Wedding Week Repost: Straw Hats and Bow Ties

I remember watching an episode of Sex and the City ... I'm gay, so that answers that question ... and Samantha was asking if anyone is ever really happy in their relationship every single day.

Charlotte said she was, and Samantha, stunned, asked, "You're happy in your relationship every day?"

And Charlotte said, "Well, not all day, but, yes, every single day I'm happy in my relationship."

That's how I feel about Carlos and here's a little repost from March 2009 as an example of why ...

Straw Hats and Bow Ties

I have one hard and fast rule — actually I have about a thousand, but we'll deal with this one today—unless you are under six or over eighty, you should never wear a bow tie.

Amended to add: or unless you're Carlos.

Backing up a bit. When I flew to Miami nine years ago to meet Carlos face-to-face, he was picking me up at the Ft Lauderdale airport. I knew what he looked like, and he knew me; we'd emailed and snail mailed pictures. But he told me he'd be wearing a bow tie when I arrived so I could spot him. And yes he was; a cute little bow tie and a bunch of roses. He looked adorable, although that one hard and fast rule played in my mind.

A bow tie?

Come to find out, Carlos only wears bow ties when a tie is needed. And of course, being the 21st century and being Miami, we weren't invited to too many functions where a tie was necessary, so I didn't see him in one for a long while.

Flash forward to yesterday. We're meeting Roger and Thomas at the HuffawFawFaw Hall — it’s actually called Springdale Hall, but at first I thought it would be a pretentious affair, hence the HuffawFawFaw. I showered and shaved and cologned and styled and got myself pressed and dressed and spackled and shined; and Carlos did the same.

He came down the hall wearing a new green shirt and a yellow bow tie. That rule rang a bell in my head. Then I looked at him.

He was the cutest thing ever!

I have changed the rule as of yesterday. No bow ties unless you're Carlos.

But then he put on an actual straw hat, and for a moment I thought I was going to lose it. Straw. Hat. Oh honey.....No.......no. And then the damned thing increased his cuteness level tenfold. I may have to keep him in bow ties and straw hats forever. My heart skipped a little he looked so handsome.

Sometimes you forget, when you see the same face day after day, just how handsome they can be....even in a bow tie and straw hat!

Cocktails Rants and Southern Men

We watched Brothers and Sisters last night, and it's like watching the same episode over and over again. Family secrets. Dinner party. Secrets revealed. Fight ensues.

And I realized something I always knew but never expressed.

Rob Lowe is one horrible actor.
______________________

I had Oprah on again last Friday. Why I do this to myself I will never know. I told Carlos that he'll come home one day to find a chair thrown through the TV set; I'd go all Elvis on it, but we are the rare gun-free house in Smallville.

Anyway, Oprah is talking again about how rich she is; it's her favorite topic. She has her husband, Gayle King, on and they are talking about something they call Couple-speak.

The things that couples say to one another that make them feel good. Sometimes innocuous little things, like when Gayle said her ex-husband would always ask if she needed something when he left the house.

Carlos and I have that. Couple speak. Do you want something from the kitchen? It's simple, but it's sweet.

Oprah's Couple-speak? Your plane or mine?

When are her minions going to realize that she doesn't speak for them, for the average woman?

Seriously Oprah. STFU.
__________________

At brunch yesterday it was like a trip back through time. Springdale Hall was once an old equestrian estate and was bought by a group of investors in 1950 who turned it into an inn. The main house is over 100 years old, and serves as the dining room for the inn. There are two parlors; a club room--a bar for people like me who had no idea about club rooms. There was a sunroom, and a veranda, and then several large dining rooms. We first sat on the veranda and watched the wind blow through the magnolia trees and sipped mimosas and Bloody Marys.

It was completely, utterly, totally Southern.

Even the story we were told about one member of the club called the, ahem, Ankle-biter. Seems this Southern gent would get all liquored up and then, actually, truly, try to bite women on their ankles.

Only in Smallville.....or other smallvilles.

Straw Hats and Bow Ties

I have one hard and fast rule--actually I have about a thousand, but we'll deal with this one today.

Unless you are under six or over eighty, you should never wear a bow tie.

Amended to add: or unless you're Carlos.

Backing up a bit. When I flew to Miami nine years ago to meet Carlos face-to-face, he was picking me up at the Ft Lauderdale airport. I knew what he looked like, and he knew me; we'd emailed and snail mailed pictures. But he told me he'd be wearing a bow tie when I arrived so I could spot him. And yes he was; a cute little bow tie and a bunch of roses. He looked adorable, although that one hard and fast rule played in my mind.

A bow tie?

Come to find out, Carlos only wears bow ties when a tie is needed. And of course, being the 21st century and being Miami, we weren't invited to too many functions where a tie was necessary, so I didn't see him in one for a long while.

Flash forward to yesterday. We're meeting Roger and Thomas at the HuffawFawFaw Hall--it's actually called Springdale Hall, but at first I thought it would be a pretentious affair, hence the HuffawFawFaw. I showered and shaved and cologned and styled and got myself pressed and dressed and spackled and shined; and Carlos did the same.

He came down the hall wearing a new green shirt and a yellow bow tie. That rule rang a bell in my head. Then I looked at him.

He was the cutest thing ever!

I have changed the rule as of yesterday. No bow ties unless you're Carlos.

But then he put on an actual straw hat, and for a moment I thought I was going to lose it. Straw. Hat. Oh honey.....No.......no. And then the damned thing increased his cuteness level tenfold. I may have to keep him in bow ties and straw hats forever. My heart skipped a little he looked so handsome.

Sometimes you forget, when you see the same face day after day, just how handsome they can be....even in a bow tie and straw hat!

Breathe Right It's Only Brunch

It's a gorgeous day here in Smallville. Just last Sunday it was raining and sleeting and they were talking snow--which never happened.

This Sunday it's going to be 82-degrees, clear skies, beautiful breezes. It's the perfect day to clean up the yard, clear away the last bits of the tree that fell a month or so ago; bag up some more leaves; do some pruning.

Screw that! We're going to brunch!

Our friends Roger and Thomas are members of a private club here in Smallville; they joined because the club--called HuffawFawFaw Hall--has private cabins, and when they have out-of-town guests, their friends can stay at the HuffawFawFaw with their pets.

But the HuffawFawFaw also has a really great brunch and we've been invited, so we're doing that instead of yardwork. I mean, yardwork, champagne? It's a no-brainer.

One rule of the HuffawFawFaw Hall is that men must wear a jacket-and-tie. Apparently it's like Somewhere In Time over there and there are strict dress codes. I'm putting a 2009 penny in my pocket so I can get home later--that's a Somewhere In Time reference for those who haven't seen the film. But see it; Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour; quite romantic.

So, Carlos and I decided to have a light breakfast of toast, juice and coffee this morning because we're meeting the fellas at around noon for our trip through time. And I'm looking at the t-shirt Carlos wore to bed last night. There's a piece of tissue hanging on it, and I'm just about to tell him, when I realize it's not a tissue or piece of paper.

It's a Breathe Right Strip. He has been doing the snore more lately so he's taken to wearing one--to strapping it on, as he says.

But, as I say to him trying not to spew juice all over, you need to strap it on your nose and not your elbow.

I laughed so hard I scared the dog!