EEOC Nativity

Something to make you go: Whoa

Perhaps you saw this headline today:  Police: Man torn by guilt confesses to '88 killing.  I saw it, but didn't take the time to click on it and read it.  I should have.  The victim in this 21 year old crime was Marlon Darton.  Yes, you read it right.  Marlon Darton.  It was Marlon's paternal grandfather.  Marlon's family had lost touch with his grandfather after Marlon's own father passed away in the 1960's. Marlon wasn't aware that his grandfather had been murdered until a reporter from Channel 12 News called him at work today.  Did that just make you go:  Whoa?  Me, too.

Project Runway Season 7

Get ready.  Project Runway Season 7 starts on January 14th.  Write it down somewhere, I'll wait.

Done?  Good.  Remember I told you Marlon's daughter will be on the new season?  I can't wait to watch it!!!!  To tide us all over until then, go here:  Meet Monique.

Merry Christmas

I miss you, Daddy.

Bad Bunny Is A Wild Hare

Saturday morning.  Brenda and Cassie are going to be gone ALL DAY!!!!  Yippee!!!  What should I do?

I know!!!  I'll get all dressed up and GO OUT!!!!  Uh huh, I'm lookin' good!!!

 Oh.  I didn't think about this.  I can't reach the door handle.  Hey, Arnold?  Somebody?  Anybody? Dang.  I'll have to think of something else to do.

I know!!

I'll play Rock Band!!!  I'm awesome!!  Awesome?  Did somebody say Awesome?  A-W-E-S-O-M-E.  Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome are we. WAH!!  Huh. . . . isn't quite as fun by myself, having to play ALL the instruments.

Maybe I'll use the treadmill instead.  Work off some of that pumpkin cheesecake and Portal Cake . . . and Apple Tart.  I probably should have stopped at two desserts, but it was so hard to choose!  OK - 5 minutes.  I'm done.  Time for some internet.

Bugs Bunny.  Ooooo Baby!!!  He is HOT!  Whew!!!  Mmmm Hmmm.  Is it hot in here or is it just Bugs?  I need something to drink.  Hmm .  Gary likes this pirate juice.  It makes him really happy . . . I'll try it.

 OOOOHHHHH.  I don't think this pirate juice is good for bunnies.  I don't feel so good.

Coffee . . . I need coffee.  I think that's what Brenda drinks after too much pirate juice.  Maybe that will help.  And these little blue pills . . . they'll help.

Whooo hooo!!!  I'm feeling FRISKY!!!  What is in those little blue pills?!!!  Hey Ducky . . . How You Doin'?  You're looking good today!!  You wanna play with me?

Ugh.  Bad Bunny just can't hold her pirate juice.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, Mike, Gary and I made it to Alaska.  And YES, Brenda was VERY surprised!!!  Thank you, Kent, for helping us pull this off.  There is nothing better than surprising someone you love.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Enjoy your day.  Sorry, Jeremy and Jenna, the Friday morning pumpkin pie will have to wait until I get back.

Crash, boom, bang that didn't involve Jenna

It is time for things to turn around for Marlon.  Really.  It's time.  On Thursday, he was rear-ended while driving his motorcycle.  That is not a call I want to ever get again.  He has whiplash, he is very sore, but we think he'll be fine.  His Harley - we don't know yet.  It's at the repair shop for an estimate, we'll find out next week how bad the damage is.
 
He really thinks the 19-year-old girl that hit him was texting while driving.  This is my public service announcement:  DO NOT TEXT WHILE YOU'RE DRIVING!  The person you run into could be my man, and trust me, you don't want to be on the receiving end of that conversation!

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

A bit of a late post - but it is still Jeremy's birthday.  My amazingly talented, wonderful son.  He's 24 today.  I was going to list 24 things I love about Jeremy, but I got to #3 and started crying.  So I'll summarize what I love about Jeremy:  most everything.  He's incredibly talented (I can't even draw stick figures), he's really smart (please fix my laptop soon!!!), he's kind to others (maybe not to the cat - but that's understandable) and he's caring (you ought to see him jump into action if something has made me cry!!!)  Since I only got one, I'm so thankful I got a really, really good son!

Happy Birthday, Jeremy.  I love you!!

Monique sightings

Marlon is such a proud Dad!!!  Last week we were finding his baby girl EVERYWHERE!!! 

First sighting:  November 29th issue of Family Circle magazine, page 64.

 Next sighting:   the exercise and fitness aisle of Target.  (No, I wasn't in there to BUY exercise equipment - don't be ridiculous!!  We went in because Monique is on the packaging!!)

 

Editorial note:  DANG!!!  My man is handsome!!!

Last sighting (Jenna gets the credit for this one):  the most recent episode of Project Runway - where the remaining designers are choosing models for their runway show.  You'll catch a glimpse of Monique.

Photo courtesy of Jenna's DVR.

For Project Runway fans, you'll see lots more of Monique in Season 7.  She was chosen as one of the models for the season, she'll also be on the companion show "Models of the Runway".  It's set to air in January.

Twins

My friend Rena was my date for the Reeve's Halloween party.  I didn't have a costume, but Rena is very clever and had something we could use.  We went as Siamese twins.

 The costume lasted all of 10 minutes - we made our entrance, had our picture taken, made our way into the house for drinks and decided we were done with it.  It was quite an entrance, though!

Makeover America

Rita, the GM's Assistant at work wanted to know if I'd like to go to Macy's today to see Makeover America, with Clinton Kelly from TLC's What Not to Wear. Ummmm . . . . YES!!! He's going across the country, selecting 15 women from each area, taking them shopping at Macy's and making them over. I happened to sit next to a lady whose daughter, Blair, had been selected for a makeover. Clinton shows the before photo, talks about each woman's challenges, then the "new" woman struts the runway in her Macy's outfit. Blair's challenge was that she is a 23 year old plus size young woman, having a really hard time dressing like she's 23. The stylists put her in a gorgeous purple empire waist dress with tights and boots. New hair, new makeup - she looked fabulous! Her mother was so proud! And Clinton is as adorable up close as he is on TV. What a fun afternoon!

Happy Birthday, Jenna!!!

Dear Jenna,

October 15th, 1989, 2:31 a.m., you made your debut. What a beautiful baby you were! And what a beautiful young woman you've become. I'm so proud to be your Mama. There have been times when it hasn't always been easy to be your Mom (your Junior High years were challenging), but I've ALWAYS been proud of you. ALWAYS. You are smart, funny, talented and stunningly beautiful. I look at you and just can't believe (to borrow a phrase from one of our favorite shows) that I made you from scratch. I can't help but think, "Dang - I did something right!!!" :)

I love you so much, Jenna. Happy, happy birthday.

Love you forever,

Mom

New York, Sunday

This is our last day in New York, and our plans are jam packed. Unfortunately, it rained all day long. Not a huge deal - but when you're from Arizona, you don't have rain gear. Yes we had trench coats and umbrellas, but not waterproof footwear. The first stop on our agenda was the Statue of Liberty. Because I'm kind of sick this way: what kind of bird leaves droppings so large they look like they've been left by a small dog? Seriously!! I've never seen such huge piles of bird doo! There should really be a warning when you get close to the statue - if one of those fell on you, it would leave a mark!!!

OK, moving on. We had planned to visit the World Trade Center site, but decided to leave that out. Instead, we headed to Soho. Still raining, a LOT. We wandered around Soho for awhile, then decided we'd hang out in a sports bar, have some lunch and dry out.

From here we headed to Union Square - we wanted to visit my all time favorite shoe store: DSW. Yes - they have them here, but this was in New York . . . and in this store they have designer shoes . . . right out in the open where the general population can get to them. Look what they had . . . . Jimmy Choos!!! They leave them unattended, no sirens go off when you go near them. I SOOOO wanted to try them on . . . I want to know what makes them $800! Are they really that much better? BUT - it's been raining, I don't have proper rain gear and my jeans are soaking wet. It would be disrespectful to try them on under those conditions. (I did touch them all, though!!!)

Back to the hotel to get ready for our next show. We're going to the Orpheum theater to see Stomp! Stomp is one of my all time favorite things. And to see it in New York!! I'm really excited about this. The Orpheum theater is fairly small - but every seat was filled. We were in the third row - close enough to make eye contact with the performers. It never disappoints. Once again, I loved it!

The very last thing on our list for our New York adventure was a little restaurant I'd read about called S'Mac (www.smacnyc.com). A restaurant devoted to macaroni and cheese - 12 different kinds of macaroni and cheese. Jenna had the All American, I had the Napoletana. ONE of us liked it!! I refrained from actually licking the skillet clean - it was DELICIOUS!!!

We fly home on Monday. It went by so fast! I'm sorry it's over. I had the best time. I loved it all and I'm so thankful I got to spend this time with my Baby Girl.

New York, Saturday

This day was all about SHOPPING!!! First on my list of priorities: the NYC Harley store - Marlon needed a shirt.


Then we stopped at New York and Company, Victoria's Secret, Dooney & Bourke, Sephora . . . . and then of course, the Coach store. You didn't think we would pass it up, did you?




Do you see how excited I was to be going to the Coach store? And while we were there we HAD to purchase . . .


wait for it . . . . . . . the Commemorative Handbags!!! Oh like you didn't guess. You KNEW that was gonna happen!!! And these styles were introduced the day we arrived in New York. Fate? I think so!!


We also had to find Grand Central Station. We changed subway cars at Grand Central Station - but underground it looked like all of the other subway stops - we wanted to see the GRAND part of the station that you see in the movies. It didn't disappoint. It really was grand.

Back to the hotel - ordered room service for dinner this day - shopping is exhausting!! Then it was back out again to see "Wicked". If you haven't heard of it, it's the story of Oz - before Dorothy got there. It's how the Good Witch and The Wicked Witch knew each other. It's hilarious - and will make you look at the Wizard of Oz in a whole new way. Favorite song: Popular. You're gonna be Pop-U-Lar. Loved it!!!

New York, Friday

BIG plans for today!!! Starting with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Doesn't Jenna look tiny sitting on the steps? We headed to the right and started in the Egyptian wing.

This is the Temple of Dendur. I don't know who Dendur is, or why he has a temple. We're not real big on actually READING all of the descriptions. We came, we saw, we took pictures of what we liked and moved on. Oh . . . and NO Flash Photography. We made that mistake . . . a couple of times. Ooops.

Admit it, you glanced at the statue over there --->
and thought, "I wonder who she's texting?" That's EXACTLY what WE thought, too!!! OK, we're not serious museum goers. And?!!

From the Egyptian wing, we wandered upstairs to the European paintings. Maybe it's just me, but these painters have some anger issues. A lot of death and stabbings depicted. And boobs! Everywhere, women with their boobs hanging out. I don't know how it was then, but nowadays we have laws about letting your ta ta's hang out.


Next stop: Central Park.

This is the view from Belvedere Castle. It comes in handy to travel with your own supermodel. (Go ahead, Jenna, roll your eyes at me. You're gorgeous!)






From Central Park to Times Square. Crazy place!!! Almost sensory overload with everything going on. Giant TV screens, traffic, people, shops, food. Police officers everywhere. When you take out your camera for pictures, you immediately label yourself a tourist and are surrounded by people trying to sell you tickets. Tickets to a comedy show, a sight-seeing tour, whatever.

From here we headed to Macy's at Herald's Square. Of course we had to go there. The store is HUGE!!! At least two city blocks and 9 stories. Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at the Habana Room - the Latin restaurant in the hotel. Jenna had Ropa Vieja - isn't it pretty?!! I had Chicken Chino Latino. It was really, really good. No pictures, though - chicken on the bone really isn't attractive once you start cutting into it, know what I mean?

Last item on today's agenda: Phantom of the Opera. I'll just say it was FABULOUS! A Broadway show!!! I'm STILL ecstatic to be here.

New York, Thursday

We're on the plane, going to New York! I was so excited, I could hardly stand myself. Brief layover in Chicago, then on to the Big Apple. Whoo hoooo!!!

We had a car pick us up at the airport - doesn't that sound fancy? I could have booked Super Shuttle for $32, or the car for $35. Which option would you have chosen? Yep - the car. The driver's name was Mazhran. I couldn't understand a word he said, but he was very nice and got us to the hotel in one piece. You have to be very brave to drive in New York City.

My beautiful daughter, with her amazing hotel connections, booked us into the Radisson Lexington. It's a "petite" room - and they mean "petite". Enough room for a desk, a nightstand and the bed. You need to inform the other person in the room when you need to move from one place to the other - you can't both move at the same time. I never did find out what this was, but looking out the hotel window, there was a kitchen below us.

Kitchen . . . food . . . mmmmm, we were HUNGRY. Across the street from the hotel was a pizza place. Almost every seat was filled with a police officer - the pizza had to be good - AND nobody will mug us, right? The pizza WAS good!! Jenna had her favorite pepperoni - I tried the spicy chicken. Yumm.

Next stop was the subway to buy two week long passes. We took the subway "Uptown" to the stop closest to the Empire State Building. The pictures don't do it justice - it was gorgeous! I'm really glad we got to see it at night.

So far, New York has been just like you see on TV. People everywhere, lots of traffic and lots of cabs. Tiny store fronts wedged next to each other. One might be a liquor store, next to a restaurant, next to a flower stand, with a supermodel. By now it's midnight, and one of us is tired. It's back on the subway, back to the hotel to get some sleep and get ready for tomorrow. I can hardly believe I'm finally here!

Sneak preview

New York was AMAZING!!!! I absolutely loved it. Except . . . I came home with a cold. Until I get around to downloading all the pictures, here's a sneak preview - me and Jenna in our LBD's after seeing Phantom of the Opera.

It needed me

It's a sickness, I know. But I couldn't help myself. I saw this and knew immediately that it NEEDED me.
It's very happy in it's new home.

Retail therapy

It's been awhile since I had some really good retail therapy. I'm due. Plus, I NEEDED a dress for New York. Did I mention Jenna and I are going to New York?!!!! I'm sooooo excited!! We've got a whole bunch of stuff planned: Wicked, Stomp, Phantom of the Opera. So, I needed a dress. I was dreading shopping for one - I really hate the overhead lights, the fun house mirrors (oh you know they are!!) and the fact that you have to get almost completely naked over and over again with all of your "stuff" out there in the open, spotlighted and nothing ever fits right. Ugh. Surprisingly, it turned out to be really fun. Linda at Dillard's was really helpful and picked out at least 12 dresses for me - most of which I would never have tried on. I got this one:
It looks exactly like that on me, I just have shorter hair. HA!!