oh *my* July

i want to take this post to

express

all my

*gratitude*

to my

wonderful

July

*

i truly truly love you.

*

the ribs*steak*burger BBQs,

hot hot sun,

cool pool lounge days,

days on the beach with

the sand on my elbows, knees, & feet,

the sticky blanket of humidity,

the lawn torches,

the peeling sunburned flaky skinned backs,

pulsating jiggly thighs in the short short shorts,

the scorching cement,

i love you.

for so much more,

all of you, July, i love you.

***

here's some more snaps

that came with July this year:

[everything

--from the curls, to the smile, to the belly, to the bikini that matched her mommy's, to the floatie--

just makes me wanna die]

***
getting SPFed:

***
he's putting all that hot air to good use
***
a froggy in his froggy floatie
***
drawin' wit' CHAWK...[how we do on POOL DAY]
***
Max,
doin' his
G.T.D.
*
Gym,
Tan...
...Diaper-change.
***

oh, what? ya didn't know?

crayons & stickers

[*also* what we be doin' on POOL DAY]
***

mommy, Jamina.

baby-honey, Max.

[remember his radio jam-session]

Sangria, by me.
***

Tomas,

as the grilla killa.

*

do dem ribs right, boy.

do dem ribs right.

***

chiiiiiLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLin'

***

ScubaTome & Berlin

tell me you wouldn't wanna smooch them both??

***

video:

***

little-girl sandals kicked off on the lawn

{deep sigh}

...SuMMeR SuMMeR...

***

***

how the night ended:

***

*

*

*

*

*
POOL DAY was closely followed by BEACH DAY:

the boyf

had

to stop at

KFC

because

they do

"chicken"

right.
***

little miss Berlin, on the sand.

Robert Moses beach.

we like.

we like.
***

Tomas watering Max.

***

crispy fried "chicken".

cold beer.

beach.

boyf.

multi-colored umbrellas.

sun.

July.

love.
***

bucket hat.

[Max couldn't see unless he looked down his nose,

and placed the cheeks at an angle of full force fullness.]

love those cheeks.

these were the clouds that rolled in the rain.

total bummer.

it was followed by three hours in traffic to get home.

***

July, i still *love* you.

See you next year.

you're forever in my heart...through the fall, and the [fuckin'] winter.

***

time to love your sister, August.

my *PROJECTed Friday* is HERE

today is Friday!

*

I'm going to:

*

hopefully somewhere in the middle

between

*waking up* and *snoozing back in dreamland*
i'll

get me

some

of

this:

[*boyf love*

*awesome outfitness*

*hair in straighty-straight-straightness*

&/or

*a balloon*]

*

*

*

{{i'm just thinkin' on that}}

*

*

*

{{...and smilin'...and smilin'...}}

**

then,

upon the sun going down,

and

the moon coming up,

maybe

spottin'

one

of

these guys:

[pew pew pew! zoom zoom!]

*

[i don't know why i felt the need to write little boy video-game noises, but i did]

*
*

finally,

at

the end

of my

today,

while

i'm laying

in bed,

i would like

somebody

to:

while stroking my head, and combing fingers through my hair. *** that's all, butterball.

thank you.

*Starbs* LoVE

remember a while back

when *Starbs*

did the whole

"The Way I See It"

on their cups??

[see below]

well,

"The Way I See It"

that I saw was

The Way I See It #76.

*

*

*

it said this:

*

"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating -- in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life."
*

-- Anne Morris

Starbucks customer from New York City. She describes herself as an "organization builder, restless American citizen, optimist."

i commented on the post

*
i read a post and commented on it with this quote.

it was the first response i thought of.

i saved it to my Blackberry over a year ago, expecting to recall it/use it again one day.

maybe this day was that day.

hope it helped.

cool.

*

off to watch

Project Runway & Jersey Shore

biaaaaatches!

**

{{fist pumpin' my self-sewn, couture-glove-covered hand in the air}}

**

toodles.

*do da dippity*

i'm sorry, but i **love** this commercial:

gansta hamsters? dancing & singing?

yes, please.

***

random *tatTues* & indifference & gosh! i'm a negative nancy

OMG,

today's

*tatTUES*

almost

didn't

happen.

*

a family BBQ with mom, sis, & the aunties

took place today.

*

when those happen,

who's got time to BLOG??

*

not me,

but here i am,

because i am.

[side note: i love that one, above]

*

goodness.

i think this might be my last *tatTues*.

[maybe not, but...]

*

i just didn't feel like bloggin' about tatts

today, but had to, 'cause

i kinda told you i wuz gonna.

*

whatever!

*

if i blog about 'em, i do.

if i don't, i don't.

*

insert

this post

where

i am bart simpson writing on a chalkboard

*

tatts are cool.

i want one.

i probably won't get one.

the end.

*

my blog sucks.

*

[today, anyway]

*

GOSH!

note to self

*BCBG* fo' *me*, please...

my feet in my *new* BCBG black pumps:

[gotta love MGM Designer Shoes]

these were originally $79.99

-marked down to $40-

*

i payed $36 for them, including tax,

with my friend's employee discount.

*

sweetness.

yeah,

i'm so

excited

for

them...

*

...with jeans

*

...with my new black dress from Express

*

...with my pajamas

*

j/k

*

actually,

the first day

i took them

home,

i did take

a nap

with

them on.

*

*yippee*
***

***

***

btw,

i love me some

*toe cleavage*

please, and thank you.
***
***
***
happee *suMMer*
MondayFunday.

"everything comes naturally..."

"...it comes naturally, when ya with me, baby..."

Max, figuring out the radio:

this was one of my favorite moments from

Thursday's POOL DAY with Jamina & her babies.

[more moments to come soon]

***

hope your Saturday & Sunday is filled with love & sun.

Awesome!!! i won!!!

I won

this prize

for Part III of

the

Let's Go Ride a Bike

Summer Games:

how totally fuckin' awesome is THAT??!!

***

check

the video

here

and click to

1:38 of the video

to see

Dottie

announcing

*me* as the winner

of the

Brooks B68S Saddle Seat

from

Renaissance Bicycles

***

my first BLOG-o-Sphere contest i enter,

i walk away with a prize!

a free prize!

just for doin' what i love,

and sharing it with you all.

***

that

is

fuckin'

magic.

***

that's all.

***

ya bess be believin' i'll be participatin' in the *Winter Games*

***

i'll post about my new saddle when i receive it!

***

*yay*

*APPeTiZeR*TeST*

for my sister & my

*new*

restaurant gig,

we need to study the friggin' menu.

**

[i mean, i guess it would be good to know the food you're serving and selling]

**

today is

the quiz on APPeTiZers.

**

probably going to look something like this:

***

i'd much rather post about

my awesome pool day yesterday

with Tomas, Jamina, little Max & Berlin,

but

that'll

have

to

wait

'til

a

later

date.

***

for today,

i needed to post something,

and i do have

to study the appe-tizzles, fo' shizzle

so, here's a post on some.

***

lame?

whatever.

these above actually look like the SportsGrill's

Buffalo Fried Shrimp

appetizer,

in which eight pieces of shrimp

are tossed with Buffalo Sauce

and served with Blue Cheese dressing.

[Buffalo Sauce is made with Frank's Buffalo Sauce and butter.]

[our Blue Cheese Dressing is made with blue cheese, mayo, vinegar, and Wor-ches-test -ester-shire sauce. HowTF you say dat??!!]

**

I can't wait to try those.

*

i love shrimp.

***

moving along...
something you will always see on a menu

at a SportGrillBarPubJoint place

is gonnabe

*NACHOS*

ours consist of fresh tortilla chips, smothered with cheddar cheese, guacamole, Pico de Gallo, black beans, sours cream, and BBQ sauce.

you can add BBQ pulled pork or our Championship chili to the Nachies for an additional $4.95.

***

gosh, I don't wanna be studying this damn thing anymore.

heck!

i don't wanna be workin' in the restaurant biz anymore...BUT, mama don't got her own classroom yet, so SuMMeRs leave me bone dry.

No $$dolla doll$$ comin' in, and too much going out. [i'm like America]

ANYWAY...

...HaPPy FrY...

...and I leave you with a list of the rest of the apps i gotsta study about:

• chicken wings with blue cheese dressing
• chicken wing sampler
• spinach and artichoke dip
• pulled pork sliders
• crawfish and cheddar hush puppies
• homemade chicken fingers
• philly cheese steak egg rolls
• french onion soup
• guacamole with chips
• jalapeno bottle caps
• house salad
• iceberg wedge
• grand slam appetizer platter

*brother*licking*sister*

...in the sweetest way imaginable.

here's the video:

***

hey, loves.

i needed a quick post for today, but still saturated in something that sends my soul a-soarin'...

...the babies.

i gotta take 'em to the vet today.

deworm dem kitts...

...& shots.

***

***

***

happy happy Thursday.

***

*tatTues* #2

back and/or shoulder tatts??

***

how 'bout this wrap-around to front?

could be cute.

*

she-gulls on the shoulder?

*

*

right down the middle?

*

cluster of stars?

*

Ooooo...over yuh right shoulder?

*

more birds in flight?

[i'm sensing a theme i like, i think]

*

my favorite part about the below pic

is the black bobbie pin:

[...and *THAT'S* why i have yet to get a tattoo...]

***

check last Tuesday's *tatTues* here.

*weekend log*

[and i don't mean the kind you leave in the toilet on sunday morning]

***

***

*

***

***

uh!

so...topic:

~what made up my weekend~

*

Yes,

there was some

pool-swimming

involved,

as hoped for

in my last post.

*

that was a major plus from my weekend.

*

there was,

however,

a whole

lot of

lowlights from the weekend as well!

Ugh!

Were there ever!

a ton of chores,

my dad's pathetic & childish behavior,

my just-about-ready-to-break down car,

tears, tears, and more tears

after being berated by my

overworked-overstressed-overheated

mother,

and

some drama on our bike ride

involving a raving lunatic woman

blowing her coast guard whistle in

the boyf's ear

[won't go into it]

*

FUCK ALL THOSE THINGS!

*

here are

some pictures

of the highlights:

[tee hee hee!] a bunch of lovin' from *the babies*

[oh, & my make-up done by *bitt*]

above,

i'm smoochin' Alejandro on top of the box,

and

a little jealous Carmen Sandiego is lookin' at the smooch
*

above,

Carmen & me

[try to notice the sweet honey,

and not the overtaking shnoz]

*

below,

Ale-Ale-jandro & me

[look away from the sideburns!]
*

the babies were taking

Saturday afternoon

naps:

above,

Carmen Sandiego,

sleeping like she tends to sleep,

in her brother's bed.

*

below,

Alejandro

in his sister's bed.

*

***

*
oh,

another

highlight from

my weekend:

*yay*

after two years of

being on WeightWatchers

for, like, the

gazillionth

time,

it's clicked.

*

~i'm a Lifetime Member of WeightWatchers~

[no more paying to get weighed = more money for clothes]

[woo hoo!]

*

got my

little

*golden key charm*

and all.

*

in truth,

i only needed

to lose

between 12 & 15 pounds,

but it's taken me

two friggin' years to do it.

*

i credit it to my adopted

hobbies of biking & running

[*magic formula*]

and

also

getting smarter everyday

about food & portions & why and when I eat.

*

i recommend WW to anybody.

*

***

*
another [kind of] highlight:

the new clothesline my mother installed

in the backyard

in her words:

"we need to start budgetin', gurls.

if we can save a few hundred dolluhs

two munths of thuh yea-uh,

we should dew it."

[my attempt at conveying her 'New Yawk' accent]
*

i consider it a highlight because i love

the old-school, back in the day,

1960s Summer concrete

backyard feel to it,

even if it does take

3x longer than throwin' the cothes

in the dryer.

Whatev.

*

***

*

another

total highlight

from the weekend:

the super Shish-Kebobs we grilled

oh, yeah.

chopped veggies...

...and fruit!

secret *added* ingredient?

puh

puh

puh

peaches!

kebabbed with beef

*

oh, dear.

looked

so sexy

on the

grill!

they did, they did.

*

***

*

finally,

the highlight that took place

sunday night

was

our bike ride

into Manhattan.

{{deep sigh; smile}}
*

we pulled up to Astoria Park

and

parked right under the Triborough bridge:

*

below,

Tomas & Damian

[you know them in more detail from this post]

unloadin' my bike from the

back o' Damian's truck:

*

view from our potty stop:

*

while on the bridge:

"Bronx, Keep Left.

Manhattan, Keep Right."

[we'll be keepin' RIGHT]
*

the boyf.

breakin'.

*

yes.

motto for biking.

motto for life.

*

this shot, above, is pretty much us chillaxin' at the half way point, three hours in.

yeah. the ride took us about 5 hours.

started @ 4 pm; ended around 9-ish.

the pic above was taken @ 7:01pm.

;)

*

***

*

*weekend log*

COMPLETE.

*

*

over and out.