Category Archives: Friends

Like Ordering Shoes on the Internet Except Way Better

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My Internet home-girl, Susannah of paintingchef.com just launched her very own baking business!  There are no words for how elated I am for her and this incredible new endeavor.  More so, I can’t say what it means that she asked me to help with her logo design.  It was a completely terrifying and yet awesomely challenging request that I loved having the opportunity to tackle.  It really is an honor just to be nominated.

I did this.  You’ll see it around the site here and there.
Her web developer incorporated it into the text like this.  A well executed collaboration I think.  Susannah knew what she wanted and gave amazing direction.  Also, she’s completely lovely and fun to work with.

Bad Kitty Bakery is officially up and running.  And if you’re looking for some solid advice today: go buy something.  Anything.  You can’t go wrong.  Susannah is the real deal and so are her baked goods.  I would know, I’ve sampled some.  I myself cannot wait to order enough macarons to build a macaron fort so that I may lock myself inside and eat my way out.  What?!  That’s completely normal…

Anyway.

Go check out her amazing site and treat yourself to something nice, like a pound cake.  You’ve earned it.

Since I’m Celebrating My Last Year in My Twenties

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Imma live photo bomb this page with my birthday as it unfolds.  ALL WEEKEND LONG.  I know, the Internet hasn’t been this exciting since the invention of Youtube.  You?  Are welcome.

My first birthday card given to me a day early by my Pookie Bear, Kramer. He knows me, he really knows me (this card made me laugh so hard I might have peed a couple drops).
In my car when I left for work this morning. Addressed to “My Gorgeous Wife.” Awwwwweeeeee… I know. I just puked rainbows, too.
I got to work and I was all, “Dammit it’s my birthday! I’m havin’ Donut Gems! And Coffee! And no one can stop me!” Consequently, I’m rockin’ a wicked sugar high and I’m pretty sure I’m hallucinating just a teensy bit. Whatevs. WORTH IT.
I booted up my computer this morning to find that my Facebook had exploded. I’m rather touched. Particularly by my friends who said things like “Happy birthday! I miss you touching my naughty parts!” Which will be fun for my Grandma to read. I have the greatest peeps ever.
And then my phone started blowing up and it’s been going off all day. It’s making me all warm and gooey inside. I imagine this is what cookie dough feels like when it’s just about to come out of the oven.
Birthday lunch! It may not look like much, but this is one of my favorite salads from a local, family owned deli.  Plus, it was bought for me.  FREE birthday lunch!  Even better!
These were my lunch dates: Dad, Hoops & Yo-Yo.
And then Rhonda eludes to dirty stuff, not deterring our friends but only egging them on… Again I say, “I love my peeps.”
And then a knock at my office door for the delivery of a bouquet of my favorite flower! Thanks, Mom & Steve!
At the BRC (Big Red Cock) Having a couple of beers at the bar before dinner. Yes, it’s a Hipstamatic photo but I couldn’t get a decent shot in such low light. Even with a 1.4 lens on 1600ISO. So lay off the ironic hipster jokes. Also, Austin Amber Ale is pretty darn good. In case you were wondering.
Dinner and Dessert: Pork chops and macaroni. And SNICKERS BEIGNETS. Yeah, I’ll wait a moment while you let that sink in. They were “HOLY CRAP” good.
This is me and my Grams at dinner. Not shown here: Rhonda, my Dad, and bestie, Ileya. It was a good time had by all.  Also, don’t ask me why I’m doing the Paris Hilton stink eye.  That one beer must’ve really done me in or something…

Friday night I got to continue celebrating with our Compound Crew (seven years and running!), which meant Cake!  And Starbucks!  And duck jokes!

Some of the best cupcakes ever made. And an extra special birthday soy latte. So totally perfect.
Tim had to console Sugar because we wouldn’t let her have any cupcakes. Poor, mistreated puppy…
I really love that my friends give me sentimental stuff like nice coasters with photos in them and framed pictures… and a “not a pet duck” pet duck phone. They butter me up and then poke me with a stick. And they wouldn’t be my friends otherwise. :)
I had to immediately call someone to tell them that I was talking to them from a duck. So naturally I called my mother.

         

The next day was Rhonda’s designated “Pamper Lindsey Day” (I know, I totally have the best wife EVER).  We got Thai Massages and then mani-pedis in massage chairs and then we went out to a lovely dinner at one of my absolute favorite restaurants, t’afia.  Seriously, my wife is kinda, totally, awesomely awesome.

Best place for an authentic Thai Massage in Houston. We would know. We went to Thailand. Plus, the place is so cozy and the staff so wonderful and kind and happy. Hitting up West Gray Thai Massage is a bit like Disney World for me.

I wish I had shot more images on “Pamper Lindsey Day,” but I was a bit too noodly to handle a camera.  Next weekend when my mom totally spoils me for my birthday, I’ll be sure to rock out the images.

To be continued…

And Not One Person Offered to Beat Me Up

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Per my previous post and my self congratulatory smart-ass ensemble: Nothing happened.  At least not to me.  I don’t think a single person (with exception to my escorts) noticed the fact that I was rockin’ a near-naked Daniel Radcliffe ever so delicately plastered across my chest.  See?  I even took a crappy picture for you guys:

Team Gryffindor!

And to add insult to injury, it appears that the one and only Bloggess MAJORLY out-staged me in the “let’s make fun of the crazy, teenage Twilight fans” category.  That’s fine.  She deserves to win because she’s clearly more dedicated to the cause than me.  Also, I think she’s fabulous.

But!  Did she get a front row seat to a Twi-hard fight before the movie?  I THINK NOT.  Reader’s Digest version:  Some tweens in matching Breaking Dawn outfits got their seats stolen by some bitches who didn’t even bother to dress up for one of the greatest moments in cinematic history, which eventually ended in police escort and applause.  I had an unobstructed view of the whole thing.  It was like watching the Sharks fight the Jets but with less musical entertainment and Latin flair, and with more grammatically incorrect, teenage girl screeching.  Before the five cops came in (yeah, FIVE), there was first an usher.   And then another two ushers with the manager (that’s three ushers, a manager, and five cops… bitches be crazy).  Fortunately, justice was properly served and the Twi-hards got to see the movie.  Which is more than fair considering how ridiculous they looked in their outfits.  I tried to snap a photo of the fight so I could be all, “Yeah!  Lookit this shit goin’ down!”  The quality of which is crappier than my iron-on shirt design and it really doesn’t capture the essence I was going for (cat fight!).  But whatever, here it is:

Do you see the police officer? Do you see anything else? Because I can’t… Well, except for those things that look like lit up Twizzlers.  And now I want a Twizzler.  That glows in the dark.  Somebody get on that.  Ravers everywhere will make it a billion dollar industry.  Wait.  Do ravers still exist or am I the only person left on the planet that enjoys watching people on XTC spin around to techno music and repurpose highlighters into sensory objects?  Yeah?  Just me?  Okay then.

 

Insert Teenage Girl Squealing Here

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So, I got persuaded at gunpoint talked into attending the midnight release of the latest film in the Twilight saga.  And if we’re being honest here, I’m actually pretty excited about it.  The social experiment nerd in me is all over the whole shrieking teenage girls and angsty pre-teen boys phenomena that surrounds the Twilight enterprise.  I feel like I’m about to get on a ride at Universal Studios where the passengers are taken on a journey through this crazy, hormonal, Brittney Spears perfume smelling, loud, giggling, excitable atmosphere that reminds us a little bit about what we were like when we were their age.  There’s something about the excitement of it all that I’m attracted to and I feel like this may be one of the best people watching experiences of my life.

But because I’m me and and me is a bit of a poke the crazy fans with a stick pain-in-the-ass, I’m going to be wearing this shirt design (that I just created and will be ironing onto a shirt when I get home. I didn’t buy it anywhere and I don’t plan to sell any, so please PR people for Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and Equus don’t come after me… it’s just a one-night joke):

Team Jacob? Team Edward? Hell, no!  Team Harry Potter!

I’m sorry Taylor Lautner, but if I’m going to stare at a (contractually obligated) half naked man, I’m into nerds with ponies… not wolves with a stage five clinger complex.

 

Oops, I’ve Done it Again

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Last year I managed to get a group of artists together from around the country to participate in a creative challenge of sorts.  We watched Bravo TV’s newest series, “Work of Art” and performed the challenges posed to the artists on the show.  And since I have no regard for sleep or eating or any free time what so ever, I launched a blog showcasing the works from these participating artists.

Season two kicked off last night and because I’m completely out of my mind, I’m running the blog again.  If you’re interested in participating or if you simply want to stalk good artwork in the making, check us out over HERE.

Looking Back

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Yesterday was National Coming Out Day and I missed it.  To make up for it I went back through my archives and read some previous years’ posts in honor of the holiday.  It was nice to bring that bit of perspective back to my current self.  More so it was nice to feel that I’m still connected to what I wrote.  That my hopes and my outlook haven’t changed.  If you’re interested in reading them:

(2010) “On the Shedding of Light and Love”
(2009) “Check One”

Also, my friend, Becky wrote a beautiful post about courage: read it here.

Sappy, but a Goodie:

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This last Saturday I had the honor of photographing one of the coolest chicks on the planet.  For six hours.  In a parking garage, city parks and downtown lots.  At a famous, Houston restaurant and the surrounding property of the Menil Collection.  We climbed trees, scaled walls and waterfalls, and even climbed into an abandoned shopping cart.  Through rain and sunshine and a ridiculous cold front brought by crazy wind gusts that almost killed me.  And it was by far one of the funnest days of my life.  Not a single second of it felt like work.  Seriously, just look at the joy that spews out of this girl.

If you ever need to learn a thing or two about how to take only the greatest things out of life, how to insert joy and positivity into everything you do, how to love and nurture the best (and even the worst) parts of yourself before being able to love and nurture the best and worst parts of others, talk to Deanna.

She’s fearless, totally hardcore, and one of the strongest and most loving human beings I know.  Which is saying a lot coming from me.  Deanna isn’t just one heck of an awesome model, but she’s a great friend.  And I’m gonna miss the bajeebus out of her when she runs off to culinary school in New York.

I’d wish her luck, but she doesn’t need it.  Deanna takes whatever the world throws at her and uses it to her benefit.  If I’m going to hope for anything for her, it’s that she never loses sight of that.  A practice most adults I know still struggle to master.  Deanna’s a rare breed for sure, and I’m incredibly lucky to know her.