My Weekend, Part 2

My friend Kelly turned 30 on the 21st of August. So, we decided to take her out to dinner to celebrate. She got to choose the restaurant. She chose Benihana. I chose this restaurant for my 37th birthday celebration, and I loved it. So, I was gung-ho about this one.

I ordered the scallop dinner. I love seafood. They were so tasty.

Our gift to her was a book about making metal jewelry. She has been talking about making silver jewelry for the longest. So, when I saw this book I felt that it would be the perfect gift for her. She seemed excited about it.

For her 30th birthday she went on a trip to D.C. She stayed with a friend who lives in a communal house. She lives with 4 other women, and they split everything 5 ways. They are all working toward social justice in different areas. I don’t know if I could do communal living, but it sounds interesting to live with 4 other people who share your values.

She brought us all a gift back from her trip. Alice Walker’s book We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For, and a Michael Jackson tribute CD. I started the book the next day and I am enjoying it. I actually got a few aha moments from the first few pages. Especially when she talked about June Jordan . I thought about what kind of legacy I would leave behind, and how I need to be more involved in helping the economically, spiritually, politically and socially oppressed. So, I am on a mission to make a difference in the lives of others!!!

All in all, we had a wonderful time. Now I am trying to decide where I want to have the dinner for my 38th birthday.

Sidebar: My stationery is in and I am in love. We both like the square stationery the best. I can’t wait to use it!!!

 

So many days gone by…

I cannot believe that I have not done a blog post since April 8th. Oh my goodness, what is wrong with me? Well, I have been extremely busy with work, and trying to get my new shop open. I really love knitting and crocheting, and I will soon open my shop Maleia’s Closet. It was my plan to open the shop the end of May, but now it looks like it will be around the middle to the end of June. I have been making hats, market bags, and baskets, and have patterns for so many other items. Here is a picture of my friends daughter wearing one of the hats I made.

I have also been working on some new cards. Here are a couple. These and other cards can be found in my shop, Hers and Hers Greetings

While I was away my wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We decided to vacation in Asheville, NC, which is a lovely city. The people are really friendly, and the atmosphere is very gay friendly! We will definitely visit there again!

We went to a place called Fired Up! and painted our own pottery. We had to leave it there so that it could be fired. The package came today. I will post the results of my wife’s bank. My cup looks a hot mess. LOL

We had dinner here one night. The Sushi was excellent!!!

There was a street festival where different bands performed. The little girl in the ballerina get up was doing her thing! We got a few good laughs off of her.

In doing this post, I am realizing that we didn’t take a lot of pictures of ourselves.

I just wanted to stop by and update. My plan is to keep up with my blog. I will be back with more tomorrow.

Peace and blessings!

Michelle

 

Another busy weekend…

Once again, the Mrs. and I had another busy weekend. It all started on Friday. I decided to have my birthday dinner on Friday, instead of waiting until Sunday. My dinner was held at Benihana. It was wonderful. 8 of the 13 who were scheduled to come showed. Some people text when we got there saying they couldn’t make it, and some didn’t text at all. So inconsiderate.

The food was delicious. Had the best California Roll in my life at Benihana that night. My friend K.S. ordered some and she left me taste it. It was just so fresh. I also had some Edamame and as my main dish I had the seafood combination, which included shrimp, scallop and lobster. Everything was so tasty!!!

On Saturday, I was still craving California Rolls. I wanted to go to Benihana to get a to-go order, but it is a little out of the way. So, we decided to go to Bangkok Bistro instead. We went by the Family Christian store to get Maya’s christening gift. After that, we went by Michael’s so that I could pick up some yarn. Our friend R. had given me a gift card for my birthday. We chatted with our friend K.S., and made plans to meet up at Bangkok. She didn’t get off work until 5, so we decided to stop by The Snooty Fox. I have been wanting to go there for a long time.

I bought a shirt, a dress and a nice gray sweater. The prices were very good. My wife bought a cordorouy coat for her goddaughter Maya. I can see her rocking it with some pink on with it.

While we were eating my friend Brandi text me to let me know that she would be in Dayton for one day. She was flying to El Paso Sunday morning for work. She asked if we wanted to drive up to Dayton to  meet her. She was driving to Dayton from Cambridge after her grandmother’s retirement dinner. She was to get to Dayton around 9. Then she called back and said 10.

We made plans to go to Therapy Cafe. When we got to Dayton, we found out that they were having Salsa night. So, we decided to go a couple doors down to the wine gallery. I am glad we did. It was nice and quiet in there. We ordered some food to share, and we sat around laughing and talking until 1:30 in the morning.

My wife and I arrived home at 2:30 am and crawled into bed. We had to get up at 7:30 am to drive to Columbus for Maya’s christening. We were all kinds of tired. After the christening we went to Golden Corral for dinner, and then we made the trek home.

Even though the weekend was a very busy one, it was a fun one. Thankful for good friends…and good food. LOL

Peace and Blessings,

Michelle

 

From Movies to Family Drama

"Julie and Julia"

My wife and I had date night on Friday. We had a wonderful time. We went to see “Julie and Julia” at Newport on the Levee. I must say that I thought the movie was wonderful! As she started to write her blog, my wife and I had the same thought…how can we make our blogs better? We are still working out the kinks, so bear with us. While watching this movie, a lot of thoughts ran through my head.

1. How we have jobs that are just that…jobs. They are not our passions. We go to work day in and day out and we do things by rote. I know that a lot of us need these jobs to pay the bills,  (me included) but it would be nice if we could find opportunities that align with our passions.

2.  Some of us never finish anything. We go through our lives starting things, and we never see them through. I have made a vow to start a project, and see it through to fruition. (More on this later)

3.  Sometimes we are introduced to things, and we get caught up in them. It’s never bad to have something “all your own”, but don’t forget about the “real” people who are there from day to day. (You will understand this if/when you see the movie)

4.  Once you find your passion, go through what you have to go through to achieve it. It will be worth it. Even if you don’t get the recognition you think you deserve, keep doing it.

5. The last thing is, even when you think no one is listening…someone is. Keep writing. Keep speaking. You will reach someone.

After the movie, we went to dinner at Dewey’s. They have a new policy that I just think is hysterical. So, the Mrs. tells the lady we need a table for two. There is a wait, so the woman pulls out a little buzzer thingee that will let us know when our table is available. She then says, “I will need a piece of ID from you.” WHAT?!!! Why would you need a piece of ID to give me the thingamajig. My wife says, “Will you need it if we sit right over here?” The woman says, “No.” I am not going to give you my ID. I don’t know what you plan to do with it back there. LOL Yes, I may sound paranoid, but still. Identity theft is running rampant in these here parts.

All in all, I had a wonderful date night with my wife. We must keep this up…keep our marriage fresh.

Yesterday, I received a text from my little cousin. She is 18. Wants to come up here with us so that she can go to college. She is an artist. Can draw her ass off. So, I planned to get her into a school where she can study graphic design. Now, some of you may remember me saying that I wasn’t out to all of my family, and that my cousin outed me to them about my wedding and about being gay. Well, the Aunt that she told (the one who has spread it through the family like wildfire) is the grandmother of said cousin.

Well, my Aunt calls my cousins mother and tells her that I am gay. Asks her if she knows this. Basically trying to get her to discourage my little cousin from coming up here. I think this is the shadiest shit this side of the sun. I am pissed off about it, but I am more hurt than anything. To me it seems like my character and who I am as a person is being questioned. That hurts. My cousins mother hasn’t said anything to her yet. Her mom doesn’t know she heard the conversation. She is waiting to see if her mom says something like she can’t come now. I don’t know if my Aunt was telling her something to the effect that my cousin may “turn” gay if she comes here or what, but I think it’s shady that she would do that. I am not having a lot of love for family right now. I try to live my life drama free…why can’t everyone else? Y’all pray for me please!!!

No more drama....

 

A Day of Entertainment…

Yesterday was very eventful. We went to the Mint Condition concert at Sawyer Point yesterday. I had a lot of fun. We got there about 4 pm. The concert was set to start at 5pm. We got there and found some good seats. It was very cloudy out, so the park wasn’t really full. We set up our stations and got comfortable.

One of the opening acts

The first bit of entertainment came when an older woman sitting two rows behind us started to cut up. This was during the “opening performance” segment. I thought that Mint Condition would come on somewhere around 6. They didn’t come on until 8:35. Anyway, every time the opening act the woman would get up and start singing and gyrating. At one point they had a robot dance contest and she made her way up to the stage. She was escorted off after they realized she didn’t know what the robot was. LOL

She has on black jacket and jeans

When they escorted her off the stage she couldn’t find her seat. She ended up at the back of the park on top of a hill.

The next bit of entertainment came from an older man who was gyrating and singing as well. (There was a lot of that going on there) At one point he took off his shirt and started swinging it around. Then the crowd started getting into it. This one woman started dancing with him, and it was on. He had her bent over and he was doing his thing!!!

Back to the robot dance contest…male portion. Most of the guys were young guys who had no idea what the robot was. There was an older gentleman who got up there. He was about 80 years old. He didn’t do the robot, but he dropped it like it was hot…nice and slow. I can’t get down as low as he did. LOL We all clapped so that he won…he deserved to. He won tickets to the Jazz Festival. He was a sweetheart.

PaPa getting ready to drop it...

I don’t know if any of you watched the MTV show “Taking the Stage”. That show was based in Cincinnati, and it was kind of like a 2009 Fame. The students attend SCPA where they study dance, music, etc. The show was very good. I didn’t watch it from the beginning because of my school schedule, but I got caught up when I did start. Anyway, there was a guy named Malik on the show that I absolutely fell in love with. I love his openness about his sexuality, but also I loved his relationship with his mother. He was able to go to her and talk to her about his relationship…something I’ve always wished I could do. I don’t know if it will be on again, but I hope they will do another season.

I said all that to say, Malik and a group of other dancers did the first act at the concert. They did a dance tribute to Michael Jackson. I thought it was very good.

Malik is third from the left

The Main Cast

We sat and laughed and watched all the people while waiting for Mint Condition to come on. I saw a lot of outfits that never should have been. Oh my goodness…it amazes me when people come out with their friends looking a mess, and no one said anything to them. That’s crazy.

Mint Condition finally came on about 8:35. The first few songs they performed I had never heard. At the end of the 3rd or 4th song, the rain it started drizzling. We started to pack up our stuff. We started walking toward the car and it started pouring. When we got to the car I could hear them sing “Pretty Brown Eyes”.  A good percent of the crowd left when we were leaving.

Mint Condition

After we left Sawyer Point we went to TGIFridays to get some food. 10 of us ended up going, and we had a lovely time there. There is always lively conversation and lots of laughs when hanging with the group. It was truly a fun day!!! Looking forward to the next outing.

Enjoying the show

Ok people…I have some other stuff that I need to take care of before turning in for the evening. I hope you all have a good work week.

Peace and Blessings

Michelle

 

Yellow Springs

Hello all,

I hope that all of you are well. I am sitting in bed, with my wife next to me. We are both on our laptops. She is looking up info on Puerta Rico, which might be our honeymoon destination later on this year. She is also uploading pictures that we took today in Yellow Springs. I am uploading pics to my facebook page, updating my Project 365 set on Flicikr, and posting on here. (Such a multi-taster) LOL

We went to Yellow Springs today. They started their Summer in the Springs. We love the area…such an ecclectic group of people there. We visited the shops in the downtown area, and we had linner (late lunch/early dinner) at a pizza shop called Ha Ha’s. The pizza was good, but it took us a while to get our order. We stopped in this shop called Urban Handmade, and I am very glad that we did. I have been looking for a place to sell my cards. I have a shop on Etsy, but I also wanted a somewhat local presence. Well, I found that at Urban Handmade. They allow you to submit samples of your work, and if they like your stuff, they will sell the items in their shop. They just opened on the 6th of this month.

Here are 2 cards that I worked on this week.

Father's Day

Out of all the cards that I have done, the wedding card is high on my list of favorites. I made this one for a co-worker who had a wedding to go to on Friday. The father’s day card was made for a friend. She has a 6 week old daughter; the card was from her to her dad.

Well, I am going to get to work on sending photos needed for our family reunion in September. Have a wonderful evening all!!!

Peace and blessings,

Michelle

 

Yesterday…

I finally got to wear the Converse that I got for Christmas. My first pair of Chuck Taylor’s. LOL I’ve been wanting some for a while. I took the picture of my Chuck’s with my new Nikon Coolpix that I also received for Christmas.

my new churcks

My Chucks - side view

So, we went to dinner at Applebee’s before going to the movies. We experienced the worst service last night. The waitress was just plain slow. We waited a long time for the appetizer, and then a long time for our meal. The waitress would bring something then disappear for like 15 or 20 minutes. I don’t know what was going on with her.  Anyway, S.M. gave me a gift card to NY&Co, so I am going today to use it. They have a tremendous sale going on.

S.M.

After we left Applebee’s, we went to see Seven Pounds, which was very good. I can’t tell a lot about the movie without giving it away, so I will just say I liked it. My baby also liked it, but S.M. wasn’t too fond of it. You can’t win ‘em all.