Good News

Good News

This sounds incredibly cliché; however, no news isn’t good news, good news is good news.  So in honor of spreading some good vibes, here are some tidbits of good news:

·         Blog Crush: Recently, I have been kinda blog-crushing on someone who just got some good news; she and her husband were waiting to adopt and they finally got matched with their son.  The story is heartwarming and inspiring; not to mention honest and heartbreaking, but she explains all of her feelings very eloquently, admirable even.  In addition to her detailing her adoption process, she’s also a picture blogger.  Her husband and she are handy, so there’s no shortage of before and afters, but like myself she’s also kinda obsessed with everyday pictures edited to look fancy.  So, while I don’t need an excuse to post   some edited to fabulousness pictures, it’s nice to know that other people who don’t make a living behind the lens enjoy photography and photo editing the crap out of their pictures as much as I do.  Check out their story here.

·         First Birthday Awesomeness:  As I’ve said before and will say again, Baby’s 1^st Birthdays are for the parents.  So that’s why I am stoked that I found this perfect 1^st Birthday celebration to get the ball rolling.  As Rajan, a dear friend of mine, would say, it’s going to be epic.  Check out the decoration that inspired it all. (And yes, Dad... I realize it’s a total waste of money, but I'm pretty sure celebrities would do this sort of thing for their babies, so that makes it all worth it.)  Check out the "Round Birthday Decal" and tell me that's not awesome.  I'm seriously thinking about this for my 30th Birthday Celebration.  (That's right, it's capitalized because it's an event.) 

This little guy is worth EVERY penny!

Doesn't this look like a baby Glamour Shot?

·         That’s a Whopping 20%-26% Savings:  Since day care costs have risen along with every other expenditure in the world, I have started my own version of extreme couponing called, buy generic and memorize the supermarket circular in order to save some money.  Hence, the 20%-26% savings per bill, which may not sound like a lot, but every dollar counts, right?  And also hence the 8 unopened jars of salsa and 9 unopened bottles of barbeque sauce in our linen closet.

·         Speaking of Savings, Lovin’ Me Some Borders**:  Reading is awesome but expensive.  I know the argument to that: the library.  Like I’ve said before, the Dewey Decimal system sucks and libraries smell like a mold outbreak waiting to happen; therefore, there ain’t no way in hell that I’m going to be swiping my library card anytime soon.  So what’s a girl to do?  I have taken a serious interest in the Borders sale happening right now; 30%-50% off?  Awesome.  Books that are going to be used for nothing other than craft projects 50% off?  Outstanding.  Check it out. Now.

·         Holiday Shopping:  I’m 80% done.  100% of the gifts I bought were either: a) on sale, b) under $5.00 or c) on sale for under five dollars.

These are just some of the good things happening right now…  If you have good news, shout it from the roof tops, baby!

**In all seriousness, it really is completely tragic that 11,000 people are losing their jobs because Borders is going out of business; in this economy, the last thing I would want to be struggling with is financial insecurity.  This is the opposite of good news, this is terrible news; good luck to anyone and everyone affected by this closing.

For about 30 seconds I seriously considered joining yelp... but then I didn't.

In a very real sense, Yelp saved humanity, but probably moreso just my humanity amd a life of only eating at my local strip mall pizza joint every weekend.  Although it’s a little less than official to the food writing estab, it’s pretty much my bible.  Where else can I go to get the real low down on the latest hot spots and how the service really was or how the roasted corn and fig compote slathered on a crispy duck toast points with warm butternut squash and poppy seed risotto really tastes (and just in case you haven’t picked up on the sarcasm, that dish I was referring to doesn’t actually exist, nor should it, but it’s something that people would totally order because it’s got a lot of shit in it, it sounds fancy and it’s gonna be expensive; and by people I mean moi.)  So, recently when I Yelped my fancy pants dinner in advance at a very trendy, celebrity restaurant in Atlantic City (and no, it was not Planet Hollywood) in order to see what was in store and I was impressed.  Lots of good reviews and tons of great recommendations; sweet.

So here’s what I would have written after dining at the same restaurant:

The atmosphere: Too nice for me.  Although, since the restaurant is located in Atlantic City, the ambiance noted, “chic, classic”, can take a turn for the worse when lots of little old ladies arrive in their panty hose and JCPenny grandma separates look and the little old men arrive with subdued Hawaiian t-shirts and pleated khaki slacks.  Overall, it really depended on your age and how hard you wanted to try to impress the person across from you.

The food: I find it more than a little disconcerting that there was no salt or pepper available.  I guess in an establishment like this, one is expected to bow down to the Chef and not seek to season to taste.  Overall, the corn soup needed pepper and the steamed clams and mussels were average.

The staff: So, I’m expecting a lot.  Call me Mrs. H, Mrs. I, Mrs. Ghs, Mrs. T, Mrs. A- Mrs. Ndards.  Whatever, I don’t even care.  (Trust me, I really don’t.)  But here’s what I do care about, being treated like this is an extravagance and not just any Friday night.  Seriously.  Recently, my brother hit the nail on the head when he said that he, myself and my sister are the champions of the eavesdrop; so when it comes to food being sent back in a swanky place, it’s like my Bat Signal.  Apparently, the veal chop that the old man at the next table ordered was fatty.  And like any average person would, he probably ate some of it, hell, maybe even a lot of it; but that doesn’t excuse the manager’s response:

Mr. Manager: We could get you a new one…  But it looks like you already have something to eat…  Oh, you got that from someone at the table?...  Well, next time, do me a favor and don’t eat the majority of it because if you do, it’s kinda like, how bad could it have been? 

The old man and his entourage tried to rebut the manager’s comments, but Mr. Manager just patted the guy on the back and walked away.  After the table left, Mr. Waiter (who was also our waiter) called over Mr. Manager to let him know that the table called Mr. Waiter over for one more uproar about the treatment that they received and how this was some of the ‘lousiest’ service they’d had in AC in 30 years and the two of them just laughed.  Giggled and smirked... as though it was nothing.  Well I gotta tell you, it is something.  When you’re droppin’ cold hard cash on a celebrity eating establishment (with the exception of Planet Hollywood… WOAH, total moment of pause here, there’s a Planet Hollywood Casino and Resort?  Ok, what the hell?  An actual hurricane just came by and blew me away… that’s. how. shocked. i. am.) you’re expecting things to be addressed professionally, not by someone out to make a point that you ate some of your fatty veal chop.  And also, Mr. Waiter, don’t inquire about the food by asking, “It was very, very good, right?”  It’s like, hey, I am the one who gives the “very, very good” rating so please don’t put words in my judgmental mouth.

So, the moral of the story is, I get much more out of dragging the kids and my husband out early on a Saturday morning to get local cheese, blackberries and eggplant than I get poshing it up at some "too full of itself" fine dining establishment.  Cheers to buying local and buying fresh!



Ahhh... comfort and awesomeness.



30 blogs in 30 days challenge

It's offically official.  I'm going to do 30 blogs in 30 days.  Brace yourselves, y'all.

I heart

Arden's smile.  Please, enjoy:

An interesting thought

I know that people are hard on the internet; in my opinion, they're too hard.  I've seen plenty of scandalizing headlines telling me that my kids are going to be "stupid" because they have access to it; but I disagree, my kids are surely going to be geniuses (internet or no internet)!  I remember when computers first appeared on the scene, we had this class called "Computers."  (The school board "think tank" that overexerted themselves coming up with such a clever class title surely should be commended for their thinking outside of the box skills.)  "Computers" was all about turning on the computer, typing a sentence on the computer and my personal favorite, playing Oregon Trail until your whole frontier party got wiped out trying to ford the river.  This was long before the internet had been 'created' by Al Gore and the rest of Congress and internet access on the "Zach Morris cell phone" was clearly not an option.

So, now that we have access at our fingertips, do my parents believe that I'm "stupider" than I would have been had it not been 'created.'  Hell no!  Maybe, but they're not going to tell me that!  Honestly, I have learned a lot from the internet, I'm a great proponent of using it as an educational tool, which is clearly evident from my recent Google searches: 

• Why do hardwood floors creak?
• What is the difference between a city and a town?
• Why do mosquito bites itch?
• Why are the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees rivals?
• Why did the Browns move to Las Vegas?
• Why is there a Canadian baseball team in the American League?
• What determines eye color?
• Drinking games.
• Bob Ross.
• Al Gore invented the internet

And that list goes, on and on.  But my point is, before the internet, I would have had to traipse over to the Library and search by the card catalogue and let’s face it, The Dewey Decimal System is pretty much the most archaic thing going.  Sorry, Mr. Dewey (update to my Google search list: Dewey Decimal System), but it’s kinda true.  So, to every quasi upright citizen who wants to challenge the IQ consequences of the over Google-ing of the American youth, I say, get over it!  I Google and my kids are definitely going to Google and that’s quite all right with me.

I heart

the White Noise ap.  When Beebs is almost ready to drift off and I don't want to disturb him by turning on the vacuum, I use the next best thing, the White Noise ap.  It's $1.99, worth every penny and I highly recommend it to anyone trying to sooth a colicky baby. 

Happy Father's Day!

Success!  A picture where everyone is looking at the camera!