Best Friend’s 25th Birthday, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen – San Antonio, TX

My best friend turned 25 on April 20th. We celebrated at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen here in town and had an amazing time! For a chain restaurant, the food is simply sublime.

He loved the custom card I made him. When we were younger, we played a lot of Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2, and ultimately JK3. We were always the portly Rodians. We called ourselves The Garbage Men. :p Those are the beasts you see on the front of the card. The red thing between them represents my little brother’s character back then — he was always a Red Reborn. Good times. 🙂

When we played that game, he couldn’t decide what to name his particular character. I said the little green head on a plump body like that looked like a hairy kiwi. So he called himself “MrHairyKiwis” and it stuck! To this day, that’s still his nickname. Rarely do we call him “Nathan” — always “Kiwis” or another term of endearment, “Rhino.” 😀

First appetizer — Frog Legs, (two pictured, two were already consumed). These were delicious! The breading was light, crispy and well seasoned. The frog was tender and silky, as to be expected. I’ve always loved frog legs. Many say frog tastes like chicken but I think they taste more like testicles, if I had to compare them to anything.

Second appetizer of Baked Oyster Duo, three Oysters Pappadeaux (crabmeat, spinach & hollandaise) and three Oysters Baton Rouge (romano & parmesan cheeses). I loved them both equally.

My entrée! Pan broiled with dirty rice. They were excellent! They weren’t exactly tiny, either. I took one home.

My brother’s entrée: Grilled Caribbean Lobster Tail. He said it was really good, if not a bit on the salty side.

I had a side of spaghetti squash. Yum!

Our best friend reacting to some vulgarity my brother shot his way. 😀

We had some of these — Baton Bellinis! Flor de Cana 7 year aged rum, Hornitos Plata tequila, peach, fresh lemon & lime, finished with Saracco Moscato d’Asti. Best cocktail of the day.

And some of these — The Patrón Perfect. Patrón Silver tequila & Patrón Citrónge Orange liqueur with fresh lemon & lime. Quite tasty.

This is the Captain Morgan rum on the rocks my brother had beside this MONOLITH of a brownie that we annihilated. That thing wasn’t just fudgey and chocolatey and sweet and caramel-y and delicious, it was a TAUNT to a sucrose coma. Finished off with some vanilla ice cream, it was a flawless finish.

My beloved Jameson Irish Whiskey on the rocks and I. I’m a complete sucker for Jameson!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! KANPAI! ~(\=^-^)=/ ~So happy you can see my Speak Now bracelets!

It Was a Taylor Swift Holiday!

This post is a long time coming. I feel bad for not having it up for 1) Taylor Swift‘s Birthday (Dec. 13th) 2) Christmas (Dec. 24-25th) 3) New Year (Dec. 31st-Jan. 1st). BUT! Let me just say, these holidays were celebrations to shame all celebrations previous! When I say I partied, I can’t even TELL YOU the celebratory levels reached here. One of my favourite people on the PLANET does not turn 21 without a legendary bash. Take that as you will but, rest assured, no expense or inhibition was spared. 😀

I’ll skip the gory swinging-from-chandeliers & hanging-out-windows details and get to:

MY TAYLOR SWIFT CHRISTMAS TREE!

You can tell by the date on the first video, things were INTENDED for timely posting but well. . . :p ~Better late than never! Now, this tree was insanely fun to shop and compose. It’s a standard inexpensive pink artificial tree (Wal-Mart! ♥), decorated in pink faux roses, tulle & organza (casual wrap & hand-sewn organza fans), authentic Ostrich & mixed feathers, solid white & pink lights as well as dancing white LED & purple rose lights. AND OF COURSE! a SINGING TAYLOR SWIFT DOLL adorned in feathers & feathered-Angel wings I attached to her myself ON TOP! It does NOT get more fabulous than Taylor Swift singing her heart out atop your Christmas Tree. I love this whole setup so much, I may NEVER take it down!

Taylor was an easy choice for a holiday theme. Anyone who knows me (even for less than five minutes) knows I absolutely worship her! She’s so authentic and inspiring. For me, Taylor embodies the idea that dreams really do come true. So she brought my little dream-tree to life. 🙂

The styling in this Lady Dior short by the amazing John Cameron Mitchell helped inspire my tree’s crown. The feathers, the glam of it all. Yeah.

And, now, for some of my Christmas presents!

I love this bear. :p She’s wearing a sweet “T-Party” t-shirt!

Pretty sure I inhaled that signature for a solid hour when it arrived. The Taylor Swift store on her official website had a 24 (or was it 48?) hour promotion. Buy “Speak Now” packaged w/ the holiday album and receive Taylor’s autograph! Hand-signed, no copies or anything. Like I WOULDN’T jump through hoops for that? It was a no-brainer. Instant order!

Via another web-promotion, picked up her “Speak Now” vinyl.

The Love Love Love! hat. 😀 A necessity, you betcha.

Group Shot!

I’m not done, either! I won’t rest till I have one of everything in her store, (including that guitar!)

So, overall, these were some of the best holidays I’ve ever had. The food was amazing, friends & family were amazing, the Taylor Swift gifts improved the quality of my life!

To wrap it up, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, TAYLOR! Thx for everything! 😀 ♥

Oh, and by the way, here’s her new “Back to December” video: (Love!)

And her spot for Cover Girl NatureLuxe: (Werq!)

Taylor Swift Live Web-Chat – July 20, 2010 – New Album Oct. 25th! & A Note on Positive Energy

Well, it’s no secret I’m a complete Taylor Swift junkie. I love that she’s tallllll (5’11” !) and cute and funny and super talented. I get my fanboy on big time for anything Tayter Tots! :p Yeah, I adore her nickname and often refer to her that way. I have at least one of everything you can buy from her official store, including the hats & hoodies. >.>

She had a live web-chat with fans on 7/20 and I was one of the many thousands to enjoy it. She announced her new album will be released October 25th, 2010 (titled “Speak Now”) and the first single will be available mid-August (called “Mine”). She also talked about her new house, (she’s a first-time home owner!), her current favorite food being Japanese, her enjoyment of playing mad-scientist in the kitchen, (she mentioned using Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa cookbooks), her knack for mix-matched interior decorating & revealed some really cool fan gifts. She also talked about how much she loves headbands, sun-dresses and flats. :p

Here is the full skinny: http://speaknow13.com/ – and don’t forget to follow her on Twitter here: @TaylorSwift13

And here’s my favorite screenie snapped yesterday! :p

I really love people like Taylor Swift. So positive, sunshiny and driven by her dreams. For optimal success, strive to surround yourselves with these types of people, folks. The less negativity in our orbit, the better we are. Negativity has a way of leeching our drive to see the stars we’re destined for. So, when you identify negativity, cut it off. It’s the only way. All the energy it takes to put up with it could be better spent in achieving positive goals.

As Charlie Chaplin sung~ “Smile!” 🙂