NYC and the D-O double G

So last weekend, I went to NYC for a work trip. Always nice to go to fun cities like that on the company's dime, even if work must be done while we're there. Here's how my trip started off: left house at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon. Arrived at The W in NY at 10:45 that night. My first clue that this is how this trip was going to go should have been the flight number: 518. Lost fans, you recognize those numbers, right? That should have been a giant red flag.

Because of the terrible storms in NYC, our flight was delayed about 2 hours. All the flights ahead of us were getting canceled, so I was just thankful that we were actually getting out of Atlanta. Silly, silly me. Then, we proceeded to circle above Virginia (around Richmond, I think) for almost an hour. THEN, we were diverted to Norfolk, VA, where we sat on the runway for 2 hours. Here is a summary of what occurred every time the pilot came over the speaker:

Pilot: Well folks, I just spoke to air traffic control...
*Hopeful silence from passengers*
Pilot: And it's not what I wanted to hear.
*Loud groans from all passengers, including a shout from a man in the back, "Can we AT LEAST get some water?!"

I'm not kidding - this exact same scenario happened about 3 or 4 times, followed by either the news that we had to wait for the NEXT air traffic report, were not allowed off the plane to eat because all the restaurants in the terminal were closed, and were not allowed outside the terminal to the restaurants that WERE open because TSA had decided to go home for the night and therefore we would not be allowed back on the plane if we did disembark. The last news was the best - at about 8 or so, the pilot came back on and said that our estimated departure time from Norfolk was 10:30. Meaning we would be sitting on the plane for another 2 1/2 hours. I thought the man who wanted the water was going to throw himself off the plane. But then, thank heaven for whoever the awesome air traffic control person was in Laguardia, because he or she was able to get us off the ground at around 9. And the window of opportunity for this take-off must have been about 7 seconds because the pilot turned that plane around on 2 wheels and burned rubber down that runway. It was hilarious. And a little scary.

We finally landed in NY with many cheers from the passengers. And then...the pilot came over the loud speaker. So the icing on the cake that was my flight to NYC was that the power was out in the terminal we were supposed to taxi to, and therefore we had to sit on the runway and wait for the generator to kick in/power to come back on. Luckily, it was only about 15 minutes, but are you kidding me?! We had a co-worker who left Atlanta about 2 hours after us and he got to NY about 3 hours before us. Good times.

This was followed by 2 full days of work - though my work really is fun sometimes, so it was really just more tiring than anything. The shoot we were there for went great and was a huge success.


Now, we come to the D-O double G part of my story. That's right, I met Snoop Dogg. And not only did I meet him, I went to his after party. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions were happening across the street from our hotel, so of course, Snoop had an after party for it. Now, this did not happen due to any sort of "mojo" or "skills" I had, but purely because a co-worker of mine. I met him in the hotel lobby - shook his hand, exchanged hello's - everyone, Snoop is a very nice guy. And later that night, we headed to the party, which was absolutely nuts. We arrived to many fire trucks and policemen shouting that NO ONE else would be allowed in and we might as well go home. Well, my aforementioned co-worker wouldn't have it, and because she knew one of his bodyguards, we were in! Not without insane crowd surges as soon as Snoop arrived and we were informed to "follow him in". Everyone else also apparently had the same idea and I swear for a second, I thought I was going to die trying to get into Snoop's after party. Would have made for a good story, right? So yeah, me, of all people, made it in to the after party of one the most famous rappers ever. I honestly couldn't believe I was there. In my Gap khakis and Banana Republic sweater, nonetheless. WORD. I thought it was absolutely hysterical and still can't believe it happened.

You will not get a blog as action-packed as this in a while, so hope this tides you over. :) Peace out, homies.

Call me Annika

So I went to the driving range with Tyler this past Saturday. Up to this point, the extent of my golfing has included some impressive and not-so-impressive showings on the putt-putt course. Or, mini-golf, for you mid-westerners out there. After borrowing some left-handed clubs and receiving some constructive criticism from Tyler, I think I managed to actually make contact with about half the balls I hit. And when I hit them, they did not go very far. But I get it now. I get why people love golf. Because when you do hit it, you get a pretty good rush of excitement and it makes you want to keep going and keep getting better. You still can't make me sit down and watch a golf tournament though.

But the event that prompted this driving range outing was Tyler getting a new set of irons at his new favorite place, the PGA Superstore (imagine this being said in a big booming voice). However, before he buys said set of irons, he approaches me first to discuss pricing. My husband should be a salesman. Here's how the conversation basically went:

Tyler: "So, I found a used set of irons at the PGA Superstore today."
Me: "Oh really?"
Tyler: "Yeah, they're awesome. I hit them really well and I love them and they're the best clubs ever."
Me: "That's great honey! How much are they?"
Tyler: "Only $700."
Me: Silence. Trying to decide if this is REALLY a good deal on golf clubs as I really know nothing about how much they should be. Then deciding that no, I don't think it is b/c it's not even an entire set of clubs. It's just for irons. "Wow, isn't that kind of expensive?"
Tyler: "Maybe. But hey, I found this other set that I like even better and they're only $200."
Me: "Oh great - you should totally get those!"

Well played, Tyler. Well played.

Happy Birthday, Lily!

That's right, because she is like my child, I am posting a Happy Birthday entry for my awesome dog, Lily Belle. I figure as much love as she gives us, I would give her some blogger love in return. She is 4 years old today and is just getting cuter and sweeter every day. Some people say she has a face only a mother could love. Psh - that's what I say to those people. We even got her some treats and a new toy that will probably last about 5 minutes in honor of her big day.




This is her modeling pose. Notice the perfect balance of aloofness and "come-hither-ness".

Zappin' it to Ya

I'm sorry, this is too awesome not to share.

http://www.campelectricyouth.com/

Now, we just need a Camp Johnny's Got the Inside Moves.

Happy Friday!

Lily & Petunia

My grandmother gave us a little bulldog figurine for Christmas that we have affectionately named "Petunia". She's too cute and looks just like Lily! She sits in front of our fireplace and we think she makes a nice addition to the place. Lily, however, is not all that sure that she likes her. When we first put her out, she just stared at her and kept cocking her head from side to side like "Um excuse me, what is this thing doing in my house?" After sniffing all around it (butt included), she concluded that Petunia was, after all, not a threat to her being the center of attention and has now decided that they can peacefully co-exist. It was pretty funny watching it all happen though and now we know that she would not so much love to have another dog around. Here's the one picture I managed to get of her investigation.

Emma & Fergie

2 things, which apparently unrelated at the time, happened to me on the same day. First - I finished Jane Austen's Emma. Second - I heard Fergie's new song, Clumsy.

I have been struggling, ever since I was supposed to read it for a book club, to finish Emma. It actually got veto-ed after about a month of all of us trying to read it because none of us could get into it. How's that for a book club? Oprah would not be proud. But not one to back down from a challenge, I promised myself I would finish it because, I mean, it's Jane Austen for heaven's sake and I've never read another book of hers and I HAVE to read at least one, right? So I did it. It took a lot of motivation on my part and at the end of it all, I can say I appreciate it but didn't care for it. I get why it's a classic and I understand that her social commentary is sharp and comedic, but honestly, it was boring to me. That is, until the end, when she realized she loved Mr. Knightley. I'm a sucker for a love story and after pages and pages of loooong paragraphs on manners and society, it was nice to get to the meat of the story - or what I considered the meat of the story. So the last - oh about 100 pages of the book, I was in. A little late, but better late than never right? Hooray for happily ever after. But I'm not gonna lie when I say I liked Clueless better.

Cut to later that afternoon while I was radio surfing and came upon Fergie's latest song, Clumsy. What in the WORLD is this song? It might be one of the worst songs I have ever heard. I've never gotten why she's popular and this song just confirmed that for me. I think I might like GLAMOROUS better, and I hate that song too. I mean, "Flossy, Flossy" - what does that even mean? Is she telling me I should floss my teeth? Because I don't really think I need personal hygiene advice from the woman that peed all over herself in concert. Anyway - after I tried to give it a chance for about 30 seconds and then had to change the station, I started thinking about Emma & Fergie.

Jane Austen, prepare to roll over in your grave. Here's what I came up with - Emma & Fergie are strangely similar. A few examples:

1.) They both think they're a little better than they actually are
2.) They both ended up with men better than them. Say what you will about Josh Duhamel, but he is hot. She looks like a man 90% of the time. And Mr. Knightley makes Emma a better person.
3.) People think they are better than they actually are - ex.) Fergie's singing & Emma's piano playing. Emma admits that she is not as good as people say she is, while I'm not really sure what Fergie's stance is. I imagine she thinks she's just as good as her fans do.
4.) Both started out with good intentions...i.e, Emma wanting to marry her friend Harriet to a man above her station in life & Fergie starting out on Kids Incorporated. How she went from cute Stacy Ferguson on that show, to the woman we see today is a mystery.
5.) They both had to overcome obstacles - Emma, her misguided matchmaking & Fergie, her crystal meth addiction.

See, it's like they're the same person, right? Okay, maybe not, but it was funny to me when I started to think about it. More power to Fergie for being a strong, successful woman - oh, and hey, Emma is too! See - it's uncanny.

4 Years and counting...

4 years ago yesterday, I married my best friend. I can hardly believe it's been 4 years already, and I can't imagine life without my sweet hubby. We had a great seafood dinner to celebrate (seriously, I think I could eat crab legs everyday for the rest of my life) and even though we sat about 6 inches from the people on either side of us (what is up with that?) we had a lovely time. So in honor of this occasion, I decided to list some of my favorite moments from our 4 years together so far.

• Our first dance
• Our trip to Yellowstone and laughing so hard I snorted, which then echoed throughout the entire park I think.
• Practicing our ballroom dance moves in our living room - the lessons really paid off!
  
• Our first day home with our new pup Lily
• Walking down the streets of Charleston together
  
• Sleeping in his lap the entire plane ride on the way to our Honeymoon in Cozumel. I was sick as a dog, but I felt so safe and comfortable with him. I remember it vividly to this day.
• Our Dance Dance Revolution competitions
• Watching him sing & air drum to "Mountain Dew" on his iPod in our hotel in Dingle, Ireland. That was a treat for everyone. And just our trip to Ireland in general.
• Reading the letter he sent me while I was on the 3 Day walk.
• Our trip to New York when he surprised me with tickets to Wicked.

There are so many more - but honestly, that's just boring for everyone. He makes me laugh, HARD, on a daily basis and loves me better than anything I could have prayed for. And he lets me win fights, which really, isn't that the most important thing?

Happy Anniversary, honey!