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One Crazy Drink

November 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

It’s Friday and my mouth is watering for a good night out this weekend.  As I fell asleep last night, visions of Coronaritas were dancing in my head.  What’s a Coroninarita you ask?  It’s the drink that’s still haunting me from last weekend (but in a good way!).  It’s the drink that’s like a song you can’t get out of your head.  It’s the drink that lets you pretend you’re on vacation, so in a way it’s like a good book that takes your mind away on an adventure.  With the mood it sets, one might envision themselves as a young spring breaker at a beach bar.  It’s the drink they’re serving up just down the street on Ventura Blvd at my local bar, The Spitting Chicken Cantina.

 

TA-DA!

 

Just as the name suggests, it’s the fusion of a Corona and a margarita.  As you drink the margarita, more Corona slowly comes out.  AND….it’s MASSIVE! They give you two straws to suggest sharing it with a friend, much like the infamous couple slurping spaghetti from the same plate.  You do get a little fooled by the appearance and the feeling you get just by looking at it, because I have to admit, the taste is a little weird.  For some reason, your behavior gets a little weird too by the time you reach the bottom…Hmm…  Bring it on!

 

If it’s been a rough week, I suggest maybe getting a double!

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Brie Mason, Buds, For Kicks, Recipes, Travel, US Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

You learn something new every day

November 2, 2012 by 4 Comments

You can learn a lot from reading your man’s men’s magazine.  I was bored one day and Men’s Health happened to be the only reading material lying around.  I thought I might just browse through it and mindlessly enjoy the photos of some well sculpted men.  I didn’t expect myself to actually read anything, but then again, I thought there would only be workout and meal planning advice in there.  On the contrary!  They are telling men other interesting things, like that it’s not only ok, but recommended to break up with a girl through an email!  This got me thinking that Emme’s quest for romance has a few things working against it.  Some very well meaning men may be getting faulty advice from any number of places.

That being said, I did learn some vital information for my own health in another issue.  Did you know that when you flush the toilet, millions of micro poo germs spray everywhere in your bathroom?  For this reason, one must never leave their toothbrush out in the open on a counter.  I don’t think I would ever get this kind of life saving advice from a women’s magazine.  I am now a bit addicted to scooping up a men’s mag while walking around shopping and quickly scanning for  a juicy tidbit.

This Is A Very Bad Idea! Keep Your Toothbrush In A Cabinet.

 

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Brie Mason, Buds, relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Free Recipe for One Fun Birthday Party

September 30, 2012 by 3 Comments

After my accidental thievery last week, I thought I should share a good mom story I am really proud of!  I just hosted an amazing birthday party for young Master Mason!

The reason I am most impressed with myself is because my party planning faced two great challenges.  First, in today’s age of over the top birthday parties it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the expectations of the invited guests.  Secondly, with the current economic times, my budget would require me to do some real creative thinking.

I decided to do a throw-back to the old-school days and have a house party, complete with games.  I’m calling it a kind of fusion party because it blends the simplicity of the past with the faster pace, more demanding present day.  Here’s what I did: I took Master Mason shopping at the dollar store to find items he would think ‘cool enough’ for his friends.  Then we went to the candy store and loaded up on specialty treats. We came home and set prices for everything, wrote up little signs and set it all aside.  You see, his friends would be playing games and doing fun tasks, earning Monopoly money along the way, which they would get to use at the end of the night to shop!

 

Wouldn’t This Motivate You To Win?!

 

For the games and activities, we simply looked around the house and creatively made use of what we had.  I wrote up a menu type of sign so the boys knew what was going on all over the house.  You really could do anything, but the options to earn money at our party were:

  • Write your own song for the birthday boy and sing it to him,
  • Beat a challenger in building with a deck of cards,
  • Win a round of a Wii game,
  • Draw a picture and write something on a group collaborative poster for the birthday boy,
  • Drive a remote control car around the obstacles set up and get a faster time than your challenger,
  • Win an air hockey game, and throughout the night,
  • Get the highest score on our Bob It game.

This ended up being one of our best parties! The boys were busy with excitement and friendly rivalry.  Our variety of choices ensured money for everyone! Of course, I just kept pumping out the food all evening, but with how busy they were, I was able to keep it pretty simple as they really could care less about what they were eating. As I felt things starting to wind down I announced a final 10 minute blitz.  That was hilarious! Later, I kept the shopping time organized by giving each boy a basket (also purchased at the dollar store), and having two of them buy at time with a limit of three items.  We just kept cycling through this way until everyone had a few turns and all the goods were gone!  The best part was, they took their full baskets home, doubling as the ‘goodie bag’ so I didn’t need to spend anything further on that! I heard the boys telling their parents on the way out, “Mom! That was the coolest party! It was so much fun! We should have done that for my birthday!”

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Brie Mason, Buds, Contests, For Kicks Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Me…A Thief?!

September 21, 2012 by 2 Comments

I found myself in one of those moral dilemmas you might debate when playing psychological games.  You know, the type of game where your friends bet on what you would do and you’re supposed to give your honest answer to see who knows you best.

When shopping with one of my girlfriends the other day, my goal was to find a long necklace to wear with my ‘going out’ tops.  After the ritual snacks and catch up chatter, we found a store with a whole wall of them.  We spent a while there, but believe it or not, nothing was quite right.  We moved on to another store to help my friend meet her goal of finding the perfect pair of jean shorts.  While waiting for her in the change room I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

 

Notice Anything that Looks Suspicious?

 

Gasp! Loss of breath, then a long slow “Ooooooh, Nooooooo!”  I had walked out of the store with a necklace hanging off my arm!  I tried on so many that I was using my arm to hold them and with all the typical distractions I didn’t even notice that this one was still there.

My girlfriend was excited for me.  She said it was clearly mine now, AND it was really pretty.  When I told her I was going to take it back to the store she thought I was nuts.  I absolutely had to though, there was no doubt in my mind.  She really tried to talk me out of it and even went so far as to laugh at me and say that I was really funny.  I stuck to my feelings and made her walk back with me.  I wasn’t planning on the kind of return stolen merchandise situation a mother makes her child do.  I had no intention of reporting myself or apologizing!  I just casually walked back into the store, put the necklace down on the first table I saw and left.  I’m proud of myself that I didn’t cave to her pressure.  For now, I can breath easy.  What would you have done?

 

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Brie Mason, Buds, Etiquette with Emme, Fashion Fab Tagged With: , , , , ,

Let there be Lashes!

September 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

After answering a call to help a friend, I received two of the greatest gifts.  An unexpected, totally tranquil afternoon, and delectably long movie star eyelashes!  I was even a model for a day!  Well, not the runway, front page of a magazine type, but the kind of model a student practices their craft on.  My extremely talented make-up artist friend, Leanne (LeLe), decided to expand her business by learning how to do eyelash extensions.  At the time I had no idea what was involved in that, but agreed to let her learn on me.

 

Before: My Eyes Au Naturale

 

I thought I might be sitting in a chair under harsh lighting, but the first thing I had to do was lay down on a massage table. I was then covered in the softest blanket, lights were dimmed, a soft lamp was placed by my head and soothing music started to play.  An anti-wrinkle moisture pad was placed under each of my eyes (massive bonus!). My lower lashes were then taped down.  This part felt a little weird, but it’s necessary so your top lashes don’t stick to the bottom ones once the glue goes on.  Then, the most amazing part…I was told not to speak because it would move my face and eyes around too much!  This was going to take around an hour and a half, and all I had to do was lay there, be comfortable and not speak.  What a departure from my daily grind here in LA!  You bet I fell asleep! How could I not, when you add to all of that, my friend gently running her tool through my eye lashes, similar to that nice feeling of someone playing with your hair, attaching each individual extension, then puffing a soft flow of air using a little puffer to help the glue dry.   I immediately thought back to the day Emme and I spent at the Whistler Scandinave Spa, where talking was also prohibited. Hmm … now that I think about it, eyelashes were also involved, as I forgot to remove my makeup and still have flashbacks of Emme pointing and silently laughing an actually quite deafening laugh at the mascara running down my face!

When LeLe was finished she held up a mirror for me to see my new eyes.  Va Va Voom!  Something I thought only the celebrities did, had now become available to me.

 

After!

 

I have since discovered that many women get eye lash extensions.  Many of the eye lashes I have admired on others, are not even real!  I have had a lot of fun with mine.  Waking up in the morning looking gorgeous is probably the one factor that might have me addicted to keeping this up.

 

Filed Under: All the Gossip, Brie Mason, Buds, Fashion Fab Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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