Happy Thanksturkeyparadeball Day!

Derric and I had our family and friends over to our place this afternoon. It took some hard work and a lot of preparation, but it turned out wonderful! We started the day off early to get the turkey cooking and preping the sides. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and listened to music all morning. All the hard work paid off. We received so may compliments on the food. We ended up having 16 guests (including ourselves) so we had to be crafty with the seating arrangements. I set up a card table and brought in the patio table. We also used the coffee table in addition to our kitchen table.

We went shopping last week at SNS to take advantage of the $10 off $50 or more. I had to make a quick Schnucks stop last night after work. Big Mistake! They had a guy directing traffic to available parking spots! Luckily it was a quick trip and I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. We had such good food. I'm still stuffed now. We had turkey, ham, dressing (2 kinds), mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries (2 kinds), macaroni and cheese, broccoli rice caserole, sweet potato souffle, stuffed mushrooms, rolls, pumpkin bars, pumpkin dip, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. I also made a signature drink that consisted of gingerbread syrup, sprite zero, and captain morgan rum. 

We drove our friend home after the festivities and decided to drive by some of the big stores to see if anyone was getting ready for the Black Friday sales. Keep in mind this was 6:30 pm. We drove by Circuit City first. We didn't see anyone at first but we saw a guy once we drove by. He had a sleeping bag, backback, and a small tv. Wow! I couldn't believe it. The next stop was Best Buy. There were not 1, not 2, but 3 tents pitched by the door. There were also approximately 15-20 chairs set up there as well. Everyone had their Post Dispatch checking out the ads for tomorrow morning. When we drove by again to leave the lot there was a guy lighting a heater that was attached to a propane tank. Flames were flying out. Damn! Our final drive by was Walmart. We saw people walking around the store but realized they were employees that were preparing for tomorrow's festivities. People were lined up around the side of the building. I saw at least 1 tent and police were out too. I guess some shoppers have the tendency to get out of hand. Derric and I decided that we are going to start a tradition of driving around Thanksgiving night and laugh at all of the crazy people who are camping out over night at the stores.

I do not partake in the early morning craziness of Black Friday. I also do not shop the stores that stay open on Thanksgiving - Kmart & Garden Ridge to name a couple. I've had to work retail on holidays and believe there is no reason for places to be open on holidays with the exception of gas stations and the occasional Walgreens. People should be with their families on holidays, not working retail!

I have so many blessings to be thankful for. I'm thankful for my family - I wouldn't be here or the person I am today without them. I'm thankful for my friends who mean so much to me. I'm thankful for my job which I have been at for the past 3 years. I'm thankful for having a (very trendy) roof over my head especially since the way the economy is. I'm thankful for my car which gets me where I need to be despite all of the problems it encounters. Finally I'm thankful to have someone in my life that loves me as much as I love him - my rock, my partner in crime, the love of my life, and my best friend. 

What a relief

The gas prices have been falling continuously for awhile now. It is like a bloodpressure cuff that was pumped up until we could hardly take it anymore. Now it's being slowly released and the prices are falling. I saw gas for $1.49 tonight when I was coming home from having dinner with my mom in Illinios. The Mobile behind our loft has the cheapest gas around. We can almost see the sign for gas prices. As soon as the last of the leaves fall off the tree we'll be able to see it. Back in Illinois gas is $1.79 which is cheaper but not as good of a deal as it is over here. I hope it continues to go down, but I know what goes down must eventually come up.

The Block is Back!

This is the boyband back then...


And here they are now, 20 years later...
Still lookin mighty fine after all those years....
I heard that The New Kids on the Block aka NKOTB were coming to St. Louis on 11/10/08. When my friend asked if I wanted to go to the concert I immediately said yes! We thought we would fashion up some Tshirts but later decided that it would be fun to put together our own outfits. 

I was a huge NKTOB fan back in the day. I had the cassette tapes, tshirts, hats, posters, magazines, puzzles, and of course the buttons! Unfortunately I didn't keep any of it. Lucky for me I was able to find bits and pieces everywhere cause the 90s are coming back in style. I don't know why it is coming back, but it is. 
Nina, Rachel, and me ready to go.
I still have my old crimper from back in the day. My friend Rachel not only had hers too, but it was the exact same brand and color of mine. How weird! I have so much hair that it took me about 1.5 hours to crimp it. 
Me, Nina, Rachel, & Jessica ready to ROCK with NKOTB!
Poor baby Darin was attacked by the NKOTB fans before they rushed out the door to the concert.
Darin with his NKOTB obsessed mommy and aunt.

The concert absolutely ROCKED! I was not sure what to expect. But they were GOOD. They started with a new song. They mixed the old with the new. I had bought the Greatest Hits cd & dvd combo from Walmart to get ready for the concert. Derric was glad when the concert finally came so he didn't have to listen to NKOTB in the car. They sang a couple of songs I vaguely remembered, but I knew the chorus. Then they sang the classics - Step by Step, Cover Girl, Hangin Tough, Please Don't Go Girl, The Right Stuff. My Favorite Girl, and Tonight. 

 

The RFT is a local paper in St. Louis. They were down at ScottTrade Center taking pics and reporting on the concert. Check out the link to our pic! Also there is a blog from the reporter. She gives a great play by play of the concert. I had so much fun and screamed at the top of my lungs most of the night -  so much that my throat was sore for a couple of days afterwards. But it was SO worth it! The New Kids had Natashia Beddingfield open for them, with Lady Gaja opening for her. Once the Kids began playing, they sang for over 2 hours. Oh what a night!

Being thoughtful

I have to give a shout out to the love of my life, Derric. He can be so sweet when I least expect it. I wanted to take a bath and relax last night. I had turned on the water and went to get ready. When I returned to the bathroom he had the jets going with Calgon in the tub (take me away) and candles burning. I was so happy that my boyfriend was so thoughtful. As I began to relax he came in with a glass of wine for me. Awww...

I'm not ready yet

I'm so not ready for Christmas. Years ago I worked retail at Garbage Ridge when I was in undergrad. We received Halloween/Fall decorations in June and Christmas decorations in July. I always hated that. Nobody buys that stuff that early and those who do are just crazy!

This past Friday evening I met a friend and her two kids at MidRivers Mall for dinner and shopping. I was informed that at 6:45 the man in red would be parading around the mall. Sure enough after we finished eating we heard the boom, boom, boom of a drum followed by the out of tune sound of musicians honking away at Jingle Bells. It was a mini-parade complete with candy canes, a marching band, and the man of the night.....Santa. Friday was opening night for pictures with Santa. I couldn't believe the line of people that were there to get their children photographed. We waved and smiled at Santa and reminded the kids that Santa was watching so they had better be on their best behavior.

Just last night I saw the Hershey's commercial with the kisses as bells playing "We wish you a Merry Christmas". I love these commercials but come on! Why do we have to start the season so early? After Thanksgiving I am all ready for the Christmas season. I go every year to the Santa Claus parade in Belleville on the day after Thanksgiving. Early to middle November is too soon for Christmas! 

I Barracked the Vote!

This year was the first year I am truly interested in politics. I have seen what the economy is doing to those I work with and what it's doing to me personally. That is why I registered to vote this year and I joined millions of others in doing what others have worked so hard to do. I voted!


Derric and I woke up about 6am and went to our polling place. Lucky for us it was just a couple blocks away. It was chilly but I was excited to be there. We waited over 2 hours in line just to get to the door. Once we got there another long line was inside. This place was so disorganized but by observing I was able to figure out where to go and what to do. I made sure I got my sticker so that I could wear it proudly.

We decided to have a last minute party. Why do you ask? Because we are always up for a party! And this is the most important election in history. So we threw together some fun. I made beer cheese dip, hot wing dip, spicy nacho dip, pigs in a blanket, brownies, and we had a giant sandwitch. We had decorations, red and blue cups, as well as political themed games: pin the tail/trunk on the donkey/elephant, USA trivia, casting ballots, and of course color the state as the results come in. We were going to make a drinking game out of key phrases that were being said, but everyone seemed to be having fun drinking anyway. We welcomed everyone regardless of party affiliation. We had such a great time! I was disappointed that Missouri's results were not posted last night and they still are not ready this morning!