Well, Great.....

So I had big plans for a poor-pitiful-me, my-birthday-date-sucks-so-much post, but I get on PLSB and notice that Yasi has gone and posted the sweetest, most thoughtful post for me on my special day. Dang it. I was also going to wow readers with a glamorous recap of my week spent in Roswell, NM visiting granny, but Yasi has up-staged me yet again.

Um well, I have all these pictures so here goes anyway.



That's right folks, a couple of times a year I am delighted to visit the thriving metropolis of Roswell. We have a lot of fun going to the casinos with my 91 year old grandmother, visiting Target on the daily and seeing more green plastic aliens than ever.


Here's how it all started. My parents thought they had rented a "luxury SUV" and returned with what we affectionately dubbed the "Green Bullet." My mom has history of getting confused with online reservations, but the Green Bullet served us well in the end.



On the first day after our arrival we drove Gramalita out to Ruidoso to get her gamble on. This is as close as we got to any mountains as my family is accident prone and I guess too lazy to go repelling down mountains on two wooden sticks. We much preferred this view of the mountain from the safety of the Green Bullet as we ate our lunch from Trolley Burger. Literally a Trolley that sells really great, green chili burgers.

Even though we have been traveling to Ruidoso to do this gambling bit for years, this was the first time I actually participated. I've always been weary of gambling because the odds are simply not in your favor. I mean the casinos aren't built on winners, am I right? I know some people enjoy the thrill (ehem Yasi and her brother), but I'd much rather take a gamble on a good sale and at least come away with some shoes or something. We went to Inn of the Mountain Gods and Billy the Kid. Both fun little places except for all the smoking (pew). I walked in with $20 from my moms to have some fun with and came back with $5. At no point in the day was I "up" in the money. I had to know this was just my luck. My sister on the other hand walked away with $50 and hadn't even gambled with half of her original $20! So all this from $10. That is why she loves Vegas and I will never go. Perhaps my luck would change if I had a little faith....maybe next year.

So now, on to the birthday thing. My birthday, "J-Day," happens to fall on December 25th. To all you old ladies who check my ID in stores and go, "Awwww you're a Christmas Baby!" This is NOT COOL. Having to share your birthday/attention with Jesus is not fair. But wait Jamie, you are Jewish so it's all good, right?!?! WRONG. All the nice restaurants are closed and your friends are busy with their families and holiday festivities. You'd think after 25 years I'd be over this, but it doesn't work that way although it is getting easier. Anyway, every year we have a birthday party in Roswell at Peter Piper Pizza sometime during the week. Even though I turned 25 (!#@!#!), this year was no different. It is slightly embarrassing, but I think it's good for the family and Roswell's economy. See, my dad is the youngest of 14 children so I have literally a billion cousins who venture out for the party. This year was a dud though because there was a mis-communication with the guests. My dad thought my aunt was alerting the family and my aunt thought my dad had told them. Result= only about 20 guests instead of a billion.


We had a lot of extra pizza and cake on our hands.

I was determined to make my actual birthday a huge success after the PPP fail. I got tons of Hannah Montana party decor, streamers, made invitations, you name it. The pennacle of the celebration was my oreo cakester cake.

My parents are so sweet and know I like Papyrus cards. They unfortunately did not realize that the gold stamp is self-adhering and all you needed to do was take off the sticker's backing. Tape did the trick and it was hilarious.

We left Roswell and I got to spend some quality time in Houston with family and friends making sure to eat at all the best places. I will be posting reviews and pics sometime hopefully soon. I also experienced some pretty crazy stuff--visiting my first close friend to have a baby, the beautiful Adella Grace, and going to Dallas for New Year's Eve and my other first close friend to get married (aside from Adella's mom of course).



Through blogging I found out about Etsy, a site to buy and sell handmade crafts and other goods. I ordered this ring holder for my friends from Mud Hutt and I really hope they like it. We got them a crock pot from the family, but I just wanted them to have a special memento. Etsy is an amazing way to find a touching gift for a low price.

Happy New Year Everyone!