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Showing posts with label tacos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tacos. Show all posts

Monday, December 7, 2009

To discuss Feliz Navidad 2009: Hola, Santa!

I can hardly believe it's been a year since Capricorn and I first celebrated Feliz Navidad, our Christmas decorating/Mexican food fiesta.

Just like last year, we had our first snowfall of the year, coincidentally, on Feliz Navidad. I think that means God was in agreeance. Or that God was crying and it happened to be cold out. Either way.

There are several key ingredients to a good Feliz Navidad:

1) Christmas decorating
2) Mexican food
3) Holiday movies
4) Chihuahuas
5) Immigrants*

* Optional

Well, we all know I've got more chihuahuas around here than I know what to do with, so that's done. For Mexican food this time, we went with tacos. Whoever (Whomever? Ah, who ((whom?)) cares?) came up with the idea to wrap spicy beef in a corn flour shell is a genius.

On to the holiday movies. This is where it gets tricky. We watched Home Alone last year, so that was out, and let's not even talk about the sequels. We also recently watched The Santa Clause 2 (the first one is Capricorn's favorite Christmas movie).

So, based on what was available, we had some old classics, some new favorites, some awful Lifetime-y crap and some holiday movies that should have never been made. Example, according to the Comcast description:

"Santa's Slay": "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He's actually Satan's son, who lost a bet and has had to spend the last thousand years giving gifts and being nixw. But this Christmas, the thousand years is up. Starring WWE star Bill Goldberg."

We passed on this one, even though Amazon users gave it four out of five stars, just a half-star less than "It's a Wonderful Life."

We decided to go with The Family Stone, a vastly underrated Christmas movie. It does have Sarah Jessica Parker in it, but it also has Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams and Diane Keaton, so it's a wash.

As per Feliz Navidad tradition, I put the Spanish subtitles on, but foreign languages are annoying after a minute or two (let's just be honest). I switched it to the commentary with SJP and co-star Dermot Mulroney, who somehow gets leading man status in multiple films despite a first name that makes him sound like Kermit's closet boyfriend.

Now on to the decorating. As I tightly wound the last bit of a string of blue lights around the center of our fake tree, Capricorn asked if I had tested them out first. No, I responded, since they had worked for three years.

Ten minutes later, we were at Wal-mart, buying blue lights that actually worked.

I then had to unwrap and then rewrap the lights, as Capricorn baked Christmas tree sugar cookies. Have you ever thought about how silly it is we put lights on a giant indoor plant to celebrate the birth of Jesus (aside from the fact we decorate trees out of an old pagan tradition)? Wouldn't it make more sense for families to go out and buy a crib each year to decorate? Or breastfeed each oth ... I mean, yeah, Christmas tree decorating it is!

Oh, and just in case you remembered, I busted out my door decoration again this year. If you recall, my mom made this last year, and it won first prize for best holiday door decoration. Here's hoping for two years in a row. I'm like the Yankees of doors, except not as expensive or douchey.

Merry Feliz Navidad to you and your illegal immigrants.

Monday, November 17, 2008

To discuss a Weekend Update: More authentic than Taco Bell, less authentic than getting Hepatitis from the water

Hola, ¿que tal?
There was a decidedly Mexican flavor to my weekend. It tasted like tacos, smelled like fried ice cream and sounded like a mariachi band.

Capricorn and I have a new favorite restaurant: El Rodeo...
It inspired us to declare our mutual day off on Friday, "Feliz Navidad 2008." It will be full of Christmas decorating (she's dying to start decorating this year, and I won't Scrooge that up), margaritas, enchiladas and possibly watching Home Alone with Spanish subtitles.

Now, it's time for the Weekend Update, which, as always, is mostly context-free:

Things I heard:
  • Guitars, an accordion and loud Mexican singing: At El Rodeo, a local restaurant nestled between a gas station and an Amish furniture store and across the street from a Hooters, authenticity is a prerequisite to fun. What better way to create a Mexican atmosphere than having a mariachi band serenade patrons with traditional songs like "Yesterday" by the Beatles* and "Happy Birthday"? Needless to say, Capricorn and I were excited. This band was so authentic, the lead singer didn't even answer calls in his bluetooth headset while singing.
  • Gunshots: From the new James Bond flick, "Quantum of Solace," which I hope to have a review for soon. There's a lot of killing going on this time... it was bloody fantastic. Capricorn had never seen a James Bond movie before (gasp!), and she really enjoyed it... much, much more than "Quarantine."**
Things I saw:
  • My brother hitting on two girls sitting in their car at Arby's: My brother, not Mystery, is The Pick-up Artist. He saw two cute girls looking over at our car, so he strutted over and talked to them. On a related note, we are fairly certain the girls are in high school. It happens... so does prison.
  • Pick-up trucks the size of my apartment taking up two parking spots at a crowded restaurant on Saturday: I hate that. So does Capricorn. She left a note saying as much under the guy's windshield. Bonus points for Capricorn.
  • My football fantasy team, 100, other guy, 78. I'm 9-2, baby, and am one step closer to getting my full-fledged fantasy nerd card.
Things I tasted:
  • Excellent tacos, and even better fried ice cream: I still am not sure how they fry ice cream, but I don't question the results.
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* Good catch, AmyXXOO. In a rush, I had it spelled Beetles and the crappy spell checker is not pop-culture savvy. I apologize.
** Yes, I'm still haunted by that movie. No, I don't intend on ending my references to it anytime soon. Yes, I still would like to hear from anyone else who has seen it.
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