Fabulous Addictions & blogs I love

Wow! The love just keeps pouring in! This time, Lavenderchick nominated me for this most fabulous "Your Blog is Fabulous" award. Again, my heart is so big. Oh, did I tell anyone that over Thanksgiving my mother, Teeni, got the "my heart is so big" inside joke all wrong and asked me: "is your heart large?" She kind of drawled it out, Laaaarge???? If you knew Teeni, you would be falling on the floor laughing right now.

OK, back to my award. It apparently has nosy questions that come with it. Since I myself have been called some variation of nosy a time or two, I will play along:

Here are the rules: Copy and paste the rules and instructions in your post. When posting on receiving the award, make sure you include who gave you the award and link it back to them. Post five winners and link it back to them as well. Post five of your addictions. Add the award image. Let your winners know you gave them an award by leaving them a comment on their blog.

5 Addictions (no particular order):

1. Coffee. Alright, it probably has something to do with my whirling freakishness, but I'm sorry. I cannot be perfect. I gave up smoking and wild living. This is the best I can do.

2. Red wine. See excuses above and add in that I have three children, all girls and one is almost 14. I love almost all red wine, but my favorite is La Crema Pinot Noir, which little old me discovered on my first trip to Sedona. I also must send a shout out to my good friend St. Genevieve for all those lean times when she was there for me.

Me, drinking red wine on Lavenderchick's sofa: (note need for Botox, which I hope to become addicted to in 2009)

3. Fixing. This is my most obsessive compulsion. And don't start emailing me with suggested pharmaceuticals. God made me this way and the rest of you will just have to cope. No matter what I see, I want to fix. If it is a house, I analyze it and try to figure out what would make it look better, new paint colors that would transform it, a better landscape design. If it is a marketing piece written by my darling husband, I edit it. My fixing obsession is a curse. And I do realize it's annoying. I just can't help it. However, I will say that I do apply this fixative curse to myself and I have seen improvement in the last few years. Part of my personal improvement has been learning that I cannot fix people. So I try not to try.


4. West Texas and Mountains. I love mountains and the desert, so I love West Texas. I think about it all the time. And one day, when I'm an old lady, you'll be able to find me sitting on my porch, staring at the mountains, thinking about something I need to fix. I used to say I'd be smoking a cigarette, but I really think I've kicked that addiction for good.

See me trying to grow a plant in the desert. Most people will see this and think 'how pitiful.' But I'm here to tell you this mini century plant is thriving in its little rock circle! Note the nice dry dirt and not a hint of mud. When you are from West Texas, mud is a problem.

5. Learning. I love to learn stuff. I love my smart friends who also like to learn stuff and are therefore smart. I like people who are not smart only if they are interesting and I can therefore marvel at their flawed nature or twisted upbringing. Being from West Texas, I can say I know a lot of smart people and probably just as many who are flawed, twisted and interesting. I pledge never to reveal who is who.

Here's me and three of my smart friends in West Texas, at the Gage. It doesn't get better than this. Oh yeah, and we drank some red wine. See, we are all smiling.

And here's a pic of me and my two best friends, who just happen to be smart and are from West Texas!
In this photo, I now notice I must have been having a hot flash. Compared to everyone else in this photo, I appear quite exposed.

That's it for me and My Fabulous Blog Award. To share the love, I'm nominating the following super cool bloggers I follow. Some of them may already have received this award and I just don't know it.

1.Joni at Cote de Texas. Since I am addicted to learning, I love Joni's blog because I learn about design and see beautiful things. And, I have a sneaking suspicion that she's more addicted to coffee than me. She is way too famous and cool to respond to this chain letter award, but I love her and am nominating her all the same.

2. Lucchese to Louis Vuitton. I just discovered this West Texas girl so go check her out. Her blog right now is serenading me with "Silver Wings." Must be a girl I need to get to know.

3. Design-Block. I just love Design Block when she blogs, but she's busy and not as prolific as I'd like. But when she does say something, it's good.

4. Laura U. A darling young designer in Houston. She's got a great shop on Westheimer, Laura U Collection, and is creating some beautiful interiors that recently won some ASID awards. I love her website as well, www.laurau.com

5. Cheap Chic and Lizzy Webb. Another new blog discovery for me. I already love her. One of my favorite things is clicking on to blogs that my favorite bloggers follow. Lizzy appears to be Joni's daughter and although I am old enough to be her mother, she is darling and I love her fashion sense and the way she writes. Again, I don't care who I learn from, as long as I'm learning. If I lose my mind, I think I'll refer my daughter Mary over to her blog.