Daddyriffic!!

A small John Deere from his Tractor Fleet....

King of the Hill - Bobby, Hank, Peggy, Luanne & Ladybird the Dog

1980's Dynasty Couple :)

FATHER KNOWS BEST

I often wonder why some of the hippest cartoons or TV shows spotlight the dad as the star of the show.  Bill Cosby, Peter Griffin of Family Guy, Fred Flinstone of the Flinstones, George Jetson, Stan Smith of American Dad, Homer Simpson of The Simpsons and King of Hill...with Hank Hill as the star - he definitely reminds me of my dad!  You could say that the reason many TV shows feature the "Dad" as the star is because of sexism, favoring the male.  But I think in this case, it is just because of the fact that Dads make extremely good characters!!! 

My father, my dad - David Lee Grissom, is struggling with advanced prostate cancer.  It is a debilitating disease, with many hurdles - but it doesn't define him.  He's just a cool dad, with a very uncool disease.

SMALL TOWN BEGINNINGS....

I first met my dad on January 3, 1975 when I came out of my mother's womb into a cold hospital.  I came out crying and yelling - the 9 month vacation was over!  Preschool and demands would come soon.  

As a newborn, I looked at my mom - blonde, blue eyed and a babe!  Okay, the future looked pretty good...and then my dad, who had an obnoxious 70's haircut and big, goofy glasses!  Hmmm, okay my future was 50/50.  But lucky for me, my dad turned out to be a great guy and premature balding would take care of the bad hair!

And dad is a gentleman, bringing his new daughter a gift to the hospital.  He brought me Fischer Price golf clubs to my bassinet.  This wasn't a smart move as later in life, I literally accidentally hit him in the stomach with a golf shot!  (I told him to move out of the way - as he was directly in my line of fire.  And typically, he wouldn't have to worry, as I wasn't the most dedicated golfer - but that day, he felt the power of my club!)

My dad took a blurry picture of the clock because he was so excited to meet me and forgot to focus the camera.  This must have jinxed me because I had horrible vision.  Nothing the 1980's hip Sally Jessy Rafael red glasses wouldn't fix.  Hubba Hubba!

My dad was so sweet about my insecurities of wearing glasses.  In 2nd grade, he took me to get contacts.  Back then in the 1980's, you had to MIX your own SALINE SOLUTION and also, sterilize them by this heating machine and other solution you mix up.  It was definitely a science project.  But I would often mix my solution next to my dad's contact cleansing area.  Nowadays, it is so much easier!!  Of course, in the 1990's, it became cool to wear glasses and people even wore them with no prescription - unbelievable!

A Methodist Church in the middle of Stamford, Texas

Like the character Hank Hill, from "King of the Hill", my dad is from West Texas.  Hank is from Arlen, a small town and my dad is from Stamford - another small town.  My husband's first impression of encountering this tiny town was a tumbleweed rolling across a desert like road.  West Texas can be extremely beautiful though, with large hill-like mountains or flat lands with crops abounding.  It is land - going on for miles and miles.  You know the old story your grandparents told you about having to walk to school, up a hill, in a snow storm.....

Well, dad's tale of hardship is playing golf on a rock and dirt golf course in Stamford.  He was a real resident of Bedrock - Mr. Fred Flinstone!  But dad lived in the Bible Belt of Texas, Baptistville and the town loved a Revival!!  I can't make fun of it because he is "good stock."  And the small town has character, beauty and people who look out for each other.  His dad, John "Pop" Grissom was a pilot, who came back to the West Texas region to work and his mother, Frances "Mom" Grissom was a past Ms. West Texas and dedicated mother.  Dad had a younger brother of 5 years named Gary.  Dad liked to play jokes on a little Gary, but Gary got him back later in life by becoming a better golfer.  This would of course, irritate my father.  But Gary was humble enough to allow him to play in tournaments with him - the dynamic duo often winning!

Dec 2012:  Dad & His brother, Gary Grissom (my uncle) - Dad goofing off with an Elvis wig.  The 2 brothers, 5 years apart are very close and have been competitive in golf and football.

Gladewater, Texas - My mom's home

So, you know about West Texas, if you move over a bit to the right of Texas, you encounter a whole different Texan breed.  East Texas has some of the same traits as West Texas, but add some beer to it!!  (In fact, I think it was East Texans who discovered other uses of beer besides ingesting it - like washing your hair -the hops do wonders for shine!)  East Texans love their rodeos, oil fields and parties! West Texans like hard work and Bible reading.

My dad marries my mom, from East Texas and thinks of her as being a homely woman, with interest in baking, cleaning and other home type activities.  She turns out to be one of those weird artists types and comedy ensues - you know, naked drawings of her husband, Women Wolf Pack meetings and even worse, she hacks off her beautiful blonde locks in favor of a short Jane Fonda hair do!!!  What was a West Texan Hank Hill like man to do - well, if you can't beat them....join them!

DAVID GRISSOM, ATTORNEY AT LAW

Dad is actually a good lawyer with a heart of gold (almost a mythical creature), who really wants the best for his clients.  He wanted to help people.  And he did....he helped get me out of several speeding tickets.  Muhahahaha!  One time, at his law firm, he had my brother and I there while my mom went to a class.  Of course, over the afternoon, the kids got bored and restless, so we suggested that dad drop us off at Astro World, a local amusement park.  (It was the 80's and things were perceived as safer....)  Garrett and I were in 4th or 5th grade I believe.  Well, he dropped us off, told us exactly what time to meet us back at the spot and we went off to our roller coaster adventure!!  We came back exactly on time and thrilled about the day's antics.  When my mom found out though, that we were dropped off at Astro World without supervision, my dad was in big trouble!!  My brother and I probably had a hunch in the back of our head that our mom wouldn't want us to ask Dad to drop us off at Astro World, but it was fun to take advantage of clueless dad in the days before the cell phone!!!

Being from a small town, dad would sometimes except the "barter system" as payments for his services.  One client was a hair barber who gave dad lifetime hair cuts after dad worked on a case for him.  Dad, of course, took Garrett and I to receive these services and the poor Barber had to learn how to style a demanding girl's hair.  I wanted bangs and so he just chopped my hair with one cut.  He was an old school barber.  But I got back at my dad when I was in college at SMU, and had Jose Eber, a famed Beverly Hills stylist work on my golden locks.  $$$ Cha Ching!  Actually, he shagged (cut, not the British definition) my hair to bits.  The barber actually did a better and more basic job!

3700 Montrose Blvd, my dad's old office in Houston, Texas

FATHER LOVES PETS

If it has fur, my dad has a soft spot for it.  My dad is a true care-taker and has always loved animals!  They have traveled with us on airplanes, been on the golf course and have been snuck into restaurants - mostly successfully.

Showing off the Pet Stroller to everyone!!

When it came to MY pet choice, it was a cat for me!  But cats have access to more hiding places around the house.  Only my dad would take apart an entire pool table to retrieve my kitty cat stuck inside.  (My brother thought it would be funny to shove him in there and watch him navigate the tunnels.)  I was scared at the time, but when I think about it now, it was funny to see a frustrated dad, with his tools, attempting to take apart a very heavy pool table set that was meowing - and occasionally, you'd see a flash of the cat navigating the tunnels.  In the end, after he had unsuccessfully taken most of it apart - it was food at the pool ball's entrance that lead the cat to safety.

And when a bully cat started beating up my spoiled and defenseless Persian long haired cat (think Fancy Feast), he saved the day by tossing the invading cat over our fence!

When our poodle died while I was away at camp, I came home distraught that I couldn't say goodbye.  One look from my mom and dad went out in the yard, exhumed the poodle's buried body so that his daughter could look one last time at the dog.  I think after this memorable moment, he never wanted to watch Stephen King's "Pet Cemetery."

And you already know about my parents staying in an RV for the night, whilst the cat got a hotel suite.  See my older blog entries on that story.  On that trip, he actually taught the cat to walk on a leash! 

After Garrett and I went away to college, we were replaced by Yorkshire Terriers.  3 dogs - Wycke, Shivas and Wolf became the newly doted upon.  I knew I was up against something when I came home to find a crib next to their bed and a little dog in it.  I guess around 50, your mind starts to go......

I'm with a Yorkie, a bottle of your finest!  And make it snappy!

I truly think they bought an RV so that the pets could comfortably travel with them!  One time, in FL, while dining with my husband and his family in Vero Beach, Shivas was upset about being left in the car and marched right on into Ocean Grille!  The waiter came to our table, arms outstretched with the offending "rat" and said sternly, "Is THIS YOUR dog?"

My husband loves to sleep in and my dad gleefully uses the Yorkshire Terriers as alarms!!  At a certain point in the morning, dad opens the door, inserts the dog in Rob's bed and you hear, "Ugh, get off me!"  Rob tosses dog out, dad keeps up same routine until a defeated Rob joins the family.  Brilliant!!

Rob knew no boundaries with my parents though.  Rob was chasing our family cat with the kitchen tongs one time and the cat escaped to my parent's bedroom.  "Not on my watch," shouted Rob.  He ran in the bedroom, with my parents in the bed, and went under their bed to retrieve the cat with the tongs.  My parents just looked at me (laughing in the background) with a look that said, "This is who you married?  A cat abuser?"  The dog was safe with my dad, on his lap, watching the night's chaos.

GREEN ACRES IS THE PLACE TO BE......

The law office funded his real love - land and animals.  My mom designed a beautiful house for us out in Sugar Land, Texas (a suburb/city of Houston) and dad had a barn built.  I had hoped the barn would house several cars like Jay Leno, but instead horses, pigs and rabbits moved in.  And then dad wanted me to join 4H Agricultural Youth to build "character."  And it did.  At first, the thought of raising dirty pigs was not in the interest of the teenage versions of my brother and I.  But he brought them home, little baby pigs, and we fell in love.  Even our neighbors got in on the fun!

Back in school, I hated that I got a tractor as a gift - but now, I wish I had that tractor back!  Dad attempted to get me to mow the lawn with the tractor, or dig holes, or whatever a tractor does...
I just liked owning it and looking at it.
One time, I wore some very short shorts to mow the lawn on the tractor and that was the last time he asked me to do so.  Snicker! 

 We had pecan trees on our land and our parents attempted to teach us the value of a dollar by having my brother, Garrett and I pick tow sacks of them.  We had huge bags filled with pecans - and each sibling sometimes stole from each other's stash.

Friends loved to come over to our house, except on weekends.  That meant being woken up to do chores - like help paint the fence, or clean the porch, or work on whatever project the adults did for "fun."  If my parents felt that Garrett and I or our friends needed lecturing, that was done in the early morning, on the porch, when teenagers are MOST ready to hear it.  (Note the sarcastic tone???!)  And dad would gleefully wake us all up with "Good Morning to You" songs, the song wouldn't stop until we finally cracked a smile.

DAD PRANKS CAN EARN SPANKS!

I know, we were abused children, but we found ways to get back at my dad.  Poor father never stood a chance.  There was the time when we put a fake snake in his bed.  And thankfully, we were covered with Health Insurance for the subsequent heart attack that followed afterwards.

I remember our first lap top computer and Garrett and I were thrilled with the microphone on it.  We recorded our dad's voice, "My name is David Grissom, attorney at law" and had it say that every time he logged in at the office.

I feel bad for dads.  Sometimes, you have to do things you never would do if you weren't a parent.  We made him ride an amusement park elevator drop ride and even I felt bad as he let out a terrified groan all the way down.

My best friend Sheleah and I were up at the crack of dawn one morning and decided to get the household some donuts as a surprise.  It was pitch black outside.  I backed the BMW convertible of my dad's out on the driveway only to hear a LOUD crunch!!  We had hit the farm trailer that was lower than our vehicle.  My poor dad was awoken at 5:45am to this news.

CHURCH YOUTH GROUP

Dad was a leader in our Church Youth Group.  Those kids could get away with anything compared to Garrett and I!!  He loved working with the kids.  On Sunday School mornings, he would bring in Taco Bell, donuts or kolaches to hungry Church goers.  Garrett and I remember the typical, "TURN THE MUSIC DOWN" lecture while driving in the car with my parents - but the youth group kids, he'd smile when they turned it up!

 VACATION GOLF AWAY

Santa brings Dad 24 Hour Golf Possibilities - on the course and at home!

When we went on vacation, golf was always a factor to consider.  Whether it be Hawaii, cruises, Europe or other...dad found a way to pudder around with his putter!

One time, in Hawaii, the hotel was doing renovations and put us in a horrible location.  The staff didn't seem to be really working on the problem, so my dad "stole" a hotel golf cart with a frantic staff member running behind him.

Dad loves to "walk the course."  Garrett and I love to "race on the course" with the golf carts.

When I was younger, I could get away with giving him gimmicks, like exploding golf balls.  But nowadays, he wants the aerodynamically engineered and lab tested super-strength titanium, etc...golf clubs!  He's become a golf snob - the right shirts, the right balls, the right clubs...typical guy!

COLLEGE or ANIMAL HOUSE?

Right out of high school, my parents wished for me to start exposing myself to a college education.  They sent me to Houston Community College, Houston Baptist University and Baylor for classes - before my actual Fall Semester.  I was absolutely scared of going to Baylor by myself, away from Houston and my dad drove me up there to meet with the professors and other students in the London program.  He made me feel comfortable and I was tickled to see him suggest we stop in Brenham, Texas for some Blue Bell ice cream.  The ice
cream never tasted so good with him!

On another British Abroad program, I took a History class where I had to read Henry Kissinger's "Diplomacy."  It was a hard read for me and I called my dad telling him this.  Without letting me know, a fax appeared later at my college in Oxford with an outline of the first few chapters.  By then, I had read most of the book and had even gotten some of Kissinger's sense of humor - but it made me feel very special that my dad wanted to help out.

Dad wanted to see where all of the American Express charges were being made at - some place called The Green Elephant at SMU.  He found out it was a bar.  He then cross examined the bouncers to see if his daughter was a regular...Guilty!

When my mom or mother-in-law couldn't attend my all female Tri Delta sorority Senior girls luncheon, my dad stepped in to cover.  He looked at me astonished and said, "Do they all (a room full of women) just keep talking?!"  What a dad...to drive 5 hours to some sorority luncheon and drive back to Houston. 

GRISSOMparents (Gigi and Da)

Golfing with Da.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Xz3ZsSCts

My parents were thrilled to become grandparents!  The kids love playing golf with "Da" or fishing off the bridge in Austin, Texas.  Like Hank Hill from "King of the Hill", he loves to grill burgers and dogs for them when they are hungry!!  He has dressed them in anything with UT or UT Golf Club on it.  Colin and Hayden and Audrey (Garrett & Keren's daughter), all love "Da" and the time he spends with them.

Longhorn Brainwashing Attire (smile).  Da has the kids proudly showing the "dog poop" they had collected from the yard.  Yuck - don't only Aggies do this?!

Gigi, Hayden, Colin and Da -July, 2008

Pizza Politics.....

An argument that more creative funding should go back into our school system versus cuts:

Everyone remembers the pizza example when a teacher explains the concept of fractions.  How to divide that pizza?  Quite frankly, they really should use another example because this was always BEFORE lunch and my mouth was watering during math class and not thinking of dividing the pizza, but eating the pizza - hence, why my math grades were never up to par.....

Anyway, I was with my family at The Mellow Mushroom in Winter Park, FL ordering a yummy, over-priced pizza.  (Not really that over-priced, but over-priced if you don't get it exactly the way you order it...)

Disclaimer:  Great establishment and attempt at whole wheat crust and better ingredients...Unlike Pappa John, Mellow Mushroom actually does have better for you ingredients! 

When I ordered our pizza, I kindly asked the waitress if she could have them cut the pizza into squares.  (Thinking, it is better portioned and easier to eat!  I have 2 young kids with me as well, who love small bites.)  "But Mam', she stammered, not believing what she just heard, "Don't you realize, that our pizza is a circle, NOT a square?"  She went on, "We cut our pizza into triangle slices, but we can make them smaller, if that would help?"  I reply with, "If it is your policy NOT to cut pizza into squares, no worries, but if you could just request the kitchen to cut it into squares, that would be great."  I am thinking she is about to give me a pamphlet with the history of pizza cutting and why triangles will always be the logical way of cutting a pizza.  I feel like I am not being difficult, because I've already made clear that I am okay with triangles if that is my only option.  But I really feel like I am making a request: like no pepperoni or on the side or light cheese.


Our waitress WAS very nice, I think I was just tickled because she stood there for a moment trying to grasp the concept of actually cutting a circular pizza into squares!  But she persevered and came back, triumphantly with a circular pizza and square cuts!  After all, it was the MELLOW Mushroom.....and they mellowed on their triangular cutting pizza policy!

Triangle or Square...you decide!!!  And to my past math teachers, I happily ate 1/4 of my share of the pizza!

Penthouse Birdie

While on my walking exercise route, I saw a bird perched at the top of a tree.  It reminded me of one of my favorite childhood shows, "The Jeffersons"....and with a Far Side Comic like twist.....

Tweety George Jefferson had somehow secured the penthouse.  His wife, Louise, would be pleased. No more scrambling for seeds...it was Worm Mignon, sparkling sugar water and berries from now on! They had truly, moved on up to the top!  This would definitely give Louise something new to chirp about!  The bird couple were blissfully unaware that a gang of unsavory mockingbirds had moved into the tree next door.  But for a while, the Jeffersons were in prime real estate......

Turkey EUI - Exploding Under Influence

1996 Thanksgiving - Wild Turkey
And the 11th Commandment was, thou shall not cook an alcoholic turkey.  For if you fire up this bird, my wrath shall come upon your oven with raining fire and loud thunder.  So, it was, the word of God. 

Yet, we are all sinners.  And this is the tale of a lady who loved her liquor (she is from East Texas, where Natural Light Beer is the region's "water").  Judith, and we are not talking the Biblical Judith....though, they are a bit similar in demeanor.  The Biblical Judith was a wealthy and beautiful young widow, who when her town was under siege, hacked off the head of her enemies as they lie in a drunken state.  And you know how Thanksgiving is, family chaos...maybe by attempting to get the family intoxicated by bird (we'd never know what hit us as we ate...), she'd just "off" a few members of the offending visiting family!?  Anyway, I digress, back to my mother's defense of "Oprah Winfrey" made me do it!"

Typically, on Thanksgiving, my family orders a smoked turkey which cuts down the preparation time of the turkey.  However, when it arrived, the turkey was more like the turkey the Crachits (Bob Crachit was Ebeneezer Scrooge's clerk) from "A Christmas Tale" had, it was a hen...or a pigeon...something small.  Even our very small Yorkie Terrier dog thumbed his nose at this bird!  So, we went to the grocery store where a fat, juicy Butterball turkey saved us and the smoked hen could garnish this bird! 

My mom, the artist, the creative one - can't deal with a normal turkey at her table.  She had seen on "Oprah Winfrey" a Bourbon-soaked turkey and envisioned a quiet table of zoned out guests and kids, and thought, that is for me!  After all, the 1980's of "Just Say NO!" was so 10 years ago!  Did my mom follow the recipe or safety precautions?  Hell, no!  The cook was having too much fun with the Wild Turkey Bourbon and the bird in the kitchen - she was serving more drinks to that bird than an oversexed frat boy to the sorority girls.  My mom used gauze (same thing used in disasters for band aiding victims...read on till the end) to butter and bourbon this turkey all over, then poured the rest of the bourbon that she had not already consumed (wink, wink) and popped it into the oven!  She then poured all of us some champagne and we settled whilst waiting on our main meal.  Tick Tock, Tick Tock, that is the sound of God about to make his presence known.

KA-BOOM!  Wait, it was more like, KAAAAAAA-BOOOOM!  (Just make the text in your head REALLY big!)  The oven door flies open, with such force, a hinge was broken and the turkey bursts into delicious smelling flames of burnt turkey flesh laced with liquor!  Everyone's eyes were really big at this point and my Aunt Catherine made the sign of the cross on her chest.  I was really supportive of my mom by attempting to choke her neck for ruining our dinner and saying, "You cooked us a devil turkey!!"  My mom's niece was in distress, "Auntie J -you are going to ruin this turkey!"  My mom, in all of this chaos, remained cool.  She put her asbestos gloves on that she uses for her art welding, got out the turkey, smothered the fire with another pan and calmly put the offending bird into another oven (not on convection bake) and replied to all, "It's just a good charred bird!"

You may wonder where the men were in this scenario, they were watching football - did hear the boom, but couldn't be bothered during the play.  After a commercial came on, my father came in to check out the kitchen, went past the blown out oven door and straight to his empty bourbon bottle.  "Damn!  Is that my GOOD bourbon??"

Happy Mother's Day, Judith Pyeatt Grissom

We are a family because of MOM - she played several roles, backstage, centerstage -but because of her, we always had a successful production!  Happy memories, happy life - my mom is a safe place for anyone to go to.  She is an artist, a minister, a counselor, a sexy temptress to my dad, annoying at times, an excellent cook and a fun spirit!

I have many beautiful, wonderful memories with my mother - but here are 10 Memories I Love About You and Me, Mom!

10.  Bringing a tray of healthy items to my Kindergarten class - I was embarrassed at first, but you wouldn't serve your little girl, or her friends a plate of crap!  The cheese, veggies and fruit was a DO!
9.  For the small amount of spankings I received - this one was memorable!  My mom chasing a very naughty JJ outside by our pool for some kid crime I had committed and threatening me with a spanking, only she slipped and fell in!  A stunned child JJ turned around, worried if water made an already mad mom even more mad - but the cool water had cooled off her mom instead - and ended up laughing at her horrible attempt at discipline!
8.  An excited mom showing up in her daughter's room with presents as a hint of where we were going for a family vacation (a cruise) and surprised at her daughter's tears, when finding out the trip WAS NOT Disney World!
7.  A busy mom getting the MOST POPULAR girl in elementary school "Every Day of the Week" underwear as a gift for her daughter - and afterwards, regretting she did not get a Barbie and realizing she had forever scarred her daughter for life!
6.  Realizing priorities in life.  My mom busted me out of high school when I was having a bad day and took me to Neiman Marcus for some girl time!
5.  When going through sorority RUSH (Recruitment) at SMU, it was my mom who was supportive on the phone with me every night, made sure I picked out the cutest clothes and let me post Tri Delta banners, car stickers and paraphernalia everywhere around the house!
4.  A favorite comment from my mom, when hosting a Bridesmaids Tea for me in Dallas, Texas - knowing that I love afternoon tea.  "But the girls don't seem to want any tea....just champagne!"
3.  Believing in Creativity.  Garrett drew on his walls, I dumped the entire outdoor furniture set and some dishware in our pool to create an underwater city.  It even had an elevator!  Mom was not pleased, but impressed with our imaginations!
2.  When I didn't make the dance team, she immediately sent me on a college road trip to visit my cousin at Baylor!  Mom knew a party to celebrate my lack of dance skills would cheer me up!  Mom was too cool for school!
1. After slaving all day making a huge bowl of guacamole for a "Big 4" party in Galveston, clumsy JJ knocks the entire thing over - and my mom graciously comforts me, but it was truly she that needed the comforting!

A Dog & Dolphin? Getting Over the Hump



>>>>this excerpt contains strong sexual references, we recommend reading....
At Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 1996, my now husband (Rob Mackle) asked me out on a date.  He happened to be at Walgreens with his roommates when he saw a yellow & blue dolphin for sale.  Knowing that both Tri Delta & Sigma Chi colors were blue and gold, as well as Tri Delta's mascot being a dolphin, he thought it would make a nice gesture before the date.  The dolphin stuffed toy purchase also benefitted Children's Miracle Network, Sigma Chi's philanthropy - so it was a win situation all around!  I loved the dolphin immediately - and I guess we never grow out of our love for stuffed toys....so I ended up marrying him later on!

The dolphin traveled home with me to Sugar Land, Texas and found a home on my bed.  It was a symbol of my sorority and my love for Rob.  Well....apparently, this dolphin got around!

Shivas, our family pet Yorkie Terrier found the dog on its bed and made it its lover.  Lucky for Shivas, dolphins actually enjoy mating with other species.  Shivas, a dog whore, would happily take the dolphin into the living room to treat our family and horrified friends to a little stuffed animal on real animal action sex show!  My parents would wash the dolphin often, to remove (ahem...debris) and numerous chew marks - because the dolphin started to look real beat up.  The couple must have been into sadomasochism.  I shutter to imagine if this toy was washed with OUR clothing - YUCK!

Anyway, Shivas still today remains true to his dolphin lover - the tatters that remain from over-mating and over-chewing.  I am asked how Rob feels about his present to me being defiled and literally tossed to the dogs.  Rob, too distressed, won't comment.  But unlike my husband, I am not a "Cocker-Blocker!"

Where would Cinderella be without her GOWN and Glass Slippers?!

That's me...3rd from the left, in the blue/green ballgown.  The photo was taken at a friend's event - Masquerade Party at Grand Bohemian.  Pictured are:  Diana Simean (fiancee of Mark Kessler), Mark Kessler (SMU grad!), myself (another SMU grad), Amanda Wood, Barbara Hartley, Elizabeth Holubek and my husband, Rob Mackle (yes...SMU grad!).

It's not that I am shallow, but let me go on a tirade about how fashion can affect your life!

One of the reasons I was soooooo excited about this event was because it was the perfect occasion and theme to wear my circa late 80's, early 90's - blue/green dress that I had worn in 8th grade to an event and also in 9th grade.  My birthday is 1/3/75 and I'm almost 36 yrs of age as I write this with 2 kids - so here it goes - BRAG, BRAG, BRAG...I still fit into it!  (Little did everyone who was shocked that it still fit realize was that the power of EMPIRE WAIST is awesome!  My expanded hips, post birth would never fit into as Katie Perry would say - Teenage Dream, Skin Tight Jeans!  Lucky for me, my curves are now kickin!

I am just writing as an ode to this wonderful dress.  I first saw it walking by in Saks 5th Avenue.  There it was, in the CENTER of the evening department - on a model with red hair.  It was gorgeous, colorful, with shiny beads, a full skirt - the epitome of femininity.  I thought to myself, "A girl in that dress can have anything she wants!"  That dress was expensive!  But lucky for me, my mom sensed that this dress was unlike any other I have admired before and I wasn't really a high maintenance teenager - so we walked out with a dream turned reality!

When I put the dress on, I was transformed.  Gawky teenager?  Nope! I was royalty!  Unload the dishwasher?  I think not!  I had fun wearing the dress and it expanded my world view - go out, experience what the night holds, have adventures in life and meet new people.  Seek out these opportunities and wear whatever makes you shine in your own way.

I could have been married in that dress!  I admire other cultures with colorful weddings.  Not that I am dissing my beautiful white wedding gown - but my husband DID have a different reaction when he saw me, at 36, squeeze into my blue/green dress!  Junior League did a wonderful event called "Cinderella's Closet."  Members of our League donated formal dresses to our store so that girls who might not have the means....could have nice Prom wear.  They also had accessories and make up artists.  Everyone had a blast and with a little help from Fairy Godmothers and community friends - we just became girls helping girls get dressed up and having a night of fun.  Maybe their night will lead to other big nights!  And as much as I love and adore my blue/green dress - I think I need to pass it on, I was able to wear it one last time - but there is another Cinderella who needs my power dress!

I love you, Sak's 5th Avenue Model...for showing me the way!