Feast of the Ephiphany = Mexican for me. Soon.

On the left, you see our very favorite Mexican restaurant. It is called Mi Barrio (that's to say, My Hood), and it rocks. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the windows are barred & the sides have a lot of graffiti. It's not exactly the most obvious dining choice. However, if you are brave enough to go inside (and it's perfectly safe, by the way) your tummy will be happy. The folks that work there seem to be from about 4 generations of the same family - great grandma is in the kitchen with grandma & mom rolling the tamales & cooking! We've been the only non-Latino people in there before, which is also usually a pretty good sign of quality.

Since the beginning of December or so, it's been closed. :( I kept hoping they were closed for Christmas, but it was starting to look bleak. Tonight, I resorted to the Internet, where I learned that indeed, the entire family packs up & returns to Mexico for the holidays! The restaurant is, naturally, closed till they return. Since today is Epiphany (the 12th day of Christmas for those of you who didn't grow up fake-Catholic), which is a huge deal in Hispanic cultures, I can only assume they'll be headed back to Atlanta shortly.

And I will be headed to Mi Barrio, home of the only cheese quesadilla I've ever had that compares to Mrs. Escavedo's. It's the real deal, friends.

Happy Week!

To clear things up:

#1) Yes, that is a serious ruffle at the bottom of the coat. It does twirl, but only slightly.
#2) That picture is from the Anthropologie website, not yours truly, so its smallness is not meant to offend, annoy, or physically harm anyone.
#3) The coat was a success in today's frosty temps, but the pins were too small, so I'm going to plot something else for the collar.
#4) I will take a bigger picture, of it on me, soon, but don't hold your breath.

In other news, my leftover cup of water was frozen in my car this morning, AND STILL FROZEN when I got into the car in the parking garage to go home! What the heck? That's cold weather, friends.

:)

In the very nick of time...

I needed a medium-weight coat, because the long wool one the Motherina bought me last Christmas is a bit much most of the time (thought it won't be tomorrow, when it's single-digit wind chill as I go to work, baby!), and my jean jackets don't work below 60. Yesterday, this little beauty came to the rescue. It was on sale, but I'll still be wearing it well into the 2010s to make it worthwhile. Who cares, though, when you can flounce around in something this cute? I will love it, even when it's as out of touch as a Members Only jacket. It performed very well on its test-drive today, so it's a keeper. :)

New little pins were purchased for its collar, too, so after their test-drive tomorrow, I might just give you a peek. ;)

Overdue....

As you may recall, the indomitable Jean Knee has been my swap partner since October with the fabulous multi-round Sweet Goodness Secret Sister Swap (or something - can't ever remember the name of it!). Needless to say, she rocks. Just check out the adventures of Mr. Cockadoodledoo if you need proof. hahaha.

I received her December package right before we left for our Christmas travel, so I never got it photographed & posted. Here it is!

That is indeed one of her fabulous paper bag albums, complete with cool recipes.

It was so cool that I dragged it all over the state to show people. If I missed you, I'm sorry. She also sent the reindeer potholder as the container (very creative, I must say) & an ivy leaf holder for the minispatula, which will look perfecto on the kitchen tools tree. Phew. It was an awesome box, which is not surprising, as she's been a rocking partner. :)

In other swappy news, I'm going to sign up for the Vintage Heart Swap over at From My Cherry Heart. Anyone care to join me?

Happy Wednesday.

My mother = Etsy fiend.

My mother apparently took the "buy handmade" pledge, or at least for me. Here are some lovely gifts I received from her, all from Etsy. I wish I knew who the sellers were, but hopefully she'll tell me. Right?

The Welcome, Christmas book is actually a repurposed book made into a journal, with really cool vintage sheet music, color images, & high-quality writing paper. Then, there are vintage hankies, trims, buttons, & thread, as well as a "silk hosiery repair kit." Pretty groovy! Oh, and the icicle hanging from the book is handmade from vintage buttons.

Thanks, mom. ;)

Best New Year's Eve ever.

Not that Kinsley hasn't already posted this or anything, but it's just better with the video. :) Now that I've conquered YouTube, and informed it that it will do what I tell it to, not the other way around, I thought I should end the year with something New Year's Evey.

Once I get the new camera acclimated to its job (which is to take pictures for me, not to make me figure out how to take pictures), you can see some rocking photos of my weekend at the Monkeybean Mansion. :)

In other fantastic news, I bought a plane ticket to New York today! The Tulane girls are headed to the Big Apple in February. :) Yahoo!

Y'all be good tonight, and have a very happy beginning to 2008.

Towanda

Wow, YouTube hates me. Some people (they know who they are) had best really appreciate this gesture, because it's made me want to throw my computer through a window. Now we remember why Sarah normally just links to videos! :) More Christmas spiritishness soon, I promise.

Makin' it.

You know that it's important when the Times cares about it, right? Like when my cousin got married.

No, seriously. Etsy made the Times today. It's an interesting article, and a long one (this isn't the Macon Telegraph, after all).

My weekend did not make the Times social page, but did include 2 parties, including one hosted by the owner of my favorite East Atlanta bookshop; the children's Christmas pageant at church (complete with "sheep" covered in polyester pillow stuffing); an unexpected trip to the zoo (in the rain!); and a night of scrapbooking in Decatur. Not bad for 72 hours.

Tomorrow I'm off to Plains - no President this time, though I did see him last Wednesday (whole blog post in the near future) - just in time to experience winter in Southwest Georgia. I know you're jealous.

Happy Monday.