The Amercan Idol Debate

In a recent post one of my fave bloggers (with a Double Life of her own) throws the chips on the table for Melinda Doolittle to win American Idol.

Lakisha and Melinda are absolutely talented without a doubt. However, for some reason, I also find them boring (in the nicest way possible). If I were to pick the winner right now, based on talent, uniqueness and star quality, I'd pick Blake.

Just for fun, here's the link to the "Laundromat" Ford commercial that appeared on last week's results show. It was one of the persuaders pushing me to think Blake may arrive in the finals (which, let's face it, is practically the same thing as winning - read: Clay Aiken, Katherine McPhee, etc.).

Now if he could just keep the beat boxing down a little bit...

He was the one that I wanted!

Congrats, Max! I actually voted for him every week like a reality tv goober, but I am glad I did. He won!!! Now...am I really considering going to Ticketmaster and buying tix for my first Broadway show since Miss Saigon back in 1997??

Just call me Weezie!

Cause' we're movin' on up in the world. Heard there may be free city-sponsored WiFi soon in Ketchum. Of course, not in my neighborhood since I live on the outskirts of town, but still.

http://www.sunvalleyonline.com/news/article.asp?ID_Article=3237

DisneyHowInTheWorldCanTheyStayUpSoLong?

Just returned back from a week’s vacation in sunny (and half the time rainy) Orlando to take the kids to Disneyworld. I think I returned more exhausted than when I left. However, it’s an “I’ve never seen my kids this exhilarated” type of exhaustion rather than a “case of the Mondays” type of exhaustion that comes around after individuals pass their vacation deprivation threshold (I have a low one).

Highlights
~ Who knew my daughter was so in love with Goofy? It’s the cutest when my son (who at this point <3s everything my daughter does) yells “Ooofy! Ooofy!”
~ Watching my son fearlessly cannonball into his dads arms in the pool at the resort time and time again. Keep in mind he turned two the day after we got back. He’s a crazy lad.
~ Seeing my daughter barrel down a 40 ft tall water slide with perma-grin – and her dad (hey, no need for Social Services, I am no Britney!).
~ Wearing sundresses and shorts every day for a week.
~ Watching my kids spend quality time with their grandparents, and the genuine joy they bring to each other. Yes, Velveeta comment but true.
~ Hearing the story that my daughter told my sister that her shoes were ugly.
~ The Expedition Everest roller coaster at Animal Kingdom. Ask to go in the front car. If you like Space Mountain, but want even a bit more extreme, go for it. My dad howled with delight the whole ride and I swallowed two bugs.
~ There is nothing like returning home to your own bed.

The Hmmms…
~ We had a two bedroom “flat” for me, my husband, our two kids, my sister and my parents. I was no math major but those numbers don’t add up right for me. Now, peanut gallery, be kind – I know my folks (who sported the pad for us free of charge) will probably read this post!
~ How does a three year old have the energy to go-go-go from 6 am to 10 pm every night? Cinderella adrenaline fixes? Dumbo rush?
~ I believe it’s stupid that you have to ask a flight attendant for a barf bag. Obviously, in that circumstance, it’s already too late. To shout out the obvious consequence, my husband and I spent the ~4 hour flight and then the 1+ hour layover in SLC and the remaining 50 minute flight back to ID covered in our son’s barf.
~ My daughter thought for several days after our return that her new bedtime was 10 pm. WRONG.
~ I had grand ambitions of coming back w a tan. It rained at some point almost every day and I am just as pasty as when I left. Dammit.

Back in the Sticks

Just returned home from another road trip. This time I went solo. Boo hoo!

Lowlights:
Missing my family something fierce. Luckily, my hubby sent some bitchin videos of the kids taking part in one of their fave activities, cafeteria tray sledding.

Highlights:
Miraculously, there was no lost baggage. No busses. No tug-of-war with my carry on and a flight attendant (a la Meet the Parents). No lost items. No barfing, no snot. Keep in mind this is unheard of odds since the venture included four flights and two different hotels in a “short” five days.

Lunch with a girlfriend. A two hour catch up session out in the beautiful sunshine goes a long way for old college roommates separated by ~800 miles for 99% of the time.

Dinner with my professional brethren at Bong Su in SF. About 33 of us comms freaks dined in the back room of the restaurant enjoying yummy food and cocktails. GREAT time with my colleagues. iChar was large and NOT in charge.

The featherbed topper at the Marriott Waterfront in Seattle. Mmmmm. Or should I say, zzzzzzzzzzzz?

To my silent readers...

I have not gone back into hibernation. I will be back. Bear with me!

Live, from New York...it's DWIGHT!

The Office is one of my favorite shows. Any 30 minute story that can make you so physically uncomfortable (cue Michael dragging Phyllis' dad's wheelchair down the aisle when upstaged at her wedding or Ryan knocking the bouquet from Kelly's reach during the toss) yet leave you wanting more (cue Jim and Pam) is a true work of art.

I also like to think it's educational for me too, since I learn tons about how NOT to handle HR issues in an office. (You're PMSing pretty bad, huh?)

So when one of my "where the red bull flows" tracked bloggers (Laptop Television) clued me into the fact that Rainn Wilson would host SNL on February 24th, this weekend house rat was thrilled!

To quote a post from the Rainn Wilson fan site, "I hope he doesn't SCHRUTE the monologue."

Listing here.

Tivos...start your engines (yes, we have two)!

The One That I Want

That's right. I watch that show. And enjoy it thoroughly.

reason #1,097,923 why my mom rocks

My mom has always set a good example for me to follow in regards to paying attention (to many things in life). Example number 1,097,923 follows in the form of an email I received from my mom the other day.

I had the opportunity to attend a NARAL luncheon in Napa and hear Sarah Weddington, the lady who argued the winning side of the landmark case Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court which gave women the right to chose whether or not they wanted an abortion. It was like seeing and touching a part of history. She told how when she graduated with her law class she was one of 5 women and couldn’t find a job. Going before the Supreme Court was actually her first case! She was such a good speaker, setting the scene for going into the Supreme Court and giving the background. She also was a close friend and colleague of Ann Richardson, deceased ex-governer of Texas and Molly Ivens who just passed away. She was awesome!!

No matter which side of the Pro Choice/Pro Life fence you prefer to reside on there is one common denominator -- we should all pay attention to the issues facing us today. And, we could all learn a little something by paying attention to the past. Anyway... I think my mom rocks. I love that she is so involved and is passionate about the issues that matter to her.

the OTHER part of our trip

Traveling with toddlers. The kids did awesome at the airport and were great about getting on the plane. However, my kids (like me) are prone to getting motion sick. In a ‘bout of poor judgment we gave our three year old Cheetos (yes, I know they are unhealthy) as a snack at the airport. The result? Orange barf on the airplane. Sweetness. The flight attendants loved us, I know it.

Trying to make everyone happy (including me?). The goal was to spend as much time as I could with colleagues and clients while I was there. However, knowing my cute little tots were waiting for me at the in-laws made that tough. That is probably the hardest part of traveling for work when I have the whole fam with me.

The sickness sticks like stink on a fart. For the past year (seems like basically since the kids went into preschool/daycare) our house has been like the petri dish for all colds, flus and other illnesses floating out there. Regardless of geography, the germs found us. My hubby was yakking his brains out Wednesday. Yay for Round Table (that’s where I took the kids to get them out of the house)! I think I spent almost $5 on those dumb tattoos/stickers/jewelry/toy machines that now cost 50 cents a pop.

Thank God there isn’t a Target in Ketchum. Somehow we (either me or my hubby) found a reason to go to Target every day. By the time I took the kids on an errand there on Day 5 my daughter instructed me which way to go so that she could show me the Cinderella roller skates she wanted for her birthday (which is in October, btw).

Connecting with friends, and not. The truly great part about where our office is located is that it’s near a few of my dearest friends. However, when I travel with the kids it feels almost impossible to juggle work, nap, family and bed times so that I can successfully connect with friends. DRATS. I missed three of my fantabulous friends this time around, which really sucked. On the bright side, I did see one of my girlfriends that had just given birth to a very adorable baby boy the week before. I heart babies.

Making it official.

Technorati Profile

Diary of my last trip.

Commuting again. I used to live in the Bay Area for several years so for the life of me I can’t understand how I am so municipal transportationally challenged. I think my coworker wanted to kick my arse for asking so many “obvious” qs about CalTrain. The only reason she probably did not put on the hurt is because we’re on the same client team and it might have put her in a bind. The train ride was actually great for mental prep time. LAME though that none of the bullets have wireless yet. Isn’t this supposed to be the land of the original technology boom?

Recruiting. Met with two candidates last week while in Calif. Both were solid. Nice to see an upswing in the talent pool again. For a while there was a serious famine in the SCE/Supe/Director pool. Still seems very much like the employees’ market, but promising to see engaging, talented and bright folks back at that level. Yay for us!

Client lunch. Our “quick lunch date” turned ugly as it became “that hostess hates us” at P.F. Changs. Darn good thing my ground chicken and eggplant plate was MMMmmmmm good. Also solid company. Always a fun time when even after six+ years of working side-by-side w/ a client you still learn a little “dirt” on them. It’s also fun to lightly haze the “newer” (almost three years on the account as compared to my nearly seven) folks on the account too. Bingo, anyone?

Footloose. No blisters this time. Hallelujah. Of course, it’s winter and I wore only boots rather than strappy sandals and stilettos. Whatever. Just glad my extremities were happy with the shoe choices.

New faces. Got to physically meet a few of the folks that joined our crazy fam in recent months. Although entrenched in the new hire process, this was the first opportunity I’d had to meet two of our new peeps. Seem like very solid additions and I’m damn glad to have them onboard.

What the hell was that? We took one of our candidates to the Samovar Tea Lounge in S.F. Conversation and company were great. Tea was great. What they define as a “veggie” for the Japanese meal is not at all fair to a Western bacon cheeseburger-loving lady like me. Something green, slippery and horridly fragrant slithered down my throat unexpectedly while in the middle of the interview. I looked, wide eyed and aghast, to my colleague and although she kept the conversation moving and pretended not to notice for the sake of the interview, I could tell that she was laughing AT me on the inside – I saw that evil spark in her eye.

SAUSAGE. I had such fun playing the sausage game while in the office. Every office should have some version of this game.

And on that fond memory of playing sausage, I am signing off.

He's back. And so am I.

A successful launch

We have liftoff! Another successful launch (if I do say so myself). We worked hard as a team and the results have been great so far.

Often times the results of our work in PR are not tangible...but on announcement day, when the coverage reports roll around, the fruits of your hard work are right there in your face.

More to come as the deluge lightens...

Where, oh, where...

...Have I disappeared off to...Oh where oh where could I beeeeee?

My double life kicks into overdrive.

I've been getting my kids' Halloween costumes ready, hosting our daughter's birthday party and helping out a girlfriend where I can with her newborn.

Oh yea, and there's work. Specifically, working my tushie off for a typical Fall in the tech world.

However, to keep me happy... I've joined a gym and my hubby has been buying a lot of wine for me. So far it's working...

I LOVED the Bionic Woman!

Perez Hilton dishes some gossip on his blog indicating that NBC is creating an adaptation of the Bionic Woman. BITCHIN!

He asks his audience who we think should play Jaime Sommers...Cat Deeley from So You Think You Can Dance? Elisha Cuthbert (already an action icon)? Sarah Chalke from Scrubs? Pink?? Amy Smart??

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Double Life Escapades

Overall, the week in the Bay Area was a success. There is simply too much to share about my trip to capture it in a post or two.

But here are some "goodies:"
* I hauled about 10 lbs worth of potatoes back to Calif.(and even had to readjust baggage loads upon check in because they were so heavy) and then forgot to disperse them to their rightful owners. Now my mother-in-law has to dole them out.

* I found that mixing mass amounts of red bull & vodka and then enchiladas is a recipe for an indigestion nightmare.

* I found that I am still not immune to the blisters I get EVERY FREAKIN TIME I go back and wear my dress shoes for a trip.

* No matter how "mature" I get, I still love Marshall's. I know that may mortify one of my clients but I simply can't help it.

* I still <3 absolutely everyone in our office. Most the people are a little loopy, but that's what I love.

* Also, I learned i do not know my way around the Stanford campus at all. I met my cousin for lunch and got completely lost in a .5 mile area. Obviously, that campus was designed to keep out people with any sort of low IQ, even a low sense of direction IQ.

* We decided that we will be back for the week of Thanksgiving so we'll have more stories to tell another time...

Anna Quindlen has my #

Anna Quindlen had an interesting "Last Word" n the 9.18.06 issue of Newsweek (yes, I am behind in my reading). The title is "Frightening --- And Fantastic." Basically, the point is to tell your kids about the pleasures in life too, don't just spend time warning them of all the perils.

Sure, I want to be a parent that encourages my kids to be educated and safe. But I also want my kids to really live life and not be afraid of embracing it with a big fat bear hug.

Laugh hard, play hard and live hard, my babies.

Here's the full article for anyone else interested.

Let the Double Life Roll...

Time to go back to my Schizophrenic ways.

Next week I leave my flip flops behind in exchange for my stillettos and platforms. My fave North Face jacket and beloved NorCal hoodie get a vacation at last. Meanwhile, my pinstripes and dress shirts will be awaken from a two month slumber. I'll have to call Animal Services to retrieve the dust bunnies camping out on my alternate wardrobe.

That's right, my friends. It's back to HQ.

To tell the truth, I am rather looking forward to seeing the earnest faces of my witty and wicked smart coworkers. And, our office is nothing if not passionate (about anything and everything) - which makes it eternally interesting.

Lotso Sleep in Seattle

Went to Seattle last weekend for a sorority sister’s wedding. We left the kids at home with Grandma & Grandpa (bless their energetic hearts). I haven’t slept so much, and so soundly in months. Four day weekend for us, two of those days I slept until at least nine. Of course, I came back to 1,000+ emails to weed through (only about.05% being spam, mind you). Those evenings preparing and catching up were well worth the “freedom.”

We did do more than sleep… Hanging out with my girlfriends in Seattle was a definite treat. The rundown on my pals? Two stay-at-home moms, one with another tot on the way. One now married product manager at MSFT. One contract PR peep at Y! with a bun in the oven. One very successful sales maven with RR Donnelly. One nurse admin. One practicing nurse with chicken tenderloins that make every man swoon (long story). One interior designer. Finally, one marketing peep at Specialized that is living in sin. What a lot.