A Look Back at 2011

It's New Year's Eve, it's New Year's Eve!  You know what that means - time for reflection!  Reflection....or reminisce....should be my middle name.  It's been quite a year.  I'm not quite sure where to start since it's definitely been a roller coaster year.  I just want to thank all of my family and friends that have been there through everything this year.  Sometimes you have to realize that not everything can be dealt with on your own.  It's been a year where everything could have changed forever (in a negative way).  I am thankful that it all worked out in the end, but there were some intense dips on this roller coaster ride! I want to acknowledge it, and that's all.  I'd rather focus on the positive.

I just want to highlight some of my favorite moments and memories of this year.

First of all, I am so thankful to have seen my nephew Abriel this summer.  It's been quite a few years.  That story is quite a journey in and of itself.  Although it makes me sad that he's so far away, I was excited that I got to see him this year.  It's amazing that he's thirteen already.  My goodness, I still have the picture of him as a rowdy baby on my desk :)  I hope that I will be making more trips to see him.

Sunset in Louisville, Kentucky (the only pic I
snapped while I was there for a conference!)

I'm thankful for all of the wonderful trips and places I got to visit this year.  I went to Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee.  On all of these trips, I enjoyed my time with family and close friends, and met new friends.  I also got on a plane quite a few times this year, and all by myself, too!  This is quite the accomplishment since I don't really like to fly.  I'll give myself a pat on the back for sucking it up and being a big girl.

It's been fun working in my new job.  I have great coworkers and busy days that keep me focused.  I really appreciate all of the wonderful opportunities that have come my way this year and all of the awesome people I have been able to meet along the way.

My Connecticut Huskies won the NCAA basketball championship this year!  Yay!!  Gotta love my UCONN Huskies!

My best friend got married....in a SURPRISE wedding I helped her pull off during her housewarming/holiday party.  I didn't think we'd be able to do it, but we did.  I'm so very happy for her and am so happy that she let me in on the secret!  This small ceremony reminded me that all you really need is love, love, LOVE!

I'm sure there are many more personal moments that happened throughout the year, but these special ones stick out in my mind as I reflect on 2011.  I'm surprised at myself actually.  I thought I would write much more.  Sometimes when you've had a difficult year, it's hard for that to not take up a huge part of your "yearly memory space."

I am hoping 2012 will be a wonderful year full of new beginnings and major changes.  I will be the first to admit that I am sometimes afraid of change.  Guards and walls are up, but I think 2012 is calling for a surrender.  When it comes to the serenity prayer, I feel like I have serenity and wisdom  (maybe) somewhat down, but that courage bit is a challenge.

Happy New Year everyone!  Blessings, love, peace, happiness, and much laughter to you all! xoxo

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." - Oprah Winfrey

"Spending Out"

I recently finished reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.  It basically is a personal story of one woman's pursuit of happiness.  I enjoy reading these types of books (Hello, Eat. Pray. Love!).  Unfortunately, Gretchen was unable to just drop her life and travel around the world as Ms. Elizabeth Gilbert did so I was curious to see where her personal journey would lead her.  It really is a simple book.  There was no earth-shattering revelations here other than the simple things that she did which made her happy.  She focuses on the typical day to day:  family, work, relationships.

Some of the favorite things I took away from this book were her emphasis on de-cluttering and what she called "spending out."  It's the end of year and a good time to de-clutter, go through the closet, and pull out those things you don't need or want anymore.  I love the feeling of purging the extra useless items from my space.  I haven't gotten all feng-shui just yet, but I just feel so much better knowing that I don't have random things all around.  This physical clutter (even if it's not really much) begins to turn into mental clutter.  I can't seem to focus until things are in order.  Again, this was not earth-shattering advice, and I'm not saying that what I'm about to bring up next is either....

But she brought up the idea of using what you have. "Spending out" she calls it.  Sounds pretty basic, huh?  It probably is to most people, but I have always been someone who likes to save stuff - save it for a special occasion, save it so as not to waste it, etc.  But why?  Why not use it now?  Silly examples:  candles and stationary.  For years, I have collected notecards, pads, stationary of all sorts, but never wanted to use it all up.  Now I have boxes full of paper just sitting there, never having been used.  And candles, my goodness, candles!  Tealights, votives, jars - all of these are screaming "USE ME, USE ME!"  So I have been doing that recently, and it feels great.  Why does something so silly and simple feel so good?  Because a purpose is being fulfilled is my guess.  

I guess I just realized that being a "saver" can actually be wasteful.  Appreciate what you have - the here, the now.  Appreciate the beauty.  Don't let those things just die in a box.  Everything has a purpose and that purpose should be fulfilled.  Here's to lighting those candles and sending those notes!

Oh how you've piqued my Pinterest!

Oh Pinterest...how crazily addictive you are.  When I first learned of Pinterest, I just saw it in people's Facebook status updates, "Thank you Pinterest!" attached to a picture of Christmas jars....I didn't get it...Then I did some research and saw that it is a virtual pinboard where you can post things you find on your own or repin from other posters.  Very cute idea.  Once I got my formal invite to join, it was on!  There I was scouring the web for inspirational and cute things to post - recipes, books, ideas for my dream home, etc.  I really have come to love it.

I've come to love it so much that I got a little giddy when one pin I posted had 91 repins!  Woo-hoo!  Why does this make me happy?  I have no idea.  It's pointless really.  A pin board is something you see as valuable and inspirational.  Who cares if others want to share my pin?  I mean really......I do!! Just being silly, but it's a cool site.  I've got several crafty ideas from there, and plenty more I'm willing to try.

A few random things I've noticed about Pinterest though:

1.)  I'm not trying to judge people's boards and stuff, but some of these things do concern me.  One of them being boards devoted to fitness and physical appearance.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with posting fitness tips - I love it, it's great, hoorah.  BUT, I do have a problem when people have boards of pictures but nothing but incredibly skinny people - like model skinny, not realistic, unhealthy unskinny.  One girl had a whole board with just captions of "Hot," "Wanna have those legs!", etc, etc.  For whatever reason, it all just slapped me in the face.  We always hear how the media plays into body image and whatnot, but this site makes it very clear as it's right in your face.  I just want to comment on some of the pins and type, "THIS ISN'T CUTE OR HEALTHY!!!"  Blahhhh.....but what really threw me over the edge was a massive repinning of a fitness regime.  It seemed innocent enough at first until you continued to read through the list of about 50 tips.  It actually was a list of how you can be a successful anorexic or bulemic.  I hope that sh.... was pulled from the site real quick.  Ugh.

2.)  Maybe I don't like to jinx stuff - maybe it's just me.  I'm not going to post baby things or plan my wedding until those things are actually in the works.  Okay, I will call myself out on the whole dream home thing.  I am posting things for the home, but that is something that is technically always in the works.  But nurseries and wedding dresses, not until it's somewhat of a near reality will I be posting stuff.  Hopefully I will get to do this one day on Pinterest as it will be super duper addictive.

Here are a few things I've made recently:

A paper wreath

Birdseed ornaments!  So cute and so easy to make.

Initials from magazine paper.  A homemade gift from me to my coworker for Secret Santa: "Something Made of Paper" day.

Rudolph cupcakes!

Happy Holidays everyone.  I'm already scouring Pinterest for next year's ideas!

xoxo

A Halloween Baking Story

Once upon a time, two friends met up to bake for Halloween....

They were successful in making these Frankenstein cupcakes.

However, they failed miserably in trying to make melted witches.....

Po desperately hoped that they would throw them in her mouth instead of the trash can.  Po was sad.

The END.

Reflections on 9/11

Today marks the ten year anniversary of September 11, 2001.  I always say it, but again, time flies by so fast.  To think that it has already been a decade...wow.  The memory is still very vivid and I imagine it will stay that way forever.

I graduated high school in 2001.  My graduation gift was a trip to New York City.  I grew up in Connecticut but never really got the chance to visit New York and do all of the touristy things like visit Times Square or watch a Broadway show.  So I finally got my wish in June 2001.  We stayed in the Ameritania Hotel which was right above the David Letterman show studios.  We visited the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and of course, the World Trade Center.

I remember us walking towards the WTC, our feet hurting from walking so many blocks, but being amazed at the height of these buildings.  I was a little nervous because anyone who knows me well knows that I am afraid of heights.  It wasn't until we actually got in line to go up the elevator that I realized no one was allowed on the outside roof (I thought it would be similar to going to the top of the Empire State building).  The man who guided us in the elevator was telling my parents about some salsa dancing event that occurs outside on the promenade at night.  We flew up to the floor and I remember being so afraid to even go near the windows.  I felt like I was going to faint.  But eventually, I got over it and peered down at the city below.  It was amazing. 

Three months later and those towers were crumbling to the ground.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  It was my first semester in college and I had just left my apartment to go to my math lab.  I hadn't heard anything on TV before leaving and everyone else was in class as usual.  But I will never forget a male student in the corner saying, "The Twin Towers are gone."  I was confused more than anything, hoping that he was wrong or playing some kind of sick joke.  But he was right.

A few years after I had graduated college and was working full time, I went to a week-long crisis responder training.  It was a tough week, and at the end of it all we had the chance to put our skills to practice.  We simulated a group crisis intervention session (GCI) and our instructor had us sit in a circle and talk about where we were on 9/11/01.  After about half the circle shared their story, the instructor told me to get up and lead the rest of the group.  After a moment's panic and hesitation, I got up.  I asked the next person to share their story and the woman goes on to share that she was actually in one of the Towers on the 17th floor when one of the planes struck.  She goes on to share through her tears that she froze.  She remembers someone helping her out of the building.  After that, she says everything just moved in slow motion like a movie.  I could not believe that this practice session had just turned into something very real - and I happened to be the guinea pig facilitator....So what do you say?  What did I say??  I don't remember exactly but I said something to her and the group.  All I remember is her coming up to me and giving me a hug.  But really, she was the one that needed to be applauded.  I can't imagine what she must have gone through.  What she shared was very real and not sugar-coated at all.  While there were many heroes in New York that day, she also experienced and lived through seeing people at their worst.  Nobody can judge her reflections on that day.  It was her experience and she was strong enough to share it with a group of people she had only known for about 35 hours at the point.  I hope she is doing well and that she has some sort of peace of mind on this anniversary.

I remember 9/11 and always will.  I will always think of those people who I had a quick interaction with on a bright and hot summer day in June 2001.  I was just a high school graduate ready to move forward with my life, just wanting to visit a city that inspired me.  A city that still inspires me to this day....

Rest in peace to all those that lost their lives on September 11, 2001.  I love you New York City.

Introducing Cake Pops!

They are a major pain in my neck but...they are cute!  You basically crumble a cake and mix in some frosting and then form and chill the actual balls of cake.  Then you get to dip them in some melted candy coating, pop them on a lollipop stick and you are good to go with whatever design.

These were chicken cake pops I made for my coworker's son's birthday.  The candy coating was difficult to work with on my first try so I tried my best to spoon it around and make it look like "feathers."

Basketballs - this time for my boss's son's birthday!  I piped the basketball lines on with melted chocolate.

Baby Shower Cake Pops!  Candy necklace candies were used for the pacifiers!  :)

Investing in a candy melting pot was a good idea.  It made it a whole lot easier to dip and coat the cake pops!  Yummy!

Blog Title Regrets?

The reason I named my blog "Feathers in My Hair" is because I loved the various fascinators that English people wore at weddings.  It was a random thing I thought about when I had to choose a name for my blog.  I thought it was cute.  I thought it was whimsical.  Now, I'm just like, "Why????"  Apparently, literal feathers in your hair is all the rage right now.  Just one or a few long feathers serving as a strand of your hair.  I don't know what I think.  All I know is that I much prefer the visual of having random feathers just sticking out the top of your head.  Just my opinion.  If you're going to be silly, go all out!  To me, having a feather strand or two that ALMOST blends in with the rest of your hair is right there on the verge of taking yourself too seriously.  I'd rather have the feather factor be all up in my face rather than realizing later that "Wait, you have a feather in your hair!"  Own the feathers, put more in, let them shine!

P.S.  No regrets.  "Feathers in My Hair" is what it is.

Thank you, thank you very much...

     I finally was able to go and visit my nephew in Tennessee this summer.  He lives in a small town in between Memphis and Nashville.  The views on our road trip were just beautiful.  I can't wait to schedule another trip and visit the Great Smoky Mountains.  An amazing part of the trip was the fact that my nephew had no idea that we were visiting.  We drove to his tiny town, watching nothing but fields of corn and silos whiz by.  We pulled up and he comes out and just stares at the car until he realizes that it's us!

   He took us immediately over to his horses, except that they weren't there just yet.  They called them over and they came running up from the meadow and forest.  All five of them!  It's funny...my half Puerto-Rican nephew is a cowboy in Tennessee.  He seemed happy and content with this way of life, no matter if I could never imagine myself living in a similar environment.
    We ended up taking him to Memphis for two days.  We visited Graceland first.  It was funny imagining this grand estate, but the actual mansion is not that big.  But I guess back then it was considered a big house (he only paid $100,000 for it!).  We were given a tour of the inside of the house, as well as the surrounding grounds and additional exhibits.  I always knew Elvis was the King, but seeing all of his records, awards, and posters/memorabilia was just mind-boggling.  After the tour, we saw the gravesite and took pictures.  Another thing that perplexed me was the proximity of the estate to the main road.  There are also neighborhoods on the other side of the fence.  Can you imagine living in a house with a backyard that runs up against Graceland?
     After Graceland, we headed over to our hotel in downtown Memphis.  Right across from the hotel there was Mud Island River Park, which had a mini Mississippi river you could wade in.  It was actually really cool and made to size as it ran through all of the states that it cuts through.  It all ended with a huge swampy pond in New Orleans that led out to a small lake where my nephew and I rode paddle boats.  After that we headed over to Beale Street and some of the other sites in Memphis.

    The next morning we went to the National Civil Rights Museum, which is adjacent to the Lorraine Motel, the site where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.  It was very emotional to go through the tour and see the actual hotel room where Dr. King stayed.  The entire tour was intense and I am so glad to say that my nephew payed really close attention to all of the exhibits.  I was a little scared that it would be a waste of money and he wouldn't want to go in, but he really was standing there digesting all of the information.  After the tour, we headed over to the Memphis Zoo where it was ridiculously hot.

Johnny Cash!

     It was sad taking him back home after our adventures in Memphis, but I truly believe that he had a great time.  When we took him back home, he took me on a ride on his go-kart into the woods!  It was kind of scary but cool to go through the woods and then land in an open field with dragonflies buzzing by as we drove.  It was a wonderful trip, a long overdue trip, but I am so happy I got to see him.  I know he was sad when we left but I just hope that he could focus on the positive and be glad that we got to have fun with him while we were up there.  I miss him already :)

The city where my nephew lived is in between Memphis and Nashville, and that's a long stretch of driving.  We wanted to take him to Nashville with us but it would have been too much driving back and forth.  So as we made our way to Florida, we stopped in Nashville for a day.  It just happened to be the Country Music Awards Fest, but it was so much fun!  We did a trolley tour and saw all of the main sights:  the state capitol, the Parthenon, Music Row, and the Country Music Hall of Fame among others.

So it was nice to meet you Tennessee!  We'll meet again soon!

HOTlanta!

Oh, summer vacations always go by so fast!  This summer I had the chance to go to several places.  I first started of by going to Atlanta with one of my good friends, Mandy.  Here are a few pics of the places we hit on our trip to HOTlanta (definitely not an exaggeration...)

We visited the top of Kennesaw Mountain.  It was pretty hazy so the views of Atlanta weren't the best.  It was a really nice hike though.

RANDOM ALERT!  We visited the Cabbage Patch Hospital!  It was just too unbelievable to pass up.  I had to see a Cabbage Patch being born, and we did!  Mother Cabbage was dilated ten leaves! lol.  I was amazed at how all Cabbage Patch babies pretty much always have that distinctive smell.  I'm pretty sure my own still has that smell (wherever she is - in the attic maybe...)

We visited this small northern Georgia town of Helen, which basically was Epcot Germany x1000.  We went tubing down the mountain river and saw lots of interesting sites, including a dog floating down on his own tube, as well as a baby sporting a real mullet. Really...

Random alert again!  GOATS ON A ROOF!  This was so much fun.  It basically is just this roadside attraction where you can feed goats.  I sat on this bike and wheeled a cup of food up to the goats on the roof (they could come up and down as they pleased).  It was odd, but cute!

I had a great time in Atlanta, and I could talk about visiting the Georgia Aquarium, or Olympic Centennial Park or Coca-Cola headquarters....but, I must leave you with this pic of....milkshakes?!  These aren't just regular milkshakes, folks.  These are liquid nitrogen milkshakes from Top Chef All-Star's winner Richard Blaise's burger restaurant, Flip!  Delicious!  What you see here are the Strawberry Shortcake and some kind of toasted marshmallow milkshake.  They were super light and creamy.  Yum! Cheers to Atlanta!

New cupcake designs

Here are two of my most recent cupcake designs:

I made these Hello Kitty cupcakes for my friend Christey's birthday.  It was my first attempt at using fondant and it was a little difficult.  You can see that some of the faces are a little wrinkled (she needs a little Botox) and that's because I underestimated how quickly the fondant dries out.  But I thought they turned out pretty cute - better than trying to draw the faces by hand with icing like I did last time.

And these were the ones I made for Easter.  Pretty simple to do, but they took a lot of time.  I cut out egg shapes from graham crackers, then iced them with frosting and dipped them in the colored sugar.  Then I piped out the lines with colored frosting and added some decorative hearts, flowers, and other shaped confetti candies.  I loved the colors!

Look back soon for some pictures of cake pops I made.  I've made three so far - they are exactly what they sound like.  Cake balls stuck onto a lollipop!

Recent Audubon Visit

The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey is located in Maitland and it's basically a center that rehabilitates wild birds and sets them free back into the wild.  If they sustain an injury that would prevent them from surviving in the wild, the birds are kept in captivity at the center.  I love to go there, so if you love birds like I do then you should definitely make the visit.  What makes it even better is their annual baby owl shower that takes place in May.  You simply bring in an item from their wish list and you can get in for free.  And they have baby owls!  They are a little awkward looking, but still so cute.  Here are some shots I got of the baby owls and some of the other beautiful birds at the center.

Baby Owl #1 - So cute!

Baby Owl #2 was like a statue

American Bald Eagle

Sweet face

This captive hawk's one injured eye would prevent him from being able to hunt successfully for food in the wild.

A Weekend for the History Books

Now I hope that some bored souls read my blog, but I actually just like to write things so that I can look back and see what I was thinking about or doing on any particular day.  So, with that being said, I think it's important to reflect on a pretty eventful weekend for the world.

Let's start with the most watched wedding ever.  The ROYAL WEDDING!  Yes, I was one of those people, eagerly anticipating this big day where Prince William would wed a normal girl (a commoner!) Kate Middleton.  I'd constantly click on any link on People.com that alluded to possible wedding dress options.  Though I will say that I did not throw a royal viewing party, or prepare tea and scones.  I was fine with just curling up on the couch and hitting play on my DVR.  I personally think she looked beautiful.  And the scene in Westminister Abbey was made complete with my love of.......FASCINATORS!  One of the main reasons for the title of this blog (after attending my English friend's wedding).  Sigh...just seeing all of the bright colors, feathers, and netting planted at different angles on people's heads was an amazing sight.  And the hats!  I loved it all.  But I do think you can go a bit overboard and all I have to say is WHY did they seat Princess Eugenie and Beatrice right behind the Queen with that crazy hat??  It was awful!  The guards should have knocked that sucker down upon her entry.

I wish them all the best.  They seem like they are very much in love.  It is sad that Princess Diana was not there to see her eldest son get married, but she was there in spirit.  Kate having her ring, them kissing on the balcony just like her and Charles did, and riding in the same carriage as she did on her wedding day were all special touches to the event.

I remember when they announced that Princess Diana was killed in a car accident.  I was in middle school and I remember them replaying the scene over and over on television.  It was a shock.  That shock and disbelief came again, along with intense feelings of fear, horror, and anger, when September 11, 2001 happened.  That horrible scene of the twin towers falling kept playing over and over again on TV and I couldn't tear my eyes away.  I was a freshman in college and had a math lab that day.  I woke up and got ready for school, never turning on the TV to catch the local morning news.  I got in my car and listened to the CD that was currently playing.  When I parked at school, I switched on the radio and caught the DJ's talking.  I knew something was wrong, but I didn't yet know what.  I had just tuned in and wasn't able to put together all the pieces of everything that had happened.  I got out of the car and headed for class.  Something wasn't right...I tried to grab a newspaper but there was no news to shed any light on what happened.  Everyone came in and prepared for class.  All I remember is a kid sitting in the back saying, "The twin towers are gone."  I felt like I hadn't heard correctly, but had an awful feeling he was right.  The teacher came in with no news and we had class like it was a regular day.  Trying to head back to my apartment was awful.  The radio confirmed what my classmate had said in class.  Cellphones weren't working at the time and it was just fear and chaos.  Once I got back to my apartment, I just turned on the television and watched it all day long.  It was unbelievable.  I had just been at the top of the World Trade Center a few months before during a trip to New York City.  I remember the guy who took us up in the elevator, the simulator ride we rode at the top, the food court where the Sbarro lady served us up a salad, the violinists preparing for a concert on the concourse outside...everything...it was all gone.  But I still remember, and I still wonder, are they alive?  Were they there on that horrible day?

Nothing can ever replace the thousands of lives that were lost that specific day, or throughout the years of the war.  But if the families affected could get even a small piece of closure, it would have been to finally capture Osama Bin Laden.  And on Sunday night, the United States of America received the news straight from President Barack Obama that Osama had been killed in Pakistan by Navy SEALS in a military operation.  Ten long years overdue, but it happened.  I don't want to harp on the subject, especially since the terror alert is probably higher at the moment, but he is gone.  Finally.

Savannah, Ya'll!

Approximately five hours from Orlando lies the beautiful and historic city of Savannah.  I finally went to this city this past weekend with a group of my friends.  I wasn't sure what exactly to expect, but I knew that it would be a charming southern city.  And Paula Dean is from there, too so what could be better than that?  We got there safe and sound, and our hotel was in a perfect location across from River Street, the nightlife street right on the river, hence the name - duh! winning!  Sorry I couldn't resist...So here's a quick rundown of our trip:

Day 1:  Was the best....day....ever.  And let me tell you why.  Mrs. Wilke's Boarding House.  Amazing!  We got up early and headed over to this gem to wait in line for lunch.  I need to read up on the history of this place, but basically you wait in line to share a table with other people.  And when I say wait, I mean like WAIT in line like you are in Disney World waiting for a ride.  We kept inching up and up in line, tummies grumbling, only to have to wait some more.  I was a bit skeptical at first, not really thinking that there could be anything so good that it was worth waiting so long.  But finally, we got IN.  And it's set up like someone's home, lots of pictures on the walls....and then they take you to your table.  And it's like a scene of the southern last supper.  There had to be about twenty different dishes on that table.  Fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, potato salad, BISCUITS, sweet corn, squash, beef stew, CORNBREAD, stuffing, green beans, and on and on and on.  You just kept passing plates back and forth, stuffing your face.  It was heaven!  Definitely worth the wait.  And when we left, there happened to be some students doing a taping of people's reactions so we all got together with our tourist enthusiasm to talk about how great the food was.  I need to look that up actually - I wonder how it came out.  After Mrs. Wilke's, we headed over to our River Boat cruise.  It was so hot though that I think I nodded off for most of it.  But it was a nice, relaxing afternoon.  To end the day, we ended up at Moon River Brewery on Bay St.  More good food, mmmmmm.

FORREST!!

Day 2:  Trolley tour through the city!  Yay, I loved seeing all of the houses and squares.  Savannah has a city square every few blocks.  I love cities where you can just walk around.  It was so quaint and cute.  I also loved the style of all of the homes.  I get very excited when I see brick - I'm a dork.  But it's true, I love old houses.  We went on a tour of the Thomas-Owens house and OMG - I think we had the most eccentric tour guide.  Eccentric or high...or both.  I had to stifle my laughter just listening to him speak.  I just couldn't get over his tone of voice and his body language.  Almost as if he thought he was more knowledgeable than everyone else, which he probably was.  But he literally had his nose in the air the whole time and would sigh "Any questionsssssssssss....."  Ugh.  I must say though, that the best part of our trolley tour was seeing "Forrest Gump" run off of the trolley in front of us and run down the street.  Hilarious!  I got a picture of it....Run Forrest Run!!!

Foodwise, we ate at Paula Dean's restaurant, Lady and Sons, for lunch.  It was great.  I had an asparagus sandwich and it was delicious.  I'm on an asparagus kick lately - it's somehow become my favorite vegetable.  For dinner, we ended up at Pirate's House, an incredibly old place.  I finally had some catfish - what I had been craving the whole time!

Lady and Sons

We went out on River Street during the night and ended up at the same karaoke bar after hopping around a bit.  We met a group of cute military boys who were really nice and funny.  I ended up doing some impromptu swing dancing with one of the guys.  It was actually fun just having him spin me around and dip me to the ground, though I do give him major props for not dropping me since he was obviously hammered.

Day 3:  Sad day.  Why do weekends go by so fast?!?  We visited the Visitor's Center and saw the actual Forrest Gump bench in the museum.  I had to say I was sad I couldn't physically sit in it.  Besides Forrest Gump, a lot of other movies have been filmed in Savannah, including Forces of Nature and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  I really need to watch that last one because the book was everywhere and a lot of it was filmed in Forsyth Park.  I honestly have no recollection of what we ate.....???  Oh, that's right,  Wendy's on the drive back to reality!

Shih Tzu Whisperer Wanted

Back in the day, I used to watch "The Dog Whisperer" and be ever so thankful that I had such a mellow, well-behaved dog.  Then Tommy, the Shih Tzu puppy from the wrong side of the tracks, entered our lives.  Don't get me wrong, I love him.  He's super cute and playful, but I've just been noticing some things.  I don't know if he will eventually grow out of these behaviors, but if he doesn't I will soon be putting in my request with Cesar Millan!

I mean, I've been trying the "SHH" poke, but......nothing.  My puppy just kind of looks at me in amusement and then goes right back to what I was trying to get him to stop doing.  My main issue is that he's a bit possessive and aggressive - two not so bueno traits he should have.  Jerry is super relaxed and chill.  It takes a lot for him to get upset, so Tommy just jumps on him at every opportunity.  They are both fed the same food, given the same treats, and play with the same toys, but Tommy always steals Jerry's stuff.  I mean, he literally took a treat from Jerry's mouth and swallowed it - and he's half Jerry's size!  And lately his playfulness has turned towards a more mean direction.  He's all over Jerry, but the second Jerry sticks up for himself, Tommy immediately gets angry and indignant.

SIGH - I can already tell he's more of the alpha dog.  This little five-month old puppy.  Cesar, I know you're mostly in California, but is there a Florida episode coming soon??  Pretty please??  Are you accepting applications for new dog students at the Dog Psychology Center?  That would be a sight...this tiny monster among all of those pit bulls.  He certainly acts like a pit bull in a super tiny body.

New Beginnings

It's definitely time for a new blog post!  Speaking of new, I have a new job and career.  While I very much enjoyed what I did before, it was time to seek out new opportunities.  My last day was weird...on one hand, I was so excited to start on my new path, but then on the other hand I was sad to leave my coworkers/friends behind.  It was going to be so difficult.  I mean, come on, I was moving an unbearable two miles away, at the same institution no less!!  How would we ever survive without seeing each other every day??  The goodbyes only got harder when I was surprised with - wait for it......................the Hello Kitty party of my dreams! Hahahaha - it was super cute and very sweet.

But now I am in a new place and really enjoying my fresh start.  Everyone is really cool, friendly, and passionate about what they do.  Who would have ever thought I would get up and kinda SING in front of everybody during a staff meeting?  That usually would have embarassed me really easily but I felt just fine about it today during our funny ice-breaker where we had to hum or sing one of our favorite songs.  I tried humming "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls, but eventually had to bust out in "And I don't want the world to see me....Cuz I don't think that they'd understand.....When everything's made to be broken.....I just want you to know who I am."  I've always loved that song, though I guess those lyrics probably had some thinking what's wrong with me.  LOL.  I learned that a lot of people have some awesome singing and dancing talents (me not so much). 

I'm already in office-decorating mode though it is taking me some time.  But it's getting there...I'm a stealth decorator, sneaking in my decorative pieces a little bit at a time.  All in all, I'm just super excited and wanted to share the good news.  To new beginnings in 2011!  Cheers!

Civility

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a one-day conference at UCF sponsored by the Florida Diversity Council.  It actually was an event I had not ever intended on attending but the invitation was extended so I went. 

And I'm so glad I did.  The keynote speaker was Donna Brazile.  Her credentials and experience are long and varied, but she basically has great knowledge in the area of politics and the inner workings of Washington, D.C.  She is a political correspondent and regularly appears on news channels like CNN. 

It was a very somber moment when we all shared in a moment of silence in honor of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who was shot in the head at an event in Arizona.  Ms. Brazile knew her personally and stated what so many in the media have already said about her.  She was kind, smart, and wanted to make a difference, and most importantly - she is strong enough to pull through this.  Each day looks better and better for her and I hope that everything ends up well and that she is okay.  It's going to be a tough and long road for her, but it is possible.

Her speech was funny, but also quite touching.  I know that I have watched political news hours and shows with people from each party battling back and forth.  I, of course, have my own political views just like anyone else and am prone to disagree and argue with my TV.  However, at the end of the day, we are all human.  We are U.S. citizens that have the freedom to make our own choices and express them.  It seems so often that Republicans and Democrats hate each other so much, which is scary since we all need them to work together to help our nation.  I wonder if after appearing on such shows together if they just turn their backs and toss out a few personal insults off the air.  But Donna said that is not the case.

In her many years, she has fostered great friendships and relationships with people who have shared completely opposite political opinions.  These are people she has invited to her home, that know her family, that truly care about her.  These are the kinds of things that the people need to know about and actually witness.  Not the nasty mud-slinging we see day to day.  There is goodness there.  There is civility there.  Please take this from behind the scenes and let us see it.  I still do not know if there was any political motivation for the shootings that took place in Arizona, but I do think that the political rhetoric that is out there can be potentially dangerous.  We should be careful of the 'us vs. them' mentality that turns ordinary people into enemies just because they have a different opinion than you.  Be passionate, but respectful.

She ended with letting us know that there was a potential move to get all of the members of Congress to sit wherever they wanted - not this whole 'Democrats on one side of the room, and Republicans on the other.'  I think that would be a pretty powerful show of unity.  Unity - I think Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud.

Meet my new puppy!

Happy New Year!  Shame on me for not introducing my new puppy back when we first got him in December.  His name is Tommy - yes, Jerry and now Tommy!  Ahh, I would have much preferred something like Wheezy since he had this funny little sniffle he was doing.  But isn't he cute?  I feel like I have a matching set of Shih Tzu.

More pictures to come!