-
-
Jeremy Piven Did NOT Jump Out of My Sister’s Birthday Cake.
We invited Julesie over today for a late birthday celebration, which meant one thing: Rainbow Cake! I make rainbow cake for all of our special family occasions; it’s a family tradition that our mom started when we were little ones. One of the most memorable cakes our mom ever made was for Julesie’s third (we think) birthday: it was Cookie Monster. The reason we (and some of our relatives) still talk about that cake today is because all of that dark blue icing made the entire insides of our mouths, our tongues, and our lips blue for the rest of the day. It was quite comical. I have made Julesie…
-
It’s All About You!
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has a brand-new permanent exhibit which opened on Thursday, called “You! The Experience”. I was extremely lucky (and honored) to snag an invitation to the Media Open House on Wednesday. I wanted to bring someone along, and I called one of my favorite sidekicks, Weaselmomma. Being escorted into the museum through the employee entrance and then led directly to the exhibit, which was already crawling with kids from a few schools brought in for the preview, was really exciting. We got a brief summary and tour of the place and then were let loose to enjoy it. There were so many highlights;…
-
You Da Man!
Note: This post is part of Fatherhood Friday at Dad Blogs, where all the cool kids are hanging out. (Moms are welcome over there!) I *might* even have a column called “Teen Angst” there. Welcome to my visitors from DB; thanks for stopping in! Today is a special day, and it’s just lucky that it falls on Fatherhood Friday this year: it’s my (and Julesie’s) Dad’s birthday! My Dad is a character; I’ve posted stories about him before, and he’s even done two posts here on his own! In honor of his birthday, I’m giving you a couple of links to posts that will make you smile, laugh, and quite…
- Amazing People, Best Thing Ever, Blessings, Friends, I'm Apparently Old., My Sister Has Mad Skillz, Proud Moments, We Are An Awesome Couple
The Best Thing Is? It Goes Both Ways.
You have my heartAnd we’ll never be worlds apartMaybe in magazinesBut you’ll still be my star Baby cause in the darkYou can’t see shiny carsAnd that’s when you need me thereWith you I’ll always shareBecause When the sun shines, we’ll shine togetherTold you I’ll be here foreverSaid I’ll always be a friendTook an oath, I’m a stick it out till the end Now that it’s raining more than everKnow that we’ll still have each otherYou can stand under my umbrellaYou can stand under my umbrella (Ella ella, eh eh eh)Under my umbrella(Ella ella, eh eh eh)Under my umbrella(Ella ella, eh eh eh)Under my umbrella(Ella ella, eh eh eh, eh eh…
-
Great Service Is Great Advertising, Don’t You Think?
I thought, after my earlier rant about Abercrombie and their annoying marketing methods, it would be good to show something great that a company is doing. Great customer service, unfortunately, is becoming extinct in today’s rush-rush world, so much so that a company that holds up high standards of service almost seems weird. Fortunately it’s a good kind of weird, and I LOVELOVELOVE coming across stories like this one, which I caught this last week on the Today Show and wanted to share it with you. That’s how you do it. I really like my local Dominicks because the people who work there are awesome, but if this store weren’t…
-
Taking Target Marketing To A Whole New Disgusting Level
Marketing is part of what I do at the salon where I work. Though I don’t have a college degree in the subject, I consider myself to be a little bit savvy about finding our target audience (middle-aged, well-off women) and gearing our advertising to them. The entire idea behind good marketing is to make your service or product irresistable to a certain group of people, right? Think about the commercials that are placed in the middle of children’s programming: how many times have your kids declared, “I want that!”, just because a 30-second spot about some junky toy that will eventually end up under the bed or at the…
-
She’s A Maniac…
I just returned home last night for the final time after a weekend of driving back and forth daily to the Midwest Mania fitness conference in Rosemont, Illinois–about 25 miles from my house. I am exhausted, but in a good way. As an ACE-certified group fitness instructor, I have to take part in continuing education in order to recertify every two years, and a great way to earn lots of CECs (continuing ed credits) at once is to go to a fitness conference and be a part of classes and lectures presented by Master trainers, coaches, and other respected individuals connected to the fitness industry. The cost of CECs (and…
-
Spinning the Wheel, Part Two
I posted yesterday about how to get started taking group cycling classes. Today I want to cover some class etiquette. I have to put the disclaimer out there that I can’t speak for all instructors; this is what *I* prefer in my classes*. Most of these things are based on the principle that a group fitness instructor (or any type of teacher, really) has a large number of people to take care of for that hour, and using common sense can help improve the experience for everyone involved. 1. Please come to class wearing proper attire. I discussed what proper spinning attire is in yesterday’s post. What I will add…
-
Spinning the Wheel, Part One
Starting tomorrow, I’ll be working at a fitness conference and will be away from home (and my laptop! eek!) from very, very early in the morning until late in the evening, through Sunday. Imagine the BlogHer conference with spin bikes and kettlebells instead of computers. And probably no $3 Patron margaritas. (Bummer.) Oh yeah, and I won’t know anybody there, in real life or not. Well, not at first. I can talk to anyone and am sure to make some friends before the weekend is over. Anyway, I thought it would be a great time to put up a post about starting spin (group cycling) classes. As an instructor, I’ve…
