The Ever Changing Google Doodle

Google, it's officially used as a word, now a noun. The Google logo might be one of the few brands in the world that changes their logo so often (well online). Kind of a fun link, check out the ever changing Google Doodle

New Year's in Park City

I was lucky to spend the New Year in Park City, UT with friends and family. My upcoming sister in law planned a great trip for all the Price kids and Cahill kids and significant others (Cahill is Molly's Husband).

It was a bit cold on the slopes some days, with highs in the single digits, but we had a blast and it was a great start to a fabulous 2011!

My First Cookie Exchange

Yep, I'm officially a grown up! I had my very first Christmas cookie exchange with my girlfriends this year! I stayed up late the night earlier melting chocolate and coating pretzels in sprinkles for this party instead of going out.

The picture above is a picture of all the girls who participated - this is of course after a few glasses of wine. So maybe I'm not as grown up as I think I am, but it was still a blast.

Between the jam session to "Last Christmas" and "All I Want for Christmas" by Mariah Carey we did do some exchanging. However, I think a lot more chugging and jamming occurred.

Chili's Theatrical Debut

It's not surprising for you all to know I LOVE my dog Chili! She's my little baby, I treat her like a child, and Jim and I are totally obsessed with her! So the clip above is her cute little behind in the Christmas Play at Pilgrim Chapel. Check her out at the 5 minute mark, she's the first dog and the donkey!

For a puppy I think she did pretty well. It took lots of treats and lots of love but her first theatrical debut was amazing! I know, I'm weird.

Turkey Time

Wow, where did the rest of November go and the start of December? As every one's Holiday schedule typically is mine has been particularly hectic. Between the new job, wedding showers/parties, traveling and the Holiday I can't remember what I've even done since yesterday.

However, this year I got myself back off my butt Thanksgiving Day morning and ran the annual Cincinnati Turkey Trot. It was unseasonably warm, which was awesome, but rainy, which was not awesome due to the blister I got on my foot from wet socks. A group of us ran the race entitling us to a Thanksgiving Day brunch and dinner.

Later that jam packed weekend we had a wedding shower thrown by amazing family friends! A group picture of Jim's family, my family (minus my brother) and the hosts is included. It was an amazing dinner party and we were all so lucky to have a fabulous Chef prepare us a gourmet meal! I can't rave enough about the meal, he is opening a restaurant in O'bryonville soon and I recommend everyone goes!

I'm currently sitting on a long flight back from LA where I visited Jim's sisters, sister-in-law and infamous Bruce Wayne the dog! More to come on this...Happy Holidays!

Welcome Back!

Happy Friday! Saw this cute video and it made me smile on a Friday! Sure a lot of people were placed but it's cute to see the unsuspecting victims. I love Return of the Mac and the Boys are Back! This is a good example of a brand creating something fun that actually can go viral without pushing the product! Happy Friday!

So Proud!

Ok, so I’ve been a really bad blogger like I promised not to do with the job change, wedding and life in general but things have gotten out of control! So, I’m going to do some updates in the next few days of important things that have occurred.

The first and most important one I wanted to add here was a video from my future Mother-In-Law filming Molly, Jim’s sister, doing a flyover at the Texas A&M game. She is the lead pilot, the first helicopter in the video, and we are very proud of her for fighting for our country and serving overseas on 3 tours. I love fly overs and they give me the chills whenever I see one at a game. Something about them gives me a patriotic feeling and makes me proud to live in America. So to Molly and all the others serving our country, this one’s for you!

Traveling....

As you can tell from reading my blog, I like to travel and so does Jim. We jump on any opportunity to travel and always love to find new places. As we began our registry Jim told me about a website that allows people to donate towards your honeymoon!

The website is Travelersjoy.com and basically you can select ways for people to donate towards your honeymoon. You can have them buy dinners, adventure packages, spa packages, etc. I absolutely love it for couples like Jim and I who have lived together for awhile and accumulated house ware products through the years. While we still need some house ware items, we would truly appreciate the ability to take the honeymoon of a lifetime.

Check out the site and read more about it; if it moves you feel free to donate:) If you know anyone else getting married pass this along, it is a great alternative to a traditional wedding gift. Plus, there are no shipping fees, wrapping fees, etc.

http://www.travelersjoy.com/jennyandjim

Bobcat Scuffle

If you didn’t see the blowout game between OSU and OU (Ohio University, not Oklahoma) I’m not surprised unless you live in Ohio. Of course OU went in as huge underdogs and OSU needed to bring in a team they could beat. It was pretty much a massacre, as OSU knew it would be or else they wouldn’t have played them – let’s all remember that!

Now, being from Ohio people are shocked I HATE the Buckeyes. I don’t love Michigan or anything like that, just a team I’ve never really liked. So, needless to say I was happy how Rufus the Bobcat took down Brutus Buckeye prior to the game. I think this has gotten more press than the game. Sure it’s not sportsman like but it’s funny and in the end this game was all about humor and cash money dollar bills.

Bridesmaids Dresses!

Yeah! I feel like I am starting to get back into the swing of things with wedding planning. We have a lot done, but one big thing was missing - the bridesmaid dresses! This past weekend some of my bridesmaids and I went shopping at Carrie Karibo here in Cincinnati and after a few dress changes, we found the one!

I am not posting a picture for 2 reasons, 1. I want it to be a surprise and 2. The dress isn’t available online as it is a custom design and color. I absolutely love the dress - it’s super light, cute, has pockets and the ability to change out the tops for ladies of all different sizes! I’m not going to say they can definitely wear the dress again because I swore to myself I wouldn’t say that – but it’s cute and I wouldn’t be mad being stuck in it for 10 hours!

Now, once the color swatches come in I’m off to plan flowers and cake – YUMMY!

Oh Danielle!

Danielle Staub from the Real Housewives of New Jersey just disgust me. She is an attention whore who just stirs up all kinds of problems. If you watch the show, ya know what I'm talking about. If you don't watch the show, you've probably heard about her in the news.

I came across this little ditty the other day thanks to my gossip news feed and just about threw up. FOR REAL? Her voice is just awful and I think my 2 year old cousin could do better choreography. The spins and arm flare, someone needs to be fired and I'm surprised Danielle isn't all over it!

Now, my good friend Tommy likes the remix version and could dance his little heart out to it every day. Nothing is better than a dance jam session looking in the mirror but to Danielle Staub - Ugh, just disgusting!

Just sit back, relax and enjoy...

Single Schmingle

So, I'm not the best to talk about this because I'm not single, but when I was it wasn't so bad. No one to check in with, nowhere to be when you didn't want to and lots of fun girl nights! This morning one of the lead articles on CNN.com was all about being single. According to the article 46% of Adults 18+ are single. Is this why there is so much rage about "Cougars" these days?

What is a "Cougar", no it's not that cat but it's an older woman dating a younger man. This isn't a new phenomena, it's been going on for years - just take a look at Anna Nicole Smith (ok, low blow). But more and more older women are starting to date younger men. Let's look at Demi Moore, she's smart, she married Ashton Kutcher who is hot hot hot and much younger than she is. More power to ya sister, why not go to pound town with a hot young dude than a hot older dude = more fun!

Things like "Cougar Bars" and "Cougar Clothes" actually exist. But in all reality when did this Cougar things start sweeping the nation. Why do only women who are single and 40+get a cat like name, what about everyone else? I mean according to CNN for every 100 single women there are only 88 single men, so there are a lot of single women out there.

One of my latest conversations with Paul was all about why women who are single get named a different type of cat depending on their age - I mean who knew it would come to this? So here is what we came up with.

Basically, it goes Puma, Cougar and the Jaguar. We aren't sure why we chose puma over Lynx or Panther or one of the other beautiful cats but we did. Maybe it's because Puma's are for single 30 year olds and Puma's are fast and a trendy brand in shoes? They like to chase down meat. Why the Jaguar then? Well Jaguar is a term for 50+ and Jaguar cars are poised and represent older generations. Plus they are elusive,somewhat like older single women. I mean every year I go to Florida I see a sign to watch out for Panthers, but they are so elusive I have never ever seen one.

We didn't come up for anything after Jaguar....maybe it would be a Calico cat or something more close to home and prefers to eat out of crystal bowls than chase down dinner. With all the singles out there someone has got to be making money off them right? Of course, with over 904 dating services out there employing 4,300 people it's big business. According to CNN in 2002 it was a $489M business, imagine what it is now.

A Wedding Post

This past Sunday I went to a friends wedding that was just amazing! As I’ve mentioned before, I am in prime wedding season right now as I’m the perfect age for people to get married, have babies and buy new houses. So, I go to a lot of weddings which I absolutely love!

Being to a lot of weddings make you realize how each one is so different and things at each wedding stand out. Well, at Lauren’s wedding I can only say amazing things. The flowers, the lighting, the tables, the atmosphere, the people – all of it was truly amazing!

One thing I realized I want after being at Lauren’s wedding was a video of my day. I had shopped around and never found the right person to do it. They were all the same - long and boring (sorry). Probably not boring to the couple but boring to me – which made me think, why waste the money on it? Who is really going to want to sit down and watch this? Me, my kids – Yeah right? Life will happen and the next thing we know we’ll be at our own kids weddings.

But, Lauren’s videographer Studio Z really blew me away. So much so, I scheduled a meeting, met him today and plan to book him shortly. His pieces and stories are so well told it evokes emotion and joy, as if I were right there with them the whole time. The best part, they range from 2-6 minutes long – WOW! Of course he still gives you the long, boring version you may never watch again – but the short version is all worth it! You can show people who couldn't make it and review your magical night in less than 6 minutes. And, with all this mass mingling occurring you can post it anywhere!

Don’t believe me – check out my friend’s same day edit that played that night at their wedding! It’s gorgeous!

Studio Z Films : Award Winning Wedding Filmmaker » Lauren & Seth: The Same Day Edit

What Does This Mean?

I don't know how this video escaped me all these years but it is hilarious! My first week of work consisted of a lot, including meeting the client, research, BBQs, Happy Hours and one funny breakfast at IHOP where I learned about this video.

You have to listen to the sound to find it funny. Then imagine watching this at IHOP on an iPhone and people can't see what you're watching they can only hear it. ENJOY!

Change Is Scary but Good

I am the type of person who really doesn't like change all that much. I'm a planner, I like to have a routine and I like the feeling of safety. However, if I only stuck to what was safe and avoided change I would never be where I am today. So why all this talk of change right?

Well, I've decided that it is time to make a change in my career. While I've only been at SparkPeople a short two years I know it is time to move forward and continue to grow my professional career.

It was a hard decision to move away from such great people and a company who's mission was to make people healthy but the opportunity in front of me is great!

Tomorrow I start my first day at Brandimage and am filled with excitement but also some nerves. I imagine that two weeks from now I will feel right at home, just like I have in past jobs.

You are probably reading this and thinking, what will this mean for this awesome blog right? Well, it will be better than it was this summer when I was only able to update every so often thanks to vacations, weddings and more weddings. Don't worry, I'm still keeping the blog! I'm just making some changes and you can be along for the ride and hear all about it.

I had an old college roommate visit me this weekend and she asked, "It's been years since we've seen each other, what's going on?"

I said oh nothing, just the usual at our age - new job, engagement, new house, etc. I just listed it off thinking to myself, "Really, nothing has changed since you last saw me 5 years ago and you moved to NYC."

Her response was so right, "Yeah, nothing big happened I mean you only recently got a new job, bought a house, got engaged, set the date for your wedding, got a new dog, paid off your first car and I'm sure much more. What do you mean nothing happened, everything happened, you were just too busy living to notice it!"

And there I had it, change was all around me and I was just going with it, just living life.

VRRROOOOMMMMM

It's kind of been a theme this summer, time is flying an I can't keep up with is. Since last post a lot of things have happened and I will recap them below, some will be featured on later post when I feel like I have a second to catch up!

• My name is officially on the Gigglemoor totem pole, meaning I am officially in the family
• Celebrated the 4th in Gigglemoor with Annie, Amy, Jim, MB, Billy and family friend Roz
• Went to Sanible with my family for a week! We had the best time ever. Lots of fishing, eating, partying, swimming and all around good times!
• Celebrated my brother's 30th in Key West for the weekend.
• Big one, accepted a new job at Brandimage and start in about 2 weeks.
• Will be departing SparkPeople and really miss people.
• Went to Lexington and crashed a wedding, decided we didn't like the band for our wedding. Ate a piece of really bad wedding cake.

NashVegas

Last weekend I had a little girls trip to Nashville for a Bacherlorette Party and we literally partied so much you would have thought we were in Las Vegas! Maybe it's because we haven't had a girls trip in awhile but there must have been something in the water, shall I say beer, we drank.

We started the weekend off right with drinks at a restaurant called Cabana, which features your own personal Cabana, and ate and drank while we jammed to our perfect party mix. Following that, we went to a few bars where women don't frequent (that's right, some gay bars). Ladies, this should always a stop on girls trips, not only do you get free items but they totally pump up your ego!

Following this we went out on the town and went to the famous Broadway strip, visiting, Tootsies and many other great places! In Nashville the bars are open until 4AM, which means 5AM EST. I haven't pulled an all nighter like this in years, but why not? So we danced the night away chugging beers and champagne until the wee hours of the morning.

Once we got back to the hotel the party didn't end. We met friends, partied, sang, dance and laughed and laughed until literally the sun came up. I closed my eyes and was awoken 2 hours later by Christine, the bachelorette to get back at it! So off we went and did it all over again on Saturday.

It really was a blast and I can't share all the details because they are too dirty for a blog
(just kidding), but some things a girl has to keep secret! I can't wait until Christine and Jason's wedding!

Dorks Unite

Alright, so ever since I've know Jim and his sisters we call each other dorks. Dorks as in loser, not a whale penis (bet you didn't know that was what the term dork really meant).

Well even though Jim hangs out with my family and me with his, we really haven't done much of the socializing with each others families at the same time. I think actually in all the years we dated we may have only had one time where our parents and siblings got together. It may sound weird, but I am not a fan of merging families until it's official and it totally stresses me out!

So after the engagement we decided why not have a family dinner to get to know one another. So I immediately started stressing about it because I'm weird and it might be on the list of "Things that make me shake uncontrollably and get bad poos for no reason" - some day I might just let you in on that list (don't everybody request it all at once)!

We set the date, a night when 2 of 3 of Jim's sisters would be in town seeing that Molly is in Afghanistan and really can't hop on over for burgers and crab cakes. It was to be housed at the Price flat in Adams Landing.

So after I reviewed the outfit my Mom would wear and made sure my brother was prepared for the night, we arrived at the flat. If you know my family, of course we arrived with dessert and champagne. Of course Jim wasn't there and arrived late claiming he was stuck at work (which is always his excuse these days, I'm considering hiring a PO). We had some before dinner drinks, chatted about the wedding and then moved onto dinner.

Pop the champagne bottles. Dinner was yummy, my brother ate 3 crab cakes which made Mary Beth, Jim's Mom, ecstatic and I scarfed down a burger and saved room for Bon Bonerie dessert - not helping me lose weight for the pending nuptials. Well if I told you that champagne was water that night I would tell you would have thought we just came out of the desert!

All of a sudden dinner was over and there was no champagne left so back to the wine. Jim claimed he wasn't feeling well and left early, yeah, left me there to fend off our families alone- HOW RUDE! But we had enough champagne that we practically pushed him out the door because once Jim was gone we could really have fun!

Next came piano playing, singing, embarrassing stories and a very pathetic attempt to capture our first family photo. Which is the series you see along this story.

I can say I was nervous for nothing and we had fun and I can only imagine the insanity that is coming up this year with this bunch!

Birthdays!

Yep, I'm officially 29 as of 6-5-10! We celebrated with our annual trip to Gigglemoor with our closest friends! Today is also my Mom's birthday, so Happy Birthday! I won't reveal her age but I think about 29 years ago I was the best birthday present ever! :)

Things still haven't slowed down a bit. I can't believe it's already one week into June and I can't remember what I even did two nights ago. However, I can remember the fun we had at Gigglemoor this year.

We did our usual drinking on the dock, late night booze cruises, dancing to ridiculously loud music, lots of great food and so on. It was Jodie's first time in Gigglemoor so that was a blast. There were a few things missing this year that I must admit I really missed.

A sign of the times maybe or a sign that everyone is exhausted from the craziness that has been spring and just wanted to relax. We didn't play whiffleball or even attempt a round of water skiing and wakeboarding. My annual cake was missing - however, this was not because Jim didn't order it it, is because the person in charge of picking it up and bringing it down ended up not coming last minute:( So, I will never k now what color my bikini was going to be on the cake because we went to pick it up on Monday and it had been thrown away - BOOO!!!

Chili of course had a blast at Gigglemoor. She is getting much better at swimming and even had a jump off the dock, well a push thanks to Megan! She did do the cutest thing ever. I fell off the dock and she jumped in to save me...swam all the way out to me to make sure I am ok while Jim didn't even get out o f his chair - shows who will take care of me when I'm sick.

All in all it was an amazing weekend and I hate leaving Gigglemoor. I have to wait until July 4th to get back down there but Annie and Amy will be there with us so it should be a blast!

Please note the picture is from last year to show the cake. I have been so crazy I forgot to bring my camera down this year - so pictures to come soon once CJ ever sends them out to us!

What Happened to May?

Ummmm I'm not sure either? All I know is this morning I thought, you know, I don't think I blogged at all in May. I looked back and yep - I barely did.

SO, what's been keeping me busy? Honestly, I think it's just that it's warm weather and summer activities are happening. I have sports 3 nights a week, something for a wedding or my own wedding on the weekends and then work stuff. Plus, Jim's sisters were both in town last week and that meant something to do every single night - which I loved!

Too much has happened to catch up on it all so the big events are as follows:

• I set a date and location for my wedding - 5-21-11
  
• I got my dress!
  
• We are heading to Gigglemoor for my annual birthday celebration this weekend and I can't wait!