I had to take a business trip to Memphis and of course I tried to cram in some personal things too while I was there. No trip to Memphis would be complete without a visit to Graceland. I got there too late on Monday to take a tour and they were closed on Tuesday --my only free day -- so I just went and walked around the area and took pictures.
The other thing I made sure to do was eat at a bunch of the great places that have been mentioned on the Food Network. My first stop was Neely's BBQ. This is the restaurant of Pat and Gina Neely from the show "Down Home with the Neely's". The food was great but the actual restaurant was not what I expected. It was dark and they had no souvenirs for sale. There was a tiny display case that said there were souvenirs for sale but they didn't have anything. Not even BBQ sauce????? I think they are missing a huge opportunity here. I was prepared to buy a book, sauce and even a pig or two.
The next two places I tried were both on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives -- Alcenia's and Leonard's BBQ. Both were great. At Alcenia's I got baked tilapia, yams and green beans. Oh my goodness but it was delicious. It was the best of all three I have ever had. Definitely a must for anyone visiting.
Then I tried Leonard's BBQ and they had a HUGE buffet. So, of course, I had to try everything they were offering. The BBQ in Memphis is different from Texas. They have mostly pork in Memphis and the sauce is more vinegary. The best thing at Leonard's was the fried catfish. The best ever.
And of course I had to get my souvenirs. This keychain is my absolute favorite. It not only is fuzzy but it also has a small diamond ring on it. Precious!
I absolutley love winning things from contests and am also on the hunt for more contests to enter. This time I got a box of goodies from Campbell's thanks to www.loserforlife.com.
The box of goodies consisted of:
2 boxes of veggie soup veggie pen and journal pedometer reuseable bag
I made the trek to Dallas on December 29 to see the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Dallas Stars. Even though I am born and bred in Texas, I am a diehard Blackhawks fan. Read this post and this post if you don't believe me. Anyway, so I went to Big D with a friend and this was her first hockey game ever. Our seats were in row 7 (I like to get close to the action) and we had another Blackhawks fan beside us and behind us. Then this, I can't refer to her as anything but this, BITCH showed up and sat next to me. She was a diehard Stars fan and any time the Stars scored she screamed so loud and clapped so hard practically in my ear. So I returned the favor when the Blackhawks scored and proceeded to give me the evil eye the rest of the night even after she made her boyfriend change seats with her.
As you can tell from the pics, my favorite hockey player ever is Patrick Sharp. He is not only good but he is HOT! I pray he doesn't get traded but if he does, I'll root for him wherever he goes. Still be a Hawks fan but will always remain a Sharpie fan.
I'd much rather see a game in Chicago just because of the excitement from the fans, but I will continue to go see them whenever they go to Dallas.
We had our annual family get-together on Christmas Eve. A lot of the cousins, aunts and uncles were there. This is really the only time I get to see a lot of them so it is a nice thing to do every year. The food was good as usual. My dad made the menudo and my Aunt Lola made the tamales. Everyone brought dessert to share. We also all prayed the rosary which is another tradition. During the rosary, Jacob (9 years old) told me "This isn't much of a party!"
Happy 2010 everyone. I don't do resolutions because I NEVER stick to them so this year I made some goals.
Eat healthier and stick to Weight Watchers (both go hand in hand).
Be more patient...with the kids, with my mom, drivers (oh please let those slowpoke and bat outta hell drivers have made goals to be better drivers).
Read Dave Ramsey's book and actually do what it says. And let the kids know I am on a financial diet so this gravy train has dried up.
Help the Universe out in getting me a man who loves me (and is a good kisser oh and generous if you know what I mean). I've put the traits I want in a man so come on where are you?
Be a kinder person -- that includes not ragging on people (especially strangers or those on tv)....well damn I broke that one as I was watching the Dick Clark special last night. What the hell were some of those people wearing?
Ok that is all I can think of now but as I am inspired by other peoples goals I'll add to the list.
And, go by my recipe site to check out the great soup I made for lunch on New Year's Day.
In 2006 Alan Richman wrote an article for GQ Magazine that had a list of the 20 burgers you must eat before you die. I do like a good hamburger so I was intrigued by the list. To tell you how much I like burgers, whenever I stay in a hotel I usually order a hamburger just to see what that particular hotels tastes like. I've even been known to pick a hotel because of the burger (ok actually the room service).
So far I've been to ten of the restaurants (some really can not be labeled restaurants...) and eaten nine hamburgers. Yes, I was denied in Newport, RI because of the dress code. They wouldn't even let me take it to go.
The last place I ate one of the burgers on the list was at Houston's in Santa Monica, CA. This particular burger would not have made my list but that is just me. The best one I have tasted so far was at Barclay Prime in Philadelphia, PA. ADM (Ay dios mio for those not in the know), that was a GOOOOOD kobe slider. And the rest of the meal was phenomenal. I want to go back to Phillie just to go to that restaurant. The burger at Louie's in New Haven, CT reminded me the most of a home cooked burger. Not as good as my mom's burgers but it was still good.
The one that really puzzled me as to how they made the list was Keller Drive-In in Dallas. I mean this was a dive and not in the best neighborhood (or so it seemed). Sometimes greasy is not good.
The next trip to NYC, I want to make a side trip to Brooklyn to try out Peter Luger's burger.
Here is the original article with little tidbits on each pick.
In my previous Chicago (Dec 09) post I mentioned that one of the staff from the Chicago Blackhawks organization interviewed me. Well, it made it on to the Blackhawks website. I look like such a DORK. Let me repeat that for you. I LOOK LIKE SUCH A DORK! Whenever I get excited I get overly animated and this was no exception. I cringe whenever I see it but am so glad I had that experience and such a great time on the trip.
Yes, that's me with my hands trying to cover my face and then being interviewed. My friend Kelly who went on the trip with me is sitting to my right.
Sad to say, but yes I did mention how cute Patrick Sharp was. I can't help it - the man is a dreamboat.
Thank you to the Chicago Blackhawks and to Meijer for sponsoring the Hockey 101 Contest.
Oh, and I updated pics in my original post of my trip here.
I can't believe I forgot to write about my recent trip to NYC in early December. I had to go for work but was able to get in some downtime while I was there. I went with a co-worker and a donor.
One thing I haven't done in a while is eat at Tavern on the Green so it was nice to do that. We also took a carriage ride through Central Park.
The food was delicious.
This was the front of the menu.
They lit the Rockefeller tree when we were there but it was raining so I didn't go see it. Lots of beautiful decorations around the city. It is always so crowded at this time of year.
I won a Chicago Blackhawks and Meijer contest for a hockey 101 clinic, dinner and tix to the Blackhawks/Tampa Bay Lightening game. Since I love Chicago I decided to make a weekend of it and invited my friend Kelly to go to the clinic and game with me.
I flew in on Saturday morning and met Kelly downtown where we went to eat at Berghoff's. We had burgers and some of their famous rootbeer.
Then we went walking around Millennium Park and were able to see the ice skaters. There was a cute little future hockey player there. Too precious!
We went to the Chicago Pier because I had never been through there just drove by it once. That is probably better done during the summer. Saw some of the lights before my hip gave out and we went back to the hotel. After a short nap we went to have a late dinner at Miller's Pub which was really quaint and cozy.
Sunday was the big day. We went to the ESPN Zone for lunch and were surrounded by both Bear fans and Green Bay fans. Good food there too. Only bad thing was I lost one glove that belonged to a co-worker.
Then we went to see the window displays at Macy's. There was a couple at one of them that had just gotten engaged. The guy had Macy's put his proposal in the form of a letter to Santa in the window. Then he popped the question. Too cute. Everyone was oohing and awhing.
Then it was time to head to the United Center. We got there and they signed us in and then took us upstairs to a conference room. We boogied to the front row where our goodie bags were waiting for us. A cap, mug, bobblehead, puck and much more. SWEET! You know I love me a goodie bag!
Then the instructors came in. Eddie Olczyk who is the tv color analyst was one and then also Annie Camins, the Director of Youth Hockey was the other.
We got to ask questions and when it came my turn he asked me how I got into hockey and how did I hear from them that I won the contest. So I told him that I went to Chicago last October and went to my first hockey game. I fell in love with the sport and the team. Then I entered and won and couldn't believe it because I never win anything. He was impressed that we flew from TX just for this. So we had the clinic and leaned so much about the rules. It was great. Then they had a drawing for a hockey stick signed by all the players. When Eddie read off the numbers and he took his time saying the last one I screamed when he said 9. I was like "No frickin way!" When he had started to announce the numbers I said I can take it on the plane. But they offered to ship it for me.
We then all got pictures and autographs from Eddie. Then they took us in to dinner. Unbelievable. I was thinking hot dogs and chicken strips. Not for this first class organization. They served roast beef, turkey, chicken Marsala, fish, fettucine Alfredo, roasted potatoes, grilled veggies, salads and more. They also had a mean dessert bar -- cheesecake, lemon bars, brownies and so much more.
One of the employees asked if they could interview me since I won and came from TX. I know I looked like a fool and my eyes were probably popping out of my eyes from the excitement. I can't even remember what they asked but I remember telling them I wouldn't pass up a chance to see the Hawks or Patrick Sharp!
Next it was off to our seats. They were pretty good seats and everyone who was around us were contest winners so it was like a little family.
Jim Belushi threw down the first puck and Toews and Vinny Lecavalier (#4 hottie from TB Lightning) were the ones out there with him.
Some of the gals around us got text messages from family members that said we were on tv. Then they texted again and said they had mentioned us an said we had come from TX for the game. How cool is that!!?!
Thank you Eddie!
It was a great game (Hawks won 4-0) and fantastic day of events.
Thank you to the entire Chicago Blackhawks organization and to Meijer's for sponsoring the contest. It was unbelievable!
** Updated with pics from my Flickr account of the trip. **
So on my recent trip I've found that I have lots of pet peeves. Let me lay them all out there for you.
Nobody wants to hear your entire conversation so you don't have to talk so loud when you are on the phone while waiting for your flight. Use your inside voice.
Same goes for the plane - shut up already. You are not that important that you can't wait until you get off the plane to start yapping.
When you are boarding the plane have some consideration for other folks. Don't take your time putting away your bags and standing in the aisle. The sooner you get you ass in gear the sooner the plane will start to move.
Do you really need to put your coat in the bin all by itself? And kudos to the gentleman who folded up his coat and put it on top of his suitase and not in the way of someone else.
If you are in an exit row - don't fall asleep. If something happens I want your ass wide awake and alert to get me out safely.
The rows are really tiny and there isn't room for you to be putting your seat back all the way. Get over yourself and go back just a smidgen. If you want to be comfortable buy your own plane.
DO NOT pass gas on the plane. Seriously people! That shit stinks up the entire plane.
OK I am certain there are more but for now that will do.
Are you interested in a free Kindle II? I am! Bibliofreakblog is giving one away and there are lots of ways to enter. You can sign up for one by going to this link:
Saw this free giveaway and signed up for it. I love tiered platters! You can win a couple of prizes for following @momologie, signing up for their newsletter or blogging about it. Please follow the link below for details.
I had a business trip to NYC and decided to spend a few days traveling through New England with a co-worker/friend to enjoy the beautiful fall scenery. In Texas we only get green and brown leaves and our weather is hot or hotter so I am always interested in seeing a change of seasons.
We started out by taking the train to Providence, RI and then getting a rental car and heading to Cape Cod.
We had the Nissan Cube--isn't it the cutest little car?
I have never really traveled in Massachusetts - through it but not stopping. The Cape Cod area is absolutely beautiful. We stopped in Barnstable and ate at a little place by the water, Osterville Too. It was the first time I had lobster bisque and it was wonderful.
I also had the crab cakes and they were the best ever.
We did a little shopping and made our way to Provincetown.
We got there late so we didn't get to go whale watching or hang at the beach. It was also raining so that curtailed some plans too.
We spent the night in Plymouth MA and then headed to Boston where we did some shopping and went to eat at the Cheers bar....
....and nobody knew my name.
The food was pretty good. I had a panini and it was wonderful.
I bought lots of souvenirs from the gift shop. And even took a picture with Norm!
We then headed to Salem so we could see all things related to witches. That stuff doesn't interest me so I sat it all out. The traffic was awful and we wanted to try and make it to Maine in daylight so we didn't stay there long.
Then we headed to Gloucester MA.
It was beautiful and a quaint town.
Ever since I saw the movie the Perfect Storm I have wanted to see the memorial to the lost seamen.
The memorial they have is surreal especially as they list all the names of men lost at sea.
Then we headed towards Kennebunkport Maine. We got there as the sun was setting but we did get to do some shopping. We saw some beautiful houses and even traipsed through someone's yard to get a good view. We spent the night in Saco ME and decided to come back the next morning to get some pictures.
Kennebunk Beach is absolutely beautiful and has some very cute houses. I picked up some sand for Sydni.
We have been picking leaves to add to the stash of leaves for Sydni--she is going to love them.
We then made our way to New Hampshire and got some amazing photos of all the beautiful fall colors.
Our last stop was in Mystic CT. They have great shopping and the place is just too cute. We ate at the Mystic Pizza again and I got another tshirt for myself.
We then headed back to Providence RI to spend the night and catch the early train to NYC.
One last note:
I just have to note that on this trip I found the drivers in RI to be awful drivers--I actually had to ask the cabbie to slow down. Worse than NYC drivers. And in MA 100% of the drivers were absolutely rude. That state needs to come to Texas for some training in kindness. Seriously put me off MA--couldn't wait to get out of there. Loved Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
2 boxes of veggie soup
veggie pen and journal
pedometer
reuseable bag
Eat healthier and stick to Weight Watchers (both go hand in hand).
Nobody wants to hear your entire conversation so you don't have to talk so loud when you are on the phone while waiting for your flight. Use your inside voice. 
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