A Concert for A Cause

I can barely contain my excitement right now.  This weekend the girls and I are headed down to Tunica for this tonight...

Source: http://thebetterlifefoundation.org/

3 Doors Down are playing a show for their foundation and I bought tickets!  It's a much needed girls' trip for all 4 of us and I am happy to help out one of my favorite bands as well.

Have I told you how much I love the Tunica/Memphis area?  Oh yeah, probably only a dozen times already.  I'm definitely looking forward to going back and by taking 3 of my favorite girls with me, we'll definitely be in for a grand time!

P.S. Have I also mentioned that my signature karaoke song is When I'm Gone?  Yep, I even have pics to prove it.

Getting ready for my debut -- Girls Trip 2009

3 Doors Down karaoke SUPERSTAR!!!!

(Sorry for the dark pic, I was solely focused on singing and turned camera duties over to one of the other girls.  I look like a pro, don't I?)

Ahead of the game

My mom and I decided to go out shopping this afternoon since she needed some supplies for her classes this week and I decided to go along for the ride, but as luck would have it I actually decided to start my Christmas shopping.  I think this is a first for me, starting a few weeks before Thanksgiving rather than waiting until absolutely necessary to start.  You'd think for someone who plans out as much stuff as I do, starting my Christmas shopping early would be routine.  Notsomuch...but I am pretty proud of myself right now.

However, I am not ready for Christmas music, decorations or anything else that will make the next 5 weeks pass by in a blur.

Sneak peek

Today I spent my day looking for a bridesmaid dress for Shell's state-side wedding on December 10th.  I wasn't the only one looking for a dress, actually all 3 of us bridesmaid had the day free and we decided to head out together with Shell on an adventure to find something in the same color but something that flattered our different body types.  After multiple stops and a cake testing (yum!), we settled on this....(the lighting isn't the greatest but we're in marine, otherwise known as navy)

I have one month find shoes and get it hemmed to the proper length.  Besides that, I'm not sure what I need to do.  This is my first (and probably only) attempt at being a bridesmaid.  I just hope I make a decent one.

In other news, I have worn myself out the last few days, I'm planning on taking this extra hour tonight and putting it to good use....sleep!  Let's hope my body cooperates.

Wow!

What a way to officially end the season and a baseball career.
From Yahoo news

After 3 World Series titles, La Russa retires

Source: AP

"A rare manager with a law degree, La Russa was voted AL Manager of the Year three times, and NL Manager of the Year in 2002. He will be up for consideration for the Hall of Fame in December 2013, at the same time as Torre and Bobby Cox."
“I think you can make a case for him as best of all-time. Absolutely,” said Detroit manager Jim Leyland, who coached for La Russa with the White Sox after managing against him in the minors.
Leyland said La Russa was the “total package” as a manager, obsessing over the lineup card, outfoxing opponents during games and refusing to bend to public opinion."

Congrats Tony on an amazing season and an fabulous career.  You will be missed by the players, fans and all of St. Louis.

The time has come!

Way back in April I wrote this post.  I was excited then for October 30th and have been waiting patiently for the premiere.  Tonight's the big night on Food Network!

Source

And while I'm on my own to catch this season of The Next Iron Chef, you can bet I will be watching every episode.  I have my favorites picked already and for the final two Super Chefs, I'm picking Chef Robert Irvine & Chef Anne Burrell.  Let's see how close I am to being right by the season finale.

Now, in the words of the Chairman, "Let the Battle Begin!!!!"

P.S.  Feel free to watch along with me each Sunday night at 8 pm Central and comment as the season progresses.

CHAMPIONS!!!!

Source: AP

 

 

 

Congrats to my St. Louis Cardinals who went from earning a Wild Card spot the very last game of the regular season to becoming 2011 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!

Love this quote from a Yahoo article talking about the win:

In the waning days of August, St. Louis had a 0.2 percent chance of reaching the playoffs, according to AccuScore, a company that calculates probabilities by running thousands of game simulations. Expressed another way, the Cardinals faced 1 in 500 odds
And that was to make the playoffs. Their chances of winning the World Series were miniscule, like a speck of Midwestern dust somehow reaching Manhattan or Malibu. It might have been the greatest comeback in baseball history.

The Cardinals have made baseball history and I'm ecstatic to be able to call them my home team!


Oh, and if anyone happens to know Allen Craig, would you pass my number or email on to him?

Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Just in case you were wondering

And because I'm sure you were worried after last night's random post, here's my latest tweet --


Bought my Halloween costume! I'm heading back into the 1920s for this Saturday's parties. Can u guess what costume I picked out?!?

Whew, I knew you were on pins and needles waiting to see if I would get my costume before Saturday.  No need to think about that anymore.  Now you can focus on what I'm going to be.

Oh yeah and now, I'm going to 2 parties that night.  At least my costume will be put to good use.  :)

Back to our regularly scheduled randomness

Ok, time to get back into the groove here and because it seems like I have an attention span of a gnat right now, you're getting the rundown of anything that's been on my mind.

* Remember when I said I got to meet Alton Brown a few weeks ago?  Yep, it was super exciting getting to meet another one of my favorite Food Network personalities.  Here's the pic taken by his assistant --

His question and answer session before the book signing rocked my socks off.  He definitely inspired me to keep working towards my culinary dreams.
And my gift to myself that day --

Pretty cool, right?

* Speaking of culinary dreams, I have been cooking up a storm.  Not just for myself because...well, I have a hard time cooking for one, but I've made dinner for my Mom and Michael last week (Mexican Lasagna), my Dad & Bro (Pork w/Oyster sauce) and homemade from scratch brownies for a World Series party I went to at MO's on Saturday.  (Did you see that game?!?!  16-7!  Go Cardinals!)  And because I was really proud of my brownies, I had to take a picture of them as well.

* On Saturday before the World Series madness, I bought this bad boy --

A mini donut maker, really Lindsay?  I thought you were so healthy...how can you justify that purchase?  Easy, I'm going to make healthy donuts.  I figured its much easier for me to justify eating a donut that I made than to buy them at a bakery.  (Fyi, I couldn't tell you the last time I had a donut.  This purchase makes me very, very happy and I'm hoping to test it out next weekend.)

* Besides cooking and buying gadgets and books, I planned a trip with 3 of my favorite girls to see a great band for a good cause.  3 Doors Down is playing in Tunica, MS on November 19th and they are doing the concert to benefit their Better Life Foundation charity.  I wanted to go to the concert from the time I heard about it and I was able to convince the girls to take the road trip with me.  Actually I am using this trip as a thank you for helping me through all of the changes of the past few months and let's get crazy outside of the Lou just simply because we can.

* Really, I should be spending the little bit of down time I have working on finding a costume for this Saturday.  I have been invited to not 1 but 2 Halloween costume parties and I haven't thought of a costume yet.  :(  I'll come up with something I'm sure  What's even more exciting is that one of the parties is also a homecoming for Shell, who will finally make her way back home after spending nearly a year in New Zealand.  I last saw her 4 days before she left for the trip and I can not wait to see her when she finally gets back to town on Thursday.  We've been friends since the summer between kindergarten and 1st grade and we've gone our separate ways over the years, but even with that we've remained good friends.  I can't wait to catch up.

* On the work front, well, it's work.  I haven't quite made up my mind about the place yet but I'm trying my best each day to take in everything and do what I can do.  However, if anyone wanted to give me a pile of money to start my restaurant/catering dreams, I would move on in a heartbeat.  Until then, I'll just keep plugging along.  This week we have the European partners in from the Netherlands.  Of course, in our office they call it Holland and every time I hear it said, I giggle to myself.  Why?  Because in my head I'm hearing it pronounced by Goldmember from Austin Powers.  Silly, yes, but I can't make it stop.

That's all for now.  I'll check in again soon.  And maybe by that time, my randomness will simmer down (or not!)...have a good one!  And GO CARDS!!!

By Now I'm Sure You've Heard

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, I'm sure you know...

My St. Louis Cardinals Are Going to the WORLD SERIES!!!

Jonathan Daniel/GETTY IMAGES

 

 

 

 

 Like the article in the Washington Post says,  No one will ever use the word “classic” to describe this series (NLCS). It is never a good sign when the member of the winning team who gets the most ink is the manager. None of the six games in the series featured a lead change after the fifth inning. There were no memorable starting pitching performances on either side, or even transcendent offensive ones – with the exception of Cardinals third baseman and series MVP David Freese, who singled, doubled and homered Sunday night to complete a 12-for-22 series.

But we'll take the wins and head off to the Championship Series, especially since it was just about a month ago that my team was nearly down and out.  I'm definitely excited for this series and you can be sure I will be watching and cheering on my team the rest of the way.  I think we even have watch parties scheduled for every game already also.  Yes, we take our baseball team seriously.

Let's Go Cardinals!

My deepest thanks

"You will never know true happiness until you have truly loved, and you will never understand what pain really is until you have lost it."

Out of the few accounts that I follow on Twitter, this was a tweet I happened to catch last night.  It seemed to scream out to me and even though I thought I've been able to pull myself together a little bit the last few days, it hit me hard.  I'm trying to adjust my life, remember what it was like before I had someone that cared about me so much.  It's not about the relationship so much as it is the friendship.  The person I would call when something great happened, the person I called to joke around with when something silly happened, the person I offered support to when his life was not going as planned and also the person that picked me up when I needed a boost.  I would be ok if I at least knew I still had a best friend.  Yes, I loved him like the man I wanted to spend my life with, but I also loved him as a friend that could laugh with me, cry with me and just bring joy to my life.  Friends like that are hard to find and that's what makes this so difficult.

Many of people have stepped up to get me through this the past 6 days and I'm extremely grateful for everyone's support.  It's so nice to know that many other people care about me.  I've appreciated every word of encouragement, every ounce of hope and most of all, I'm grateful for the kind words directed towards me as a person.  I am hoping that at some point, I can be that same rock for someone else.

Now is the time for me to focus on my life and make the most of what I do have left.  I have many goals, many things I would like to see worked out and changes that I thought I couldn't make in myself before now, I'm going to give all of that my full attention.  I also hope to renew other friendships and relationships that I may have neglected in the past.  Overall, I want a full and happy life.

As the inscription on my ring tells me, Live the Life You Love. Love the Life you Live.
I'm going to work my best to do just that.

Change of Course

Well, I had this great post in my head about the fun weekend I had with my class reunion on Saturday night and then the book signing on Sunday where I was able to meet Food Network's Alton Brown, but at it always seems to happen, when things are going really well, something horrible has to happen. And those posts got pushed to the wayside shortly after I got home on Sunday night.

As of Monday morning at 5:30 am, Broccoli decided we could no longer see one another.  He hoped to fix the dysfunction in the rest of his family and could no longer be with me.  I am hurt, shocked and completely devastated.  Our relationship wasn't perfect but I cherished every minute of it.  We became a couple after we both had faced some really hard times in our life and after 3 1/2 years together, I thought we were moving forward.  I never pressured him for more than a commitment of spending time with me a few days a week and while it seems strange, marriage and kids were never something brought to the table and we agreed the way we operated worked for us.  He has kids already and I adored them immensely but I never wanted to be the person stepping in to try to be their mother, only a positive female role model at a later time.  He understood that and agreed that my feelings were the best given everything he had dealt with in the past.  There never seemed to be any issues with that.  And because I am the person that I am, if he asked otherwise, I probably would have accepted anything asked of me.

I lost my best friend, my boyfriend and the guy that motivated me most to excel in everything I tried to do.  He was my motivator, cheerleader, and overall esteem builder when times got tough.  I'm lost, I'm at a crossroad in my life now.  I need to move forward and while everyone keeps telling me there are more fish in the sea, I just want the one back that gave me so much life.  I guess now I take this hardship and learn from it and work to make my life what I want it to be once again.

Sorry for the downer post, but I've tried to remain myself as much as possible in blogland and this is the reality of me right now.

Name the Year...

- Top Movies included Pearl Harbor; Vanilla Sky; Bridget Jones's Diary; Shrek and Ocean's 11
- U2 won Grammys for Beautiful Day for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year
- Other top Songs included Survivor by Destiny's Child; Hanging by a Moment by Lifehouse; Fallin' by Alicia Keys; Drops of Jupiter by Train; Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down; The Way You Love Me by Faith Hill and Get Ur Freak On by Missy Elliot.
- The Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants in the Super Bowl
- The Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series against the New York Yankees
- The Colorado Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils to win Lord Stanley's Cup.
- Dale Earnhardt was killed in the  final lap at February's Daytona 500 when his car crashed into a wall

- Federal spending was $1,864 billion and the Federal debt was $5,807 billion

- The Unemployment Rate was 4.8% and the Cost of a first-class stamp was $0.34.
- The Anthrax scare was in full swing.
- Heather Mills became engaged to former Beatle Paul McCartney.
- Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman decided to separate and ultimately divorced.
- Gladiator won five Oscars, including those for Best Picture and Best Actor, Russell Crowe.  And, Julia Roberts won for her role as Erin Brockovich.

- George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States.

As for me, well.....

Senior Prom

- Lindsay was a Senior in high school.
- She was a member of FBLA, FCCLA, National Honor Society and even took 4th placed at the State FBLA competition in Accounting. 
- She worked part-time as a Third Key Manager and Ear Piercing Specialist at Claire's Boutiques.

Lindsay Hard at Work

- She signed a letter of academic intent with McKendree College for the Fall.and pretty much was trying to figure out where life was going to take her.
- Finally, if there was any free time left in her crazy, busy schedule (there's one thing that hasn't really changed!), she could be found hanging out with Shell, Lizzie, Amanda, Cara, Greg or Matt.

Project Graduation -- our school celebration after the BIG DAY!

Think you know the year????


If you guessed 2001, you'd be exactly right!!

Tonight I am attending my 10 year class reunion.  I'm not sure what to expect and I am excited to see how much has changed for everyone else over these last 10 years.  Sure, I check in on Facebook nearly every day and I follow what some of my classmates have been up to, but I think it still will be fun to catch up on a more personal level.  High school for me was not a walk in the park; I worked hard and aimed for perfection in nearly everything I did.  I was quiet and shy and tried my best to stay away from any sort of attention throughout my 4 years in high school.  Now, I am proud to show off my accomplishments (to an extent!) and actually feel comfortable talking to people and being somewhat normal and personable.
Broccoli is going with me tonight and I'm also excited for that.  In the time we've been together, I've really just glossed over my time in high school and besides telling him I was a big nerd, I haven't given him much of a clue as to those 4 years of my life.  I'm not sure what he expects, but my main hope is that we have a fun night out!

10 years!  Geez, I still can not believe it!

Source for non-Lindsay related facts: 
http://www.infoplease.com/year/2001.html
http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/2001.htm

Source for Lindsay related facts: 
the one and only Random Girl!

In 9 innings and beyond?

Saw this pic on Facebook today and had to laugh:

Tonight I'm on pins and needles waiting to see what happens in the Cards-'Stros game and Braves-Phillies matchup.  Could we have a one game playoff or could my team be headed to the post season or could my team be packing up tomorrow and getting ready for winter?  I guess we'll find out in a few hours.

I, myself, probably will not be watching the game since Broccoli says I jinx the team and cause them to lose when I either watch it or attend one, but I'll be rooting for them while watching episodes of Restaurant Impossible on Food Network.

LET'S GO CARDS!!!!

The Next Bobby Flay

I got a text from my brother this afternoon that read this:

So I wrapped boneless chicken breasts in bacon.  Seasoned with ginger and hot sauce then marinated with italian dressing overnight.  Pan seared then roasted in the oven with red peppers.  Then I reduced some white wine with butter and garlic salt and dressed angel hair noodles with that.  That's right. Your bro reduced wine and made a sauce.  :)

He also sent me this pic just to rub it in:

Besides being highly impressed,  my initial thought was, geez, I should hire him to cook for me.  All I had tonight for dinner was sauteed veggies in a rice vinegar glaze and some grapes.  Obviously not the dinner of champs here but after a long day at work, its about all I could muster up with the little bit of energy I had left.  Of course it didn't help that my stove and oven didn't work all weekend either due to circuit breaker issues and couldn't plan ahead with a few pre-cooked weeknight meals.

Also, you can bet that when he comes over for our next edition of Sibling Saturday this upcoming weekend, I'm putting his butt in the kitchen to whip me up something delicious.

A new chapter

A few days before I started my new position, this email was sent by my new employer to my email and all of my co-workers:

It is my pleasure to announce the following additions to our Team:

Lindsay will be joining us on September 12^th; filling the open Staff Accountant position.

We are excited and confident that Lindsay will bring her expertise in accounting and enthusiasm to the accounting department.

New Sales Rep (NSR) has accepted the position as the new Midwest Representative for Really Awesome Shoes. NSR lives in Chicago and will come to the St. Louis office Thursday to meet everyone and pickup her samples.

Join us in welcoming Lindsay and sales rep to their new roles!

And from that, I was accepted into my new position.  I can say it's definitely been a crazy two weeks but I am slowly adjusting to the new job.  It's a big change from the business and industry I came from but I think eventually everything will click.  I have become more comfortable in some of my responsibilities and I even got my key to the office this Friday. (I hope this means I'm a keeper!)  I got through an inventory on Friday and this week is month-end (eeeek!).  Ultimately, I need to stay positive and remember I can handle just about anything thrown my way.  (Broccoli has been drilling this into my head since we've been together, guess I should really listen to him now, it may really come in handy.)

Perhaps the coolest thing so far was after work on Tuesday when Coco and I decided to go to dinner and hit the mall.   While browsing one of the stores, I found numerous styles of one of our brands and more specifically one of the brands I do all of the Accounting for.  I became a giddy little school girl and had to take a pic with my phone to send out.  (Yeah, my friends think I'm quite silly!)

In any case, I'm starting to get into my groove and hopeful that things continue to move forward and look up.

Moving on

So my last day at work went fairly well.  There were tears but there were also promises to meet up for lunch in the next couple of weeks.  My new position is literally down the street from my old place and I have told everyone that just because I'm not in the same building we can still all hang out from time to time.  Coco, of course took my leaving the hardest.  We became good friends because of the job and experienced a lot of stuff over the past 6 years on both a personal and professional level.  She came into work Friday with a little note saying thanks for being my friend all these years and these for me --

I, of course, had a card written out for her too saying thanks for putting up with me and getting me through everything life has thrown at me.  I was also going to pick up flowers for her, but I knew she was supposed to head out of town after work to catch her son's college soccer game so I put that off until a later date.

Broccoli met me for lunch on Friday and tried his best to deal with my roller coaster of emotions.  He offered support and encouragement for my new position (yes, I am a bit scared!) and understood why I was crying about leaving the old place (cue, Memories please) and overall eased my mind.

After work I decided to finish out this job the same way I started it 6 years ago.  I went to my Mom and Michael's for dinner with them.  Back then we went to Chevy's for Mexican.  This time, I wanted to change it up a bit so I decided to on Chinese from one of my favorite hometown spots.  I had a good time catching up with them and mostly tried to de-stress from my two long weeks of training everyone on every little duty and job detail in my head.

Saturday was the second edition of Sibling Saturday 2011.  I met my Bro at his apartment and we spent some time catching up and just hanging out.  We also went into town to pick up some much needed apartment essentials for Ryan and his room mates and then grocery shopped so we could make dinner for my Dad.  Ryan and I thought it would be fun to surprise Dad with a visit and dinner.  And Dad was surprised when he came home from work and found both Ryan and I camped out in kitchen creating a masterpiece.
Our creation --

Our version of Moo Goo Gai Pan

 

 

 

And here is Bro enjoying our delicious meal --

Today I've spent my day just trying to prep for my first day tomorrow.  I have my clothes ironed, my paperwork organized and my lunch packed.  I am excited and nervous but overall I'm ready for 9 am.  Transportation turned out to be quite an interesting industry, I can only imagine what shoes and the fashion world will be like.  :)

Simple vs. Real

This was sent to me the other day and I thought it was the perfect thing to post today.

A Simple Friend has never seen you cry.
A Real Friend has shoulders soggy from your tears.

A Simple Friend doesn't know your parent's first names.
A Real Friend has their phone numbers in the address book.

A Simple Friend brings a bottle of wine to your party.
A Real Friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean.

A Simple Friend hates it when you call after he or she has gone to bed.
A Real Friend asks you why you took so long to call.

A Simple Friend seeks to talk with you about their problems.
A Real Friend seeks to help you with your problems.

A Simple Friend wonders about your romantic history.
A Real Friend could blackmail you with it.

A Simple Friend, when visiting, acts like a guest.
A Real Friend opens your refrigerator and helps herself.

A Simple Friend thinks the friendship is over when you have an argument.
A Real Friend knows that it's not a friendship until after you've had a fight.

A Simple Friend expects you to always be there for them.
A Real Friend expects to always be there for you and for you to know that they are.

Today is my last day at work and I can say, I consider quite a few of my current co-workers my friends, but ultimately I know who my Real Friends are here and who I will continue to remain friends with as I move on to a new phase in my life.  They are the few people that in spite of my attitude or tears or days that I didn't have much time to catch up and chat because of my workload, still cared and still wanted to help make things better.  These are the same people who encouraged me to move forward and make myself happy even if it meant I couldn't see them and spend time with them every single day.


I work closely with two of my closest, dearest best friends.  They are two of the most amazing people you could ever meet.  They have provided me with an infinite amount of support and have helped me through some of the hardest days of my life.  To them I am eternally grateful.  Leaving my position was a piece of cake, leaving them is proving to be a bit harder.  Yet, I know, we will always be Real Friends.

The Final Countdown....

Thanks to the helpfulness of one of my co-workers, this song by Europe has been stuck in my head ALL DAY LONG!  He started his morning by asking if I was ready for my last 4 days in the office and proceeded to sing part of the song to me.  Of course, me being the music lover I am, started singing the rest of it and now that's the only song stuck in this head.  As I was training my replacements, I'm humming it to myself.  As I'm doing data entry to help Coco, I'm humming it to myself.  As I go to lunch and try to chill out and enjoy the early fall-like weather, I'm singing to myself.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

I hope tomorrow someone has another good bye tune for me...something has to get this out of my head!

Almost like the real thing

Broccoli would probably completely disagree with me, but I found a great alternative to a hamburger.  I've been making turkey burgers rather than using ground beef for the last year or so and finally on my last grocery shopping trip, I decided to try something different.
So, let me introduce my newest food adventure --

To me, they taste like a regular burger.  I may even go as far as to say that they are better than a regular burger because I wasn't left feeling stuffed or like I had just clogged my arteries with all sorts of fat.  In any case, I just heated them in my new Paula Deen skillet and then made a burger like normal.  Of course, Broccoli would tell you that the only reason why it tasted like a beef burger to me is due to the fact that I pile my regular burgers with so many "extras" (lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions) that I never really taste the meat anyway.  I did the same thing with my Boca burger.  :)
Now I'm ready to test out some other Boca products -- who knows what kind of yummy lunches or quick dinners I can whip up with their veggie burgers, crumbles or chik'n patties.  It's amazing how many more foods I am now willing to try and prepare when I know calorie counts and other valuable nutritional info.

Note:  I have not been paid by Boca in anyway for this post.  But, if you happen to know someone there, would you tell them how much I love these burgers and have them donate a few boxes to me?!?  Thanks!  :)

Sucked in

It's a 3 day weekend and I've already spent my Saturday running errands and cleaning up my apartment.  While I was at the gym this morning, I was flipping through my favorite channels and happened to find a marathon on Bravo.  Of course, I got sucked in and I've decided that since its a gloomy day here in the Lou, I'm going to spend the rest of my day chilling at home and being entertained by:

It's definitely a train wreck, but so fun to watch.

Hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend!