Work Potluck

We're having our Spring Potluck tomorrow and I have debated with myself for weeks about what I was going to make.  It's the first "company event" I'm participating in and I didn't want to look like a big dork, plus I wanted to make something springy and light also. 
I researched FoodNetwork.com and found a perfect lunch dish from Giada De Laurentiis to use as my inspiration since I can't seem to ever follow recipes to a "T."

Here's what her Penne with Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes looks like:

Source: Food Network

And here's a picture of my creation, Grape Tomato and Asparagus Rigatoni & Rotini:

Pardon the smartphone camera pic.  It was the easiest way to snap a photo.  And I'm sure if I had a food stylist, my dish would look as great as Giada's.  I am pleased with the flavor and tweaked the original recipe by adding Sunburst tomatoes and a homemade Italian dressing/marinade to the pasta. 

Keep your fingers crossed that I have Spring Potluck success!

As Ben Franklin would say,

"The only two things certain in life are death and taxes."

Personally, I'm happy tomorrow is Tax Day.  (Yep, I'm sick like that.  Of course, like the super organized, highly prepared girl I am, my returns were submitted way back in January...seems so long ago!)  But really, I have answered tax questions from a multitude of friends, family and former co-workers for 12 weeks and prepared oodles of returns that this day could not come soon enough for me. 
Everyone hears Accountant and automatically assumes I know the Tax Code by heart.  Contrary to popular belief, while I don't mind doing taxes (another crazy sickness), I'm not an IRS encyclopedia.  I was tested a few times this tax season but I think I would have made my tax professor from college proud of everything I retained (less the fact that many of the limitations and deduction amounts change nearly every year).

With tax season behind me, it's now time to focus on the important stuff again...getting ready for summer!  Definitely hitting the gym hard (harder I should say) over the next few weeks (or so I hope!) so that when swimsuit season rolls around, I'm actually ready.  My diet plan is back in full swing and I've got the determination to lose the 5 or so pounds I've picked up since the first of the year.

Another Sunday, another great Cardinals win!

Great sports weekend here in the STL!  Blues and Cardinals won on Saturday in grand fashion and the Cards finished off the Cubbies series today with a huge win 10-3.  (My man Yadi hit a 3 run homer!  Yeah!!)
Here are a few pics from my seats....nothing special, but it was cool sitting in the luxury suite hanging with JP and his wife, B.Dill and a few others from our company and the industry.

Getting the field ready for action

Westbrook and Molina walking in to the dugout after warm-ups

Yadi up to bat -- right before the HR

Seriously...how can you get tired of looking at this awesome skyline?!?

Such a fun day and a great game and I'm so lucky I was invited!

As you can tell, I've started nicknames for my new group of friends/co-workers.  They've given me a nickname as well....Rick James.  Yep, as in "Super Freak" Rick James.  It's funny how it all came about and I giggle every time I hear it.  I actually may bust out into the song one day too, it's just that funny to me.  And no, I'm not nicknamed that because I look like him.  LOL

Opening Day 2012!

Not the greatest Opening Day in St. Louis for the Cardinals.  They lost horribly to our rivals the Chicago Cubs and the festivities were delayed due to a massive rain around ceremony and game time, but the game was played and St. Louis was abuzz.  These pics are from my view today....the lunchroom at work.  How cool is that?!?

To top it off, I get to go to the game on Sunday with a few of my fantastic co-workers and sit in a luxury box.  Yep, I'm awesome like that!  :)

Btw, see the blue fountain in the bottom of pic 1, yeah, the water in the fountains at Kiener Plaza was turned blue for our St. Louis Blues.  It's been a toss up here Blues/Cards, usually it's red for Opening Day but home games have seemed to overlap a bit.  Ironically both teams have lost the last two days.  They both need to turn it around...we're a Championship city afterall (or hoping to be in hockey anyway!).

Mark your calendars

Things to do in the 'Lou this weekend:

- Blues are playing at home tonight (Game 1 of the playoffs baby!  We're bleeding blue!)
- Cardinals Opening Day is tomorrow!!  (show me your RED!!!!)
- Blues play game 2 of the 1st round of the playoffs on Saturday night  (Let's Go Blues!)
- Big NRA National Convention the next 4 days (we're not known as one of the most dangerous cities for nothing!  At least some of us are taking the constitutional route with our gun collections!)
- Go! St. Louis Marathon on Sunday  (I'll stick to my 10-12 miles on the elliptical for now, thank you very much!)
- WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's St. Louis started Thursday and ends on April 23rd (Still too chicken myself to throw around any real money to play in one of these events, but it's definitely exciting considering how far Dennis Phillips went winning here and taking on the Main Event in 2008.)

And this chick is going back to college with her Bro on Saturday for week 1 of our continuing ed class we registered for.  Bro is worried that he won't be prepared without a notebook.  I've assured him I've got plenty of paper and extra pens.  I think he's more excited than I am for this and I'm pretty stoked.

So much to do....so little time!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny left me a present today!  And can I tell you this is the best Easter present this year.  Super pumped for tonight's Season 2 premiere of....

Source

'Chopped All-Stars' Is Back

NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Food Network's top-rated hit Chopped All-Stars returns for a second season filled with fan-favorite chefs, unexpected ingredients, and fierce competition for a $50,000 prize for charity on Sunday, April 8^th at 9pm ET/PT.  In each of the five themed episodes, hosted by Ted Allen, four specially selected chefs are challenged to create three masterful courses from ingredients in the mystery basket, ranging from beef tendon and crawfish, to black beans with queso fresco and chicken feet. Chopped All-Stars kicks off with Iron Chefs battling in the Chopped kitchen, followed by competitions between Food Network/Cooking Channel show hosts, Food Network Star finalists and Chopped judges. A rotating roster of top-notch judges will decide who gets "chopped" each week, leading up to a final showdown between the four episode winners on Sunday, May 6^th at 9pm ET/PT, where the $50,000 grand prize to the winner's charity of choice will be awarded.

"Chopped All-Stars proved to be a huge success in its first season, and season two really takes the challenge to another level, even pitting Iron Chef against Iron Chef and putting Chopped judges to the test," said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President Programming, Food Network. "Food Network viewers can look forward to some incredible creativity and entertainment in the Chopped kitchen – all for a good cause."

Episodes include:

Part 1, "Iron Chefs Do Battle" Premieres Sunday, April 8th at 9pm ET/PT 
Competitors: Iron Chefs Cat Cora, Marc Forgione, Jose Garces and Michael Symon
Judges: Scott Conant, Aaron Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian

Part 2, "Prime Time vs. Day Time" Premieres Sunday, April 15th at 9pm ET/PT 
Competitors: Show hosts Keegan Gerhard (Food Network Challenge), Jeffrey Saad (United Tastes of America, Cooking Channel), Aarti Sequeira (Aarti Party) and Marcela Valladolid (Mexican Made Easy)
Judges: Amanda Freitag, Aaron Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian

Part 3, "Food Network Star Contestants" Premieres Sunday, April 22nd at 9pm ET/PT 
Competitors: Food Network Star Season Seven Finalists Justin Balmes, Penny Davidi, Vic "Vegas" Moea and Chris Nirschel
Judges: Scott Conant, Amanda Freitag, Aaron Sanchez

Part 4, "Judge Remix" Premieres Sunday, April 29th at 9pm ET/PT 
Competitors: Chopped judges Alex Guarnaschelli, Marc Murphy, Marcus Samuelsson and Chris Santos
Judges: Amanda Freitag, Aaron Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian

Part 5, "Grand Finale" Premieres Sunday, May 6th at 9pm ET/PT 
Competitors: Prior episode winners
Judges: Anne Burrell, Amanda Freitag, Aaron Sanchez

Chopped premiered in January 2009 and consistently ranks as one of Food Network's highest-rated primetime series.  Hosted by Ted Allen, the fast-paced competition series challenges four chefs to turn mystery basket ingredients into an impressive three-course meal.  After each course, one contestant gets "chopped" until the last chef standing claims victory. 
Emmy Award winner Ted Allen is the host of Chopped and the author of the upcoming cookbook "In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks" debuting in May, 2012, and an earlier book, "The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes," both from Clarkson-Potter.  Allen also has been a contributing writer to Esquire magazine since 1996. Previously, he was the food and wine specialist on the groundbreaking Bravo series Queer Eye, a judge on Food Network's Iron Chef America and a judge on Bravo's Top Chef.
Chopped and Chopped All-Stars are produced by Notional Entertainment.

SOURCE: Food Network

I haven't pegged my favorite yet, but I'm super excited to watch the Iron Chefs compete tonight and equally jazzed for the basket ingredients!  And in the words of Ted Allen, "Who's dish will be on the chopping block?"

Couldn't have planned it better

I was off of work yesterday for Good Friday, but didn't realize it until late last Friday.  I already had this Saturday filled with appointments and rather than rescheduling them to spread things out a bit, I decided to run my normal weekend errands on Friday and keep Saturday as it was.
My plan was to get up this morning and hit the gym for my 2 hour weekend warrior workout and clean up and change at the gym before my 9 am appointment but by the time I got moving, I only had about an hour and 15 minutes to spare (this included getting ready and drive time).  I didn't want to cut into my much needed workout so I improvised at home and did my core routine and got ready for my appointment.
The cool thing is that my gym is literally across the street from the office I was visiting, so I had the bright idea to pack my gym clothes so I could workout in between that and my hair appointment at 1 pm. The salon is right down the street from the gym so I actually was going to save time and valuable gas by staying out that direction.  After my appointment, I hustled over to the gym, changed clothes, started my IPod and I was off to the races.  About half-way through while I was weight-lifting, I see a head pop in front of me.  Coco, who is never one for a weekend workout at the gym, stopped in this morning and decided to workout as well.  We've been hit or miss working out together after work the last few months with both of our schedules so it was fun to be able to catch up today.  It also made an hour on the elliptical fly by!
We finished our workouts, I got cleaned up and ready (again!) for my hair appointment and we made preliminary plans for the week ahead.  We also talked about making these Saturday workouts more of a regular thing, that is if I stop going to the gym at my usual 6 am on the weekends. (If I have weekend company at the gym, I just might switch things up.)

As for my hair appointment, I'm loving the updated color for summer.  My highlights were spruced up and my stylist trimmed up my ends to bring back the sleekness.  She also straightened my hair better than I can ever get it (crazy wavy hair and no patience!).  Usually I'm not one for taking self pics in my car, but I had to today.  So here you go:

I felt like a million bucks with the new 'do and taking care of everything else on this afternoon's agenda.

Month-end & Office Shenanigans

I forgot that most companies try to close their month-end within a few days after the last day of the month instead of closing November in mid-February.  (Oh yeah, it's true!)
Today was a 12 hour day and I'm halfway closed in both of my companies, this with the help of my boss who has been very understanding.  We did find some time for some office shenanigans though as we tricked one of the other Sales Accountant into believing that our Logistics Coordinator destroyed our boss' office when in fact the the building crew was just repairing his desk.  (Bear with me, I'm trying to think of nicknames for all of my new peeps. Haven't come up with good ones yet!)

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard working at month-end.  Hopefully we'll have everything finished tomorrow and we'll be able to start the month of April.  Crazy, it's April and the start of (Championship!!) baseball season is right around the corner!  (Woohoo!)

Week 1 in the books

Source

I've been lucky enough to drive into this skyline for the past 5 days and I'm still in awe at how amazing it is.  Ok, maybe the job has something to do with how amazing it is as well.
From about 8:01 am on Monday as I met my co-workers for the first time, I felt comfortable and at home and happy with my decision to take this leap.  No, the job is not an easy one since there are many intricacies with our contracts, customers and the industry in general but my transportation background is going to help me a bit.  There is A LOT to learn and I'm digging in and doing my best and I'm actually being trained!  By the time 5 pm rolled around on Friday, I did feel accomplished for my first week, a week that included the end of the month nonetheless.

My co-workers made me feel comfortable also.  Who knew that I'd actually step into a job where people talk to one another during the say and want to help each other out?!?  Oh wait, yeah, that's the way it should be!  And most of the time, we actually go to lunch together as well.  Can I tell you how many times I did that at the last place in the 6 months I was there?  ZERO!  NADA!  ZILCH!
Ok, no more comparing the new place to the old because there is no comparison.

Now I can finally breathe and be that employee I was meant to be.  It's so much easier to like your job and like working in general when you feel welcomed and wanted.

P.S. I'm giving brownie points to anyone who can actually pick out the building in the pic that I work in.  And no, it's not the Arch.  :)

Spring Break! Memphis in March style

I officially start my new job tomorrow morning at 8 am.  I'm excited and ready to get this new adventure under way.  Over the past two weeks I've spent a lot of time taking care of things at home (massive spring cleaning!), getting paperwork squared away (former employer, new employer, personal), doing taxes (I'm a 1040 machine), buying a car (loving the Elantra!!), partying with my awesome Bro (dancing & singing commence!) and even enjoying "Spring Break" this past week (I feel like a kid again!). 
Nicole came over Sunday and we spent most of Monday having a girls' day bumming around the STL and just enjoying the great spring/summer weather.  We would have been pursuing the St. Louis Blues players at practice but they decided to cancel that on us.  (Thanks guys!)

Tuesday through Thursday, I found myself down in Memphis/Tunica with my Mom and Michael.  I was in need of some BBQ and Mom wanted out of the STL, so a 5 hour car ride it was.
Here are highlights of the trip in picture form:

Mom & Michael -- Civil Rights Museum

Mom & Me -- Neely's BBQ

Me at the Horseshoe, Tunica

Me and Paula Deen -- it's a cutout, but I was still excited!

The Best Buffet Ever -- love me some hoecakes!

Needed some fried chicken too!

Sweet, Spicy Love Sauce -- delish on fried chicken!

As for today, I'm finishing up my last sets of taxes (for now!) and prepping for tomorrow.  I've got my clothes picked out, my lunch made and all of my "first day" stuff organized.  On top of that, I've got a clear mind and I'm pumped for the challenges ahead.

Happy Birthday Bro!

After a little bit of convincing that bringing home a baby boy from the hospital was actually ok, I proudly became the luckiest sister in the world a quarter of a century today!

Happy 25th Birthday Bro!!!

You continue to make me proud of you in everything you do.  You're my biggest supporter and the person I call when anything and everything is going on in my life -- good, bad, exciting or sad.  You get me into trouble but you also are right there to get me out of it.  You're my karaoke and happy hour buddy, my fellow Food Network fan and my Memphis in May road trip partner but most of all you are the best brother this girl could ever ask for!  Enjoy your day and celebrate to the fullest!

Oh and if I ever forgot to tell you before....thank you for being born on St. Patrick's Day.  That ensured your permanent place in my life as that green baby I always wanted!  (jk!  I probably would have let Mom and Dad bring you home eventually.)

That bug bit me

I went to test drive cars and low and behold I ended up buying a new car.  New lunch box, new job, new car...this girl has broken her mold the last few days.  In fact, in the past week I've been quite adventurous!  I've even knocked a few items off of my personal bucket list -- for the first time ever I negotiated the entire deal myself, secured my financing ahead of time with a great rate (shared secure loans are the way to go!) and was able to buy a brand new car too!
It is a little sad to trade in my little race car but the gas mileage alone on the new ride was a nice perk and then you throw in the fact that it's the 2012 North American Car of the Year and it's 9 years newer than the race car and its so smooth and sleek...can you tell?!?  I'm definitely happy with the purchase and I'm still working on a good name for this car.  I've had the k car, the roller skate and the race car.  Better put on my thinking cap!
So without further a-do, here's a pic of my new addition.

Isn't she pretty?!?

As for the rest of my Friday, I'm going to just sit and stare at my new baby and then have some March Madness fun with my former, former co-workers (yes, the group that still loves me!).  Both Mizzou and SLU are playing today so I have to be out there rooting on my home teams.

Finding Lindsay

See this pic...

It's my new lunch box and I'm extremely excited for this purchase.  Lindsay, why would you buy a new lunch box and why are you so excited for something as silly as a new lunch box? 
Because along with the new lunch box, I also have a brand new job!  A job in an industry that is huge in this area of the country and rather than focusing on my Financial Accounting background, I'm moving into Sales Accounting.  It's a huge boost for me professionally and I'm ecstatic for this opportunity!

Over the past 6 months, I'm sure you've noticed the lack of posts about anything work related.  There is a reason for that.  The job was highly disorganized and I found that even though I have a personality where I "fit in" in nearly any situation I'm thrown into, I was not able to fit in there with the job or with the people.  It made it difficult to get up every morning, it made it hard for me to put in the effort required every single moment I was in my cube searching for answers I would never find based on the lack of training and guidance and it was like pulling teeth for me to wear a fake smile just to get through it.  How do you work with people and not really talk to one another?  Or when they do talk to you they make rude comments about why you're there or how you got your job...it became unbearable.

My new job is the complete opposite of that and I know this only from the two interviews I went on before I was offered the position.  But, I can say from the moment I walked into the amazing office, I felt comfortable, I felt at home and I felt wanted and needed.
Anyone who has known me for awhile realizes I'm stepping out of my former comfort zone for this job as this position it is located downtown in one of our STL high-rises and is at a company that is a major player in a major global industry.  But, it also doesn't feel like I'm stepping out of my normal range (if that makes any sense).  I feel as though I'm growing and moving exactly where I need to in order to be happy.
Friday night a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  The stress and anxiety and everything that I've had to grit my teeth and hold in for so long finally was released.  As Coco told me as we were celebrating, "Lindsay, I haven't seen you this happy in years!!  You've found your delightful old self!"  And I realized I finally had found the me that I lost a few years ago.

This new position will not be a cake walk, it's going to require a lot of effort to learn the industry and learn the business but I'm so ready and so set on bringing back the Lindsay that loved her job and the people she was able to interact with on a regular basis and genuinely being wanted and needed helps tremendously as well.

Along with this really cool lunch box, I bought some new outfits for this position.  I feel like it's the start to a new school year and I'm a giddy school girl once again.  Oh and since I feel like a school girl, Happy Pi Day too!!

Luck of the Irish?

Loving the STL forecast for the rest of the week and today we hit a record high 84 degrees...on March 12th!!

Perfect St. Patty's Day weather for the parade and other Irish shenanigans going on around town.  And I'm also being drawn to all of the sevens on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  That's gotta be lucky, right?

Dedicated to the Cool & Bad A$$es

For Christmas, this awesome dude, also known as Bro Cool A$$ Mofo (or at least that's what it says in my phone) bought Dad, me and himself hockey tickets.  The game we get to go to?!?  Tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets!  The Blues are in first place and playing amazingly well and definitely are showing that are a team to be taken seriously.  I'm excited and pumped for the game and ready for some fun with the fam. 
We are also celebrating tonight because this guy was promoted a mere 4 months after starting his new job and he passed his management test with flying colors!!  I'm so proud of him!

Exciting news for me as well but I'll mention more of that in the coming week.  Let's just say, I'm proud of me and I'm taking the Bad A$$ title.

In any case, LET'S GO BLUES!!!

Twelve in 12?

It's March 1st and while I hate to rush this month along, someone is excited for the start of baseball season, especially after seeing this today...

Cardinals, Molina reach $75M deal through 2017

Glad one (and I'm sure the rest of the 2011 team, minus one who will remain nameless!) Championship team member thinks this city is a great place to play baseball!  By the way, if I haven't made it know before, Molina is my favorite Cardinal.  He's a class act and a nice guy along with being one of the best catchers in baseball.  Don't just take my word for it...even Carlos Beltran agrees with me.  :)

Cardinals Winter Warm-Up 2010

And there is no zoom on that personal pic!  I was that close when he signed autographs for the Cardinals Care event.

Oh and in case you were not in the loop when that other Cardinal left, it was not about the money.

Insane!

Source: Getty Images

How crazy is this?!?  So glad that Juan Pablo Montoya and the driver of the jet dryer are ok!  It's been a wild first week of the 2012 NASCAR season!  I'm hoping I will be able stay up long enough to see who wins this race.  I can't imagine what else could possibly happen in the last 40 laps.

Or like a friend of mine just commented, "this is looking like the race that will never end."

Drive-by update

The last two weeks have flown by...some good things going on, some not-so-nice and some things that are making me take action, but I've been getting by.

A few notable things to mention:

- Switched my workout routine at the gym.  I got my exercise ball (compliments of my cable company) and the resistance bands I bought on Amazon and I've spent most weekday mornings doing a short core workout rather than treking to the gym at 4:30 am for my hour and a half cardio and core/weight training.  The extra hour of sleep has helped tremendously!  And I'm still hitting the gym after work for my cardio and on the weekends for my weekend warrior workout.

- Bro joined me for Coco's birthday happy hour last Friday night and all of my friends and former co-workers were excited to see him.  In fact, they asked me to make sure I invite him to all future functions.  Again, just one more reason why these people are some of the coolest people you could ever meet and we all had such a blast.

- After months of semi-monthly Scrabble nights, I finally won a game against my parents when we played a few weekends ago.  I had good words and good positions for most of those words.  Usually I get stuck with low points with good words and the parents rack up the double and triple letter and word scores.

- Tax season is in full swing so my spare time has been filled with 1040s and Schedule A's.  It's funny to see how many people want nothing to do with their own taxes.  It's also funny that I find these returns fairly enjoyable to do.  (Wonder if I'll still find them enjoyable by the time we get to April 17th!)

- Daytona 2012 is tomorrow.  Woo hoo!!  I'm psyched for the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup season and still rooting for my guy Jamie McMurray!

- So hard to believe that next week at this time we'll already be into March.  And, in looking at my calendar, I have plans every weekend during the month and all but one weekend in April.  I don't know how I became Ms. Social Butterfly but I'm looking forward to all of the fun things planned including another 30th birthday party, a Blues game, March Madness, St. Patty's Day, my Bro's birthday party, Michael's birthday, a girls' weekend and the much anticipated continuing ed classes at the community college. 
I think by May, I will be planning a relaxing vacation!

Other than that, it's been pretty much run of the mill here.  Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Best Week 2012

By far, this has been the best week of the New Year (yes, I realize it's only February!). 

Anyone else have as much fun as I have this week?
 
Anyone? 
Anyone? 
Bueller? 
Bueller?

By the way, this has nothing to do with the fact that Ferris Bueller has made his reprise with Sunday's Super Bowl commercial.  It's just been an AWESOMELY FANTABULOUS week on many fronts and that's what popped into my head!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

See that house?  To you it looks like an ordinary house in suburban America.  To me, it looks like the house I grew up in.  And this morning it made it onto the early morning news.

From KMOV.com

Woman shoots self while cleaning gun

Posted on February 8, 2012 at 4:55 AM

Updated today at 9:01 AM

(KMOV) -- A woman accidentally shot herself while cleaning a gun Tuesday night, police said.

Authorities said the accident happened at a residence in the 12000 block of Trampe Heights Lane in Spanish Lake, Missouri around 11:45 p.m.

While the woman was cleaning the gun, it discharged, hitting her in the foot.  No one else in the home was injured.

Six police cars were on the scene after the call came in.  Police did not have information on the condition of the woman or what type of gun she was cleaning.

Be sure to check back with KMOV.com as more information becomes available.


I've heard conflicting reports as to if it is our old house or actually the neighbor's house across the street (our house was featured on the news this morning), but it still was crazy to hear and even more insane to see on the news.  Imagine the wake up call to my Mom, who I called around 6 am to tell the story to.  You'll understand why I called her that early once you learn that she still owns the house on Trampe Heights and is currently renting it out. 

Yeah, I don't think you'll see Mr. Rogers in this neighborhood anytime soon.

Impressed by my skillz

Yesterday I went to visit my brother and do his taxes.  I've done his Federal and Illinois state taxes ever since he started working.  I've also done my own taxes every year since my first job at Claire's when I was 16 and while my taxes were simple back then, they're probably even easier now.
Granted, I also have hours of income tax classes (both individual and business tax) from my years in college as well as practical experience from volunteering for the IRS VITA program during my college days; so really, tax returns really don't scare me easily.

On my way out to my Bro's, I called my Mom just to check in and told her what I was up to and her first response was, "How do you know how to do Illinois state taxes?!?"
I proceeded to remind her that McKendree is located in the state of Illinois and I also had jobs in Illinois while I was in school and had to file non-resident tax returns for the state so that I could get credit in Missouri for paying state tax somewhere.  She was impressed that I could handle completing both Illinois and Missouri state tax returns.  Yep, I'm that awesome -- I may live in Missouri, but this girl is a multi-state tax aficionado.

Random online purchase

If I haven't proven how random I am yet, this definitely will do it....

I had two gift codes from Christmas to use on Amazon.  Since I had the time today, I decided to finally place my order.  I purchased 3 items with my $55 in codes.

A Cuisinart Immersion Blender (in Chrome!)

Black Mountain Fitness Resistance Bands

Garth Brooks Ultimate Hits

I'm sure if actual people saw my order and knew all 3 items are for me, they'd think I'm a confusing mess.  And actually, they'd probably be right, but I'm excited for my purchases.  I'd also like to see what Amazon does when they link and suggest other products to go with another person's purchase.  You know, the little spot where they say, "when buying this item, people also purchased"....ha!

Isn't it ironic

Last night when my buddy, from way back when, Derick came through for a quick visit and to wish me a happy birthday, I was on the phone with my Dad giving him my Super Bowl pick and my points for the game.  Then I proceeded to update him on all of the other exciting happenings from the last few weeks and even months, including my recent poker nights, my excitement for the upcoming Nascar season, my fantasy hockey team, transportation facts (yes, I still talk about trucking!) and every other non-traditional subject I'm interested in all while being outfitted in the cutest mini-skirt and boots possible  He then decided it would be fun to tease me about being the most non-girlie, girlie-girl ever. 
I guess you don't come across many girls that care about their appearance (and shoes!) as much as I do and yet still recite sports stats like a grocery list.  I told him about my plans for the next few weeks also and he just laughed....after keeping in touch with me every now and again over the last 5 years, he's figured out I'm probably pretty close to one of a kind too.

29 on the 29th

After a weekend of shenanigans, little sleep and more birthday fun than you can possibly imagine, I've made it to Sunday night.  I'm extremely grateful for every nice thing done to make my 29th birthday an extra special one -- from the phone calls and cards to the balloons and cake and presents, but mostly I'm grateful for the time I was able to spend with so many great people.

Friday night was a night like no other for me.  Besides my Bro, Mom, Michael and my "lake girls," nearly all of my friends from my previous job came out to happy hour.  I knew I was liked when I was there and I was hoping that I would see many of them, but to have just about everyone who was invited show up and help me celebrate was very, very cool.  After a few hours (why do they call it happy hour when we know it will go on for longer than that?!?), a group of us hit the next spot for karaoke.  I channeled my inner rock star and sang my rendition of When I'm Gone by 3 Doors Down (I got rave reviews by the bar for my performance too) and kept up tradition by singing Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi with Coco.  My Bro, who drove an hour after working all day and dealing with some not-so-nice weather, entertained the crowd with a little Poison and he and I finished the night singing Don't Stop Believin' in memory of my good friend Sherri (January 27th would have been her birthday).  We closed the karaoke bar down at 1:30 and headed home.  I needed to try to get some sleep even though I was still so pumped up because Saturday was going to be a big day as well.

Saturday I was super woman and I went 10 different directions throughout the entire day.  I had to take care of nearly everything on my weekend to-do list so that Saturday night, I could sit back and enjoy some poker time.  MO and I were invited to play in a fundraiser Texas Hold 'em tournament and we both jumped at the chance to play cards again so soon (and so reasonably priced as well).  The tournament was fun and I played probably one of my best nights of poker.  I made it to the final table and ended up finishing 10th out of 120-130 people.  Not too shabby if I say so myself!

As for today, I made a mean slow-cooked pork verde, spanish rice and stuffed mushrooms and had an early afternoon dinner with my family.  My Dad, Aunt and Nicole do not really come over to my side of the river and visit all that often and I was happy to just have a few hours to spend with them at my apartment.  Nicole was also highly impressed that I had a mini donut maker so we ended up whipping up a batch of glazed donuts for dessert too.

Overall, I can say, I've had a fantastic birthday weekend and for your viewing pleasure, I'll leave you with a few highlights from Friday.

The Super Sibling Duo.
And in case you haven't heard, my Bro is the absolute greatest!

A little Poison action compliments of my Bro

Cause I'm a Cowboy....

Recreating last year's shot pic.  For some reason, everyone got a kick out of this.

I hope you had a great weekend as well!

Party Time!

While my actual birthday isn't until Sunday, my amazing group of friends are throwing me a huge party tonight.  We're going out for happy hour at a local sports bar and then heading out to do karaoke.  I've got my songs prepared and I'm ready for A LOT of fun tonight and the entire weekend.  Pics to follow if I remember that I actually have my camera with me.  :)

As for the rest of my birthday weekend, I'm playing in a fundraiser poker tournament Saturday night (told ya, the bug bit me again!) and then having my Dad, Aunt and Nicole over for dinner on Sunday.  I decided instead of going out, I wanted to stay home, spend some time in my kitchen and whip up my own Mexican feast, so that's what I'm doing.

Ready....Set....Let's celebrate!

Early Birthday Present

With my birthday being in 12 days, I decided tonight that I would buy myself a birthday present.  That present you may ask is tickets to....

Yep, that's right, despite my Bro's constant disgrace of me digging Nickelback, I'm going to see them when they come back to town on May 29th.  Plus, how can you go wrong with Bush, Seether and My Darkest Days also on the bill?!?  Happy Birthday to me! 

Now I just have to find someone willing to use the 2nd ticket I purchased.

Poker night

One year ago tonight, I was in Mississippi watching my favorite dude (Broccoli) take down the 3rd Saturday of the month $5K Guaranteed Texas Hold 'Em Tournament at the Gold Strike.  It was a long, yet highly eventful night and one that he and I were always reminiscing about when we were together.

I played poker before I met Broccoli but haven't played much since we broke up, but tonight that's about to change.  I got a text from one of my friends at my former job earlier today.  His buddies were looking for a few more people for poker night tonight and he wanted to know if I'd be up for playing.  The itch has been there so of course I had to accept. 
I'm hoping tonight I can be the champ of the 3rd Saturday in January Texas Hold 'Em tourney at MO's buddies' house.  I wouldn't mind that title.  I just hope it doesn't go until 2 am.  Wish me luck!

Missouri, you did me a favor

I received notification from the State of Missouri that my Driver's License expired this month.  At first I wasn't sure if I was glad to be getting a new license or not.  You see, my license was taken while I was still trying to lose the weight 6 years ago and anytime I get carded now, it's always a topic of conversation that besides the smile, I looking nothing like the girl in the picture.  It reminded me of how far I've come and how much my hard work in the gym and complete lifestyle change has paid off.
This morning, I proudly went to the license bureau and handed over my expiring license and got my new updated one.  One with an updated picture and updated weight!  It was a bit sad to see Fat Lindsay go, but I'm sure it will cause me less grief when people thing I have a fake ID and I'm nearing 30 years old.

Interesting reading

While I have a little time in between the holiday craziness and the tax season madness, earlier this week I decided to go to the library to see if there was anything interesting for me to spend my down time reading.  Interestingly enough, I found this book:

I figured there would be a few things for me to contemplate and perhaps try before I'm too old, married or pregnant.  (For the record, none of those three are on the horizon for me.)
So far, I'm digging some of the ideas even only a few chapters into the book.  In fact, I just may take some of these things to do and add them to this year's bucket list.

We'll also see how many of these I've already attempted once I make my way through the entire book.  If I had to take a ball park guess, I'm going to say 10.

My kind of winter

In the good 'ol Lou today we hit a record setting high of 66 degrees.  It was sunny, calm and the perfect January day.  Who would have thought on January 5th, I'd be leaving the gym in a tank top and have my window down for the drive home?  (I'm usually the one wearing 4 layers and bundled up like I live in the Antarctic.)  We're expecting more of the same for tomorrow with a forecasted high of 64 degrees and more sun and while I'm enjoying this magnificent winter weather, I can't help but think about how Mother Nature will be getting back as us.
And I'm guessing it will be sooner rather than later but until then, I'm pretending like we've made it to Spring.

Headed back to school

For the first time in 7 years, my Bro and I will be in college at the same time and for the first time ever, he and I will be taking a class together.  It's nothing major (yet!), but we're registered for a continuing ed class offered through the local community college.  It's a chance for us to bond (an extended Sibling Saturday of sorts) and a chance for us to get the ball rolling for the bigger and better things we have planned for the future.  I'm excited for this opportunity and a bit nervous -- I definitely don't want to look like even more of a dork in front of him than normal because he will totally call me out on it.

Someone is a bit excited today

I have seen the tweets and music articles floating around the interwebs and I am fairly certain today is the day!

Shinedown are releasing the first single ‘Bully’ on January 3rd, 2012

I am just hoping I get to hear it at some point over the next few days.  I'd like to think of it as an early birthday present from my favorite band.  Thanks guys!!  (Yes, I'm talking to Shinedown as if they followed my blog!  Wouldn't that be so awesome?!?)  I'm sure even without hearing it, it's as great if not better than everything else you've released.

Yep, I'm a giddy school girl today.

Update:  Just caught the song and lyrics on You Tube and I think this song will go great on my Shinedown workout mix.  More Shinedown awesomeness for sure!  Here's the link for your listening pleasure:  Bully

Sources: 
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Day 2 and not so smart

I never do resolutions, but instead come up with ideas of things I'd like to work on for each new year.  Mostly they are mental notes for making myself better.  As of today, the 2nd day of the year, I've already broke one (because I don't listen to that little voice that tries to keep me on track when I want to be stupid) and I'm on my way to making another one work (a BIG dream of mine that will one day come true, I hope). 

I would say I'm 50/50 for the year but I think I created a huge mess for myself with the one I've broken already and it probably counts as multiple failures on my part.  So much for being smarter in 2012.  Personally, I think it would be better if I went back and relived January 2011.

Christmas revisited

I realized Christmas came and went and I never really said much about the festivities at either parents' house nor the fun we had at my Aunt and Uncle's place Christmas Eve afternoon.  Rather than form words, which is a bit difficult since I'm running on 2 hours of sleep right now, (Yeah, I was a party animal with Mom and Michael last night.  Don't ask for more details though, I'm still bitter after losing every game of Scrabble the last two nights.), so I'm entertaining you with a photo dump.

Bro as a Christmas present, his bow even matches his shirt!

Dad -- wine holder and trash collector, he's multi-talented

Sibling Love

Bro, modeling his new work attire

Me and my meat thermometer

Bro and his big basket of cooking goodies.  (This was my gift to him.)

Dad opening his present from Bro. (We're going to the hockey game!)

Bro wearing my awesome hat from Memphis.  He was jealous I was so stylin' on Christmas. 

 

Confused by the present.

Silcone baking mats! (Or cooking drum sticks, your choice.)

Mom and Michael with their healthy popcorn maker.  (Yes, that's from me.)

Oreo already asking for a popcorn snack.

Oreo, bummed we told her she had to wait for popcorn.

My new Calphalon Grill Pan!

Despite the extra stress we faced again this holiday season, we had fun and enjoyed our time together.  I call that Christmas success.