Pic(s) Of The Day - 07.09.15 - Happy Birthday Frank

In anticipation of Frank Campisi's 85th birthday, a group of us gathered at la griglia to celebrate. You only 85 years old once.

Pic(s) Of The Day - 08.22.14 - RWB

I love going to parties that have themes! So...on Friday night I went to a Red, White & Blue party. I was a post-birthday celebration for Brian and pre-birthday celebration for John. They're always the most gracious hosts and are always opening up their home to guests and to non-profits for fundraisers. They're good eggs.

The Russian Team Room

Last Saturday, August 31, 2013, I flew to New York to celebrate Tall Todd's birthday. The dinner celebration The Russian Tea Room.

Dinner was fun.  It's always the people that make the experience fun.  It was a combination of family and friends from Houston, New York and Arkansas.

After dinner, the birthday boy asked the manager if we could go upstairs.  I had no idea the restaurant had an events space and when we got up there I was amazed.

Enjoy the photos!

UPDATE: Some new photos that I received after this was posted.

Happy Birthday Miss Ginger Grant!

Str8 Up With A Twist sends out fabulous birthday wishes to fellow fabulous blogger Ginger Grant.  Rumor has it that Miss Ginger is tearing up the streets of The Big Easy.  Have fun Miss Ginger and enjoy YOUR day!

source: John Cox Photography

Scenes From A Saturday Night In Houston

It was a B-U-S-Y weekend and it kind of snuck up on me. It's all good though. Friday night was with friends at dinner and then went to a show at George Bar. ERSICSS did a show with some of the proceeds benefiting Legacy.

Saturday was going to be a busy night so I planned on laying low during the day. Went for a run and putzed around until a friend called and me invited me over to hangout by the pool at his apartment complex. There were four of us and it was fun.

So, I cleaned up, took care of The Calvinator and headed out for the evening. This was my itinerary for the evening:
1. Bering & James
2. Blossom Street Gallery
3. Quadra - The Birthday Party
4. Meteor (to see the Meteor Showers)
5. House of Pies (OK...technically that was Sunday morning).

Sunday was also busy but I don't have any pics because I forgot my camera. I hope you enjoy the pics and if you want see more, go to my Facebook page and look at my photo albums.

Scenes From A Sunday Afternoon In Houston

Sunday Funday activities in NoRo. Who knew I knew so many people with birthdays in March? Five of them got together today to celebrate their birthdays. It was a combo of Pisces & Aries. Not sure if that is of any signifcance.

50 Is The New 30

I have had some unusual coincidences within the past of couple of weeks. Another one happened this morning.

I arrived at Memorial Park for my Saturday run. Wasn't quite sure if I was up to a run. Not the best thing to do after a full Mexican dinner at Cyclone Anayas (with frozen Margarita-Sangria Swirls) from the night before. I was in my WWMPD?* mood.

So I turned on the iPod nano and wasn't really paying attention to the playlist. The first song that played was Madonna's Give It To Me. The coincidence? Today is her birthday! Once again, the nano spoke to me through music.

Birthday greetings go out to Madge, Mo, The Material Girl, Madonna!


Madonna is celebrating her 50th birthday today. I have a few more years before I hit the Big 5-0 so I have bought into the idea of 50 being the new 30. In fact, last week I was told by someone that he thought I was in my thirties.

Her Madgesty is often the target of criticism; some of it from Kaye Sedilla. In spite of that, she is still raking in the dough and adopting kids. Last year I did a brief tribute to Madonna. She is a business woman that knows how to keep us entertained and she knows how to reinvent herself.

One of the things I forgot to mention last year was an interview that was done on the 10th Anniversary of MTV. The president of MTV was asked, "Where would Madonna be without MTV?" He replied, "Where would MTV be without Madonna?" Definitely a symbiotic relationship.

Mo, if you're reading this, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! In the words of ABBA, "Thank you for the music..." and in the words of Rihanna, "Please don't stop the music..."

OVERHEARD AFTER DINNER:
Person #1: "I wouldn't pay $20 to see a Madonna concert."
Person #2: "Oh? Hmmm....but you paid $250 to see Kaye Sedilla!"

*What Would Michael Phelps Do?

Buon Compleanno!

Today Kenny In Montrose (KIM) is celebrating another birthday. KIM is out of the country. The Calvinator wanted to send KIM birthday greetings. On behalf of The Calvinator, I post this pic in honor of KIM's birthday.

Have a happy one!

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 10.3

Belated Happy Birthday!
Last week was Sugar Land Stuart's birthday. I did call to send him birthday greetings. I just didn't get around to doing it on the blog.

I met Stuart in 2003. Stuart was Calvin's 2nd owner. He adopted Calvin from Citizens For Animal Protection. Here is a pic of Stuart and Calvin.

Today's Birthday Greetings
Today is the first full day of Spring which means it is AttyHou's birthday! I met Jim through mutual friends but it wasn't until one night in Galveston that we bonded and became good friends. You see...

I was sitting in a second story window of a bar in Galveston and I had Mardi Gras beads. I was giving the beads away and Jim joined me. That was the beginning of the friendship.

Jim and I lived together for a few years. It was during that time that we both trained for our first marathon. I think one of my funniest running memories is the 1997 Heights Fun Run.

We had gone out to eat (Mexican food) the night before and after dinner we went out for a few more cocktails AND Tequila shots. So here it is the next morning. It's June. It's hot. It's humid and we're there to run a race. That has to be one of the most painful 5ks I have ever run. What were we thinking???!!!

There are many good stories to tell about Jim; too many to tell. Let's just say that I am very fortunate to have him in my life and I wish everyone could have an AttyHou in their life.

I've posted this pic before and here it is again. It is one of my favorite photos. We are in NYC in 2001. AttyHou is in blue.

First Day of Spring
So AttyHou's birthday always makes me sing & hum a Pet Shop Boys song. Can you guess which one?

Well...part of the lyrics are: "I feel like taking all my clothes off. Dancing to the Rite of Spring..."


Fitness Activities
OK...so I'm trying to get back into the groove. I've started running again and doing weights. Haven't added spinning back to the routine. I'm feeling much better and getting active again is making me feel better.

Buon compleanno!

Today is Everyday Italian's Birthday. I won't reveal his age because:
a) he has a key to my house
b) paybacks are hell

Ben is the epitome of a party planner. One swish...I mean wave...of his hand and a party happens. They are always high class affairs. In addition to being a wonderful cook, he is also a good yard boi. :-) (inside joke there)

Ben: Here's to many more funfilled years.

Ben is on the right.

Happy Birthday Danny!

Today is Danny's birthday. I always have trouble remembering his birthday because it falls so close to Pearl Harbor Day and The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. So Danny has given be the best tip to remember his birthday day: The Eve of Pearl Harbor.

For information about Danny, since I written about him before, click here.

Danny is on the right. This is a photo of him taken in New Orleans in September.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 6.4

Belated birthday greetings to Neighbor Nina! Neighbor Nina's birthday was yesterday but I found out late in the day and then forgot to include it when I was doing the post last night.

Neighbor Nina is another good egg in my life. She is a little ball of energy and enthusiasm.

Neighbor Nina *hearts* Calvin. :-)

Dancing With The Stars (the drama continues)

Associated Press is reporting that Helio Castroneves (winner of Dancing With The Stars) is no longer engaged. It seems that the engagement ended a couple of weeks ago but wasn't announced until last night.

I was sorta wondering what was going on. During the finale, they showed snippets of friends and family wishing Mel B. and Helio good luck. They showed Helio's sister but not his fiance. Hmmm. At the end of the show, Juliann even said that she was going to teach Helio's fiance a few dance steps for the wedding reception. Hmmm. Yesterday on The View, Helio even mentioned his engagement. Hmmm.

I think Helio and Juliann make a cute couple. However, both of them are saying that there is nothing more than a Samba and Cha-Cha going on.

I think Helio delayed the announcement of the broken engagement because he was afraid the women of America would turn on him (even if it is a no-fault broken engagement) and he wouldn't get the votes.

When it's all said and done, he still gets the mirrored disco ball!

Tidbits

The Calvinator got away from me today. I had let him out before we were going for our mid-day stroll. When I went out to get him I couldn't find him. I could his tags jingling but I couldn't see him.

He forced his way through the wrought iron fence and was inside AttyHou and Everyday Italian's azalea bushes. He wouldn't come back through the fence and he was digging in his paws when I would try to pull him back through.

So I had to get the key to the gate next door and when he heard me he came running through the azaleas. OY!

I did get a 3 mile run in today. Weather was too nice not to be outside running.

World AIDS Day - Dec. 1

www.worldaidsdayhouston.org