Christine is an Avenger of Sexiness. Her Superpower is helping Hot Mamas grow their Confidence by rediscovering their Beauty. She lives in the Heights in Houston, Texas, works as a boudoir photographer, and writes about running a Business of Awesome. In her spare time, she loves to knit, especially when she travels. She & her husband Mike have a food blog at Spoon & Knife.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I am going to try to spend some time making Christmas Ornaments with Jason that weekend! Over the years, our collection of ornaments has focused on snowflakes, angels, stars, and icicles. (I have crystal icicles that I tuck in to the middle of the tree to give it more sparkle.) These snowflakes would be a great addition, and a few of these angels and these balls would be great to fill in some blank spots on the tree!
I’m always on the lookout for good Christmas gifts for Jason; 10 years old is a hard age to buy presents for this time of year. The Zip Zap RC Cars look so cool – I’ll have to check out the local Radio Shack stores and see if they have any! Read more about them here – I might have to get one for myself, they sound like so much fun! [via Tom]
Thanks to Gina, I learned that iWon (evil bastards!) is installing Trojan spyware on computers! You can read all about what she had to go through to remove it; meanwhile I’m off to download and run Spybot – Search & Destroy Software that she found thanks to TechTV. As for iWon? Evil Bastards! I don’t care if they warn you or not, don’t mess with my computer like that!
In years past, I’ve wanted to go out to The Texas Renaissance Festival, but no one else wanted to go. I begged. I pleaded. I even bribed – and I went maybe twice in 8 years. So in August when Elaine first said that the H-Town Bloggers should go, I was immediately all for it. It was made even better because Mike wanted to go too – and I knew he would really enjoy it.
The first weekend we went, it rained – so we had the place practically all to ourselves. The second weekend was with the H-Town bloggers, and we had a great time. We spent a lot of time together, and so we didn’t see a lot of the shows. (Although Sound & Fury with Kathy and Tom was great!) So what did we decide to do this past Saturday? Go back for the closing weekend! Marcus was able to get more discount tickets at the last minute, so taking Jason to the Fest was cheaper then if we went to a movie!
We had an absolutely fantastic time. Last year when I went with Chelsey & Doug, we didn’t stop and listen to the music groups, which was something I missed. I knew that Mike would love them, and I was right. He pointed out the Flying Fish Sailors who had great voices and some rather funny songs. We had caught Tartanic’s late performance the weekend before, but it was nice to see their full show. Every time we went up there this year, I said I wanted to see Wyndnwyre, but with the rain and then the busy schedule – it just didn’t happen. I’ve loved their music since the first time I heard it years ago – I’ve had one of their tapes since 1992. Now I finally have some of their CDs and I am thrilled. Wonderful soothing music.
During the day the weather was perfect on Saturday – but it got pretty cold at night! I knew that I was already battling allergy problems, so we ended up not staying for dinner with Marcus. Ah well… next year. I had such a great time this year, I can’t wait to go back again! As an added bonus, the groups all play here in Houston – so I don’t have to wait a year to see them again! (Can I wear the lusty wench dress to the local bars where they perform? Think anyone would notice?) Wyndnwyre is playing at Dickens on the Strand this year – maybe I’ll finally go to Galveston for that this year! I’ve always wanted to go there!
How fitting is it that shortly after I wrote that post yesterday I got an e-mail from Jay with a phone number, asking me to call him to set up plans to get together? Well, let me backtrack a little. I got an e-mail from “J” and the subject line was “Hey!!! Call me!” I came *this close* (pinchy-finger gesture) to deleting it, thinking it was porn spam! Then I noticed the Houston area code and realized it was from Jay.
I called him and we set up plans for lunch. He was kind enough to offer to drive up to my side of town, since I had an afternoon meeting with a client. After I gave him directions, I started naming off all of the local places. At first he said he didn’t care, but then he realized that Tex-Mex is one thing you just can’t get in Hungary – so we had to go to Pappasito’s! Mmmm…
It was FANTASTIC to see him again. I first “met” Jay online a year ago, thanks in part to MovableType and his need for beta testers for MT search. From there we became friends, and finally got to meet in person at SXSW last year.
Lunch was wonderful. Fun, laughter, catching up on where we are both at in life right now. Discussing mistakes made in the past and lessons learned that will help us in the future. The margaritas helped the chatter too. And as an added bonus – I got the Rosary he picked up for me in Rome and it is beautiful!
He’s off to New Orleans now, and after that he’s on to Europe. I won’t deny that I’m envious – to be able to live such a carefree life is a great thing, although I wouldn’t trade my life right now with anyone. I wish him nothing but the best in the journey ahead. It’s amazing the people you meet and the friends you make online.