If you're from anywhere near Pittsburgh, I know what your plans are for the evening. They involve either putting on 15 layers of clothing and filling up coolers of beer and snausages or they involve yelling at a flat-screen tv or 20 and eating beer and snausages.
If you live in New Orleans and you're a member of the Junior League Transfers group, you are currently having your left foot and calf humped by a four-month-old terrier-poodle mix (oh wait, that's just me). Actually you have a dinner planned for 5:30 p.m. CT that has been on the calendar for two months. The timing would have been altered if the beloved Saints were playing today. But they are not. But the Stillers are! So the kick-off time for the party and for the game coincide perfectly.
Now I really love being a member of the Junior League. We help homeowners renovate houses, donate backpacks to school kids, and donate funds to shelters. We also have kick-ass social activities. Like tonight would have been if there weren't a kick-ass game to watch.
So I was torn. Attend the party at the mansion with all my new girlfriends and drink wine and try everyone's potluck dish, OR go the bar or to J & G's back yard and drink beer and eat tortilla chips (snausages?) and bite my fingernails as Roethlisberger gets sacked again and again? I'm going halfsies. First half with the ladies. Second half with the fans or foes.
We saw some clip about Rex Ryan last night and how he's always telling his players to just "be yourself." Riiight, as long as "yourself" is faster, stronger, smarter and better than your Steelers counterpart. Well, Mark Sanchez is definitely cuter than Big Ben, so they've got that.
Which reminds me. Yesterday we were walking in the Quarter with Buddy!, who we discovered is scared of brass instruments. He actually backed himself up into an ornate lamppost, he was so terrified. But he got used to it. We ran into a miniature greyhound and his owner who called his dog "Rexy." Rexy is a rescue who apparently used to beat the crap out of other dogs, but is now "spoiled rotten." Buddy! got to be his first attempt at socializing, which we didn't realize at the time. The owner was so happy that Rexy did so well and apparently didn't rip off Buddy!'s ear or something.
Then I went to the fancy dog "barkery" and got Buddy! a treat shaped like a squirrel.
Go Steelers!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Back in NoLa
Just returned to my new home state from a ten-day jaunt through the Mid-Atlantic region. Highlights of the trip include watching West Virginia beat Georgetown (even though Pitt later KILLED Georgetown), checking out some hip places in Baltimore, seeing my best friend and her daughter (even though in was in IKEA). Actually let's stop here. My friend M wanted to go to IKEA for their sale.
Since I was in Baltimore and IKEA is in Baltimore, she decided to combine the two visits. So we walked around IKEA for two hours while her husband slept in the car and her daughter (not yet four) kept telling us to "hurry" because we had made the mistake of letting her see the children's play area upon arrival and she needed to get back to it STAT.
Since little A was so good in the store she got to pick a toy and she picked the most expensive gigantic stuffed dog and named it Lilly ($19.95). M says that every new doll is named Lilly. When I was little I named all of my dolls and imaginary friends Alexandria and Elizabeth and Olivia--anything I thought was "Victorian." By the by, I always found playing with imaginary friends extremely boring. Did anyone actually enjoy this?
Oh, we took the train to Baltimore from D.C., which was really fast and convenient. They don't inspect your luggage on those things, so terrorists probably like them.
After that we went to Gettysburg, which was cool. And cold. But we got the CD to play in your car and drove around the monuments and battlefields. Yes, Buddy! was with us and it was fun letting him run around but making sure he didn't desecrate any piece of history. At some point he pooed on his leash. I discovered that later in the hotel room and was like, "That's why I kept smelling it . . ."
The above monument commemorates the lives lost from the state of Virginia, which was technically NOT my home state as of 10 or so days before. The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3, 1863. Governor Arthur I. Boreman gave the first Inaugural address to the residents of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Thank you Internet article: W.Va. Birth Date
After this we had a brief stop in MoTown to see our Captain America J. who everyone is praying for and who should be back in top form soon enough. And then . . . Follansbee!!!
This was actually one of my favorite parts of the trip because we didn't have anything to do or anywhere to be. But it snowed the whole time and we were restricted to twice daily walks around the neighborhood to keep from going all "Shining" on each other. Buddy! loves the snow, even though it makes him shiver:
It was then on to Pittsburgh where we stayed at Tomo's because he's an awesome friend and we went out to BRGR, a new hip joint in East Liberty. And the whole town was jumping for joy because the Steelers won and the Patriots lost and yay! more football games to watch!!!
Somewhere in there West Virginia won another basketball game. I like to see if Huggins is wearing his wedding ring during the games. Because sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't. I mean, that's supposed to be optional, right? Or maybe some days it just doesn't fit on his finger.
We saw lots of friends and ate good food and it was fun. But, I am so happy to be back in 50+ weather and in my own bed. Buddy! is in his crate and not hiding under someone's bed waiting for me to walk by so he can bite the crap out of my ankle. Or pee on someone's floor. (Sorry friends who let us stay!)
Since I was in Baltimore and IKEA is in Baltimore, she decided to combine the two visits. So we walked around IKEA for two hours while her husband slept in the car and her daughter (not yet four) kept telling us to "hurry" because we had made the mistake of letting her see the children's play area upon arrival and she needed to get back to it STAT.
Since little A was so good in the store she got to pick a toy and she picked the most expensive gigantic stuffed dog and named it Lilly ($19.95). M says that every new doll is named Lilly. When I was little I named all of my dolls and imaginary friends Alexandria and Elizabeth and Olivia--anything I thought was "Victorian." By the by, I always found playing with imaginary friends extremely boring. Did anyone actually enjoy this?
Oh, we took the train to Baltimore from D.C., which was really fast and convenient. They don't inspect your luggage on those things, so terrorists probably like them.
After that we went to Gettysburg, which was cool. And cold. But we got the CD to play in your car and drove around the monuments and battlefields. Yes, Buddy! was with us and it was fun letting him run around but making sure he didn't desecrate any piece of history. At some point he pooed on his leash. I discovered that later in the hotel room and was like, "That's why I kept smelling it . . ."
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| The Pastoral and Historical combine for an appealing site in Gettysburg. |
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| Cannonball! |
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| One of the biggest monuments--looks out over Cemetery Hill and uh, something else important |
After this we had a brief stop in MoTown to see our Captain America J. who everyone is praying for and who should be back in top form soon enough. And then . . . Follansbee!!!
This was actually one of my favorite parts of the trip because we didn't have anything to do or anywhere to be. But it snowed the whole time and we were restricted to twice daily walks around the neighborhood to keep from going all "Shining" on each other. Buddy! loves the snow, even though it makes him shiver:
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| BudDog likes to make yellow slushies |
Somewhere in there West Virginia won another basketball game. I like to see if Huggins is wearing his wedding ring during the games. Because sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't. I mean, that's supposed to be optional, right? Or maybe some days it just doesn't fit on his finger.
We saw lots of friends and ate good food and it was fun. But, I am so happy to be back in 50+ weather and in my own bed. Buddy! is in his crate and not hiding under someone's bed waiting for me to walk by so he can bite the crap out of my ankle. Or pee on someone's floor. (Sorry friends who let us stay!)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Where did that little black marker go?
Why do they make dog stuff so complicated? I bought Buddy! this cool bake name tag and I screwed it up, of course. Not too surprising since I tend to do many things the wrong way. Some past doosies include painting an entire bathroom dark blue with no paint tape around the word work. Covering the areas you don't want smeared with blue paint--what a great idea! I also broke off my side mirror on my car not once, twice, but four times. I ran into a bank teller wall, a mailbox, a parked truck's mirror and the back of a moving truck. My point is that I sometimes, not always mind you, do stupid stuff.
Today I wrote on Buddy!'s name tag with a "MediChoice Skin Marking Pen" that I thought was the marker that came with the tag. I mean they are both little markers. So, here's how the name tag turned out:
I mean, this is actually Elbow's fault. Where did this skin marking pen come from? I certainly didn't bring it home from my work, since I don't have a job! I am starting another internship, though. Get this. It's at the hospital where they didn't hire me back in August. And guess who I'll be working under? The woman they did hire! Have I mentioned that I tend to do things the wrong way?
Today I wrote on Buddy!'s name tag with a "MediChoice Skin Marking Pen" that I thought was the marker that came with the tag. I mean they are both little markers. So, here's how the name tag turned out:
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| Can you read this? |
Exhibit A:
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| Looks just like the marker that came in the name tag package. |
In other news, check out these awesome shoes we bought Buddy! He's like Mike Tyson in these mini boxing gloves. I'll try to get a picture. Elbow also insisted we buy him a camouflage hooded jacket. Yes, hooded.
I will definitely get a picture of that.
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| A knockout |
Here's some other cute pictures of Buddy!
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| Wanted! |
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| He likes to scatter around random objects. That's his little sweater. |
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Cute puppy = attention and free stuff
For Christmas, I got a little dog who looks like Toto from The Wizard of Oz. His name is Buddy! and he likes to chew socks and do number 2 in his cage. Here he is dressed up for the holdiays:
This picture was taken when Buddy! was still shy and a little bit nervous around us. Nowadays he rips around like a furry tornado, tipping kitchen stools and dragging pieces of firewood until he literally passes from exhaustion on a lap. Currently he is trying to dig his way to the bottom of our couch and making noises like the girl from The Exorcist.
But he does get us free stuff. A woman bought me coffee the other day because I was outside with Buddy and couldn't go in to get it. A groomer gave him a free brush.
Buddy! is the reason I have not blogged in two weeks or finished the second novel in the Wicked series (so good). We love him. The drawback is that I actually have to brush my hair and look decent before I go walking in the park because this dog is a people magnet. People love to talk to him and about him and I can barely get around the oval without someone coming to tell me about how much they want a Yorkie Poo of their own. He knows how to play fetch:
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| Buddy! loves antlers |
But he does get us free stuff. A woman bought me coffee the other day because I was outside with Buddy and couldn't go in to get it. A groomer gave him a free brush.
Buddy! is the reason I have not blogged in two weeks or finished the second novel in the Wicked series (so good). We love him. The drawback is that I actually have to brush my hair and look decent before I go walking in the park because this dog is a people magnet. People love to talk to him and about him and I can barely get around the oval without someone coming to tell me about how much they want a Yorkie Poo of their own. He knows how to play fetch:
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| Bend it like Beckham |
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Living it up in Da South
Today it's 62 degrees (but it feels like the 70's) and sunny. I just discovered something fantastic about our 100+-years-old house. The windows open!
Maybe this sounds strange to you, but the truth is that the season for open windows is very narrow in New Orleans. It's usually too hot. I'm assuming there is a time when it's too cold, but we haven't got there yet.
So, some of our giant rectangular windows have screens at the bottom of them. And wouldn't you know it? These are the ones that open, with a groan and some dust and some kicked-up little leaves that are who knows how old.
I'm cleaning the crap out of this place this weekend because the faux in-laws are coming to stay next week. They're "faux" because they are not technically my in-laws, but they fit that bill in most respects. If this were politics, they would be "Acting" or "Lieutenant" in-laws, but this is Nola, so I'm sticking with faux. 1/4 of my parental units will be here as well: Crazy Coco. She gets to stay in the man room, which will be converted into a guest room. I'll have a photo of this after it's set up. Everyone loves to stay in a room with a weight bench in the center of it, right? Thought so.
In other news, I worked at the restaurant last night. I'm a filler for when they are short. The secret to working these kinds of jobs is to only work them once a month. And then it's all smiles and this is fun and I can't believe I ever left. But really, one night is enough. No one was rude, but the drinkers were out in full force. One table drank $300 worth of vodka, including 16 lemon drops. Yes, adults out of college actually drink those. They called a cab, which was very responsible since the guy paying literally spent five minutes signing his name to the credit card receipt.
Another gentleman ordered a bottle of wine for just himself, which I found very respectable. And I found another $20 bill on the floor! Doesn't anyone ever look down? I gave it to the people sitting directly above it. They were like "Yay! More kamikazi's!"
Maybe this sounds strange to you, but the truth is that the season for open windows is very narrow in New Orleans. It's usually too hot. I'm assuming there is a time when it's too cold, but we haven't got there yet.
So, some of our giant rectangular windows have screens at the bottom of them. And wouldn't you know it? These are the ones that open, with a groan and some dust and some kicked-up little leaves that are who knows how old.
I'm cleaning the crap out of this place this weekend because the faux in-laws are coming to stay next week. They're "faux" because they are not technically my in-laws, but they fit that bill in most respects. If this were politics, they would be "Acting" or "Lieutenant" in-laws, but this is Nola, so I'm sticking with faux. 1/4 of my parental units will be here as well: Crazy Coco. She gets to stay in the man room, which will be converted into a guest room. I'll have a photo of this after it's set up. Everyone loves to stay in a room with a weight bench in the center of it, right? Thought so.
In other news, I worked at the restaurant last night. I'm a filler for when they are short. The secret to working these kinds of jobs is to only work them once a month. And then it's all smiles and this is fun and I can't believe I ever left. But really, one night is enough. No one was rude, but the drinkers were out in full force. One table drank $300 worth of vodka, including 16 lemon drops. Yes, adults out of college actually drink those. They called a cab, which was very responsible since the guy paying literally spent five minutes signing his name to the credit card receipt.
Another gentleman ordered a bottle of wine for just himself, which I found very respectable. And I found another $20 bill on the floor! Doesn't anyone ever look down? I gave it to the people sitting directly above it. They were like "Yay! More kamikazi's!"
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Halloweenies
A lot of girls like to dress in sexy costumes for Halloween--Sexy Nurse, Sexy Schoolteacher, Sexy Witch.
Sexy Sheep? Not so much. I go for scary. Here's me and Kenny Powers (aka the MOST popular Halloween costumer 2010 winner) getting ready to hit the streets:
Frenchman Street is HUGE on Halloween in New Orleans. Everyone trots out in their fine costumes they've been working on for weeks and stand around and look at everyone else and hoot and holler and get drunk.
It's pretty fun. Except, like a good concert, it's hard to get out of there once you're ready to leave. Traffic is a mess and cabs are scarce and zombies and vampires and sailors and walking bananas are running amok all over the place.
Here's some pics from Frenchman:
For those of you who don't get the Kenny stuff, here he is: You're F*#kin' Out!
Sexy Sheep? Not so much. I go for scary. Here's me and Kenny Powers (aka the MOST popular Halloween costumer 2010 winner) getting ready to hit the streets:
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| Kenny Powers and Sheep Girl |
It's pretty fun. Except, like a good concert, it's hard to get out of there once you're ready to leave. Traffic is a mess and cabs are scarce and zombies and vampires and sailors and walking bananas are running amok all over the place.
Here's some pics from Frenchman:
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| Sailor Barbie? |
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| Kenny Powers, Season 1 & 2 |
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| Medusa? |
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| Yet another Kenny |
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| Yoda & Maverick. Turd Ferguson is in the background. |
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| Another. Frickin' Kenny. The middle finger is Kenny's signature move, in case you are wondering. |
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Famous Guy Alert!
Remember the homosexual guy from Mad Men who had the hot wife he didn't want to sleep with because he secretly liked sleeping with dudes in hotels? He's here! In CC's Coffee. If I liked Twitter more, I would Twitter it, but I hate that crap. And I don't have a smart phone so it takes FOREVER.
Also, the guys from HBO's Treme are here. They are production or audio guys or something. Spoiler alert: John Goodman does a voice-over in the beginning of this season's first show.
So, Mr. Famous, whose real name is (Bryan Batt) and name on the show is Salvatore Romano,
was looking dapper as all get out in a Texas Tuxedo (jeans and a jacket) and a bowtie. He is also looking quite trim. Rumors are that good ol' Sal might come back to Mad Men.
Speaking of AMC, the best show on television is currently THE WALKING DEAD. It's Zombies! In Atlanta! Started last week. Somebody start watching it with me so I can text you how scared I am. I texted Elbow last time while he was at work. He thinks I'm crazy. I am. Crazy about Zombie entertainment.
Just FYI, last week's movie filming on our street was a total bust. They drove a car up and down our street for a few hours in the dark. Then when I went out to do my journalistic duty and ask some questions, the crew acted all important and too busy to talk to me. They flat out ignored my questions actually. I will not watch that Lame-o movie, thank you very much. Good luck Putting from the Rough productions! (That is their real name, minus the "putting from" part).
Also, the guys from HBO's Treme are here. They are production or audio guys or something. Spoiler alert: John Goodman does a voice-over in the beginning of this season's first show.
So, Mr. Famous, whose real name is (Bryan Batt) and name on the show is Salvatore Romano,
was looking dapper as all get out in a Texas Tuxedo (jeans and a jacket) and a bowtie. He is also looking quite trim. Rumors are that good ol' Sal might come back to Mad Men.
Speaking of AMC, the best show on television is currently THE WALKING DEAD. It's Zombies! In Atlanta! Started last week. Somebody start watching it with me so I can text you how scared I am. I texted Elbow last time while he was at work. He thinks I'm crazy. I am. Crazy about Zombie entertainment.
Just FYI, last week's movie filming on our street was a total bust. They drove a car up and down our street for a few hours in the dark. Then when I went out to do my journalistic duty and ask some questions, the crew acted all important and too busy to talk to me. They flat out ignored my questions actually. I will not watch that Lame-o movie, thank you very much. Good luck Putting from the Rough productions! (That is their real name, minus the "putting from" part).
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