March Sip Recap - April Sip Information

Sistahs,

A special thanks to March Sip Hostesses, Helen, Lisa, Shelia and yours truly for planning an outdoor sippin' at El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant.  We had a nice turn out of members eagerly awaiting their chance to dog out March's book of the month!

We were truly "HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY" to see long-time member Kenya and long-time missing member, Jennifer Carroll, work schedule prevented her from attending our monthly Sips.

 

The book disussion ranged from "hated it" to "loved it" !  And those of us who did not read the book, we just pressed our lips!

March's BOM:

A Deeper Love Inside ~ The Porsche Santiaga Story by Sister Souljah rating = 6 (5.5 rounded up)

April's BOM:

Murder Mamas by Ashley & JaQuavis Coleman

April's Sip

Hosted by:  Natalynn Marshall & Janice Roaches

Date:  April 26, 2014

Time:  2:00 - 4:00 PM

Reminder

If you have not yet paid your SST annual dues

please do so at next Sip ($15)

We take cash or checks 

2014 Houston Chapter Sistah Getaway:

Destination:  Nawlins (The Big Easy)

Date:  TBD but we're looking at perhaps the 1st weekend in Oct 2014 (Thurs, Fri & Sat)

Hotel:  TBD  (recommendations are welcomed)

2015 Sister Sippin' Tea 12th Reunion will be hosted by the Long Island & Brooklyn, NY Chapters.  The reunion will be in the The Big Apple.  The exact date and registration fees have not yet been determined...stay tuned!

FYI:  I had to postpone trip to hang out with Rosa in Naples, Italy.  Rosa is one of our ORIGINAL SST Core Members.  As fate would have it, Lufthansa Airlines Pilots Union went on strike April 2nd...same date as my departure (needless to say my flight was canceled).  I plan to travel April 30th instead. 

Rosa....here's a photo for you from us!!!! 

Sisters Sippin' Tea Houston Chapter - 2013

Hope to see everyone at April's Sip....safe travel!!

Sistahly yours

February Sip Recap - March Sip Information

A special thank you to February’s Sip Hostesses, Maye and Zeva....we enjoyed your warm hospitality, book discussion, and most scrumptious pasta .  Thanks again for welcoming us into your home!

Feb's BOM:

Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat rating = 7

March's BOM:

A Deeper Love Inside The Porsche Santiaga Story by Sister Souljah

March's Sip:

Hosted by:  Helen, Lisa, Menie & Shelia Mayes

Date:  Saturday, 3/29/14

Time:  2:00-4:00 PM

NEW MEMBERS:

Sistahs join me in officially welcoming our newest SST members.  We hope our "newbies" will enjoy this very stimulating, awesome, literary experience.  Welcome Angela Habbitt-Tate,  Denise Parson-Hicks & Tina Watson...in the event you have not yet had the pleasure of meeting them.

Reminder:

I have forwarded dues that I have received to date to our treasurer Liz Gonzales  If you have not paid your dues for the 2013-2014 Sip Season (Sept thru May) please see me at March's Sip!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Helen Smith is "Jumping the Broom"  on March 8th!  If you plan on attending, please give Helen a call or send her an email!

Hope to see everyone at March's Sip....we will forward pending location.  Drive safely!

Sistahly yours

January Sip Recap - February Sip Information

A special thank you to January's Sip Hostesses, Deloris Guillory and Tina Watson.  We truly appreciate your hospitality and willingness to host this Sip.  Deloris has been a SST member for about 1 year and Tina is brand spankin’ new!  So thank you sistahs for the love!   We enjoyed the sippin @ the Sip, the lunch and great book discussion...bunch of dysfunctional characters in this saga!  Stay-tuned for hopefully more Greenwood madness and mayhem...do u think JD Mason will start a series?  I would like to know more.....and the characters were rather interesting.

January BOM

Drop Dead, Gorgeous  by JD Mason rating = 8

February BOM

Claire of the Sea Light  by Edwidge Danticat

February's Sip

Hosted by:  Maye and Zeva

Date:  Saturday, February 22, 2014

Time:  2:00 - 4:00 PM

Reminder:  

If you have not settled your 2013-2014 Annual SST Membership Dues, please pay at the February's Sip...Thanks!

Houston SST Getaway:

There has been some discussion about a possible summer/fall getaway for SST Houston Chapter members.  Destination - TBD.  A few sistahs expressed an interest in Martha's Vineyard, another chic destination (so I've been told) is Santa Fe, NM for spa/relaxation action plus artsy environment.  Let's discuss further@ Feb's Sip!

Hope you have a fun/safe Super Bowl Weekend....go Broncos!!! 

Sistahly yours

Happy New Year

Wishing you and yours a Happy & Healthy New Year!

A special thank you for our SST Annual Holiday Social hostesses, Janetta, Julie & Zeva for coordinating our traditional holiday affair.  We appreciate your hard work & commitment in making it a very festive luncheon.  We truly enjoyed the festivities and loved the beautiful tea cups and teapots received in the gift exchange....thanks again!!!!

BTW...the cake was most "FAB"!

Congratulations to Ms Leola Sanders Huey on 3rd novel in progress.  She is an amazing sistah we can all admire in the literary community.  If you haven't already, please read the article that highlight Norvell's accomplished mother!  She is currently working on the sequel to her 1st novel "Oneida the Plight of a Single Mom"...a very good read I might add!!

Please click on link below for article in the Fort Bend Star on author Leola Huey regarding her novels.  Norvell please bring copies to sell!

http://www.fortbendstar.com/2013/12/11/sugar-land-resident-begins-third-novel/

January's BOM:

Drop Dead, Gorgeous a novel by J.D. Mason

January's Sip

Hosted by:  Tina Watson & Deloris Guillory

Date:  Sat, January 18, 2014

Time:  2:00 - 4:00 PM

***Reminder:  2013-2014 Annual Membership Dues $15.00.  If you have not yet paid dues, please bring check made out to Sisters Sippin' Tea or cash to January's Sip.

At the Holiday Social a few of us talked about a Houston SST getaway perhaps this summer....it's something to think about!!!  We had big fun on Martha's Vineyard years ago!  If you have any thoughts on this....please advise!!!

Let's continue to keep Maye and Zeva in our prayers & thoughts on the lost of Maye's brother and Jennifer Carroll on the recent lost of her uncle.  We send our Deepest Sympathy to you & your family!

Hope to see everyone @ January's Sip...Be Safe!! 

Sistahly yours

November Sip Recap

Sisters,

I wanted to thank my sistah's who braved the cold and rain and attended November’s sip. Teacup, thanks so much for our special dessert treat, “Punchbowl” cake. Three words: De-lish-ous! It was so beautiful; I had to take a picture

We missed you Menie!  Thank you for reading our SST Poem via "conference call"!!!

We had a great time discussing this month’s book, “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich” by J.D. Mason. There was a lot of discussion (yes we had to bring the bell out) about the characters and story.

SST Rating: 8

Goes to show you, you can't judge a book by it's cover!!! Believable or not, it was a fun read!  So much so we decided to continue with J. D.’s sequel, "Drop Dead Gorgeous".  So for those of you who did not get a chance to read "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich", you have December and January to read both books before our next sip.

JANUARY BOOK OF THE MONTH:

"Desimonda returned to seek out revenge in Beautiful, Dirty, Rich. Now her best friend, Lonnie, is out for a little payback of her own

Lonnie Adebayo, best friend to Desimonda Greene, is a walking, talking billboard for the old adage, “You can’t keep a good woman down.”  But Jordan Gatewood has done so much more than just try and keep her down. He made a huge mistake when he put his hands on her, thinking that he could get away with it.  But he made an even bigger mistake by not making sure that she was dead before he left that house. Finding his secret half-brother is just the beginning of Lonnie’s plot for revenge."

Drop dead gorgeous is available on Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audio at Amazon.com

SST BUSINESS:

We talked about having books we didn't choose to read as a group listed on our website. We've all seen books we would like to read on our own, but if you’re like me—you forget.

So we are going to list the books there were suggested at previous sips that were not chosen at the bottom of the "Reading List" page. This will also be a great resource if you want to bring one of those books to vote again on.  There always seem to be a close tie when we vote on some of these.

Ladies we are behind on submitting our annual dues!! Please remember to bring you $15 per person to the Holiday Social.

GUESTS/NEW MEMBERS

We had two guests join us at the November sip. 

A special SSTto Tina Watson and Denise Parson-Hicks.  

Both ladies jumped right into the discussion and fit perfectly in!

HOLIDAY SOCIAL

Our SST Annual Holiday Social will be held on Saturday, December 21, 2013 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Address and directions will be sent via e-mail.

In addition to your “TEA POT” or “TEA CUP/SAUCER” for the gift exchange, each member is asked to bring your favorite "spirit”.  Lunch will be catered from money in our SST account.

SST ANNOUNCEMENTS

to Nae’s 17 year old, 6’8” and STILL growing grandson for receiving scholarships to college!!!  We all wish him much success on his educational journey!!!

And the best announcement ever, we have...OUR HELEN is getting married! Nuptials and other information will be forthcoming. Congratulations Helen on marrying your best friend!!! We are truly happy for you and Allen!

SST PRAYER REQUESTS

Alesia’s dad passed this month.  Then earlier this week her mother took ill and is in intensive care.  Please continue to keep Alesia and her family in your prayers!

Praying for traveling grace for those of you who are traveling to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends!



Looking forward to seeing everyone in December!  Hope you have a Blessed Thanksgiving Holiday.

Pam

October Sip Recap

 

A special thank you to October's Sip Hostesses: Alesia, Janetta, Janice, Nae &  Norvell.  Sistahs you were most gracious!  Thanks for the creative, most delicious Mexican dish, yummy deserts and great "spirits" !

Everyone had a great time discussing Terry McMillan's latest novel, Who Asked You?  Most members enjoyed her latest novel...ratings ranged from 9 to 5 (isn't that a song?).  

Octobers Book of the Month Rating:

Who Asked You?  by Terry McMillan rating = 8

www.terrymcmillan.com

There were 5 of us who attended Terry McMillan's book signing at The Ensemble.  We enjoyed her presentation and it was so great to see Joyce and Kenya, we miss you!!!! Maye, Zeva and I also represented the Chapter.  Terry has a quirky kind of personality, very warm and engaging.  

2013-2014 Annual Dues

Our 2013-2014 Annual Dues in the amount of $15 per person are due!!  If you did not pay your dues at the Sept or October sip, please do so at the November Sip or Dec's Annual Social.  

Cash or checks made payable to "Sisters Sippin' Tea" will be accepted.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

November Sip and Book of the Month:

Nov's Sip will be hosted by:   Pam Lee and Teacup (Thanks for agreeing to host Nov's Sip at the last minute, we appreciate you!!!)  Please RSVP....so hostesses can have a headcount - thanks!

Date:  Saturday, November 23, 2013

Time:  ***2:00-4:00 PM***

November Book of the Month:  

Beautiful, Dirty, Rich  by J.D. Mason

A gripping new novel from bestselling author J.D. Mason about a wealthy Texas family and the one woman who holds— and will reveal—all their dirty secrets

Desdimona Green has been the name on everyone’s lips in Blink, Texas. Twenty-five years ago, at the age of eighteen, she shot and killed one of the wealthiest men and pillars of the community, oil baron Julian Gatewood.

The Gatewood family was considered untouchable, so the whole state of Texas was rocked to its core over Julian’s murder. They were even more shocked to discover that Desi is Julian’s daughter and her mother had been his lover for years.

But when Desi gets out of jail and promptly inherits millions from Julian’s estate, everyone knows that there is much more to the story—and Desi Green is the keeper of the Gatewood secrets, including what happened the night Julian died.

When a famous true crime reporter shows up on her doorstep wanting the full story, Desi agrees to reveal all, much to the horror of the Gatewoods, who will do anything to stop her. But Desi has more than a few tricks up her sleeve...

We are Back Online:

(As you may have figured, since you are here)

A special thank you to Zeva who has been working diligently to get us back on track.  She has www.sisterssippintea.com active & set up a blog for Sister's Sippin' Tea. Kudos to Zeva!!!

Here you will be able to easily find information on our monthly sips, meeting recaps and book of the month ratings.  We also have links to our photo gallery from previous events and functions.

We would love to hear your feedback about the site!  Let us know what you think...please leave a comment below!

Holiday Social

Thanks to sistahs Janetta, Julie and Zeva who agreed to coordinate our Annual SST Holiday Social.  This year we are doing things a little different.  Instead of having our social at a local restaurant  it will be held at the RiverPark West Clubhouse on a Saturday.  We will have to WHOLE place to ourselves!!!  I will send more details next month.  

So please "Save the Date"!!!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

2:00 pm to 5:00 pm

We will have our annual teapot/tea cup exchange.  Check out the pictures from last years social on our Gallery Page.

Each member is asked to bring your favorite "spirit".  Lunch will be catered from money in our SST account .

Other Sisters Sippin' Tea News:

Tulsa SST Chapter's 9th Annual Books and Brunch yielded 540 guests!!!  How awesome are these sistahs??? I attempted to attend and represent Houston Chapter, however, all flights were full, so after waiting 3-4 hrs at Hobby airport, I called Sharon and said "forget about it"! She was very understanding.  Hopefully we can get a group of the Houston chapter to make next years event!

Also, we still need hostess(s) for the January sip!  Please let us know ASAP if you would like to host this sip!  Looking forward to seeing  you ladies at the November Sip.

Sistahly yours

Who Asked You by Terry McMillan -- Official Book Trailer

Ladies, if you were not able to make it to the Ensemble Theater on last Wednesday night, you missed a treat.  Here is the official book trailer from Terry McMillan and the background on "Who Asked You"



This book will prove to be another SST lively discussion!

Save the Date 2013 Sisters Sippin' Tea Holiday Social

Thank you for the many prompt responses for the 2013 SST Holiday Social location....it is unanimous (heard from 14 sistahs)...We will be partying on Saturday, December 21st  at 2:00 p.m.  I've already reserved my neighborhood clubhouse.  Will keep you posted on this upcoming social event.  

Thanks again for your attention to this matter!

Menie

Terry McMillan Book Signing

Photo from www.TerryMcMillan.com

We just found out that Terry McMillan will be at the Ensemble Theater on Wed. Oct 9th at 7:00 p.m. doing a book signing for her new book (which is also our October book of the month) "Who Asked You"

This event is hosted by Brazos Book Store.  Tickets can be purchased online or in person from Brazos Book Store.  The ticket price is $27.95 which includes the book.  For those of you who download on Kindle or Audible, you can purchase a plus one ticket for $10 to go along with someone else admission.

http://www.brazosbookstore.com/event/terry-mcmillan-who-asked-you-ticketed 

Information from the website:

This ticketed event will take place at the Ensemble Theatre. Your ticket purchase includes one copy of "WHO ASKED YOU?" as well as entry to the event. Tickets must be presented at the door for entry to the event. (One ticket per seat.) You may pre-purchase your ticket online (below) or in store at Brazos Bookstore. Tickets and books will be available to pick-up from Brazos Bookstore after September 17.  Pre-purchased tickets and books may be retrieved from the Brazos table at the event, but please allow extra time for pick-up. Ticket-holders must arrive no later than 6:45 to be guaranteed seating. Unclaimed seats will be released at 6:45 and latecomers will be seated at the discretion of the house manager.  Tickets will be available at the door.

Event Details:

Parking is available in the area surrounding The Ensemble Theatre. The presentation will last approximately one hour. Terry McMillan will sign books following the presentation. Books will not be pre-signed and you must go through the signing line to have your book signed. Additional books will be available for purchase on site.

September Sip Recap

A special thanks to September's Sip hostesses, Brendia, Jacquelyn & Lou for starting the new Sip Season with a bang!  We had a great time discussing the summer books, appreciated the yummy treats and more importantly was genuinely glad to be amongst our SST sistahs!  Thanks again for your warm hospitality!

The summer book selections both scored very high.  We were eager to discuss "Before I Forget" and agreed this brother can truly weave a story.  The story line was very interesting on so many levels.  If you have not yet had the opportunity to read this book, do yourself a favor, guarantee you will not regret it....such an excellent read!

 

BOM Ratings:  

• Little Green by Walter Mosley
  SST Rating = 8 
• Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts Jr.
  SST Rating = 10

October's BOM:  

Who Asked You? by Terry McMillian

October's Sip

Hosted by:  Alesia, Janetta, Janice, Nae & Novell

Date:  Saturday, October 26, 2013

Time:  2:00 - 4:00 PM

** Please RSVP. they really need a head count***

We are still in desperate need of hostesses for November & January's Sip....please advise if interested.

The Annual Holiday Social  is coming up in December.  I will check availability of my community clubhouse per request by some of you to ensure a more intimate, personal holiday function.  Will keep you posted of date and time once I am notified of availability.  Several sistahs suggested we party on a Saturday afternoon.

Helen, Janice, Jacquelyn, Lou, Menie and Merrie (TX City Chapter) represented Sisters Sippin' Tea at the Toronto, Canada Literary Retreat experience at last Sip and had "big fun".  We met a lot of sistahs from other African-American book clubs from other U.S. cities.  We did a full day motor coach bus tour to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.  It was an awesome experience!  We forgot to share our experience at the last sip...we'll update you in October.  Remind us to tell you about the authors there were scheduled to attend!!!

Hope everyone is excited about Sippin' Tea this season...looking forward to reading good books and sharing thoughts!

Sistahly yours

Menie