Weave Are Family

I finally made it to the 'burg. Kickin it in Brew's basement. winding down after the Bears win. And by winding down. I mean one last shot for the evening before family pictures at Sears. Yeah. I said it. Sears Family Portrait Studios. Not happy about it. At all.

Secrets of a New Found Diva

For quite awhile now, I have been in a bit of a rut and I knew I needed something new and different. One day I came across a reality show that I swore I wasn't going to watch, but like several shows in my life, this one grew on me. The Real Housewives of Atlanta introduced the world to one of the funniest, crass, down to earth "housewives" ever. Not only is she full of energy, she has one of the best hairstyles that I've ever seen in my life. I knew what I had to do. I began research unbeknownst to many of my friends and then I did a little legwork which brought me to one of the best Hair Salons in DC.After a lengthy consultation with a very informative and skillful stylist, I committed to this new project. Unfortunately, I had to wait 3 whole weeks for my transformation. The anticipation was killing me. I woke up on December 17th like a 5 year old does on Christmas! I jumped out of bed got in the shower ready to get a new look!! Then the phone rang. My Fairy Godmother and her Lovely Latina Apprentice informed me that the hair didn't arrive and we needed to reschedule. And just like a 5 year old on Christmas that didn't get any presents, I held my head down and moped for an hour! Then, the phone rang AGAIN!! It was a beautiful voice telling me the hair came and now it was game on. I pulled myself together and ran down the street.

Many of my sisters out there may think it treasonous for what I am about to show you, but I had a great experience and I want to share it with my peeps.

My hair was colored and blow dried
Then braided to create a canvas where a piece of art will evolve. Better known as tracks.



Next, my new hair was sewn in.



After 4 hours the masterpiece was complete. These are the ladies who made it all happen. Thank you Fairy Godmother and Princessa Venezuela!!
Yes Ma'am. Sister is goin out TONIGHT!!!

Jesus' Birthday Month Day 7

Holiday season is upon us, so instead of the normal Sunday Funday I came to 1532 and cooked Point Pusher meals with KCC while Blackjack trimmed the tree. It's a fierce fabulous festive tree and if you look close enough you may find a feline creature lurking about acting like a present.

LL in 'da House!

You can't tell from the picture, but I am at the early show at the 8:15 Bar enjoying, yes Enjoying, the Loretta Lynn concert. She's such a cute sassy old woman. Reminds me of my Gramma. Jesus rest her soul. Music is great and her vintage gown with rhinestones make the experience that much more Grand Ol' Opryish. I do have to quote my friend KCC though " You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a homo" Dude, it's gayer than gay in this trailer. Where are my hot redneck straight boys? Ya'll think I came here for the talent?

Turkey Day 2K8

Editor's Note: Pictures to be posted soon. I took tons of pictures from my phone, but it is a tedious process getting multiple phone pics on line. For now, this one sums up the satisfying evening

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year. It is a time when we reflect upon our lives and think about what we are thankful for. Or we can see it for what it really is; the pilgrims pillaged and raped the indigenous peoples of the Americas and later called it a celebration of peace. I will take the former just so I can have an excuse to eat delicious decadent treats.

Which brings me to my next point. I am so thankful to have such wonderful gracious friends. I am even more grateful that all of them have cooking skills. That proves beneficial on days like this, when some of us are not able to get to (or want not to get to) our families for a 4 day weekend.

Kansas City Chief and Blackjack have hosted a dinner for the past few years. But really just a venue for all of us to show off our kitchen masterpieces and it has been a fantastic time each year. KCC brines and cooks the fresh bird from the local farm; Blackjack makes a fantastic seasonal stuffing with sausage, cranberries and apples. They leave the rest to us:

As stated earlier, KCC brined a turkey with my favorite herb rosemary, it was one of the most perfectly cooked turkeys I've ever had. He also made a Brown Butter and Shallot Mashed Potato that was to die for. Who knew mashed taters could ever be so damned tasty.

The Garden District, in true form, provided a decadent Gnocchi with brown butter, parmesan cheese and bacon. Pardon me while I wipe the drool off of my keypad.

Southern Belle Bee prepared in house a dish of Kale, Smoked Bacon and Cranberries. He also contributed a yummy Pumpkin-Ginger Pie for desert.

Ya'll know I had to keep it real and represent with the Soul Food sides: Macaroni & Cheese, Collard Greens and a Sweet Potato Casserole, half topped with marshmallows and the other half topped with a toasted butter coated pecan topping (shout out to RSVP)

The piece day resist tahnce belongs to Sophia Spinelly, who provided a Cooking Light Corn Pudding that may put some Southern natives to shame and a Bourbon-Pecan Tart that would make Paula Deen do a jig. It was topped with a Maker's Mark Hand Whipped Cream that I might be spooning as I type. MMMMMMM! So goood.

We worked off our night by playing "Trailer" (formerly called Parlour) Games but not before Sophia took a quick break (pictured above).
Blackjack's co-worker, Sid, and his beautiful wife, Nancy, were brave enough to stop by and participate in the reindeer games. Sorry Blackjack, I hope you still have a job by Monday; or at least co-workers that still respect you.

But really, this has to be one of my most favorite T-Days by far. It might surpass the one when I was 20 and finally stood up to my older cousin who used to tease me as a kid cause she thought I acted too white. Kids say the darndest things...

The Return of PollyAnnie

She's baaaaack!! And in full force too. After somewhat of a tumultous tenure at the 703 location, she finally threw in the towel and told Frank's Fish House to stick it where the sun don't shine. Unbeknownst to her Frank's Fish Hut is a Black Hole. One can try to escape but you will get sucked, better yet, vortexed back in. I'm super happy she's back. When we saw each other it was like Nettie and Celie once again reunited after Mister separated them in The Color Purple. Sisters fo' eva and eva! Glad your back girl!

Point Pushers Week #5

I know this is boring, but I made a commitment and I am going to stick to it, for now. This weeks Point Pushers update is brought to you by Kansas City Chief. He went recipe free this week and we made some fantastic meals; Lasagna, Chicken Curry and even Burritos!! Yes, my friends I said it Burritos, low point Burritos!!! This hermana can't be happier.

Neither one of us lost any weight last week, but we both agree that we feel better and we see some sort of loss, despite what the scale says. Either way, I'm super excited for food this week. Now I have to start planning for next week. KCC is a competitive person so wether or not I like it, I have been challenged to come up with tasty low point treats. I'm pretty sure I can make a fabulously healthful tuna casserole. He'll definitely like that for sure!

Beach House Slumber Party

RSVP and Peanut graciously invited us to Peanut's family beach house in Stone Harbor, NJ. Since the season is over they figured it would be ok to make time for there C-List friends. We had a grand time playing games, cooking and strolling the beach in the nearly deserted town. It was awesome. KCC and I secretly made RSVP an early birthday cake in front of his face and he didn't even know about it until we surpised him at dinner. Thanks boys I had fun. More thanks to Peanut for pretending to like me while we played Scrabble. You know the game where Blackjack got 50 pts for SILICON? See you back on the streets of DC.

BFF's

I love my friends. I really really do. And it warms my heart even more when they show their love by giving me flowers. But when my Bestie thinks it's cute to present me with flowers in a lovely vase (pronounced vaaas) filled with a heavanly botanical mixture of Jack Daniels and Diet Coke I get a little perterubed. Especially since I was sippin' on it. Mexi' I love you with all my heart and I appreciate you wanting to express our everlasting friendship to the world but if you eva, eva, eva, f*uck with my drink again, you might find yo' self by yo' self; fell out in an ally cut up with razor blades and sprinkled with lemon juice... Love you Girl, mean it!

YES WE DID!!!

AH-MAY-ZING!!! America, you have your First New Black President!! What are you going to do now?! I am so full of emotion, awe, and amazement that I don't even know what to do. I am witnessing history right now. At 11:00pm EST, CNN Projected that Barack Obama was the new Presidential Elect!!! I literally went outside and ran the streets when they made the announcement (at the same time screaming into the phone to my Mom). I went out and fist bumped people, hugged strangers and thanked random folk for doing their part. People were so welcoming and so excited. I feel so blessed, privileged and lucky to be part of this historical moment. The picture above does not do this moment justice. This is a 3 block stretch of U Street where everyone is celebrating. 40 years ago there were riots in this same exact spot. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if he lost. Thanks for Barakin' the Vote Ya'll. See you in Disneyland Beeznatches!!!

Point Pushers Week #3

This weeks Point Pushers update has been pre-empted by Glamazon's new bling. She and her friend Madge (pronounced Maaadgeh) are here from She-Kaah-Go because they want to be here when 'IT' all happens. And by 'IT' I mean Obama winning. Anyway, my point is my girl's man just put a ring on her finger and we are very happy for her. This picture does not do this rock justice. I couldn't turn on the flash cause then you would all be blind. I'm still wearing shades it's so bright.

P.S. I gained 0.8 lbs KCC lost 3. I hate boys.

10 Pounds or Bust!!

Kansas City Chief and I have finally come to terms with ourselves and signed up for "Point Pushers", a very popular and reputable weight loss program. This is our second go around on this program but our first attempt as restaurant people. Scheduling and planning can be more of a challenge that way. We think we have combated this by cooking all of our meals for the week on Monday (Weigh-in day). This is week 2 and we both had great success, I lost a whopping 3.4lbs and he lost 5!! We spent about 8 hours cooking 7 meals today and divided them up by portions into easy take along containers that we can reheat during the day. Wish us luck and I will keep you posted with the boring details.

Now, if I could just get that running thing down...

Stars and Bars and Mimosas

Going for a change of pace this Sunday Funday. I'm here with The Corleone's, Blackjack, Kansas City Chief and Special. We are brunching at a chain restaurant and one or two of us might be drinking a FROZEN beverage (I'm not judging I'm sticking to the tried and true; even though the bartender put ice in my Mimosa!) It's a biker brunch. We all rode here with the intention of a cardio crawl. It was downhill here so it's going to be an interesting ride back. Special stole her man's bike and she found a helmet. It's a good thing too because she fell at the stoplight. RSVP just found time in his schedule to join us so I should stop blogging and pay attention. To be continued.

Big Daddy B's Brand New Ride

BEFORE

Many of you may not know this, but my father is a very frugal man. He has driven this truck (pictured above), and a red one in a similar condition, since I have known him; that is a very long time. Let me explain this condition, because although a picture may speak a thousand words, It cannot truly tell you that this spray painted, rusted out, 10MPG hooptie was my father's prime mode of transportation. His reasoning? "It still runs doesn't it?" And he's right, that thing ran and ran and ran and ran and ran. It's still running... with no heat, floorboards that you can see the road pass by between your feet and an AM/FM radio that works only if you drive NNE. If that isn't enough, allow me to tell you about the time where the 'Old Blue' got stolen from in front of my dad's house.

The thieves RETURNED the truck!! Just Sayin'.

AFTER

Anyway, I am proud to announce that my father finally decided he was tired of driving an old rusted out clunker and that he deserved better. By the Grace of God He ran into a family friend, who just happened to be a Chevy Dealership Owner, and Pop expressed his woes. Thanks to Mr. GMC my Daddy is now the proud owner of a 2003 Chevy Extended Cab Silverado. 4-Wheel Rear Wheel Drive, heated seats and XM Radio. Let's give a round of applause for BDB!!! Welcome to the 21st Century Dawg.

Kielbasa Fried Rice

It was a very low key funday. Blackjack and Kansas City Chief went bike shopping today so there was no brunch. Sad. So we did Happy Hour instead. And by Happy Hour I mean it's Kim Chi's birthday! Yay! Cheers baby, let's go make Chicken Wings and Mambo Sauce!