Birthday Blessings

Last Friday my best friend celebrated her Birthday, we hosted a Happy Hour that started at 6P that morphed into a party that ended at 2 AM LOL . Birthdays are such a blessing and we love to celebrate them to the fullest. If you are able to surround yourself with good friends, family, have good health and provisions and live to see another year, then you are truly blessed !

Here's a few pictures from the night .....

Christmas Christmas Everwhere 

The "Cigar Lounge" on the Patio !

TiffanyinHouston & her Hubby came through 

The Birthday Girl ......25 Again ! LOL 

My friend and BFF's daughter 

Besties !

Let's Have Cupcakes ! 

Happy Holidays !

Me & TiffanyinHouston 

They were getting it in ! LOL 

Old School Slow Draggin ! 

Fellow Aficionados 

Sisterly love !

Lovely Ladies !

Mr Mixologist was holding court & giving lessons ! LOL

Me and my love :) 

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex 

Birthday Weekend The Finale

On Saturday my actual birthday, I had to get up & head BACK to the Salon to get my hair tightened up so I could hang out with my guy later that evening. My stylist was cracking up when I called her because one of my girlfriends who also goes to her too had already sent her a text trying to squeeze in too. She had been "patio parlaying" with all of us the night before and the Houston humidity did her in as well.  Luckily she did not charge me anything to basically re-curl my hair.

After leaving the Salon, I went and used a couple of gift cards I had received to pick up a few things & then spent the day hanging with Mr. Mixologist. He surprised me with the restaurant choice and he always makes the best decisions. We went to Backstreet Cafe  and I absolutely loved it !

Can I get a window seat ?

The restaurant looks like a converted two story house with lovely patios in the front and the back. We got to sit in the window seat with views of the outside and inside. I was not trying to be back in that humidity ! LOL

I started off with this refreshing libation........

Fresh Raspberry Mojito

It was really good. For an appetizer we decided to share the Lump Crab-cakes. Mr. Mixologist actually grew up in  Baltimore,  so he knows his way around a crab cake. He was thoroughly impressed and I was too. 

Delicious ! 

I decided to stick with seafood for my entree and selected the Shrimp and Stone Ground Cheese Grits.

Heaven in a bowl ! 

One word. Phenomenal.
For his choice, Mr. Mixologist decided to go with comfort food and ordered the Meatloaf Tower......

Nice presentation 

It was a simple dish but I tasted it and it was was very good. It had fresh spinach, fresh mushrooms in the gravy with mashed potatoes on top. We loved all the food, the drinks, the service, the ambiance. I looked at the Brunch Menu which was pretty extensive & determined that we will most definitely be back.

After dinner we headed over to one of my love's favorite places, Downing Street which is Bar/Cigar Lounge. He mainly likes it for the ambiance and the location because it sits in the heart of the city close to other places that we like to hang out. For any cigar aficionados reading this, if you ever come to Houston, just know that their prices are not that great and the selection is even worse. If you really want a great selection and price, you must go to Serious Cigars. My love never leaves the house without his traveling humidor so he was all good. We ordered some drinks and he smoked from his own private stash LOL.

After that we headed over to a new spot that one of his friends recommended for some live music, The Fedora Lounge. We stayed for a couple of hours. There were not a lot of people there, but they did have a live saxophonist, the place is very nice and the drinks were on point. Hopefully they can build a nice following.

Sunday was spent sleeping in during yet another rain storm & getting the best sleep ever !  Later after it cleared up, I did some grocery shopping, a few chores around the house and just lazed around recovering from an exciting weekend.  I had a wonderful Birthday weekend and am so grateful for the many blessings in my life. So thankful for another year of life.


Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex  

Birthday Weekend Part 2 * Photo Heavy Post *

Friday night was spent having great drinks and conversation with friends. We decided to pick one of our tried and true favorite places and also a new spot to hang out. First up Mr. Mixologist picked out the new place called Absinthe Brasserie in Midtown. This was a nice, cozy lounge tucked out of the way. They had nice cocktails and a pretty creative drink menu and some good  small plates. We definitely will be back. Be advised this place has absolutely no signage outside. It seems they want to be "off the radar" which is kind of cool. Look for the big brown double doors under the black awning.

We polished off these plates !

The actual "Absinthe" drink is pretty potent according to the menfolk who attended. I personally was trying to pace myself for the evening so I did not partake in it but they did. Supposedly it has some hallucinogenic qualities LOL. I was trying to maintain my composure.

Me & my girls 

Mr Mixologist clowning with friends 

Me & my Sorors 

Great friends 

Of course they found a place to smoke Cigars ! LOL 

Next up, we headed over to one of our tried and true spots. Boheme Cafe & Wine Bar, also in Midtown. We love this place ! They have recently expanded what was already a really nice patio. There is plenty of seating & even though it gets crowded we were able to get seats together for the 15 or so people we had with us.

Me with friends Tarsha, TiffanyinHouston, CaligirlED

I appreciate my blog/twitter peeps who have become my good friends IRL for coming out to help me celebrate my Birthday! Thank you so much ladies :) 

Cutest couple ! 

Feeling really good ! LOL

Patio Parlayin ! 

I was having a great time at Boheme until the Houston humidity ruined my do' LOL ! I sobered up real quick after looking more closely at the pictures on my camera.  I won't post the pictures of me looking crazy about the head LMAO.  Needless to say, I had to get up & call my stylist with an SOS so that I could be cute for the Birthday dinner that Mr. Mixologist had planned for us on Saturday. 

It was a great evening " Birthday Bar Hopping " with my friends, with nice drinks, great ambiance and good weather (it had been pouring down raining the whole week).  Somebody was smiling on me ! 


Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?

Beautifully Complex 

Birthday Weekend Part 1

I had a lovely Birthday weekend which started early because I did not have to work on Friday. Thursday night I was hanging out with my girl Golden.  We had some girl bonding time & hit a nice jazz spot, enjoyed some great food and of course some good wine.

Girls Night Out ! 

I even got a special Birthday Serenade by my favorite saxophonist, Kyle Turner. He plays on Thursday's at Phil & Derek's 

Me with the Band 

Me & Kyle

We ordered a Seafood Pesto Pizza to share, that was really good. The music of course is always on point at this place. They have some great musicians and vocalists.

Seafood Pesto Pizza 

It was a great nice and nice kickoff to the weekend. I spent all day Friday doing some pampering, hair salon, pedicure and even managed to get in a massage, YES ! Then I spent the afternoon running a few errands and resting up so that I could hang tough Friday night.

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?

Beautifully Complex 

Happy Birthday to me......

Today is my birthday. I am 43. So very  thankful for another year of life, love, health, happiness and blessings !


I am going to do my best to enjoy myself this weekend. This life is precious. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of myself from my childhood. It was my very first school picture. I was in Kindergarten. I still remember picking out this outfit with my mom at JC Penney & getting ready for picture day LOL. I thought I was doing it !  I still love green. It's my favorite color.  Check out my turtle neck with my fly collar and my snaggle teeth :)

There are so many things, I wish the me today could have told this little girl about life, but that is another blog post in itself !

Enjoy your weekend !

Beautifully Complex

Pretty Girls Rock

My best friend's daughter celebrated her 9th Birthday this past weekend in style. You just have to know Maya, to understand that she is a little princess in every way. A real girly girl, who knows how to have fun.
The theme was "Pretty Girls Rock". We had the "Pre-Party" at the house, with all the Justin Beiber you could stand believe me. There were 17 girls total and we had an hour to let them eat, sing, dance and use the restroom to be ready for the Limo that arrived at 2:00PM to take them downtown ! Her mom got a great deal on a 3 hour ride  from the owner of a Limousine company she met not too long ago.

We rolled out the "red carpet" for them which consisted of some red tablecloths, we got at the dollar store ! LOL I was the Paparazzi, taking all of the pictures for the "Event". We rode downtown to Hermann Park so they could have a photo shoot near the water. We were supposed to ride the train, but we couldn't get 19 seats on one ride, and we were under time constraint. We let them get their feet we in the waterfront, got them some ice cream, took pictures and then headed to the Dessert Gallery for the "Finale" where we had some awesome cupcakes, sang Happy Birthday to Maya & let her open her gifts. Her Dad met us there, which was a pleasant surprise for her. We took more photos and then hopped in the limo back to her house.

These kids today sure know how to dream big, I must say LOL I am glad she was able to have the party that she wanted and her friends really liked it too.  Moe, our Limo driver really enjoyed the girls, and was amazed at how well behaved they were !  Everything turned out nice and Maya was so excited. I made her a little slide show of her pictures and sent it to her Mom's Face book, so that she can share the memories of her "Pretty Girl Rock Party" with all her relatives and friends.

Take a look !

Maya's Pretty Girl Rock Party - slideshows



Beautifully Complex

Birthday Edition - Just Me.......... Randomly

Happy Birthday to me....... Happy Birthday to me !

So thankful to be blessed to see another year and this one went by very fast. I am seriously understanding the meaning of enjoying life every. single. day. because this time is not waiting... at all. LOL



I am appreciating simple things more and more it seems. I don't know if its age, maturity, wisdom or a combination of all three but I am enjoying the fullness of my life and every experience that each day brings.



I am learning the art of saying no...without the guilt. I am a reformed "people pleaser" and I used to allow it to stress me out. I say "used to" like it has changed totally LOL ! The truth is, it is still hard for me occasionally, but I am definitely getting better. I used to want to commit to everything and everybody, but I am learning to accept that I can't do everything. Conflicts arise some out of your control. I recently missed my line sisters baby shower which would have required traveling quite a distance. I really did want to see her and everyone there. I just couldn't make it happen and I am OK with it. On to the next one.



Just got back from NOLA last week. I attended my 12th Essence Festival ! I have to admit it took me about 3 days to recover no joke. Now on the way home I can honestly say I was really beginning to feel my age for the first time. I used to bounce back much faster. Either way I can't imagine going anywhere else for the 4th of July it just wouldn't seem right. I appreciate the way that Essence tweaks things a bit every year so that it's what you expect, yet still different. Now for the record, I definitely missed Frankie Beverly and Maze and cry foul on the decision to remove them from the lineup this year. Not that Earth Wind & Fire isn't a good band, because they most definitely are, but I just feel like Frankie & Maze are just staples of the Essence experience & they should not have messed with that tradition. But they didn't consult with me. LOL



Saw my favorites of course, Lalah Hathaway, Ledisi, Mint Condition, Joe to name a few. I looooooove the Superlounges so much better than the main stage. It seems the Artists that I like the best are always there. I love the intimate setting & the fact that I can make eye contact with the Artists & get right up close to the stage. I follow Lalah & Ledisi on twitter so that was pretty cool to keep up with them while being in such close proximity.



On the relationship front.....things are going wonderfully ! We have made it to the six month mark just this week and we BOTH are pretty proud of that fact and still excited about it. I am still smiling everyday and feeling blessed to have found someone that accepts me as I am. Also, I think I am going to give my honey (formerly known as Eastcoast) a new blog name, Mr. Mixologist for a couple of reasons. First and foremost because of his talents with creative libations. He prepared some Lemon Drop Martini's for me and my girls to take with us to NOLA and baby, we were feeling it as soon as we got settled in our rooms and broke into that cooler ! He also makes a mean Cosmo and a Mojito that will make you think you are down in Cuba ! Secondly, because he is a hilarious jokester, that keeps me on my toes daily. He is always teasing me and makes me laugh at myself all the time. We have all these inside jokes now, where he or I can say one word, that reminds us of something that we were laughing at last week and we are dying laughing again ! I really like that about him.



This year my birthday is pretty low key since I had the big 3 day Extravaganza last year. However, I do have some family coming in this weekend that will be meeting Mr. Mixologist for the first time. I am both excited and nervous about that. There is one person in particular that I really want him to click with, but I want it to happen naturally. Mr. Mixologist plans to take him to his Cigar spot & just might get him some extra points.



My nieces and nephew will be here soon, to wear me out for a couple of weeks before they head back to school. I am sure to have some blog fodder during their visit, so hopefully I can get into a habit of posting more timely.



Lately, I have been doing more listening and asking more questions and being quiet so I can hear HIM. I am definitely being more reflective these days and being open to receive what is for me. I am learning to accept some things in a real way. This has led me to experience a level of contentment that I haven't felt in a while. It feels good.



Be Blessed !


Beautifully Complex

Happy Birthday Babs in Blogland !

Today is the 35th Birthday of one of my most favorite bloggers, Babs.

I always enjoy reading about her daily adventures, shenanigans and fun times. She has truly been an inspiration to me, and is such a helpful, wise and considerate young lady.

Hop on over to her spot http://babsinblogland.com/ & wish her the best !

Love ya Babs !

40 and Fortunate

Today is my 40th Birthday and I am thankful for all that it represents. Milestones are for reflection and that is something that I have continued to do over the last few years. This past weekend my family and some close friends travelled to Houston to help me celebrate with gusto. I was reminded of how full my life is, despite the disappointments and challenges of the past. I am fortunate and blessed with more than I could ever deserve.

My party was held Saturday night at So.noma Wine Bar and the whole experience truly exceeded my expectations. I absolutely fell in love with this place the first time I went there about a year ago and booked the date about 6 months after that. It is extremely cozy and intimate, not pretentious, yet very classy. I am blessed to have a couple of good friends that went above and beyond to make my ideas of how I wanted it to be become a reality and I won't forget that. Caire & Kim were the perfect Coordinator and Hostess & Brooke took some awesome photos (that for some reason I can't upload to Blogger !) Oh well the ones I took with my camera will have to do for the blog for now. The food was absolutely wonderful and the wine was flowing good and plenty. I still had 6 bottles to take home with me & you know it won't be wasted LOL ! I was on my feet all night, "with the flyest & hottest shoes I own" trying to spend a little time with all of my guests. My calves are still killing me but it was worth it. I do believe that my family and friends enjoyed themselves which was my ultimate goal. Even my blog buddy Tiffany in Houston was in the house to celebrate with me. The staff was very accomodating and the service was excellent !

Prior to the party, I took my family to M.ag.giano's for dinner. I wanted to do something special for my nieces, as they were none too happy that they were not able to be in attendance at the "grown up" party ! I decided to surprise them by having a Limosuine pick us up for dinner. The look on their faces when they came outside the house to leave was truly priceless !

After dinner they actually got to see the place where the party was held when the adults got dropped off and then they got to ride back to the house with the babysitter in the Limo by themselves ! I even got them some "Spar.kling A.pple Ci.der" for the ride. Baby let me tell you they really thought they were doing something. I loved it !!!

I really appreciated my family coming in and being so excited for me. I received some lovely gifts that I truly did not expect. Friday night I hosted a Cookout for my family & though I did most of the cooking, my Mom eagerly pitched in to help as she is always willing to do. Man nobody cuts for you like your Mama !!

Sunday Afternoon, I hosted Brunch at my house for my family, and a few friends. My mama's Chicken & Waffles was off the chain ! Kim hooked up the Mimosas, but the funny thing is so many people were hung over from all the wine on Saturday night, only me and my cousin could stand to drink the champagne ! I had specifically had made it a point to not imbibe TOO much Saturday night so as to be able to truly enjoy the festivities. Funny story: Sunday morning my 66 yr old father was slow to get up and move around, when he finally came in the kitchen to get some coffee he told my brother-in-law that he had a "wine headache". We all stopped and looked at him & my brother-in-law said, " Well Dad, I think they call that a hangover ! LOL"

All in all, I feel peace today. I just want to be in His will. I want to be all that He intends for me to be and I want to work at it each and every year.

I am fortunate...to have love and frienship in my grasp.

I am fortunate....to have family that supports me without hesitation.

I am fortunate....to have good health, a home, and a job.

I am fortunate ...to still have a positive spirit.

I am fortunate ...to still have the mindset to seek the desires of my heart.

I am fortunate ....to know that God's love and salvation matter the most.

In what ways are you fortunate ?

Just Me... Randomly

Just picked up my parents from the airport. They are here for my " Three Day Birthday Extravaganza". They really can't believe I'm 'bout to be 40 in 5 days !

I am feeling Fortunate to be 40 ! My life looks nothing like I thought it would, but I know many people who tell me the exact same thing, so with that I am going to embrace it for real this year.

My mommy and daddy love me to the ends of the earth. They think I am the end all to be all. I am proud that I make them proud. I know that is a blessing. God loves me even more. I am humbled by that.

Fac.ebook is keeping me from blogging, reading blogs, and keeping up with my regular reading. Fa.ceb.ook really is " Crackbook" !!

New Orle.ans and Es.sence was great, but I was too tired to even write about it (other than posting pics on that dang crackbook) ! I can't wait to take someone special back to N.OLA to do some things I missed doing.

My parents shipped my birthday gift and it arrived just before I went to pick them up today. It was exactly what I wanted. My daddy hooked it up. Now I can dock my i.pod and get my party on for real Friday night at my old school cook out !

I wish I could beat my momma at spades !!! Maybe she will let me win since it is my birthday we celebrating and all.........NOT !

My sister and brother-in-law and the littles ones are on the road to Houston right now. My nieces are so excited about celebrating my birthday ! I love them so much it makes me ache sometimes :)

A couple of people who I care deeply about hurt my feelings recently. I wish I could just write people off sometimes. It would be easier on me if I could actually.

I am feeling pretty good about the wines I selected for my Party Saturday night at the Wine Bar. The good thing is that if nobody else likes it, I get to bring it home and drink ALL OF IT ! LOL !!! I think I am turing into a "Wino" in my old age.

I have a nice surprise for my nieces since they are disappointed that they can't go to the "adult "party Saturday night. I know they will enjoy it. I can't wait to see their faces.

I lost 8 pounds for my birthday...that is way short of the 15 that I needed to lose. All that drinking in New Orleans did it ! LOL

Why are a couple of "strays" still calling me from Essence. Why is is hard to believe that I don't remember meeting you on Bourbon, after 2 Hurricanes, especially if you didn't call me the rest of the weekend !

I really pray that I can turn the corner this year on some emotional baggage that needs to be put away, for good. I am going to do my part and let Him do the rest.

My BFF is making her famous Mimosa's at my Brunch on Sunday.

My mama is making chicken and waffles. I am glad I can't fry chicken like my mama or I wouldn't have lost a single pound ! LOL

What is going on random with you ?