How's Your's So Far?

Miss Ginger's New Year has started off "swimmingly", as they say... not because she has started a new exercise regimen, mind you... she just started it off swimming in cocktails, but is ready to dry up a bit.

It's started with this rather innocent looking bloody mary at the United Club Lounge  at Houston's Intercontinental Airport.  I can't speak for any of the legacy United "Red Carpet" lounges (that name conjures images of smokey air and raspy saloon chanteuses), but if you ever have the opportunity to visit the former "President's Club" at Newark or IAH, I can guarantee you the best dang bloody mary you've ever tasted... and it's FREE!  Hard to believe I only had one... but it's true!

Miss Ginger met up with Brother J at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas midday, and it was nirvana: no cab line!! We hopped into one of Las Vegas' many smelly and run down, but cheap, taxicabs, and headed to our destination for the weekend:  Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino! 

If you are familiar with Las Vegas, Rio is the big purple and red monstrosity across the freeway from the strip.  Miss Ginger doesn't use the word monstrosity lamely: the place is HUGE!  And, it's purple and red. You decide.






So, here's the 411 on Rio:

PLUSSES:
+ It's off the strip, so you get good deals, and you don't have to deal with "strip rats".
+For those who "must" cruise the strip, there are free shuttles back and forth every 15 minutes. (It really is just across the freeway, but it's a LONG walk!)
+ The rooms are HUGE!
+ They take pets. (Shelby insisted that Miss Ginger include that tidbit. No, she did not get to go.)
+ The casino is top notch, with great slots, plenty of table games, and everything else you'd expect from a top Vegas property.
+ The restaurant selection is great, with both a regular buffet and a seafood buffet, plus a wine cellar, a sports bar, and 2 Starbucks! VooDoo Steak has a great view, a great menu, and great service, without being pretentious... tops in Miss G's book!
+ The beverage service on the casino floor is A-MAZE-ING!  In most casinos, a cocktail waitress is almost impossible to find, unless you are in the high roller area- heaven help you if you're playing penny slots!  And if you do find one, she's usually a bitter old hag with too much hairspray, and lipstick on her teeth. But at Rio, they have "beveratainers"... beverage servers who are also entertainers. There are TONS of them; during slow times, they operate as you would expect, but when it gets busy, they pull out this iPad system that gets you a drink in 2-3 minutes, tops.  There's no waiting with a dry glass, either... there are so many of them that you turn a couple away before you are ready for another!
+ Oh... "beveratainment".  So, throughout the day,  you will hear this little "cha cha cha- RIO!" interlude, and when you look up, your cocktail waiter or waitress has pulled out a little set of hidden stairs, climbed up on the slot machines, and is belting out a song or busting a move to beat the band! They sing live, and the dancers are cute, and they perform like 2 and half minutes, tops. Then they push the stairs back in, pick up their tray, and continue about their business!  They have an equal number of boys and girls (you know Miss G loves equality!) and they are all amazingly talented!
+ The "Show in the Sky". Like nothing else!  Rio was built in the 80's during the "can't top this" casino days. Their schtick was a Carnival Parade in the sky, and although most of the casino floor has been extensively updated, they have worked around the hanging trolleys to maintain the parade.  Thursday through Sunday, from 6pm - 11pm every hour on the hour, singers and dancers come out and do a short little floor show, then disappear momentarily as a big section of a wall moves away.  Out come fully lit Carnival floats, hanging from the ceiling on an amazing trolley system that carries the dancers all around the casino floor, slinging beads, dancing, and flirting with the screaming crowd below!  It's a Vegas "must-see".

MINUSES
- It's not on the strip... if that's important to you.
- The rooms are huge, but a bit dated.  They are clean, and comfortable, with all the amenities... but, it's not NOBU, or Wynn, or even Planet Hollywood.  
- Their big show is "Penn and Teller". But, they also have "The Chippendales". And a shuttle to the strip.

Saturday, Miss Ginger and Brother J spent the day gambling, drinking, and catching up a bit, before heading up to VooDoo Steak for huge hunks of beef and a bottle of wine.  After that, there was more drinking....   a hamburger...  black jack.... black girls in the elevator... ... ... whatever else happened in Vegas stays in Vegas... mostly because Miss G can't remember!!!

She was feeling a bit puny the next morning, but rallied midday, and by New Year's Eve was all set for the "VIP Dinner" to which high-rolling Brother J had been invited.  Beautiful food, obnoxious table mates, and a spectacular view of the fireworks over the strip made for an incredible New Years Eve!

Now Miss G has several more days off before her return to work, so she can get rested, relaxed, and prepared for the coming year!

How did YOU ring the New Year, dear 'Snaps? And how is it treating you so far?

Happy New Year's Eve!

Queen Ginger is ready to do her holiday entertaining, right here at Chez Ginger!  To all my loyal GingerSnaps out there:  have a happy and safe celebration, and for gawd's sake use a designated driver- or a taxi!!

I'll have all the scoop on the party tomorrow!

Happy New Year from Miss Ginger Grant!

Before her balls drop and she forgets all of her acquaintances, Miss Ginger wanted to take a minute to say Happy New Year to all the GingerSnaps out there who have made her what she is today: an overweight, aging sometimes drag queen with a drinking problem and a bad back!  


But really, the new year is a great time to reflect on the things we like about our lives, and the things we don't, and to determine which ones we are going to do something about!  I'm not talking resolutions: those are just begging to be broken!  She really means general ideas and practices that might change more than just one person's dress size!


So, putting it out there for the universe, here are Miss Ginger's "great ideas" for 2010:


1. Wouldn't it be great if we all just believed what we want to believe, and stop worrying about what others believe?  Miss Ginger, for one, will no longer vacillate on the whole Jeebus thing: she doesn't believe it and she won't pretend! And honestly, what she does believe is really nobody else's business but her own! Miss Ginger promises she will not recruit your children to become drag queens if you stop recruiting people to become christians! 


2. Wouldn't it be great if everyone were nicer?  If the whole world would SLOW DOWN and not always be in such a rush, we'd have way more time to be nice to people!  Even small gestures, like slowing down on the freeway to let a car in front of you instead of hitting the gas so they have to fall in behind! Miss Ginger is going to look for opportunities to perform such "random acts of kindness" every day!


3. Wouldn't it be great if we could resolve homelessness?  Boy Ginger spends a lot of time downtown in the office this time of year, and the blight of  homelessness weighs heavy on Miss Ginger's mind! She doesn't know the answer, and she needs to take on another cause like she needs another bra in her drawer, but she intends to spend some time this year exploring the problem and finding out what can be done to address the issue in her neighborhood!


4. Wouldn't it be great if everyone took responsibility for their own destiny, instead of looking to governments, institutions, and other sources for "relief"?  Miss Ginger is a woman of charity, but she believes charity should give a "leg up" rather than a "hand out"!  Let's stop bailing out industries, companies, and countries and focus our efforts on taking care of people who can't care for themselves!  Even in a tough economy, most people should be able to find a way to participate in some way! Rather than feeling sorry for ourselves about job loss, company failures, changes in ability, etc, let's regroup, figure out what we need to change to go forward, and get back on the horse- ANY horse! 


In closing, here's a little New Year's Toast:

Here's to the year that's ended, 

and  to the one that harkens-

let's put ideas in motion

before our outlook darkens!

Let' see that things get brighter

and ditch those that are daft-

and make sure life gets lighter

when Pailin gets the shaft!

Happy New Year, dear Ginger Snaps!  Hope I get to meet you all in 2011!!

So Far, So Good!

So far the new year has treated the G's pretty well! Miss G, as per usual, stayed home with the kittehs on New Year's Eve to give Boy G a chance to go out with the rest of the amateur drunks! It worked out perfectly, since he had been invited to ring in the new decade with FABULOUS friends Tom and John. Tom spent most of the eve prepping and cooking the requisite foods for luck and money, while John spent most of the night filling glasses for himself and others, as evidenced but the photo below! Certainly no one went thirsty at this party!
Boy G apparently spent most of the evenining copping photo ops with Houston's least eligible non-bachelor, the uber-handsome and extremely friendly BR!!!
Photo op #1:

Photo op #2:

Photo op #3:

And this was just on Boy G's camera! I know there were many, many more!!! Can ya blame him!

Of course, uber-cutie is waaaaay off limits, because he is betrothed to the equally FABULOUS and ultra-fun Miss Meg, mother of the other super cutie, Baby Jack (not pictured; past his bedtime!) They are the most adorable family in the gayborhood! (wrong Jack in this picture!)

Boy G copped quite a few photo ops with Mrs. R as well, along with resident baybays Gretchen (t) and Toby (b). (These are photo references, not sexual labels.) We didn't get into all that. Although, according to Boy G, Miss Gretchen has breath that comes in somewhere between "sewer gas" and "Fat Bastard farts"! That doggie needs Orbit®! Just sayin'!

Boy G actually made it until midnight, because he heard that Dick Clark was going to count down the last 10 seconds, and Boy G thought he might have meant not "of the 00's" but "of his life", so it seemed historic. But, as Carson Daly droned and bored and pimped and preened into the new year, Boy G finally realized something: "we're on the wrong fuckin' channell!"

Oh, well!! By that point it was time to wander home and get some rest so Boy G could spend the day with 2 of his favorite people on Earth: "the Lesbians!"

Happy New Year, one and all!

A Sure Sign of a FABULOUS New Year!

Miss Ginger has always found cardinals to be her favorite thing about the New Year. Here in Texas, almost on cue, they begin to show up in our barren gardens and browned out lawns, adding a bright splash of color to an otherwise dreary period for us. Late December and early January is our worst time of year, with a damp, invasive cold that soaks into one's pores! Cardinals are natures bright reminder that better times and brighter days are on their way!

Miss Ginger is also amazed by the way they are always paired! While the drab female hunts, and pecks, and forages for seed, the handsome husband prisses and preens and proves him dominance.

Miss G looked out the window this morning and saw her first pair of cardinals for the new year:

Oops! Wrong pic! Here's the one Miss Ginger intended!

"May the cardinals of happiness grope their way into your New Year!"

Much Love,

Miss Ginger, Shelby, Jackson, and Nog!

Happy 2009!

Boy Ginger made it safely through the New Year's Eve merriment, and managed to get home at a reasonable hour, and not too drunk! I'm so glad I tought that boy to drink responsibly!

He brought us some great pics, though!

Here's Sonna and Denise (the designated driver! Thank you, honey!)

After making the rounds at the ZaZa Black Tie event, they headed over to "Mom and Dads" to ring in the New Year with their extended family.

Here's Mom:

and Miss Marianne (or is that Mrs. Annie? I get confused!)

Jack looks like he's thinking: "Did somebody put something in Bob's drink?!"

John and Tom in their festive holiday headwear!

Andy and Don, with some exciting news.... Andy and "Dad" have publicly release their intent to run as ball co-captains next year!!!!!

Looks like a good time was had by all!

Now I find out he's invited them all over for breakfast, and that boy is all thumbs in the kitchen so Miss Ginger better get her apron on!

HAPPY NEW YEAR from Miss Ginger and the Kids!

Well, another year has come and gone and Boy Ginger is leaving me at home to care for the kitties while he goes out and parties with the lesbos! Thank Goddess I sent him out for a case of Cristal last week, so I'll have something to sip while the kitties and I curl up on the sofa and watch the "straight" (?!!!) Ryan Seacrest as the ball drops! Give it a rest, Mary- you're not fooling a soul!

Boy G deserves the night off, though, after all the hard work and hours he puts into maintaining this little blog for me! Sometimes I think if it weren't for my friends in the blogosphere, I wouldn't have any friends at all! Think about it: I do a solo act, so no work friends. Boy Ginger and the staff do all the work around the yard and house, so I don't know any of the neighbors. And my dearest friend Kaye Sedilla got shipped off to rehab, so I can't even pal around with her anymore. (I'll have to call her and see if she's run into Amy Winehouse there!)

But at least I have my online friends to keep me living! David Dust keeps me laughing daily with his on-the-mark recaps and hilarious diatribes. Mistress Maddie is always there to share a makeup tip or wardrobing option (she even offered to loan me her boy-toy!) Handsome Dan is always good for a gratuitous hottie shot, and my dear, dear, Miss Alaineous brings out my mothering instincts as I watch her random rants and enjoy her youthful outlook on life! Indigo sometimes makes me laugh and sometimes make me cry, but always makes me think, and for that I am truly grateful! Yasmin always good for a recipe tip and the Brit point of view, and Nutwood Beth and Ken are always there to keep me grounded! There all lots of other bloggers that have commented over the year or so that I've been here, and I appreciate every single one of them!

There's also lots of you readers out there who follow regularly, or maybe even irregularly (send me a note and I'll give you some tips on fixing that!). Some of you are good friends that I see whenever I appear, and others I've never met in person but certainly have in spirit! Some of you comment and follow, and some of you choose to observe quietly and watch as my life goes by. And Miss Ginger Grant has a special place in her heart for all of you, for if it weren't for you, Miss Ginger Grant would just be a red wig on a styrofoam head stuck in the back of some queen's closet! But, because of your love, support, and interest, Miss G is the FABULOUS person she has become! Her heart, soul, and love go out to each and every one of you as she says sincerely: Best wishes for a happy, safe, healthful, and prosperous, but most importantly- FABULOUS 2009! Love to all --Ginger!

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Look at the meez® on the sidebar: poor Miss Ginger is all dressed up with no place to go! Ya see, on New Year's Eve Boy Ginger is ditching her to go the the black tie event at Hotel ZaZa. With no one to drive and without a proper escort, poor Miss Ginger will have to stay home with the kitties while Boy Ginger rings in the New Year! Here's the inimitable Miss Nancy Wilson asking you to comment!

The Feedjit® on the sidebar is filling up real nicely! We've had hits from all over the US, plus Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Australia! If any of you folks out there know someone from Antarctica, it seems to be the only continent we're missing! And if you're checking us out from overseas, be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think of our little blog!
And no matter where you are, did you know you can "follow" a blog on Blogger® and receive email notification each time the blog is updated?! Just click on the link near all of the other "followers" tiny little face pics on the sidebar, and follow the instructions to become a follower! Add your pic and choose public following and the whole world will know you're a proud supporter of the FABULOUS work of Miss Ginger Grant!