Poshdeluxe

dolly parton: backwoods barbie

when my parents and i moved to houston in 1990, my dad *immediately* bought a bumper sticker that read, “i wasn’t born in texas, but i got here as quick as i could!” and slapped it on his truck. i, on the other hand, refused to be labeled as a texan, cos in junior high, being texan meant being a kikker. and for those of you who did not attend bleyl junior high, home of the fighting brahmas, the term kikker was derived from the local country station, KIKK, and described people who wore tight wrangler jeans and cowboy shirts (plus cowboy hats outside of school).

you guys, i came from louisiana. and while we did have country folk and cajuns, we did NOT have kikkers. and there i was, entering public school for the first time, trying to figure out what clothes to wear (i’d been wearing uniforms), desperately hoping to fit in and finding myself in classes with guys who put cases of bubble tape in their back pockets so that it would look like they were sporting chewing tobacco. cos that was COOL.

at the school dances, kris kross would be making me JUMP JUMP when, suddenly, “the dance” by garth brooks would being to play and the cafeteria would fill up with kikkers doing the two-step. as if junior high wasn’t terrifying enough.

thankfully, i survived bleyl without succumbing to the kikker trend, although i did lose one friend to the “suburban country” lifestyle. she stopped speaking to me in the hallway and later joined the drill team, so i guess it wasn’t a huge loss (no offense, katie. you were the only cool silvie).

many, many years later, i find myself in LOVE with texas. hello, i even own a pair of pink cowboy boots! i guess i even consider myself a texan, even though uh you will NEVER catch me in wrangler jeans or with a tin of chew (bubble tape, now that’s a different story). there’s lots of reasons to love living in this state (or, ok, maybe just austin), and i’ll illustrate TWO for you today.

first, the circle country club.

i’ve written about this place several times, but I JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH. this bar has it all: old cowboys, wrinkled ladies in tank tops, cigarette smoke, neon beer signs… heck, it’s basically just two trailers smashed together. where else can you go for karaoke and expect to meet this guy?

this guy and his DOG?!!!!!

the dog, btw, followed him around the bar and would then curl up at his feet every time he sang a song.  is this a louis lamour novel?!!!!!

whenever we perform at the circle CC, i get the feeling that no one else in the bar has ever heard these songs. although we do try to make choices based on the surroundings, like “black velvet.”

i love how this picture makes it look like amber and i are surrounded by adoring fans, just cos greg got on his knees by the stage and waved his hands.

we did have another fan, though. i think he thought we were singing about him!

henri and greg decided to go for a more “classic” number rather than straight up country. although, when you think about it, “total eclipse of the heart” has about as much angst as one of those “i lost my truck, i lost my wife, i lost my job” type of country songs.

here’s a video of their stunning performance:

another awesome thing about the circle CC is the dance floor!!! people, including total strangers, will get up and dance during yr karaoke song!! does that happen at other places?!! oh really? ok, well, does it look like THIS?!!!

check out henri, rocking out by himself in the background.

i like to think we put on a good show for the people of the CCC. or, at the v. least, they have something to talk about at the local diner the next day.

“johnny bobby, you would not BELIEVE the people that showed up last night at the country club. they did some song about good vibrations and kept hollerin’ ‘COME ON COME ON’ and bless my soul, they were a hoot. of course, them city folk are always a bit strange.”

another highlight of the CC are the duets. people are CRAZY for duets, and you can always find a partner, especially if you’re singing an old hymn or a johnny cash song.

greg managed to team up with not one but two customers of the CCC. that’s quite a feat, especially since he holds the microphone like a total pansy.

i love getting to know the “regulars” at the country club, including the guy below, who is kind of the manager/bouncer/guy who hits on underage girls. he’s got an AWESOME voice, check it out in the video after the picture.

the ladies in our group finished off the night with a rousing performance of “lady marmalade” and were rewarded with a round of wine coolers from the bar.

i posed for that picture, then threw away my wine cooler. cos i don’t care how much i love texas, wine coolers are gross.

henri and greg closed down the club with their stirring rendition of “more than words,” which i’m pretty sure even made the dude with the dog tear up.

the next day, erica and i met up with my parents in georgetown for one of the other things i love about texas: small town festivals!

this particular festival celebrates the red poppy, since apparently people in georgetown used to love opium or something. basically, it’s just an excuse to sell kettle corn, crafts and show off antique cars.

my dad looooves checking out old cars.

after looking at this jeep, he turned to me and exclaimed, “sarah! this jeep is older than me!” i couldn’t tell if he was excited about the jeep itself or just about being younger than something.

i decided to make everyone pose by their favorite car. here’s my impression of a country floozy waiting for a hot date to pick her up on the main drag:

mom is OBVIOUSLY a fan of red. VROOOM!!

erica chose this antique that reminded me of something in an old disney cartoon. like, the headlights would be the eyes and it would run on its tires and speak in a goofy voice and toot its horn whenever it sneezed.

besides cars, there were also puppies!!!!!

the animal shelter was sponsoring an adoption day, which meant there lots and lots of opportunities for cuddling and petting.

and what festival would be complete without a moonwalk? even better, a CASTLE MOONWALK?

my dad bought me this super cute wooden owl whistle, cos i went to rice, home of the fighting (read: studying) owls, and he has a secret plan to fill my house with owls by the year 2015 so that i will have to hire him as a caretaker and therefore save him from the boredom of retirement.

then i made mom and dad take a photo on this bench, cos i adore cheesy photo opportunities.

erica and i took one too, but we kinda covered up the flag. don’t let that fool you, though. we are total texas girls… BUT NOT KIKKERS. obviously.

i mean, where else can you stroll down the street and see this:

cowboy hat? check. handlebar mustache? check.

I LOVE TEXAS.*

*this does not mean i’ll be buying one of those bumper stickers though. sorry. there’s only so far a girl can go.