A Time of Change...usually

September almost always enters my life at a time of change. Typically unsolicited and on a large scale when compared to the rest of the months of the year. Change is good, I'm certain of this. However, it is not always something I easily welcome.

i was driving on Lake Shore Drive this afternoon and started thinking about where I am in life...both on a grand scale and on a current state. It's been nearly 5 years since I made the move from Nashville to Chicago. It feels like 10. Wow has my life changed. Sure, I'm still the same crazy Steve i have always been...but I'm in a much more stable place. Bills are paid on time, things run on a schedule and my life makes a little more sense. i'll be the first to admit, I'm still lost but I feel good about the path I'm taking. I'm living and I'm learning. i have a little family of my own including both Winston & Riley and well as the friends that are so special in my life., And who would have thought? For the first time ever...I'm living alone. Life is good.

So here I sit on this first day of Fall. There are some big changes going on around me, but I however, am feeling very constant. And I am happy about that.

Disco Jam!

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My prediction

Quoted from stevegcole.com on July 31, 2008: "I'm addicted. I've only seen 1 weeks worth of the show but I'll make my prediction today so it's in writing. I'm picking you Dan. Don't let me down!" He didn't let me down. Dan is the winner of Big Brother 10 and well deserving of this title. I'm CRAZY JEALOUS he got to experience the game the way he did and look forward to one day having the opportunity myself.

Sorry for the short post. MUST SLEEP.

Conference Call

Another fun day with Ian.

It Doesn't Hurt to Ask

OMG!!! MinervaFree day has turned into a wonderful day! Ms. Brost had purchased me an Alanis Morissette ticket for October 2nd but i thought I couldn't go because of a prior work event. As it's the only time I can see her on this year's tour...I called "just to see" THANK GOD I DID! I'm on cloud nine right now. She is a God to me...and I already know that i'm going to be an emotional little girl when she's performing.

Thank you Erika for letting me have the night off...it means the world to me!

And THANK YOU MS. BROST!!! I cannot wait!!!!!!

PS - how beautiful is she???

The Minerva-lines Series: Part One - Elbow Etiquette

Where do I begin? I'm thinking this may be the start of a series. I have been lacking on blog updates lately and yesterday's flight got me a little riled up. As you probably know, my job has me on a plane a few times a week or more. Most think this is a huge advantage in a job but these folks have obviously never traveled full time for work. It takes A LOT out of you. Sure, getting to see the world is AWESOME. But honestly, I often don't get to see much more than a convention center, bar and hotel in each of the cities I visit. Maybe if I had a few days in each city this would be a different story. But i'm not that lucky. i'm traveling to work...the play is squeezed in when I have the extra hours and energy.

So let's get to the topic at hand. Elbow Etiquette. I'm sitting in first class at the moment so I'm content on the amount of space I have to myself right now. But yesterday was another story. I was on a small plane, in the window seat, next to a man that smelled like a bloody vagina and he felt that MY space was also his. I'm refraining from going more into detail about this particular subject as today is MinervaFree day and my blood pressure just raised dramatically with the intro of this paragraph.

The elbow rest. It's built for one. One person or one couple. NOT two complete strangers. Sure it's possible to share but it's very difficult to do so without touching the stranger next to you. And unless it's a muscular and masculine man, I have no desire to do such an act. So if only one person's arm can comfortably possess the arm rest, how do you determine who get's that so called pleasure? Is it the first person sitting in the row? the first person to occupy the rest? Or is a discussion needed to work out arm rest "shifts"?

I'm not sure about all of you but the idea of talking to my neighbor is already making me minerva and we can't have that on MinervaFree Day. What do I typically do? I typically take the window seat and mind my own space leaving the arm rest up for grabs. If i need the room and it's available i'll go for the arm placement but even-still I'll just throw my elbow in the bottom corner leaving the remainder of the rest open for my anonymous neighbor. This is the courteous way to handle the situation no? Well there are definite characters who think they own this part of the aircraft. You can guarantee a man in a suit is going to over-claim his portion of the rest and I'm here to put an end to this!!! I have sat quiet too long. I plan on reclaiming the arm rest one flight at a time and I need your help. I'm not sure how we're going to accomplish this but it starts with awareness. So please comment and speak up about this topic. Also, if you have other airline or travel annoyances...please leave them in the comment section. I have a few ideas saved up for the minerva-lines series and plan on sharing them in my next few posts.

Perhaps I can even take a hidden video on a future flight???

Stay Tuned.

New Hampshire

First off, sorry about the lack of bloggin' from my end. It's been a rough couple of weeks with work. I'm not complaining. I still love my job and honestly I feel pretty lucky to be employed right now. I'm starting to know way to many people who have been laid off in the recent months.

So here I am in Manchester, NH. I am up here for a Great Whisk(e)y Debate for work. As I'd prefer not to talk about work all the time...the event went well and gathered some good press. And I was up here for more than 12 hours so I was actually able to relax a little bit yesterday for the first time in a long time. I had no idea what to expect of New Hampshire. Honestly I didn't even know where it was. I new it was in the Northeast, but I didn't know how far North it was. The state is beautiful. I'd give anything to be able to come back in a few weeks when the leaves are all changing as I can only imagine it's absolutely gorgeous.

I'm not sure what else to post. Work has taken over my life for the month of September and I'm just counting down the days until Ms. Brost and I venture off to Brazil. December suddenly doesn't seem so far off. We're going to Rio de Janeiro and Buzios over Christmas and New Years. It's going to be AMAZING! And what better gal to travel with than my big sis?

For those of you in town this weekend. I'm actually flying in Saturday morning and will be at the CMSA awards party from 4-7pm. Hope to catch up with everyone there! (thanks Aaron for not letting me space it....i had completely forgotten.)

What an adventure.

"I'm tired y'all." It's been one of of a trip. As most of you know I was fortunate enough to be sent to Copenhagen, Denmark for work. It was work but it was also an adventure. Talking to you about the work stuff isn't fun so just know that it went well and I did what I traveled there to do. Luckily I had two nights and one evening to explore the city. It was 2nd time traveling overseas and wow does jet lag smack you like a crack whore bitch at Sunday service. Ow.

Denmark was really cool to me. I had no idea what to expect. I did little research and just sorta showed up with a schedule of priorities for work. I had no "must see's" and didn't even know I would be lucky enough to be in a country that pretty much everyone spoke english. And not broken english...they spoke wonderful english for it being their second language. AND WHY CAN'T THE US GET THIS GOING? I met many wonderful people and also spent a lot of my free time on my own. I loved it. The cab rides I took for work were rather pricey because of the distance traveled so I opted to rent a bike from my hotel to explore the city on my off time. I know this sounds odd but for any of you who have been to Copenhagen...navigating the city on your bike is sort of the norm. They have road systems that parallel the streets and it's just REALLY FREAKING COOL! It was honestly the highlight of my trip. I felt so content navigating on a bike in a new country. A great feeling.

Forgive me as I am sleep deprived and sitting at the airport after being in Spain, Belgium and now Denmark all today on zero hours of sleep. No I wasn't doing crack in the bathroom with that crack whore I mentioned earlier...I have a 9 hour flight that boards in about an hour and I'm hoping me and Norma (version Blue Bippy) can sleep together the entire flight hopefully making time go by quickly and getting me back on U.S. time.

So Belgium and Spain huh? I told you it was an adventure. While in Europe I thought taking a few vacation days was a good idea. Sure, most of us take vacation days to "relax" and visit family, friends and/or new places. I wouldn't use the word relax when describing my trip to Madrid. My flight was late arriving in Madrid as there was a plane crash killing over 150 people at the airport I was traveling to. As this accident happened while I was in the air...my flight was not canceled but delayed while in flight. They didn't tell us anything on board and upon arrival I started to realize something was up. As I received my luggage and stepped out of the secure area David was talking with the national news station here in Spain. For those who know David you know something is REALLY WRONG for this event to take place. Needless to say it was a sombre arrival but I arrived safely so I was thankful. What I didn't realized is that David had planned my entire life away and we were on a schedule that was now not being followed to the second. RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately we didn't run fast enough as we ended up postponing plans with his friends and venturing out for food and drinks Eddie and Patsy style. Our waiter thought we were both INSANE as we ordered enough food for a table of 10 spainards (not joking) and devoured it all while pounding our vino. Keep in mind we drank an entire bottle of champagne in a hurry as a celebration of our reunion and a "predrink" if you will to our night. We managed to hit every bar in madrid while sightseeing in between stops and somehow made it home JUST before the sunrise. Y'all tired yet? One would think we'd forgo our plans on day two as we both woke up wasted at the crack of dawn for our "secret journey to an unknown city." Minerva is all i had to say that morning. I could have given a shit about Segovia. But David had pre-purchased train tickets and it had a set departure time. RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (not kidding....we ran up to the train full speed and the doors closed 30 seconds later) Thank God I was still wasted at this point and not hungover as it was already 100 degrees and I was in store for a severe headache that would last all day & night. Segovia was ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL. (Did i just say that?) It was filled with history and incredible architecture and stories. I have pictured above the entrance to the city which was used to carry water from the mountains to the city and was built by hand. (David will certainly correct me if this is not true so check the comments.) I also fell in love with the city cathedral which i'm also going to picture. GORGEOUS!!!!

I'm getting nervous about missing my flight so we now get the cliff notes story of the rest of my adventure. We stayed in on night two despite our plans to meet his friends again and to see the sunset. David felt bad but we both enjoyed the chill night...we watched ab fab and tried to drink 1 glass of wine. It was horrible...expensive...but horrible on a hangover. The final day was spent at the prado museum which was also incredibly impressive and enjoyable. Later we went sightseeing again and had lunch in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood. Afterwards we went home...david took a short nap....i ventured out to starbucks and was forced to speak spanish.....OMG I LOVED IT and we finally met his friends out for drinks....we stayed out until the last minute and I made it in perfect time to the airport which took me to Belgium earlier...now denmark....and soon to chicago.

I'm tired y'all.

No time to edit...i'll proof read later. RUNNNNN!!!!!!

vBlog from Denmark

This just in: Angel Soft Isn't Soft

After a week of being sick and using a plethora of hotel toilet paper. I am here to announce that Angel Soft is NOT soft. I'm just sayin'

I QUIT!!!

So yeah...I QUIT. No more red meat for me until my trip to Brazil which is December 24th. Why am I doing this? I'm not quite sure. It's a number of reasons really. Cows are cute, i enjoy steaks and hamburgers too much and have been eating them too often, i'm turning 30 and my body isn't liking that I eat like a 18 year old and I WANT TO see if I can sacrifice something I love so much for so long. Ultimately I may even try to go vegetarian for a month or so later on down the road just to see if I can do it and if it affects the way I feel and operate.

So wish me luck! This is a HUGE thing for me and i'm going to really have to work not to fail. The picture above was my cajan ribeye from Morton's steakhouse last night. SO GOOD!!!!

DAMN IT!!!

Those of you who know me well know i'm a huge Big Brother fanatic. Huge is probably an understatement. Unfortunately, Big Brother 9 ruined the show for me. It was by far the worst cast and the twist of the producers pairing everyone as soul mates was BEYOND lame. It was so bad that I had NO DESIRE to watch Big Brother this season. I'm too busy traveling for work anyways. I'm addicted. I'll be honest about that. I put Big Brother in my tivo as a "just in case i have time" to check in. I'LL BE DAMNED!!! I'm addicted. I've only seen 1 weeks worth of the show but I'll make my prediction today so it's in writing. I'm picking you Dan. Don't let me down!

Minerva can't sleep

So i get hit with insomnia all the time. 99.9% of those times...I can't fall asleep or something causes me to wake up spuratically (apparently i don't know how to spell that word) that gets me anxious and I can't fall back asleep. So here I am at 5am Eastern wide awake and have been up doing various things for the past hour. Can we say minerva? the worst part is I have an 8am flight to LGA and then have to drive 2+ hours to the hamptons tonight for a Basil Hayden event. It's going to be a long night. Do y'all care? Mmmmnope. But I can't sleep...so i'm going to make you hear about it.

My luck just keeps getting worse.

This has been one hell of a trip. First I got trapped in an elevator in White Plains, NY and now this. Fortunately I had my camera today....although the elevator would have been classic as the folks started to panic! It was so funny! WHAT'S NEXT?

Stay tuned.

TRAPPED

I didn't think people really got stuck in elevators. Sure I knew it's probably happened before but it seems to be only something that happens in the movies. Well just my luck I rushed to get on an elevator this morning as the door was closing only to be trapped on the elevator for over 20 minutes. I was stuck with 2 elderly women and two business men. It was kinda funny to me as we were trying to communicate with the help through the voicebox on the elevator and we couldn't understand each other. So what does the guy do on the elevator? SCREAM louder at her as if that is going to make us more understandable. I'd love to elaborate more but I don't want to be late for my event.

The picture above is of the white plains firemen who came to rescue us. HAHAHA

From White Plains, NY. ~Steve

Gym Twins

Long story short...Jordan and I showed up at the gym together in Southern California and were called out by the gym staff within minutes of entering the gym. "Did you guys plan that outfit?" We didn't. But funny. Here's the pic

What are the odds?

So I was walking down the streets of Brooklyn last week with Misael and was shocked to look up to what I have pictured above. SERIOUSLY? I noticed Pineapple Street first. As I lined up for a picture I noticed the store across the street. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Pineapple street and a store called Pea's and Pickles all in ONE CAMERA SHOT? Misa thought I was a freak but those of you who know me and my little quirks know this was a big deal. I had to share.

From Minervianapolis

Whew. I'm exhausted but well. This is just a quick post to update those who may be stopping by. Thanks for the goat votes. That was fun. It has remained and even needed a big trim yesterday. I'll keep it for the next couple of weeks as it's growing on me...literally. The picture above is a shot i took while in NYC of me and Misael. I was up there for a work event and instead of flying back Saturday morning I stayed and enjoyed the day in NYC. This was one of the few pictures I took and think it's pretty cool. Currently I'm in Indianapolis and have a 40 minute break. I now have 9 minutes left before my next training and then off to a bourbon dinner. I've been up since 4am as I had to drive here this morning. Tomorrow i'm off to bloomington, indiana and will be back to chicago on wed.

Please god let me make it!!! i'm so tired y'all!

Today is Vain Day

I'm being vain today and asking for opinions of my appearance. Yes...it's true. Today is vain day. So please help me in my decision by leaving comments and tell me....should the goat stay or go?

Ignore the jacked up one eye closed shot and focus on the hair please. BOKAY!

All voting ends at 930pm cst tonight.

I love vain day! Because I love me.

Camping with the boys. BOKAY!

So I realize this isn't the most appealing picture to post but I didn't bring my camera and I haven't stolen Aaron's pictures yet. And nearly 24 hours after returning home, I still can't stop itching all of my mosquito bites. I've been a camper my whole life (well up until I moved to chicago at least) and I don't remember ever being attacked so frequently after drowning myself in insect repellents. But i'm not going to complain. The bugs were the worst part of the trip but I can handle itching for a few days to have all the wonderful memories of this trip.

It was Aaron, Tom, Alan, Don, Rob and myself. Aaron and I arrived first and spent the 1st night alone. Day two momma and Baily arrived. And day 3 Rob, Alan, Don and Maya joined. So much happened i'm not even sure what to tell you. Perhaps I can sum it up with some one-liners below.

Alan has low hangers; Aaron & Steve were the bag champions; Rob & Aaron were somehow separated at birth; Don is the funniest Catch Phrase Clue Giver of All-Time; Bokay was the most used word of the weekend; BBC was the only channel that we could tune in from camp; Honey Brown is dalish; I love domino's; the weather couldn't have been better; Steve & Cherie live in Kenosha; I love the Pick & Save; "Sometimes it's not the poo it's the puddin' "