Thursday, April 21, 2016

greatest hits: the about-dang-time edition

i was going to give you a list of reasons why i haven't blogged in two months.

but then prince died.

i'm sad.

i have a cousin who is ten years older than me.  so when she was at the height of her fabulous 80's teenagedom, i was a little girl with stars in my eyes.  she was my idol.  she was cool (still is) and was always so sweet to me (still is).  one of my first musical memories was "hanging out" in her room as she was getting ready to go somewhere while listening to "when doves cry".

that sealed the deal.
i adored her, therefore from that day forward, i adored prince as well.
may he rest in peace.

p.s. "sexy M.F." and "let's go crazy" are excellent additions to any workout playlist.  don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

so, here we are in the height of birthday season.  from march to may, we celebrate the birthdays of my husband, my sons, myself, my sister, my cousin, my neice, my grandfather and my mother.  throw in a couple of best friend birthdays and that about wraps it up.

three birthdays down in our household with only crosby's to go.  we will celebrate that stinker in a couple of weeks.

1) first up, chris' birthday.  man, am i ever glad that guy was born.  he saves my ass everyday.  i'll love him forever and ever.  and ever.

every 37 year old man needs a fathead of his man-crush, no?
chris loves von miller.
von miller is an aggie and a bronco and a super-bowl mvp and now a pretend ballroom dancer.
we love him around here.  now he greets us every time we pull into the garage.

chris shares a birthday week with my sister.  they decided that they wanted to day-drink in lieu of a party.  we went here and had a grand old time.

2) next up is ben's birthday.  he is currently banging on piano keys so i will have to dig deep, but here goes.  he is smart, witty, passionate, intense, emotional and has really great comedic timing.  he is a treasure, that boy.
 he wanted to eat at his favorite restaurant for his birthday dinner.  he is obviously too cool for school.  it's benny's world, we're just living in it.


 he loves video games like no other, so he had his party at an arcade this year.





{the birthday lunch bunch}

he shares the same birthday with a classmate, who happened to be born within hours of him in the exact same hospital!  precious.  


3) i spent my birthday morning chaperoning crosby's field trip.  his class is studying italy, so his teacher arranged a visit to an italian grocery store.  they got a tour, saw pizzas being made, and sampled italian mineral water, salami and biscotti cookies.  it was rad.


then i met my main squeeze at our favorite restaurant for lunch.  divine.
that evening we celebrated with margaritas and the next day we took our posse and met up with friends at the old 97's county fair.  the grown-ups drank beer and danced around to alt-country, while the kids played carnival games and acted like complete nut jobs.  good times.


  
whew.
we made it.

how are you, my sweet readers (those of you still here, at least)?  i'm sorry i dropped off of the face, but something had to give for a while.
i even quit reading blogs!  wtf?!?!

soooooo, i have decided to start from scratch.  if you love a blog, can recommend one or write your own, would you pretty please leave a link in the comments?  i am ready for a fresh start.  i want to read what you love and what you write.

thanks for hanging in there with me!

love,
coco
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Friday, February 12, 2016

greatest hits



waaaaaaaay back in 2015, we celebrated some holidays.  it's my favorite time of the year, and i used to let it get the best of me (remember 'christmas neck', longtime readers?)  but i must say, the older i get, the better i manage it.  just don't talk to me that last week of school before christmas break when i am balancing work, my checking account, what feels like ten christmas parties a day, teacher gifts and class funds.  

i just love the traditions, the pomp, the food, family time, the decorations, and even the presents.
here's my holiday photo dump.

1) because i am neurotic and absolutely must buy a tree the weekend following thanksgiving, we bought another home depot tree this year since the rain thwarted our hopes of a trip to the tree farm.  the boys were stoked, can't you tell?  nobody's going to ruin my christmas spirit, dammit!
2) ben used to be my little christmas elf.  but now at age seven-going-on-thirteen, he helps me decorate for short perionds of time, taking breaks to play on his ipad, eat snacks, and complain of being bored.

now this little dude is my elf.  and somehow we have gone all these years without breaking more than a couple of ornaments.  this year, however, crosby broke four.  all by "accident".
bless his cute little heart.
2) dallas has really stepped up it's holiday game the past couple of years by hosting free concerts and tree lightings downtown.  last year we saw the los lobos.  this year, we saw polyphonic spree and ran into friends just in time for the fireworks show.


3) santa. neimans. downtown.  best-ever.
we had to have the talk this year about how santa needs a lot of helpers to be in all of these places at the same time.
we have somehow avoided the "big" santa talk for another year.  makes me want to cry.
4) the bonner/martin/knight/houze ladies lunched again as we do every year.

we spray perfume.

we pose for pictures.
we day-drink with our grandma.  whatever.
it just might be my favorite holiday tradition.
don't tell the boys.


5) marcy is still inviting all of the miniture people over to destroy her house, decorate cookies and have dance parties on her bed.
we love her for it.
our group keeps growing, in numbers and in height.
6) we don't get to see chris' family as often as we would like to, but since they've retired and moved to georgia, they live a lot closer!  they made a road trip to texas for christmas.  and in return, texas welcomed them with bi-polar winter weather (aka 80 degree temps and tornado warnings).



.
nothing says family fun time like all piling into your closet during the tornado sirens.
while they were here, we were able to visit with chris' brother and his family.
our sister-in-law is an amazing cook and roasted a prime rib while matt frightened us all with knives.  just kidding.

 



all i wanted was a cousin picture, but all i got were more photos of crosby with a finger in his nose.
i have plenty of those already.
7) look!  a family picture!  on christmas eve!  it's a christmas miracle!
oh man, that food.


8) santa came!  we even got santa his own tree this year, since the big tree is in an entirely different room than the fireplace.  i feel like santa appreciated this thoughtfulness.  he's a busy man and has no spare time to waste walking across a house to find a christmas tree.
9) pawpaw gave me some of my grandmother's christmas dishes after christmas last year, so i got to use them for the first time this christmas and it made my nerdy little christmas heart flitter-flutter.  it's the simple things, people.
9) we rounded up our year with our normal new years eve tradition of spaghetti carbonara, wine and s'mores.  i basically write this exact same post year after year, with the only difference being my children keep getting older.  thanks for still reading anyway :)

10) and somewhere in that holiday mix, my dudes went to see star wars.  twice.  and it is all they have talked about since.
how are you?  what have you been up to these days?

i am looking forward to going on a date tonight with my husband and eating delicious food at a new-to-us restaurant.

i would love to hear what you are looking forward to!  thanks for reading.

love,
coco







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Friday, January 29, 2016

for karin: links from chris


my precious sister-in-law recently let me know that she checks my blog everyday to see if i've updated it.  she might just be my only remaining reader.  i love you, sister.  this post is for karin.

it turns out i'm not much of a quitter, when it comes to this blog at least!  i'm more of a loooooong-break-taker.  over the holidays, i drew home portraits for coco custom until my fingers were nubs.  something had to give, and it turns out this blog was the unintended victim of my insane schedule.  i even quit reading other blogs, wth?  i'm sorry, sweet readers reader.  i am back!  blog hiatus is o-v-e-r.

one day i will upload all of the pictures from my phone and camera, but until then, i will leave you with 'links from chris'.  my precious husband, he's my lobster.  he sends me tweets and links and videos to make me laugh.  and it works like a charm.  every time.  here are some of his greatest hits from the past few months.  enjoy.

***if profanity offends you, stop reading now.***

1) vonn miller is a denver bronco.  he is also an aggie.  he is also chris' man-crush.  we love him so and want him to win the super bowl.
A video posted by Von Miller (@millerlite40) on

2) one of us in this marriage is not a morning person.


3) he knows i love nerdy art photos.  that's why he's my lobster. 

4) he also knows i nerd out over old photos of celebrities.  and that i think elvis looks like my poppa. 
5) oh, and that i also love the first lady.  so much. 
Ring in the new year with the one you love. pic.twitter.com/lWjSZtN9N7
6) yea, and that i have a taco obsession.  it's all i want to eat.  all the time.
Special K (@SwirlySkittles)
This apple tastes like I should be having tacos. The fuck kind of hell am I living in right now.

7) remember how i said i want vonn miller to win the super bowl?  i have a bit of a crush on cam newton, so there could be a conflict there.  can't they both win?



8) he feels my pain with the four-year-olds.
Brian Hope (@Brianhopecomedy)
I asked my 4 year old if she minded if I closed my eyes for a few minutes. She said yes, and is now saying every word she knows.

9) one of us snores terribly.  he knows who he is.
innocent chummy (@innocent_chummy)
Why is it that the people who snore the loudest are the first ones to fall Asleep.

10) we both love eddie vedder.  especially circa 1992.  like, a-lot.


11) he is obviously trying to send me a message about my winning attitude in the mornings.
Jay (@theshamingofjay)
Whoops, said "don't fucking talk to me" instead of "good morning" again.

12) paul rudd.  dancing.  favorite ever.

13) chris has a soft spot for nerdy white guy bands.  i have a soft spot for men who sing soul.  so he sends me videos of new-to-me music that combine the best of both worlds. 



14) this makes me laugh and laugh and laugh.

15) eighties kids, this is for you. 

16) oh, jennifer aniston.  we love you so. 
17) chris also knows his rank as favorite parent. 
Mᴏᴛʜᴇʀ-ᴀᴛ-Lᴀᴡ⚖ (@MumsieEsq)
"DADDY!?!" (toddler calling out)

Me: "Daddy's upstairs but can I help you with something?"

"Yes. You can go get Daddy."

18) i'll leave you with this.  my favorite thing he has ever sent me in the history of him sending me things.  you are welcome.


thanks for your patience, sweet readers.  i won't quit you.  i couldn't.
have a wonderful weekend!
love,
coco
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