The Oreo Archives

Fresh cut trees, garland galore, frantic shoppers, and S N O W...in Houston ?? NASA Pkwy and Space Center Houston with a beautiful winter blanket 2017 dishing out the surprises all the way to the end! In honor of this oh-so-miraculous winter flurry us Texans had the pleasure of playing in (or wrapping up in a blanket and looking out of the window at), let's run through some of the rarely experienced treasures of well, a REAL WINTER . Top 7 "Woo-Hoo's" of a Real Winter ....even if it only lasts a week... 1. No sweating when you're: Walking from the parking lot to your office Walking the dog Just standing outside or sitting on your patio 2. Similarly, no musty co-workers (or at least less musty...we hope) You know who I'm talking about...those few who wear their summer "stress" on their sleeves, armpits, back, hair, and whatever else causes that B.O. 3. No-shave November? Pshttt, No-shave in Winter  (don't judge...you...

Depression, anxiety, suicide, and mental illness , in general, are not popular topics of conversation in black families. So when you're black and sharing a life with one of these mother f-ers, it can be a very lonely world. And with the way we tend to avoid these topics as a country, it can be a few steps past lonely, a leap across overwhelming, and just plain unbearable. And  holiday season can add a little salt to your hidden wound(s). Personal Struggle My family is filled  with mental illnesses - from bipolar disorder to drug addiction to ptsd - but we don't discuss it much. So fittingly, I've struggled with depression since I was very young (due to unexpected, unfortunate events), never really brought it up, and didn't handle it well. Fast forward to middle school, I started testing the alcoholic waters, thinking my friends and I were fun and cool. I went to a park with a couple friends and drank probably two-thirds of a bottle of flavored-vodka in less t...

*Cough, cough, sniff, hack, cough* Being sick sucks...being sick all by yourself sucks more. I love most things about living with no one other than my pup, but I turn into an abandoned baby when I'm coughing like my nasty office neighbor down the hall, losing my voice, and sneeze-biting my tongue every ten minutes. Nothing screams 'adulting' like getting your own drugs and juice with your eyes half open and phlegm building a castle in your sinuses. Let's walk through some of the pitiful differences of being sick at home by yourself versus being sick with mommy or hubby in the same house, shall we? Top 5! 1. Lose your voice coughing up a demogorgon: By yourself : no calling for delivery or prescription refills, asking "who is it" when someone bangs on your front door, or laughing or yelling at the tv With mom/hubby : THEY are  your delivery service, tell the jackass at the door to "SHHH" because your baby is sick, and...well you're just ...

Legs, legs , legs ! Likely the first thing we notice when watching the Annual Victoria Secret Fashion Show. That, and the drop dead gorgeous models, award-winning musicians, and best of all, the glamorous, winged costumes of bras and panties. Who could be unhappy looking at that for an hour?? This year's biggest cause of unhappiness or topic of concern: cultural appropriation . The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines 'appropriating' in three ways: "to take exclusive possession of; to set apart for or assign to a particular purpose or use; to take or make use of without authority or right" I'll agree that the ladies of the fashion show owned/took possession of that runway and worked the hell out of those extravagant costumes; VS leaders set themselves apart to show success and innovation in the lingerie and fashion industries; and the designers most likely didn't ask any ambassadors or natives of the cultures that some of the costumes represented...

Disclaimer : I don't agree with stores being open on Thanksgiving, forcing employees to leave their families and go to work to deal with irregular overnight schedules and obnoxious shoppers. That being said, since the stores weren't taking my advice and the employees were already there, I decided the least  I could do was give them the gift of a pleasant, friendly shopper who would possibly brighten/lighten up their busiest 24 hours of the year. (Yes, I am a hypocrite...) I checked all of the store advertisements and coupons in my email and weeble-wobbled my full belly out the door Thursday night, then again Friday afternoon. First stop: Tanger Outlets. My first impression before I even get all the way to the parking lot is "aw hell....this may have been a bad idea". There were way more cars in the parking lot than there were last year (Yes, I went to MK for last year's 'Moonlight Shopping' experience, too. Don't judge my addiction!). And the line...