(43-95) OH What a Night!

Luis' birthday celebration was absolutely the BEST night out that we've had in forever.  We went to The Shout House, as planned.  You may recall that I previously mentioned The Shout House when I wrote,  "Best of Both Worlds" and I told you that I was a big fan of audience participation.  We've been to The Shout House a number of times before and we've always had a good time.  It's typically  the pianists and their shtick that make for a good time; but last night it was the combination of friends that joined us, that made for such an exceptional evening. 

Luis usually hangs out with Mike K, and David; and over time they have come to affectionately call each other SMF (Sexy, Mother F___ers.)  So last night, the SMF's were joined by myself, Michelle M, Jenny (wife of David,) Tina and our newest addition, Mike F; who we know from soccer and I will refer to as Big Mike.  

Luis, Mike K and David were quick to welcome Big Mike to the SMF club; and  once they did; the hilarity did not stop.  I won't go on with the details; (right, me, Queen of DETAILS;) because I think that it's probably a case of you had to be there; but suffice it to say, that this quartet reminded me of what "The Hangover" guys might be when they're ten years older and have packed on a few pounds.  OH what a night!  We ALL had smiles plastered to our faces and we cackled continuously. 
In between the roars of laughter, most of our party were consuming large amounts of alcoholic beverages; (not me though, because I was a designated driver;) and by the end of the evening, I don't think they were feeling any pain. 

In the almost 17 years that I've known Luis, this was only the second time that I'd seen him drunk; and I think it would be fair to say that he was plastered.  I looked at Luis towards the end of the evening and I thought that he was going to be sick.  I encouraged him to call it a night, and within an hour we had left for the evening.  Luis, Michelle and I laughed all the way to our cars; and everyone agreed that the night had been beyond compare.

Shortly after arriving home, Luis began to pay the price for his indulgence.  The room was spinning and he thought he was going to get sick.  I suggested that he try to throw up, because often you feel better after; and he didn't have to TRY very hard at all.  Luis got sick periodically throughout the night; and would have done well to sleep in; but we all had to get up early for soccer.

I mobilized our family at 630am as both Nicky and Lyndzi had 730am warm up and 8am games.  Luis was very slow moving and informed me that I'd need to drive; which I gladly did.  We arrived at the soccer field, anxious to see what condition our friends were in; and we laughed all over again; once we all met up.  Luis was going to start out at Nicky's game and me at Lyndzi's and then we'd switch places at half time.  But at half time Luis called and meekly said that he would prefer not to move, and asked if it was OK for us to stay where we were.  I agreed; but sadly, by doing so I missed Nicky scoring two consecutive goals at his game.  I guess I'll just chalk that up to Luis' birthday present.

When all was said and done; I asked Luis if getting sick and being hungover were worth the time that he had last night; and he didn't hesitate to say "YES!"   The Shout House was undoubtedly a great place to meet; but it was most definitely the company that made the evening as enjoyable as it was.

I'm so glad that EVERYONE had such a slendiferous time; and that we all know that age is just a number.  I think that we all realized that no matter what's going on in your life; if you've got GOOD friends; you're rich.
Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-75) Master Chef Marathon

Luis and I are as different as night and day, when it comes to our taste in TV shows and movies. Suffice it to say that it is rare that we are both interested in the same movie or TV show, so when we are; it is a cause for celebration.
Luis usually likes to watch CNN, MSNBC, Boxing, Soccer and the Discovery channel.  In fact, I can't tell you how many times he's watched the documentary on the Stick-Dick tribe.  I on the other hand, STILL watch "General Hospital," which confounds him no end; and I delight in my dancing and cooking shows too.

Well, in the past couple of weeks, I have managed to get Luis hooked on a few of my faves. Although he's not quite a Gleek yet; he has liked what he's seen; and has even commented on a number of occasions, that he thinks that they sound better than the originals.   He's definitely, devoted to "Jersey Shore;" and I actually have a theory on why it is, that  we like it so much.  I'm now convinced that the reason that we find it so delectable is because it's very similar to "The Hangover;" in as much as you are shocked by what these numnuts do; and you never know what to expect; so that's my answer and I'm sticking to it.
 
Lastly, when I wrote "Reality Check," I told you that I'd DVR'd but had yet to watch "Master Chef."   So the other night,  Luis and I were checking to see if we had anything DVR'd that we could agree to watch and I suggested "Master Chef;" but he wasn't interested.  I reminded him that HE had asked me to record this show after seeing a commercial for it; so he reluctantly acquiesced; and gave it a try.  Once we got past the auditions we found the show compelling; and we have been watching nothing else for the past couple of days.  I have to say that I'm positively, pleased that we're watching it via marathon; this way we don't have to wait a whole week to see it again.
Neither Luis nor I had watched "Hell's Kitchen," so we weren't very familiar with Gordon Ramsay; but we like him.  He seems very fair and caring in his own way.  Much like "The Great Food Truck Race," we've been cheering out loud for our favorite contestants and even though our tastes don't often coincide for shows, when it comes to people; we are in total agreement.  Neither of us finds arrogance attractive and we've been annoyed by a couple of the contestants who were cocky and rude; and ultimately this caused us to root for the contestants who were perceived as the underdogs.  In one group challenge the underdogs truly had the better food; but because they ran out of food they lost the challenge.  In the next challenge, most of the same people were on the underdog team (even though in reality a lot of them were stronger contestants;) and the team who thought that they were "better;" behaved in a manner that was repulsive.  The challenge involved making burgers for truck drivers.  Each team needed to come up with one kind of burger; and then make 100 of them; and the truckers would cast a vote for their favorite; and the first team to get 51 votes would win.  Well the team who thought that they were all that and a bag o chips, made a run of the mill burger, with cheese, butter lettuce, tomato, onion and cole slaw.  The underdogs made a burger with Swiss cheese, bacon, sauteed onions, and a chipotle barbecue sauce on a toasted bun that had a bit of bacon flavor.  Can you guess who won?  The winner as it should have been was the underdogs; and my mouth watered for their burger something fierce.  I begged Luis to go to Red Robin for dinner after watching this episode, but he promised to make burgers tomorrow instead and the frugal side of me folded.  Luis and I discussed this challenge and he commented "These are truckers, of course they're going to like bacon; it's not like they were making burgers for Rabbi's;" and I almost peed my pants.  Oh my god,  sometimes Luis is just TOO funny!  Just like when he told me that he knows that I like this one contestant because he looks like Maks from "Dancing With the Stars."  HAHAHA, well he was right about one thing; I do like this one contestant because of what he looks like; but even I hadn't made teh correlation between he and Maks, until Luis pointed it out - and he is SO right! YUM!!  I don't feel guilty though, because Luis' favorite contestant just so happens to be a woman (a very young woman at that.)  I don't mind though; because I do like her too.

Needless to say, I have to finish up tonight's post so that I can go catch one more episode of "Master Chef" before I go to sleep.  So I'll leave you with this.  If you eat up the cooking shows; and you haven't watched "Master Chef;" see if you can catch it online, because it is nothing short of slendiferous.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING