I Love....

.....NEW ORLEANS!!!

This weekend I watched a special on New Orleans and the Jazz Fest. Now I have never been to the Jazz Fest but T & my family all went to New Orleans in April of 2004 for the French Quarter fest. The French Quarter fest is a FREE festival that features a couple hundred musical performers, over 60 didfferent food vendors and plenty of shopping and culture to look at!

Anyways, I just have to say I truly miss it and I am getting the "bug" to go down again. The music was great and the food....well this is probably the best food (in my opinion) out there!!!

I think that if you have never been to New Orleans and you enjoy food, music, culture and history....you HAVE to visit N.O. at least once in your life. (However, I am sure if you go once you will want to keep going back.) And it is defiantly a place that runs off tourism and they need our support!

New Orleans website.

So anyways...I miss New Orleans and can't WAIT till we can go back and I also think everyone should go once in their life!!!

FACT

Swirl ice cream cones.....making bad days better since 1951!!!!

Be Back Soon!!!

So I know I haven't blogged in a few days and I am sad to say it may be a few more days before I am able to blog again. Things are just crazy busy this week! I am planning 6 events currently with a HUGE grand opening this Sunday!

So I will try to get back to blogging when I can! In the meantime (a few updates) I had a WONDERFUL birthday with my husband and family! I DID get the design wave I had talked about previously and I think I like it (it has only been a week, so we will see). And from now on please refer to me by my work walking team name (we are going with a pirate theme) Dirty Jennie the Wench of the Pirate Ship Scurvy Eunuchs! Yeah, that pretty much sums up my last week!!! ;-)

I'LL SHOUT IT TO THE WORLD!!!!!

So I don't know if I will be online much this weekend. Why you ask....well that is because Sunday is my birthday! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I L.O.V.E. birthdays - especially mine! What a great day....you get to pick what you want for dinner, you get a cake or sweet treat of your choice, you get presents, you spend time with family and friends, people constantly wish you well, and most importantly.....it is a day that is ALL about you and celebrates your existence on this world!!! How freak'n awesome is that ?!?!?!?!

So this weekend as I turn a wonderful 27, I am having dinner with my parents, husband, sister & her boyfriend and then getting ice cream cake from Marble Slab! YUM! Then of course PRESENTS!!! I am not going to lie - I love to get presents!!!

So I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend - I sure know I will!!!

(I seriously turn into a 5 year old girl when it comes to my birthday - and I hope that never changes!!! I also hope this doesn't come across as I have an ego or anything...I just truly love birthdays - everyones birthday!!!)

WILL POWER!!!!!!!!!

T. just called me and told me he bought something for me for my birthday and used our account and that I was NOT to look online to see where he got it from. (Background...I am on our online account every other day b/c I really enjoy keeping a budget...so he knew I would check!)

It is taking EVERYTHING I have not to get online and just see at least where he got my gift from. I have a seriously hard time not trying to guess gifts....infact I have texted him with guesses on this particular gift 5 times since I got off the phone with him.

I think I just get SO excited about getting gifts and I don't like to wait for the surprise that I HAVE to guess...and part of me likes the satisfaction when I am right!!! I do this every year at Christmas too!! (it is sad, I know. It is like a disease)

So I have to wait till SUNDAY. This is going to be pretty much impossible. I will just keep thinking how I know he wants to surprise me...but it doesn't make it any easier knowing answers are only a couple of mouse clicks away!!!


P.S. I think he got me guitar hero and something with My Chemical Romance from Hot Topic! hehehe

Talk to me....

So I am considering getting some design waves in my hair. I guess technically it could be called a perm....but it isn't nearly as tight. Just some waves to give my hair some body.

I use to have naturally curly hair when it was longer, but now that it is shorter I can not for the life of me get my hair curly anymore. This kinda sucks....I like that body in my hair.

So I was wondering if A) anyone has ever gotten a body/design wave or B) do you know of anyone who has ever gotten one?

They are more expensive then a regular perm & I don't want it to either look like nothing was done to it or resembling my 7th & 8th grade "bad perm" hair!!!

So if anyone has any comments - please let me know!

This Sounds Fun!

T & I saw this at the store the other day. Hasbro has a new product called Tooth Tunes! Basically they are toothbrushes that play a 2 minute song (the minimum time you should brush your teeth) but they supposedly play the music through your teeth! It says on the website that you touch the toothbrush to your teeth and the bristles send music through your teeth into your head! AWESOME!

Click Here for the website.

The product is $10 and plays songs from bands like Black Eyed Peas, Beach Boys, the song from Napoleon Dynamite, KISS, Queen...and my personal fav. YMCA by the Village People! HAHA Who wouldn't want to brush their teeth for at least 4 minutes each day while listening to the YMCA playing in your head?!?! (that wouldn't drive you crazy at all)

Anyways, I may just go and buy one to try it out. It just sounds interesting! I may go with the Napoleon Dynamite one - FUN! I actually think this is a very fun idea for kids! I will let you know how it works!!

Other tooth tune suggestions: Book in a toothbrush, News in a toothbrush, encouragement in a toothbrush, or Recipes in a toothbrush. 2 minute clips of these would be awesome!!! ;-)

A Message to the Media

Dear Media,


I have to say that I am continuously 100% disgusted by you and how you act when there is a major tragedy. In my opinion you should be providing us with the most current information. You should be non-basis, get the facts and report what you find out. What you should NOT DO is try to “sell” your station to the masses by coming up with taglines about the tragedy in question or use words like slaughter, carnage, blood bath, or walking wounded to describe what happened. This is NOT a movie or a way to get ratings …..this is real life! That should NOT be how we are referring to the people who died or injured in this extremely tragic attack. A little respect should be offered.

I am not a big fan of many of the well known media outlets in general – I think they think they are superstars and can say whatever they want. If I wanted to listen to that I would go to talk radio….not my news. I know maybe I sound harsh, but it is how I feel. I believe we don’t need to exaggerate what happened in a way to “make news”. People were killed and people there and all over are mourning this sad attack.

We need answers not opinions, updates not movie trailers, provide support and help where needed not blame, and influence other colleges & businesses to re-evaluate their plans to help protect & prevent incidents like this from happening again at this level. I know this doesn’t happen a lot but it happens enough that in today’s society we should be prepared for anything!

I would also appreciate your apology to all families and friends who had to listen to you refer to the individuals at this school as carnage.

Jenn



As a side note….I watched the news for only 20 minutes while they reported on this incident as that is all I could take. They used slaughter - 3 times, carnage - 6, blood bath – 2, walking wounded – 4 (not nearly as bad as the others, but still it is how they referred to these individuals).

SERIOUSLY!!!!!! How fast was this jackass going???

(Ok, I think this is a decent amount of damage for someone who should be driving into a parking space! How fast was this ass going??? I know it isn't major - but still! We will have to pay $250 b/c some idiot doesn't know the difference between a parking lot and the interstate!!)

So yesterday as I was leaving work (at a college) I walked out to my car and noticed my bumper on the drivers side sticking out about an inch or so. I then proceeded to look around and noticed scuff marks and paint chipped.

SOMEONE HIT MY CAR IN THE PARKING LOT!!!!!!!! (there were no cars behind me at the time)

I had a Dr. appt I needed to get to so I couldn't exam it as well as I would have liked but I did take pictures on my cell phone. Then when T & I had a chance to actually look at it closer it appears that this jackass (who was either in a big SUV or truck) basically didn't even stop and went straight into the back of my car! The bumper is out of place and most likely the trunk will need replaced b/c it has a big dent in it and won't align properly to close all the way! It is defiantly drivable and my husband (who works with cars) said nothing in the frame was damaged & the lights all still work - which is really good - but my car will need fixed.

It is SO frustrating. T & I work really hard for nice stuff. This is our only "good" car at the moment b/c we can't afford a newer car for T. at the moment. So if anything happens to my car we are screwed. I take care of my stuff and work hard to afford nicer stuff and it would be nice if other people would be respectful of those around them......but I know that is asking WAY too much of people! Of course there was no note or anything - b/c that would be responsible, and heaven knows people can not take responsibilities for their completely stupid actions!!!

I called our security, so we will see what happens. I would love to see the car of the person who hit me (we have some cameras out there) but that is very hopeful thinking. Until then I have a dented car and probably a rather expensive bill heading our way.

Seriously - sometimes I truly can not believe people.

Friday Flashback!

I have to say that I LOVED this song back in the mid 90's! (1995 or 1996 I think). I heard it the other day on the radio and it brought a smile to my face! Surprisingly I still remembered the entire song....I felt 16 all over again :-)

So please enjoy the song "Peaches" by the President's of the United States of America!

AWESOME!!!

This Sounds SO Fun!!!

So I was looking through my Rachael Ray magazine last night and came across this fun game! It is called Cooking Mama, cook off and it is for the Nintendo Wii system! Let me tell you folks – this game sounds freak’n AWESOME!!!

Basically you use the Nintendo Wii remote to compete in the game to cook! You can mash, slice, chop, stir, grate, roll and create more than 300 real-world recipes!

“New realistic graphics and real-time cooking effects that actually change the food in appearance based on your actions lend authenticity to player creations and help budding chefs determine when food is overcooked. Best of all, Cooking Mama: Cook Off offers 2-player kitchen competitions to determine who can cook the best meal the fastest.”


SERIOUSLY – SO COOL!!


This is MY type of game! Too bad the system is nearly $400 – UGH! Hopefully it will start to come down, b/c you can bet this is defiantly something I would like to own!



P.S. There is also a bowling game for Nintendo Wii that also looks awesome!

Cheese-O-Licious!!!

So there is a new cheese out there that T. bought for me last week that I absolutely LOVE!

It is Swiss Portobello slices from Sargento! YUM!!!

I love mushrooms! ALL kinds - they are so good! So for me to blend Swiss cheese and portobello mushrooms is just a beautiful thing...and frankly - genius!! Put it on a burger and it is delicious!

I highly recommend this cheese if you are a cheese and a mushroom lover like myself!


(Apparently this cheese is SO new - or they just have it in test markets - that I can not find a picture of it anywhere!!! Not even on Sargento's website! However, I am looking at the cheese as we speak and I know it does truly exist!)

CONGRATS!

Congrats to my friend Jennifer who just got a new job!!!! I am SO happy for you!

This sounds like it will be PERFECT for you! YAY!!!!!!!!

Allergic? You too can have a cat - for a price!

I saw this on the Rachael Ray show yesterday…..they have a new hypoallergenic cat out there!

“ALLERCA has produced the world's first scientifically-proven hypoallergenic cats. These cats allow some of the millions of people with feline allergies to finally enjoy the love and companionship of a household pet without suffering from allergic symptoms.” (if you can afford it)

Click Here for website

Basically they found the gene in cats that would produce the allergies we get from cats and through genetic testing they continue to lower the amount of this gene with each new breed of cat…making it more and more hypoallergenic – until you get what you have today.

So if you have a mere $3950 to spare (plus $995 for shipping)…you can get yourself one cute hypoallergenic kitty!

A Little Behind?!?!?!

I saw this on MSN today. (Click here) There is a school in Georgia that is planning its first non-segregated prom. Yes, you heard me – this school still has self-segregated proms between the black and white students. That is crazy!! Maybe I am naive, I know there are still people who are 30 + years behind society in their thinking….but come on!

DELETE!

I just deleted 4,124 "sent" email messages from my work email account!!!! It feels so good to clean out the old! (My storage went from 55% to 40%!!)

These are emails that I have sent to people during 2006 and part of 2005! I didn't delete my entire sent box (paper trails folks) but a good chunk!

What a productive way to spend an afternoon at work!! :)

I am "THAT" Person - PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the other morning I went to Starbucks for my usual coffee! I also ordered a bottle water…..b/c everytime I have a cup of coffee or a can of pop I drink water at the same time. (I feel like it is a good thing – ha)

So I pull up to the drive through window and the following conversation takes place:

Barista: “I can give you a small cup of ice water for free?”
Me: “No thank you, I prefer the bottle…but thanks for the offer!”
Barista: “Oh, ok. Your total is $5.10 – So, you must be THAT type of person.”
Me: Silence
Barista: “I can’t really tell a difference between bottle and from the tap, but I guess some people can.”
Me: “Well, I am just clumsy and like to have a secure lid on my water.” (Not the full reason, but I was shocked and that is what I came up with)
Barista: “Ok”

Now, I don’t think EVER in my life I have been referred to as “that person”. What does THAT even mean??? It actually makes me kind of mad.

I took them up on their free water once before and I drank all the water before I even got to work b/c it was a small cup and a lot of ice. I also like to use the water bottle and refill it throughout the day at the water fountain….YES THE WATER FOUNTAIN!!! Does “that” type of person refill at the water fountain????? So the way I see it is if I want to spend the $1-2 of MY own money, one day a week on bottle of natural spring water (that by the way $.05 of each sale supports humanitarian water projects to bring clean water to children) then I WILL!

So maybe yes I am THAT person. I am THAT person who like to spend my money how I choose and you should be THAT person who keeps their nose out of my business!!!



Please note: The above incident has not negatively impacted the way I feel about Starbucks nor will not keep me from continuing to go to Starbucks….I am defiantly not THAT kind of person!

CONGRATS!

Congrats to my cousin A. and her husband as they just welcomed a new baby girl to their home!!!

They had their daughter, Macey Jo, April 4th!

I am SO happy for the two of them & can't wait to see the whole family in May!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE These!!!!!

So my friend A (her blog here) emailed me these pics of rainboots from target yesterday! (How nice was that!!!)

Let me tell you folks – I am in love!!! First off target just has some amazing shoes in general right now! But their rainboots are all SO cute! There are so many pairs I would like to buy! However, the hearts and skulls and the skulls and swords are by FAR my favorite ones!!! I am on buying probation since my birthday is this month so I guarantee as soon as my birthday is over I am going to be up at target buying at least one (if not both) of these rainboots!

Thanks again A., you totally made my day!