this will make you feel alive

We saw The Rebirth Brass Band of New Orleans last night.

While in New Orleans the bartenders raved on how good this band was. So we made the effort to see what all the fuss was about (on a Thursday night no less!) and I'm dragging ass a little this morning. 

- and now apparently I'm a banjo AND a brass band kinda gal!!

That was a SUPER fun time!
Ever want to get a feel for New Orleans? Go see this band. It'll make you feel alive.

Also read Eloisa's Once Upon a Tower. It's up there as one of my favorites of hers. I liked her play on Romeo and Juliet. I always was a bit of a sucker for that story.

It's about to snow here (SNOW! yas we never get snow!!!) and it's Friday.

This is a good day.

longer than you've been alive

I'm in an Old 97's mood today

We saw them in concert a couple times. He just comes across as so full of himself...or in other words:
So Dallas.

They weren't bad shows - i actually really like their music -   it just makes me appreciate bands like Micky and The Motorcars, Macon Greyson, 1100 Springs all more for being so humble/nice.

Finished Cora Carmack's NA All Lined Up - she's definitely got football in Texas down pat.

For saying before that I'm not really a new adult fan I actually really like her story writing as she progresses.

Freshman in college though...that was just so forever ago for me. A blur.
You don't even really know who you are at that age.

It was pretty fun figuring it out though...i remember that.

iced in!

We're iced in!!!! the whole dfw has shut down (today and maybe tomorrow too).....and my husband is driving me bonkers. I've no idea what we'll do when he retires! we need to find him an indoor hobby stat. oy

I've been on a reading frenzy:
- Read the Game Plan - reads like the others in the series. quick fluff read.
- Finding It - maybe the best overall in the series? I thought she'd get on my nerves, I've seen so many of those  "trying to fill a void" kinds of girls. Cora Carmack wrote her in a way that kept my interest though. AND I actually didn't see the twist - I like to think that I've gotten pretty good at seeing them.
- Also, tried reading Flowers from the Storm, had a hard time believing this couple separately much less together and gave up

Something else interesting enough to point out - we went to a country themed wedding over the weekend. *Yay for dressing up and wearing boot scootin boots*

And so (outside of my own family weddings) I realized this is the first time I've seen another family of Mexican descent marry white.

I've never seen a group be so reserved

(Not trying to stereotype against my own or anything) but  - the Latino's especially -

i was a little confused.

But I guess with all the marriages in my family -  regardless of who and what race we've married (cause we're pretty mixed now) -  all of us are definitely more "here for the party kinda people". If there's free beer and wine you can bet we're gonna have a good time...maybe too good of a time...

hmm oh well -  the wedding was fun for what it was.

20's vs 30's *en serio*

with Kresley Cole being my favorite author, naturally I bought The Master on opening day.
It threw me a little, and not for the obvious deluge of "sexy times".

The lead was a latina and, as such, Kresley used some Spanish for thoughts/dialogue.
There were several instances where I think she got the conversational spanish off and (being me) I'm harping on it.

Not that I'm all that fluent anymore...I use it so rarely I'm forgetting more and more each day. It's kinda sad.

Regardless, I liked both leads. Especially how Lothaire-like Maxim was. Just not my favorite of Kresley's - (not the biggest fan of the erotica genre anyway.)

Really.... my favorite part was the girls night out. I think Jess's story will be good -the girl is crazy but so fun. I love colorful personalities!

Also, started on another book called Unidentified Redhead.
She's an actress my age having a fling (or maybe more?) with a guy 9 years younger.

I couldn't fathom being with someone younger... I think I'd be bored out of my mind.

This gal's not really reading like someone my age either though. I do like some of her silliness but some scenes are coming off as fake or desperate. I'm losing interest.

Honestly - in my opinion- a big reason why gals in their 30's are sexy is because they don't act like 20 year olds. Own it.

.....or well ....with the exceptions of instances like this.

We reserve the right to eat entire pies no matter what age.

not winging it

Finished Jude's Temperance. I sure do like how she writes her female leads.

I'm a bit headstrong/particular myself in certain things.

Like,  I was running through old files
- this is what my travel planning files look like:

I remember precisely what trip made me flip the switch on this particular obsessiveness.

The Houston to Atlanta college girls road trip.

We had three general ideas:
1)  New Orleans to see one of our bands
2)  a beach near the military base (where all the boys would be lined up for us in their military uniforms)
3)  Atlanta for a Braves vs. Mets game

So off we went (with our almost maxed out credit cards).

We get to New Orleans and settle on a motel near where we thought the French quarter was (we weren't even close). We finally get to the venue and the band had already played. Strike one.

Next day, we move on and decide on Pensacola for the beach. Perfect day/sand/water.
we settle in and what's this - a beautiful man is walking our way.

*Owl face* - wide eyes -
He smiles. We smile.
and he greets his friends just past us.

He greets one friend in particular by stroking his friends arm and kissing him on the lips.

Turns out, of all the spots we could've chosen, we landed at the gay beach.
(I would say strike two - but really I was ok with just looking at the fine specimen(s).)

We move on towards Atlanta. We heard about Peachtree street and evidently underestimated it on Saturday night. We sat in traffic for an hour hardly moving, getting hungry watching people walk into a chicken and waffles restaurant up the way (my first time even hearing of such a thing as chicken and waffles!?)

We got frustrated, turned off to get out and got lost, we had no idea what we were doing. Nobody told us the Atlanta in the Summer is that miserably hot either. You think Texas is hot? Georgia and it's humidity wins BY FAR.

So much for being young and beautiful when you're sweaty and your hair is flat.  And strike 3. Never again.

Overall the trip was actually a lot of fun really.
That trip was the beginning of my love affair with New Orleans.
And where I found out how beautiful the Florida panhandle beaches were.

Oddly, what I liked most about Atlanta? (besides the baseball game, which was a good time.) I've never seen such beautiful women. The white women, the black women (no Latinas boo) but the bi-racial gals especially were gorgeous. And all were nice too! Which makes them even prettier.
I think outside of Texas, Georgia has the prettiest gals.

Anyway back about being overbearing - I just need a plan. I need to be informed - especially when it comes to travel. And don't be late, that drives me bonkers.

Other then that though, I'm pretty easy going and a gem to be around. ha...

OR this rather

"when you find people who not only tolerate your quirks  but celebrate them with cries of "me too!". 
Be sure to cherish them. 
Cause those weirdos are your tribe."

feel something!!

(With me following reluctantly) Jamie decided to switch things up and have us join the chaos bandwagon over the weekend....
Dinner reservations (at Del Frisco's) on Valentine's day.
Lets just say we're never EVER going to try that again.

Want to know what the worst part was?
....the amount of people with their phones throughout the whole meal.
Seriously, everywhere we looked we'd see this

Granted, when I'm reading or when Jamie is watching some sport on tv it's its own version of checking out...

but on this "assigned day" particularly  - when the outright rule is give your "other" reassurance that they matter to you -  a complete stranger to them (like me) can see that you're utterly failing each other!!!

Yes I'm judging...i can't help it. YOU'RE EFF'G FAILING!!

...that's not living. that universal "on my phone" face doesn't look like a happy face. You're indifferent. Your eyes are dead. FEEL SOMETHING!!! 

Finished:

- Amaryllis (Futuristic/Paranormal) - Nalini Singh said this was one of her favorites and I definitely saw the influence developing the Psy-Changeling world. I like Nalini's better. Won't continue with the St. Helen's series since I found myself skimming a lot of the book.

- The Program (YA) - Pretty depressing regarding a future suicide epidemic among teenagers. It kept me through the end but I'm finding myself not interested enough to read the next/final book of the series. oh well.

- and Hot Island Nights (Contemporary) - read this cause I liked the other Mayberry book. Not a bad read. Liked "Her Best Worst Mistake" better.

Also watched Kingsman: Secret Service and surprisingly I liked it. I think going in there with not much of an expectation is the best way to go. It was Kill Bill meets Men in Black meets Kick Ass. I'm a fan.

I also put out a blue/yellow ribbon outside our house today in support of the police. I can't speak for every police officer, but for those in my family who are law enforcement officers - and I know are good people. I support you.  #operationblueshield

raise some hell tonight?

I feel for those poor souls out there  running themselves ragged stressing about valentine's day. *shaking my head* 

We're going to do our best to avoid the chaos. 
Jamie slobbered on my face this morning and says "there's 49 more shades of grey where that came from" in his mock seducer voice and walks out to work.  ha...such an idiot. 

I'll see if I can convince him to go see these Dirty River Boys... they're always a good time:

And so the next two in the Beautiful Bastard series read better as they went, I think Max in Beautiful Stranger just got himself a new fangirl. That part where I found out he was a rugby player was the clincher. I love rugby and rugby players - a million times better than football if you ask me. 

I switched over to historical romance Eloisa James The Duke is Mine, not bad, not her best...skimmed through the last bit of the book as the story line faded.  

finish the story

Read Beautiful Bastard  - rough start (pun intended) but yet another that generally read better than 50 Shades...

I'm so ready for the the 50 shades obsession to be over. 

Not sure this book is movie worthy either though - there's not much of a plot and the whole thing that made the book interesting for me was the internal conflict that doesn't usually carry over in movies so well.

The exceptions I can think of  are two of my favorite movies:  Stranger Than Fiction  and  Eternal Sunshine

In Stranger Than Fiction they reference a suicide of a girl in the 1940's, jumping off the empire state building. That image of her death made the cover of Time magazine. They called it "The Most Beautiful Suicide". And I have to agree - that image is hauntingly beautiful. 

I really don't know why I find stuff like that fascinating?!! I just want to know - did she jump so she could feel something? Or did she feel too much and that was the point? It's an unfinished story...

I signed up for the free trial of Scribd -  I am obsessed already!!! - the "Spotify" of books -  I can finally "rent"/read most all the books on my list that I'm too cheap to buy outright .....yessssssss I'M IN LOVE!!

This was me, about to pass out

We had dinner with a couple we barely know over the weekend. They're getting married soon and they've invited us to their wedding.

Naturally... we're not turning down going to a wedding!
- but considering the extremes I had to use to deny people from my own wedding - I can't really understand inviting people you hardly know?....

Regardless, I'm glad we're invited! And glad we could squeeze in a dinner with them so we can get to know them a little better. It's not often we move outside our established circle of friends anymore...I forget how fun it is to actually get to know new people.

Note to Self - yes Whiskey Cake is a good restaurant but not on a Friday or Saturday night ever again. It's a 1.5 hour wait minimum and no reservations...ugh. 

This was me gesturing to Jamie...about to pass out:

You'd think with all the reserves my body has, I wouldn't have to eat for at least two days...

I did find two pretty good reads over the weekend! yay love when that happens
-  historical romance Love and Other Scandals and a contemporary (funny one) Floored.

Floored had me busting out laughing a few times...I swear Jamie gets jealous of my books when I'm reading those funny ones.  I have to tell him he's my one and only and I love him better than books to settle him down. ha!

 Kristan Higgins is still my favorite funny author - all the more cause it's  awkward funny and I can totally see me and jamie in it.

I liked the book cover better

Finally finished Viper Game - I don't remember the last time it took me this long to finish a book.

As I've said, I like the action in this series, paired with cool genetic enhancements, character chemistry and sexy times - it's usually a winner for me. This time ...not so much.

She's got me hooked just enough though. I'm the 11th book in and I still want to see how it ends. Who knows when that will be. FOR -EVvv-ER...

I did like the book cover ...her latest ones are actually both pretty rad and stayed true to the character description (and no, i don't know why i'm book cover obsessed. I read on a kindle for cryin out loud.)

I also read a free teaser book - a New Adult (maybe leading into BDSM?) about her best friend's brother. Eh, the gal seemed a bit of an airhead and got on my nerves. I'll stop at the free one thanks.

Tried reading the YA Revolution. Gave up a few chapters in - bummer too cause I love dual story lines!- I just can't understand depression and destructiveness to that degree. I think it's so selfish to constantly bring misery to yourself and everyone surrounding you - especially as a result from a death of a loved one.

I mean - I get mourning -  but do you really think that loved one would want that shroud of misery for you? It negates the love and taints the memory (in my opinion)....
Maybe the book came around? But it lost me to where I didn't care to find out.
I'll stick to Susanna Kearsley for my dual story lines - she does it so well. Next.

yikes...i just noticed that I just had a bit of a bitchfest?

I'm actually in a pretty good mood! We just locked in our Hawaii trip and I've now started in on researching for that. Most everyone thinks I'm weird but I swear...for me it's like wedding planning...half the fun of traveling is the planning of it!

that it bothers me, bothers me

We went out this weekend with one of Jamie's friends who's been a widower for about a year.

I met him and his wife back when Jamie and I first started dating. She was a really cool gal - I saw how her pain changed her personality through the years and how it affected their relationship.

It's not that I don't like the guy...it's just.....his energy is disconcerting. It's not a comfortable feeling for me when we're around him.

Or maybe it's my own projection coloring the situation ....it bothers me that he started dating within two months of his wife's death. And not just dating - like "i'm free. Mid-life crisis. let's go crazy" kind of dating.

But then - the fact that it bothers me, bothers me -  cause who am I to judge right. I didn't go through what he did.

Weird thing is... I think if I were to die -  i wouldn't be surprised to see Jamie find someone new within a year.

(it irritated him when I said that) But really,  I think I'd actually kind of hope that he finds someone to be with. He's not the loner type and doesn't at all understand why I need to be alone sometimes...it's a foreign concept.

She better not be prettier than me Jamie. I mean it! As first wife, I call dibs on bringing the group average up.

Ok, enough deep thoughts on superbowl sunday morning -   I hear him getting frustrated that he's burning his biscuits. He's making a feast of snacks for today  - he's not off to a good start  - cause seriously...his biscuits (that he researched to make perfect) are burning....the fire alarm is going off....

Oh real quick so I can keep track -
Disappointed with Christine Feehan's newest Ghostwalker. I'm switching between reading the better written, faster paced older ones and this one.