Sweet November

November brings cold weather, apple cider, Thanksgiving Dinner, a reminder of things to be thankful for, beautiful leaves, and chaos… don’t forget the chaos. So, here’s a snapshot of my November. First, my company, No Excuses Introductions and Concierge www.noexcusestexas.com (yes, I just plugged my company)… was featured in Envy Magazine Dallas. The folks at envymags.com were super generous to print a feature on the biz. For those of you who don’t know, we do introductions (all moral kinds) and we do concierge work (all moral kinds)….we plan tailgates, we plan birthday parties, weddings, etc. and most fun-ly (yes, that’s a new word)…we help people find their match… I love that side of the company!

Next, I hosted my first Thanksgiving at our house on the hill. CPC and I have been married over a year now, but, last year was way too soon to start the hosting… I had the newlywed excuse. This year, I put on my cutest apron, grabbed my parentals and took a stab at making the feast. On the menu my Dad and Me 6 Cheese Mac and Cheese, Mom’s delicious stuffing (from Food and Wine magazine), ham from the delicious Ranch House in my hometown, salad with pears, and yams, squash, and assorted casserole that my MIL (Mother-In-Law) was so gracious to bring over. Oh, and yummy desserts: Tres Leches Cake, pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookie pie, and a bundt cake (more on these later). I decorated the table with this cute pear name place idea I found online and some other random things I compiled throughout the month. It was fun to use our new dining room set (we bought it from a lady who had it in her family for over 100 years (it was her grandma’s, her mom’s and then hers and she was 74ish…it came with a buffet table and another great piece. We rode 4 wheelers out through our land and enjoyed family. Here are some photos from hosting our first thanksgiving on the hill…CPC cleaned the pots as we dirtied them—and he made sure our guests were entertained…he’s the best!

So, we put up our Christmas tree about a week before thanksgiving because I had a No Excuses Event the Saturday after turkey day and I was afraid the tree wouldn’t get its fair 40 days of shining if I didn’t put it up early. So, enjoyed the fun night of putting up the tree with CPC and Co Co Chanel Mademoiselle…we did the hot chocolate, Christmas music and etc.---a good friend of mine said, “Couples who decorate together, stay together.” Oh, Sweet November

This is are feature in Envy Magazine:

This is Envy Magazine:

These are pictures from Thanksgiving at my house:

My peeps that were present... missing older brother and sil (sis in law)

CPC and his mom and grandma

CoCo and FIL (father-in-law)

Put the girls to work on No Excuses things

Caught with food in my mouth...

Turkey day window scene

These are pictures of our Christmas tree-'O Christmas Tree, 'O Christmas Tree!...

CPC and I met at a place called "Dragonfly"

Love Peacocks and their beautiful feathers...

Good bye, Sweet November...

Matchin' PJs

Some friends just remain dear to your heart no matter where they live. Such is the case with my best friend, Melissa. We call ourselves “Mel and Bel” and we’ve been friends since we met in 7th grade. In college, we accidently began the tradition of giving ourselves matching pajamas for each of our birthdays. I’d purchased her first pair at … a darling pair of silk red pants adorned in black and white dots (Tech girl, hello) and a button up shirt to match. The pajamas came bundled up with a beautiful bow. I wrapped them and she opened them and out came TWO pairs of matching PJ’s… apparently two had been mistakenly bundled together and no one ever knew until she opened them. Thus, we started the pajama exchange tradition. It’s wonderful because twice a year we each get a pair of pajamas. When we are able to exchange gifts in person, we take a photo together; if not, we mail the gift and each of us sends a photo to the other in our new “snazzy outfit”. It’s always a good laugh and a fun and practical way to celebrate birthdays. We’ll have this tradition for years to come! I highly recommend every one try this with your girl friends. Matchin’ PJ’s…gitty up!

Huntin' in heels...

Okay, I didn’t actually hunt in heels, although, I really considered it. It’s all about the picture afterwards. What could be cuter than a pair of hot pink heels with my old Seven Jeans from the year 2000 (many holes), and an awesome camo jacket with pink embroidery? CPC (Country Prince Charming) said, “Absolutely not.” You see, he’s an avid hunter, the kind that could sit in a deer blind for days on end and survive on water, beer, and deer jerky from last season’s kill. I’m positive that if he had not realized the possibilities of becoming a lawyer that he absolutely would have been satisfied living in a deer blind (one with Dish Network, of course!)…



Anyway, the night before our BIG HUNT was scheduled (Last Wednesday/Veteran’s Day), I packed my “hunting bag” which is truly less elaborate than any bag I pack for travelling…I promise. This bag had camo gloves, my Feng Shui book, an US Weekly, lip gloss, make up, a camera, Blackberry, bottled water, pretzels, sunglasses, and ear muffs (just in case). I was all ready to go. Luckily, CPC packed all the things that are actually “necessary” for the hunt. ALL RISE AT 5 AM! This is a serious command from CPC for he despises tardiness…anywhere. We were on the road to the lease and set to arrive at 6:00 AM. Sun comes up, I doze off for approximately 3 minutes (until CPC noticed my lack of discipline). We saw a 4 point and then NOTHING. After 3 hours of nothing, we went home to rest up for the Evening Hunt.


((Time Elapsed))


The evening time was much livelier. We saw a 4 point, a 6 point, and a couple of does. Ohhhh the suspense of not being able to shoot everything I saw. THEN…we saw “supper”! About 150 yards away…there he was! We waited to see if he was a “shooter” which in Girl Terms means “something with antlers big enough to be considered worth your time and bullet!” HE WAS! So, I aimed the gun, and CPC made me sit there with the deer in my scope for what seemed like eternity. He wanted to make sure I had a good shot. “I had a good shot from the second I laid eyes on that thing!” …. “Hold on,” he whispered. Like with most things, I want what I want and I want it now! BOOM! A shot…and, “Oh no! I missed it!”


…..nope, A shoot and a kill. Sorry, Bambi lovers… dinner is served. What a good little housewife I am!

Darling CPC cleaned the deer (I like to hunt and shoot…not clean!) Meanwhile, I put on some make up and lip gloss and perfume (I had been banned from showering for 1.5 days before the hunt)…alas, picture perfect. We snapped some photos and hurried back into town. We had to hurry so that we wouldn’t be late to a dinner party for our friends’ birthdays. There we arrived, dirty, in camo, with deer in tow for a nice sit down dinner. I even offered to bring in “Supper”!


Next time, I want an elk and I will make another attempt to hunt in heels…

My village is great!

My sweet friend, owner of Hidden Key Designs (www.hiddenkeydesigns.com) was inspired by my first blog entry yesterday and drew up this cute logo for Ruby Red Boots. By the way, Hidden Key Designs does almost all of my graphic design work including custom holiday cards and invitations. She is truly fabulously talented. Now…back to my logo…she said it encompasses me…apparently she knows I love shopping…even in the Country (or anywhere I can get my hands and credit card to work together in effort for the greater good of me).

In the city, you shop, people pretend to know you and they pretend to like you right until after you swipe the card and walk out of the door. Sure, the variety of offerings can be better, but the personalized service in a small town is second to none.

Today I shopped for a friend of mine’s birthday and for her daughter. First I went to the local Spa which also includes a super cute baby boutique (we country folks multi-task!). The sweet spa owner advised me that my friend had not yet purchased this particular outfit for her daughter (perks of a small town and every one knowing every one). Next, I went to the local women’s boutique (also a Merle Norman)…the darling ladies there helped me pick out my friend’s birthday present (they knew her size, style preferences, and whether or not she’d been given this gift at her birthday party last Thursday). So, the moral of the story is… it takes a village to raise a child-the wonderful woman who own these fine establishments are the village and I am the child.

Following the "yellow brick road"...

Here’s a pretense to my life as it is now...listen carefully because I’m only going to bore you with it once. I graduated from college with a degree that incorporated business and psychology all into one. I was set! I’d learned the art of business AND I knew the art of deciphering every last movement that anyone could make. I immediately leased a beautiful spacious high rise apartment on the 11th floor, my view was of the City Skyline and I was walking distance from the sports arena, boutiques, a beautiful running trail (with lots ‘o lots of single people). I loved my job which was also on the 11th floor of a different high rise a hop skip and a jump away from a 4 story mall-tropolis! Yes, we’ve arrived….



Then, one day I had lunch with my friend…we’ll call her Life Changer for the purpose of this story. She listened to me babble about an attorney I was casually (very casually dating) at the time. I had vowed to never marry an attorney because they seemed to think they knew it all… and that was not compatible with my personality who also “knows it all”. My Daddy is an attorney and I love him dearly… but I was not about to marry another one. So, without further listening, Life Changer suggested I go on a date with a different attorney! She warned he was from a small town… I said that’s no big whipper snappin’ deal… it will be fun to meet someone new and a great place to visit on the weekends! I gave her permission to give Country Prince Charming my phone number and he called that day! Not only did he call, but he called with his Mom in the car. How sweet is that? He asked when we could meet… and in my most Southern drawl… I said, “Immediately!”… The small town accent was to DIE FOR! So, we met, we had a whirlwind engagement (8 months), we married… and I landed in a town of population 307-on a good day. These are the tales of hunting in heels, searching for salmon and sushi, making my own "Starbucks Coffee",commuting for civilization, and learning to love the country. I just follow the yellow brick road…