sweet and chill dog.

I’m back in Austin from Houston! I ate WAY too much, had a handful of great and overdue reunions, saw the parents, and I come back happier, fatter, and a little more tired. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

I highly recommend this video to those who love Queen, Sesame Street, and to my friend Nam who used to ALWAYS sing Bohemian Rhapsody when we would go karaoke.

Enjoy!

Happy Black Friday!

When you eat your pumpkin pie, think about this picture!

I’m heading to Houston today for a long weekend.

I do not have steady internet access in Houston but have scheduled a few posts to publish. :) Enjoy and have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

P.S. Check out Twitter for live updates during the weekend!

I got to Alan’s from work at 10:30 PM. We’re both leaving for our respective hometowns after we wake up in the morning and pack. At midnight I had just gotten out of the shower and was lounging in just a towel while Alan was working in his office. I was pretty damn hungry since my dinner at work was a mere pudding cup and 2 bags of chips. I tiptoed into his kitchen hoping that he still had some tacos left over from dinner yesterday. No tacos. His fridge is bare, bare, bare. I looked in his freezers. He had tater tots, wings, and garlic bread. I opted for a snack of tater tots, preheated the oven, and then waited patiently for 20 minutes for the timer to ding. Mmm. Back in college, I lived with Laila and Aishah and I remember we used to make snacks of just tater tots. Aishah and I would have them with mustard. This was the happy memory I was nursing as I waited.

Halfway through my snack, Alan came out. He noticed I’m just in my towel.

“Put some clothes on!! It’s been an hour!”

I didn’t know what the big deal was. I’m in a towel. So what?! He practically PUSHED me into the bedroom. “Put some clothes on!!”

I humored him and was putting on a sweatshirt when the light bulb came on. THE MANIPULATIVE BOY WAS DISTRACTING ME FROM MY OWN SNACK! By the time I got back, my tots were gone!!

Thief!! I should have known better after him ninja stealing my organic lollipop last week while I was in the shower.

We went back to the freezer and decided a meal was in order. Out came the rest of the tater tots, the garlic bread, and the frozen buffalo wings. It was an impromptu feast.

Although it was a meal made of default items already in the freezer, it made me happy as technically, we’re spending the first few hours of Thanksgiving together and we broke bread.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Before I head home to Houston, I’m going to squeeze in a third Gratitude list.

If you missed the first two here they are:

- 10 Things I’m Currently Thankful for
- 10 More Things I’m Currently Thankful for

1. A full time job! As I mentioned once or twice before, I landed a job and will be working at my Alma Mater. I start next Tuesday.
   

   I went to the lab to talk about the job offer last week and as I was hanging out I saw one of my old professors. It’s kind of a funny thing to see professors after you graduate and be inundated with academic memories. Some not so good ones! I had to suppress an urge to shrink away. Anyway, I digress. I gots a full time gig after not having a full time gig since June.

2. Reunions over Thanksgiving! I have a handful of friends I haven’t seen in months and I get to see some of them in Houston this weekend for Thanksgiving. Although, it’s going to be challenging to time budget between friends and family in just 3 days, I think it’s not too shabby of a problem to have.
3. My car.
   
   My first baby.
   
   My baby Civic

   I bought my car summer of 2007 after getting in a car accident. Ever try to imagine your life without your car? I wouldn’t be able to get to work (my current part time position is 45 minutes away by car.) I wouldn’t be able to drive to Houston to visit. No fun trips to restaurants, etc. Austin isn’t a pedestrian city. My car makes it possible for me to play, work, and explore. Yay car!

   I’m also grateful I didn’t play around and paid off my 5 year car loan in 1.5 years. This made the last 5 months of unemployment easier without having an extra 200 dollars a month to expense for a car payment.

4. My Washer/Dryer. I remember the days of hauling my laundry to the laundromat and setting aside hours at a time to get laundry done. I’ve filled up COUNTLESS journal pages people watching as I think it’s extra interesting to see what people wash. Heehee. I haven’t had to use a laundromat for years now. I had a roommate 2007 with a washer/dryer. In 2008, Miss Jamie let Alan and I borrow her washer and dryer and we helped her “store” it. When I moved to my own place last year, I thought I’d forgo fun purchases and spend almost a thousand on a set. It was money well spent. There’s freedom in owning your own washer dryer.
5. Trip to San Fran and Boston! I’m incredibly lucky to be able to travel a little bit this year considering my stint with unemployment.
   

   I took a trip to San Fran with Alan right before putting in my notice at my previous full time position. It was kind of a celebration of a new beginning for me and was also the first trip Alan and I took together. San Fran is one of my favorite cities now. I was also extremely blessed to have such a loving BFF/FFB who gifted me her flight miles to go see her in Boston. I hadn’t seen her in Boston for a few years and it was good timing for us. I can’t wait to go back to see her new house! :)

   I’m always thankful for any kind of travel I’m able to swing.

6. Those who read what I write. I’m thankful for my regular readers (mostly friends and boyfriend). I’m thankful for the comments you take the time to write and just over all taking the time to read my humble little blog. I’m thankful for the mentions you make when we chat, for the followers, and the subscribers. I’m thankful for you!
7. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. I’m thankful for great memories and hard lessons from my past. I’m thankful for the photos and the journals that help me not to forget.
   

   I’m thankful for today and being alive. I’m thankful for the possibilities that lie in the future and my capacity to dream and plan.

8. Friends.
   

   It would take me all day to name them all by name but I’m thankful for them all. I come from a small isolated family. We hardly have any extended family. My friends are my extended family. They want the best for me and are my cheerleaders in life. I’m forever thankful.

9. Living in Austin. Did you know this year we hold the accolade of least stressful city in the US? I love living in Austin. I love how pretty it is with the lakes and hills. I love the events hosted by us. I love our downtown area. It’s a wonderful, fun, smart, and young city.
10. Books
    

    I cannot wait to own my own place and have my library set up! Books and bookstores are foolproof sources of comfort for me. I grew up around a lot of books so they conjure up a feeling of youthful awe. I also grew up seeing my dad with a book EVERY NIGHT, and every moment he had free and anything that reminds me of my dad also releases a lot of dopamine in my noggin. All the positive memory associations aside, books nourish me. They’ve molded my philosophies in life, provided understanding, clarity, education, inspiration… the list goes on. I love books. I’m thankful I’m in a country that limits censorship and that my parents raise me to value and appreciate the written word.

Over the weekend, we went to Texas Renaissance Festival in celebration for Jessica’s birthday which was earlier in the month. Here’s a pictorial recap :)

Foods of Texas Renaissance

Fried cod and fish, and turkey leg!

We devoured almost the entire funnel cake before realizing we never snapped a picture!

It was sooo cold and wet and perfect for hot chocolate!

I LOVE fried alligator. LOVE it. If you eat only one thing from Ren Fest, make it the alligator.

It rained the whole time we were there.

The mud on Jess and Brandi’s shoes/jeans. We did pretty good not getting too dirty.

My cowgirl boots were truly functional and my jeans were the cleanest.

The rest!

This guy freaked me out every time we ran into him. That black tongue actually moves!

Apparently, gnome kisses Brandi every year. Jessica was quite jealous.

Poop deck!

Videos

I leave you with a photo collage of the three of us at Ren Fest in 2007