oh no! its almost xmas!!

Usually, I can get my act together. But this year I cant seem to catch up.
Im going to admit it, I do not have a clue what I am going to do for Christmas this year.

But I do have tamales in the freezer and that means its Christmas Time baby!

For those of you that do not know this, in the latino community its very very common to have tamales for Christmas. But now I think that its been adopted as a Texas tradition. It wouldnt be Christmas without them.

Are you looking for the BEST tamales ever? If so, I am gonna help you out.

They will even ship them to you!

Everytime I go to San Antonio, I try to make a special trip to Tellez Tamaleria on South Gen. McMullen.

Here is the actual address: 1737 S General McMullen Dr San Antonio, TX 78237
phone: (210) 433-1367

Tellez has got the traditional Tex-Mex version of the pork tamale down pat. But the jalepeno pork ones are to die for. They used to not take orders but now they do and I believe that they now ship tamales too.

If you are driving in from out of town, call ahead and have Mr. Tellez put on hold the types & amount of tamales you need. And yes, they are worth it! These tamales are so good that the first time I had them, I started crying. They tasted JUST like my grandmothers.

If you like barbacoa-this is the place to get it from too. They have a 'leaner' one that is so good. They also make their own tortillas (corn and flour). Ok Im just gonna give in, if you go call me and let me place an order with you-lol.

My typical christmas menu is:
tamales, rice, beans. tortillas, chili con carne for the tamales. champurado (mexican hot chocolate), pan dulces & bunuelos (mexican pastries) I can get that locally. My dad is a diabetic so I am going to have to find something just for him to enjoy. And if you are a vegetarian or on a diet, DONT come over to my house. You will be miserable!

OMG! I just saw that there is going to be a Napoleon Dynamite cartoon that permiers on Jan 15th.

Freakin Sweet!!

etsy etsy etsy ...... tisk tisk tisk

Oh geez, I have had a crazy 24 hours!!

Etsy closed down my store yesterday because they accused me of not creating and manufacturing the items that I sell in my Etsy store myself. Supposedly all of this started because I made a post on their business community forum about "advertising". Someone "reported" me and stated that they think I have a manufacturing company with employees...yada yada yada.

I had to take photos of all of my materials and had to tell them how I manufactured my products in order to be reinstated today.

In a way, it feels like I won a small victory. But yes, they DID reinstate my store and for that I am grateful. But what a pain in the butt that was for that to happen. I really think that Etsy should call the customer and find out some info before just closing someones shop with no warning. Their customer service department needs some help to say the least.

Now that you know all I have gone thru to keep my Etsy store, get over there and buy something. Show me your support!

I think that I will call my friend Nicole for a Happy Hour today.  I am such a light weight, I only consume one drink. But I think that I deserve it today.

*This is a pic of Cash & Ziggy at day-care (Austin Dogtown), they LOVE it there. Cant you tell by the smiles on their faces? Since we do not have children, we refer to this pic as a "School Picture"..lol

*All 3 boys patiently waiting for Tommy to come home.

And we cant leave out our Ozzy.

On a better note, My husband Tommy is working from home today (tele-commuting). The dogs LOVE it when he works from home.

There was this crazy quilt that I started for my husband 3 or 4 years ago and never finished. So yesterday, since I was in such a great mood (NOT) I broke out my sewing machine and finished it for him as a Christmas gift. And since I am horrible at keeping secrets, I gave it to him last night. He loved it (yipee).

All of that sewing got me thinking.  It would be great if I had some time to sew. I want to make some new potholders for myself. If I made them and sold them on Etsy, I would have to photograph my sewing machine, thread and material. And I would STILL have to prove that I made them. I never knew that I would have to go thru so much crap to sell incense on Etsy.

I am giving myself a headache

Ahhhh.....Tuesday. After work yesterday, I went on a brainstorming mission...

I am looking for new ways to promote our Etsy store. Think that I will start doing giveaways on other blogs (that are very active) to get people to start checking out our etsy shop and it will also get me some feedback on our product. IF you have any ideas, comment on this and let me know.

My brother Miles called last night. He is really into Nissans, he is even in a Nissan car club in San Antonio. Anyways, they have a charity event in April (during Fiesta in San Antonio) and I am thinking about getting a booth for it and selling our Sweet Leaf products to generate some buzz. I actually hate doing those things, but I can see how it would be helpful. Its still an idea. And its 4 months away so I have plenty of time. But I probably will do it.

Follow up: Chandria didnt show up on Sunday. She worked too late. But she will show up later in the week (on her day off). AWESOME

I love SUNDAYS!

On Sundays, I try to get my act together for Monday. I try to use Sundays as a 'production day' since I know customers usually do not call me for orders on Sundays. Dont get me wrong, I will take the order if they did call tho.

So for this morning, I am busy bagging up incense (mango tango incense to be exact). Then bagging up more of the Christmas Coal and probably making more coal later on in the day. I also need to start working on my Christmas card list. I am hoping to do that by the end of next week.

I am hoping that I can get my friend Chandria to visit when she gets off work this evening at Planet K. She is such a huge inspiration to me. I call her my "Official Un-Employee". She doesnt work for me but I wish I could afford to hire her.

This is an OLD pic of Chandria & I from years ago.

Chandria has the pretty blue hair.

And I have the almost empty beer glass in my hand. Its a totally unflattering pic of me.

Chandria was a little overdressed to hang out in a bar during SXSW

 but she was on her way to her brothers wedding in San Antonio.

Chandria usually comes over, we will have dinner and a beer. Ok, I am usually the beer drinker. But she gets on a 'Dr. Pepper high' (yea, that is what we are calling it) and we start talking about all kinds of funny stuff. And most of the time, I will come up with a kooky idea for a product. Sometimes it works out--other times it doesnt. Other times, we just hang out and have a good time. I do love her company. We have known each other since she was about 15 years old.

I am trying to bribe her and her boyfriend Phil with Turkey Wraps for dinner if they show up. We will see if it works or not. I will let you know.