2012, the year of change

Remember that exciting event in the works?  It's official now and I can finally let you in on my little secret.  After living in the same place for 7 years, I've decided its time to move on.  That's right, come late July/early August, I'll be moving into a condo (still renting because of my fear of a long-term commitment!) out of the 'hood I'm currently in and closer to my family.

My Dad is completely thrilled as are my Bro, Aunt and Uncle and Nicole, but it's taking some time to get my Mom and Michael to come around with this change.  I think Mom is fearing I'll never come to visit even though I'll be living the same distance away from her as I am now (so not true!) and pretty much she has this idea that I'm moving to a foreign land.  My Dad and his side of the family see that I will be only about a third of the distance away from them as I am now and are happy that I'm going to be closer.  Rather than the 50 minutes it usually takes to drive for a visit, I'll be 20 minutes away and on top of it, I'm only a few minutes from Dad's work.

For me, I'm excited to have another change of scenery along with a bigger place in a quiet, park-like setting.  This move is a little bittersweet for me though too.  This apartment is the first place I rented on my own after graduating college.  I have a lot of memories from all of my time here, from moving day back in August 2005 and Bro mowing down one of his friends while they were bringing in my furniture, to showing off my really neat shower curtain to my friends right after moving in (inside joke), to girls' weekends with Nicole, to the cooking competitions in my tiny galley kitchen with Broccoli to the family dinners and fun times I've had with everyone who has visited me.  And while I know I'm able to continue these types of memories in my new place, I just don't want to forget some of the best times in my early adult life.  The other great things the new place offers is more space (100 sq ft more!), a washer and dryer (no more laundromat!  woo hoo!), a bigger kitchen (more culinary experiments!) and a fireplace (ambiance and coziness!) and luckily, my commute time to work and the gym (a new location, but another in the chain) is virtually unchanged.

I'm still working on the logistics for planning my moving day.  Right now, I'm thinking late July just so I have time to get things moved and situated the way I want before turning the keys in for my current place.  Plus, I have to coordinate my moving efforts with all of the fine fellas that are going to help me.  Bro and his roommate are going to round up the boys to get me moved and I have to find a time that will work for them.  I'm definitely grateful for the amount of support and help everyone is offering.

Besides the actual move, I'm just left packing up 7 years worth of my life and changing my address on everything.

Another adult step

My Bro, the master of networking, passed my name on to a financial advisor thinking I could use some help with financial planning.  (You know, because I'm rich, or so that's what Bro says.)  Since I'm nearing 30 and I have a new job, new car and another exciting event in the works (stay tuned!) and overall I'm hitting a different stage in my life, I decided maybe it was a good idea to meet and see what they could offer me.  So at lunch today, I met with the financial reps. 
I actually went through this process a few years ago and wasn't impressed by the guy who hounded me to buy this huge cash value life insurance plan (and then kept calling me over and over again when I declined it), but I decided to check out the other options they offered and wanted to get some sort of idea of what they could do with my old 401k.  I came prepared as my typical type-A self would do and had my monthly/yearly budget calculated out in an spreadsheet and I also brought my last quarterly statement from my 401k with me. And of course, I explained my theories for saving, retirement and the economic future in general.  After nearly an hour of getting to know me, I left the guys to do what they do best, work on a financial plan for me.  I don't know if they will be able to come up with something I will agree with or not, but its nice to be able to open my eyes to other financial and wealth management products.  By the way, they were impressed that I knew about many of the products they mentioned.  I guess my education and years in the financial world actually do help every now and again.

Anniversary of Adulthood

Two pics can sum up my Saturday night:

A balloon-filled couch!

Rainbow of jello shots!

My Bro threw a party on celebrating the 1 year anniversary of moving into his apartment with his roommates.  Really though, any chance these guys have to celebrate, you will find them sending out an clever Facebook invite, buying a half-barrel for the Kegerator and setting up the beer pong table in their kitchen.  For living in an apartment, they sure do have a place that is great for get-togethers.  This Saturday was no exception, with the Kings-Devils hockey game being shown in the background and music blaring on the IPod, we had a blast.
I then spent a good part of Sunday recovering from the fun (soooo tired) and trying to be a responsible adult in my little digs.

2012 concert season begins!

Not sure what is on the schedule today at work since it's the day after a holiday (and Mondays are normally really busy) and month-end is Thursday, but I have a few things to look forward to after work tonight (And I am counting on being extremely tired by the time Wednesday rolls around.)  First, I asked my boss on Friday if it would be ok for me to leave an hour early to run to an appointment and then I'm picking up Nicole and we're headed to the St. Louis stop of the Here & Now Tour featuring Nickelback along with Bush, Seether and My Darkest Days.
I bought the tickets way back in January and debated who would go and who could go and finally came up with the perfect plan.  I asked if Nicole would want to hang out with her older, sometimes cool cousin and she jumped at the opportunity. Since then we've been working on the logistics since she's still 6 months from getting her driver's license and usually I'm stuck in a good amount traffic when I leave work at 5.  Luckily, the extra time at work the last few weeks along with tomorrow afternoon's appointment actually worked in my favor and made it much easier for me to be able to ask to leave at 4.  I'm super pumped for the concert and really excited to spend time with my cuz.  I'm also hoping that even though she's going to see Justin Bieber with one of her friends that this concert is at least her 2nd favorite.

3 Day Weekends & 360s

Hope you're enjoying your weekend as much as I am right now.  The past week has passed in a blur but I'm getting by and having some fun in what little spare time I can find.  Me having these 3 days off has mostly meant finishing projects and getting some things that I've put off in order and also working on a few new ideas that have popped up.
 
Yesterday afternoon Dad and I bummed around after he got off of work and I was able to spend a little time visiting with him.  Over the next couple of weeks, I'm looking to make some fairly big decisions and I needed some help deciphering through everything. (Don't worry, I'm not quitting my job and moving to the Bahamas! I love this job and my group too much to leave now.)  But, it was great being able to get his opinions and see his excitement when I told him my thoughts.  And last night I was able to catch the Cards-Phillies game from amazing seats (free food and drinks, why yes I will!) with B. Dill and a few others from our company.  A great way to celebrate my first two months at the new place and ironically the tickets were given to us by the CFO of one of the companies I handle so I thought it was that much cooler that we got to go to the game.  (Yes, I am a bit dorky!)

In the meantime, I'm also trying to get back into my hardcore workout routine and diet.  I haven't slacked off a whole lot considering I still workout every single day but my diet and exercise routine hasn't been nearly controlled as it was a year ago so I'm working hard to stay on top of it so that swimsuit season will be a pretty one again this year. (It's amazing what a difference a job and friends can make on your lifestyle.  No more 15 hours a week in the gym taking out all of my stress and aggression like last year along with actually getting to be more social with my new peeps.)  So this morning, I kicked it into high gear once again as I did yesterday morning and switched up my workout a bit.  I fell in love with this new toy and it kicked my butt harder than I thought it would!

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Obviously, I'm not the most graceful girl as is, but maintaining my balance while doing squats was quite a challenge.  Then I came home and found out there are DVD workouts with this too!  I may invest in one of these in the near future just so when I fall flat on my face testing out more moves, I don't create laughter among the entire gym.  I would be cheap entertainment though!

In any case, have a wonderful Memorial Day.  Thanks to all those who have fought for our freedom!

Can you guess how I'm feeling?!?

This was my tweet a few minutes ago...I think you can tell my exact mood just from these 140 characters:

To the F-ers in my apartment building who stole my internet & cable, I hope u get what u deserve! Thanks Charter 4 responding & fixing this!

In the 7 years I've lived here, I've never once before had this happen and I'm furious that it happened now.  Two days without internet or cable....two days....two whole days!  The first night I didn't get home from work and the gym until 9:30 and I was so beat, I just figured it was a short outage, but when I got home again last night after a 14 hour day and still found I had no service, I was pissed.  Charter couldn't figure out the problem either, from their end, everything looked just fine.  Of course, my neighbors weren't having any issues, they were too busy watching my cable and using my internet!

This isn't the first problem over here.  There were police outside of the building next to mine Saturday night when I got home and there are constantly fights and arguments out front.  But, this is the first problem I've faced first hand.  People make fun of me living in North County, heck I make fun of living in North County and I've lived in this area nearly my entire life and I've seen its changes (and not for the good!) over the years.
I've got some time before I have to make my ultimate decision, but I'm guessing my trend for change will be continuing....

"Who will be....."

Remember this post from the end of July?

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Tonight's the night for the season premiere of the new season of Next Food Network Star.  I can tell you that I didn't make the cut for the show (obviously!), but I will be eagerly watching each week to see who does become the Next Food Network Star.  From reading the bios, I do know of one contestant has the same concept as myself and I will be critiquing him more than the others (just kidding! You know me, I'll probably be critiquing all of them!) 
As the show intro touts each season..."Who Will Be The Next Food Network Star?" 
I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Actually, I'm really glad I didn't make the show.  Even though it's been a crazy, life-changing 10 months for me, I'm so happy to have landed where I am today.  Yesterday, my work fam and I went on a pub crawl in Soulard (home of the STL Mardi Gras).  It was a day of laughter, singing and dancing and having an all around fantastic time in the great spring-time weather!  I'm not sure there is anything this group could do that wouldn't be fun though!  Another fabulous day, another day I'm pleased with my decision to take this leap.

As for the rest of this Sunday, I'm having my parents over to celebrate Mother's Day in a few hours.  I'm making my Mom dinner and we're going to just enjoy the afternoon...perhaps throwing in a few competitive games of Scrabble (It's been awhile, maybe I can actually win this time).  On the menu are home-made shredded pork tacos, sweet corn, black beans and strawberry blondies for dessert.  Sure, I may not have been able to participate in Next Food Network Star, but I'm hoping to please some of the people that mean the most to me with my cooking skills.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms out there.  I hope you enjoy your day to the fullest!

Taking a chill pill

This was about as close as I could come to having a perfect weekend over the last few months.  With no real plans on the schedule and a few extra hours off from work on Friday, I took full advantage of taking it easy.  Sure, I got my weekend warrior workouts in on both Saturday and Sunday, but other than that, I was able to spend a good part of my time catching up on a few movies, the Kentucky Derby, Talladega, Cards baseball and unfortunately the Western Conference Semi-final elimination of my Blues (ok, that's the weekend's one downfall).

I'm finishing the weekend with a bang...the Chopped All Stars Championship premieres in a little less than an hour.  I'm pumped for the competition between the best of the best and my money is on Chef Marcus Samuelsson.

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Ok, so I really don't have money on Chef Samuelsson's win tonight, but I do have a different sort of bet for this competition and either way, it'll be fine, but still it's all about the big W!  I won't be in tears if Iron Chef Symon pulls off the win though either!  :)

Hope you had a great Spring (nearly summer since its been over 90 degrees) weekend as well!

Fly by update

Crazy, crazy past week and because I'm just about brain dead right now and really looking forward to some downtime this upcoming weekend, I'm doing what I do best on this blog -- random thoughts and highlights.

- Last week ended on a less stressful note than it started.  Friday night, me and the new work crew attended a trivia night for another co-workers cancer stricken cousin.  We had a blast and actually fared pretty well in the trivia competition.  This group is probably the most tight-knit of any I have ever worked in and become friends with and really I think my cheeks still ached on Saturday from all of the laughter.

- Saturday, the parents and I hit the casino to play bingo.  A local radio station hosted a bingo session and even though we had torrential storms most of the afternoon and evening, we braved the weather and actually had a fun time.  The only problem?  Stupid people...here's an idea, before yelling bingo, pay attention to the numbers  and the type of bingo being played.  Overall, I did have fun and it was nice to spend a Saturday night out and about rather than staying in.

- Sunday I finally was able to catch up with Coco after weeks of missing each other at the gym or due to other obligations.  We made the 2 hour trek to catch her son's soccer game only to be stuck in more thunderstorms the whole trip north and during the game.  After 1 half of play, the officials called the game, but we still had fun on the mini-day trip and it got me out of the apartment once again.  (It's spring, I'm starting to get cabin fever here.)

- Monday and Tuesday were quite possibly the longest work days known to man (ok, maybe not, but they were really busy and a bit mind-boggling).  I forgot to mention that the Friday before, our boss informed us that we needed to have our month-ends finished in 1 day, not the usual 2 or 3 that we are accustomed to (listen to me, I sound like I'm a veteran, this really was my first end closing my companies on my own).  I worked 12 hours prepping for month-end on Monday and then 13 hours on Tuesday to get everything closed by our deadline.  By the time I left on Tuesday night I felt like a zombie with mush for brains, but I can happily say all 3 sales accountants met our deadline and got a reward to boot (more about this in the next bullet point!).

- Our reward for working so much and our boss being grateful for our dedication is having the afternoon off tomorrow, this is of course after a bit of celebration.by our team.  Really?!?  Rewards for being dedicated and working hard?!?  Anytime I was dedicated before I got more work and then had rumors spread about me about being a brown-noser or something even worse.  I'm so happy to have the afternoon off and while I haven't made definite plans for my Friday evening, I'm thinking some rest and relaxation is in order.  I could really use some sleep right now.  My brain hasn't seem to turn off in well over a week and sleeping has not been in the cards.  I have my fingers crossed that my body will cooperate.

- Before leaving work tomorrow we are having a Cuatro de Mayo party.  This is the brainchild of my department.  (We start thinking up these sorts of ideas when things get crazy...bear with us!)  Fridays are traditionally known as family lunch day for us, meaning we all make a point of going out to lunch as a team and we thought it would be great to visit our favorite Mexican restaurant for a pre-Cinco de Mayo celebration.  Well then we just got carried away in true Sales Accounting fashion and decided that we're all going to try to speak Spanish as much as we can during the day, possibly find sombreros and Mexican inspired clothing and all around enjoy a holiday that much of Mexico really doesn't even celebrate anymore.  I think if we could convince our boss to let us drink margaritas, one of us would have already made the pitcher of them as well.

- Finally and probably the least important of all of these updates is the fact that it's been unseasonably warm the last two days with temps around 90.  Finally sun and warm temps and no rain!  The downside to all this warmth on May 3rd?  It is a sauna in my apartment and against my better judgement I had to turn on my AC.  For the record, it was 89 in my apartment when I got home at 7 pm tonight.  Have I mentioned how much I need a good night's sleep sometime in the next few days?  Yeah, that's why I turned it on....or so I keep telling myself.  I'm also hoping it keeps my blood from boiling with this hockey game tonight.  I'm not sure if the team realizes this or not, but being down 3 games is not what I want from my St. Louis Blues.

The role of a friend

"A single rose can be my garden....a single friend, my world." -- Leo Buscaglia

This quote sums up my last 36 hours.  While I don't feel like I need to expand, I, at least, needed to post this for myself today.  I have been awake all night long, but pure adrenaline, my role at work and the satisfaction knowing I was able to help someone who needed me the most will get me through the this day.

It's true, a single friend can make someone's world.

Round 2!!!!

I stopped dancing around my living room for a few minutes for this post.

How cool is it to see the Blues knock off the Sharks in game 5 of the first round of the playoffs?!? 

Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Simply the coolest!! 
Plus the 2 goals in 45 seconds!  Woo hoo!  This is the team we've been waiting for!!

Antti Niemi wasn't the easiest to beat in net, but the Blues definitely proved they wanted the win tonight!

Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Congrats to my St. Louis Blues!!

All In

Where were you on Black Friday?

The day the United States government ended the Poker Boom?

ALL IN — THE POKER MOVIE is the story of the worldwide poker boom that started in the underground clubs of New York City and went on to be played at homes and casinos all around the globe. How did poker become the battleground for personal freedom and the fight for adults to choose how they spend their time and money? The film explains how poker has become the target of politicians who have cut off the ability for millions to play and for many to make a living. 
ALL IN — THE POKER MOVIE tells the exciting story of poker's renaissance in the first decade of the new millennium, from a game once played only by grandparents and teenagers unable to get a date on Friday night to a nationally televised sport played by millions, and watched by millions more. An activity so hip that even Matt Damon, George Clooney, and Leonardo DiCaprio have a regular game. Played in casinos, basements, on line, in college dorms or at charity events, poker is everywhere. The films explains the "tipping story" to the events and people that came together to make poker so popular that you could see it being played on twelve television networks a week.
This documentary weaves the quest for the American Dream, the ability to take risks, and the celebration of entrepreneurship with a game that began with con men on riverboats and ended up being played by presidents. Poker has become a metaphor for making it big quick, and though millions play it, poker seems unable to escape it's cinematic image of something done by people on the outside of society.
ALL IN — THE POKER MOVIE tells the story of how poker has come to be a part of mainstream culture while also exploring how poker satisfies our desire to play, win, and shape our identities as individuals. 
ALL IN — THE POKER MOVIE the definitive story of poker. 


 Source:  All-In: The Poker Movie

Super, super geeked out right now!!  Earlier this month I won tickets on Twitter for the St. Louis screening of All In: The Poker Movie tonight and along with viewing the movie, I also get to attend a Q and A with Radio Talk show host Paul Harris and this fella:

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Recognize that guy?  It's STL poker player Dennis Phillips who finished 3rd in the 2008 World Series of Poker Final Table.
After a jumbled text message filled with my excitement and a reply of "What???" my awesome Bro agreed to accompany me to the screening.  He has never played an ounce of poker in his life and probably doesn't understand my love of the game, but he agreed to be my guest for the evening.  Who knows, maybe he'll become my new poker buddy after tonight's event.

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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....

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'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!