It's time for another.....

Good Idea:
After changing your password to an email account at work, emailing yourself the new password so you can check it at home too.

Bad Idea:
Emailing yourself the new password to the same email account, so in order to get the new password, you need the new password.

Songs

I got an email at work today about a team summit we're having that included this:

"Music evokes fond thoughts and memories, similar to what travel does for our customers, their customers and ourselves. So please send me your favorite song and the artist that performs it, that evokes great thoughts, memories and feelings for you."

They've asked us to send several submissions to have a good list. The first thing that popped in my head was the song "Bubbly" by Colbie Callait. That song is so mellow and relaxing that no matter how frustrated, stressed, or upset I may be, when I hear it I just get calm and happy.

I thought this was a really interesting assignment and would like to hear what other people think of when it comes to a song that evokes great memories and feelings. What song would you send in?

Speed Stacking

Yet another example of how out of touch with kids fads I am since I don't have any....

Today my cheerleaders had another game. While we were waiting for our game to start, a kid pulls out a mat and a bunch of cups and starts stacking them and taking them down...I was SO confused. So I ask my girls what was going on. They were like "YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT SPEED STACKING???" Apparently this is a new thing. Cup stacking. Seriously. They have competitions and everything. I thought you only stacked cups when you were putting them in the cabinet after washing them - and then not in a pyramid!

Here is a video of some kids who are around the same level of my girls. My fastest girl had 22 seconds:


And here is a video of a couple of the "pros":




And a super cute girl on Regis and Kelly. Not as fast as speed-boy above, but who cares? She's only 5 years old and adorable!


And yes, I tagged this "sports" although I say that in the loosest sense of the word!

Jiffy Pop

Interesting thing about my new house....I don't have a microwave. My apartments always came with microwaves and although I know a microwave costs all of $50, I just have always decided there are other things that I'd rather spend my money on. So I decided that I would wait until I just couldn't handle it anymore and I'd go get one. That hasn't really happened yet, but every now and then I wish I had one to make popcorn. So tonight when I was walking through the grocery store and saw stovetop popcorn, I just couldn't resist!

Coming from the Scream generation, I definitely looked over my shoulder more than once while I was making it. And when my phone rang in the middle, I just let it go to my answering machine. Luckily I don't have a "huge football player boyfriend" to find tied up and gutted in my backyard, so I got to make my popcorn in peace. :)

So now the real question: was it as good as microwave popcorn? Eh, not really. But it wasn't bad and it definitely satisfied my craving tonight!

Ready for a woman....just not Hillary

I promise not to get too insanely political in the coming election year, but every now and then I just have to let some random things off my chest in regards to the race.

A lot of people are making a huge deal about Hillary being the first serious female candidate. From there it basically goes to either implying or flat out saying that if you aren't for Hillary, you're saying that a woman shouldn't be President.

I'm sorry, but aren't we supposed to be picking our President based on who would be the best person to run this country - not based on their gender, race, or religion?? I have nothing wrong with a woman being President, but I'm not going to vote for someone JUST BECAUSE she is a woman! Look at issues people.....not the external packaging! But that's just wayyy too much to ask, isn't it?

European vs. American Sayings

My first year of the MBA program, I found a few sayings that didn't quite translate between my international friends and American English. It always made for some humorous conversations. Last night, I went to dinner with two of our regional marketing managers, Christine and Fionna. Christine is based in London and Fionna is based in Singapore. Christine tried to order sparkling water at Chuys (with no success) and that got us talking about phrases that we find funny or just different from what we say here in America.

Some of the results (Mostly different between British English and American English):
Come across - this is what everyone in Europe says when they talk about flying overseas. I first heard it when I went to Sweden - "When did you come across?"
Straight away - the European version of "right away"
Flatmates/Flat - Roommates/Apartment
Fancy - Christine thought it was funny that we didn't say "Would you fancy a drink?" We say "Would you like a drink?"
Water - we had a good laugh hearing Christine and Fionna mimicking the way that Americans say the word "water!" I never realized that it sounded so different and weird to them!

We had a lot more but I won't bore you with them all. What phrases have you all heard that either Europeans say that we don't or that we say and they don't?

Cloverfield

Last night, I went to see Cloverfield with some friends. Or should I say, I attempted to go see Cloverfield with some friends.

I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about the movie. I had seen the poster above, but had no idea that the movie was supposed to look like it was shot with a handheld video camera. Really interesting concept and they did it really well; however, have you ever sat through 2 hours of someone else's home videos...particularly ones where they are running for 80% of it? Now have you ever done that on a big screen? I normally don't really get motion sick but this just did me in. From the first minute, the camera was so shaky and would zip from one side of the room to the other...and that was on the calm part of the movie. When things started getting bad, the camera got even worse - he would drop it to his side to run so you'd be watching the ground moving by really fast, there would be fast motion and shaky filming at the same time, it was just awful. Lindsey Holder and I had to leave after about an hour of it because we were both getting so sick. It made me sad because I was enjoying the movie (basically Godzilla from the perspective of the people on the street....not going to win an Oscar but its a good mindless movie) but I just couldn't handle it.

So if you have EVER gotten motion sick, DO NOT go see Cloverfield. It'll take you down even if you aren't normally the motion sick-type of person!

Things That Make Me Smile: Upward Cheerleading

Now that I'm finished with Grad School, I finally have time to do "extracurricular activities" that I enjoy. So this year, I have started coaching a 4th grade cheerleading squad with the Upward Basketball program! I've been pulling from my high school cheerleading days and using some of my old cheers and chants - the girls are really picking up on all of it very well. We had our first game today and my cheerleaders are just precious. I am having so much fun! It really makes me smile. :)

Prodigal

Here is the trailer of the movie I was an extra in.
"PRODIGAL" Trailer

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THE List: 81-100

Capping off my list of 100 things to do....I've had this written for a long time but forgot to post it!

81. Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef
82. Become a landlord
83. See the Northern Lights
84. Read all 7 Harry Potter books back to back
85. See the turtles at the Galapagos Islands
86. Watch the start or the finish of the Iditarod
87. Visit Easter Island
88. Ride a camel in the desert
89. Get a Reader Identification Card and read a part of a book in the Library of Congress
90. Fly 15 segments on one trip
91. See the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janiero
92. Have or adopt children
93. Watch the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium
94. Arrange a layover in Reykjavik, Iceland just to say you've been there
95. See Bette Midler sing live
96. Do at least one sightseeing item on this list with my brother
97. See Victoria Falls in South Africa
98. Drink Vodka in Moscow
99. Go back to Boston with Allyson and relive our favorite childhood vacation as adults
100. Cross 30 items off of this list by the time I'm 30

Thats it! I started this list in March of 2007. Almost a year later and I've been able to cross off 9 items. Hopefully even more will come in 2008. :)

I'm Ready for my Closeup!

Its about that time again....time to cross another item of THE List!

If you haven't been reading for very long, I have a list of 100 things I want to do before I die. I made all of them actually feasible things that are actually tangible (no "Be happy with my life" or anything that is subjective) and actually cross them off as I do them. If you're interested in the whole list and whats been done so far, you can click on the tag at the bottom of the post.

So this weekend I was able to complete another item:

50. Be an extra in a movie

My friend, Jason, used to live in LA and did the whole acting thing. He had a few small parts in some movies (he was the White House Photographer in First Daughter with Katie Holmes and things like that), got tired of "the grind" and several years later, ended up here in FW. He has recently become friends with a few people in the indie film scene and was one of the leads in a movie that is being made for several film festivals. Theey were supposed to have around 70 extras for a black-tie gala scene to be filmed Saturday....Friday night they found out that 50 of them weren't coming. So they were desperate to get some people there!

I like dressing up, so I agreed to go. It was a LONG day! We shot the same scene about 25 times - 5 times from 5 different angles with 2 cameras each time. Because I was friends with one of the leads, Jason got the director to use me in close-up reaction shots and then I was sitting in the right place at the right time for another scene that was filmed later and ended up with a couple of lines. Thats right - I got to say "This is a great turnout tonight!" and "It's nice to meet you." And then my final showstopping line...."Is she okay?"

I'm thinking about moving out to Hollywood and applying for my SAG card now. I'm going to be a star! Totally kidding. But it really was a very fun day and I'm excited to see the final product. Plus, any excuse I have to get all dressed up is fun for me. And getting to cross something off THE List is just icing on the cake. :)

P.S. I just looked and realized I never posted items 81-100! I'll have to do that this week.

I was right!

Ever since Mitchell McBroom was born, I have been going back and forth about who I thought he looked more like. At first it was Katie, then I thought Stephen, then I thought Katie again, then we all said he looked like a mixture of Ryan Inlow and Stephen! Haha.

Anyways, I saw this on a friends blog and decided I had to put in the McBrooms and answer the question once and for all. Turns out, I was right both ways! He's a perfect split of the two!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family search

FYI, I look 10% more like my mom than my dad. It used to be the other way around, but as I get older I really have started to favor my mom. :)

It's time for another....

Good Idea:
Using your I.D. badge to get through the turnstiles at work.

Bad Idea:
Trying to use your I.D. badge to get through the turnstiles at work after you've accidentally put it in the dryer, somehow deactivating it.

I love feeling like an idiot at work. I might have forgotten to mention the dryer thing to the security guards when I had to go get a new one. It just magically stopped working today! :)