Poshdeluxe

spoon: anything you want

lately, for various reasons, i’ve been feeling a little bit… flimsy. sort of like a plastic bag in the wind, but not in that “i filmed this because it is so beautiful” way. more like… i’m being lightly tossed around in the breeze and possibly in danger of getting caught by the ragged branches of a tree but my mind is la la-ing over the clouds. and you know, it’s not so bad being up in the air, but my toes are starting to miss the solidness of the ground.

so i decided to go in search of a few anchors in houston this weekend. even though i love austin and the people here, i’ve got deep roots in h-town and even deeper friendships. i think, out of all places, this city lays claim to the most of me (so far), and maybe i needed a little reminding about that part of myself, a sweet “oh hi! it’s you!” flicker of recognition.

friday night, meredith and i indulged in a girlie sleep-over, just the two of us! here are the ingredients for the perfect slumber party:

1) yr bestie (yes we both have food with faces t-shirts, surprise)

2) champers (see above photo)

3) homemade cookie dough, courtesy of the amazing matt (even though we kicked him out, he still made us martinis too!!)

4) classic cinematic masterpieces:

it was seriously the BEST NIGHT EVER!!!!!!! meredith and i kept pausing the movie to GAB GAB GAB, and then we watched the final dance scene in “center stage” *twice* cos it is soooooo amazing and we wish we could recreate it in, like, our daily lives.

matt was lucky enough to pop in right before the second viewing, so he was able to experience the dazzling choreography for himself. also, his hair got a bath courtesy of mia:

have you ever seen a cat do that to someone? maybe mia thinks of matt as her over-sized kitten.

seriously, though? a slumber party truly wields massive medicinal powers. as i fell asleep (during the end of “bring it on,” of course), i felt sooo happy and cozy and just… really lucky with my life.

on saturday, we had breakfast at cafe artiste, where i used to spend many, many hours studying in college. then, cos the weather was so lovely, we sauntered down 19th street and poked around the various shops and boutiques. my parents, my aunt margaret and i spent many a saturday afternoon there (i was always looking for dance cards, and aunt margaret was forever searching for food pushers). true to my memories, this saturday was another beautiful day with beautiful people:

one of the things you take for granted, when you live in the same town as a friend, is that it’s easy to spend time together without boyfriends or girlfriends or husbands or other friends or whatever. so during the weekend, i decided to spoil myself with lots of one-on-one time. and it was absolutely LUXURIOUS.

i caught up with erik, aka rock star pants, at empire cafe, my all-time favorite coffee place in houston. i know i’ve talked about it many times before, but i could write a BOOK about my history with this restaurant (and it would be a super tasty book). i went there for homecoming in high school… i spent every monday night there for a year chatting over cake with olivia… customer of the month (for two months!) with ellen… and echoes of a thousand conversations.

so yeah, it felt good to be back, especially with erik.

then i drove over to tapatia on richmond to have dinner with ray. just ray! i can’t tell you the last time we hung out, just the two of us. which is so weird, cos i have a ton of memories of us in houston… hanging out in my room on the third floor of wiess, drinking wine at agora, watching “donnie darko” at 1912 marshall, waxing philosophical at the gingerman.

every time i see ray, i realize how much i’ve changed since we met, cos i can see how much *he’s* changed. it’s always easier to see the “growing up” in other people, you know?

ok, well, some things never change. but you know what i mean.

after a yummy dinner and lots of convo involving the theme, “CAN YOU BELIEVE WE ARE THIS OLD?” it was time to meet up with the other folks at warren’s. cos it turns out to be impossible to go to houston without hitting up warren’s, i.e. i’m pretty sure this is newtown’s fourth law.

talena arrived with william, her newish boyfriend, and man was she RADIANT. she’s had a lot of life changes recently, and they’ve all been for the better. that makes me happy.

erin showed up, looking all glam, and was rewarded by getting hit on by a guy who was cute on the *outside* but apparently very judge-y on the inside. who lectures someone they’re trying to hit on? oh yeah, THIS GUY. but erin didn’t let him ruin her evening in the slightest bit, cos she is awesome.

and kc came!! yay!!! kc chopped off her hair for locks of love, which is totally great and totally something she would do. i was so glad to see her face!! i swear, this girl emits sunshine.

here’s the lovely juliet with frank, kc’s boyfriend. fortunately, the beer mug only covers his face when a flash goes off (so don’t worry, if you meet him in person, there won’t be a mug attached to his head).

i think juliet is such a lovely, smart and classy person. plus she’s really good at making this face, which is a skill you need when you’re dating ray.

besides getting to love on all of my favorite people, i also squeed over the fact that they were all together! like, talena, from sixth grade, hanging out with kc, one of my first friends in austin! it’s like, a melting pot of pants! fantastic, super great pants! it’s like heaven, except i don’t have to be dead!

i can’t tell you how many flickr sets i have from warren’s. well, i probably *could*, but i’d rather just say: there’s a LOT. but if you look through them, you’ll notice one thing in common (besides the dim, slightly shabby background): ray is in almost ALL of the pictures. that’s because, as erin once noted, when you pull out the camera, it’s “like a moth to a flame.”

i give you, exhibit a: i thought i was just taking a picture of matt, but ray knew otherwise.

exhibit b: ray has *perfected* the “sly slide” into the frame. seriously. no one can do it like this guy.

exhibit c: note the patented “ray photo stare”

but, you know, i love ray so much, i even find his camera stalking adorable. i mean, just look at this pantser!

it’s still so strange to me that meredith and kc, my first two girlfriends in austin, now live in houston, where i came from. but i guess, you know, absence makes the heart grow fonder, blah blah blah JUST MOVE BACK ALREADY! GAH.

ok, seriously though, i was so glad to be reunited with my HV’s.

and i can’t tell you what HV means. i’m sorry. but trust me, it means that we are totally awesome womminz.

sunday morning, matt made monkey bread!!!! have you guys ever had monkey bread? well, it’s just as FUN as it sounds! it’s basically yeast roll buns squished into a pan and baked with butterscotch and sugar and butter and nuts and NOM NOM NOM. monkeys love this bread! and so do i! i mock you with my monkey pants!

see?!!! gah meredith is so lucky to have her own in-house monkey bread baker.

after a leisurely brunch, it was time for me to head out… but not before making a stop to see sofia!

whenever i meet up with sofia, it’s like, my heart sees her heart, and then the hearts kinda squeal and hug each other and do a little heart dance. i think of it as the powersuite jig. and since sofia is moving to atlanta this summer, my heart wants to do this jig as much as it possibly can before she leaves texas.

as i drove down 290 towards austin, i started listening to one of my old seasonal mixes from the houston days. and even though i was leaving this city, a place that still feels like home, i didn’t feel sad. cos the memories of late nights at house of pies and long walks around rice campus and car washes on my birthday and my grand old duplex with wooden floors began to mingle with the faces i’d just seen, the food i’d just tasted, the conversations i’d just shared, the laughter i’d just laughed, and they all spotted each other, even from across the room, and rushed over with words tumbling out. there wasn’t even a moment’s pause or hint of awkwardness or sigh of regret.

see, it turns out that the old memories and the moments that just passed a second ago… they all know each other. cos they live in the same place: me.