christmas in texas

Christmas was so good this year. It really was.

It was impossibly short, I've never had such a bad travel experience, and my mother had a cold that she kindly gifted the rest of us, but even with all that nonsense...it was just. so. good.

The in-your-bones-sort-of-good.

We ticked everything off the box. Christmas carols and sugar cookies. The traditional Christmas Eve dinner of appetizers and Love Actually. Midnight mass. A Christmas morning of kielbasa (to honor our Polish roots) and champagne (because why not?). We spent as much time as we could around the tree and even more around the table. We gathered in the kitchen and made meals together.

My parents are leaving this house--this house that spanned so much of my childhood--this house that none of us thought we'd be in for very long, but that now holds so many memories and dresses up so well for Christmas. So I sort of wandered around it, clicking away with my Canon, making tangible what I could of what I remembered.

It's a good last memory to have--this last Christmas in this house--it's a really, really good last memory for that particular place. Lots of twinkly lights and good food and the sort of love that gives the word home so much meaning.

almost there.

it's quite early this friday morning.

and i am waiting for the coffee pot to fill.

my tree is looking a bit lackluster.

but i leave for home tomorrow morning (for the first time in a year {have i emphasized this enough?}.

my driver's license is renewed. and my bags are packed (well, not really, but everything i am planning on taking is in one dresser door and that's close, right?).

however, right now? right now, i am facing a full day of work.

and because people sometimes get nasty at this time of year, i am wishing i could click my red shoes (louboutins, preferably) and get home that much faster.

we'll see how i feel with that coffee in me.

happy friday!

image via tweexcore.

real age.

my mother has been pestering me for weeks now about my christmas wish list.

and last week when my skin fell apart (rosacea's return) i realized that a humidifier was a must.

so my list reads something like this:

reading chair

humidifier

new sneakers

bread pan

and upon actually writing it, i realized i have the wish list of of a 70 year-old-woman.

my mother on the other hand is asking for the wii.

hmph.

all around.

it's beginning to feel a lot like christmas.

i bought my own tree. my first tree.

i am blogging now under the glow of the tree lights. and only the tree lights.

17 days till i go home.

and for those 17 days i sure as heck am gonna enjoy this tree.

When in Houston...

...do as the natives do. And voyage to the best texmex food found...well, anywhere: Lupe Tortillas. There are now several locations around town, but nothing beats the original, off of the Katy Freeway.

Start with a handful of friends.

Then down a giant margarita.

Enjoy the chips with the unparallelled bean dip.

And no need to open a menu... finish it off with beef fajitas for two (multiplied as many times as need be). The sizzle as they bring it your table is enough to keep you coming back time after time.

If only they had one in New York.