Fraternity gets a taste of clothing...

Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of being the luncheon speaker at the Sigma Chi Alumni Networking Event.  I've been part of this group for the past year and I have to tell you that it's one of the most beneficial groups I belong to and are my favorite events to attend.  Although all these guys are my Fraternity Brothers, I've made some new good friends that have provided unwavering support for me over the past few tough months, something I will always appreciate and admire.

The group's founder - Brother Rob Johnson with Yours Truly

The Brothers were very accepting of my ramblings regarding personal representation and how clothing can make or break the way you're viewed, especially the initial meeting.  Remember, it doesn't matter how much money you have, how hot your wife is, what college you attended or where you live, if you look like a slacker, chances are the image your projecting just says, "I don't care".  And who wants to work or hang out with someone who just doesn't care?  With smart fashion choices, instant credibility can be yours!

I brought along some of Dad's college stuff to show the guys

Thanks again to my Sigma Chi Brothers for allowing me to present my opinions and for their continued support of me personally as well as my business.

White Elephants in Houston...and an International Christmas Lesson!

For the past 22 years, an annual White Elephant party has occurred featuring many of my closest and dearest friends.  The whole thing started in 1990 with an impromptu small gathering at my sweet friend Christian's apartment where she welcomed us all in for supper and quick gift exchange.  Of course one of the gifts was a nice bottle of Scotch which allowed the evening to progress well into the wee hours of the night.

This year's fete was hosted by Ruth and Scott Calabrese, whom many of you know quite well by now if you read this blog regularly.  I think they are done throwing parties for awhile!  Anyway, another fantastic evening was had by all that included an Italian style offering of pasta and giant meatballs.  Once again the cooks outdid themselves.  And of course the usual adult gifts appeared early and created much laughter and good humored heckling during the White Elephant exchange.  I came home with a small space heater while my bride managed to score a meat thermometer and cooking tongs, always needed around our house! 

The party in full Christmas Swing!

Our wonderful host and hostess for the evening

Getting ready for the big gift exchange...

Is that J.G. "Rastaman" Biggs, CPA?

Now those are some handsome dudes!

Now I truly believe I might have won for the best gift given this year...a portrait of a young, stylish, buff young man of 14 years named Yours Truly.  It was promptly hung in a prominent space after which I was asked to render a note and signature.  And then they wanted a picture of me next to my picture!  Who was I to say no?

So a huge thanks to our wonderful hosts and to all the guests for making the 22nd White Elephant Party yet another fun, memorable evening.

On another note, I thought you dear readers might enjoy a photo of my beautiful bride executing an International Christmas Party lesson at my son's school.  They were doing a Christmas around the world theme and Jen drew India.  Luckily one of our old friends is married to a nice fella from India who loaned Jen some items to help.  Boy, 1st Grade Christmas parties have sure changed since the 1970's!

Heavy D picks out his Christmas Gift...

So last evening while waiting for my beautiful bride to arrive and meet us at the Houston Galleria, Daniel and I strode through doing a little window shopping.  Daniel was hesitant to stop at this particular shop as the Lego Store was quickly approaching, but he decided to sample the merchandise and make a quick determination that this particular item would do just right.

2011 Tesla Roadster

And last weekend Jen and I took a much needed relaxation stint at Houston's Hotel Sorrella, a very nice new hotel in the CityCentre area, formerly known as Town & Country.  Jen's company Christmas party was Saturday evening at the hotel so we decided to make a nice long vacation from the opportunity.  Needless to say much sleeping and lounging took place and the party was a huge success thanks to Jen's superb party planning.  We were far too busy having fun and not documenting every moment, so one good picture came from the festivities...a great shot of us at dinner!

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe Holiday Season thus far!  The big day is but just a short week away!

Dinner Club...Calabrese Style!

Alright!!!  I'll start posting again!!!  Sorry to have been out of touch lately.  We're still shutting down my Dad's estate and the big Estate Sale is this week.  I always knew that house was full of "Stuff", but I had no idea how much was really there!  If you're interested, we'll be having a preview party this Wednesday and the public sale this Friday/Saturday.  So come on by and see if some Sudduth Junk would look good in your house.  On top of all that I've been sick as a dog with a cold.  Ugh!

So on to the post.  A few weeks ago we attended yet another of our infamous Dinner Club Soiree's, this time at the beautiful bungalow home of Ruth/Scott Calabrese.  It seems that I post a lot about events at their house doesn't it?  Anyway, they brought their "A" game as usual and put on another fabulous fete.

The Menu

Scott and Ruthie always put something interesting on the table and this night was no exception.  I won't run down the entire menu as you can read for yourself above.   I will tell you though that the dessert was heavenly!  I'm still not exactly sure what the Bubble & Squeak dish was but it sure did eat good!

The Lovely Table

Chef Extreme Scotty at the helm!

A toast to get us started...

There's a couple of good lookin' guys!

Our jovial host & hostess for the evening

What is this you ask?

The picture above needs a little more than a caption for explanation.  Jennie and Gardner actually biked their way to the evening.  Very industrious to say the least and clearly a first for any of the members!  We were all a little concerned about their ability to make it home without crashing or receiving a BWI from one of our friendly neighborhood constables.  Good news...they made it home without issue!

So another Dinner Club is in the books.  The chant of "I LOVE DINNER CLUB" is still ringing through the streets.  As always, a huge thanks to our hosts for yet another memorable evening amongst our dear friends.