I arrived last week to my nostalgic "home place" of the Adirondacks. It was a great homecoming with my mom and sister greeting me on the first day.... The sun was shining and it was so different than the 87 degree, and muggy morning that I left Austin. It's been absolutely gorgeous the whole time so far and the forecast for the wedding, next weekend, is supposed to be much the same. I am so happy for those little answered prayers that were sent up!I have been having a great time, staying with my mom, visiting relatives in the state (out west in Utica) and getting my haircut at a Ouidad certified salon which specializes in curly hair. On Friday, we drove to my aunt Lu's and my cousin, Avery, took part of the day off. We had lunch with Lu consisting of some of the greatest hummus and tabouleh I have ever tasted... and to top it off, it came from a Lebanese place located right in her back yard. SO close that she forgets about it... it's a good thing or she'd be over there every day. We got some to go and by the smell of that place, I'd be frequenting it daily if it were in my back yard. Avery's daughter, Marley, is 21 months old... born in November and I had never met her. Of course, I was essentially watching her "grow up" via pictures posted by he
r mother Lisa, via Facebook, but it happened almost overnight that she transformed from a baby into a little girl. She has the attention span of a fly right now, but is so swift and intelligent. I can't get over how understandable she is, how resilient and fearless she acts as well as her motor skills and coordination for such a young age. Her brother is 6 and that helps. She is very independent and has to do EVERYTHING he does...as you can see. It's amazing. When she falls, she gets up and brushes it off... no babying that little tiger. Her eyes are amazingly blue, like Lisa's father's and she is going to be a heart stealer when she gets bigger. WOW! I was so happy to see the smile on Proud Papa's face, too, as Avery diligently took care of her and displayed wonderful "Dad 
Deeee" traits. I still think of him as "my little Avers" but he's not so little anymore. I can't get over how kids grow up so quickly. I love, too, how devoted and fun loving Lulu is as a grandmother, treating both DeShawn and Marley equally and fully. She is the most energetic granny I've ever met. I guess it's true what they say about kids making you stay young as she has 8 grandkids now and looks younger than ever! Gotta love LULU! Everybody does who meets her.After spending a fun-filled day out in mid-western New York, we drove back to mom's in the evening so we would be home in the morning to get ready for my hair appointment at a Ouidad Salon in Albany. It is the Capital of New York and is about an hour away from my hometown. We drove there and I experienced the best haircut I have ever received in my adult life.... I remember a few others that I got in my teenage years by my best friend's sister, Karen, which were always so great, but since she stopped cutting my hair, I haven't been truly satisfied. THIS time,
though, when the experience was complete, I left the salon with a smile on my face and bright, shiny, bouncy curls with NO frizzies. YAY! I guess there are firsts for everything. Of course, the product used (Ouidad, also) had a lot to do with it
, and although I have been using it--when used correctly, it makes the difference from dull and drab to DAZZLING, dahling! Love it!!! I felt like a new person, although to the casual observer, a half inch off the length doesn't even look like I got it cut. The best part was when I went to pay the bill and found out it was already taken care of... thanks to my sweet sister! !After my sister got her hair cut and styled.. not too much off of her style since she will be getting married on Saturday and wanted to make sure she was happy with the length, we drove to a great, little Mexican place that Cindy discovered in Clifton Park. It's called La Fiesta and the food wasn't really bad at all. Of course, it wasn't Chuy's, but NOTHING holds a candle to Chuy's. I have to say, though, that the extra hot sauce that I requested was very good... made with habanero's and our dessert that we ordered got rave reviews from me. Carlos, the waiter, actually told us that the flan was made on the premises so we had to try it. Since we were all pretty full to have one each, we decided to get ONE flan with three spoons. Let me tell you, I wanted to take away the other two spoons and hoard it 'cause it was THE BEST flan I have EVER tasted and since I live in Texas... I have sampled some GOOD ONES. I was holding Abuelo's Chocolate Flan as the best, but now, I can honestly say that this was the richest, smoothest, densest and YUMMIEST FLAN I have ever witnessed. And I was 'witnessing' it, too, if you get my drift
. I told Cin and mom that I HAD to eat it ALL since I had taken an "insulin shot" calculating FLAN into the equation. THEY didn't buy it... so we shared, but they gave me some of their portion 'cause they wanted to be able to fit into their dresses at the wedding... lol!... so nice! I better watch it or I won't be fitting into mine either....After stuffing ourselves at La Fiesta, I just wanted to take a siesta, but we went on our merry way with our plans to see a showing at the Park Playhouse II at Washington Park in Albany. Their junior production company was presenting "The Wiz" and we enjoyed it very much at the outdoor amphitheater in which people bring their chairs and eateries while watching the performance. The family in front of us took a photo of the three of us together and I think we look like
'swell dames". It was a lot of fun and couldn't have been a more beautiful evening. The sun was a little intense at times, but then a cool breeze would come by and offer some relief.(Oh, if you see the ace bandage on my wrist it's 'cause the day before I happened to try throwing some "horse shoes" and injured it. I was just isolating it so I wouldn't move it to endorse faster healing! It feels much better today! That was my "honey's" wonderful idea.)
Speaking of whom... Kevin will be joining me for the wedding festivities on Friday as well as more of the family which I haven't seen in years. I am so excited to be home again for another wonderful occasion of a wedding. The last time I was here was Heather and Anthony's wedding in '07. FUN FUN FUN! More later.... Have a blessed day!
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